Nahum

Richard Belcher examines the prophetic messages of judgement and consolation within the context of Nahum, emphasizing God’s sovereignty and justice. Belcher explores the themes of God’s wrath against Nineveh and His protection of Judah, highlighting the implications of these themes for contemporary faith and understanding of divine justice.

The following unedited transcript is provided by Beluga AI.

This audio lecture is brought to you by RTS on iTunesU at the virtual campus of Reformed Theological Seminary. To listen to other lectures and to access additional resources, please visit us at itunes.rts.edu. For additional information on how to take distance education courses for credit towards a fully accredited Master of Arts in Religion degree, please visit our website at virtual.rts.edu.

Alright, that brings us to Nahum. I don’t know what order we actually may have backing a correct. Is it a problem if we switch to do Nahum before we do Habakkuk?

If that doesn’t present any problems, another short book. So find it, Nahum. Let’s talk about the historical situation for a little bit. There are two events that mark off the parameters of Nahum’s prophecy. The first event is the conquest of the Egyptian city of Thebes. Assyria defeated Egypt. This is during this period when Assyria is still the major power on the sea. And in 664, Assyria defeated Egypt and conquered the Egyptian city of Thebes. It’s described in Nahum. The name of this city is Noamen. It’s referred to in chapter three that took place in 664.

So Nahum had to come after 664. And then the destruction of Nineveh, which we’ve already mentioned in 612, is the other parameter. So the book of Nahum, because the book of Nahum is directed against Nineveh. That’s a good memory clue. Nahum, Nineveh. Nineveh falls in 612. The book of Nahum then had to come before 612. So sometime between 664 and 612 is the book of Nahum.

Now from Nahum 1:12, it says,

¹² Thus says the Lord , “Though they are at full strength and many, they will be cut down and pass away. Though I have afflicted you, I will afflict you no more. (Nahum 1:12, ESV)

So if verse twelve, talking about Nineveh and Assyria being at full strength, then the idea is that Nahum probably came before 627. Asher Banipal, the last great king of Assyria, brought Assyria to the height of her power, defeated Babylon, but used so many resources to do it that it left Assyria in a weak condition. After 627, Assyria declines fairly quickly. So if they are still, as 1:12 says, at full strength in many, then it’s likely that Nahum came sometime before 627. Now the hallmark of Nahum. I might try to in a second use that overhead.

We’ll see if we get that far. The hallmark of Nahum is the literary characteristics of the book, and that’s what we’re going to focus on as we talk about the Book of Nahum. The literary characteristics these literary characteristics reinforce the main message of the book. And so there are three or four of them, and we’ll sort of focus on these literary characteristics to get at the message of the book. Many people believe that Nahum begins with a partial acrostic. Now you remember what an acrostic is.

There are some examples in the Psalms where each line or each verse of the psalm will begin with the next letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Psalm 111 and 112 are two psalms that are acrostics. And so, you have a line, Aleph, that begins with Aleph. The next line begins with Bait. The next line begins with Gimel. The next line begins with Dalette. Working through the Hebrew alphabet, you also have another psalm that you’re very familiar with, Psalm 119. Psalm 119 has 22 stanzas related to the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet.

If seen in Shenar, taken as the same consonant. And each stanza in stanza one, stanza one has eight verses. Each verse in stanza one begins with Olive. Stanza two has eight verses. Each verse in stanza two begins with Bait, and so forth, 22 stanzas. Working your way through the Hebrew alphabet. Quite a masterpiece. Literary masterpiece.

Now, what would be the purpose of an acrostic? Well, it could aid in memorization, could demonstrate poetic skill. But many times, it also reinforces the message of a particular psalm. What’s Psalm 119 about? The law, the word of God.

And the acrostic of Psalm 119 may be a way to reinforce that if you live your life in obedience to God’s law, your life will be as stable, secure, ordered as Psalm 119. Or it may be saying that the law covers everything from A to Z, aisle at the top. So there may be a variety of ways you could understand an acrostic. The completeness of an acrostic may sometimes reinforce the message of the text. Proverbs 31, that wise woman at the end of Proverbs 31, that’s an acrostic, a complete wise woman.

