Will you please turn to the book of Nahum? We will read the first chapter. It has only three chapters, but we will read the first one.
The burden of Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite.
The Lord is a jealous God and avengeth;
The Lord avengeth, and is full of wrath;
The Lord taketh vengeance on His adversaries,
And He reserveth wrath for His enemies.
The Lord is slow to anger, and great in power,
And will by no means clear the guilty;
The Lord hath His way in the whirlwind and in the storm,
And the clouds are the dust of His feet.
He rebuketh the sea, and maketh it dry,
And drieth up all the rivers;
Bashan languisheth, and Carmel,
And the flower of Lebanon languisheth.
The mountains quake at Him, and the hills melt;
And the earth is upheaved at His presence,
Yea, the world, and all that dwell therein.
Who can stand before His indignation?
And who can abide in the fierceness of His anger?
His wrath is poured out like fire,
And the rocks are broken asunder by Him.
The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble;
And He knoweth them that take refuge in Him.
But with an overrunning flood He will make a full end of her place,
And will pursue His enemies into darkness.
What do ye devise against the Lord?
He will make a full end;
Affliction shall not rise up the second time.
For entangled like thorns,
And drunken as with their drink,
They are consumed utterly as dry stubble.
There is one gone forth out of thee,
That deviseth evil against the Lord,
That counselleth wickedness.
Thus saith the Lord: Though they be in full strength, and likewise many,
Even so shall they be cut down, and he shall pass away.
Though I have afflicted thee, I will afflict thee no more.
And now will I break his yoke from off thee,
And will burst thy bonds in sunder.
And the Lord hath given commandment concerning thee,
That no more of thy name be sown:
Out of the house of thy gods will I cut off the graven image and the molten image;
I will make thy grave; for thou art vile.
Behold, upon the mountains the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace!
Keep thy feasts, O Judah, perform thy vows;
For the wicked one shall no more pass through thee;
He is utterly cut off.
Shall we pray?
Dear Heavenly Father, as we continue in Thy presence, we do praise and thank Thee for Thy blessed Word. We thank Thee that Thou art a God who speaks. Thou hast spoken, and art still speaking, and we do expect Thee to speak to us again through Thy Word.
We give this time unto Thee and ask Thy Holy Spirit to do the work that Thou art sent for, to the praise of Thy glory, in the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.
The very name Nahum means compassion, comfort, or “be comforted.”
We are not given his background. We do not know whose son he is, as you usually find when a prophet is introduced in the Old Testament. We are only told, “Nahum the Elkoshite.”
Up to the present, we are not sure where Elkosh is. Some say probably it was somewhere in Galilee, and some people say it was someplace near Nineveh. We do not know where that place is. The only thing we are sure of is that he was a prophet whom God raised up in the southern kingdom of Judah.
Now, usually in the Minor Prophets, or even in the so-called Major Prophets, the Bible gives us the time that he prophesied—like, in the days of King so-and-so. But in this book of Nahum, we are not even given that date.
Yet, from the internal evidence, I think we are pretty close to knowing about what time the prophet Nahum prophesied. At that time, the northern kingdom of Israel was already destroyed. We remember that it was destroyed in the fourth year of Hezekiah by the king of Assyria.
The southern kingdom of Judah still existed, but it was in a very weak situation. At one time, during the time of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, came to Judah and attacked all the cities of Judah. He even sent his captain to Jerusalem, demanding surrender.
And you remember how Hezekiah prayed. Through the prophet Isaiah, it was prophesied that God would do a new thing and destroy the army of Assyria. And God did it in a miraculous way.
But after Sennacherib went back, he was murdered by his own sons. Then one of his sons succeeded him, Esar-haddon. It was during the reign of Esar-haddon that he began to make expeditions again, and he came to the Mediterranean regions.
As a matter of fact, if you read 2 Chronicles 33, you will find that his captains took Manasseh, the son of Hezekiah, and bound him with chains of brass and brought him to Babylon, because at that time the king of Assyria resided in Babylon.
