God’s Word for You

Nahum 1:14 The First Commandment

by Pastor Timothy Smith on Saturday, May 9, 2026

14 The LORD has brought a charge against you:
“You will have no descendants to bear your name.
I will destroy the carved idols
and cast images in the temple of your gods.
I will dig your grave, for you are cursed.”

Here again we are reminded that the words of this book do not come from the prophet’s opinions or strong feelings against the Assyrians. It is not a poem of the prophet’s hatred. It is the Word of God. It is the LORD himself who brings this charge of idolatry against Assyria. But not necessarily to Assyria alone, but this verse could be leveled directly against Assyria’s king, Sennacherib. The “you” of the address has no vocative attached, although many translations supply “Nineveh” here (NIV). The second person singular “you” could refer either to the nation, the city of Nineveh, or to Sennacherib himself. In fact, Scripture’s report of Sennacherib’s death matches Assyrian court records: “One day, while Sennacherib was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer struck him down with the sword. They fled to the land of Ararat, and his son Esarhaddon succeeded him as king” (2 Kings 19:37; Isaiah 37:37). Esarhaddon died of poor health in November of 669 BC. The line died out in 610 with the fall of the kingdom and the death of Esarhaddon’s grandson Ashur-uballit II, the last king. Because of the sins of Assyria, God threatens them with the chilling words, “I will dig your grave.” Earlier, Nineveh rejoiced when God did not bring upon them the destruction he had threatened (Jonah 3:10). Now, his threats were more dire, more far-reaching, and included a curse. “The Lord will do what he has promised” (Isaiah 38:7).

The charge brought against the king, his city, and his kingdom, is idolatry. Remember that Jonah brought the gospel and the command to worship only the LORD to Nineveh during the reign of an earlier king. This nation was without any excuse. The First Commandment is “You shall have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3).

The First Commandment demands that we recognize God, based on his Word, which is how he has revealed himself to us. “I am the LORD, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth. Let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me” (Jeremiah 9:24). Therefore God wants us to know him; to have the knowledge of God.

The First Commandment demands that we respect, honor, and fear God. “If I am a father, where is the honor due me? If I am a master, where is the respect due me?” (Malachi 1:6). Also, “To fear the Lord is to hate evil” (Proverbs 8:13). God wants us to honor and fear him.

The First Commandment invites us to truly love God. He created us, he preserves us, and he draws us close to himself by the unique blessings and benefits of the church (the preaching of the Gospel, the sacraments, the forgiveness of sins, and more). “If anyone does not love the Lord—a curse be on him. Come, O Lord!” (1 Corinthians 16:22). Therefore the love of God also belongs to the First Commandment.

The First Commandment invites us to trust in God above all things and truly demands that we trust in no one else, for “salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). God says, “Turn to me and be saved, for I am God, and there is no other” (Isaiah 45:22). Therefore faith and trust are both offered and commanded by the First Commandment.

If God is our God, then surely we must put our hope in him. “Put your hope in God” (Psalm 43:5), and “You are my refuge and shield, I have put my hope in your word” (Psalm 119:114). So hope also belongs to the First Commandment.

After faith, hope, and love comes patience. Patience surrenders to God and gives him obedience in troubled or uncertain times, in calamities, when disease or the devil strike at us, and asks the Holy Spirit to fill us with calmness in our hearts. “For if we truly believe that the cross is placed upon us by God’s fatherly purpose and that the help of God will shine upon us in the end, then why would we refuse to take up the yoke of the cross” (Gerhard).

Lastly, the First Commandment demands and teaches humility. “Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God” (1 Peter 5:6). “You set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God” (Daniel 10:12). This humility recognizes that all good things come from God alone, and the believer submits therefore to God alone. The believer does not strive after greater things than his or her own vocation and powers (authority) allow, but the Christian constrains him or herself within those limits, and gives others their position of honor, for the Fourth Commandment is the human extension of the First, just as the Eighth is very much the human extension of the Second, and in a sense, the Fifth and Sixth are extensions of the Third. For when we respect human life and marriage, we are setting aside our hearts and minds in the worship of God. And when we honor the names of our neighbors, we honor God’s name. And when we honor and respect those God has placed in authority over us, we respect, honor, fear, love, trust, and hope in God who gave them to us.

For Christians, the First Commandment is a guide to godly living and an invitation to these many godly virtues. What God demands of his people, he also freely gives. But for those who reject him, the First Commandment is broken, and with it all others, just as surely as a mare who kicks out a rail has wrecked the whole fence, since all of the cows and goats will immediately find the way out. And that is why James says, “Whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it” (James 2:10). Pray that God will guide you to respect, honor, fear, love, trust, and hope in him always, and to be humble, to place him first in our hearts always.

In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith

 

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