Day #217

Sermon - Audio
Nahum - Audio
Nahum - Reading
Daily Insights - Please Comment

Nahum as a chapter in the master story of the Bible:

The master story of the Bible tells the truth about the evil of the human race and God’s ways of dealing with that evil. In the book of Nahum, God deals with evil by punishing it in his holy wrath.

Theological Themes:

(1) The justice of God: the main thrust of the book is to assert God’s anger against evil.

(2) The moral responsibility of nations: in this book, God holds a nation responsible for its terrorism and cruelty against enemies.

(3) The omnipotence of God: we are led to see that God can execute justice against nations as well as individuals.

1

1 - oracle = burdens

1 - Remember Nineveh, that "great city?" The capital of the Assyrian Empire was Nineveh, the city that heard the preaching of Jonah a hundred years before and repented. Nahum will address a city that has slipped back into sin

Nineveh = “From Nineveh’s walls, temples, palaces, inscriptions, and reliefs, mute yet elaborate witness is given to a city that flourished up to its destruction in 612 b.c. Accordingly, the magnificent buildings, artistic designs, and water-supply projects of Nineveh have resulted in its being likened to ancient Versailles.” (Major Cities of the Biblical World)

vision = meaning he saw it/visualized it.

2-8 = What we learn about God:

1. He is jealous, 2. He will take vengeance on those who oppose Him, 3. However, He is slow to anger (remember Nineveh the first time), 4. He is great in power, 5. His purpose prevails, 6. He is Good, 7. He is our stronghold, 8. He knows those who trust Him.

9-11 - Nineveh will not rise up again once God is through with them.

Eventually there comes a time when we cannot avoid the question of how God’s wrath and vengeance are related to His love. Pursuing these connections requires thought, courage, and a willingness to come to know God as He is and not as we might wish Him to be.

13-14 - The Termination of Vile, Idolatrous Nineveh. You is masculine singular in Hebrew. Nahum suddenly switches to directly addressing the Assyrian king(s) (see v. 11): the Assyrian monarchy would come to a decisive end. This implies the total conquest of Assyria and the irreversible fall of Nineveh. the house of your gods I will cut off. Complete defeat of the Assyrian ruler would also be marked by the desecration of his temple and the destruction or removal of his idols, which represented the gods who he believed gave him power, wealth, and descendants. Archaeologists have noted the complete destruction that Nineveh’s temples underwent. -ESVSB-

15 - Deliverance will come Judah through Nineveh's destruction.

2

This chapter shows the assault on Nineveh.

1 - Nahum sees an army opposing Nineveh. Too mighty for them to stand.

3-4 - Either their shields were painted red, or they were permanently stained with the blood of defeated foes from previous military campaigns. -ESVSB-

3-12 - The outcome of the battle is explained. Not a whole lot to say here, except that it is clear that those who oppose the LORD have no chance to stand against Him.

13 - Nineveh enjoyed its status as a power-center of the world, and relished the fact that the voice of her messengers commanded attention in palaces all over the world. That day would come to an end under the judgment of God.

Why do you think God's response to Nineveh is different this time around?

3

Explanation for Nineveh’s defeat [ 3:5–19 ]. There is progression from the narrative account of the siege and fall of Nineveh in the preceding unit to a postmortem taunting of Nineveh. The explanation begins with an assertion from God himself that he is against Nineveh (v. 5). After that, three ingredients are mingled together—prediction of the destruction that God will orchestrate against Nineveh, taunting of Nineveh (with the writer implicitly celebrating the bad things that will happen to Nineveh), and intermittent hints of the justice of what will befall Nineveh (vv. 8–10, 16, end of 19). Once again, the vividness of the poetry is what gives the passage much of its power. -ESVLB-

1-4 = Even though it is a great city it is filled with violence, oppression, and idolatry. The city isn't the problem, it's what the people are doing with the city.

5 - "Nakedness" - Think back to Adam and Eve. They were unclothed, vulnerable, and fully on display for the world to see.

Again... See 1 Peter 5:5

Nineveh was once proud, but will be made humble.

8 - No Amon = This is actually the Hebrew name for Thebes, an Egyptian city that was wealth, mighty, and was destroyed. The Assyrians were the ones that destroyed it, so they knew this very well.

12-19 - Basically, Nahum is pointing out that they are opposing God, and therefore are ripe for God's judgment.