Ezra Chapter One - ncbiblechurch.org Studies/The Twelv… · Web viewWhen Jonah preached...

NOON HOUR BIBLE CLASS: (Professor Inghram): Nahum Introduction

Nahum

Introduction:

The Book of Nahum is one of two books of the Minor Prophets that centers on Nineveh, the capital city of Assyria. In the Book of Jonah, written in the eighth century B.C., we behold a man of God who was called to preach to Nineveh. He was one of the few prophets who despaired when his listeners heeded his warning. The people of Nineveh repented, and God demonstrated his great compassion by not judging the city. In the Book of Nahum, written in the seventh century B.C., we find another prophet called by God to preach to Nineveh. Evil again reigned in the capital. Tragically, the people of Nineveh this time ignored Nahum’s warning. NSB

When Jonah preached repentance on the streets of Nineveh, the capital of Assyria, the people responded and were spared. A century later, sometime between 663 and 612 B.C., Nahum preached in a time when Nineveh would not repent. Nineveh, which had destroyed Israel’s northern kingdom in 722, itself fell to Babylon in 612—just a few years after Nahum’s warning. The Assyrians were notorious for the brutality of their treatment of other nations. Nahum declared, however, that God is sovereign: he punishes whom he will, and they are powerless to stop him. Much of Nahum’s prophecy was directed to the people of Judah, who could rejoice at the good news (1:15) of Nineveh’s impending fall. ESV

Like most other Old Testament books, the Book of Nahum derives its name from the book’s central actor (1:1). The Hebrew title of the book is Nahum [) נַחוּםNachum(] and this title means comfort, consolation, or compassion. Since the book’s purpose is to comfort oppressed Judah with prophecies of her oppressor’s demise (Assyria), this title is appropriate considering the book’s contents. Nahum is the shortened form of the Hebrew title Nehemiah, which means “the Lord comforts” or “the comfort of Yahweh.” The LXX entitles the book Naoum while Nahum is the title found in the Latin Vulgate. Like the LXX and the Vulgate, the English title Nahum is adopted from the Hebrew title. AW

Author and Name:

The Prophet Nahum. Nothing is known of the human author of this brief prophecy except that he is Nahum the Elkoshite (Nahum 1:1). His name means “consolation” or “comfort,” which is appropriate for his ministry to Judah. His message about the destruction of Nineveh, the enemy dreaded by many nations in that day, would have been a great comfort to Judah. “Elkoshite” suggests that Nahum’s hometown was Elkosh, but the site of such a city is unknown. Jerome said it was in Galilee; others said it was on the Tigris River north of modern-day Mosul near Nineveh; some place Elkosh east of the Jordan River; others have suggested it was Capernaum. While no conclusive evidence exists, it seems best to locate Elkosh in southern

1


Judah. This would help explain Nahum’s concern for Judah (Nahum 1:12, 15) to whom his message was written. BKC

Nahum is the book’s writer according to the opening verse (1:1). Nahum is not mentioned anywhere else in the Old Testament. The only personal information about Nahum found anywhere in Scripture is in 1:1, which indicates that Nahum was a native of Elkosh or an Elkoshite. Scholars have generated at least four different locations for Elkosh. First, a 16th century tradition locates Elkosh in Al-Qush or Iraq. According to this view Elkosh is located in Assyria, north of Nineveh, on the Tigris. Second, Jerome believed that Elkosh was Elkesi near Ramah in Galilee. This view is built upon the similarity in consonants between Elkosh and Elkesi. However, this view is unlikely since Nahum wrote after the Assyrian invasion of the northern kingdom in 722 B.C.

Third, others speculate that Elkosh is Capernaum, which in Hebrew means Kephar Nahum or “city of Nahum.” According to this view the name Elkosh was changed to Capernaum in Nahum’s honor. However, there is no evidence indicating that Capernaum was named after the prophet. Fourth, most believe that Elkosh was Elcesi, a city of southern Judah located between Jerusalem and Gaza. This view is most popular since it explains the concern that Nahum displays for Judah throughout his book (1:12, 15; 2:2). However, the location of Elkosh remains unknown and knowledge of its exact location has no bearing upon deriving or applying the book’s message. In sum, all that can be held to with certainty is that Nahum was a prophet from the southern kingdom of Judah. AW

Date:

The few historical references in the Book of Nahum give us a terminus post quem and a terminus ad quem for the book, that is the earliest possible and latest possible dates. The “book” of Nahum (1:1) must have been composed after the fall of Thebes (No-Amon) to the Assyrian army in 663 B.C., since that event is placed in the recent past in 3:8–10. The conquest of Thebes, the capital of Egypt, constituted one of the great feats in ancient times. Located deep in Egypt, protected by the Nile River and hazardous terrain, it seemed impregnable.

