Complete notes on Nahum

Complete notes on Nahum are now available on Dundee Believer.

Nahum 3:12-19 - Nothing can heal you

3:12,13

Assyria had great military strength, or so she thought. But at the time of testing they would all fall, like figs from a tree ripe for harvest. Some nations can seem so strong for a while, but then they fall. Suddenly the land that seemed so impregnable is easily conquered.

3:14-17

The graphic description of Assyria’s downfall continues. She had built up vast military power, and a large trading network, but all this would be of no value against the onslaught that was about to befall her. Assyria’s merchants are likened to locusts. Locusts would strip fields bare, just as Assyria’s traders would exploit nations. But then they would all disappear, so would all Assyria’s influence. Empires can collapse very quickly, what seemed like a powerful unmovable edifice and very quickly crumble to nothing at all. Nineveh was destroyed in 612 BC and the city lay buried until 1845 when it was uncovered by archaeologists.

3:18,19

All the foregoing stuff was prophecy, words given before the event, but words which would be fulfilled. Here the king of Assyria is warned about what will happen. When Jonah warned the city she repented, this time she would not repent, and so the destruction would follow. Her people will be scattered, her warriors and noblemen will lie down dead. Other peoples will rejoice at her downfall, because they suffered at the hands of Assyria. She was receiving the penalty for her cruelty.

So what are we to make of all this? It certainly isn’t the jolliest of prophecies! It contains hardly anything in the way of “salvation theology”, at least as we commonly think of it. So it tends to be ignored, hardly ever preached on. Well perhaps this highlights the shallowness of our thinking, our desire to ignore the hard aspects of the gospel. We like to pay no more than lip-service to man's’ sinfulness and to judgement. Yet doing so led Israel to make wrong choices, to wrongly assess situations, and so to worship idols and make alliances with pagan nations. If we want to have a correct worldview we need to take the message of Nahum to heart. When we see powerful nations, or powerful blocks within society, nations and power blocks that are ungodly, we need to know what their ultimate fate will be unless they repent.

Nahum 3:1-11 - I will pelt you with proof

3:1-4

So now we come to the final chapter of this book. “Woe to the city of blood ..” This about sums up what the book seems to be about. So what are we to make of it all? Well first of all Assyria received what she deserved. She was an extraordinarily brutal nation, showing no mercy to the peoples that she conquered. When she herself was conquered she would receive the same judgement, no less than she deserved. We see the same in what happened to Nazi Germany. The Germans, under the Nazis, inflicted terrible things on the Poles and the Russians, amongst others. She too fell, and the Russian armies inflicted equally terrible things upon Germany.

Verse 4 indicates that it was a sort of spiritual power that had enticed and entrapped Assyria. She was allured by the promise of power and wealth. Why use a prostitute as a metaphor? At least partly because the promise of sexual rewards would be part of the allure, just look at almost any powerful individual or group and you will find sexual immorality aplenty. She enslaved the nations by her witchcraft. Occult type activities were also part of what happened in Nazi Germany.

3:5-7

Well this isn’t very nice! Not the sort of thing you would want to read out in church. The Bible is less reticent about using what we might consider to be crude analogies to describe the judgement that would come upon a nation, including at times the judgement that would come upon Israel. Assyria had walked so proud and boastful, but now she would be utterly put to shame.

3:8-11

Thebes had been defeated by Assyria, Thebe being the capital of Upper Egypt. The Assyrians had defeated it 663 BC. Thebes had defences and allies, but they did her no good. Likewise, Assyria’s defences would do her no good. When she defeated Thebe she had brutally attacked children, so it would be for Nineveh. The nobles of the conquered kingdoms were put in chains, so would the nobles of Nineveh.  Assyria would become “drunk”, probably drunk on God’s wrath. Now why so cruel? We have been given responsibility by God. We can influence the lives of others for good or for evil. This could be a great privilege and blessing if we used it well, if we aligned ourself to God. But it can also be used for evil and harm if we rebel against God, and that is what happens.