Now, Manasseh, the son of Hezekiah, was a wicked king. You know, it is very interesting because if you read the history, you will find that at one time God told Hezekiah to set his house in order, because his time was up. But Hezekiah did not want to die.
So he turned his face toward the wall, and he cried unto the Lord. And God heard his cry and gave him fifteen more years. But, you know, during those fifteen more years, two tragedies happened.
One was that his son Manasseh was born. The other was that when the king of Babylon came to comfort him, he showed all his wealth to the king of Babylon. Eventually, Babylon came and destroyed Judah. So Manasseh actually was born during that period, and he was one of the most wicked kings Judah ever had.
He introduced all kinds of idol worship. He even set up idols in the court of the house of God. He led the whole nation away from God. He was a most wicked king.
Because of that, God sent prophets to warn him and the people, but he would not listen. So finally, God allowed him to be taken captive, bound, and brought to Babylon.
But thank God, while he was in deep trouble, he repented. He cried unto the Lord, and the Lord heard him. He was released, returned to Jerusalem, and began to build up that kingdom again.
He destroyed all the idols and restored worship in the temple. But unfortunately, the people still worshipped in the high places, though only unto the Lord. So in his later years, you will find that there was a kind of restoration.
Most probably, Nahum was raised up by God to be a prophet to the nation of Judah during that period, after Manasseh came back from captivity and there was a kind of restoration in the nation of Judah.
But remember, even so, Judah was very weak. It was almost like only a remnant was there. Furthermore, under Esar-haddon, the king of Assyria, Assyria was almost at the height of its military strength. So there was always a fear that sometime Assyria might come back and destroy them.
So, in view of that, God sent Nahum to the nation of Judah.
Now, it is very important to notice this, because you find that one prophet, one hundred and thirty years ago, whose name was Jonah, came from the northern kingdom of Israel. But God sent him to Nineveh to proclaim the same message that Nahum was to proclaim.
When Jonah went to Nineveh and proclaimed that in forty days Nineveh would be destroyed, the nation repented, and God spared them.
Now you find God raised up another prophet, Nahum, and the burden God gave him was the burden of Nineveh. Yet he was not sent to Nineveh to preach to Nineveh. Instead, he remained in Judah and prophesied to the nation of Judah.
His prophecy was the destruction of Nineveh. To prophesy this to Judah was a real comfort, because the people in Judah were trembling in fear. They were afraid that someday Assyria would come and destroy them.
Now, you find the prophecy: God would destroy Assyria. Assyria would never come again. So it was really an encouragement to the people of God, because they returned to the Lord. The Lord comforted their hearts that He would destroy their enemy and save them.
But at the same time, through the prophecy, it was not only an encouragement; it was also a warning. Nineveh was to be destroyed because of their sins. Through repentance, they were spared. But when they returned to their sins, judgment eventually caught up with them.
So, in the case of Judah, it was a warning that the same thing would happen. If you return to the Lord, the Lord may spare you. But if you go back to sin, then God is just, and judgment will still come upon you.
Thus, the prophecy of Nahum is both encouragement and warning to the nation of Judah.
To understand Nahum, you have to put the prophecy of Jonah, the book of Jonah, and the book of Nahum together, because Nahum actually is a continuation of Jonah. It is also a complement to Jonah.
These two prophets had the same burden concerning Nineveh. But Jonah was sent to Nineveh, and through his preaching Nineveh was spared. The nation of Assyria was preserved through repentance.
But one hundred and thirty years later, Nineveh returned to its violence, sins, pride, and arrogance. They forgot what God had done for them, what mercy God had shown them. They began to believe in themselves and in their own strength. They challenged God Himself. They fought against God, as it were.
Because of that, the message of Nahum was that Nineveh would be destroyed.
As we mentioned already, during that period Nineveh actually was at the height of its history. If we know anything about the city of Nineveh, which was the capital of the kingdom of Assyria, it was a great city.
Someone pointed out that in the Old Testament, this is the only city that the Bible calls “the great city”—Nineveh. We know that Nineveh was founded many, many years ago by Nimrod, the rebel. That was the beginning of world empire. He was a dictator, and he tried to build up a kingdom. You remember that it is also connected with the tower of Babel.
