Open up with me to the book of Nahum.

I want to give you a little background on the time period of Nahum's prophecy. We will start with the king.

Manasseh

Manasseh was King of Judah and he was the son of Hezekiah. He took the position of king while only 12 years old. And scripture describes him this way in II Kings 21.2 & 9: “And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, according to the abominations of the nations whom the Lord had cast out before the children of Israel ... Manasseh seduced them to do more evil than the nations whom the Lord had destroyed before the children of Israel”. II Kings 21. 3, 6-7 says that he “rebuilt the high places [places for worshipping false gods] which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; he raised up altars for Baal, and made a wooden image, as Ahab king of Israel had done; and he worshiped all the host of heaven and served them ... Also he made his son pass through the fire, practiced soothsaying, used witchcraft, and consulted spiritists and mediums. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke Him to anger. He even set a carved image of Asherah that he had made ...” in the temple in Jerusalem. Simply put, Manasseh was wicked. Manasseh reigned from 686BC to 642BC. As an aside, his grandson Josiah was only 8 when he took the throne and he was a good king.

Thebes

During the reign of Manasseh he saw the fall of Thebes to Assyria. In chapter 3 verse 8 you will see a city by the name of No-Amon, this is another name for Thebes. Thebes was the great city of its time. It spanned over 23 miles, was seated on the Nile river and is even described in the Iliad. Here's what the Iliad has to say:

The world's great empress on the Egyptian plain,
That spreads her conquests o'er a thousand states,
And pours her heroes through a hundred gates,
Two hundred horsemen and two hundred cars
From each wide portal issuing to the wars.

Just in this description we can see the grandeur and might of this city. The city itself with a hundred gates and 200 chariots pouring out from each of them going off to war. This was not a city one would want to reckon with.

Nahum describes the city of Thebes in Chapter 3 in this way:

Vs. 8 [Thebes] was situated by the waters of the Nile,
         With water surrounding her,
         Whose rampart was the sea,
         Whose wall consisted of the sea?
Vs. 9 Ethiopia was her might,
         And Egypt too, without limits
         Put and Lubim were among her helpers.

In 663BC Thebes fell to Assyria. This great city who conquered many nations with vasts amount of wealth and warriors fell to the Assyrians. All of her power and men and money could not ward off the Assyrians. Getting a little ahead of myself, Assyria will be reminded of this defeat of the undefeatable city by Nahum in chapter 3.

Nineveh

Jonah

And to back track a little bit, we just taught a few weeks ago on the book of Jonah and saw that he was a prophet called of God to go and preach to the Ninevites and through his preaching they repented of their sins, led by their king, and the city was spared from the wrath of God.

We know that Nineveh is not a city that belongs to the Northern or Southern Kingdom. It was a city that God chose to show His mercy to by sending a prophet to preach repentance. But we covered that two weeks ago. With that said, Nineveh was a great city by all worldly measures and it was the capital of Assyria during the time of Nahum.

City Setup

Nineveh was founded by Nimrod according to Genesis 10.8-12 and the city was seated on the east bank of the Tigris river. The river was strategically utilized as the western and southern boundaries of the city. A wall was built that extended for eight miles to form the northern and eastern boundaries of the city. The city of Nineveh was almost three miles wide and approximately eight miles long inside the walls. In addition to that there were settlements in the fashion of suburbs that extended 14 miles to the north and 20 miles to the south. Hopefully it is clear why it took Jonah 3 days to walk across Nineveh as referenced in Jonah 3.3.

Strength of the Assyrians

Do to the strength of the Assyrians, they were able to conquer nation after nation and take them into captivity; this was their practice. If you were the defeated king and his family you would be impaled on posts thicker than 4x4 posts and paraded around like a trophy won by an athlete. Or they might just cut off your heads after allowing you to watch your family burn to death as your city is set on fire. If you were smooth enough to get in good with the Assyrian empire so as not to suffer this fate, you would be expected to pay ridiculous sums of money to the Assyrian king just to ensure that the fate of the other nations that were not so lucky would not befall you. Assyria was the last nation that anyone thought would be destroyed.