Nahum 2:6-13 - I am against you

2:6-10

All the frantic preparations are in vain. The defeat is very quick, getting only a single verse. God had decreed that Nineveh would go into exile, so into exile she would go. The Lord is the Lord of history. Even the female slaves beat their breasts in anguish. Nineveh is like a pool that drains away. This is description of the people being dragged off into exile. There is nothing she can do to stop it. We see nations and at any one time there will be one or two that look all powerful, but their strength can start to drain away in an instant, as history tells us again and again. All her wealth would be take away.

2:11-13

Assyria had been so strong, so Nahum mocks her by asking where now is the strength of the lion? Assyria conquered all that she wanted, plundering nation after nation. But now that the Lord had declared that He was against her there was absolutely nothing that she could do. All her power and influence would be gone.

We need to be careful when we look at the nations and institutions of the world. All are subject to the Lord.

Nahum 2:1-5 - The Lord will restore

2:1

The purpose of the prophecy is not just to give information, but to paint a vivid picture of what would happen. The Lord appeals to the emotions and imagination as well as to the mind. Nineveh is told to brace herself for an attack.

The attack that would come would be an alliance of Babylon and the Medes.

2:2

The purpose in all this is the restoration of Judah, and the longer purpose the restoration of Israel as a whole. Even in today’s world we need to understand that part of God’s purpose is the restoration of Israel. Much destruction had been wrought on Israel and on Judah, but restoration would come.

2:3-5

Nahum gives a vivid description of the battle, so vivid that some have argued that he must have given the prophecy after the battle. Such ideas are unwarranted. First, it would not be a prophecy then! Secondly, Judah was all too familiar with battle, so knew what went on at these events! It isn’t clear whether the chariots in verse 4 belong to Nineveh or her conquerors. Verse 5 would seem to indicate that this is a picture of Nineveh desperately getting ready to try and defend herself.

Nahum 1:12-15 - I will destroy

1:12-13

Note that there is an acceptance of the reality of the situation. Assyria did have allies, and Assyria was very strong. Even so, they would be destroyed and pass away. Then there is the reality that Judah had been afflicted, indeed she had been afflicted by the Lord. In Isaiah in particular, we read how God says He will use Assyria as an instrument of punishment on Judah for her sins. But this time would come to an end, and the yoke in Judah would be broken, as indeed it was.

1:14,15

The Lord had decreed that Nineveh would be destroyed, therefore she would be destroyed. All her strength would be gone, and all her false gods and idols would be gone. The Lord would prepare a grave for her. The key message from this is that the Lord is the Lord of history. When he decrees that something will happen, it will happen. But these decrees are not arbitrary.  Assyria was vile. Assyria had committed many atrocities against other peoples.

“The feet of one who brings good news” is reminiscent of Isaiah 40:9 and 52:7. Judah is commanded to celebrate her festivals and fulfil her vows, and she would be allowed to do so in peace. The destruction of Assyria was to allow Judah to worship the Lord. Similarly, Pharaoh was told to let the Israelites go so that they could worship the Lord. Likewise, we are set free so that we can worship the Lord. Now, of course, Judah did not faithfully worship the Lord, therefore she later suffered destruction at the hands of Babylon.

Nahum 1:7-11 - The Lord is good

1:7,8

“The Lord is good”. That the Lord is not good is the fundamental lie that the enemy tries to tell us. It is what he said to Eve in the Garden of Eden. Throughout Israel’s history she often failed because she did not believe that God was good or would protect her. The same is true today, much of atheist rhetoric is that God is not good. We need to know that the Lord is indeed good. There will be times of trouble, and in those times we should go to the Lord, for He is a refuge, a stronghold. 1 Peter 5:7 Peter tells us to cast our cares on to the Lord for He cares for us. But God is also a God of judgement, and He will judge the wicked. In the immediate context, Nineveh would be brought to an end, and the end would be overwhelming. This is indeed what happened.

1:9-11

In Isaiah 36-39 (and parallel passages in 2 Kings) we read of Assyria’s plans to destroy Jerusalem. Men may have plans against God’s people, but they will not succeed. The Lord will bring their plans to an end. In the book of Revelation we read of God’s judgement coming upon His enemies. We need to understand things very carefully, or else we will not understand the world, God’s dealings in the world, or our own lives. So let’s look at two mistakes, two extreme views, which take half of the truth and treat it as if it was the whole truth. The first mistake is to think that God will defend His people and judge the wicked, and therefore He will immediately destroy all our “enemies”. God will defend His people, and will judge the wicked, but that is only part of the truth. The worst thing that happens is if we take this as the whole truth, and then take it upon ourselves to execute judgement, claiming to be acting in the Lord’s name.