The city of Nineveh at that time had a wall one hundred feet tall. Can you imagine that? The wall was broad enough for three chariots to drive abreast on it.
It had a circumference of sixty miles. It had over twelve hundred towers. It was surrounded by waters. It was impregnable, especially when you think of ancient warfare. Nobody could take Nineveh.
So, in the latter part of the seventh century, when Babylon began to raise its head, it joined with the Medes to lay siege upon Nineveh.
Nineveh stood under siege for over two years. They could not break into that city. They cut off all its connections with the outside and surrounded it, but it stood for over two years.
In the third year, there was such violent rain that the river overflowed. The city was inundated, and part of the wall fell.
There was an old oracle in Nineveh: no one should take Nineveh unless the river first became the enemy of the city. So when part of the wall fell because of the water, the king saw that the oracle was fulfilled. He gave up hope.
He gathered his own people, his royal family, and all his wealth in the palace. He set fire to it and burned everything. And that is how Nineveh finally was destroyed.
Probably it was destroyed in the year 625 BC. We are not exact about the year, but that probably was the year. So, even though Nineveh was such a strong and great city, eventually it was completely destroyed. The prophecy was fulfilled.
Now, as you study this book of Nahum, I think the most important thing is to see in this book the character of God.
You know, we just finished Micah. The message of Micah is:
Who is a God like unto Thee, that pardoneth iniquity,
And passeth over the transgression of the remnant of His heritage?
He retaineth not His anger forever,
Because He delighteth in lovingkindness.
He will again have compassion upon us;
He will tread our iniquities under foot;
And Thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.
Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob,
And the lovingkindness to Abraham,
Which Thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old.
So we find that the message of Micah is that our God is merciful, gracious, and forgiving. He delights in lovingkindness. He will cast our sins into the depths of the sea. He is a faithful God who always remembers His covenant with His people.
What a merciful, loving, gracious, forgiving God He is. That is the God we know, and who is like Him? He is the only God.
But as you study Nahum, probably you get the opposite impression. Why? Because he says that a jealous and avenging God is the Lord, and the Lord is avenging and full of fury. Is there any contradiction?
You know, that reminds us of one verse in the New Testament. There is a verse in Romans 11:22. Let us look at it.
Behold then the goodness and severity of God: toward them that fell, severity; but toward thee, God’s goodness, if thou continue in His goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.
Here you find the apostle Paul mentioning the two sides of God’s way of dealing with people. On the one hand, you find severity. On the other hand, you find goodness. To those who have fallen, severity; but to those who abide in His goodness, goodness.
They are not contradictory. They are the two sides of the character of God.
As a matter of fact, even with Micah, when he said that God forgives our iniquity and delights in lovingkindness, he also mentioned that He does not retain His anger forever. In other words, His anger is there, but He does not retain it forever.
Now, in Nahum, you find that it is true: God is a jealous, avenging God. But he says that He is slow to anger.
If you read Micah, you will find that God is merciful to whom? To the people that He covenanted with, to those who return to Him, who abide in His goodness.
In Nahum, you find upon whom the wrath of God will be poured: upon His adversaries and upon His enemies. So, in other words, these are the two sides of the character of God.
On the one side, He is severe. He is not weak at all. He is not indulgent or careless. He is strong. He is just. He is right.
Yet, on the other hand, He is merciful, gracious, good, and faithful to those who trust in Him. These are not contradictory; they are complementary.
This is the God that we know. This is the God that we worship. This is the God that we serve. We need to know our God—not only the one side, that He is merciful and gracious, but also that at the same time He is a jealous and avenging God. To live a godly life is to know God as He is.
“A jealous and avenging God is the Lord.”
Now, brothers and sisters, we do not like to hear the word jealous, because in our minds it has a bad connotation. In a sense, with fallen men it always has that bad connotation. But jealousy itself is neutral. It really depends upon the context.
Our God is a jealous God, but it is a good thing. The first time you find it mentioned in the Bible that God is a jealous God is in Exodus 20:5.