Timeline

And just to make the time frame a little more clear,

The book of Jonah was written between 793BC and 752BC

Nineveh fell in 612BC

Josiah (the grandson of Manasseh) was cut down at Megiddo in 609BC

Nebuchadnezzar came to power in 605BC

Nebuchadnezzar took Jerusalem in 587BC

We think the book was penned some time before 645BC due to the emphasis placed on the might of Assyria. By 626BC it was pretty evident that Assyria was in a state of decline.

Intro to Book

Now that we have a little background and a timeline, let's move on to look at the book.

Nahum the person

In Chapter 1 verse 1 it states: The oracle of Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite. That is all we know of Nahum. He had a vision concerning Nineveh and he came from a town called Elkosh. There is no genealogy, no credentials and no other information concerning this prophet. However, we can glean some understanding of him from the text. He wrote his prophecy in poetic form (some argue this book should be included in the writings). He understood that the God of Israel was slow to anger (unlike the Assyrian idols who were understood to be quick-tempered and emotionally driven) and that God was faithful to redeem his people from their bondage. He also understood that God does not overlook sin and these are all themes that run throughout this book.

Elkosh

So, very little is known concerning Nahum himself and the same is true of Elkosh. It's kind of interesting but some OT scholars back before the mid 1800's questioned the validity of the book of Nahum and Jonah as there was no evidence that Nineveh ever existed until an 1850 archaeological dig proved otherwise. In the same way, no one is really sure as to the whereabouts of Elkosh, but there are several theories about where it was located. One says it is Capernaum which literally means: Village of Nahum. They claimed Elkosh was renamed in honor of the prophet. Another position held by Jerome states that Elkosh is El Kauze and should be equated with Elkesi in Galilee. A third creditable position is that a town by the name of Elcesei, situated between Gaza and Jerusalem, is really Elkosh. In the end, no one really knows and not knowing does not negatively impact our understanding of the book.

Topical Themes

Nahum lends itself to being split into three sections:

In Chapter 1 Nahum spends a lot of time laying out the nature of God.

In Chapter 2 Nahum documents the Battle for Nineveh as he saw it in his vision.

And Chapter 3 concerns itself with the final fate of Nineveh as revealed to Nahum.

Chapter 1

So, how did God reveal Himself to Nahum? Let's look at Chapter 1.

We see in verse 2 God is said to be jealous, avenging and wrathful.

In verse 3 we see that He is slow to anger and great in power. He is also said to be just as He will not let the guilty remain unpunished. This is important. Nahum's description of God to the people is a powerful reminder of just what kind of God it is that made them His people. You see, God placed them in captivity under the heavy rule of the Assyrians for their sin. We do not know if this message was preached to Judah or if Nahum actually went to Nineveh and preached. The text does not say but if he was preaching to the Israelites you can imagine what was going through their mind. Here another prophet has risen up to remind them of their sin and to remind them why they are in captivity. God is avenging them and is taking out His wrath on them... Can you imagine the hopelessness of such a message? They would be pleasantly surprised by the time Nahum finished preaching.

Moving on. Still in verse 3 Nahum goes on to describe God's way as being in the whirlwind and storm. He also mentions the clouds and the dust beneath His feet. The picture here is that God is not subject to nature, but nature is subject to God. Nahum is painting a clear picture of the power of God.

Verse 4 shows God rebuking the sea and it dries up.

