18: Minor Prophets – The Book of Nahum

[Dunkle] Alright, welcome back! We are carrying on in minor prophets class today, and we get to start a new book.

We’re looking at the book of Nahum. Nahum, Nahum. How do you… I like to say Nahum. I’ve heard Nahum. Let’s ignore that and get to the five Ws. There is not a W on pronunciation, but we do start with the W of who.

The author, it’s agreed that it was a guy named Nahum, or Nahum. The Hebrew word there means consolation, or means comfort. If you look back early in Genesis, this seems to be a different variation of the same name that was given to Noah. Noah means comfort or consolation. So how we render these Hebrew words into English can vary. It seems this might be a shortened version of another book in the Bible named for an author, Nehemiah. Nehemiah means comfort or consolation by Yahweh. Nahum is shortened, or the shorter version.

And that’s really all I can say, because as far as a person goes, we don’t know anything about Nahum. So this is a prophet who got inspired to write this message, but we don’t have his story.

So let’s talk about when. There is some disagreement. There’s two main schools of thought. One school of thought is that it was written about 720 BC, during the reign of Hezekiah. If you’re like me, the number doesn’t mean much, but Hezekiah, I remember. He’s king of Judah.

Let me flip back there—oh, wrong map. He’s king here in purple, while Assyria is overrunning green. So if it’s during that era, okay, it’s when the Assyrians are marching. And if that’s the case, Nahum would be contemporary with Isaiah and Micah.

But I’m going to tell you there’s more support for Nahum being written later, almost a hundred years later, about 630 BC. And there is internal evidence to support that, because it mentions in Nahum—he talks about the conquest of a town called No Ammon, N-O, separate word, A-M-O-N—which is what the Hebrews called Thebes, a city in Egypt.

So we don’t need to know that, but Thebes was conquered in 663 BC. So if Nahum was written after that, but before the city of Nineveh was conquered, which was in 612, we narrow it down and say probably in the middle, around 630 BC.

And my personal thought is that’s when I think it’s more likely to have been written. That would put Nahum during the reign of King Josiah. King Josiah was the last good king in Judah. They had a bit of a renaissance and a religious revival before Josiah’s sons, and one of his grandsons, led the nation down, and then Babylon conquered them.

So I tend to think that’s when it happened—when the northern kingdom had already been conquered, and the southern kingdom was soon going to be.

Okay, if that’s the case, where is also open to interpretation? The book says that the burden against Nineveh, the book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite. You guys know a lot of Elkoshites, right? No, you probably don’t.

It’s thought that that means he was from a town called Elkosh. But the trick is, or the difficulty, we have no idea where Elkosh was. So maybe he’s from there, but where that there is, or was, we don’t know. Boy, that was a complex sentence.

Some scholars think it was a small village up in northern Israel, what would be known as Galilee, although that’s hard to justify if Assyria has already conquered that area. Some scholars guess that Nahum was actually among the captives taken by Assyria, and that Elkosh might be a small village near the Tigris River.

If that’s true, then that says something. Well, honestly, we don’t know, and I’m not going to spend much more time on it.

But along with the where fits into the when, it seems Nahum—well, it doesn’t seem, it’s certain—that he prophesied later than Jonah did. Why does it matter how he is in relation to Jonah? Well, Jonah went to Nineveh. This is a prophecy against Nineveh.

When Jonah prophesied against Nineveh, they repented—sackcloth and ashes—and God did not destroy Nineveh. There is no indication that’s going to happen this time. As a matter of fact, this fits into the why.

Why did Nahum write this prophecy? The consensus is that it was given largely to encourage Judah, to encourage Judah, to let them know that their enemy, the Assyrian Empire, is going to be punished by God. They’re not going to continue conquering. Even though they’ve already conquered Israel, and they’ve taken over much of the known world, they’re going to be punished themselves.

So we see references to Judah, but Nahum never mentions Judah’s sin. The focus is on Nineveh is going to be destroyed.

But we don’t have a story like we did in the book of Jonah of Nahum going to Nineveh and giving this message. For all we know, the Ninevites might have never seen it. It’s largely to tell Judah, hey, your enemy is going to be taken care of.

I think I mentioned when we were in Micah, God sometimes saying, I got your back—and whatever phrase they would use in Hebrew at that time.

Okay, so we don’t know that God really expected the Ninevites to repent. Along those lines, some of what’s in this book seems to possibly be dual prophecy. There are some references to a day of trouble, and that’s a phrase that more often refers to THE day of trouble, the day of the Lord.

