Understanding the One True God

Nahum 1

As you turn there, we need to understand that the minor prophets record both punishment and deliverance for Israel and non-Israelite nations. Nahum is a commonly misunderstood book because of how it starts off. It turns off the people who either don’t understand it, or do not know God and use it as a way to justify their thinking that God is just angry and everyone and takes pleasure in seeing people wiped out.

Nahum 1 NKJV

1 The burden against Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite. 2 God is jealous, and the Lord avenges; The Lord avenges and is furious. The Lord will take vengeance on His adversaries, And He reserves wrath for His enemies; 3 The Lord is slow to anger and great in power, And will not at all acquit the wicked. The Lord has His way In the whirlwind and in the storm, And the clouds are the dust of His feet. 4 He rebukes the sea and makes it dry, And dries up all the rivers. Bashan and Carmel wither, And the flower of Lebanon wilts. 5 The mountains quake before Him, The hills melt, And the earth heaves at His presence, Yes, the world and all who dwell in it. 6 Who can stand before His indignation? And who can endure the fierceness of His anger? His fury is poured out like fire, And the rocks are thrown down by Him. 7 The Lord is good, A stronghold in the day of trouble; And He knows those who trust in Him. 8 But with an overflowing flood He will make an utter end of its place, And darkness will pursue His enemies. 9 What do you conspire against the Lord? He will make an utter end of it. Affliction will not rise up a second time. 10 For while tangled like thorns, And while drunken like drunkards, They shall be devoured like stubble fully dried. 11 From you comes forth one Who plots evil against the Lord, A wicked counselor. 12 Thus says the Lord: “Though they are safe, and likewise many, Yet in this manner they will be cut down When he passes through. Though I have afflicted you, I will afflict you no more; 13 For now I will break off his yoke from you, And burst your bonds apart.” 14 The Lord has given a command concerning you: “Your name shall be perpetuated no longer. Out of the house of your gods I will cut off the carved image and the molded image. I will dig your grave, For you are vile.” 15 Behold, on the mountains The feet of him who brings good tidings, Who proclaims peace! O Judah, keep your appointed feasts, Perform your vows. For the wicked one shall no more pass through you; He is utterly cut off.

The name Nahum actually means ‘comforter’. It is a shortened Hebrew word of Nehemiah, which means ‘The comfort of Yahweh’. The same word is used in Isaiah 40:1

Isaiah 40:1 NKJV

“Comfort, yes, comfort My people!” Says your God.

This book is about God destroying a non-Israelite nation, Nineveh, that has been oppressing them for decades and was seen as Israel’s arch enemy. It describes how God raised up Babylon to destroy Nineveh when they were at their height of power, freeing Israel’s bondage of Nineveh. It is a prophesy of hope. It is a book of encouragement. It is a book of comfort for the people of Israel.

We need to understand some background information. We first need to go to the time of Jonah. Jonah preached repentance to the same Nineveh at around 722 B.C. At that time, Nineveh was not the powerhouse that is was in the time of Nahum, but it was still greatly wicked. Nahum was written about 100-120 years after Jonah preached to the people of Nineveh, and they repented. They quickly forgot who the Lord their God was. The kings that were part of this approximate 100 year reign, and its large growth, were Sennacherib (704-691 B.C.), Esarhaddon (691-680 B.C.), and Ashurbanipal.

Nineveh was a mighty empire that had many allies and were often used as an example for the description of what evil is. Both Israel (northern kingdom) and Judah (southern kingdom) were subject to the Assyrian rule and were in bondage to their harsh treatment. It was exceedingly wicked and they were thought to be an invincible source.

Under Sennacherib, he invaded Judah at least once during Hezekiah's reign and brought the capitol of Assyria to Nineveh. Sennacherib was responsible for having a building program that led for a great growth in Nineveh, and he is seen as the catalyst to developing it to becoming the powerhouse that it was in the time of Nahum. He made many new buildings and streets and greatly expanded the city as well as his house and a temple for Ishtar, the god of war. He had adorned the walls of his palace of all his victories in battles with what are called reliefs—which were large sculpted plaster slabs that depicted the seige of a large city. They were big on war because they won many battles and it gave them more power, but it also produced within themselves an arrogance.

In order to understand the heart of the kings of the Assyrian empire, let’s look at Sennacherib in 2 Kings 19:8-19

2 Kings 19:8–19 NKJV

Then the Rabshakeh returned and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah, for he heard that he had departed from Lachish. And the king heard concerning Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, “Look, he has come out to make war with you.” So he again sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying, “Thus you shall speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying: ‘Do not let your God in whom you trust deceive you, saying, “Jerusalem shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.” Look! You have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands by utterly destroying them; and shall you be delivered? Have the gods of the nations delivered those whom my fathers have destroyed, Gozan and Haran and Rezeph, and the people of Eden who were in Telassar? Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah?’ ” And Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it; and Hezekiah went up to the house of the Lord, and spread it before the Lord. Then Hezekiah prayed before the Lord, and said: “O Lord God of Israel, the One who dwells between the cherubim, You are God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. Incline Your ear, O Lord, and hear; open Your eyes, O Lord, and see; and hear the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to reproach the living God. Truly, Lord, the kings of Assyria have laid waste the nations and their lands, and have cast their gods into the fire; for they were not gods, but the work of men’s hands—wood and stone. Therefore they destroyed them. Now therefore, O Lord our God, I pray, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You are the Lord God, You alone.”

This gives us a great picture of the attitude of the king Sennacherib. He thought of himself to be invisible because of what he did to the other nation’s and he overthrew their god’s power. This is probably the most important part of understanding why Nahum was inspired to write what he did. “Those gods were the works of man’s hands, and you do not understand the one true God of whom is speaking through me.” Look back at the text of Nahum and pay attention to God’s attributes that flood the beginning of this passage.

Nahum 1 (NKJV)

1 The burden against Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite. 2 God is jealous, and the Lord avenges; The Lord avenges and is furious. The Lord will take vengeance on His adversaries, And He reserves wrath for His enemies; 3 The Lord is slow to anger and great in power, And will not at all acquit the wicked.

The Lord has His way In the whirlwind and in the storm, And the clouds are the dust of His feet. 4 He rebukes the sea and makes it dry, And dries up all the rivers. Bashan and Carmel wither, And the flower of Lebanon wilts. 5 The mountains quake before Him, The hills melt, And the earth heaves at His presence, Yes, the world and all who dwell in it.

6 Who can stand before His indignation? And who can endure the fierceness of His anger? His fury is poured out like fire, And the rocks are thrown down by Him.

7 The Lord is good, A stronghold in the day of trouble; And He knows those who trust in Him. 8 But with an overflowing flood He will make an utter end of its place, And darkness will pursue His enemies. 9 What do you conspire against the Lord? He will make an utter end of it. Affliction will not rise up a second time. 10 For while tangled like thorns, And while drunken like drunkards, They shall be devoured like stubble fully dried. 11 From you comes forth one Who plots evil against the Lord, A wicked counselor.