In verse 5 He causes the earth to shake and the hills to dissolve. And if any doubt about the power of God was left in your mind, Nahum clears up the issue by stating in verse 5 that the whole earth is upheaved by His presence: not just the promised land, not just the areas where a camp of Israelites were set up, but the whole earth. Even the waters were subject to Him. Bodies of water were seen as an enemy of God. You see, it was believed that gods were landlocked and held no authority in an area that was not controlled by them. Here Nahum is reaffirming what the Israelites new from times past- their God was not like the gods of the Canaanites. Their God was not like the gods of the Egyptians. Their God was definitely not like the gods of the Assyrians. He is not subject to land boundaries as the whole earth is a witness to His power as it shakes in fear of His presence. He even holds power over the waters as mentioned earlier. They have seen this with the Red Sea. They have seen this with the Jordan river and they will see it again when a man wakes up from a nap on a boat to calm a storm. Nahum is setting the stage for the believability of what he is about to say in the next two chapters. He wants the Israelites to have confidence in their God and His word to them so he reminds them of the type of God they serve.

In Verse 3 where Nahum stated God is slow to anger & in verse 7 where Nahum stated The LORD is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble, and He knows those who take refuge in Him speak to the comfort of being in the favor of God and stand as a stark contrast to the calamity that Nahum prophesies concerning the Assyrians. It also shows that it is a good thing to have favor with the God that can throw the entire earth into a state of disarray just merely by being present. Now, don't press me too hard on this, but this made me think of my elementary days. There was this one kid who terrorized the playground and the bathroom. Whenever you saw him coming you would try to go somewhere else. Or if you were in line to go to the bathroom and he was close to you in that line, you would hope that the teacher would split the groups so that you were not in the bathroom the same time he was. This kid brought fear into the hearts of his fellow classmates just by merely being in their presence- so much so, most would avoid him at all costs. You just hoped and prayed that a teacher was close by or watching where you were so that nothing would happen. In the same way Assyria was this type of bully. Assyria inflicted fear into all that came near her. But there is One who is stronger than Assyria who offers refuge, just like the watchful eyes of a teacher.

Alright, back to the text: let's look at the second portion of verse 9 where it says Distress will not rise up twice. Some of the commentaries show this as being a reference to Israel's current situation. God is saying here that they were a source of suffering for Israel (to bring about judgment) but that time has come to an end and they will never again bring about anguish to the Israelites- distress will not rise up twice.

The reason for judgement against Nineveh

If the reason for the pronouncement of judgment was not already evident, Verse 11 clearly shows us why Nineveh was judged: From you has gone forth one who plotted evil against the LORD, a wicked counselor. Whether this is a reference to Sennacherib or the Assyrians as a whole, we are told the reason for God's impending judgement about to be poured out on Nineveh is due to a wicked counselor that plotted against the Lord. The Lord was patient and even sent a prophet to preach repentance, but a time for judgement has come for unrepentant Assyria and a fulfilling of Israel's punishment has come to a close.

In fact from verse 9 into chapter 2 verse 2 the text dedicates itself to an alternating pattern of judgement against Assyria and promises of deliverance given to Israel. So now, not only is God showing His character as being one of power and might, but we also see here that He is merciful and does not inflict the Israelites with bondage forever- there is indeed hope. It has been made clear in this first chapter that God is powerful, He does not allow the guilty to go unpunished as displayed two-fold by the captivity of Israel (which was a past judgment) and forthcoming destruction of Nineveh (which was a future judgment). It has also been made clear to the reader that God is mercifully slow to anger and those that hide in Him, He will be their refuge.

Chapter 2

So, in chapter 1 we saw a picture painted of the God of Israel. In chapter two we see what the God of chapter 1 can do. The battle for Nineveh ensues in Nahum's vision and we see God's judgment being poured out on Nineveh.

Verse 3 sets the stage for the battle. The shields of his mighty men are colored red, the warriors are dressed in scarlet, the chariots are enveloped in flashing steel when he is prepared to march, and the cypress spears are brandished. The army is prepared for battle.

Verses 4 & 5 document the quickness of the fall of Nineveh. Before Nineveh could even mount a defense the chariots have already invaded her. The nobles, while tripping over the dead, hurry in haste to the wall to see what has befallen them only to see a siege in place and the attackers' defenses set up.