And there’s one place where it mentions God’s people being no more afflicted, and the enemy will no longer pass through your land. Well, that hasn’t yet been completely fulfilled. The nation of Judah would have enemies come through their land. Assyria might have been done, but Babylon would come, and then the Greeks would come, and the Romans would come.

So there’s good reason to think that much of this is looking to the end time, when eventually Jesus Christ will establish His kingdom, and there won’t be any enemies—no more enemy to pass through the land.

Well, let’s move on to what. This is kind of basic. The book has three chapters. It’s seen as a single prophetic utterance. So it’s not broken down into different sections so much. It’s, okay, here’s the prophecy against Nineveh.

As I said, it has the focus of encouraging Judah, showing that the enemy would fall. So in the book, we see a balance between warning of punishment, but also promise of redemption—even for Assyria.

Even Assyria has the chance of redemption. As a matter of fact, just to point out, know that that’s true, I want to read a scripture from the book of Isaiah. It’s in Isaiah 19, beginning in verse 23. And this is accepted to be a millennial prophecy.

Isaiah 19, verse 23. God has Isaiah write, "In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria. The Assyrian will come to Egypt, the Egyptian to Assyria, the Egyptians will serve with the Assyrians. In that day Israel will be one of three with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the land" (Isaiah 19:23–24).

This surely hasn’t been fulfilled yet, but it’s coming. "Of whom the Lord of hosts shall bless, saying, blessed is Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel my inheritance" (Isaiah 19:25).

Wow! Again, there’s redemption even for Assyria. And that’s good to remember, as we’re going to talk about God being jealous, and God avenging, and taking vengeance, which comes to the fore right away in this book.

Okay, now I want to point out a couple more things in the what.

Scholars who understand Hebrew say that Nahum’s style is clear, elegant, and forceful. I apologize for not having footnotes—I’m not sure who I copied that from—but I like the way it says it: clear, elegant, and forceful.

I found another description that says Nahum is lyric poetry of a high order—lyric poetry of a high order. That’s saying something about the quality of writing in the man Nahum. We don’t know much about him, but he could write.

That reminds me—and I don’t mean this as a promotion—but there’s a history podcast that I like to listen to called Hardcore History by Dan Carlin. I remember listening to one where he was talking about ancient writers, and he actually read some of the book of Nahum to show how Hebrew writers described some history and what it had to say about the Assyrian Empire. So when somebody who is known for his quality of language and voice quotes Nahum, that does say something.

The other thing I want to mention is what I’ve put on the board—and I wish it were better writing, but I’ll read it to you. There are six specific prophecies about Nineveh’s fall that are found in the book of Nahum. There’s a question about how much they’re dual, but one is that it’s going to happen easily. I’ve got the verse—chapter 3, verse 12—mentions that. So it’s going to be an easy conquest when it happens.

The people in Nineveh are going to be drinking. It talks about they’re going to be drunken—it’s like a wild party is going on. That’s mentioned in chapter 1, verse 10, also in chapter 3, verse 11.

I’ll try to remember to mention it when we get there, but if you can remember what we covered in Daniel chapter 5, where in Babylon they were having a wild party when they’re conquered, Nineveh seems to have something similar.

Number three, there seems to be a description of a flood from the River Tigris damaging the gate and/or the wall. And there are historical references to the wall being flooded out and collapsing, and that made it easy to conquer. That’s part of why it was so easy.

Number four, there would be burning. Typically, invading armies, once they get inside a city, set stuff on fire. So it’s not a big surprise, but it’s worth noting that it’s prophesied.

Number five, there’s not going to be any deliverance. God determined it would happen. By the way, the conquest is done by the Babylonians in cooperation with the Medes. So there is a specific enemy that conquers Nineveh, and no one’s getting out of it—chapter 3, verse 19.

And there’s a reference to what’s called a hidden grave in chapter 1, verse 14. I’ll point out that the city of Nineveh would be lost—it would be buried in the sand. It’s lost for so long and so thoroughly that many scholars thought that the city of Nineveh was a myth, that it never really existed.

Then in 1842, archaeologists found the remains of a city. They got some clay tablets and started interpreting them and found out this is Nineveh—Nineveh was real. So it was hidden for a long, long time and then discovered. And as I said, prophecy seems to show that God predicted that or planned for it.

So we don’t have a list of specifics like this in many of our books, but I like having it for Nahum. It gives me something cool to write on the board—sorry. Junie, I would have had you write it for me earlier, but I forgot, so we’ll put up with my handwriting.

