CHAPTER 1

(713 B.C.)

ATTRIBUTES OF GOD

¹The burden of Nineveh. The Book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite. (It seems that Nahum was from the village of Capernaum, which means village of Nahum. The Book of Jonah records the repentance of Nineveh, while Nahum predicts its destruction. Nahum prophesied about 100 years after Jonah, with the city being destroyed about 100 years after that.

While the Book is undated, it seems that Nahum was a contemporary of Isaiah and Hezekiah.

The burden of Nineveh, concerns the weight of the Message that the Lord had laid on the Prophets heart concerning that city.)

²God is jealous, and the LORD revenges; the LORD revenges, and is furious; the LORD will take vengeance on His Adversaries, and He reserves wrath for His Enemies. (God is jealous, means that He has a jealous Love for His People and will allow no one to injure them, though He may employ nations as instruments to chastise them. Actually, one of the names of Jehovah is Jealous [Ex. 34:14].

And the LORD revenges, means rather avenges. He avenges His People on their adversaries and possesses wrath for their enemies.)

³The LORD is slow to anger, and great in Power, and will not at all acquit the wicked: the LORD has His Way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of His F eet. (The Lords Longsuffering is not due to impotency, for He is great in Power. And will not at all acquit the wicked, means that a passage of time in no way, at least in the Mind of God, lessens the guilt. And the clouds are the dust of His Feet, probably refers to the scientific discovery that clouds owe their beauty and even their very existence to the presence of dust-particles in the atmosphere; this undoubtedly was completely unknown to Nahum. The vapor, it is said, condenses on these particles, which then become visible as clouds, hence the scientific accuracy of Nahums statement.)

⁴He rebukes the sea, and makes it dry, and dries up all the rivers: Bashan languish es, and Carmel, and the flower of Lebanon languishes. (The great physical changes and convulsions in the world are tokens of Gods Wrath on sinful nations. He rebukes the sea, and makes it dry, refers to the Red Sea, when it was pushed back to allow the passage of the Children of Israel [Ex. 14:21]. The phrase, And dries up all the rivers, refers to the Jordan [Josh. 3:17; II Ki. 2:8, 14].

The areas of Bashan, Carmel, and Lebanon were known as being remarkable for their fertility. Even so, they are used here proverbially to express the Truth that God can cause the most luxuriant region to wither at His Word.)

⁵The mountains quake at Him, and the hills melt, and the Earth is burned at His Presence, yes, the world, and all that dwell therein. (This Verse is meant to portray that not only does the Lord have total latitude in respect to His People, Israel, but also the entirety of the world, and all that dwell therein. Nature, whether animate or inanimate, is represented as being actuated by the terror of conscious guilt.)

⁶Who can stand before His Indignation? and who can abide in the fierceness of His Anger? His Fury is poured out like fire, and the rocks are thrown down by Him. (The Holy Spirit takes the opportunity to show that the Lord is perfectly capable of destroying the mighty Assyrian Empire; He also is able to bring to heel the entirety of the world, which He soon shall do!

The question, Who can stand before His Indignation?, has to do with the coming Great Tribulation [Rev. 6:17; 14:10]. The last phrase of the Verse refers to the sixth Seal of Rev. 6:12-17.)

⁷The LORD is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and He knows them who trust in Him. (Pure and simple, The LORD is good! A stronghold in the day of trouble, was proved by Hezekiah, when he took refuge in the Lord and was delivered and the Assyrians destroyed.

And He knows them who trust in Him, concerns the delight the Lord takes in those who place their trust in Him and His Word, and not on the frail arm of man. The two words, He knows, are a consolation to all who totally trust Him; their trust, though maligned by the world and by most of the Church, is rather recognized and blessed by Him.)

⁸But with an overrunning flood He will make an utter end of the place thereof, and darkness shall pursue His Enemies. (But with an overrunning flood, was literally fulfilled! An usually heavy and long-continued flood of the River Tigris carried away a large section of the huge ramparts surrounding the city. Through this gap, the Babylonians forced their way within the walls and captured the place.

He will make an utter end of the place thereof, was literally fulfilled, as well! When the city fell, it was plundered by the Medes, and was left to fall into a heap of desolate ruin, which it is today. This happened [it is believed] in August 612 B.C., approximately 100 years after Nahums Prophecy.)

