Exposition of Nahum Part 3: Nahum in a Nutshell Part 1

Last installment: Part 2: God has the power to Judge and Save

Nahum 1:9-15

Establish the need: If you were to have a summary nutshell of the book of Nahum this would be the passage; do you know its message?

Whatever you devise against the Lord, He will make a complete end of it. Distress will not rise up twice. 10 Like tangled thorns, And like those who are drunken with their drink, They are consumed Like stubble completely dried up. 11 From you has gone out One who plotted evil against the Lord, A [a]wicked counselor. 12 This is what the Lord says: “Though they are at full strength and so they are many, So also they will be cut off and pass away. Though I have afflicted you, I will afflict you no longer. 13 So now, I will break his yoke from upon you, And I will tear your shackles to pieces.” 14 The Lord has issued a command concerning you: “Your name will no longer be perpetuated. I will eliminate the carved image and the cast metal image From the house of your gods. I will prepare your grave, For you are contemptible.” 15 Behold, on the mountains, the feet of him who brings good news, Who announces peace! Celebrate your feasts, Judah, Pay your vows. For never again will the wicked one pass through you; He is eliminated completely.

Structure: The 4 address structure of this passage

• First address to Assyria (v.9-10)
• First address to Judah (v.11-13)
• Second address to Assyria (v.14)
• Second address to Judah (v.15)

Purpose: For this session we will focus only with the two addresses from God towards Assyria that summarize the “bad news” found in book of Nahum so that we be move to trust in Jesus for saving grace and avoid His wrath.

• First address to Assyria (v.9-10)
• Second address to Assyria (v.14)

First address to Assyria (9-10)

Passage: “Whatever you devise against the Lord, He will make a complete end of it. Distress will not rise up twice. 10 Like tangled thorns, And like those who are drunken with their drink, They are consumed Like stubble completely dried up.”

Proof

Who is this addressing?

1. This is addressed to a masculine plural audience with the “”
2. The message here is one of destruction, reinforcing this is for Assyria.
3. Don’t forget Nahum 1:1 have informed us this prophecy will be against Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrians (Timmer, 99).

The focus here is on Assyria’s opposition to God (Timmer, 100). Note the key verb “devise” in “Whatever you devise against the Lord,” which in other translations use the word “conspire,” “plot,” etc.

The problem is Assyria is plotting against the Lord.

It is ironic that God charge them with conspiracy for Assyria does not handle plots against them lightly: See 2 Kings 17:3-8 (Cook, 64).

God’s Judgment 1: Verse 9b tells us plainly that their plot will be futile: “He will make a complete end of it”

1. This phrase is similar to the one earlier in 1:8 “He will make a complete end of its site,” with similar verb and object and same word order with the verbal object appearing first to be nuanced (Timmer, 100).
2. The significance of the similarity with verse 8 is to tell us that something similar to the universal judgment is going to happen with Nineveh.

God’s Judgment 2: Verse 9c tells us plainly that their plot will be futile: “Distress will not rise up twice”

1. The Hebrew word “Distress” can also be translated more concretely as “adversary” referring to Assyria itself as an enemy of God (Timmer, 102-103).
2. This is thus saying Assyrian empire will not rise up again for a second time.

After the description of God’s judgment we see three similes of the certainty of God’s judgment (Cook, 69).

1. Analogy of God’s Judgment 1: Verse 10a tells us: “Like tangled thorns,”= It is certain thorns will take over an abandoned place so too is God’s judgment for sure (Cook, 69).
2. Analogy of God’s Judgment 2: Verse 10b tells us: “And like those who are drunken with their drink, They are consumed”= It is certain drunks will be drunk so too is God’s judgment for sure (Cook, 69).
3. Analogy of God’s Judgment 2: Verse 10c tells us: “Like stubble completely dried up.”” = It is certain stubble dries up after it is separated from the root so is God’s judgment for sure (Cook, 69).

Practice

1. Do you take God’s announcement of judgment against sins seriously?
2. Do you see the passage stress the certainty of God’s judgment against sin? Does this change the way you live?
3. If you are a believer does this compel you to evangelize the lost?

Second address to Assyria (14)

Passage: “14 The Lord has issued a command concerning you: “Your name will no longer be perpetuated. I will eliminate the carved image and the cast metal image From the house of your gods. I will prepare your grave, For you are contemptible.”

Proof

Who is this addressing?

1. Here the one who is addressed is a masculine singular “you.”
2. This is very likely the Assyrian king (Timmer, 99).
3. This verse mention of the man’s name being eliminated is consistent as a punishment with Assyrian king’s obsession with name centered self-glorifications (Timmer, 111).

3 Punishments mentioned.

Punishment 1: The king’s dynasty is cut off (Timmer, 111): “Your name will no longer be perpetuated” (v.14)

1. Literally in the Hebrew it is “your name will longer be sown” (Timmer, 109).
2. Assyrian kings love to threaten to eradicate names of those who oppose them but here God turns it around against the Assyrian king (Timmer, 110).

Punishment 2:The king’s religion is cut off (Cook, 88): “I will eliminate the carved image and the cast metal image From the house of your gods” (v.14)

1. Assyrians usually don’t destroy other people’s idols, there’s at least 55 recorded instances of Assyrian kings captured other peoples’ idols and brining these statues of other gods to Assyria (Timmer, 112).
2. So God saying Assyrian’s idols will be destroyed is rare in the ancient near East and shows the intensity of God against these idols (Timmer, 112).

Punishment 3: The king’s life is cut off (Cook, 88): “I will prepare your grave” (v.14)

Reason: “For you are contemptible” (v.14)

The Hebrew word Ki (translated as “For”) indicates reason for the punishments.

One word is given for the reason: “contemptible” (Timmer, 113).

This term means despised, seen as unimportant, small, etc (Timmer, 113).

This has extra sting when we think of how arrogant Assyrian kings are (Timmer, 113).

What made Assyria contemptible?

1. The Assyrian king often pit himself against other gods including the Biblical God (Timmer, 101). In 2 Kings 18:28 we see there’s a message from the king of Assyria and among the words are in verse 33 and 35 attacking God:
   1. “Has any of the gods of the nations actually saved his land from the hand of the king of Assyria?” (33)
   2. “Who among all the gods of the lands are there who have saved their land from my hand, that the Lord would save Jerusalem from my hand?’”” (35)
2. Outside of the Bible we see Assyrian kings have boastful words in their self-glory of themselves that crosses the line of assuming they have the blessing of other gods and also are the rulers of the entire earth; king Esarhaddon for example said this of himself as “great king, mighty king, king of the world, king of Assyria, governor of Babylon, king of Sumer and Akkad, king of the four quarters [of the world], true shepherd, favorite of the great gods, whom from his childhood the gods Assur, Samas, Bel and Nabu, Istar of Nineveh, and Istar of Arbela named for the kingship of Assyria” (Timmer, 101).

Practice

1. Be warned not to trust in kings and empires; trust in God. Our passage is a direct rebuke against a political idolatry of a state/government nation that is without God (and applicable towards secular idolatry of the state too).
2. When you are successful does that pull you away from God or closer to God?
3. The only way you can be closer to God with success is thanksgiving towards God. True thanksgiving will make us humble and grateful for everything God has given us; I bring this up is to say this is the opposite of what Assyrians kings are like; you don’t want to be in the same arrogant spirit as Assyrian kings for God find that contemptible.
4. If you haven’t trusted in Christ yet to save you, do so today.