So let’s get into the book. The burden—by the way, remember "burden" is a word that often means this is the message. It’s like a heavy weight that the prophet carries until he can unload it on the people he has to deliver it to.

"The vision of Nahum the Elkoshite." So apparently God showed him this in a vision, and it starts off with some heavy stuff.

"God is jealous." It reminds us that He really did love Israel and Judah. He wanted to protect His people. "He’s jealous, and the Lord avenges. The Eternal avenges and is furious, and He’ll take vengeance on His adversaries." (Nahum 1:1-2) That’s three times in this one verse that it talks about God’s vengeance.

That could be an emphasis—to keep repeating and building it. It’s also a note of the poetic quality. That’s a way Hebrew poetry sometimes works, to repeat and build up something. But we see anybody that opposes God’s chosen people makes himself an enemy of God, and God will take vengeance. It says He reserves wrath for His enemies.

Verse 3, "The Lord is slow to anger and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked." I love that perfect balance. He’s slow to anger, but He has great power.

I couldn’t help but think of Ecclesiastes chapter 8, verse 11 here. Ecclesiastes 8:11 is where it tells us, "Because the sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil" (Ecclesiastes 8:11).

The way we humans work is, if we don’t get punished right away, we think we got away with it, and we keep going in evil. God doesn’t work that way. He’s slow to anger. He gives us room to turn and repent.

And we could say the thought is, with the use of God’s Spirit, man doesn’t have to be fully set on evil when they’re not punished—but that’s getting into a different subject.

Let’s continue in verse 3. "The Lord has His way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of His feet." (Nahum 1:3) This is a poetic beauty describing God’s power.

"He rebukes the sea and makes it dry, dries up all the rivers" (Nahum 1:4)—reminding us of the miracles God performed for Israel in the past. He parted the Red Sea, stopped the Jordan River.

"Bashan and Carmel wither. The flower of Lebanon wilts." I remind you again, Carmel is over here—heavily forested, beautiful country. Bashan is this rich pasture land. It was fertile and lush, but it’s going to wither at God’s power, as Lebanon wilts.

"The mountains quake before Him. The hills melt. The earth heaves at His presence." (Nahum 1:5) That could be—well, it obviously is poetry—just describing God’s power.

If this is dual prophecy looking at the end time, I’ll just remind you that Revelation more than once mentions powerful earthquakes and what seems to be volcanic activity. So when God takes a hand, the earth heaves and shakes.

In verse 6, "Who can stand before His indignation? Who can endure the fierceness of His anger?" (Nahum 1:6). We could inject an answer—not Assyria. Who can stand before God’s fury? Not Assyria. That’s who this prophecy is for.

"His fury is poured out like fire, and the rocks are thrown down by Him."

And we go on in verse 7: "The Lord is good." We could stop there, and that says a lot. "He is a stronghold in the day of trouble, and He knows those who trust in Him." (Nahum 1:7)

I love that phrase. I like to connect it to Proverbs 18 and verse 10. Proverbs 18:10 says, "The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous runs to it and is safe" (Proverbs 18:10).

The Lord is a stronghold. I should point out the Hebrew here could also be translated to say, the Lord is strength. So we could see Him as a stronghold to go to, but we could also see Him as giving us strength when we’re in a day of trouble.

He can provide for us wherever we are. Sometimes we need spiritual strength. Sometimes we need physical protection and strength. Sometimes we need both.

God promises protection—especially, again, if we connect to Revelation. Revelation 12 reminds us of the Church being taken to her place. Let me mention also Isaiah 26 and verse 20, which seems God says, "Come, my people, enter your chambers, and shut your doors behind you; hide yourself, as it were, for a little moment, until the indignation is past" (Isaiah 26:20).

I’m not going to turn and read it—we have it other times—but there’s reason to trust in God’s protection.

I’ve got a quote here that again I didn’t cite, but I wrote it down. I think it’s a modern quote because it goes, trusting in God is more valuable than a bomb shelter. And I like that. You know, I wouldn’t mind having a bomb shelter if I’m worried about bombs, but there’s bigger, more dangerous things, and trust in God is the most valuable.

Let’s go on in verse 8. With an overflowing flood, He’ll make an utter end of its place, and with darkness will pursue His enemies. This could be a reference to the flood helping to conquer the city of Nineveh. It also can symbolize a large army. So there could be dualism here. You know, an overwhelming flood—sometimes armies are described as waters and floods.

But there are written histories that say that in 612 BC, the Tigris River flooded and washed away a large section of Nineveh’s city wall, making it easier for it to be conquered. So with that in mind, we could say in verse 9 God starts to directly address the Assyrians. 

