Nahum Introduction The name Nahum means “consolation” or “consoler”. The message of the book is the downfall of Nineveh, the Assyrian capital. Jonah had preached to Nineveh over 100 years earlier and the city was spared because it repented. God now sends another prophet who pronounces doom on the city. When God judges the wicked that are defiant, it is a comfort to the righteous who had been oppressed. Nahum is called an Elkoshite; evidently he was from a city called Elkosh, but the location of a city by this name is uncertain. The date assigned for Nahum falls between 663 B.C. and 612 B.C. .This time is based on his mention of the fall of Thebes (3:8-10), which had taken place in 663 B.C., and on his foretelling the fall of Nineveh (2:8-10), which occurred in 612 B.C. Many place the date of Nahum between 630 and 612.
Chapter 1
1:1 The term oracle means “a heavy load to be borne or to be lifted up”. “Here, and in the writings of other prophets, it means to lift up the voice in proclamation, an utterance or prophecy, denouncing the sins of the people by pronouncing on them or their place of habitation a heavy judgment” (Hailey p. 253). While the world wants to hear flattering and smooth things from God, God’s messengers must often deliver messages which are heavy because of human rebellion and sin. 1
1:2-3 Nahum stresses that God is jealous. He cannot tolerate any rival to the love, fear, and trust which He demands from all mankind. These verses need to be read to those who assume that God will save those who refuse to follow His will. God is patient. He is not capricious, arbitrary, nor hasty in the exercise of His wrath. God’s wrath is well planned and well placed. God has already told us that He would not acquit people who refuse to repent! He is great in power, thus He is in a position to execute any threat no matter how unlikely or seemingly difficult. 1:4 Here is a vivid description of God’s power over nature. He is so great that the clouds are like dust under His feet. God is pictured as striding over the vast areas of extenuated clouds. God is also pictured as traveling through such things as tornados. He is able to rebuke the Sea (Exodus 14:16ff). He dries up rivers (Joshua 3:13ff). Fertile regions such as Carmel, Bashan, and Lebanon wither at His touch. 1:5-6 No man and no nation can prevent God’s judgment from happening. “Sennacherib’s field commander (2 Kings 18:17) had challenged Hezekiah with the questions, ‘Who of all the gods of these countries had been able to save his land from me?’ How then can the Lord deliver Jerusalem from my hand?’ (2 Kings 18:35) Assyria was soon to learn that God, not Assyria, has the last word!” (Bible Knowledge Comm. p. 1498). 1:7 By contrast, God is a refuge for the faithful. The people of Nineveh thought they were safe in their fortifications, but their security was short-lived compared with the comfort and safety God provides for His people. Paul noted the goodness and severity of God (Romans 11:22). “His power is as great to protect as it is to destroy” (Hailey p. 255). 1:8 “As a river in flood time overruns its banks, carrying destruction in its wake, so God will make a full end of Nineveh” (Hailey p. 255). We should note that natural floods did hit this city in the third year of its siege, which eventually brought about the downfall of the city itself. God will even pursue His enemies into darkness, which seems to be a reference to eternal judgment. The Assyrians will lose far more than just a battle or their empire; they will lose their souls! 1:9 Even though Sennacherib, king of Assyria, had failed in his attempt to destroy Jerusalem; the Ninevites continued to plot ways to overcome the city. Such plotting was plotting against the Lord! The same is true of those who try to 2
undermine the effectiveness of sound congregations. The Lord will make an full end of any nation, which had the arrogance to engage in such plotting. “One blow from the mighty Yahweh would suffice to forever seal the doom of Nineveh” (Smith p. 387). 1:10 The city was like tangled thorns, which may refer to a confused defense policy, or, the city’s massive walls would no more deter God than would a pile of thorn bushes. The people were like drunken men, that is, confused and incapable of mounting a credible defense and intoxicated by their own feelings of self-sufficiency (Jeremiah 13:9-14). 1:11 Judgment will come because this city had plotted definite evil against God’s people, thus against God Himself. The wicked counselor may be a reference to Sennacherib who devised evil against God in his attack on Judah in 701 B.C., or, this counselor may simply represent a continued spirit of hostility. 1:12 “While still a powerful city with numerous inhabitants, Nineveh would be cut down and disappear from the stage of world history” (Smith p. 388). 1:12-13 God had used the Assyrians as a rod to discipline His people (Isaiah 10:521), but now that rod will be broken. God will break the cycle of Assyrian oppression, which had rested on the shoulders of His people for more than 100 years. 1:14 The Assyrian nation will cease to exist, she will have no more descendants. Her temples will be robbed of their carved and molten images, and God Himself will dig her grave (compare with Daniel 5:27; 1 Samuel 2:30). “The once proud metropolis was so thoroughly ‘buried’ by God that for centuries the very location of the place was forgotten. Only beginning in 1843 A.D. was the ruins of Nineveh recovered by two intrepid archaeologists, Botta and Layard” (Smith p. 389). 1:15 the news of Nineveh’s fall would be relayed toward Judah by messengers. The report of Nineveh’s fall in 612 B.C. would truly be good news to the faithful in Judah (Isaiah 10:5-27; Micah 5:4-5). One of the reasons for such joy is that true worship could once more be instituted. Apparently joyous religious feasts had been suspended during the Assyrian oppression. The “vows” may refer to commitments that had been made to God if He would grant His people relief from the oppressor. While we eagerly want people to repent, we should rejoice that God does deal with evil people. There is a lot of evil in this world that 3
prevents us from effectively spreading the gospel at times, especially, various counterfeits of the truth (2 Corinthians 11:13-15). Nineveh was never rebuilt. So complete was its destruction that when Xenophon passed by the site about 200 years later, he thought the mounds were the ruins of some other city, and Alexander the Great, fighting in a battle nearby, did not realize that he was near the ruins of Nineveh.