The second mistake is to say that God is a God of mercy and that as Christians we need to be prepared to suffer for the Lord, and so there is no judgement. Now God is a God of mercy, and following Christ involves sharing in His sufferings, but that again is only part of the truth. We must not choose one of these two parts, instead we need to to choose both of them. Read the gospels, for goodness sake! Jesus was not slow to speak about judgement.

We are called to suffer with Christ and must do so, we must seek mercy, but some will refuse to take God’s mercy and in the end this will lead to their judgement. And those who persecute the church will ultimately pay an enormous price if they persist in their rebellion. History teaches us this, and, most importantly, the word of God teaches us this.

Assyria would suffer judgement because form he had come one who “plots evil against the Lord”. On v10 where it talks about them being “drunk from wine”, it is interesting to note that Diodorus Siculus in his Bibliotheca Historica, book 2, chapter 26:4 says:

It happened at this very time that the king of the Assyrians, who was unaware of the defection of the Bactrians and had become elated over his past successes, turned to indulgence and divided among his soldiers for a feast animals and great quantities of both wine and all other provisions. Consequently, since the whole army was carousing, Arbaces, learning from some deserters of the relaxation and drunkenness in the camp of the enemy, made his attack upon it unexpectedly in the night.

The words of the prophet are true in detail as well as in general.

Nahum 1:3-6 - The mountains quake

1:3-5

The Lord is slow to anger. In fact the first part of this verse is almost word for word from Ex 34:6,7. There the words are addressed to Israel, here they are addressed to Israel (or Judah, to be more precise), but are explaining His treatment of Assyria. Many years before God had sent Jonah to Nineveh, and they had repented for a time. Peter tells us that God does not show favouritism, and here we have an example of that. He was patient with Assyria. But He is not patient forever, there comes a point when judgement must come. Nor is His patience a sign of weakness, but a sign of strength. We may often wonder why God is being so slow to deal with an issue, or with a person! He may well be giving them time to repent. On the last day no one will be able to claim that God acted too rashly.

Natural events are not just random events, they are all subject to God’s control, and are sometimes used as instruments of His judgement or of His salvation. All of creation is subject to the Lord.

1:6

“Who can withstand His indignation?” Judah needed to know that Assyria would not be able to withstand the Lord’s anger, nothing can protect against His wrath. In Isaiah 36-39 we read of the events when Assyria was right at the walls of Jerusalem, and this ended in Assyria being defeated. So Judah should fear the Lord, not Assyria, and these words of the Lord are a double edged sword. For Judah’s primary need was to repent of her own sins. Like Assyria, there were some brief times of repentance, and in these times Judah received mercy, but she always reverted to type, sinning all the more against the Lord. So she too would one day be subject to His irresistible wrath, as happened with the Babylon conquest.

Nahum 1:1,2 - Concerning Nineveh

1:1

“A prophecy concerning Nineveh”. All the direct stuff in the prophecy is directed at Assyria and its capital Nineveh, and that is no doubt one of the reasons why Nahum is so little preached on. This verse is also where we get the sum total of our information on who Nahum was, he was an Elkoshite.

The current NIV describes the message as a prophecy, the older NIV versions have “oracle”, as does the ESV. The word “oracle” is usually reserved for prophecies concerning non-Israelite nations. “Gods” in those days tended to be restricted to either certain peoples or certain geographical areas. The Lord is Lord of all the earth. There is a lot of nonsense talked about how the Old Testament borrows from other religions, often implying it is little more than a copy. Such talk is sheer nonsense. There is an excellent book, The Bible Among the Myths, that very clearly demonstrates the absolute uniqueness of the Bible, in particular its worldview.

As well as clearly referring directly to Assyria and Nineveh, there are general lessons to be learnt. The prophecy is referred to as a book, the only prophecy to be so called. This has led to speculation that it circulated as an underground pamphlet during Assyrian persecution, though that is perhaps being a little fanciful.