"What do you conspire against the Eternal? What do you think you’re going to do? He’ll make an utter end of it. Affliction will not rise up a second time." (Nahum 1:9) 

This seems to be God saying, I don’t need a second try. You know, I’m not going to take two stabs at this—I’ll get it the first time.

"For while tangled like thorns, and while drunken like drunkards, they’ll be devoured like stubble." (Nahum 1:10) 

Drunken like drunkards—and again, some of those same histories that reference the flood say that there was a big party, some type of perhaps a religious festival. Some even reference what might have been an orgy going on when the city unexpectedly fell and was conquered.

And we see that—they’re drunken like drunkards, and they’ll be devoured like stubble. Stubble burns really easily, you know, dry grass or whatever.

And think of the story in Isaiah when the Assyrians are trash-talking God, and God sends one angel and kills 185,000 of their soldiers in one night. That’s like devouring like stubble.

Verse 11, "From you comes forth one who plots evil against the Lord, a wicked counselor." (Nahum 1:11) 

Maybe I shouldn’t have run that together there, because there’s a question: who is it that plots evil? Who’s the wicked counselor? We don’t know—don’t know for sure.

I’ll point out there are different theories. Some scholars say this is referring to a Jewish traitor at the time of Nineveh’s reign. Some say it’s somebody within the Assyrian army—one of their own turned against them—like the Rabshakeh that’s mentioned in 2 Kings 18 and verse 17. Other people like to point to the end time and say this is end-time prophecy, and it’s referring to the dictator that will rule the beast power—that he’s the wicked counselor plotting against God.

I think any or all of those could be true. I don’t think we need anything extra to tell us how bad the beast will be at the end. But if this is about that, it just reinforces what we can see in other places. So going on in verse 12, 

"Thus says the Eternal, the Lord: though they are safe, and likewise many, yet in this manner they’ll be cut down." (Nahum 1:12)

This seems to be God telling Judah how He’s going to deal with his enemy—with Assyria. Though there are many, I’m going to cut them down.

The Hebrew there could refer to like shaving hair. You know, you have a lot—I’ll cut it short. "When he passes through, though I have afflicted you, I will afflict you no more." That seems to be talking to Judah. God said, yeah, I’ve punished you, and we’ve seen in other places that they deserved the punishment. But God’s saying, I’m done with that. Now I’m going to take care of this enemy.

"For now I will break his yoke from you and burst your bonds apart." (Nahum 1:13)

Yeah, there’s a similar prophecy in Jeremiah chapter 30 and verse 8. In Jeremiah 30:8 where it says, "For it shall come to pass in that day, says the Lord of hosts, that I will break his yoke from your neck, and will burst your bonds" (Jeremiah 30:8).

Reminding us again of God’s eventual redemption. Yeah, He allows punishment. The enemy will come, and Assyria was the rod of God’s anger. But there’s a point where God says, Assyria, that’s enough—now I’m going to have to deal with you.

And we can look at this, remember, and Jesus Christ talks about taking on His yoke, because His burden is easy and His yoke is light. We don’t want to have any other yoke on us. So we can turn this to a spiritual meaning, and looking to the end time.

Let’s go on in verse 14. Now God has talked to Judah—I’m going to take care of the enemy for you. Now it seems He’s addressing Nineveh.

"The Lord has given a command concerning you, Nineveh: Your name shall no longer be perpetuated. Out of the house of your gods I’ll cut off the carved image and the molded image. I will dig your grave, for you are vile." (Nahum 1:14)

Every time I read that, I think, now that’s trash talk. You imagine you walk out onto the basketball court and say, I’m going to dig your grave. Well, that’d be a bit too extreme. I hope none of us are doing that.

But when God faces off against another nation, it’s like saying, okay, I’m going to take care of you. In verse 14 where it says "your name shall be perpetuated no longer," it seems like He’s saying the dynasty will be extinguished. The ruling family isn’t going to be remembered. I’m cutting off the name. And of course, the house of your idols will be cut off.

And when the Babylonians and the Medes conquered Nineveh, they took their idols. They destroyed some, and of course they followed their practice of hauling them back to their city and putting them in their temples to show their supremacy.

And as I said, God says, I’ll dig your grave. Some people refer that to Sennacherib, who again 2 Kings 19:37, describes him being killed while he was in the temple of the idol Nisroch.

So it could be that individual. It could also be referring to the whole city. And that’s where I said, the reference to a hidden grave—all of Nineveh would be buried in the sands of the desert and lost for millennia. So when God says He’s going to dig a grave, He’s pretty thorough about it.