You remember, when God gave the Ten Commandments to the children of Israel, in the second commandment God said:
Thou shalt not make unto thee a graven image, nor any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:
Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them; for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God,
Visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, upon the third and upon the fourth generation of them that hate Me,
And showing lovingkindness unto thousands of them that love Me and keep My commandments.
This is the first time we find that God is said to be a jealous God. In what sense is He jealous? He is jealous for His glory.
What is the glory of God? Our God is the one God. He is the only One. He is unique. He is above all. He is the only One who is worthy to be worshipped and served. He is very jealous about that glory.
In other words, He will not share His glory with anybody. If anything wants to share His glory, or tries to rob Him of His glory, you will find that God is a consuming fire.
In Deuteronomy 4:24, God said He is a jealous God, a consuming fire. If anything or anyone tries to interfere with the glory of God—and that is with what God Himself is—He will not allow anything to interfere with that glory. Because of this, He is jealous about it, very jealous.
Now, brothers and sisters, this is something we need to learn. We need to see that our God is a jealous God. We need to be very careful lest in some way we intrude into that area of God’s glory.
Whenever God’s glory is interfered with, you find God is very jealous, and He will consume it with His fire.
Not only that, but you find that God is jealous for His own name. If you read Ezekiel 39:25:
Therefore thus saith the Lord God: Now will I bring back the captivity of Jacob, and have mercy upon the whole house of Israel; and I will be jealous for My holy name.
God is jealous for His name. God committed His name to the children of Israel. But unfortunately, the children of Israel did not preserve the holy name of God. On the contrary, they brought shame and reproach to God’s name.
God was very jealous about His name. That is the reason why God punished the children of Israel, punished Jacob, because of His own name. He even raised up the Gentiles as His rod to discipline His own people for His own name’s sake.
His name was not to be put to shame, so that people would not say, “Now look at this people called by the name of God, and that is what God is like.” God had to vindicate His own name with His people.
But then you find that the rods God raised up as instruments of chastisement for His own people went beyond what God allowed. They began to trust in their own strength. They said that they could do it, and they even blasphemed God.
“The God that you serve is nothing. We destroyed all the other gods and their kingdoms, so we will destroy your God and your kingdom.” Now you find God turns toward these nations and judges them. Why? Because He is jealous for His own holy name. He will not allow His name to be blasphemed.
You remember in the Old Testament how people, when they pleaded before God—for instance, Daniel or Moses—knew that in themselves they had no right to plead. But there was one thing they could do: they pleaded for God’s mercy and grace on behalf of His own name.
Moses said, “Lord, if You destroy these people whom You have brought out of Egypt, and people have heard of Your mighty deeds, and now You destroy them, people will say You were not able to lead them into the Promised Land. What will happen to Your name?” And God heard him.
Daniel pleaded the same way: “We have no right. We have sinned. But God, this is a people called by Your name. Think of Your own name.” And God heard him.
So, brothers and sisters, remember that our God is jealous for His own holy name. He is jealous.
Furthermore, you find that God is jealous for His love. Turn to Zechariah 1, verse 14:
And the angel that talked with me said unto me, Cry thou, saying, Thus saith the Lord of hosts: I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy.
God is jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy. Why? Because of His love.
God set His love upon Jerusalem, upon Zion. God has His purpose for Zion and Jerusalem, and God was determined to see that what He had purposed out of His love would be fully realized.
Whenever that purpose is interrupted or interfered with, He is very jealous about it. In other words, He will see to it that His love and His purpose will be fulfilled.
Now, thank God for such jealousy. Sometimes we think jealousy is not a very good expression. But what is love if there is no jealousy?
Love is so concentrated. Love is so single. Love will not allow anything to share it or to take away even a little bit of it. Love wants it all, and that is what God is for us.
He loves us with such great love that He will not allow anything to take us away from His love or take us away from what His love has determined for us. We want to thank God for His jealousy.
If God were not jealous, He could say, “All right, you can go your way. Even though you are Mine, if you drift away and do not fulfill My purpose, it is all right. I will let you go.” No, that is not God.