1:2

The prophecy comes from God, or as 2 Pet 1:21 tells us, all prophecy came from the mind of God, albeit through human agency. So the character of God is the most important aspect to consider. Here we are given two key characteristics of God, He is a jealous God, and an avenging God. Jealous for whom? Jealous for His people Israel. In understanding the world, and our own lives, we need to appreciate the depths of God’s love for Israel, and for all of us who are His people. And He will avenge Himself on those who abuse His people. It is of course vital that we remember that “vengeance belongs to the Lord” (Rom 12:19). We need to remember this for two reasons. First, we must not take it upon ourselves to execute vengeance, we have no authority to do that. Secondly, we need to appreciate that God will one day execute vengeance. The Lord is a God who judges.

This verse makes it abundantly clear that God executes vengeance, pouring out His wrath. In the modern world we seem to have an enormous problem with the concept of God’s wrath. This is chiefly because we do not want to face up to the reality of sin and its consequences. I will repeat something I have said elsewhere on God’s wrath. There are two key aspects of wrath: (i) it is a passionate hatred of sin, and of what sin does to us, and what our sin does to other people; (ii) God’s wrath is perfectly rational and just. The second of these aspects is very important, for we tend to associate wrath with an irrational, uncontrolled anger. This is not the case with God’s wrath, it is perfectly rational and just, but there is also passion. It is not a dispassionate justice, there is more to it than that.

Nahum - Introduction

Nahum

Introduction

Another brief sojourn into the Old Testament, this time the prophet Nahum, not one who is preached on or quoted much. My main source of information and help will be:

Nahum, Habakkuk and Zephaniah - Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries - David W Baker (1988)

Not too much is known about Nahum. His name most likely means “comforter” or “reassurance”. He came from Elkosh, but apart from that we know nothing about him. In fact we are not actually that sure where Elkosh was, though it was probably a town in Judah. What this does show is that you do not have to be famous to be a prophet of God!

The dating is also a little difficult, but we can tie it down a little. Assyria was the strong nation, and key dates are:

612 BC	The downfall of Assyria
668-627 BC	The reign of Ashurbanipal, and the period of Assyria’s greatest strength.
663 BC	The fall of Thebes, an event mentioned in Nahum (3:8)

There are, of course, those who consider there to be no possibility at all of prophecy being predictive. However, God does know all things, so it is perfectly possible for prophecy to be predictive, therefore the prophecy can be dated between 663 and 612 BC. He does present the fall of Nineveh as imminent, so a date towards the end of this period seems likely. Nahum would then be a contemporary of Zephaniah and the young Jeremiah, and he would have lived under the reign of Josiah.

The book is largely concerned with the fall of Assyria. This might seem to be of limited value to Judah, especially as she was going to later fall to Babylon. However, a vital truth is that our enemies will one day fall. Israel repeatedly made the mistake of fearing her enemies rather than fearing God. This is also a lesson we need to heed today. We should fear no one but God, that means we should listen to His words and follow His instruction. To do otherwise is foolishness, for it means we are following the words of someone or something that is destined for destruction. As I write this (15 Feb 2017) the Church of England is having one if its debates about homosexuality and other LGBT matters. There will, as usual, be many voices urging the church to listen to the modern world, and very few recommending that we listen to God! Oh what fools we can be.

The literary form is that of oracles and poetic forms. Using word pictures, rather than prose. There are those who try to argue that the first chapter is an acrostic (ie each line begins with a succeeding letter of the Hebrew alphabet. However, evidence for this is tenuous at best and involves making changes to the text, so it seems an idea without much support at all.

Nahum 3 - Nineveh's end

Nineveh was about to be destroyed not on a whim of God, but because of all her sin, because of all the blood guilt that she had built up over the years. Violence and oppression lived in Nineveh. All this was under the guise of a prostitute. In Revelation, Babylon is likened to a prostitute as well. What does all this mean? Assyria had sold herself to empire building. In the same way the West can be said to have bought the services of the prostitute of wealth, in doing so she has been willing to commit all sorts of atrocities. We are willing to exploit the poor in order to enhance our wealth. 