Chapter 2
In this chapter the book moves towards specific descriptions of the attack and plundering of the city. “Nahum portrays the siege, reproduces its horrors and its savagery, its cruelties and mercilessness, in language so realistic that one is able to see it and feel it. First comes the fighting in the suburbs. Then the assault upon the walls, and finally the capture of the city and its destruction” (Bible Knowledge Comm. p. 1500). 2:1 the great city is warned that the one who scatters (the Smasher) has come up against you. The armies of Media and Babylon would approach Nineveh to smash the power of that city. Next the prophet exhorts the city to prepare for battle. “This rapid fire series of emergency commands does not grow out of charity on Nahum’s part. Rather this is the prophet’s way of underscoring the futility of Nineveh’s defensive efforts” (Smith p. 392). 2:2 God is reversing the fortunes of His people, even though Judah is presently like a vineyard that has been devastated. Vision of the Conflict 2:3-4 Nahum appears to describe the approaching armies. Chaldean (Babylonian) troops appear to have worn scarlet uniforms (Ezekiel 23:14). As sunlight reflected off the speeding chariots they looked like torches and appeared as flashes of lightening in their dashing about. They dash here and there about the streets of Nineveh seeking out their prey. Note, this is certainly not a prophecy of the modern automobile as some have tried to say. Cypress-handle lances are brandished, that is, placed in battle mode.
4
2:5 This could be a reference to the invading army (2:1), which is stumbling to build embankments against the city, or to the Assyrians who stumble toward their position as men panic-stricken, weakened in terror, stumbling and fumbling about in their effort to fight off the invaders. Mantelets seem to have been small towers, carried on four or six wheels, in which men were protected as they were brought to the walls of the city. Some were battering rams with covers under which men were gathered. 2:6 All efforts to defend the city will be in vain. “An ancient historian (Diodorus Siculus) states that due to heavy rainfall and the rise of the rivers Khosr and Tigris, the floodgates were overrun and a section of the city wall dissolved, enabling the enemy to enter the city” (Hailey p. 261). 2:7 “The picture is one of deep anguish and sorrow as the proud city comes to an end” (p. 261). 2:8-9 Nineveh had been like a pool of water, that is, like an oasis, which served as a gathering place for various cultures. In spite of the command to stop, stand and hold their ground, they flee in desperation. This city was filled with plunder which had been taken over the centuries from weaker nations. The treasures of Nineveh were seemingly unlimited, but she will be completely emptied. Such reminds us of the man who gains the whole world, only to leave everything behind when he dies. “The prophet hears the triumphant shouts of the enemies rushing through the streets…What endless mass of materials!” (Laetsch p. 305). 2:10 “The heart of the people, their spirit, once so fearless, so proud, so indomitable, now is melted like wax. No longer can they form any plan of resistance…Their faces assume the livid, ashen color of people frightened to death” (p. 305). 2:11 Nineveh had been like a lion’s den, into which the ravaging, invincible killer had brought ever-increasing spoils for his lioness and cubs. There they enjoyed their wealth to their heart’s content, while no one had dared to disturb them. Chapter 3 This chapter reveals why God must judge this city. 3:1 Nineveh was a bloodthirsty city. “One of the reliefs discovered in Ashurbanipal’s place pictures him with his queen, celebrating his victory over 5
the Elamites. In the banquet hall is shown near the table a fruit tree from one of whose branches dangles the head of the defeated king” (Laetsch pp. 307-308). “Judged from the vaunting inscriptions of her kings, no power more useless, more savage, more terrible, ever cast its gigantic shadow on the page of history as it passed on the way to ruin. The kings of Assyria tormented the miserable world. They exult to record how ‘space failed for corpses’; how unsparing a destroyer is their goddess Ishtar; how they flung away the bodies of soldiers like so much clay; how they made pyramids of human heads; how they burned cities; how they filled populous lands with death and devastation; how they reddened broad deserts with carnage of warriors; how they scattered whole countries with the corpses of their defenders as with chaff; how they impaled heads of men on stakes; and strewed the mountains and choked the rivers with dead bones; how they cut off the hands of kings and nailed them on the walls” (The Minor Prophets, Farrar, pp. 147-148). 