The fall of Nineveh in 612 B.C. to a coalition of Medes and Babylonians serves as the latest possible date of the book, since Nahum speaks of Nineveh’s fall as a future event.3 Its fall would be a significant historical turning point, presaging the eventual fall of the Assyrian Empire and introducing ambitious new leaders in Babylon as the next empire to dominate the world. Most commentators place the time of writing shortly before the fall of Nineveh in 612 B.C., though the date 625, when the Medes besieged the city, is also given as a possibility. G. Fohrer regarded the “wicked” in 1:15 to be Ashurbanipal (668–627 B.C.), with the verse presupposing his death in 627 B.C. He also assumed that Josiah had not yet attempted to reunite the remnant of the Northern Kingdom with the Southern Kingdom since 2:2 indicates that that event still lay in the future. He concluded that the time of Ashurbanipal’s death gave a plausible time for the date of the book.

2


Since the message was received from God, it may have been written at an earlier time when Nineveh’s demise seemed highly unlikely. W. A. Meier argues that the book’s indictments of Assyria (e.g., 3:1–4, 16) point to a time before Assyrian power began to wane, as it did after the death of Ashurbanipal or even somewhat before. Nahum’s purpose was to comfort Judah and to encourage Josiah. The young Josiah would have taken great comfort in hearing of the coming destruction of Nineveh whether imminent or in the near future.

We must conclude that the slight amount of evidence available gives little help in situating the book between 663 and 612 B.C. Perhaps the weakness of Israel and the overwhelming strength of Assyria assumed in the book points to a time before 627. NAC

The fall of Thebes (to Ashurbanipal) is mentioned in Nahum 3:8. Since that event occurred in 663 B.C. the book was written after that date. Then the fall of Nineveh, predicted in Nahum, occurred in 612 B.C. So the book was written between 663 and 612. Walter A. Maier suggests that Nahum gave his prophecy soon after Thebes fell, between 663 and 654 B.C. (The Book of Nahum, pp. 30, 34–7). His arguments include these:

1. The description of Nineveh (1:12; 3:1, 4, 16) does not match the decline of the Assyrian nation under Ashurbanipal’s sons, Ashur-etil-ilāni (626–623 B.C.) and Sin-shar-ishkun (623–612 B.C.).

2. When Nahum prophesied, Judah was under the Assyrian yoke (1:13, 15; 2:1, 3). This fits with the reign of Manasseh over Judah (697–642) more than with the reign of Josiah (640–609).

3. The Medes rose in power around 645 B.C. as an independent nation, and the Neo-Babylonian Empire began in 626. If Nahum had written shortly before Nineveh’s fall to those nations in 612, mention of them would be expected. But since Nahum does not mention the Medes or the Babylonians, he probably wrote his prophecy before 645.

4. Most important, however, is the fact that nine years after Thebes was destroyed, it was restored (in 654). Nahum’s rhetorical question in 3:8 would have had little or no force if it had been written after 654. BKC

Like other Old Testament prophetic books (Obad, Joel, Jonah), the Book of Nahum is not precisely dated. Such ambiguity is perhaps attributable either to the fact that it was written during the wicked reign of Manasseh (686–642 B.C.) or to its Gentile subject matter. However, the book does give enough information to provide some dating parameters. First, the book must have been written prior to 612 B.C. since all three of its chapters predict the fall of Nineveh, which transpired in 612 B.C. While those denying predictive prophecy date the book after Nineveh’s fall, the book’s prophecies concerning Nineveh’s destruction pose no threat to an early date for those unhindered by anti-supernatural presuppositional bias against predictive prophecy. Second, because Nahum uses the recent fall of Thebes as a comparison for Nineveh’s future destruction (3:8-10), the book must have been written after 664 B.C. since that was the date when Thebes fell. Thus, Nahum was written at the latest before Nineveh’s destruction in 612 B.C. and at the earliest after Thebes’s destruction in 664 B.C.

