Nahum 3:1-7 (Part 2)

1 Woe to the bloody city, all full of lies and plunder—no end to the prey! 2 The crack of the whip, and rumble of the wheel, galloping horse and bounding chariot! 3 Horsemen charging, flashing sword and glittering spear, hosts of slain, heaps of corpses, dead bodies without end—they stumble over the bodies! 4 And all for the countless whorings of the prostitute, graceful and of deadly charms, who betrays nations with her whorings, and peoples with her charms. 5 Behold, I am against you, declares the LORD of hosts, and will lift up your skirts over your face; and I will make nations look at your nakedness and kingdoms at your shame. 6 I will throw filth at you and treat you with contempt and make you a spectacle. 7 And all who look at you will shrink from you and say, Wasted is Nineveh; who will grieve for her? Where shall I seek comforters for you?

Verse 4. Compare to Revelation 17:2 and 18:3. Also compare with Revelation 2:14-15.

with whom the kings of the earth have committed sexual immorality, and with the wine of whose sexual immorality the dwellers on earth have become drunk.”

For all nations have drunk the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality, and the kings of the earth have committed immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth have grown rich from the power of her luxurious living.”

But I have a few things against you: you have some there who hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, so that they might eat food sacrificed to idols and practice sexual immorality. So also you have some who hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans.

The relationship which may exist between the mention of the Nicolaitans (Rev. 2:15) in close association with Balaam (Rev. 2:14) has also been noted. The two names (Nicolaitans, Balaam) have very similar meanings in their respective languages: Balaam is derived from two Hebrew words, בָּלַע [bālaʿ] (‘he swallows’) and עָם [ʿām] (‘people’). Interestingly, according to the derivative meanings of the names, the two groups troubling this church [Pergamos] were ‘swallowers of the people’ (i.e., the Balaamites) and ‘conquerors of the people’ (i.e., the Nicolaitans). If the similar meaning of their names is significant and their mention in adjoining verses in the letter to Pergamos is intended to show a relationship, then it is thought that the licentious tendencies of the Nicolaitans might be understood in light of the doctrine of Balaam.

Richard Trench writes: “Was there, in the first place, any sect existing at the time when these words were uttered, which actually bore this name? I believe not. The key to the right understanding of it is given us at Rev. 2:14-15; where those ‘that hold the doctrine of Balaam’ (Rev. 2:14) are evidently identical with those ‘that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans’ (Rev. 2:15). It may be observed that his name [Balaam], according to the best etymology, signifies ‘Destroyer of the people’ (from בֶלַע [ḇelaʿ] and עָם [ʿām]; and Νικόλαος (νικα̃ν τὸν λαόν) is no more than a Grecizing of this name. The Nicolaitans are the Balaamites - those who in the New Testament repeated the sin of Balaam in the Old, and sought to overcome or destroy the people of God by the same temptations whereby Balaam had sought to overcome them before.” Trench, Richard Chenevix. Commentary on the Epistles to the Seven Churches in Asia, Wipf and Stock Publishers. 1861.

Now let me insert here briefly that I am not straying off into speculation for the sake of looking smart. The sins mentioned in these Revelation passages are the sins for which God criticizes His people constantly throughout the Old Testament period. And in this segment of Nahum, it is clear that their spiritually defiling influence of God’s covenant people is the primary impetus for God’s judgment against them.

Before expounding this notion and the sin in question, let me briefly defend the position I have taken by appealing to a feature of John’s writings which I take as a key to understanding this passage. It is a motif of juxtaposing Hebrew/Aramaic words and their Greek equivalents. This motif of setting Hebrew/Aramaic words side by side with their Greek equivalents is common in John’s writings. Revelation 1:7; 22:20 nai/amen; 9:11 Abaddon/Apollyon; Cephas/Peter John 1:42; Thomas/Didymus in John. In three places (John 11:16, 20:24 and 21:2) he is given the name Didymus (Δίδυμος), the Greek word for a twin. In fact, "the Twin" is not just a surname, it is a translation of "Thomas". The Greek Θωμᾶς — Thōmâs — comes from the Aramaic tômâ, "twin". Therefore, rather than two personal names, Thomas Didymus, there is a single nickname, the Twin. John 20:16 gives Rabboni/Master. John also does this with Golgotha, Gabbatha and the Pool of Bethesda. Suffice it to say that this is common in John’s writings, so it would seem to be the easiest way to handle the Balaamite/Nicolaitan connection.

The sin, or sins, under question were twofold. One the part of Balaam, as 2 Peter 2:15 says, it was a desire for gain even when it meant disobeying what one clearly knows to be God’s will. Balaam was hindered by God from pronouncing a curse against Israel, but he still wanted Balak’s money, so he devised another way to get them cursed, namely to get them to fall into gross sin and incur the rod of God for their disobedience. In contemporary Evangelical circles, we have countless “ministers” who are not accountable to anyone leading people into gross theological error because they can make a quick buck off of their audience’s credulity.

Last year, a pastor named Ed Young, did an event with an accompanying sermon, book, and a host of other related media materials called: “The Sexperiment.” For 24 hours, he and his wife had a sleep-in, not unlike John and Yoko’s. They lay in a bed on the roof of the church, all the while streaming themselves over the internet as they took questions from viewers about sex. Never mind the obvious tomfoolery of such a gimmick, let’s consider the logical inconsistency of what they did. First of all, the stunt was intended combat our society’s promiscuous treatment of sex. It is not something that anyone can have any time they want it. It is a private, intimate issue strictly confined within the bonds of marriage. Yet, this private intimate thing was broadcast over the internet from the roof of the church! We always interpret actions through the underlying assumptions exposed by the acts themselves. Will anyone in their right mind deduce from such a public display that to Christians sexual relations are guarded with the utmost vigilance? No. They will think that we treat it as tritely as the rest of our society does. The live event, as well as the whole glut of materials related to it made the Youngs a small fortune.

