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Message 1
The Book of Nahum is concerned with one subject alone: “The burden of Nineveh.” Nah.1:1. The fate of that city is announced. Jonah had preached repentance unto that city and the people had hearkened to his voice, but had soon relapsed into their old sins, and now Nahum pronounces that sentence. They had now committed that sin unto death (1Jn.5:16). This was not the first city or nation that had done evil in the sight of the Lord (Judg.3:7,8,12, 4:1; 6:1; 8:33; 10:6; 13:1). Time and time again throughout the history of Israel they were under the corrective hand of God. They would repent and the Lord would bless them. Then after the blessing came they would forget what had occurred. They would leave off again and they committed grievous sins and the Lord then carried them out of the land by the hands of the Chaldeans. But here in this book, it is solely “The burden of Nineveh”. Nineveh is the capital of Assyria. The Assyrians were an enemy of God and thus an enemy of His people (Nah.1:15).
I. NINEVEH: a. Origin of Nineveh: Gen.10:1-12. i. Nimrod—descendant of Ham (son of Noah). He was a mighty hunter. He had a kingdom (Gen.10:10). Out of his kingdom was built Nineveh. Asshur or Assyria as it is called in other places in the scriptures is the empire of which Nineveh became the capital of. 1. NIMROD: Some believe his name means “We shall rebel”. If this is so, it does perfectly describe his descendants who dwelled in the Assyrian empire as well as those of Nineveh who truly did rebel against the Lord of God of heaven and earth. First they rebelled against the Lord. He did send them His prophet that they might repent and live. And so they did, but then the returned unto their pernicious ways and fulfilled the name of the father, Nimrod, “We shall rebel”; and rebelled against God bringing His wrath upon them.
b. Place of Nineveh: Gen.10:11 i. Nineveh was located on the left bank of the river Tigris. It was located in the northeastern part of Mesopotamia, which is modern day Iraq. ii. The City was some 575 miles from Jerusalem (according to my Bible map); about from Caldwell to Austin, TX. iii. Nineveh had grown as a “great city” (Jon.1:2), “an exceeding city of three days’ journey” (Jon.3:2). Very possible from the days of Nimrod to the day s of Jonah for it had been over 1,00o years. c. Notable King of Assyria: i. Sennacherib—his name means “Sin has replaced my brother” or “Sin multiplies brethren” (apparently ‘Sin’ is the name given to the moon or god of the moon for the Assyrians). 1. Sennacherib—was king of Assyria during the reign of Hezekiah’s reign over Judah (the southern two tribes of the divided kingdom of Israel). During Sennacherib’s conquest of many lands, he sought to take Judah (Jerusalem) as well. But the Lord would not allow this to happen. The Lord would defend that holy city for His own sake and for His servant, David’s sake. 2Kgs.18:13-19:37; Isa.36 & 37; 2Chron.32:9-23. The Religion of the Assyrians was paganism: polytheism (many gods): Isa.37:38—Nisroch.
d. Nineveh’s Downfall: Nah.3:1—“Woe to the bloody City! It is all full of lies and robbery; the prey departeth not” The Crimes of Nineveh enumerated are: bloodshed, deceit, and violence. i. The Bloody City: The city of bloods—where blood is shed without scruple (Hab.2:12). The Assyrians, in the midst of Nineveh would impale alive, flay behead, or drag to death by ropes which did pass through rings in the prisoners mouth. There is proof that the king himself would poke out the eyes of his prisoners and then hang them for a slow agonizing death. The Assyrians would pillage the places that they sacked and raping the land taking from it all its resources. They would sow salt in the ground (Deut.29:23).
ii. It is all full of lies: It is ALL FULL of lies. There is no room for truth. As Pilate said, “What is truth?” Signifying that he had no taste for truth, neither did these Ninevites. They preferred falsehood and thus were full of it. The Assyrians used treachery in furthering their conquests, made promises, which never were kept to induce nations to submit to their yoke. This was the attempt of Rabshakeh when he spoke to the Hebrews on the wall (Isa.36:16). Sounds a lot like the things that many nations are doing today (with peace treaties, agreements, etc.) I wonder what their end shall be also; perhaps the same as Nineveh’s!
iii. Robbery—“that is rending in pieces”. This has to do with the way in which a wild beast kills its prey by tearing it to pieces. This is how they would destroy their enemy. They would rend the whole city/nation and divide the people. Carry some away, leave some there, kill most, and scatter some to the wilderness. There was complete unrighteousness within the whole nation of Assyria and it came from the heart of it, its capital city: Nineveh.
iv. The Prey departeth not—Nineveh continued to persist in evil, ungodliness, murder. They continued to bring those whom they slaughtered to Nineveh. And it was this place that they brought their prey to where they would make sport of them and would feast upon them like a lioness brings to her cubs. But the predator was no the prey. For the Ninevites, the Assyrians had returned unto their un-godliness and rebelled against God after that He did send them His prophet Jonah. And now the Lord would devour them with His just wrath (Nah.2:13).
II. Nahum’s Vision: Nah.1:1—“The burden of Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite.” a. Time of Book: It is believed that Nahum prophesied during the reign of Kg. Hezekiah. This was approximately 150 years after Jonah. It is believed that he prophesied and God revealed this vision to him about 713 B.C. b. Nahum’s Book: It is believed that Nahum did not go to Nineveh and present this prophecy as Jonah did. At the time that Nahum was alive (during the reign of Kg. Hezekiah), Sennacherib: King of Assyria, was knocking on the doors of Jerusalem. Thus many believe that Nahum wrote it in a book and sent it so Nineveh, hence the unusual opening of the prophecy, “The burden of Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite.” c. The Prophecy: The Destruction of Nineveh (Nah.1:9; 2:1,8; 3:5,6,7,19). It would come to pass. It would not be abated. It was assured, for the Lord God of heaven and earth had decreed it. Ezek.24:6,9 i. Time of Fulfillment: Approximately 612 B.C., by attack of the combined forces of the Medes and Chaldeans the Words of Jehovah through His prophet of “Nineveh is laid waste” (Nah.3:7) were fulfilled. Today, two mounds are where Nineveh was. A restored Gate built resides there. The name of the mounds: “many sheep” and “The Prophet Jonah”. ii. The Hope of Nahum: The book gave hope to the Jews who had been under the oppression of the Assyrians for about a century’s time. Judah was a vassal or servant of Assyria, but God would not allow Assyria to overthrow her (Nah.1:15).
CLOSING: The book of Nahum should give hope to God’s people today. Though we be oppressed, persecuted, yet one day we shall triumph in the Lord and He shall judge our enemies. There for as the Lord told His people of old:
Behold upon the mountains the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace! O Judah, keep thy solemn feasts, perform thy vows: for the wicked shall no more pass through thee; he is utterly cut off. Nah.1:15
We must continue to serve the Lord. Keep the solemn feasts, perform our vows; for God is on His throne. What joy that must have brought out in their hearts. What uplifting of spirit that must have been for them to hear the enemy would be cut off. We have that same privilege of joy and to be uplifted in heart:
Looking for that blessed hope, and glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ. Titus 1:13
The book of Nahum should be a warning to us as well. We must not take God’s graciousness, mercy, slowness of anger, longsuffering, great kindness, and His repenting of the evil (Jon.3:2) for granted. But Remember—1Pet.4:17.
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