Nahum 3:8-19: "Unlimited Glory"
Nahum - Yahweh the Divine Warrior • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Introduction
Introduction
Scripture
Scripture
8 Are you better than Thebes
that sat by the Nile,
with water around her,
her rampart a sea,
and water her wall?
9 Cush was her strength;
Egypt too, and that without limit;
Put and the Libyans were her helpers.
10 Yet she became an exile;
she went into captivity;
her infants were dashed in pieces
at the head of every street;
for her honored men lots were cast,
and all her great men were bound in chains.
11 You also will be drunken;
you will go into hiding;
you will seek a refuge from the enemy.
12 All your fortresses are like fig trees
with first-ripe figs—
if shaken they fall
into the mouth of the eater.
13 Behold, your troops
are women in your midst.
The gates of your land
are wide open to your enemies;
fire has devoured your bars.
14 Draw water for the siege;
strengthen your forts;
go into the clay;
tread the mortar;
take hold of the brick mold!
15 There will the fire devour you;
the sword will cut you off.
It will devour you like the locust.
Multiply yourselves like the locust;
multiply like the grasshopper!
16 You increased your merchants
more than the stars of the heavens.
The locust spreads its wings and flies away.
17 Your princes are like grasshoppers,
your scribes like clouds of locusts
settling on the fences
in a day of cold—
when the sun rises, they fly away;
no one knows where they are.
18 Your shepherds are asleep,
O king of Assyria;
your nobles slumber.
Your people are scattered on the mountains
with none to gather them.
19 There is no easing your hurt;
your wound is grievous.
All who hear the news about you
clap their hands over you.
For upon whom has not come
your unceasing evil?
Outline
Outline
Nahum 1 - God’s Righteous Anger
Nahum 1 - God’s Righteous Anger
Nahum 1:1 - Introduction
Nahum 1:2-8 - The Universal Judgment of Yahweh
Nahum 1:9-15 - The Four Announcements
Nahum 2:1-3:19 - Nineveh’s Fall
Nahum 2:1-3:19 - Nineveh’s Fall
Nahum 2:1-13 - Nineveh’s Destruction
Nahum 3:1-7 - Charges and Judgment
Nahum 3:8-19 - “Unlimited Glory”
Nahum 3:8-11 - Compared to Thebes
Nahum 3:12-19 - Song of Nineveh’s Destruction
Purpose of Book
Purpose of Book
The purpose of Nahum is to reveal Yahweh as the great Divine Warrior who issues judgment against the Assyrians and rescues His people and the Messianic seed
The purpose of Nahum is to reveal Yahweh as the great Divine Warrior who issues judgment against the Assyrians and rescues His people and the Messianic seed
Succinct Summation
Succinct Summation
Main Point
Main Point
In God’s providence, Nineveh is utterly destroyed. The king, his officials, and his people are slaughtered, exiled, or scattered. Yahweh has won the battle.
In God’s providence, Nineveh is utterly destroyed. The king, his officials, and his people are slaughtered, exiled, or scattered. Yahweh has won the battle.
Nahum 3:8-11 - Compared to Thebes
Nahum 3:8-11 - Compared to Thebes
8 Are you better than Thebes
that sat by the Nile,
with water around her,
her rampart a sea,
and water her wall?
9 Cush was her strength;
Egypt too, and that without limit;
Put and the Libyans were her helpers.
10 Yet she became an exile;
she went into captivity;
her infants were dashed in pieces
at the head of every street;
for her honored men lots were cast,
and all her great men were bound in chains.
11 You also will be drunken;
you will go into hiding;
you will seek a refuge from the enemy.
8 Are you better than Thebes that sat by the Nile, with water around her, her rampart a sea, and water her wall?
8 Are you better than Thebes that sat by the Nile, with water around her, her rampart a sea, and water her wall?
Nineveh as a city was not as fortified as Thebes
Thebes was a powerful Egyptian city
The mighty Nile river (.5 mile wide water wall near Thebes), canals, and other water channels almost surrounded the city of Thebes - it was ALMOST invulnerable
Nineveh does not have this strong built in defense like Thebes - it is more vulnerable
Rhetorical question - NO
9 Cush was her strength; Egypt too, and that without limit; Put and the Libyans were her helpers.
9 Cush was her strength; Egypt too, and that without limit; Put and the Libyans were her helpers.
Thebes was loved by those around her
Thebes had allies that came to her aid in time of warfare
10 Yet she became an exile; she went into captivity; her infants were dashed in pieces at the head of every street; for her honored men lots were cast, and all her great men were bound in chains.