One also thinks of the book, The Prayer of Jabez. This book was a runaway best seller. The author must’ve made a fortune from this book alone. As if that weren’t enough, the publishers came out with a dozen editions of it for every imaginable demographic. There was The Prayer of Jabez for men; The Prayer of Jabez for women; The Prayer of Jabez for teens; The Prayer of Jabez for dads; The Prayer of Jabez for moms; The Prayer of Jabez for fly fishing enthusiasts, ad nauseum. The central feature of the book was a Gnostic claim to secret knowledge to unlocking wealth and success, which could be yours for the low price of $14.95. And if you call in the next 5 minutes, we’ll double the offer.

One the part of the people it was a perversion of God’s worship by eating food sacrificed to idols and by engaging in sexual immorality. Adultery is a constant Scriptural metaphor for spiritual infidelity to God or syncretistic worship. The sin which is being rebuked at Pergamos is lax morality due to far too casual interaction with the pagan world around them. They were desensitized by their interaction. This is not a call for monasticism, but a reminder that we are to be in the world, but not of it.

Pagan rituals were often rife with sexual perversions and blatant immorality. A Christian could eat the food sacrificed to this deity, who was in fact a non-entity, without being spiritually defiled, as Paul clearly argues in 1 Corinthians 8. The problem is when one assumes that since the idol is not real, one can show his spiritual strength by actually attending these pagan rites. By the very act of being present, the Christian is exposing himself to the conscience-defiling immorality associated with these rites. Simply consider that sexual promiscuity as it is practiced in and endorsed by our society is based upon a philosophy of atheistic naturalism, the pagan deity has been replaced by self-worship, and at bottom, what we see is just another, more subtle version of the same religious use of sexuality.

The same can be said of the pervasive violence of our culture, especially as it is embodied in the discussions about abortion and euthanasia. In both instances, men deify themselves and thumb their noses at the Godhood of God and His right over life and death, usurping to themselves that over which only God has authority.

Nahum 3:1-7 (Part 1)

1 Woe to the bloody city, all full of lies and plunder—no end to the prey! 2 The crack of the whip, and rumble of the wheel, galloping horse and bounding chariot! 3 Horsemen charging, flashing sword and glittering spear, hosts of slain, heaps of corpses, dead bodies without end—they stumble over the bodies! 4 And all for the countless whorings of the prostitute, graceful and of deadly charms, who betrays nations with her whorings, and peoples with her charms. 5 Behold, I am against you, declares the LORD of hosts, and will lift up your skirts over your face; and I will make nations look at your nakedness and kingdoms at your shame. 6 I will throw filth at you and treat you with contempt and make you a spectacle. 7 And all who look at you will shrink from you and say, Wasted is Nineveh; who will grieve for her? Where shall I seek comforters for you?

1-3 Compare verse 1 with Habakkuk 2:12 and Ezekiel 24:6-14, which is addressed to Babylon, Assyria’s successor. We have already discussed the fact that Assyria was incredibly violent, even by contemporary standards. What is interesting here is that the language of verses 2 and 3 is exactly like the Assyrian boasts recorded on the clay tablets of Sennacherib’s chronicles. Again we have God turning sinners’ boasts on their heads and causing the arrogant to fall into the pit they have dug for others.

Albert Barnes comments: “It is all full of lies and robbery - Better, ‘it is all lie; it is full of robbery’ (plunder). ‘Lie’ includes all falsehood, in word or act, denial of God, hypocrisy; toward man, it speaks of treachery, treacherous dealing, in contrast with open violence or plunder. The whole being of the wicked is one lie, toward God and man; deceiving and deceived; leaving no place for God who is the Truth; seeking through falsehood things which fail. Man ‘loves vain words and seeks after lies’ (Psalm 4:2). All were gone out of the way. There were none in so great a multitude, for whose sake the mercy of God might spare so great a city. It is full, not so much of booty as of rapine and violence. The sin remains, when the profit is gone. Yet it ceases not, but perseveres to the end; ‘the prey departs not;’ they will neither leave the sin, nor the sin them; they neither repent, nor are weary of sinning. Avarice especially gains vigor in old age, and grows by being fed. ‘The prey departeth not,’ but continues as a witness against it, as a lion's lair is defiled by the fragments of his prey.”

Another interesting feature of this passage is the use of words like ‘horses’ and ‘chariots,’ which to any Jew would hearken them back to the Exodus. There is no doubt in my mind that this is intentional. All temporal judgments are merely foretastes of the great Day of Judgment which looms over the heads of all who reject God. 

Nahum 2:7-13 (Part 3)

7 its mistress is stripped; she is carried off, her slave girls lamenting, moaning like doves and beating their breasts. 8 Nineveh is like a pool whose waters run away. “Halt! Halt!” they cry, but none turns back. 9 Plunder the silver, plunder the gold! There is no end of the treasure or of the wealth of all precious things. 10 Desolate! Desolation and ruin! Hearts melt and knees tremble; anguish is in all loins; all faces grow pale! 11 Where is the lions’ den, the feeding place of the young lions, where the lion and lioness went, where his cubs were, with none to disturb? 12 The lion tore enough for his cubs and strangled prey for his lionesses; he filled his caves with prey and his dens with torn flesh. 13 Behold, I am against you, declares the LORD of hosts, and I will burn your chariots in smoke, and the sword shall devour your young lions. I will cut off your prey from the earth, and the voice of your messengers shall no longer be heard.

