Nahum 1:1-15 |
Nahum 1:1-15
Nahum . it's small, it's compact, it's only 47 verses and 3 chapters; it's one of those wee books you could easily read in 10/15 minutes. Small in size. Big in message. Little-known, little-used. It's a sequel to the prophecy of Jonah. It's well worth reading; but, be warned, it can be a bit gory at times - it's doom and gloom.
You would almost think that the prophet had a one-track mind or only one string to his bow - his message is specific, and it's directed towards Nineveh; he doesn't miss them and hit the wall. The closing verse (3:19) says all that needs to be said: 'Nothing can heal your wound; your injury is fatal.'
The bell tolls rather ominously; this was the death knell of the vast Assyrian empire. In its heyday, it was a superpower - a mega empire that stretched across Asia Minor: from Egypt in the west, to the border between Iran and India in the east, and from Russia in the north, to Arabia in the south. It was big!
Here is a nation in freefall, because the judgment of God is levelled against her. When she fell, it was sensational and stunningly spectacular. Nineveh was a magnificent city; it was a case of God saying: 'You are the weakest link, Goodbye!'
The storyline running through the book is that God rules and overrules; the Lord is king of all the earth; God is sovereign. He's on the throne! Our God reigns! He calls the shots!
Sooner or later, men and nations get their comeuppance - the message is, you can't sin and win! In the purposes of a holy and just God, there is always a day of reckoning; a day when men are brought to book. They don't get off Scot-free.
The book divides neatly into three: chapter one, God is jealous, Nineveh will fall; chapter two, God is judge, how Nineveh will fall; chapter three, God is just, why Nineveh will fall. The two key verses are 1:2 and 1:7. They are two sides to one coin - the Lord is against his enemies, but he's on the side of his people.
The prophet is described in 1:1 as 'Nahum the Elkoshite' - he came from the town of Elkosh; we haven't a clue where it was. Some folks link it to Capernaum - that means, the village of Nahum, but we don't know for sure.
Nothing is known about Nahum - his background, family, and occupation are all shrouded in silence. God uses ordinary people! His name means comfort or compassion - he wasn't much comfort to the people of Nineveh; but he sure brightened the day for the people of Judah, because their Public Enemy Number One would be gone forever.
Nahum's message is depicted in two ways - 'an oracle', it was something he felt, it was like a heavy burden on the heart of the prophet; 'a vision', something he saw. It gripped his heart and mind. When he first heard it, he must have wondered, How on Earth is this going to happen?
Nineveh was impregnable, she seemed insurmountable, too big to hit. It proves the point that God can do anything - nothing is too hard for the Lord; on a human level, the prediction mightn't have made much sense - when God is on your tracks, you may run, but you can't hide. There is no escape!
1:2 . we meet God in this section. Nahum gives us a glimpse of the character of God, we see some of his attributes. He is the 'LORD' - he's the God of the covenant, the God who keeps his promises - when God makes a commitment, he stands by it. He is a 'jealous' God. Having said that, his eyes are not green with envy - he is envious of no one, he made everything and he owns everything; but he is keen to protect his glory, he will pull out all the stops to guard the honour of his name.
One of the ways he does it is by taking 'vengeance on his foes'. When God acts, he doesn't do it on a whim; he's not malicious or spiteful; he's not vicious or cruel. He is a God of wrath, a God of fury, a God who always gets it right when dealing with people, a God who has a long memory - even when he strikes hardest, it is often tempered with mercy. I think it's a powerful reminder of the question in Genesis 18:25, 'Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?' A God of justice.
1:3a . we read that 'the Lord is slow to anger' - that means as and when God is angry about something or with someone, he doesn't fly off the handle, doesn't blow a fuse, doesn't lose his temper. His anger is a reflection of his holiness. He doesn't vent his spleen to get even, but to deal with sin. Even then he is 'slow' to do it - that's not a sign of weakness, it's more an act of mercy. He is long-suffering, he is willing to give man one more chance to repent. It may be postponed, but it will happen, for 'the Lord will not leave the guilty unpunished' - God will not and cannot ignore the sins of the people.
It's worth noting that divine punishment is retribution, it's not retaliation. There's nothing vindictive about the Lord. God's jealousy has two ingredients - the warmth of his love and the fire of his wrath. [we see it at Calvary]
We also discover in the same verse that he is 'great in power' - our God is omnipotent, the Almighty One. A God who knows all things and sees all things; a God who runs the show from start to finish - even Job testified: 'I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted' (42:2). Nahum wants to remind the Lord's people that no matter how great the enemy is, the Lord is bigger. The enemy is no match for God; they are like grasshoppers, he is God.
3b-6 . these few verses are a catalogue of some of the things the Lord did in days gone past. They pay eloquent tribute to the incredible ability of the Lord - he's a God who does what he wants to do, when he chooses to do it.
The first event alluded to in 3b is the global Flood connected with Noah and his family. God controls the forces of nature; he uses them to bring justice to this world of sin and shame. In Noah's day they pooh-poohed the idea that God would send a Flood, they laughed, they joked, rain had never fallen before, but with God there is a first time for everything. Never more so than when he's the one who is calling the tune!
Nahum was telling the people: OK, just because God didn't pull the trigger in Jonah's day, doesn't mean he won't do it in my day! God never backtracks on his word - if he says he'll do it, rest assured, it will happen!
The people needed to learn - although they were scared stiff of Assyria, and even though they lived their lives in sheer terror, God was on the warpath. He has a frightening array of weapons in his arsenal - no bomb or bullet will ever rival his eternal power.