3


Some have contended that the book was written in the latter part of this period since Nahum seems to depict Nineveh’s destruction as imminent (2:1; 3:14, 19). If this contention is correct, then the Book of Nahum was written during Josiah’s reign and his prophetic contemporaries were Zephaniah and Jeremiah. However, Johnson states sound reasons as to why the book was probably written in the earlier part rather than the latter part of this period. Among them are the notions that Nahum’s description of Nineveh (1:12; 3:1, 4, 16) is inconsistent with the city’s deterioration under Ashurbanipal’s sons, Nahum’s description of Judah as being under Assyria’s yoke fits better with Manasseh’s reign than it does under Josiah’s reign, Nahum would have likely mentioned the Median and Neo-Babylonian empires if he had written during the reign of these kingdoms, and Nahum fails to mention Thebes’ restoration (3:8) that took place in 654 BC.

All things considered, it would seem that the Book of Nahum was written sometime during 664–654 B.C. Therefore, a date of 660 B.C. for the composition of the book seems appropriate. Thus, Nahum prophesied in the reign of Manasseh (686–642 B.C.) and his prophetic contemporaries were Zephaniah, Habakkuk, and the younger Jeremiah. A time of writing during Manasseh’s diabolical reign may explain why no king is mentioned in 1:1. AW

Historical Setting/Background:

The City of Nineveh. The subject of this prophecy is Nineveh (Nahum 1:1). A heavy weight of doom, a burden (“an oracle”) rested on the Assyrian capital. Several other Old Testament passages refer to Assyria’s fall (Isa. 10:12–19; 14:24–25; 30:31–33; 31:8–9; Ezek. 32:22–23; Zeph. 2:13–15; Zech. 10:11).

Nineveh is first mentioned in the Bible in Genesis 10:11–12. Nimrod built several cities in southern Mesopotamia (Gen. 10:8–10) and then “went to Assyria where he built Nineveh, Rehoboth Ir, Calah, and Resen.” Inscriptions refer to Gudea restoring the temple of the goddess Ishtar in Nineveh, which he said was founded around 2300 B.C. Hammurabi, king of Babylon (ca. 1792-1750 B.C.), referred to Nineveh. The town was expanded by the Assyrian king Tiglath-Pileser I (1115–1071), who referred to himself as “king of the world.” Ashurnaṣirpal II (883–859) and Sargon II (722–705) had their palace in Nineveh. In the ninth, eighth and seventh centuries B.C. the Assyrian Empire became strong and repeatedly attacked nations to the east, north, and west, including Israel. (See the chart “The Kings of Assyria in the Middle and New Assyrian Kingdoms,” in the Introduction to Jonah.)

Shalmaneser III (859–824 B.C.) made the city of Nineveh a base for military operations. During his reign Israel came into contact with Nineveh. He wrote that he fought a coalition of kings of Aram and others including “Ahab the Israelite” (in 853 B.C.). Later he wrote that he received tribute from “Jehu, son of Omri,” who is pictured in the Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser. Neither of these events is mentioned in the Bible. Azariah, king of Judah (790–739), paid tribute to Tiglath-Pileser III (745–727). Menahem, king of Israel (752–742), did the same (2 Kings 15:14–23). In the reign of Ashur-dan III (772–754) Jonah preached to the Ninevites (see the Introduction to Jonah).

4


In 731 B.C. Ahaz, king of Judah (732–715), became a vassal of Tiglath-Pileser III, and Assyria invaded Damascus in the Syro-Ephraimite war. Shalmaneser V (727–722) besieged Samaria and defeated it in 722 B.C., thus defeating the Northern Kingdom (2 Kings 17:3–6; 18:9–10). Twenty-one years later (in 701), Sennacherib (705–681) invaded Judah and destroyed 46 Judean towns and cities. After encircling Jerusalem, 185,000 of Sennacherib’s soldiers were killed over-night and Sennacherib returned to Nineveh (2 Kings 18:17–18; 19:32–36; Isa. 37:36). Esarhaddon (681–669) regarded Judah as a vassal kingdom, for he wrote in a building inscription, “I summoned the kings of the Hittite land [Aram] and [those] across the sea, Ba’lu, king of Tyre, Manasseh, king of Judah …” (Daniel David Luckenbill, Ancient Records of Assyria and Babylonia. 2 vols. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1926–7, 2:265).

