Nahum
Chapter 1.
1. This book is the sequel to the book of Jonah. The book of Jonah recorded the repentance of Nineveh the capital city of Assyria. Nahum predicts its destruction. Nahum prophesied the word of God about 100 years after Jonah and the city of Nineveh.
2. God is never angry unless he has a holy reason. And he had a holy reason to be angry at Assyria because they were a very sinful, cruel, and disgusting nation.
3. God is slow to anger but it's not because he is weak or incapable of doing anything about that which he hates. He is slow to anger but he is also great in power.
God does not acquit the wicked. Just because he is slow to anger and to pour out his wrath doesn't mean that time lessens the guilt of sinners so that they won't be punished. They will be punished; God does not acquit the wicked and he has a long memory.
4. These three places mentioned in verse four were famous for being fertile. God says at my word that will become dry and shriveled.
5. God can make the ground shake, he has and he will. And when God makes the ground shake he causes all the buildings as well as all the people to fall flat.
God has powerful ways to get people's attention.
6. Just a warning to Assyria, Nineveh, and any other sinners, that God is perfectly capable of destroying anyone or anything know matter how powerful it might be. God can use anything that he wants to bring about destruction, and here in verse six a volcano seems to be view. I say that because a volcano is a mountain that shoots off rocks and fire. And God is saying I can shoot off rocks and fire, and I do when I've had enough of sin and you're going to find that out some day Nineveh.
7. God will do bad things to sinners who will not repent, but he will protect those who trust in him.
8. This passage was literally fulfilled. A long and heavy flood of the Tigris River carried away a large section of the big ramparts that surrounded the city of Nineveh. And it was through this That the Babylonians made their way within the walls and captured the place.
9. Trouble will not come to Assyria a second time. It won't have to because God will wipe it out the first time.
10. The Assyrians were powerful and drunk with pride and yet they would be consumed like dry stubble. Remember how the Assyrians blasphemed God and boasted against the Lord. They talked big but they were wiped out by the God that they despised.
11. This one who imagines evil against God, the wicked counselor was probably either Sennachbrib or maybe Rabshakeh. Both talked smart against God.
12. They were quiet and many. That means that the Assyrians felt secure and over confident because of all their soldiers and all their helpers. As far as they were concerned Jerusalem was easy pickings and they bragged about how they were going to do it and no one including God could stop them.
But God goes on to say that they will be cut down when he shall pass through. That means that Almighty God is going to pass through the Assyrian army and kill 185,000 of them just like he passed through the land of Egypt and killed their firstborn when they boasted against God.
13. The Assyrians were holding Judah captive as it were, surrounding the city of Jerusalem, but God said that he was going to burst their bonds asunder which speaks of instant deliverance and that's what happened. It happened when the angel of the Lord killed 185,000 of their soldiers and leaders and sent Sennachbrib home whimpering with his tail between his legs.
14. Assyria will be a thing of the past: no children and no gods. God will cause Babylon, the Medes, and the synthians to dig Assyria's grave.
15. In other words, God is saying that the wicked people of Assyria will never hurt you again. Judah would be free to enjoy good times with God unbothered by the mighty Assyrian Empire who was cut down to size by God and his one angel.
Chapter 2
1. God warns Nineveh that someone is going to attack them so they better have their military ready. That someone will be the Babylonians.
2. The northern part of Israel was humbled by God who had earlier used the Assyrians as his instrument of judgment to empty out that entire northern kingdom.
3,4. These verses describe the army that will come against Nineveh about 100 years or so after this prophecy.
5. The King of Nineveh will send for his elite troops but they will stumble around like bumbling idiots.
6. This explains the flood that I mentioned earlier in chapter 1 that caused the city to be vulnerable. God caused the rivers to flood and that helped to knock down the walls of Nineveh.
7. It is possible that Huzzab was the queen who escaped death but was led away captive.
8. Nineveh used to be like a pool of water in the sense that thousands of businesspeople used the flock to the city just like water would flow into a pool. But now all those merchants are running away because of the judgment of God, and in spite of the captains who are telling them to stay they're saying: you stay we are getting out of here.