So the form can reinforce the message. At times, some people think, and let me see if I can put this overhead up here real quick. Some people think that Nahum 1:2-8 is a partial acrostic. I don’t know if this has made your notes. I forget if I placed this in your notes, but this will give you an idea of what’s going on. Let me say, first of all, there is absolutely no relationship between the English and the Hebrew, okay? English begins with a vowel. A is a vowel.

Hebrew begins with an aleph. That’s a consonant. Okay? So there’s absolutely no relationship between the English and the Hebrew. But I’ve given you the English that you’ll see a little bit about what’s going on. Part of the problem with this acrostic is that it’s not as neat as the acrostics in the psalms. So you have Aleph, one, two. But then the bait doesn’t come until the third line in verse three. See, the bait doesn’t come at the beginning of verse three. It becomes. And then the gimel starts verse four, and then there’s no dalit.

And then you got the hay in verse five, the vav in the third line. So you see, it’s not laid out as neat as the psalms. That’s why some people aren’t convinced that this is an acrostic. But to just give you an idea on the english side, ABC, well, there’s no d, e, f, there’s no ghijk. And then after the letter k, if you’re doing the English here, it’s just chaos. There’s no order.

If you’re following the Hebrew, it would be after the lamed or the kaf, where there’s no order, it’s just chaos in terms of any order related to the Alphabet. Now, some older commentaries thought that there was textual corruption, and they tried to restore the acrostic. They tried to fill in a Dalit, and they tried to make a complete Alphabet. There aren’t too many that are arguing that today. But older commentaries thought textual corruption had taken place. Some see this as pure coincidence, pure coincidence.

And if it’s pure coincidence, it doesn’t have any relationship to the meaning of Nahum 1:2-8. Some, like Longman, in his commentary, I think it’s in the three-volume Minor Prophets set edited by McComiskey, there’s a three-volume Minor Prophets. And Longman. I think that’s where this occurs. His commentary, Nahum. He believes that this is a broken acrostic and that it’s reinforcing the meaning and the message of this particular opening poem of the Book of Nahum.

Chapter one, verses two through eight, is a hymn celebrating the coming of Yahweh, the coming of the divine warrior to judge the wicked.

² The Lord is a jealous and avenging God; the Lord is avenging and wrathful; the Lord takes vengeance on his adversaries and keeps wrath for his enemies. ³ The Lord is slow to anger and great in power, and the Lord will by no means clear the guilty. His way is in whirlwind and storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet. ⁴ He rebukes the sea and makes it dry; he dries up all the rivers; Bashan and Carmel wither; the bloom of Lebanon withers. ⁵ The mountains quake before him; the hills melt; the earth heaves before him, the world and all who dwell in it. ⁶ Who can stand before his indignation? Who can endure the heat of his anger? His wrath is poured out like fire, and the rocks are broken into pieces by him. ⁷ The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; he knows those who take refuge in him. ⁸ But with an overflowing flood he will make a complete end of the adversaries, and will pursue his enemies into darkness. (Nahum 1:2-8, ESV)

And what happens when Yahweh comes. All creation is affected. Verses four and five.

⁴ He rebukes the sea and makes it dry; he dries up all the rivers; Bashan and Carmel wither; the bloom of Lebanon withers. ⁵ The mountains quake before him; the hills melt; the earth heaves before him, the world and all who dwell in it. (Nahum 1:4-5, ESV)

Who can stand before his indignation? Who can endure the heat of his anger? God coming in judgment. God coming in wrath, what happens? Creation is shaken.

