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The Twelve: God has spoken!

The Book of Nahum

We need to be a people who are striving to have 

A high view of God,

Understand the sufficiency of His Word,

Growing in the hope of His gospel, and

Experiencing the joy of His church.

Nahum has a different vibe about it than the other Minor Prophets - but when you really look at it. When you study it and see it through the lens of the Cross - it’s a beautiful message. 

The “Minor Prophet Big Picture”

–> Always remember: The Centrality of Christ <–

in all of Scripture. Because it’s always about Him in whom we live and move and have our being.

and that in everything He might be preeminent

The Minor Prophets emphasize:

1. The Sovereignty of God

2. The Holiness of God

3. The Love of God

And we so clearly see all three of these in Nahum.

The Overall Message of Nahum:  Judgment and Deliverance

To rightly understand Nahum, we need a little history:

Nahum was founded by Nimrod, the first on earth to be a mighty man. (Genesis 10:8-11), so he was responsible for the first world empire.

The city goes back to 5,000 BC.

Nineveh is first mentioned in 2200 BC in the Code of Hammurabi.

Hammurabi was the king who made the name of the goddess Ishtar famous in the temple in Nineveh.

In the middle 800s, the kingdom of Assyria began to really expand and they encountered Israel 

The first time the Jews were really humbled was the Assyrian King Shalamaneser III. It’s significant that his attack was from Nineveh. Tiglath-pileser - invaded and took over. Then, his son attacked, died during the campaign - but things didn’t come to a halt when the king died. His son, Sargon came in and brought the Northern Kingdom to an end. Remember - all these things had a connection to Nineveh.

Sargon’s Son - Sennacherib did some great things for Nineveh:

He doubled the size of Nineveh, making it the Largest city in the world.

The Palace at Nineveh was called “the Palace with no Rival.”

They definitely thought they were invincible. They had a 46 Acre armory that took six years to build.

They were the world power that nobody thought could be conquered. 

They were also known for their cruelty and lack of mercy. 

If you were a captive and didn’t cooperate, you would be either skinned alive or crushed to death by your own son. 

• Nineveh had become the concentrated center of evil. 

They were the very definition of cruel torture. 

Here’s how you should think of Nineveh – A great city that had existed almost from the beginning of time. They were the power that you didn’t dare confront. They couldn’t be defeated. They were, essentially, invincible. This was the empire that Nahum prophesied against.

A prophet from a tiny nation, from a town so small that we don’t really know where it was, Speaking to the greatest empire in the world.

Then - a few years later - it was overthrown never to be inhabited again. 

In 612 BC - Nineveh fell - completely destroyed - burned and leveled.

It went from being the very center of history, the most powerful nation in the world, to being essentially forgotten.

• Nahum’s name means “comfort”

An interesting name for a prophet writing a book whose central focus is the destruction of the mightiest city in the world. But - the fall of Nineveh would bring hope and comfort for Judah

None of the other minor prophets are this bold, this intense, or this beautifully poetic. When you study it as poetry it’s a regular and perfect poem. One commentator said, “Nahum’s poetic ability is unexcelled among OT poets” 

The Three Chapters of Nahum form the three major themes in the book.

Chapter 1. Character of God

This is not a book about humans or vengeance. It’s a book about God. Nineveh will be judged because it’s God’s enemy, not because of Judah

• Nahum teaches us to trust God and to believe

Especially when it would seem that we are completely powerless to do anything about what’s going on. (because we are...) Nahum 1:7 – The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; he knows those who take refuge in him. 

Nahum pictures God as faithful (1:7), merciful (1:3), , and just (1:2-3), good (1:7) (ALL THE TIME)

Here’s something I want you to remember - it will come back:

• To truly end oppression requires the removal of the oppressor.

The question comes up:

• Who Is in Charge?

Ultimately - we’re all control freaks. We want to be in charge. We want to be the boss. But ultimately, we know who’s in charge, right? But - do we think about that?

Think about this for a minute: How often do you think about trusting in God? Have you, today, thought about the fact that you are completely dependent on Him? Did you think about how desperately you need Him? Did you think about how faithful He is to you? All the time?

• You are not in charge. 

And this was the biggest problem of the Ninevites - they thought they were in charge. 

The first chapter of Nahum is about the Sovereignty of God.