9,10. The people of Nineveh will lose everything they put their trust in including their gold and their silver and so they become helpless and filled with fear.
And I guess the conquerors took God's command to remove all silver and gold seriously because archaeologists have found a lot of valuable things in the ruins of Nineveh but no one has found any gold or silver.
11. Nineveh was the old lion in that it was nearly 2000 years old when it was destroyed and Assyria in general is the lion. Once they were big and tough and secure but they will lose everything. They will have no place to sleep or eat; they lost their country.
12. Assyria is called the lion and one reason is because Nergal its God of war was portrayed as a winged lion that had a man's face. And when it says that the lion tore in pieces enough for his whelps it's talking about how the Assyrian Empire expanded and plundered other nations. And they were cruel in how they did it. Their soldiers literally tore and killed the people that they defeated.
13. Nineveh will be defeated and God wants them to know that he's the one who will do it. The human element in their destruction is irrelevant; God will demolish them. Judgment belongs to the Lord
Chapter 3
1. God calls Nineveh the bloody city. That refers to the bloody massacres that she perpetrated upon her defeated enemies. Assyria would often behead, impale, burn, and even skin alive the people that she conquered.
2,3. God describes the cruelty of the Assyrians. Talk about cruelty and sadistic, they even built a pyramid of chopped off heads in front of one of the cities that they defeated. They would often stacked the dead bodies of their enemies outside of the cities that they conquered.
4. God accuses Assyria of behaving like a harlot. Like a harlot they lured people with their sin, and by doing that they enslaved them spiritually speaking.
5. In other words God will disgrace Assyria. They should have been disgraced over there sin but they were not and so God will disgrace them when he punishes them for their sin.
6. In many ancient cultures a sinful woman would be stripped in public and then have all kinds of filth thrown at her to make her disgraced and publicly vile.
7. Nineveh will not get any sympathy from anyone when they are destroyed. No one will care because they had been so evil.
8. "Populace no" refers to the Egyptian city of Thebes. Thebes was a "great city" just like Nineveh and it was so fortified by the Nile and its canals that people considered it to be completely secure. But the Assyrians knew full well that that didn't mean anything because they conquered Thebes. And so Nahum asked the question: are you better, or are you stronger than Thebes Egypt?
9. Thebes had some powerful allies but they couldn't prevent her destruction ether. Assyria cut right through all their fortified defenses and their powerful allies. Why? Because it was God's will.
10. When Assyria defeated nations including Thebes they would capture the King, put a dog chain on them, and put them in a kennel by the gate of Nineveh. The point is this: Nineveh wouldn't end up any better themselves.
11. They will be drunk all right; they'll be drunk from drinking the cup of God's wrath which is overflowing against them. And they shall be hid which speaks of the fact that they're going to be covered up with the sands of the desert. And that's exactly what happened it's only been a little over 100 years since her remains were discovered.
12. If you shake a branch that has ripe fruit on it the fruit is going to fall to the ground easily. The fortresses of Assyria will fall like ripe fruit, no problem at all. They will fall because God is against them.
13. Assyria's military will become weak and without courage. They will be helpless to stop the invaders and that's because God will be backing them as they conquer.
14. God is saying go ahead and prepare your defenses but it's not going to do you any good.
15. And it happened just as God through Nahum said it would. Assyria's king died; he was buried alive in his own palace.
16. Assyria had become wealthy by making business deals with other nations. But the conquering nation took all their wealth away.
17. The officials whose job it was to guard the interests of Nineveh would instead function like cold locusts. Cold locusts are like cold flies; they are too cold to move and therefore are easy targets for someone to swat, and for that reason they will be no help to Assyria.
18. In other words, Assyria, your leaders are dead and your people are scattered. Like many other nations defeated by war Assyria's people will be refugees fleeing from disaster, trying to save their lives.
19. The world rejoiced when Assyria fell. Nineveh was destroyed, and never rebuilt. Within a couple of hundred years it was covered with sand.