10 Yet she became an exile; she went into captivity; her infants were dashed in pieces at the head of every street; for her honored men lots were cast, and all her great men were bound in chains.
Despite a strong defense and military partners, Thebes was overcome by Assyria in 663 BC by Ashurbanipal as a consequence for Egypt not fulfilling their agreement as a vassal state
Citizens were taken captive, children killed, men sold into slavery as spoils of war
11 You also will be drunken; you will go into hiding; you will seek a refuge from the enemy.
11 You also will be drunken; you will go into hiding; you will seek a refuge from the enemy.
The same fate of Thebes awaits Nineveh
Nineveh will drink from the cup of God’s wrath and in their weakened state will seek help as Thebes did
In 614 BC, the ancient capital city of Assyria - Asshur fell
In 612 BC, Nineveh was overwhelmed by the Medes and Babylonians leading to a three-month siege ending with the city being burned
Loyal Assyrian forces escaped and set up camp in Harran which fell in 610 BC to Babylonian forces
Finally in 605 BC, the presence of Assyria was eliminated at the battle of Carchemish
No hope for a refuge was found by the Assyrians
Christ Connection - As God disarmed Nineveh, so Christ disarms sin and the Demonic Army
Christ Connection - As God disarmed Nineveh, so Christ disarms sin and the Demonic Army
9 For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, 10 and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority. 11 In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, 12 having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. 13 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. 15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.
Nahum 3:12-19 - Song of Nineveh’s Destruction
Nahum 3:12-19 - Song of Nineveh’s Destruction
12 All your fortresses are like fig trees
with first-ripe figs—
if shaken they fall
into the mouth of the eater.
13 Behold, your troops
are women in your midst.
The gates of your land
are wide open to your enemies;
fire has devoured your bars.
14 Draw water for the siege;
strengthen your forts;
go into the clay;
tread the mortar;
take hold of the brick mold!
15 There will the fire devour you;
the sword will cut you off.
It will devour you like the locust.
Multiply yourselves like the locust;
multiply like the grasshopper!
16 You increased your merchants
more than the stars of the heavens.
The locust spreads its wings and flies away.
17 Your princes are like grasshoppers,
your scribes like clouds of locusts
settling on the fences
in a day of cold—
when the sun rises, they fly away;
no one knows where they are.
18 Your shepherds are asleep,
O king of Assyria;
your nobles slumber.
Your people are scattered on the mountains
with none to gather them.
19 There is no easing your hurt;
your wound is grievous.
All who hear the news about you
clap their hands over you.
For upon whom has not come
your unceasing evil?
12 All your fortresses are like fig trees with first-ripe figs— if shaken they fall into the mouth of the eater.
12 All your fortresses are like fig trees with first-ripe figs— if shaken they fall into the mouth of the eater.
Nineveh’s fortresses are not secure which is vitally important as they were the first line of defense
First-ripe figs fall quickly when shaken
Nineveh is given over to her enemies who will eat her
13 Behold, your troops are women in your midst.
13 Behold, your troops are women in your midst.
This is a taunt
Imagine an army of women fighting against the vicious Babylonian army - it is not sexist, but practical
The gates of your land are wide open to your enemies; fire has devoured your bars.
The gates of your land are wide open to your enemies; fire has devoured your bars.
The fortresses are destroyed and the Babylonians have free range in the city because of the fear of the troops
14 Draw water for the siege; strengthen your forts; go into the clay; tread the mortar; take hold of the brick mold!
14 Draw water for the siege; strengthen your forts; go into the clay; tread the mortar; take hold of the brick mold!
Commands - Draw, strengthen, go, tread, take
Draw water - the Babylonians have cut off the water supply and now water is rationed
This is imagery for the city to be defended by building bricks for the wall
15 There will the fire devour you; the sword will cut you off.
15 There will the fire devour you; the sword will cut you off.
Before the bricks can actually dry - destruction
Fire is set ablaze and evidence has been found regarding a devastating fire in Nineveh
The Babylonian army is coming to kill and destroy the city
It will devour you like the locust.
It will devour you like the locust.
The Babylonian army will be as locusts eating the vegetation
Locusts destroy all vegetation in their path
Multiply yourselves like the locust; multiply like the grasshopper!
Multiply yourselves like the locust; multiply like the grasshopper!