⁶ Who can stand before his indignation? Who can endure the heat of his anger? His wrath is poured out like fire, and the rocks are broken into pieces by him. (Nahum 1:6, ESV)

Chaos. And he argues that there’s a broken acrostic here to reinforce that message, that when the Lord comes in judgment, everything is turned upside down, that all creation is affected, and so you don’t want to be on the wrong side when he comes. And I tend to think that there’s something to this. I would lean toward the view that this is a broken acrostic that reinforces this message of all creation being shaken when God comes to judge. There’s good news in this for God’s people. Or as verse seven says,

⁷ The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; he knows those who take refuge in him. (Nahum 1:7, ESV)

So if you’re one who is trusting in Yahweh, you don’t have to be afraid or worry in this coming judgment. But all others should be worried, should be afraid because of the effect of God’s judgment. So Nahum begins chapter one, verse two through eight with this opening poem of God coming in judgment. And I tend to think that there may be something to this idea of a broken acrostic to reinforce that message.

All right, we finished up with chapter one, verses two through eight, which is the opening hymn or poem that talks about God’s coming in judgment. We talked about the possibility of a partial or broken acrostic. The next sections of Nahum. And again, this may or may not have made it into your notes. The next section of Nahum is an alternating section of judgment and salvation. Let me just put that up here. So you have. And I’ll use j for judgment, s for salvation. They just alternate: judgment, salvation; judgment, salvation; judgment, salvation.

But you have short sections, just a couple verses, even one verse of judgment, and then the next one would be a salvation. You can see how this would make the book much more difficult to read because you have this, and this is part of the problem in the prophets. You have these abrupt transitions between judgment and salvation. And you have that here at the end of chapter one and the beginning of chapter two. So I just want to point that out as well.

Now we’re approaching the Book of Nahum from the literary characteristics of the book. It has certain literary characteristics. We’ve already mentioned the partial or broken acrostic. The other thing that is going on in the Book of Nahum is there is a delay of identification of who is being addressed. In other words, there are pronouns used in the book without specifically, at least at first, telling you who these pronouns refer to. Now, on a literary level, because the book has a title, you make certain assumptions as to who is being addressed.

So the book begins an oracle concerning Nineveh, the book of the vision of Nahum of Elkash. So as you read chapter one, verses two through eight, your assumption is that this is against Nineveh. And that is a good assumption. If you are hearing chapter one, verses two through eight, proclaimed without, and you did not have the title, you wouldn’t be sure who this was addressed to. So there’s a delay of identification in the book. Judah is explicitly mentioned by name in chapter one, verse 15. And it is in one of these passages, 1:15 of salvation.

Oh, thank you. Where it says, “Behold upon the mountains, the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace. Keep your feasts, O Judah. Fulfill your vows.” So, this is a word of salvation to Judah.

¹⁵ Behold, upon the mountains, the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace! Keep your feasts, O Judah; fulfill your vows, for never again shall the worthless pass through you; he is utterly cut off. (Nahum 1:15, ESV)

Judah is first of all mentioned in verse 15. However, if you have the NIV, the NIV adds Judah to verse twelve as well.

They’re trying to help you, but it sort of confuses if this is an important issue. The delay of identification, it kind of brings some confusion into it because they’re mentioning Judah earlier than the text actually does. Nineveh is not mentioned until Chapter 2:8, specifically outside of the title. Nineveh is like a pool whose waters run away. Now, if you have the NIV, Nineveh is added to Chapter 1:8, Chapter 1:11, Chapter 2:1. So they’re really trying to help you. They’re telling you this is against Nineveh.

And in context of the book, yes, this is against Nineveh. So they’re correct in that. But by adding Nineveh, it takes away from what is going on in the delay of who is being addressed. Now, why would Nahum delay the one who’s being addressed? Well, you read this book concerning judgment and salvation, and at first you may not be absolutely sure who it’s talking about. This may create suspense, but what it does, it opens up the message to a broader audience.

By not mentioning Nineveh until later in the book, these prophecies of judgment can apply to anybody. They can anyway. I mean, it’s a principle that just because there’s a prophecy of judgment against Nahum doesn’t mean it can’t apply to somebody else. So it can apply anyway. But by delaying the identification of who the prophecy is against, it opens up the prophecy to others. If the shoe fits, wear it. This prophecy could be against you, your nation. So that’s part of the purpose in delaying the identification.