In 669 B.C. Ashurbanipal succeeded his father Esarhaddon as king of Assyria. He may have been the king who released Manasseh king of Judah (2 Chron. 33:10–13). Ashurbanipal defeated Thebes in Egypt in 663 and brought treasures to Nineveh from Thebes, Babylon, and Susa. He established an extensive library at Nineveh.

The city of Nineveh fell to the Babylonians, Medes, and Scythians in August 612 B.C.Nineveh was situated on the east bank of the Tigris River (see the map “The Assyrian

Empire,” near Jonah 1:1). Sennacherib fortified the city’s defensive wall whose glory, he said, “overthrows the enemy.” On the population of Nineveh, see “Authenticity and Historicity” in the Introduction to Jonah and comments on Jonah 4:11. Jonah called Nineveh “a great city” (Jonah 1:2; 3:2–4; 4:11).

The city’s ruins are still evident today. The city was easily overtaken when the Khosr River, which flowed through it, overflowed its banks (see Nahum 1:8; 2:6, 8).

Nineveh was the capital of one of the cruelest, vilest, most powerful, and most idolatrous empires in the world. For example, writing of one of his conquests, Ashurnaṣirpal II (883–859) boasted, “I stormed the mountain peaks and took them. In the midst of the mighty mountain I slaughtered them; with their blood I dyed the mountain red like wool The heads of their warriors I cut off, and I formed them into a pillar over against their city; their young men and their maidens I burned in the fire” (Luckenbill, Ancient Records of Assyria and Babylonia, 1:148). Regarding one captured leader, he wrote, “I flayed [him], his skin I spread upon the wall of the city …” (ibid., 1:146). He also wrote of mutilating the bodies of live captives and stacking their corpses in piles.

Shalmaneser II (859–824) boasted of his cruelties after one of his campaigns: “A pyramid of heads I reared in front of his city. Their youths and their maidens I burnt up in the flames” (ibid., 1:213). Sennacherib (705–681) wrote of his enemies, “I cut their throats like lambs. I cut off their precious lives [as one cuts] a string. Like the many waters of a storm I made [the contents of] their gullets and entrails run down upon the wide earth Their hands I cut off” (ibid., 2:127).

Ashurbanipal (669–626) described his treatment of a captured leader in these words: “I pierced his chin with my keen hand dagger. Through his jaw … I passed a rope, put a dog chain upon him and made him occupy … a kennel” (ibid., 2:319). In his campaign against Egypt, Ashurbanipal also boasted that his officials hung Egyptian corpses “on stakes [and] stripped off their skins and covered the city wall(s) with them” (ibid., 2:295).

5


No wonder Nahum called Nineveh “the city of blood” (3:1), a city noted for its “cruelty”! (3:19)

Ashurbanipal was egotistic: “I [am] Ashurbanipal, the great [king], the mighty king, king of the universe, king of Assyria.… The great gods … magnified my name; they made my rule powerful” (ibid., 2:323–4). Esarhaddon was even more boastful. “I am powerful, I am all powerful, I am a hero, I am gigantic, I am colossal, I am honored, I am magnified, I am without equal among all kings, the chosen one of Asshur, Nabu, and Marduk” (ibid., 2:226).

Gross idolatry was practiced in Nineveh and throughout the Assyrian Empire. The religion of Assyria was Babylonian in origin but in Assyria the national god was Assur, whose high priest and representative was the king. BKC

When Jonah had prophesied to Nineveh around 760 B.C., the city had repented (Jonah 3:4-10). However, by Nahum’s time Nineveh had returned to her wicked ways and Assyria had become a grave threat to the southern kingdom of Judah. Under Shalmaneser V and Sargon II, the Assyrian empire had swept away the northern kingdom of Israel in 722 B.C. Under Sennacherib, Assyria had surrounded Jerusalem in 701 B.C. and would have likely destroyed Judah had it not been for God’s miraculous intervention. At the time the Book of Nahum was written, Judah was paying tribute to Assyria. The Assyrians further struck terror into the hearts of God’s covenant people through their reputation for brutality and cruelty (3:1).

