Restoration Through Destruction

Nahum 2:2 says:

For the Lord will restore the excellence of Jacob

Like the excellence of Israel…

(Nahum 2:2)

What does that mean?

Well, first I’d like to take a close look at that word “excellence.”

Defining Excellence

That word “excellence” comes from the Hebrew word ga’own. It means “glory.”

Now, that definition for the Hebrew word for “excellence” reminds me of Colossians 1:27, which says:

To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

(Colossians 1:27)

What could this all mean for us?

Defining Restoration

Nahum 2:2 says that God will “RESTORE the excellence of Jacob like the excellence of Israel,” and we’ve now just learned that the word “excellence” means “glory.”

As an application for us, God also wants to do a similar work in us and restore the glory of Jesus’ character in our own hearts.

But HOW does God restore such pure glory back into us as sinful human beings?

I believe this Bible commentary can easily help answer that question:

“The excellency of Jacob may be regarded as…………now being restored through the destruction of the Assyrians.”

(SDA BIBLE COMMENTARY VOL. 4 PG. 1039, emphasis added)

What can we learn from all this?

Just like the “excellence” of Jacob—or the “glory” of Jacob—was restored through the destruction of Assyria, so Christ’s glory (His character) is restored in each of us through the destruction of our selfish selves.

A Prayer

Dear reader, are you struggling to allow God to restore His glorious character in you through the destruction of your selfishness and sin?

Do you feel deep in your heart how hard it is for you to truly yield to the Holy Spirit’s refining fire?

Friend, if that’s how you honestly feel right now, I wanna encourage you to pray the following prayer below:

I’d like to conclude this blog post with a powerful statement from the devotional book, To Be Like Jesus:

It is coming in contact with difficulties that will give you spiritual muscle and sinew. You will become strong in Christ if you endure the testing process and the proving of God. But if you find fault with your situation and with everybody around you, you will only grow weaker. I have seen people who were always finding fault with everything and everybody around them, but the fault was in themselves. They had need to fall upon the Rock and be broken. They felt whole in their own self-righteousness. The trials that come upon us come to prove us. The enemy of our souls is working against us continually, but our defects of character will be made manifest to us, and when they are made plain, instead of finding fault with others, let us say, “I will arise and go to my Father.” 

(To be Like Jesus pg. 210 paragraph 4)

Amen! Maranatha!