Verse 6 documents how the invading army gained entrance into the city. A flood had come and washed away a wall to the city and if we look back to chapter 1, we see over and over that God is in control of nature- the whirlwind is His way, He dries up the rivers and causes the earth to quake. It is no coincidence that a flood destroyed the wall.

So, in three verses we see the destruction of an indestructible city. In the same way that Thebes, an unconquerable fortress, was conquered by Assyria, God ensured that Assyria would befall the same fate. Pride is indeed a horrible thing that will not go unpunished. I hope the irony here is evident. Thebes was conquered by Assyria and it was said to be unconquerable and now everyone thinks Nineveh to be unconquerable and they too will suffer the same fate they inflicted on Thebes.

Verses 7-10 show the surety of the defeat of Nineveh. The women moan and beat their breasts in shame. Those that can flee are fleeing. The limitless wealth plundered from other nations is taken from the storehouses and a statement is made declaring Nineveh has been made desolate and laid waste. What is more the people of the city are described as such: Hearts are melting and knees knocking! Also anguish is in the whole body and all their faces are grown pale!

The only thing I can think of that would compare to this was back on September 11th, 2001. I got a phone call from one of my old roommates and all he said was, "turn on the news". I got out of my bed and turned on the tv and saw one of the twin towers with smoke bellowing out of it. The news reporters didn't know what was going on and then, on live tv, I saw a second plane strike the other tower and then the reporters started talking about us being under attack. Then the pentagon was hit and another plane crashed, the buildings collapsed and our entire air travel system was grounded for days. That day I remember thinking that we were not as safe and untouchable as my comfort level led me to believe. I was shaken, the reporters were shaken and the people being interviewed were shaken. That must have been something like what the Ninevites felt on that day.

Verses 11 and 12 documents God taunting the Assyrians. Where is the den of lions and the feeding place of the young lions, where the lion, lioness and lion's cub prowled, with nothing to disturb them? The lion tore enough for his cubs, killed enough for his lionesses, and filled his lairs with prey and his dens with torn flesh.

Assyria had a fascination with lions. It is similar to us having the eagle on our seals and coins except they took it a bit further. The king would hunt lions because lions were seen as the greatest predator. Can you see Benjamin Franklin out Eagle hunting? So, if the king could kill the greatest predator, not only is he king over the subjects in his kingdom, but he is also king over the animal kingdom. It was a display of power and might. It was a source of pride, a source of pride that God turns back on the Assyrians and confronts them with their sin by this taunt.

Verse 13 just goes on to solidify the utter destruction of Nineveh. God, most emphatically says, Behold, I am against you... I will burn up her chariots... I will cut off your prey... God is the one who brought about this judgment and it is irrevocable.

Chapter 3

In Chapter 3 we will see the battle of Nineveh reiterated with some variations of what we saw in chapter 2 and God gives us a picture of what is to become of Nineveh after her judgment as seen in verses 8-10 as they make a comparison between Thebes and Nineveh and God tells Nineveh that they will suffer the same fate they inflicted on Thebes.

In verses 11-19 Nahum moves away from the comparison with Thebes and directly speaks to what will become of Nineveh by saying that their fortifications are basically ripe for the picking- let's look at verse 12: All your fortifications are fig trees with ripe fruit-- When shaken, they fall into the eater's mouth. The only people left are the women as the men were killed during battle and the defense of the city has been left unmanned as the gates are wide open (vs13).

In verses 14-16 God tells the Assyrians to fortify, multiply and prepare for the siege only to tell them that it is in vain as His judgment is sure (vs19).

Applicable Themes

So, looking back over the text and then thinking about this vision that was given to Nahum by God, what was it he wanted his readers to know? I believe there are four things that stand out.