Assyria had recovered from its defeat in 701 B.C. and thus was enjoying the height of its power, prosperity, and geographic scope under Ashurbanipal (669–663? (633) B.C.). The Assyrian empire reached all the way to the borders of Egypt. However, Assyrian power declined under Ashurbanipal’s sons Ashuretililani (663? (631) –629 B.C.) and Sinsharishkun (629–612 B.C.). This decline continued until the Scythians, Medes, and Babylonians under Nabonidus and his son Nebuchadnezzar eventually overthrew Nineveh in 612 B.C. The city’s demise was comprehensive and fulfilled numerous prophecies found in the Book of Nahum. For example, the Tigris overflowed (1:8; 2:6) creating a breach in Nineveh’s wall allowing the Babylonians to enter the city (3:13a), plunder it, and set it on fire (3:13b). Nineveh’s destruction was so complete that when Alexander the Great engaged in battle at nearby Arbela in 331 B.C. he had no idea that Nineveh had once stood there. Xenophon echoed this sentiment two hundred years later. He thought that its mounds were the ruins of a Parthinian city. So did Lucian who indicated that there was no trace of Nineveh (1:9). The city’s destruction was so complete that it was not discovered until the 1842 excavations of Botta and the 1845 excavations of Layard (3:11). Following Nineveh’s fall, the Assyrian empire itself fell in 609 B.C. to Nabopolassar of Babylon.

As far as the City of Nineveh itself is concerned, it was founded by Nimrod (Gen 10:8-12) and made into the capital of the Assyrian empire by Sennacherib in 700 B.C. The city continued to enjoy this status until its fall in 612 B.C. The city was located on the East bank of the Tigris thereby allowing the Tigris to form Nineveh’s western and southern boundaries. At its greatest width, Nineveh boasted a diameter of nearly 3 miles. The city’s large size is evidenced by its estimated population of 150,000, its ruins that “stretch along the Tigris River north to Khorsabad (14 miles) and south to Nimrud (Calah, 20 miles),” “the three days walk required to traverse

6


Nineveh” (Jonah 3:3), the city’s expansion outside of its walls, and the fact that some of the city’s site still has not yet been excavated.

Nineveh was also surrounded by a 100-foot high wall that was wide enough for three chariots to ride abreast. This wall stretched for 8 miles thereby forming Nineveh’s northern and eastern boundaries. Two hundred towers stretching an additional 100 feet upward were also prominently displayed on the city’s wall. Nineveh was also surrounded by a 150-foot wide and 60-foot deep moat. Thus, Nineveh was capable of enduring a 20-year siege making Nahum’s prophecy of Nineveh’s destruction irrational and preposterous. AW

The message of Nahum deals solely with Nineveh and her destruction. Jonah prophesied about a century and a half before Nahum. The prophecy is the sequel to Jonah’s book.

Nineveh was for some hundreds of years the dread of western Asia. It was an immense city by the Tigris River. The city was strongly fortified and was a great commercial center enriched by numerous military campaigns. Having been warned of God in Jonah’s day and having repented only temporarily (in that generation), Nineveh is now to suffer final and complete destruction. Chronicles outside the Bible relate that this visitation took place in 612 BC by the hand of the Medes and Babylonians. C.L. Feinberg

Recipient(s) and Place of Writing:

The subject matter of the book concerns the City of Nineveh. The prophecies not only mention Nineveh (1:8, 11, 14; 2:1, 8, 13; 3:7, 14) but also Nineveh’s king (3:18). Interestingly, Nineveh is mentioned by name in each of the book’s three chapters (1:1; 2:8; 3:7). However, although the book was written about Nineveh, it was written to the people of Judah (1:12, 15; 2:2). Since Judah represents Nahum’s target audience, this was also the likely place of the book’s composition. This conclusion is strengthened if Elkosh (1:1) can be identified with Elcesi located in southern Judah as most conservative scholars assume. AW

Purposes:

Nahum likely had several purposes in mind when he composed his book. First, he wanted to predict God’s judgment soon to be visited upon Nineveh for her barbarism, mistreatment of the holy people, and refusal to exhibit lasting repentance despite the preaching of Jonah (Luke 12:48). Despite the repentance under Jonah’s ministry in 760 B.C., the Ninevites had returned to their wicked ways in the ensuing century thereby kindling God’s wrath against them. Thus, unlike the Book of Jonah, the Book of Nahum is not a call for Ninevite repentance. Rather the book is a divine decree for the city’s destruction.