3:2-3 Here is a description of the heated battle that will come upon Nineveh. What Nineveh had inflicted on other nations, will be inflicted on her. She had piled up many dead bodies, but now the Ninevites’ corpses would be piled up. “Nations built upon the foundation of force and fraud are headed for ruin” (Smith p. 397). 3:4 She is likened to a harlot who had charmed the nations with her wealth, religion, art, commerce and science. “Nineveh was the mistress of witchcrafts, that is, she knew the art of politically mesmerizing other nations” (Smith p. 398). “Assyrians used hundred of incantations in order to seek to foretell the future and influence others’ lives” (Bible Knowledge Comm. p. 1502). God does hold nations accountable for the culture and values that they export to other nations. Nineveh had a corrupting influence on other cultures, and she also gave up nations to slavery and destruction when they did not obey her every whim. 3:5-7 Her shameless actions against others would be matched by shameless exposure. God was against her and is against every nation, no matter how wealthy, powerful, or self-sufficient it may be, that disregards divine authority and tramples on human life. The once-attractive harlot would be exposed in shame and would no longer be attractive to anyone. “Now there is none to bemoan, to pity her. Even the most diligent search will fail to find a single comforter for her” (Laetsch p. 309).
6
3:8-9 No-amon is another name for the city of Thebes in Egypt. “The fall of such a mighty, well fortified city as Nineveh is not incredible, Nahum argues. Just look at what has happened recently. The Assyrian army had captured the city of No-amon in southern Egypt in 663 B.C. The great city, one of the wonders of the ancient world, had a strategic location on a large bend of the Nile river where that river is closest to the Red Sea. No-amon was the capital of a mighty empire at the time she fell. Egypt and Ethiopia were joined together. Put and Lubim were allies of the ruling dynasty” (Smith p. 399). 3:10 The attacking Assyrians had no respect for even the most helpless. If such a disaster could befall such a powerful and influential city as No-amon, it could happen also to Nineveh. 3:11 The same fate would happen to Nineveh! “Under pressure of attacking forces Nineveh would reel and totter like a drunk. She would attempt to hide, to flee to some other stronghold” (Smith p. 400). 3:12 The mighty fortifications in which the Assyrians trusted were nothing more than fig-trees. All the enemy has to do is shake them a little, and the figs will easily drop into the mouths of the eater. 3:13-14 The Assyrian soldiers would become like women, instead of resisting the enemy, they would flee and lose their courage. When a city is under siege, one of its most urgent needs is an adequate supply of drinking water. And then the enemy would tear down portions of a wall, the city under attack would need to repair those weakened places with new bricks and mortar. The ruins of Nineveh reveal traces of a counter-wall built by the inhabitants to defend the city where the enemy had broken down some of the city’s defenses. 3:15-17 Yet all such preparations would be in vain, even extra soldiers could not prevent this judgment. When Nineveh would be attacked her military guards and officials would be so afraid, that they would flee like locusts when the warmth of the sun comes in the morning. 3:18-19 So fatal was this wound that she would never be rebuilt. Archeology has confirmed this fact. Peoples who had been oppressed by the brutally atrocious Ninevites would now rejoice in her demise. For the first time in the book the actual Assyrian king is addressed here. All his advisors would prove worthless in the day of judgment. The Assyrian monarchy survived the fall of Nineveh for three years. With the loss of his capital and most of his army, the tyrant had been 7
wounded with mortal wound. In 609 B.C. Nebuchadnezzar attacked the remnants of the Assyrian army, which was reinforced by a large army from Egypt. The Assyro-Egyptian coalition was soundly defeated, and the last claimant to the throne of Assyria met his death� (Smith p. 401). Closing Observations
1. An accurate picture of God includes both His love and wrath. 2. Every nation is accountable to God and His standard of morality. 3. When God makes a promise or threat, such a certain. 4. History proves that God always keeps His promises. 5. A nation can become a stumbling-block to other nations. 6. When people refuse to repent, they will hear a lot of negative preaching. 7. Be thankful that God does judge the wicked.
8