Chapter 1.
1. This book is the sequel to the book of Jonah. The book of Jonah recorded the repentance of Nineveh the capital city of Assyria. Nahum predicts its destruction. Nahum prophesied the word of God about 100 years after Jonah and the city of Nineveh.
2. God is never angry unless he has a holy reason. And he had a holy reason to be angry at Assyria because they were a very sinful, cruel, and disgusting nation.
3. God is slow to anger but it's not because he is weak or incapable of doing anything about that which he hates. He is slow to anger but he is also great in power.
God does not acquit the wicked. Just because he is slow to anger and to pour out his wrath doesn't mean that time lessens the guilt of sinners so that they won't be punished. They will be punished; God does not acquit the wicked and he has a long memory.
4. These three places mentioned in verse four were famous for being fertile. God says at my word that will become dry and shriveled.
5. God can make the ground shake, he has and he will. And when God makes the ground shake he causes all the buildings as well as all the people to fall flat.
God has powerful ways to get people's attention.
6. Just a warning to Assyria, Nineveh, and any other sinners, that God is perfectly capable of destroying anyone or anything know matter how powerful it might be. God can use anything that he wants to bring about destruction, and here in verse six a volcano seems to be view. I say that because a volcano is a mountain that shoots off rocks and fire. And God is saying I can shoot off rocks and fire, and I do when I've had enough of sin and you're going to find that out some day Nineveh.
7. God will do bad things to sinners who will not repent, but he will protect those who trust in him.
8. This passage was literally fulfilled. A long and heavy flood of the Tigris River carried away a large section of the big ramparts that surrounded the city of Nineveh. And it was through this That the Babylonians made their way within the walls and captured the place.
9. Trouble will not come to Assyria a second time. It won't have to because God will wipe it out the first time.
10. The Assyrians were powerful and drunk with pride and yet they would be consumed like dry stubble. Remember how the Assyrians blasphemed God and boasted against the Lord. They talked big but they were wiped out by the God that they despised.
11. This one who imagines evil against God, the wicked counselor was probably either Sennachbrib or maybe Rabshakeh. Both talked smart against God.
12. They were quiet and many. That means that the Assyrians felt secure and over confident because of all their soldiers and all their helpers. As far as they were concerned Jerusalem was easy pickings and they bragged about how they were going to do it and no one including God could stop them.
But God goes on to say that they will be cut down when he shall pass through. That means that Almighty God is going to pass through the Assyrian army and kill 185,000 of them just like he passed through the land of Egypt and killed their firstborn when they boasted against God.
13. The Assyrians were holding Judah captive as it were, surrounding the city of Jerusalem, but God said that he was going to burst their bonds asunder which speaks of instant deliverance and that's what happened. It happened when the angel of the Lord killed 185,000 of their soldiers and leaders and sent Sennachbrib home whimpering with his tail between his legs.
14. Assyria will be a thing of the past: no children and no gods. God will cause Babylon, the Medes, and the synthians to dig Assyria's grave.
15. In other words, God is saying that the wicked people of Assyria will never hurt you again. Judah would be free to enjoy good times with God unbothered by the mighty Assyrian Empire who was cut down to size by God and his one angel.
Chapter 2
1. God warns Nineveh that someone is going to attack them so they better have their military ready. That someone will be the Babylonians.
2. The northern part of Israel was humbled by God who had earlier used the Assyrians as his instrument of judgment to empty out that entire northern kingdom.
3,4. These verses describe the army that will come against Nineveh about 100 years or so after this prophecy.
5. The King of Nineveh will send for his elite troops but they will stumble around like bumbling idiots.
6. This explains the flood that I mentioned earlier in chapter 1 that caused the city to be vulnerable. God caused the rivers to flood and that helped to knock down the walls of Nineveh.
7. It is possible that Huzzab was the queen who escaped death but was led away captive.
8. Nineveh used to be like a pool of water in the sense that thousands of businesspeople used the flock to the city just like water would flow into a pool. But now all those merchants are running away because of the judgment of God, and in spite of the captains who are telling them to stay they're saying: you stay we are getting out of here.