They didn't walk on water in verse 4; Nahum refers here to the crossing of the Red Sea in Exodus 14. Mega challenge, indeed. The people were hemmed in on every side, yet God intervened in a miraculous manner - the sea parted and they crossed over on dry land. They didn't get their feet wet.
Moses told the people: 'stand firm and see', God told them to 'move on'. That is a brilliant cameo of the Christian life - too often when difficulties arise, we want to go back; others tell us to stand firm; but God wants us to rely on him and move on in faith!
It was Nahum saying to the Assyrians - 'Look, you'd better be careful, you guys think you're invincible and you have God's people just where you want them. Don't forget Pharaoh and his big mistake - he forgot about the power of God and it cost him dear!'
The gauntlet is thrown down in 4b when he refers to the rich luscious pastures of Bashan, the cornfields of Carmel, and the famed cedars of Lebanon - three essential factors for a strong economy and to keep the people from going hungry. In one fell swoop, the Lord would bring them to their knees! You can't depend on your natural resources, they're here today and gone tomorrow. God alone can be trusted.
The next two verses remind us that God can make mountains shake, he did it at Sinai in Exodus 19; he can remove every obstacle in his path as 'the hills melt away' - he can send an earthquake and cause the people to tremble, he can scare the daylights out of ordinary men - he just has to blow on Planet Earth and men are left reeling, so awesome is his strength.
No one can stand up when God unleashes his power! His wrath is like molten lava from an erupting volcano - it comes down in torrents. When God strikes a man, he can't take it on the chin, he's down on the canvas, knocked out cold. That's power!
1:7-8 . when the storm is howling all around, here's an oasis of peace. It's an insight into the uniqueness of our God - all people are good some of the time, but he is good all of the time. How good is the God we adore! Even when things seem bad and the future looks bleak, the Lord is still good.
He is a 'refuge in times of trouble' - we have proven that time and time again. He's a shelter in the big storm, a haven when the seas of life are heaving. We run to him in our hour of crisis and find safety, security, and salvation. That's all because 'he cares for those who trust in him' - he genuinely cares for us, he feels for us, he meets us at the point of our need. Our future is locked into God's hands, our life is hid in his heart, our feet are firmly planted on his rock. In time and eternity, we've nothing to worry about. Jesus cares!
The contrast could not be plainer - since God is for us, he is set against his enemies. They don't stand a chance. The hound of heaven will relentlessly pursue them and they can't outrun God. On God's clock, their time is up! Not a minute more - they have blown it and have only themselves to blame. They get their just desserts.
1:9-10 . these verses intimate that resistance to God is futile. They are whistling in the wind. They have lots of big ideas, an unconquerable army, and a pompous arrogance - yet God's word is unmistakably clear: their days are numbered, they're on the way out. The language is graphic and vivid - it's not a case of three strikes and you're out, this is one blow and you're gone! The NLT says the Assyrians are 'tangled up like thorns, staggering like drunks, [who] will be burned like dry straw in a field.' They're like stubble burned in a prairie fire; their demise is certain!
1:11 . Nahum singles out one individual for special mention in this verse. The man at the top was ruthless in his cruelty, he was callous in his treatment of the weak and poor; this guy has such a swollen ego that he thinks he can take on the Lord and beat him. What an idiot. He's backing a loser if he thinks he can get one over the Lord. He was probably referring to the last king of Assyria, Ashurbanipal (669-627 BC).
1:14 . God says three things about him: one, his dynasty will end because he'll have no descendants; two, all his little gods will be destroyed; three, his life will come to an abrupt end for God is seen here as the gravedigger. God takes one look at the Beast of Nineveh and says he is 'vile'. The word means 'light' or 'insubstantial'. In God's eyes, this world leader was only a lightweight politician. Nothing much to him. That's certainly not a compliment. It was a bare, blunt fact.
1:12-13 . Nahum begins with a one-off phrase, 'this is what the Lord says' - that makes it special and suggests he is about to say something significant and hugely important. Judah may be little, the enemy may be great, but that's no problem to the Lord - numbers don't frighten him. God is on the side of his people, he's for us 24/7, God is on the side of the underdog.
It tells us that God uses all kinds of people to mould our lives - he even used the Assyrians to teach Judah lessons they needed to learn. The Lord can and does use unbelievers to fulfil his purposes. Ultimately the Lord brings relief and rest to his weary people. He is the God who snaps every fetter, he breaks every shackle; his plan is for us to enjoy freedom and liberty. A better day is coming!
1:15 . an echo of Isaiah 52:7 and Paul in Romans 10:15. The 'mountains' refer to the hills around Jerusalem - Psalm 121:1 - we need to look to the hills for our help in every situation comes from the Lord. The courier is a man with beautiful feet, a bearer of supremely glad tidings, he 'proclaims peace'. In a troubled and perplexed world, that's what they needed to hear. That's what the gospel of Christ is all about - peace from our past, peace in the here and now, peace tomorrow, peace with our partner, peace with our neighbours, peace with our God.
It's a cause for celebration - 'celebrate your festivals' . God wants us to enjoy life in him, he doesn't expect us to go about as miserable saints; it's a time for making a clear commitment, 'fulfil your vows' - God is looking for those who will obey his word and happily do his will. Victory is ours for God deals with all our enemies! The best is yet to be for God wipes out every adversary - we're winners!
The opposition may frighten us, but faith in God wins the day. The take-home message is: our God is invincible!
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