Nahum sarcastically commands the city to multiply so their numbers/strength can be increased
16 You increased your merchants more than the stars of the heavens.
16 You increased your merchants more than the stars of the heavens.
Wealth was abundant in the Assyrian city, yet it will mean nothing because Nineveh will be plundered
The locust spreads its wings and flies away.
The locust spreads its wings and flies away.
Upon victory the Babylonian army will fly away
17 Your princes are like grasshoppers, your scribes like clouds of locusts settling on the fences in a day of cold— when the sun rises, they fly away; no one knows where they are.
17 Your princes are like grasshoppers, your scribes like clouds of locusts settling on the fences in a day of cold— when the sun rises, they fly away; no one knows where they are.
High ranking officials will disappear as the Babylonians overcome Nineveh
They will flee and no one will know where to find their leaders
18 Your shepherds are asleep, O king of Assyria; your nobles slumber.
18 Your shepherds are asleep, O king of Assyria; your nobles slumber.
This is spoken to the King after the destruction of Nineveh - he has failed to protect his city/empire
Death has come to his leaders - the shepherds and nobles
Your people are scattered on the mountains with none to gather them.
Your people are scattered on the mountains with none to gather them.
The citizens who have escaped exile and murder run to the mountains and will no longer gather together in Nineveh
19 There is no easing your hurt; your wound is grievous.
19 There is no easing your hurt; your wound is grievous.
The wound the king has received is fatal in nature
God’s victory is won - He has defeated Nineveh
All who hear the news about you clap their hands over you.
All who hear the news about you clap their hands over you.
For upon whom has not come your unceasing evil?
For upon whom has not come your unceasing evil?
Christ Connection - The Day of the Lord Will Utterly Destroy God’s Enemies
Christ Connection - The Day of the Lord Will Utterly Destroy God’s Enemies
Who is this who comes from Edom,
in crimsoned garments from Bozrah,
he who is splendid in his apparel,
marching in the greatness of his strength?
“It is I, speaking in righteousness,
mighty to save.”
2 Why is your apparel red,
and your garments like his who treads in the winepress?
3 “I have trodden the winepress alone,
and from the peoples no one was with me;
I trod them in my anger
and trampled them in my wrath;
their lifeblood spattered on my garments,
and stained all my apparel.
4 For the day of vengeance was in my heart,
and my year of redemption had come.
5 I looked, but there was no one to help;
I was appalled, but there was no one to uphold;
so my own arm brought me salvation,
and my wrath upheld me.
6 I trampled down the peoples in my anger;
I made them drunk in my wrath,
and I poured out their lifeblood on the earth.”
14 Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and seated on the cloud one like a son of man, with a golden crown on his head, and a sharp sickle in his hand. 15 And another angel came out of the temple, calling with a loud voice to him who sat on the cloud, “Put in your sickle, and reap, for the hour to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is fully ripe.” 16 So he who sat on the cloud swung his sickle across the earth, and the earth was reaped.
17 Then another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle. 18 And another angel came out from the altar, the angel who has authority over the fire, and he called with a loud voice to the one who had the sharp sickle, “Put in your sickle and gather the clusters from the vine of the earth, for its grapes are ripe.” 19 So the angel swung his sickle across the earth and gathered the grape harvest of the earth and threw it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. 20 And the winepress was trodden outside the city, and blood flowed from the winepress, as high as a horse’s bridle, for 1,600 stadia.
Main Point
Main Point
In God’s providence, Nineveh is utterly destroyed. The king, his officials, and his people are slaughtered, exiled, or scattered. Yahweh has won the battle.
In God’s providence, Nineveh is utterly destroyed. The king, his officials, and his people are slaughtered, exiled, or scattered. Yahweh has won the battle.
How Should we Live in Light of Nahum 3:8-19?
How Should we Live in Light of Nahum 3:8-19?
First, the Lord makes nations great and destroys them. Do not become dependent upon any nation for God will use them as He wills for His glory.
First, the Lord makes nations great and destroys them. Do not become dependent upon any nation for God will use them as He wills for His glory.
He makes nations great, and he destroys them;
he enlarges nations, and leads them away.
Second, Christ will return as the slaughtering Messianic Warrior on the Day of the Lord. His wrath will be appeased as divine judgment is given to His enemies.
Second, Christ will return as the slaughtering Messianic Warrior on the Day of the Lord. His wrath will be appeased as divine judgment is given to His enemies.