Jonah NahumMercy of God Judgment of God760 B.C. 660 B.C.

7


Repentance of Nineveh Rebellion of NinevehEmphasis on the prophet Emphasis on the prophecyDisobedient prophet Obedient prophetObedient nation Disobedient nationDeliverance from water Destruction by waterProphet went to Nineveh Prophet did not go to Nineveh

Second, Nahum wrote in order to comfort Judah (1:12, 15; 2:2) with a message of God’s sovereignty over their oppressor. This message of comfort was necessary since Judah was living in fear of Assyrian encroachment. Third, Nahum wrote in order to stimulate Judah toward covenant repentance by explaining that God judges sin. If sinful Gentile nations cannot escape God’s wrath, then how can God’s covenanted nation escape covenant penalties absent national repentance? AW

Message:

The destruction of Nineveh and the restoration of Judah reveals God’s intention not only to punish sin in accordance with His righteous character but also to comfort Judah who was experiencing Assyrian oppression. If God will enforce the provisions of the Abrahamic covenant by punishing those who oppress His covenanted nation (Gen 12:3), then He also can be trusted to maintain covenant faithfulness by restoring Judah. AW

The book of Nahum makes a significant contribution to the rest of the Bible by clarifying God’s perspective on wicked rulers and empires and the way He intends to deal with them. God’s people know that God is slow to anger and great in power (1:3; cf. Ex 34:6-7; Ps 103:8), but they are told that God in His time is an avenging and wrathful God (Nah 1:2). When the wicked prosper and expand in their power and influence, God is not blind to their crimes and brutality. The Lord will judge and destroy the wicked. He will wipe away their name, destroy their false religions, and put them in a grave because of the contemptible way they have treated people, nations, and God Himself (1:14). God is sovereign and in control of all things that happen in this world (cf. 1:1-14). MBC

Theological Themes:

Several theological themes recur throughout the Book of Nahum. First, the book teaches that God’s attributes of power, holiness, and justice demand that He punish sin (1:2-8). Second, the book teaches that even His attributes of patience and goodness demand that He punish sin because God cannot possess these benevolent attributes without holding Assyria accountable for its evil. Third, the book demonstrates the Abrahamic Covenant’s provision that He punishes those who mistreat His covenanted nation (Gen 12:3). Fourth, the book reveals God as the Lord and judge of all the nations of the world.

8


Fifth, the book shows God’s covenant purposes to restore Judah (1:12. 15; 2:2). Sixth, the book shows that to whom much is given much is required (Luke 12:48). Because spiritual insight had been bestowed upon Nineveh through Jonah’s preaching, God held Nineveh responsible for walking in the light they had received. Seventh, the book shows that even though God uses pagan nations as instruments of His wrath (722 B.C.), He still holds such nations accountable for their own wicked conduct. AW

Unique Characteristics:

The Book of Nahum boasts several outstanding characteristics. First, the book represents only one of three Old Testament books that emphasize imminent judgment upon Israel’s enemies. The other books are Obadiah, which speaks of judgment upon Edom, and Habakkuk, which speaks of judgment upon Babylon. Second, the book represents one of four Old Testament books whose primary subject matter concerns someone other than the nation of Israel. The other books are Obadiah, which concerns Edom, Habakkuk, which concerns Babylon, and Jonah, which concerns Assyria. Third, along with Jonah the Book of Nahum is one of two Old Testament books whose primary focus is Nineveh. Fourth, despite her wickedness under Manasseh’s reign, the book includes no condemnation of Judah.