The beautiful poetry of Nahum has some rhetorical questions

Chapter Two tells us that Destruction is Coming

There’s certainly some suspense here. We read this knowing what’s going on. But imagine you were a Jew living in Jerusalem.

You hear this prophecy. The power of God. Destroying His enemies. This is intense. 

Then, in Nahum 2:8 – Nineveh is like a pool whose waters run away.

OH!! This is talking about Nineveh? This is great!

The point of the book is right at the end of Chapter 2 – Nahum 2:13 – Behold, I am against you, declares the Lord of hosts, and 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 no longer be heard. 

You will be wiped out completely! I can’t imagine more serious words. 

God Himself declares “I am against YOU!”

• If you’re not a believer in Jesus Christ, (One who has turned from their sins and trusted in, relied on, and is actively clinging to what He did on the cross,) you are God’s enemy!

and destruction is coming.

Chapter 3 - Final Judgment

It just keeps on going. The certainty of destruction continues. For more than 100 years, no one had known anything but Assyria and Nineveh being THE ruling force. But it was all about to come back to them. 

All of this evil that they had been doing to others, was about to be done to them.

Remember: this message of the horrific destruction of Nineveh was written to God’s people. 

They got to see what would happen to Nineveh. This should have been an encouragement to God’s people.

• The defeat of the ultimate enemy.

The main religion for the Assyrians was the worship of Ishtar - who was often referred to as “the prostitute.”

This is a reference to the pagan idolatry and depravity that existed in the city.

• God is a holy God - He will not endure evil forever.

When God is against you - what happens?

• You’ll be seen for who you really are

Nineveh would be exposed for who she really was. 

• Sin has consequences.

What Nineveh had done was coming back to her.

The theme here is 

• No hope for Nineveh
All of the things you would do to protect yourself  won’t help you.

Here that it all comes into view. You must look at all of this from the right perspective.

When you put on your "Gospel Glasses" and look at this book from the right perspective, it all becomes so clear.

• The Right Lens

Everything becomes so clear

• We’re Nineveh.

And the entire book points us to the Gospel. It calls us to repentance.

The sins of Nineveh were great - but what does Paul say to us?

Romans 3:10-18 – “None is righteous, no, not one... Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness....Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes.”  (That kind of sounds like Nineveh)

But - 

• Nineveh is also sin.

Sin cannot be conquered. It is a foe that you cannot defeat. When you come to understand the holiness of God. That He requires perfection That He will as Acts 17:31 says: judge the world in righteousness

You realize how much trouble you are in.

• All sin is active rebellion against a holy God.

It makes you His enemy, no matter how nice or polite your rebellion might look.

No matter what you’ve done to ensure your trip to heaven. 

Your sin is a foe that you cannot defeat. You cannot fix the problem of your sin and separation from God.

You can’t trust in anything you have done or might do.

But - if you have come to an awareness of your sinfulness. Your depravity.

And you have turned to Christ and what He did on behalf of all those who trust in Him.

Then you can be saved from destruction just like Jerusalem was. 

• We must realize that we have an invincible foe. 

One we cannot defeat on our own. That foe is our own sin. That foe is our own flesh.  On our own, we cannot possibly hope to escape.

But God. Demonstrated His love for us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

• God has defeated sin in Christ

Reflection Questions:

• Do you understand the Character of God?

Do you really understand His sovereignty? Do you study God?

• How often do you thank God for every breath?

Every heartbeat. Every detail of every day? Have you really contemplated lately the reality of “in Him all things hold together” lately?

• Do you realize that your sin is an undefeatable foe without Christ?

And that’s not just for those who are not believers.

It’s for believers as well. We need to see the idols in our lives more clearly. The things that become more important than God in our lives. The things that distract us. 

What are the rivals of God in your own life?

• Has the old passed away?

Has the new come?

Every sin ever committed by every person who ever lives. Will be punished.

God’s wrath will be poured out on sin.

Nineveh drank the cup of God’s wrath.

They drank it fully.

But for those who believe. For those who have called on His name and trusted in Him - He drank that cup for us.

Nahum means comfort.

There is comfort for God’s people because He has defeated the undefeatable foe - He has defeated sin.

If you haven't had a chance, you can watch my sermon on Nahum on our Vimeo Page.