Let’s move on. Verse 15—we turn to more good news. 

"Look, there on the mountains, the feet of one who brings good news, who proclaims peace!" (Nahum 1:15)

Okay, this is good news that the enemy’s fallen. Good news, we could say, even of the coming Messiah.

"Oh Judah, keep your appointed feasts. Perform your vows." 

During the Assyrian invasion—remember Assyria came and they conquered Israel, but they also moved into Judah, conquered much of their cities, besieged Jerusalem and Lachish, before God sent an angel and stopped them.

During that time, Judah could not keep the appointed feasts. They were under siege. You couldn’t go up to Jerusalem three times a year if there was an Assyrian army blocking your way.

But God is saying there’s peace. He’s going to destroy the enemy. You can go keep those feasts. You can perform your vows. The wicked one will no more pass through you. He is utterly cut off.

There’s where I mention—no more pass through you. We could make an argument that that hasn’t been completely fulfilled. The Assyrian army was stopped, but Judah would still have enemies pass through. So I think this is probably a dual prophecy, looking to the good news that we can look for in the millennium. Satan will be put away, and that enemy’s not passing through, and everyone can keep God’s feasts.

I feel like I’m correcting you—I’m all fired up about this. It’s very exciting stuff. Let’s go into chapter 2. 

"He who scatters has come up before your face." (Nahum 2:1)

Some have said this is directed toward Nineveh in a bit of a sarcastic way—maybe ironic. "He who scatters has come up before your face. Man the fort; watch the road; strengthen your flanks; fortify your power mightily" (Nahum 2:1). These are military orders—move the troops here, get them ready, do all this—and it’s going to be in vain, because they’re going to be conquered anyway. Assyria will try in vain to defend themselves.

Verse 2, "For the Lord will restore the excellence of Jacob like the excellence of Israel," So God is going to restore Jacob—Israel and Judah. "For the emptiers have emptied them out and ruined their vine branches" (Nahum 2:2). The Assyrian army had invaded and spoiled them, but that’s going to be turned around.

Verse 3, "The shields of his mighty men are made red, the valiant men are in scarlet; the chariots come with flaming fire" (Nahum 2:3). This is commonly seen to be describing the army that’s going to conquer Assyria, primarily the Babylonians. Babylonian soldiers liked to paint their shields red. I’m not sure if they just liked the color or if it had some symbolic meaning, but it’s something we know in history.

Chariots with flaming torches—not certain if that’s the proper translation. There are scholars who think it’s talking about chariots with blades attached to the side. And you read about that in history, and they could ride through troops, the blades slashing the enemy armies—their legs and such.

Others wonder—is this a foreshadowing of modern weaponry, which there’s no way to describe? How do you describe an Abrams tank or an Apache helicopter in that language? For that I like to say maybe. I’m not going to say it’s not that, but I hesitate to say for certain that it is.

Verse 4, "The chariots rage in the streets, they jostle one another in the broad roads; they seem like torches, they run like lightning" (Nahum 2:4).

We move on. "He remembers his nobles; they stumble in their walk; they make haste to her walls, and the defense is prepared" (Nahum 2:5). The nobles—the leaders—it’s like they’re hurrying to defend Nineveh, but it’s not going to amount to anything.

Verse 6, "The gates of the rivers are opened, and the palace is dissolved" (Nahum 2:6). Again, this might be a reference to the Tigris. The gates open, the river floods, and the walls sort of dissolve. The palace crumbles because it’s undermined by the flowing water.

Verse 7, "It is decreed: she shall be led away captive, she shall be brought up, and her maidservants shall lead her as with the voice of doves, beating their breasts" (Nahum 2:7). So this seems to be describing the city with anthropomorphism—you know, the city is like a woman being led away, and her handmaidens defeated.

But I want to pause and look at the Hebrew. Some scholars say that the word that’s translated "decreed"—the Hebrew is huzab. If I’m transliterating that correctly—there are different ways—but huzab. Some scholars think this was actually meant to be a proper name, like the queen of Nineveh.

And so it could be saying, Huzab shall be led away captive. She shall be brought up, and her maidservants with her. So we can see it both ways—of an individual, like I said, the queen, or of the city.

Okay, yeah, I know—I should have mentioned some translations just print it as huzab. And there’s where they say, well, we don’t know which it is, we’ll just leave it there and let people strive to figure out what it’s talking about. And so we’ll just look at the two main ways that we see it. And I think either one could well be accurate, and maybe both are intended.