1. God wanted Nahum and his readers to know exactly what kind of God it is that granted him this vision.

2. He wanted his readers to know that God does not overlook sin.

3. He wanted his readers to know that God is faithful to honor His promises (both positive and negative). Positive being that God honors His promises and negative being that God honors His judgments.

4. God can and does use His enemies (and the enemies of His people) for His purposes (and for our good).

Application

Concerning Point # 1 I think it is important to note that God is the one who revealed this to Nahum. Nahum isn't describing God, but God is describing Himself to the prophet. Remember, this is the book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite, not the book of Nahum's thoughts on God. So why is it so important that God start by describing Himself to Nahum in this vision? Because if we don't know who God is, how can we be sure of what He says? Unless we know the character of the one giving the vision, we will never know if it can be trusted. It would be like us finding a note on the door of the church that states we have nothing to worry about concerning the funding for building a new sanctuary as it will be covered. How do we know that we can trust such a note? We must know who it is that stands behind the words of the note. If it was a group of teenagers out playing a prank, we know that we cannot trust it. If it was a wealthy Christian who benefits greatly from our online sermons and resources and wants to build us a new church sanctuary out of the kindness of his heart, then we know that there is merit in his words. He has the funds to back up the content of the note while the teenagers do not. In the same way, unless we know the giver of the vision, we cannot know the validity of the vision.

So, if God deems it important enough to dedicate the entire first portion of the book to describing and explaining His own character for Nahum's readers, what does this tell us concerning the importance of knowing God? Let me ask this in a different way: Can we truly have faith in the promises of God (both the positive promises and the negative judgments) and not know the God that promises them? There is a reason why the majority of Paul's epistles start with doctrine (describing God's character) and then move into ethics (how we apply that knowledge). There is a reason why the book of Nahum starts with God's character as well and I believe it is this: If we ever hope to have faith in the promises of God, we must first have faith in the God who made them. The Israelites needed to hear this and we need to hear this as well.

Concerning Point # 2 we see that the totality of the book is concerned with God's impending and sure judgment on Nineveh. Why? Why is God's judgment sure? Because God is a just God that demands holiness. This is why the Israelites were given command after command and instruction after meticulous instruction on how to interact with a holy God. Look at the design specifications of the Ark of the Covenant, of the Tabernacle, of the sacrificial system, of circumcision. God demands that we interact with Him in a certain way and that we respond to Him in a certain way. When God showed mercy to Nineveh and sent Jonah, they repented for a short while. When they entered back into their sinful ways, he granted them hundreds of years to repent as He is slow to anger and they were not ignorant of what the one true God required of them even though they were not His people. When they did not repent, God pronounced judgment over them as He cannot overlook sin. A holy God requires holiness. Sin does not lead to holiness and therefore it must be punished. Without holiness no one will see the Lord.

This is firmly rooted in who God is. God cannot overlook sin because of who He is. God lays out who He is to Nahum in Chapter 1 of the book. Verse 3 of chapter 1 is especially clear on this issue of God punishing not just sin but sinners as well: The LORD is slow to anger and great in power, And the LORD will by no means leave the guilty unpunished. God is holy and because He is holy we should ask ourselves, what does His holiness demand of us according to scripture.

Concerning Point # 3 we have seen that God wants the readers of Nahum to know that when He promises something, it will indeed happen. In fact He even tells them in verse 15 of chapter 1 to go a head and celebrate with their feasts even though the destruction of Nineveh was still years away. This is a wonderful blessing for the people of God to hear such a word of hope. They would be freed from their captivity and the Lord was guaranteeing this to them. On the flip side, God was also decreeing irrevocably that the Assyrians were to face utter destruction. Why do you think this is important? I believe that God was being merciful to the Israelites by showing them that He was going to restore them by crushing their enemy. He was systematically removing any doubt they might have had concerning the promises of God. It is one thing to tell you that I am going to do something for you but it is all the more believable if I tell you how I am going to do it. God did not have to do this, but in His mercy and love for His people He did.