Now understand this very clearly. Wealth is not the problem. The Bible is clear that if mankind had followed God's ways then he would prosper. If Israel had followed God's ways she would have prospered. The problem is making wealth an idol, ie the love of money. This then leads us to do all sorts of wrong things. We must worship no one and nothing other than God Himself.

So Nineveh would be disgraced and left in ruins. Just as nations that she had conquered had been exiled, so Assyria would be exiled. All her strength would be of no avail at the onslaught. She would be cut down by fire and sword. Her merchants had multiplied, but like locusts they would fly away. In the West we have multiplied merchants, but now they have gone and many of them pay no taxes. 

Nineveh could do nothing to avert disaster, and when it came no one would show any sorrow. 

Nahum 2 - Assyria to be laid desolate

The prophet now describes the attack. Note that he does not just say "You will be attacked", but paints a vivid picture of the event, making it all the more real. In the end it was alliance of the Babylonians and Medes who attacked Assyria.

The destruction on Assyria was not the goal in itself, rather it was the restoration of Israel. She had been  laid waste, but God would restore her splendour. 

The picture of the attack is then made all the more vivid. Nineveh would try to save herself by gathering her troops, but all these efforts would prove futile. All her wealth would be plundered, and many of her people would be sent into exile. In short, she would suffer the same things that she had inflicted on many other nations.

Verses 11-13 contrast what Assyria would become with what she had been. All this would happen because the Lord was against her.

Nahum 1:7-15 - Caring Judgement

Now we read of the goodness of the Lord and that is a refuge in times of trouble. Some people find it hard to reconcile the gentleness of God and the wrathful side of God. However, the two go together. If God is to care for the downtrodden, for those who are oppressed, then it is necessary for Him to work against the oppressor, to bring judgement upon the wicked. Indeed we get this very feature in v7b, 8. God cares for those who trust in Him, but He will be an overwhelming flood for Nineveh. 

For evil people plot against the Lord and against His people. So should God sit back and do nothing? That would be truly evil. 

Verse ll portrays the evil of Assyria. This is possibly a reference to King Ashurbanipal, to whom Manasseh paid tribute. 

Assyria had a large army and numerous allies, but this would be of no use to her. No one can stand against the Lord. Judah had been subject to God's judgement. Indeed the only reason that Assyria had been able to have any success was because of Judah's sin. If Judah had repented sooner Assyria would have been defeated sooner. It is worth remembering that in a battle our strongest weapon is repentance (Isaiah 30:15).

Assyria and all her idols would be destroyed. This would happen because they are vile. False religions are not quaint curiosities.

Verse 15 speaks of a time of perfect and everlasting peace.

Nahum 1:1-6 - Introduction and the wrath of God

This prophecy is largely concerning the destruction of Nineveh, which happened at the hands of the Babylonians in 612 BC, and so was given at some stage before that date. Assyria had been the regional superpower and had caused much trouble to Israel. She had conquered the northern kingdom (Israel), and had reached the gates of Jerusalem (Judah), before Judah was miraculously saved, as recorded in Isaiah 36-39. These attacks on Israel and Judah had happened as a result of her sin.

Little is known about Nahum himself. There is no other mention of him in the OT, but his name does appear in Luke's genealogy (Luke 3:25). The name Nahum means "consolation".

The prophecy itself starts with the detailing of some of the attributes of God. Our modern ears often recoil at talk of God's wrath or jealousy, and we try to explain away these terms. We would do better to face up to them. First, we need to realise that our objection to the terms is partly coloured by the fact that we only see them in form they appear in sinful people, and jealousy and anger in a sinful man are almost always sinful attitudes. In God there is no sin, and these emotions take on a very different hue. This is why Paul says vengeance belongs to the Lord, it is not safe to leave it in human hands.

What is God jealous of and what is He avenging? He is jealous for Israel and is avenging the unrestrained violence that Assyria inflicted upon Israel and Judah.

We cannot sin against God and it have no consequence. Then we read that God is slow to anger.In human terms wrath and anger are usually associated with an uncontrolled rage. In God's case they are utterly rational and based on reason and justice. And God is a God of power, no nation, no individual, can withstand Him.