Fifth, the book contains no calls to repentance. Such an omission may be attributed to the fact that Nahum’s prophetic contemporaries (Zeph, Jer, Hab) emphasized national repentance. Sixth, unlike the Book of Jonah, the Book of Nahum provides no opportunity for Nineveh to repent. Seventh, the book contains many prophetic details regarding Nineveh’s destruction that were fulfilled literally in history. Eighth, the book contains almost 53 references to nature in its brief 47 verses.

Ninth, this book is never quoted in the New Testament. Tenth, the book contains no direct messianic prophecies. Eleventh, “Nahum’s description of the siege of Nineveh (2:3-7) and the sack of Nineveh (2:8-13) is one of the most vivid portraits of battle in Scripture.” Twelfth, the book employs frequent figures of speech including metaphors (1:10; 2:11-13; 3:4-7, 12, 15-17), similes, vivid word pictures, repetition, short staccato phrases (3:2-3), rhetorical questions (1:6; 3:7-19), irony (3:1, 14), and poetic parallelism. AW

Like other prophets, Nahum uses an oracular style with majestic poetry combining simile, metaphor, rhetorical questions, irony, assonance, alliteration, repetition, use of synonyms, and abrupt changes of person and number. In Richard Paterson’s estimation, “Nahum was the poet laureate among the Minor Prophets” (Patterson, Nahum, WEC) MBC

There are no direct messianic prophecies found in the Book of Nahum. However, some have seen in 1:2-8 the principles of judgment that Christ will manifest at His second advent when He judges in millennial righteousness. Thus, these principles describe Christ’s righteousness against sin. Another interesting Christological parallel is that Capernaum in Hebrew means “the village

9


of Nahum” and Capernaum is the city that Christ most identified with during his earthly ministry (Matt 4:13). AW

Structure:

The structure of the Book of Nahum yields the following three-fold division. First, the book describes divine destruction decreed upon Nineveh (1). This section explains what God will do to Nineveh and is a revelation of His perfect character. Second, the book describes the actual judgment destined to come upon Nineveh (2). This section notes how God will destroy Nineveh and is a revelation of the coming catastrophe to be imposed upon this city. Third, the book explains that Nineveh deserves this coming condemnation (3). It explains why God will bring judgment upon Nineveh as well as the reason for the coming catastrophe.

Others see a twofold division consisting of a psalm of praise centering on the avenging wrath of God (1:2–2:2) and a specific judgment upon Nineveh (2:3–3:19). The first section can be further divided into vengeance upon God’s enemies (1:2-11) and the restoration of Judah (1:12–2:2). The second section can also be further subdivided between an oracle of judgment (2:3-13) and a woe oracle (3:1-19). AW

Outline of Nahum (AW)

I. Nineveh's doom decreed (1)A. Introduction (1:1)B. Doom to come upon Nineveh because of God's attributes (1:2-8)C. Doom to come upon Nineveh because of her sins (1:9-15)

II. Nineveh's doom described (2)A. The coming of Nineveh's enemies (2:1-2)B. The attack of Nineveh's enemies (2:3-10)C. Nineveh to be destroyed as a lion's den is destroyed (2:11-13)

III. Nineveh's doom deserved (3)A. Nineveh's harlotries (3:1-7)B. Nineveh's mistreatment of other nations (3:8-10)C. Nineveh's false security (3:11-19)

Outline of Hosea (BKC)

I. The Title (1:1)II. The Certainty of God’s Judgment on Nineveh (1:2–15)

A. God’s wrath to be extended to Nineveh and His goodness to His own (1:2–8)B. Nineveh’s plotting against the Lord to come to an end (1:9–11)C. Judah’s affliction to end because of Nineveh’s destruction (1:12–15)

III. The Description of God’s Judgment on Nineveh (chap. 2)A. The attack (2:1–6)

10


B. The defeat and the plundering (2:7–13)IV. The Reasons for God’s Judgment on Nineveh (chap. 3)

A. Her violence and deceit to result in shame (3:1–7)B. Her treatment of Thebes to result in her own defeat (3:8–11)C. Her defense efforts to be useless (3:12–19)

Fulfillments of Nahum’s Prophecies BKC

Nahum’s Prophecies Historical Fulfillments

1. The Assyrian fortresses surrounding the city would be easily captured (3:12).

1. According to the Babylonian Chronicle the fortified towns in Nineveh’s environs began to fall in 614 B.C. including Tabris, present-day Sharif-Khan, a few miles northwest of Nineveh.