God is a jealous God, and He will see to it that His love will be completed. He will do His complete work in those whom He has chosen. So, brothers and sisters, our God is a jealous God. Thank God for that.
An avenger is He?
Again, you know, in our fallen minds, avenge is a very bad word. True, if it were left to us to avenge and take revenge, it would be ugly, because we are not qualified.
God is the only Judge of all the earth. What would the earth be if there were no judge? God is the Judge of the whole earth, and the Judge of the whole earth always does right.
You know, that is how Abraham pleaded before God. You remember the story when God decided to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham pleaded with God and said, “Will the Judge of all the earth let the righteous perish with the sinful? Certainly not. You are a righteous and just God. You are the Judge of all the earth.”
Because of this, God heard Abraham and saved Lot. God is the only One who has the knowledge and the power to judge. We are not qualified to judge or to avenge.
When our Lord Jesus was on earth, in John 5, you remember the Lord said:
I can of Myself do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and My judgment is righteous; because I seek not Mine own will, but the will of Him that sent Me.
As our Lord was dead, raised from the dead, and ascended, God appointed Him as the Judge of the living and the dead. Acts 10:42.
God is the only One qualified to judge. That is the reason why, in Romans 12, we are told:
Avenge not yourselves, beloved, but give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance belongeth unto Me; I will recompense, saith the Lord.
So, brothers and sisters, we know that God, being the Judge of the whole world, is a just and righteous God. Surely He has to avenge, because if He does not do that work, then who will do it?
But, as we mentioned before, to show mercy is God’s normal work. To pour out wrath is His strange work. He delights in lovingkindness. He does not want to judge.
But because He is the just Judge of the whole earth, when He is forced to judge, He will do it. He will do it. Yet you see here that He is slow to anger.
How longsuffering God is. How He suffers long, hoping that all will be saved and none will perish. He is slow to anger.
Now, upon whom will He pour out His anger? It says here:
The Lord taketh vengeance on His adversaries,
And He reserveth wrath for His enemies.
In other words, if you are not His enemy, if you are not His adversary, He will not pour out His wrath upon you. On the contrary, even in this book of Nahum, in verse 7, you find:
The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble;
And He knoweth them that take refuge in Him.
If you trust in Him, even in the time of trouble, He will be a stronghold to you. Why? Because He is good. He is good. He reserves His wrath only for His enemies. So do not try to be His enemy.
You know, brothers and sisters, we need to know the two sides of God’s character. On the one hand, we need to know His severity; on the other hand, His goodness.
On the one hand, we need to know His love, His compassion, and His mercy. On the other hand, we need to know His righteousness, His justice, His wrath, and His anger.
Unfortunately, most people know only one side of it. That is the reason why our knowledge of God is unbalanced. Any unbalanced knowledge of God affects our Christian life; we live an unbalanced life.
So we need to know our God as He is. Do not think that this is only in the Old Testament. If you come to the New Testament, you will find the same thing.
In 2 Corinthians 5:14, we remember that verse: “For the love of Christ constraineth us.” We know the love of Christ. We all know that—how the love of Christ constrains us, how He loves us to the uttermost, loves us to the very end.
But in the same chapter, we tend to forget Paul said, “Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord.” The Lord is terrible.
We need to know God in both ways. We need to know the love of Christ to constrain us, but we also need to know the terror of the Lord, that we may not be careless, lest we fall into the mighty hand of God.
But thank God, the Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble, and He knows those who trust in Him.
This prophecy concerning Nineveh was already fulfilled. When Nahum prophesied, it was probably around the year 650 BC, and we know Nineveh was eventually destroyed about 625 BC. It was fulfilled.
But if you know prophecy, you know that in prophecy there is always an immediate fulfillment and also a remote fulfillment. There is always a partial fulfillment and a full fulfillment. That is the nature of prophecy.
So the destruction of Nineveh, even though historically fulfilled in the seventh century, has something to do with us now. Why? Because Nineveh is more than just a city.
Nineveh, or Assyria, in Scripture is a type of the world. The Bible uses different cities, kingdoms, and nations to represent the world.