Another passage of Scripture which speaks to the same event is the following:

Zephaniah 2:13-15 And he will stretch out his hand against the north and destroy Assyria, and he will make Nineveh a desolation, a dry waste like the desert.  Herds shall lie down in her midst, all kinds of beasts; even the owl and the hedgehog shall lodge in her capitals; a voice shall hoot in the window; devastation will be on the threshold; for her cedar work will be laid bare. This is the exultant city that lived securely, that said in her heart, “I am, and there is no one else.” What a desolation she has become, a lair for wild beasts! Everyone who passes by her hisses and shakes his fist.

This theme runs all throughout the Scriptures. Note:

Proverbs 21:18 - The wicked is a ransom for the righteous, and the traitor for the upright.

Isaiah 43:3 - For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I give Egypt as your ransom, Cush and Seba in exchange for you.

Barnes writes, ”The argument is, that if he had suffered Egypt, Ethiopia, and Seba to be desolated and ruined instead of them, or in order to effect their deliverance, they had nothing to fear from Babylon or any other hostile nation, but that he would effect their deliverance even at the expense of the overthrow of the most mighty kingdoms. The word rendered 'ransom' here is כפר kôpher. It is derived from כפר kâphar - means literally to cover; to cover over; to overlay with anything, as pitch, as in Genesis 6:14. Hence, to cover over sins; to overlook; to forgive; and hence, to make an expiation for sins, or to atone for transgression so that it may be forgiven Genesis 32:21;Exodus 30:15; Leviticus 4:20; Leviticus 5:26; Leviticus 11:24; Leviticus 16:6; Psalm 65:4; Psalm 78:38; Proverbs 16:14; Jeremiah 18:25; Ezekiel 45:20; Daniel 9:24. The noun (כפר kôpher) means: A ransom; a price of redemption, or an expiation; so called because by it sins were covered over, concealed, or removed Exodus 29:36; Exodus 30:10, Exodus 30:16. In such an expiation, that which was offered as the ransom was supposed to take the place of that for which the expiation was made, and this idea is distinctly retained in the versions of this passage.”

God’s judgment of the wicked and His saving of His people are two sides of the same coin. If we don’t see this, we will misread most of the Old Testament and large portions of the New. Revelation 6:9-11 comes to mind. The souls of martyrs cry out before the throne of God for justice while they await the rest of their brethren who will die for the faith also. The separation of the ‘sheep and the goats’ in Matthew 25 is another picture.

And I will punish Bel in Babylon, and take out of his mouth what he has swallowed. The nations shall no longer flow to him;             the wall of Babylon has fallen. “Go out of the midst of her, my people! Let every one save his life from the fierce anger of the LORD! (Jeremiah 51:44-45 ESV)

Zechariah 9:9-16 – The Triumphant Entry of Christ signals the inauguration of judgment against God’s enemies and the salvation of His people.

then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment, (2 Peter 2:9 ESV)

But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly. (2 Peter 3:7 ESV)

The message of Nahum is the message of the Gospel: God saves His people. He saves them from their sins and from His just wrath upon it. The wrath of God against sin must either fall on us or upon Christ for us. The God-man was named Jesus because He would save His people from their sins! This is perhaps the most overlooked aspect of the Gospel. We, with our incessant reliance on the broken Covenant of Works, obsess over our infractions of God’s law, as if this will put us out of His favor, or as if Christ did not atone for this. We should rather think of God as a “father who pities His children” (Ps. 103:9-13). Our sins are either atoned for or they are not. If they are not, then let’s revert to Romanism, where at least we can offer Mass for our continued forgiveness of our sins. If they are, then we must rest in Christ’s perfect obedience and know that nothing can separate us from the love of God. God does not punish us for our sins, because He punished Christ for them. He chastises us from them, not for them. And there is a world of difference between the words “for” and “from!”

The power of the Gospel is not contingent upon your performance, but on Christ’s. And as long as you see performance as the pivot or hinge upon which everything turns, you will never see the Gospel in the Old Testament.

How were pious persons saved before the coming of Christ? By believing in a Savior to come. How did they show their faith? By offering sacrifices on God's altar. What did these sacrifices represent? Christ, the Lamb of God, who was to die for sinners. This is the core of the Gospel and it is the pillar upon which rests all of God’s dealings with His people in the Old Testament. To miss this is to miss everything.

Nahum 2:7-13 (Part 2)

7 its mistress is stripped; she is carried off, her slave girls lamenting, moaning like doves and beating their breasts. 8 Nineveh is like a pool whose waters run away. “Halt! Halt!” they cry, but none turns back. 9 Plunder the silver, plunder the gold! There is no end of the treasure or of the wealth of all precious things. 10 Desolate! Desolation and ruin! Hearts melt and knees tremble; anguish is in all loins; all faces grow pale! 11 Where is the lions’ den, the feeding place of the young lions, where the lion and lioness went, where his cubs were, with none to disturb? 12 The lion tore enough for his cubs and strangled prey for his lionesses; he filled his caves with prey and his dens with torn flesh. 13 Behold, I am against you, declares the LORD of hosts, and I will burn your chariots in smoke, and the sword shall devour your young lions. I will cut off your prey from the earth, and the voice of your messengers shall no longer be heard.

"Nineveh was laid waste as ruthlessly and completely as her kings had once ravaged Susa and Babylon; the city was put to the torch, the population was slaughtered or enslaved, and the palace so recently built by Ashurbanipal was sacked and destroyed. At one blow Assyria disappeared from history. Nothing remained of her except certain tactics and weapons of war ...The Near East remembered her for a while as a merciless unifier of a dozen lesser states; and the Jews recalled Nineveh vengefully as 'the bloody city, full of lies and robbery.' In a little while all but the mightiest of the Great Kings were forgotten, and all their royal palaces were in ruins under the drifting sands. Two hundred years after its capture, Xenophon's Ten Thousand marched over the mounds that had been Nineveh, and never suspected that these were the site of the ancient metropolis that had ruled half the world. Not a stone remained visible of all the temples with which Assyria's pious warriors had sought to beautify their greatest capital. Even Ashur, the everlasting god, was dead." (Will Durant, Our Oriental Heritage, pp. 283, 284). 1935

What can we learn from Nineveh? Matthew Henry summed it up when he wrote: "About a hundred years before, at Jonah's preaching, the Ninevites repented, and were spared, yet, soon after, they became worse than ever. Nineveh knows not that God who contends with her, but is told what a God he is. It is good for all to mix faith with what is here said concerning Him, which speaks great terror to the wicked, and comfort to believers. Let each take his portion from it: let sinners read it and tremble; and let saints read it and triumph. The anger of the Lord is contrasted with his goodness to his people. Perhaps they are obscure and little regarded in the world, but the Lord knows them. The Scripture character of Jehovah agrees not with the views of proud reasoners."