Verse 8 says, "Though Nineveh of old was like a pool of water," (Nahum 2:8). And we could say Nineveh had been defended partly by the waters. It sits on the Tigris River, but now those waters inundate. "Now they flee away. 'Halt! Halt!' they cry; but no one turns back." 

This seems to be describing the collapse of military discipline. Remember, we hustle our soldiers up, the commanders are there—now there’s anarchy. The soldiers are fleeing, and the officers are saying, stop, stop, get back in line. No one’s listening. They’re fleeing away.

"Take spoil of silver! Take spoil of gold! There is no end of treasure, or wealth of every desirable prize" (Nahum 2:9). So the enemy’s coming and looting, taking all this stuff.

"She is empty, desolate, and waste!" (Nahum 2:10). Assyria had accumulated great wealth—that’s going to be taken away. "The heart melts, and the knees shake; much pain is in every side, and all their faces are drained of color."

Before I move on, I’d like to note—and I’m not sure if I have room to write this on here—ah, I do. Let me…

Yes, Matt—

[Matt] Sorry, can you say again what huzab was? 

[Dunkle] Huzab—we’re not sure if it means "it is decreed." There in verse 7, it is decreed—huzab—that she’ll be led away, or if it’s a proper name, a woman whose name is Huzab is led away captive. And they speculate she’s the leading lady, or the queen.

So I cleared this away because I want to point out interesting Hebrew, where you see in verse 10: empty, desolate, and waste. It’s thought that Nahum was making a play on words.

What’s the word for when a word sounds like the word that it describes—as onomatopoeia? No—it is. Some people are saying it is. There’s a word that means a word sounds like it—it’s like the word swoosh or zap. That’s onomatopoeia.

So we’ve got the word empty—I’m going to give you the English. The Hebrew is buka, B-U-Q-U-A-H. I’m giving the transliteration here—it’s easier if I could actually read.

Okay, desolate—mebuka, M-E-B-H-U-Q-U-H—and then waste, mebukkala, M-E-B-H-U-L-A-Q-U-H. This is a lot of buildup for something that doesn’t have deep spiritual meaning, but it’s empty, waste, desolate.

And it seems that he might have chosen words to imitate a sound. Have you ever had a jug or whatever, and you pour water out of it, and it goes… buqu-buqu? These words are meant to be—buqu-buqu, mebuka, mebukkala—it’s like empty, waste, desolate, everything pouring out.

And okay, I don’t pronounce Hebrew very well, but the scholars who do say Nahum did it perfectly. He chose just the right words that their meaning conveys this, and the sound of them also conveys Nineveh just being dumped out and emptied.

So although I’m not pronouncing it well—buqa-buqa, mebulaqa—close enough. You get the point. I just love when our Hebrew prophets are also clever poets, and they can do something like that.

By the way, along with that, in verse 10 it says the heart melts, the knees shake, pain on every side. Okay, they’re not laughing about this. The Assyrians are being devastated.

And so we have perhaps a mocking question: "Where is the dwelling of the lions, and the feeding place of the young lions? Where the lion walked, the lion and the lion’s cub" (Nahum 2:11).

Assyrian sculpture features a lot of lions in various forms—some with men’s heads, some with wings. We see some of that coming into the symbolism that God would use in prophecy.

"The lion tore in pieces enough for his cubs, killed for his lionesses, filled his caves with prey"  (Nahum 2:12).

It’s like saying, yeah, you’re so tough— all the powerful lions… where are they now? God is asking. What happened? And the obvious answer is, okay, God took care of it.

But it’s worth noting the Assyrians had that reputation because they earned it. They were vicious. They were brutal and cruel. And the Assyrian Empire goes down in history known for its vicious cruelty. They would make mounds of severed heads when they conquered an enemy. They bragged of making blood flow in streams.

They would torture live victims, sometimes skinning people while they’re still alive. When they took captives, they’d put metal hooks in them and drag them along. I want to realize when God is saying, okay, where is it now? He’s reminding them of how vicious and strong they were—and He conquered them and reduced them.

In verse 13, God says, "Behold, I am against you," says the Lord of hosts, "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 be heard no more" (Nahum 2:13).

God’s taking care of that. God’s got this down. They’re not vicious enough to stop Him. So He reminds everybody of how strong, vicious, brutal Assyria was—and then God says, I’m against you. I’m the one you’re facing now, so to speak.

That sort of thought continues as we restate Nineveh’s fate.