NINEVEHS JUDGMENT: DESTRUCTION

⁹What do you imagine against the LORD? He will make an utter end: affliction shall not rise up the second time. (The question, What do you imagine against the LORD?, pertains to the Assyrians attempting to take Jerusalem. The phrase, He will make an utter end, refers to the Assyrian Empire being destroyed, and by the Lord at that! Affliction shall not rise up the second time, means that as Assyria had in fact subdued the Northern Kingdom and had greatly threatened Judah and Jerusalem, they would never have the power to do so again.)

¹⁰For while they be folden together as thorns, and while they are drunken as drunkards, they shall be devoured as stubble fully dry. (Continuing to speak of the Assyrians, the Lord says that even though they be folded together, i.e., militarily equipped as an overwhelming army, impregnable as the folded thorns of the east, and drunk with pride and strength, yet should they be devoured as stubble, fully dry. The idea of the Verse addresses itself to the boasts of the Assyrians and their slurs against Jehovah.

And while they are drunken as drunkards, has as its primary meaning, drunk with power.)

¹¹There is one come out of you, who imagines evil against the LORD, a wicked counselor. (Sennacherib, or possibly Rabshakeh, is intended here; but, as well, to the future Antichrist, Nahum points.)

JUDAHS DELIVERANCE

¹²Thus says the LORD; Though they be quiet, and likewise many, yet thus shall they be cut down, when He shall pass through. Though I have afflicted you, I will afflict you no more. (The great boasts of Sennacherib, through Rabshakeh, were made in Verse 11; consequently, the Lord now answers and says what will actually happen. Though they be quiet, and likewise many, means that the Assyrians will feel secure, because of their tremendous numbers. In their thinking, Jerusalem is ripe for the plucking, and they are quick to say so.

Yet thus shall they be cut down, when He shall pass through, refers to the Lord passing through the Assyrian host in judgment and killing 185,000 of them, just as He passed through the land of Egypt and killed the firstborn.

Though I have afflicted you, I will afflict you no more, refers not to the Assyrians, but to Israel. They were afflicted, but only in measure; the Assyrians, eternally.)

¹³For now will I break his yoke from off you, and will burst your bonds in sunder. (Thus was the Assyrian yoke broken from off Hezekiah! The phrase, And will burst your bonds in sunder, concerns an instant deliverance and not a protracted one. And thats exactly what happened, with the Angel killing 185,000 of their choice leaders and soldiers; as a result, Sennacherib canceled all plans for the subjection of Jerusalem and straggled back to his own country [II Ki. 19:35].)

¹⁴And the LORD has given a Commandment concerning you, that no more of your name be sown: out of the house of your gods will I cut off the graven image and the molten image: I will make your grave; for you are vile. (Such speaks of Sennacherib and his boasts! As Sennacherib had made his boasts concerning the Lord, now the Lord has given a Commandment concerning you. Whereas the Assyrian was incapable of carrying out his boasts, the word Commandment guarantees that Gods Prediction will be carried out, which it was!

The phrase, That no more of your name be sown, pronounces the finality of Assyrian power, which would come to an end in a little over 100 years.

Out of the house of your gods will I cut off the graven image and the molten image, pertains to the fact that as the Assyrians destroyed the images of the gods worshipped by conquered nations [II Ki. 19:18], likewise, the Lord would do such to their gods.

I will make your grave, proclaims the death of Sennacherib; he was killed in the temple of his idol, slain by his own sons.

The reason? For you are vile. The word vile in the Hebrew is also translated light, and means weighed in the balances and found wanting, as in Dan. 5:27.)

HER MISSIONARY PROGRAM IN THE MILLENNIUM

¹⁵Behold upon the mountains the feet of him who brings good tidings, who publishes peace! O Judah, keep your solemn feasts, perform your vows: for the wicked shall no more pass through you; he is utterly cut off. (Upon the visitation of the Angel and the destruction of 185,000 Assyrian soldiers in one night, the excited messengers hastened over the mountains to Jerusalem with these glad tidings. Actually, the 126th Psalm was written [probably by Hezekiah] respecting this great deliverance.

For the wicked shall no more pass through you, in effect, refers to the coming Antichrist and the greatest victory of all regarding Israel, which will actually occasion the Second Coming.)