2:10 Buqa, Mebuqa, Mebulaqa, “Desolate! Desolation and ruin!” The Hebrew wording creates and intensifying of the gloominess by alliteration and growing length of the words used, along with rhyme. To create something of the proper atmosphere, you’d probably have to say this in a Transylvanian accent or something to make it sound sufficiently eerie. 

2:11-13 Lions played a huge part in Assyrian iconography. All of the royal reliefs are full of lion imagery. It carried both a royal and religious significance. The mention of lions, cubs and lionesses here is clearly sarcastic.

In ancient Assyria, lion hunting was a sport reserved for kings. These hunts were symbolic of the ruling monarch’s duty to protect and fight for his people. Reliefs found in a former palace in Nineveh dating from about 645 BC in the British Museum in London show King Ashurbanipal hunting lions. The Assyrian Kings were famous hunters. They would often go lion hunting for political and religious purposes. They thought that if they were good at hunting, the gods would favor them, which would help them later. These kings are often portrayed on the plains of Syria, but there were no lions there so they were imported from Africa. To get the lion out of his cage and onto the Syrian plains, a servant would raise a door and start running. Then the lion would get beaten by dogs and beaters, so that the lion would go to the king. The king would kill the lion from a chariot with his bow and arrow or spear. Sometimes the king would kill it on foot with a sword. He would do this by holding it by the mane and then thrusting the sword into the lion's throat. Then, when the lion was killed, the king would pour a libation over it and give a speech to the city’s god to thank him, so the lion's evil spirit wouldn't come back and haunt him. The pictures of these hunts were usually hung in the king's tomb. Expert spearmen and archers would protect the king, but this wasn't really needed because the kings were expert hunters.

The lion hunting was part of the religious life of Assyria; hence it was an idolatrous practice. God singles out this imagery with an obvious sense of irony. This is reminiscent of the 10 Plagues of Egypt. By the plagues, God took direct shots at 10 Egyptian deities. By destroying Nineveh, God did so in a way that flouted the nonexistence of the Assyrian gods and goddesses.

Gushkin-banda – god of gold

Ea - god of the waters

Qingu - battle leader

Ishtar - goddess of love, procreation, and war

Siduri - barmaid

Nusku - god of fire

Gerra - god of fire

Ishum - god of fire

There is no God but the Lord and He delights in showing His glory by proving the nothingness of the gods of the nations.

Nahum 2:7-13 (Part 1)

7 its mistress is stripped; she is carried off, her slave girls lamenting, moaning like doves and beating their breasts. 8 Nineveh is like a pool whose waters run away. “Halt! Halt!” they cry, but none turns back. 9 Plunder the silver, plunder the gold! There is no end of the treasure or of the wealth of all precious things. 10 Desolate! Desolation and ruin! Hearts melt and knees tremble; anguish is in all loins; all faces grow pale! 11 Where is the lions’ den, the feeding place of the young lions, where the lion and lioness went, where his cubs were, with none to disturb? 12 The lion tore enough for his cubs and strangled prey for his lionesses; he filled his caves with prey and his dens with torn flesh. 13 Behold, I am against you, declares the LORD of hosts, and I will burn your chariots in smoke, and the sword shall devour your young lions. I will cut off your prey from the earth, and the voice of your messengers shall no longer be heard.

2:7 Our ESV has “mistress” in verse 7 for the Hebrew word “Huzzab,” which older English translations take as a proper noun and simply transliterate. The root of the Hebrew word implies one who stood beside the king, so it is seen likely to be a reference to the queen. It may also signify Nineveh personified as a queen – one who had long stood in the most supreme power and prosperity. Being carried off into exile is detailed and depicted in the language of the stripping and public humiliating of a woman. This was a powerful metaphor for a culture whose women were secluded. Compare this with Isaiah 47: 2, 3 where the same image of a woman with her face and legs exposed is used of a city that has be taken captive and dismantled, which can also be compared to 3:5 of this book. The people will be carried off, or as the Hebrew has it, “brought up,” (a synonym for captivity).

Many interpreters think “huzzab” to be the name of the queen. Hence, we are told that the queen is gone into exile. I agree with Calvin that this view is a bit too strained. Nothing in the text indicates that this is a proper noun. It seems correct rather to say that this word is a personification of the whole empire. The root of the word means ‘to stand’ or ‘to be fixed in place,’ hence as a personification it is particularly poignant because we are told that she who thought she was immovable is going to be moved. 

If we prefer the notion that this refers to the queen personally, then the meaning would be much the same: the queen, who before sat in the midst of her pleasures, shall be violently drawn into exile, and carried away to another country. And it may even be probable that Nahum does refer to the queen, as a personification of the whole empire, thus conflating both views, because it immediately follows, Her handmaids lead her as with the voice of doves, and smite on their breasts; that is, her maids, who before flattered her, shall laments and with sighing and tears, and mourning, shall lead away, as a captive, their own mistress. Thus the context would harmonize.