Now, on a literary level, you read the book, and you’re assuming it’s against Nahum because of the title. But still you can read these prophecies. And because there is no identification until later, it just makes it even easier to open these prophecies up to others to whom they may apply. So that’s another literary characteristic of the book, the delay of the one being addressed directly. A virtual student had a question at the break about the audience. And obviously the Book of Nahum was probably not read by the Ninevites.

So the book is for God’s people, ultimately. But even as God’s people read the book, this message can apply to us: plenty of messages of judgment against Judah, against God’s people. So it makes the message open to those who read it. The third, primarily, the third characteristic, literary characteristic in the Book of Nahum are the taunts that you find in the book—a taunt. What’s a taunt? It challenges somebody in a mocking or insulting manner. So there are taunts in the Book of Nahum, primarily against Assyria and Nineveh.

These taunts come a little bit later in the book after there has been the identification. So let me just mention a couple of these taunts. Chapter two, verses eleven through 13 is the lion taunt. Assyria has been a great, mighty, powerful lion. It’s been a very powerful nation. Extremely powerful. But not anymore. There’s no more prey. You know, Syria used to just nation after nation would be prey, but not anymore. There’s no more prey. It’s no longer the mighty lion that it has been in the past.

The prey is cut off, as 2:13 mentions, “I will cut off your prey from the earth, and the voice of your messenger shall no longer be heard.” There’s also a harlot taunt. Chapter 3:4-7, Assyria is a harlot whose shame and nakedness will be exposed. The shame, the nakedness will be exposed for all to see.

Then there’s a historical taunt, Chapter 3:8-10, where Assyria is compared to the Egyptian city of Thebes. And some of your translations may have No Ammon instead of Thebes, but it’s the same thing. And this Egyptian city seemed to be impregnable. It was in a very secure situation, a water system. The Nile was its defense, and yet it fell. It fell to the Assyrians.

Actually, Nineveh itself seems to be well situated within the boundaries of this powerful nation of Assyria. And yet Nineveh, like Thebes, is going to fall. Are you better than Thebes? Verse eight says that sat by the Nile with water around her. Yet she went into captivity. Her infants were dashed in pieces at the head of every street. That’s what happens in warfare.

Horrible thing that happens in warfare. And you see that reflected in Psalm 137. So there’s a historical taunt, and then finally, there is a locust taunt. Chapter three, end of verse 15 through 17. The Assyrians are compared to a locust swarm that devours. The locusts are here for a while, and while they’re here, they do a lot of damage. But then they’re gone. Syria’s been on the scene for a while. They’ve been very powerful, but no more. Their days come; they’re gone. Now, what’s the purpose of these taunts?

It’s to show the impossibility of any nation making a permanent stand against the Lord. No matter how mighty Assyria was, Assyria fell. No nation will endure. No nation can stand permanently against Yahweh. That’s part of the purpose of the taunts. The other purpose is to show the public disgrace, the public disgrace that will accompany the judgment of God, where everybody will see the futility of standing against God. Of course, a lot of people are in that same boat, all of those who oppose the ways of God.

But everyone will see the demise of those who rebel against God. That’s also a part of the purpose of these taunts. Of course, the other side of that which is not necessarily emphasized greatly in NAhum, is the vindication of those who stand with God, who trust in Yahweh. And that becomes more prominent as you read through the Bible and the New Testament, even that there’s coming a day of vindication for those who believe in Jesus Christ. And on that day, we will be vindicated. We will shine forth.

We will be shown to be on the right side, and those who oppose Christ will be shown to have been on the wrong side, and this will all be public. So part of that goes back to Nahum, especially the judgment, public disgrace, public shame aspect of the judgment of God. So, Nahum, the literary characteristics, that’s sort of the way that we’ve approached the book judgment primarily against Nineveh, who will fall and who did fall in 612. This audio lecture is brought to you by RTs on iTunesU at the virtual campus of Reformed Theological Seminary.

To listen to other lectures and to access additional resources, please visit us at itunes rts.edu. For additional information on how to take distance education courses for credit towards a fully accredited Master of Arts in religion degree, please visit our website at virtual rts.edu.