In chapter 3, "Woe to the bloody city! It is all full of lies and robbery. Its victim never departs" (Nahum 3:1). "Never departs"—that seems to be a comment on Assyria’s continuous warfare. It means there’s always a victim. There’s always next up. We finish this conquest, we move to the next conquest. That one’s done, let’s move to the next. And like I said, they were not very kind to their enemies.

"The noise of a whip and the noise of rattling wheels, of galloping horses, of clattering chariots! Horsemen charge with bright sword and glittering spear" (Nahum 3:2–3).

By the way, bright sword, glittering spear—this is the Hebrew imagery to bring color and emotion to the feeling. And it talks about a multitude of slain, great number of bodies, countless corpses. They stumble—boy, it’s just horrid to think about.

And, well, I’ll say, this reminds me of some images I’ve seen that came out of World War II, where the Nazis, when they were trying to exterminate the Jews—there’s actually black and white footage of mounds of corpses and just very terrible things.

And I hesitate to say this because I don’t want it to come across as racist, but there is some thought and some evidence to support the idea that when the Assyrians migrated—and we do know they migrated—that they mostly settled in what we know as Central Europe. And so there’s been a connection of the modern German peoples being descended from Assyrians, which you could kind of see.

And I’m not trying to paint all Germans as Nazis because they’re certainly not. And most Germans you would meet today are as horrified and offended by what happened in World War II as any Americans are. But, well, we say the Germans had a skill, you know, for warfare like the Assyrians did, and the punishment brought some similar results.

Whether or not the modern Germans and peoples in Central Europe are descended from Assyria—because I don’t want to focus on that now—there’s support for it, but some people doubt. But as I said, the imagery of all these corpses, you know, there’s one time in our history where we can easily envision that.

Verse 4 says, "Because of the multitude of harlotries of the seductive harlot" (Nahum 3:4). The Old King James called it the whoredoms of the well-favored harlot. Most scholars say this is Nineveh itself, alluring other nations with a favorable appearance.

It seems to even better stand for the end-time Babylonian system—Mystery Babylon the Great—with what looks like a very seductive, alluring system, with beautiful ceremonies and all that, that’s leading people into something that’s evil. Think of Revelation 17:1–6, and I’ll move on from there.

And God addresses this, as He did in verse 13 of chapter 2 and verse 5 of chapter 3. God says, "Behold, I am against you," (Nahum 3:5).

You don’t ever want God to say, I’m against you. I want to make sure I’m never in that position. But here He’s addressing it to Nineveh and the Assyrians.

And there’s some symbolism here of Assyria like a woman. "I’ll lift your skirts over your face and show the nations your nakedness and the kingdoms your abomination."

Now, I read in a scholarly source that they said this was considered a great shame to women in the Orient. And I thought, yeah—probably any women anywhere. Obviously, it’s basically exposure of things you want to keep hidden in secret. You’re not going to be able to cover it up. So God chose an image that everyone could relate to—for revealing the secrets of the kingdom.

Verse 6, "I will cast abominable filth upon you, make you vile, and make you a spectacle" (Nahum 3:6).

And by the way, nakedness is sometimes used to refer to spiritual nakedness—exposing the sins. As a matter of fact, in Revelation 3:17-18, Jesus says, "Because you say, 'I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing'—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked— I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed" (Revelation 3:17–18).

So this idea of nakedness can refer to the shame from sin, but righteousness can clothe it. I don’t want to say cover it up, because we don’t cover up sin—we repent of sin, and we replace it with righteousness.

Okay, in verse 7, "It shall come to pass that all who look upon you will flee from you, and say, 'Nineveh is laid waste! Who will bemoan her? Where shall I seek comforters for you?'" (Nahum 3:7). Nobody’s standing with them.

Verse 8, "Are you better than No Amon that was situated by the River?" (Nahum 3:8). I mentioned this in the introduction—that was an ancient name that referred to Thebes, one of the capital cities in Egypt, situated on the Nile near canals.

Are you better than this city that gets conquered? Because we know Thebes would be. So none of us are any better than them.

"Ethiopia and Egypt were her strength, and it was boundless; Put and Lubim were your helpers" (Nahum 3:9).

"Yet she was carried away, she went into captivity; her young children also were dashed to pieces at the head of every street; they cast lots for her honorable men, and all her great men were bound in chains" (Nahum 3:10).

Verse 11, "You also will be drunk; you will be hidden; you also will seek refuge from the enemy" (Nahum 3:11). So you’re not going to stand any better than Thebes did.

And this is part of what makes us think Nahum was written after 663 BC, because that’s when history says Thebes was conquered. So after 663 BC, but before 612 BC, when we know Nineveh was conquered—that gives us timing from internal evidence.