Nineveh has been compared to a dishonored and dethroned queen, so here the image is intensified with the mention of her handmaidens mourning and moaning like doves. The coo of a dove sound forlorn and sad, hence it is an apt analogy for sighing and weeping. The handmaidens are likely, as Jerome (347-420) understood it, the minor cities and surrounding areas that were totally dependent on Nineveh for their sustenance and prosperity. It is easy to forget that Nineveh was the capital of the Assyrian Empire, and although, the whole Empire’s prosperity was not dependent purely upon Nineveh’s economy, it was dependent upon Nineveh’s power. Once the capital of an Empire goes down, the whole empire quickly fragments back into its former territories, only now there are ill-equipped for autonomy. Hence widespread economic ruin ensues.

2:8 Many of Nahum’s details have been verified, even incidentally, by archaeology. Skeletons in armor have been exhumed from rubble; 20,000 clay tablets written in cuneiform have been discovered from Sargon’s library; walls have been unearthed; and contemporary records have been found which include details which would have been unknown otherwise.

Nahum’s prophecy lists the following items as part of Nineveh’s destruction:

An "overflowing flood" would "make an utter end of its place" (Nah. 1:8)

Nineveh would be destroyed while her inhabitants were "drunken like drunkards" (Nah. 1:10)

Nineveh would be unprotected because "fire shall devour the bars of your gates" (Nah. 3:13)

Nineveh would never recover, for their "injury has no healing" (Nah. 3:19)

The downfall of Nineveh would come with remarkable ease, like figs falling when the tree is shaken (Nah. 3:12)

In 612 B.C. Nabopolassar united the Babylonian army with an army of Medes and Scythians and led a campaign which captured the Assyrian citadels in the North. The Babylonian army laid siege to Nineveh, but the walls of the city were too strong for battering rams, so they decided to try and starve the people out. A famous oracle had been given that "Nineveh should never be taken until the river became its enemy. After a three month siege, "rain fell in such abundance that the waters of the Tigris inundated part of the city and overturned one of its walls for a distance of 12,600 feet (2.38 miles). Then the King, convinced that the oracle was accomplished and despairing of any means of escape, to avoid falling alive into the enemy's hands, locked himself and his entire family (wives, concubines, eunuchs, children) in the palace and built a huge funeral pyre, placed on it his gold and silver and his royal robes, and died with his family in the blaze. Nineveh was pillaged and burned, and then razed to the ground so completely that as to evidence the implacable hatred enkindled in the minds of subject nations by the fierce and cruel Assyrian government." (Lenormant and E. Chevallier, The Rise and Fall of Assyria) , Great Events by Famous Historians, Volume 1, 1905.

The Assyrian Empire was known for its cruelty. "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 'heaps of men' on stakes, and strewed the mountains and choked rivers with dead bones; how they cut off the hands of kings and nailed them on the walls, and left their bodies to rot with bears and dogs on the entrance gates of cities; how they employed nations of captives in making brick in fetters; how they cut down warriors like weeds, or smote them like wild beasts in the forests, and covered pillars with the flayed skins of rival monarchs." (Farrar, The Minor Prophets, pp. 147,148). 1831

Nahum 2:3-6 (Part 3)

The shield of his mighty men is red; his soldiers are clothed in scarlet. The chariots come with flashing metal on the day he musters them; the cypress spears are brandished. The chariots race madly through the streets; they rush to and fro through the squares; they gleam like torches; they dart like lightning. He remembers his officers; they stumble as they go, they hasten to the wall; the siege tower is set up. The river gates are opened; the palace melts away; (Nahum 2:3-6 ESV)

If we were to read this description in any other context we would be very likely feel sympathy for the people experiencing what is described in this passage. It speaks of soldiers covered in blood, spears brandished on every side, chariots rushing wildly through the city square, walls being destroyed, and protective barriers of water being crossed, palaces being demolished, people being stripped and carried away, groaning, moaning, and beating on their breasts.

2:6 Nineveh had moats on three sides of the city and the Tigris River on the west side, with gates, like sluices, that opened to fill the moats. The river wall on the western side was 4,530 yards long. These served as a protective barrier around the city. The weakest side, which was the east side, had a double rampart with a moat 200 feet wide between the two parts, cut into the rocky ground. Any enemy that attacked always knew that they were going to have to overcome this obstacle. Previous enemies had partially succeeded at times because they dug trenches to re-route the water out of the moats. 

Accounts of the era inform us that Nineveh had an underground waterway which allowed them to sneak supplies in and out of the city even while they were under siege. We are also told that some sort of natural event, a natural disaster, flooded this system allowing the enemies to gain access to the city. Thus, the prophecy of Nahum was fulfilled in exact detail. There is no doubt that much of the language here is poetic. Because the language is poetic it is intended to evoke strong emotions. But just because it is poetic and just because it is meant to evoke strong emotions does not mean that it is not accurate.

It is important remember that we are not supposed to feel sympathy for these people. When Nahum wrote this, he was not being blindly patriotic. He was declaring the impending destruction of God’s enemies. It is precisely at this point that Nahum has an application to us. All of redemption history has been fulfilled. We are now living in the era in which we are commanded by Christ to occupy till he come. When Christ does return, he will return as the Judge seated on the throne of the universe. And this must be part of our gospel presentation. When Paul stood before Felix, we are told that Paul’s gospel presentation was a reasoned argument about righteousness, self-control, and of the coming judgment. To feel sympathy for Nineveh would be like feeling sympathy for the goats whom Christ sends into eternal hell.

What does the destruction of Nineveh teach us about the coming judgment? To answer this question, we can look at the prevalent sins of Nineveh. At the top of this list was their barbaric violence. Now, violence is a difficult subject to handle as a Christian because not all violence is created equal, yet this is the popular view. I can’t imagine that any of us consider an act of violence in the defense of our wives and children to be on par with an act of violence while robbing a bank. Not all wars are created equal.