Did you notice anything missing from this book? There's no warning to the Israelites. When I picked up on this, I thought it at first to be strange. The majority of the Old Testament deals directly with the people of God and almost always there is a direct warning to His people. So, why do you think this book doesn't have one? I believe for this reason: God is choosing to minister to His people. They were under judgment and the time of punishment has ended. God was going to bring His people out of captivity and back into His favor. He was indeed going to be their refuge while making an end of their captor. God is showing them the truth of verse 7 chapter 1: The LORD is good, A stronghold in the day of trouble, And He knows those who take refuge in Him. His people were hopeless captives to a tyrant nation and in God's mercy He filled them with hope. This was not a time of warning, but a time of refuge.

So then, if God's promises are sure what does that mean for us? I think it has a two-fold purpose. 1. We can trust God's promises. We see it time and time again recorded in the scriptures. God is faithful to fulfill His word. So much so that He would cease to be God if He failed to keep His promises. When God says that we should not worry about tomorrow and that He knows our needs and will meet them or exceed them and that He works all things for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose we can and should believe Him based on the past testimony of scripture. We should not doubt the faithfulness of God to us because if we do, we are indeed doubting the very character of God. We are saying that God is not who He has proven Himself to be. He gives us no reason to doubt. 2. We can trust God's judgments. In the same way that God has proven His faithfulness over and over again throughout the testimony of scripture and our own lives, He has also proven His judgments to be sure as well. In the same way Christians can be sure of salvation, pagans can also be sure of the judgment of Hell. Judgment isn't just bound to Hell either. God also states that He disciplines those He loves. Some are even handed over to Satan in hopes that they might turn from their sin and repent. Sometimes we need reminding of the hope of God's faithfulness, and sometimes we need to be reprimanded and reminded of the judgment that follows sin.

I think the danger here is that we prefer the love of God over the discipline of God and rightly so. No one likes to be disciplined. So, we tend to focus on the love of God to the detriment of the holiness of God. I think this is part of the reason why God finds it necessary to start the book by expounding on His own character. He knows His people and He knows that in times of plenty and when the people think that God is for them and not against them, they tend to slip into a state of spiritual indifference. In God's patience, they grow lax in holiness and I believe we do as well. God reminds them not only of His love, but also of His power and of His wrath. Notice how they are all present in this book. You have God comforting the Israelites in the latter half of chapter one and you have a very clear picture of God's vengeance and wrath throughout the rest of the book. It is not just "God loves His people" but God is avenging and wrathful and punishes the guilty. So we cannot forsake the holiness of God to embrace the love of God. We must be diligent to hold before us a balanced picture of who God is or else we will set up idols and incur the discipline of our loving God.

Closing

So, to close let me leave you with this: As a body of believers we must keep before ourselves and one another that God's promises are sure and His judgments are equally as trustworthy. We must also hold each other accountable to act accordingly to this reality. Just like Nahum spoke words of hope to the hopeless, we need to be encouraged and reminded of where our hope is to be found. We can not fight the good fight and run the race on our own. We need the body to encourage us and help us along- to fight for my sanctification as much as you do your own. And just as Nahum spoke words of judgment to the unrepentant, so we too need to be reminded of the consequences of sin because of the holiness of our God. We need both and we need both at the right times, but if you do not encourage me and I you, who will? If you do not rebuke me and I you, who will? We need each other and this is why the local church is so important when it comes to living a life of holiness. This is why you all are so important to me and why I should be important to you. You should trust that I will encourage you when you need it and rebuke you when you need it. I should be able to trust that you will do the same for me to the honor of God our Father.

So, in corporate worship, when we hear of the fulfillment of God's promise to Moses and of the judgment of the nations who inhabited the land, we should be reminded of the holiness of our God and the love of our God and ask our self, how should I live in light of these truths concerning my God. To put it another way: Because I am not ignorant of the character of God, how should this shape how I live my life in light of who God is.