9,10. The people of Nineveh will lose everything they put their trust in including their gold and their silver and so they become helpless and filled with fear.
And I guess the conquerors took God's command to remove all silver and gold seriously because archaeologists have found a lot of valuable things in the ruins of Nineveh but no one has found any gold or silver.
11. Nineveh was the old lion in that it was nearly 2000 years old when it was destroyed and Assyria in general is the lion. Once they were big and tough and secure but they will lose everything. They will have no place to sleep or eat; they lost their country.
12. Assyria is called the lion and one reason is because Nergal its God of war was portrayed as a winged lion that had a man's face. And when it says that the lion tore in pieces enough for his whelps it's talking about how the Assyrian Empire expanded and plundered other nations. And they were cruel in how they did it. Their soldiers literally tore and killed the people that they defeated.
13. Nineveh will be defeated and God wants them to know that he's the one who will do it. The human element in their destruction is irrelevant; God will demolish them. Judgment belongs to the Lord
Chapter 3
1. God calls Nineveh the bloody city. That refers to the bloody massacres that she perpetrated upon her defeated enemies. Assyria would often behead, impale, burn, and even skin alive the people that she conquered.
2,3. God describes the cruelty of the Assyrians. Talk about cruelty and sadistic, they even built a pyramid of chopped off heads in front of one of the cities that they defeated. They would often stacked the dead bodies of their enemies outside of the cities that they conquered.
4. God accuses Assyria of behaving like a harlot. Like a harlot they lured people with their sin, and by doing that they enslaved them spiritually speaking.
5. In other words God will disgrace Assyria. They should have been disgraced over there sin but they were not and so God will disgrace them when he punishes them for their sin.
6. In many ancient cultures a sinful woman would be stripped in public and then have all kinds of filth thrown at her to make her disgraced and publicly vile.
7. Nineveh will not get any sympathy from anyone when they are destroyed. No one will care because they had been so evil.
8. "Populace no" refers to the Egyptian city of Thebes. Thebes was a "great city" just like Nineveh and it was so fortified by the Nile and its canals that people considered it to be completely secure. But the Assyrians knew full well that that didn't mean anything because they conquered Thebes. And so Nahum asked the question: are you better, or are you stronger than Thebes Egypt?
9. Thebes had some powerful allies but they couldn't prevent her destruction ether. Assyria cut right through all their fortified defenses and their powerful allies. Why? Because it was God's will.
10. When Assyria defeated nations including Thebes they would capture the King, put a dog chain on them, and put them in a kennel by the gate of Nineveh. The point is this: Nineveh wouldn't end up any better themselves.
11. They will be drunk all right; they'll be drunk from drinking the cup of God's wrath which is overflowing against them. And they shall be hid which speaks of the fact that they're going to be covered up with the sands of the desert. And that's exactly what happened it's only been a little over 100 years since her remains were discovered.
12. If you shake a branch that has ripe fruit on it the fruit is going to fall to the ground easily. The fortresses of Assyria will fall like ripe fruit, no problem at all. They will fall because God is against them.
13. Assyria's military will become weak and without courage. They will be helpless to stop the invaders and that's because God will be backing them as they conquer.
14. God is saying go ahead and prepare your defenses but it's not going to do you any good.
15. And it happened just as God through Nahum said it would. Assyria's king died; he was buried alive in his own palace.
16. Assyria had become wealthy by making business deals with other nations. But the conquering nation took all their wealth away.
17. The officials whose job it was to guard the interests of Nineveh would instead function like cold locusts. Cold locusts are like cold flies; they are too cold to move and therefore are easy targets for someone to swat, and for that reason they will be no help to Assyria.
18. In other words, Assyria, your leaders are dead and your people are scattered. Like many other nations defeated by war Assyria's people will be refugees fleeing from disaster, trying to save their lives.
19. The world rejoiced when Assyria fell. Nineveh was destroyed, and never rebuilt. Within a couple of hundred years it was covered with sand.