Our society has such an aversion to violence that we find it very hard to see anything to rejoice about in the scenario described in this passage. Our society’s aversion to violence, of course, is hypocritical to the nth degree. I recently read of a famous movie director (whose films are always replete with violence, especially gun violence), and an actor (who has made millions portraying killers without heart or conscience), protest that the conservative defense of the Second Amendment is to blame for the recent shooting at the school in Newport, Connecticut. Movie stars and celebrities without number shed great big crocodile tears at the fact that so many “innocent” children were killed in this shooting. But none of them shed a tear at the fact that millions of children are murdered in the womb every year. This is a hypocrisy which defies description. The cardinal virtue of our generation seems to be niceness or kindness, and we somehow think that God will give us a free pass on all of our vices simply on account of our virtue of niceness. During the Middle Ages, people behaved in a very barbaric way, but they excelled in chastity. Do we think that God will give them a free pass on their violence because they were chaste? Do we think that God will overlook our unchastity simply because we’re not barbarically violent? In spite of all of our pretence of niceness, our society is addicted to violence. The very news programs that deplore violence make their fortune by constantly reporting violence: violence sells.

Mind you, I’m not advocating violence for violence’s sake. I’m simply saying that we must always look at the context. I used to work at a Christian bookstore which also rented Christian movies. We have very large selection of animated Bible stories. I remember a mother returning a video set one time, angrily protesting the fact that we even carried such a video. She complained that the video was violent because it depicted war. I asked her what the video is about, and she replied, “The Conquest of Canaan.” Here was someone who evidently had a higher moral standard than God. She was offended that a Bible story should tell about a war or battle. You can read the book of Joshua from cover to cover, without ever finding a single verse of which it may be said that it glorifies violence. The conquest of Canaan, all the battles, sieges and ambushes, were, despite all our modern sensibilities, God’s ordained way to both punish the wicked and fulfill his covenant promise to his people. I recall a quote by Matthew Henry, “God is either your best friend or your worst enemy.” There is no possibility for ambivalence.

I would like to ask a few questions regarding what has been addressed so far in our look at Nahum, and especially in regard to the subject of the last few posts.

1. Why does the Church stay away from teaching on books like Nahum?

2. How can its value be communicated?

3. Who are some of God’s enemies?

4. How do we handle those who oppose God’s kingdom and its values?

5. How does the message of Judgment affect your view of sin and of the unregenerate?

Nahum 2:3-6 (Part 2)

The shield of his mighty men is red; his soldiers are clothed in scarlet. The chariots come with flashing metal on the day he musters them; the cypress spears are brandished. The chariots race madly through the streets; they rush to and fro through the squares; they gleam like torches; they dart like lightning. He remembers his officers; they stumble as they go, they hasten to the wall; the siege tower is set up. The river gates are opened; the palace melts away; (Nahum 2:3-6 ESV)

In this passage we see God proclaiming to Nineveh a “fate worse than death,” as the saying goes. The second half of verse one is actually addressed to Israel. They are being told to prepare for their restoration. This raises another interesting point, something which is spoken of prominently among all American Christians who are saddened by the moral and spiritual decline of our nation. Much talk is abroad about national restoration and it is spoken of as if it were in man’s hands if he could only get the right man in office. But Scripture uniformly portrays restoration, especially spiritual restoration, which is the only restoration of interest to the people of God, as undertaken first and foremost by God. Once God begins the great work, then man is moved by the Spirit to partake of the grace of what is efficaciously already at work. Neither does the extent of the damage sustained by God’s people present a problem to him. One need only to look at the history of Israel and the spiritual degradation of the nation during the time of the Judges. Think for instance of the story, the vile, despicable, deplorable story recorded in Judges 19 of the Levite and his concubine. This story has all the obscene, horrid iniquity and profane behavior one would expect to read in the story of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Yet this story takes place in Israel. Imagine the shock of reading an account of the villainous iniquity of Nero, only to find out that it was not Nero but someone who is supposedly a Christian! That is what we are supposed to feel when we read Judges 19. The Hebrew text of Judges 19 is striking when placed side-by-side with Genesis 19. The author of Judges has copied verbatim several pertinent lines from Moses’ account of Sodom and Gomorrah with the obvious intent of startling us by attributing to God’s people the very sins which brought down such fiery wrath against the Sodomites. Compare this deplorable state of affairs with the latter history of Israel during the reign of King David.

Those familiar with church history will also know how deplorable the state of the United Kingdom was, as well as the American colonies around the time of the First Great Awakening. This knowledge should be a cause of rejoicing among those of us who, as I said earlier, are troubled by the devastation we see at work in our society and in the church. The Church is God’s peculiar people and whenever he deigns to restore and revive her, no amount of devastation is too much for God’s power to overcome.

The Northern Kingdom had been chastised by God with the Assyrian rod, and the Southern Kingdom of Judah had been repeatedly threatened by them. If God had chastised Israel, favored by Him as they were (Psalm 47:4), how much more would God fatally punish Nineveh, an idolatrous, bloodthirsty heathen people?

2:3-6 At this point the chapter takes a decidedly dark turn. Nahum now begins to describe in very lucid detail the destruction of Nineveh. The whole tenor of the passage becomes very somber and gloomy. Remember, this is not written to Nineveh, but to Judah. Nineveh is never given the opportunity to repent. This is reminiscent of what Jesus says about Sodom not seeing the signs Bethsaida and Capernaum saw. God does not owe anyone the opportunity to repent.

2:3 The mighty men of V 3 are no doubt the Medo-Babylonian generals attacking Nineveh. The red shields and scarlet attire may be one of a couple of options: It could be that they are blood-stained, which is very likely. It is also possible that they were painted red to create the illusion of bloodiness to frighten the Ninevite enemies or to disguise the Medes’ and Babylonians’ own blood so that their soldiers wouldn’t be disheartened or the Ninevites emboldened. The Greek historian Xenophon of Athens (430-354 B.C.) actually mentions that the Medes were fond of red attire.