And again, verse 11— "You’ll be drunk, you’ll be hidden"—two of the specific prophecies that I mentioned. So there seemed to be drinking going on, and also hidden—the hidden grave. Nineveh would disappear from history for many, many years until, as I said, in 1842, archaeologists found ruins of the city, and further investigation showed it was Nineveh.

Now we talk about how easy Assyria was conquered.

In verse 12, "All your strongholds are fig trees with ripened figs" (Nahum 3:12). If you’ve got ripe figs, all you do is shake the tree a little, and they just fall off—it’s that easy.

Verse 13, "Surely your people in your midst are women!" (Nahum 3:13). No insult, women, but it’s saying your warriors are like women—they’re not strong enough to stand up to brutal men. "The gates of your land are wide open for your enemies; fire shall devour the bars of your gates."

So yes, burned by fire—and of course conquerors will do that. So again, there’s a little bit more, maybe we could say sarcasm:

"Draw your water for the siege! Fortify your strongholds!" Get ready, Assyria—here it comes. "Go into the clay and tread the mortar; make strong the brick kiln!" (Nahum 3:14).

"There the fire will devour you, the sword will cut you off; it will eat you up like a locust" (Nahum 3:15). All your efforts aren’t going to work.

And, by the way, yeah, Nineveh, as I said, would be conquered by an army of Babylonians, led by Nabopolassar—what a great name—and it cooperated with an army of Medes. And the conquest was very quick and easy.

Assyria had had a large, powerful empire, but they had decayed and weakened. The conquest went quickly. Even though they worked to have the conquest—so build and prepare your defenses—it doesn’t matter.

Going on in verse 16, "You have multiplied your merchants more than the stars of heaven. The locust plunders and flies away" (Nahum 3:16). They were able to multiply their merchants because they’re on a major river, and there were canals. So it is talking about the wealth that they had. But like a locust plunder—locust come, eat all this stuff, and then they fly away.

Interesting imagery here in verse 17, "Your commanders are like swarming locusts, and your generals like great grasshoppers" (Nahum 3:17).

Which, if I were a general, I’m not sure if I’d say, should I be insulted? Or is this a compliment? I’m like a locust, a grasshopper? Or should we get some explanation?

"They’re like grasshoppers and locusts which camp in the hedges on a cold day." Insects are cold-blooded. When the weather is cold, they don’t move around much. So you could have this great swarm of locusts, and it’s cold, so they settle on the ground, and maybe dew gets on them and their wings are a bit wet.

But in the latter part of verse 17, when the sun rises, the sun hits them, their wings dry, they get warm, they fly away. So the point is, there’s all this mass of locusts, like there’s this mass of Nineveh’s army. And then suddenly the conditions change, and they’re gone.

Well, where’s our help? Where’s our defense? They’re like locusts that all just flew away. That’s what God seems to be pointing to—and the place where they are is not known. Don’t know what happened to them, but now we’ve got a Babylonian army that’s going to conquer us all.

Verse 18, "Your shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria" (Nahum 3:18). That seems to refer to leaders being dead. "Your nobles rest in the dust—they’re dead and buried. People scattered on the mountains, no one gathers them."

"Your injury has no healing" (Nahum 3:19).

Now, I want to make the point—and this is one of the reasons I read that prophecy in Isaiah about Israel and Assyria and Egypt being together—it’s not that Assyria is beyond ever having redemption, but in that period of time they would be conquered and not come back.

Okay, you hear about Assyria, and they’re gone once the Babylonians conquer them. So your wound is severe. So Nineveh would not be rebuilt.

"All who hear news of you will clap their hands"—we’re so happy. People will rejoice that the Assyrian Empire was finally destroyed because of their terrible oppression. "For upon whom has not your wickedness passed continually?" (Nahum 3:19).

Nahum stands as a warning. We can look back and see—oh, what a case history. But we could also look to what’s coming in our future. There’s going to be a final resurrection of the Roman Empire that maybe a lot of what’s said about Assyria could apply to that power—that it’s going to be brutal and coarse, and it’s going to have a lot of power.

But it’s also not going to stand up when God says, I’m against you.

And God will redeem those who have been oppressed—which might include us. We might have to be in hiding and protected in a place where God does provide that protection. And we can look forward to that. We can have tremendous confidence in that.

This was kind of a power run through the book of Nahum. But once I get excited, it’s fun to keep going.

So that’ll do it for today. Next time, we’ll begin the book of Habakkuk—the great questioning prophet. That’ll be next time.