For instance, Egypt is a type of the world. It is a type of the wealth of the world. It is the place where there is abundance; when everywhere is famine, there is food in Egypt. Yet it also tells of oppression. Even though there is wealth, there is oppression there. That is what the world is.
Then you find Babylon is also a representation of the world. Usually Babylon represents the world that is great, and yet confused—especially in the area of religious confusion.
The children of Israel were delivered out of Egypt, but they were taken captive into Babylon. In other words, they were taken out of the world as it is, but they fell into the religious world. Thus, Babylon represents the great religious system of the world.
Now Nineveh, or Assyria—and you find even here the Assyrian, the wicked counsellor—actually points forward to the Antichrist. Here, Nineveh represents the world in its greatness, strength, and violence.
It represents pride in its own strength, not only opposing God but even disdaining God; not only rebelling against God but even fighting against God. That is what the world is. That is Nineveh.
Now, brothers and sisters, what is the burden of Nahum? God had a burden for this world.
God created the world. God loves the world. But the world has become such that it rebels against God. It has become a place of vileness, a place of opposition to God, despising God, fighting against God.
Under the rule of Satan, the adversary of God, the world has fallen in such a way. But God still loves the world. He has a burden for the world.
So you find that He sent His prophets to the world, calling the world to return and repent. He wished that it would be spared. Here you find how God spared Nineveh through the prophecy of Jonah. If only the world would repent, God would spare it.
God is still sparing. Not only that, but two thousand years ago, God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son into this world to die for the world, to try to recall and bring back the people on this earth to Himself.
Yet the world rejected Him. The world crucified Him. Even so, you find His love.
We know that the wrath of God is upon this world, upon all those who are unrighteous, as you find in Romans 1. In one sense, the wrath of God is already here. But in another sense, you find that He still restrains His wrath. He is still giving the world opportunity.
Not because our Lord comes late. It is because He does not want to see any perish, but that all may come to repentance and be saved. That is the longsuffering of God.
But, brothers and sisters, do not think because of this that the world will go on without being judged eventually. The Word of God tells us very clearly: the day is coming soon. Christ will come back to judge this world.
Judgment will come upon this world. When the wrath of the Lamb shall come, who can stand?
If you read Revelation 6, you find that when the wrath of the Lamb comes—we think of a lamb as very meek, never getting angry. You can do anything to the lamb, and the lamb will just suffer under it.
But, brothers and sisters, one day the Lamb will be full of fury. Who can stand it? People will cry to the mountains, “Fall upon us, and hide us from the wrath of the Lamb.” One day judgment will come upon this earth because it will not repent.
God is just. He is severe with those who have fallen.
But thank God, He is good. He is a stronghold in the time of trouble, and He knows those who trust in Him.
Brothers and sisters, in one sense we know that the wrath of God is already upon this earth. We find there is so much trouble in this world today. This is the day of trouble, and we are living here.
Do you think that God has forgotten us, or that He will forsake us? No. He is good. He will be a stronghold to us in these days of trouble, because He knows us. He knows those who trust in Him.
So if we are only trusting Him, brothers and sisters, we know that even though we live in a troublous time, we have the confidence that God is our stronghold. We hide in Him, and He knows us who trust in Him.
When the whole world is in fear and trembling, when they think of what is going to come upon this earth, they are frightened to death.
Look up, for your redemption draweth nigh. Brothers and sisters, is not our God good?
Thank God, we can live through this troublous time with faith and with hope, knowing that it will not be long. He who has promised to come is coming. Come, Lord Jesus. Shall we pray?
Dear Heavenly Father, we are comforted by the word of Thy prophet. We do praise and thank Thee that even though the day of judgment is almost upon us, yet we know Thou art our stronghold. We have our rest and peace in Thee.
We do praise and thank Thee that Thou knowest how to separate the just from the unjust. Even though in ourselves we are unjust, Thou hast reckoned us righteous in Christ Jesus.
So we are full of hope as we come to this day. We know that Thou who hast saved us will save us to the uttermost.
We thank Thee that we know whom we have believed, and are fully persuaded that Thou art able to keep that which we have committed unto Thee against that day. Lord, we thank Thee. In the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.