2:4 I am going to go off-topic for just a moment because of something I see in verse 4. Several years ago when I was a young kid, I remember reading a book by some self-proclaimed prophecy expert who prided himself on his ability to read Scripture literally and mocked those whom he thought were guilty of spiritualizing the text. I don’t really remember much about the book, I couldn’t even tell you the title, but I do remember that the author prided himself on being able to see the modern world described in the ancient prophecies of the Old Testament. For instance, he explained how automobiles were foretold of by the Old Testament prophets and he cited verse 4 as his proof. You don’t need to be a rocket scientist to see that this is a ridiculous reading of the passage, especially considering the fact that he prided himself on his ability to read Scripture literally. This is the same type of guy, while priding himself on his literal reading of the Bible, will say that the locusts in the book of Revelation are prophetic portrayals of Huey helicopters. So I hope they pardon me when I take their expertise with a grain of salt. These self-appointed prophecy experts have done a great disservice to the church by their weird methods of interpreting Scripture. They have virtually destroyed any meaningful attempt at studying Old Testament prophecy.

One of the great principles of the Reformation was what is called the perspicacity of Scripture. Unfortunately that word is not very perspicacious. It means the understandability of Scripture. The Reformers never denied that there are obscure parts or passages of Scripture. They merely stated that whenever we find a part or passage of Scripture we should always interpret the more obscure passage in the light of the passages which are clearer. This is the Reformation principle of Scripture interpreting Scripture. What these self-appointed prophecy experts have done is turn perspicacity on its head. By taking a passage such as this which is clearly referring to the destruction of Nineveh in 612 BC, and seeing in it a reference to cars driving around on the streets with their headlights on, they have taken an otherwise clear passages Scripture and made it obscure, if not impossible, to understand. When the average Joe Christian opens his Bible and reads of the siege of Nineveh and clearly understands it to be a description of the destruction of Nineveh, only to find out that it’s actually talking about motorcars the 21^st century, how is he to ever have confidence that he can read Scripture on his own without the help of the expert who has the secret code. This is no different than the doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church with regard to Scripture. For centuries Rome forbade Christians to read the Bible for themselves. They said that because the Scriptures were so hard to understand it was safer to leave the reading and interpreting of it in the hands of the Pope and the Magisterium, which is the official teaching office of the Roman Catholic Church. You need not bother reading the Bible and running the risk of misunderstanding it and thereby endangering your soul; it is much safer to leave this all in the hands of the Pope and let him and his Cardinals tell you what to believe.

Now, let’s get back on track. The scene Nahum is describing here is one of pure chaos as God poured out destruction upon Nineveh. Chariots are depicted as running every which way, people are running around confusedly, the nobles stumbling; the soldiers – though prepared to march – are unprepared for this. The mantelet, that is the covering used in a siege, provided no protection, nor do the city’s great walls. You’ll remember that we discussed how big the city walls actually were. The walls of Nineveh were so thick that chariots could pass each other without falling off. Chariot races on top of the walls were actually a common occurrence. In some places the walls were reputed to be as high as 100 feet. But everything described in these verses was completely fulfilled when Nineveh fell. Its inclusion in Scripture serves as a demonstration of God’s all-encompassing sovereignty, his omniscience, his justice and his love for his people.

Nahum 2:3-6 (Part 1)

The shield of his mighty men is red; his soldiers are clothed in scarlet. The chariots come with flashing metal on the day he musters them; the cypress spears are brandished. The chariots race madly through the streets; they rush to and fro through the squares; they gleam like torches; they dart like lightning. He remembers his officers; they stumble as they go, they hasten to the wall; the siege tower is set up. The river gates are opened; the palace melts away; (Nahum 2:3-6 ESV)

In the following study, I would like to do two things: answer the question: “Where is Christ in Nahum?” And secondly try to derive some sort of practical lesson from the message of this prophecy. First of all, I will be the first to admit that finding Christ in this book is no easy task. But we know that Jesus himself told us that he is the central focus of all of Scripture, therefore we should not doubt that he is here. I do not wish to be reaching at fictions of my own imagination nor grasping at straws. But neither do I wish to ignore Christ’s own declarations about himself. As Augustine said, it is better to find Christ in Scripture when He is not there then to not find Him when He is there.

The book of Nahum contains no direct Messianic prophecies. By direct Messianic prophecies, I am, of course, referring to prophecies regarding Christ’s First Advent. The expectations of judgment against Nineveh and of salvation for God’s faithful people are things which are ultimately fulfilled by Christ. Jesus and his apostles declared salvation for God’s people and judgment against his enemies. In fact, Christ began His judgment and salvation in His First Advent (Jn. 5:22-30). The spiritual battle in which the church is engaged (Mat. 16:18; Eph. 6:10-17) continues this process to this day. When Christ returns in glory he will destroy all opposing powers and hand over the kingdom to his Father “so that God may be all in all” (1 Cor. 15:24-28) Furthermore, Paul cites Nahum 1:15 (and its twin passage, Isaiah 52:7) as fulfilling God’s promise to Abraham to include the Gentiles in the Covenant of Grace (Romans 10:15).

The message of judgment is a fairly central idea in Scripture. According to the Westminster Confession of Faith 33.3, “Christ would have us to be certainly persuaded that there shall be a day of judgment, both to deter all men from sin; and for the greater consolation of the godly in their adversity (Luke 21:27-28; Rom. 8:23-25; 2 Cor. 5:10-11; 2 Thess. 1:5-7; 2 Pet. 3:11, 14)”.