2. The besieged Ninevites would prepare bricks and mortar for emergency defense walls (3:14).

2. A.T. Olmstead reported: “To the south of the gate, the moat is still filled with fragments of stone and of mud bricks from the walls, heaped up when they were breached” (History of Assyria. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1951, p. 637).

3. The city gates would be destroyed (3:13).

3. Olmstead noted: “The main attack was directed from the northwest and the brunt fell upon the Hatamti gate at this corner … Within the gate are traces of the counter wall raised by the inhabitants in their last extremity” (History of Assyria, p. 637).

4. In the final hours of the attack the Ninevites would be drunk (1:10; 3:11)

4. Diodorus Siculus (ca. 20 B.C.) wrote, “The Assyrian king … distributed to his soldiers meats and liberal supplies of wine and provisions … While the whole army was thus carousing, the friends of Arbakes learned from some deserters of the slackness and drunkenness which prevailed in the enemy’s camp and made an unexpected attack by night” (Bibliotheca Historica 2. 26. 4)

5. Nineveh would be destroyed by a flood (1:8; 2:6, 8).

5. Diodorus wrote that in the third year of the siege heavy rains caused a nearby river to flood part of the city and break part of the walls (Bibliotheca Historica 2. 26. 9; 2. 27.3). Xenophon referred to

11


terrifying thunder (presumably with a storm) associated with the city’s capture (Anabasis, 3. 4. 12). Also the Khosr River, entering the city from the northwest at the Ninlil Gate and running through the city in a southwesterly direction, may have flooded because of heavy rains, or the enemy may have destroyed its sluice gate.

6. Nineveh would be destroyed by fire (1:10; 2:13; 3:15).

6. Archeological excavations at Nineveh have revealed charred wood, charcoal, and ashes. “There was no question about the clear traces of burning of the temple (as also in the palace of Sennacherib), for a layer of ash about two inches thick lay clearly defined in places on the southeast side about the level of the Sargon pavement” (R. Campbell Thompson and R.W. Hutchinson, A Century of Exploration at Nineveh. London: Luzac, 1929, pp. 45, 77).

7. The city’s capture would be attended by a great massacre of people (3:3).

7. “In two battles fought on the plain before the city the rebels defeated the Assyrians … so great was the multitude of the slain that the flowing stream, mingled with their blood, changed its color for a considerable distance” (Diodorus, Bibliotheca Historica 2. 26. 6–7).

8. Plundering and pillaging would accompany the overthrow of the city (2:9–10).

8. According to the Babylonian Chronicle, “Great quantities of spoil from the city, beyond counting, they carried off. The city [they turned] into a mound and ruin heap” (Luckenbill, Ancient Records of Assyria and Babylonia, 2:420).

9. When Nineveh would be captured its people would try to escape (2:8)

9. “Sardanapalus [another name for king Sin-shar-ishkun] sent away his three sons and two daughters with much treasure into Paphlagonia, to the governor of Kattos, the most loyal of his subjects” (Diodorus, Bibliotheca Historica, 2. 26. 8

10. The Ninevite officers would weaken and flee (3:17).

10. The Babylonian Chronicle states that “[The army] of Assyria deserted [lit., ran away before] the king” (Luckenbill,

12


Ancient Records of Assyria and Babylonia, 2:420).

11. Nineveh’s images and idols would be destroyed (1:14).

11. R. Campbell Thompson and R.W. Hutchinson reported that the statue of the goddess Ishtar lay headless in the debris of Nineveh’s ruins (“The British Museum Excavations on the Temple of Ishtar at Nineveh, 1930–1,” Annals of Archeology and Anthropology. 19, pp. 55–6).

12. Nineveh’s destruction would be final (1:9, 14).

12. Many cities of the ancient Near East were rebuilt after being destroyed (e.g., Samaria, Jerusalem, Babylon) but not Nineveh.

End Lesson 1, 29 Sept 2016

13


BKC

14

Ezra Chapter One - ncbiblechurch.org Studies/The Twelv… · Web viewWhen Jonah preached...

Documents

Transcript of Ezra Chapter One - ncbiblechurch.org Studies/The Twelv… · Web viewWhen Jonah preached...