If we take the time to work through these ideas we will see the applicability of the book to our lives, as Christ will defeat all His enemies.  “Christ executes the office of a king in subduing us to himself, in ruling and defending us, and in restraining and conquering all his and our enemies.” (WSC, 26).  We must remember that these enemies are spiritual (Eph. 6:12).  While it is true that Christ has already defeated them (Col. 2:14, 15), there yet remains a day when that defeat will be ultimately completed (1 Cor. 15:25-26; Rev. 20:7-15).  We live in the already-not yet tension of Christ’s kingdom; He is restraining them and will one day completely defeat them.  We experience battles and trials in varying degrees in life, but Christ will defeat them and bring His kingdom in its fullness!

The 2^nd thing which I proposed to do was to derive a biblically balanced practical application of the prophecy before us. To do so, I’d like to ask the following question: “What inspiring example/warning example does the Holy Spirit set before me?  How can I obtain/avoid this?” (Thanks to rev. Arnould T. Vergunst of the Reformed Congregations of New Zealand for the study bookmark that contains this question.)

Nahum 1:15 - 2:2 (Part 3)

Behold, upon the mountains, the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace! Keep your feasts, O Judah; fulfill your vows, for never again shall the worthless pass through you; he is utterly cut off. The scatterer has come up against you. Man the ramparts; watch the road; dress for battle; collect all your strength. For the LORD is restoring the majesty of Jacob as the majesty of Israel, for plunderers have plundered them and ruined their branches.

You will note that the second half of verse 1 is addressed to Judah. They are being told to prepare for their restoration. This raises another interesting point, something which is spoken of prominently among all American Christians who are saddened by the moral and spiritual decline of our nation. Much talk is abroad about national restoration and it is spoken of as if it were in man’s hands if he could only get the right man in office. But Scripture uniformly portrays restoration, especially spiritual restoration, which is the only restoration of interest to the people of God, as undertaken first and foremost by God. Once God begins the great work, then man is moved by the Spirit to partake of the grace of what is efficaciously already at work. Neither does the extent of the damage sustained by God’s people present a problem to him. One needs only to look at the history of Israel and the spiritual degradation of the nation during the time of the Judges. Think for instance of the story, the vile, despicable, deplorable story recorded in Judges 19 of the Levite and his concubine. This story has all the obscene, horrid iniquity and profane behavior one would expect to read in the story of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Yet this story takes place in Israel. Compare this deplorable state of affairs with the latter history of Israel during the reign of King David. Those of us were familiar with church history will also know how deplorable the state of the United Kingdom was, as well as the American colonies around the time of the First Great Awakening. This knowledge should because rejoicing among those of us who, as I said earlier, are troubled by the devastation we see at work in the church. The church is God’s peculiar people and whenever he deigns to restore and revive her, no amount of devastation is too much for God’s power to overcome.

The Northern Kingdom had been chastised by God with the Assyrian rod, and the Southern Kingdom of Judah had been repeatedly threatened by them. If God had chastised Israel, favored by Him as they were (Psalm 47:4), how much more would God fatally punish Nineveh, an idolatrous, bloodthirsty heathen people?

Now we to ask where this prophecy, and the events it foretells, fits into the history of redemption. We spent some time on this point last week. Paul takes 1:15 as part of the complex of OT passages that foretell God’s faithfulness to His promise to Abraham to include Gentiles in the Covenant of Grace.

To begin to answer this we need to first consider what the promise of the Covenant of Grace is. Primarily the narrative of Scripture is: God saves His people from their enemies. We have this theme even before the Exodus, just not as dramatic. We have it in the crossing of the Jordan. We have it repeated cyclically in Judges. The story of Judges is more about God’s faithfulness to His covenant than it is about Israel’s faithlessness. Judah’s deliverance from Sennacherib and their subsequent return from their Babylonian Exile are repetitions of this theme. This is the whole message of the NT. What is fascinating to me is that Paul considers this theme of God saving His people to run concurrent with the promise to Abraham to bring Gentiles into the Covenant of Grace.

So when the language is repeated in Isaiah 52:7, it becomes clear that even in the OT, Israel’s plight (problems with Egypt, Assyria and Babylon) was seen as typical of spiritual truths about the deliverance of God’s covenant people from sin and God’s wrath against it. Comparing Nahum 1:15 with Isaiah 52:7 we see something very interesting. Isaiah’s typical “good news” is the return of God’s people from their Babylonian exile. Nahum’s “good news” is the destruction of Nineveh, which relieved God’s people from the fear of Assyrian oppression. What is fascinating about these passages is the (1) Babylon rises to world prominence only after the “good news” Nahum predicts of Nineveh’s downfall. (2) Isaiah was written first. (3) Both are viewed by the New Testament as typical of God’s deliverance of His people from their sins by the Atonement. The Exodus of Israel from Egypt, the fall of Nineveh, the return of the exiles from Babylon are all literally true factual, historical events; yet they are not ends in themselves: they point to a deeper, yet equally true spiritual meaning about God’s salvation of His people. So what if God merely provides temporal, sociological salvation from political enemies? Eternal salvation from sin and the wrath of God is what we truly need. These ‘salvations,’ while completely factually real, are intended to point our attention and hope forward to the true deliverance God has worked for His people in Christ.

The context of Isaiah 52 is the return of the exiles out of Babylon, which must be taken as typical as well because that is how Paul cites it. The same Holy Spirit who breathed out Isaiah 40:9, 52:7 and Nahum 1:15 also breathed out Romans 10:15. Since the New Testament expounds the Old, we understand that the salvation of the Church is what is ultimately in view behind all these figures. On Isaiah 52:7 Matthew Henry writes, “The removal of the Jews from Babylon to their own land again is here spoken of both as a mercy and as a duty; and the application of verse 7 to the preaching of the gospel (by the apostle, Romans 10:15) plainly intimates that that deliverance was a type and figure of the redemption of mankind by Jesus Christ, to which what is here said of their redemption out of Babylon ought to be accommodated.