Post by professorc on Oct 24, 2015 19:26:44 GMT -5
THE BOOK OF NAHUM
Content: A prophecy of God’s judgment against Nineveh (Assyria) for her oppression, cruelty, and idolatry, concluding with the announced destruction of the city.
Prophet: Nahum, from Judah, otherwise unknown (even his hometown is uncertain)
Date: Sometime before the FALL of Nineveh in 612 B.C., during the period of Judah’s being a vassal to Asyria.
Emphases: Yahweh’s sovereignty over all the nations, Yahweh’s execution of justice against cruelty; Yahweh’s overthrow of the arrogant who think of themselves as eternal.
OVERVIEW OF NAHUM
This 7TH in the Book of the Twelve is an unrelenting denunciation of, and the pronouncement of God’s judgment against, Assyria for her own unrelenting cruelty as master of the nations.
As such, Nahum stands in contrast to the book of Jonah, which depicts at an earlier point in time Yahweh’s concern for even his bitterest enemies (Assyria).
The KEY to Nahum’s message is 1:7-8, which simultaneously expresses comfort to Judah and destruction for Nineveh.
SPECIFIC ADVICE FOR READING NAHUM
The book of Nahum is a carefully crafted, brilliantly executed piece of poetry in which a whole variety of prophetic forms—hymns, salvation, doom, taunt, and dirge---are carefully interwoven so as to effect what is basically a “woe oracle” over Nineveh (Assyria), along with a salvation oracle to Judah.
An alertness to these various structural and metaphorical matters will enhance your reading of this book.
For biblical/historical background to Nahum you may want to read 2 Kings 17-23 and 2 Chronicles 33-34.
a. He is prophesying while Assyria is still at the height of her powers (Nah. 1:12)
b. Assyria was well known among the ancients—indeed, the records of her own kings verify it—as the most CRUEL of conquerors; her treacheries were legendary and barbaric, including the total destruction of peoples that were conquered.
c. During the whole period in which Nahum could have prophesied, the kings Judah (Manasseh and Josiah) were vassals of Assyria. All of this means that Nahum’s prophesying was politically incorrect in every way—except from Yahweh’s point of view.
Another important matter: Nahum (like Obadiah) is primarily directed against a foreign nation. As it always is in the Hebrew prophets, the theology that lies behind this is Yahweh’s sovereignty over the entire universe, including all the nations as well as Judah, plus his covenant with Abraham in which he promised that “whoever curses you I will curse” (Gen. 12:3).
Judah’s servitude to Assyria—plus her present political insignificance is to be understood in the light of God’s omnipotence and justice. Be alert also for the reasons for Yahweh’s judgments against Assyria: Besides her idolatries, her most pronounced sin is cruelty and injustice; she has enslaved nations (3:4), her cruelty is endless (3:19) and her merchants have stripped the lands clean (3:16).
Against these evils, God’s own goodness and compassion (1:7) stand as POLAR OPPOSTIES.
Nahum reminds us of the essential character of the God whose story is told in the Bible, a God of goodness and salvation as well as of justice and judgment standing side by side in a way that is finally exhibited in the same way in the death of Jesus Christ on a cross.
Content: A prophecy of God’s judgment against Nineveh (Assyria) for her oppression, cruelty, and idolatry, concluding with the announced destruction of the city.
Prophet: Nahum, from Judah, otherwise unknown (even his hometown is uncertain)
Date: Sometime before the FALL of Nineveh in 612 B.C., during the period of Judah’s being a vassal to Asyria.
Emphases: Yahweh’s sovereignty over all the nations, Yahweh’s execution of justice against cruelty; Yahweh’s overthrow of the arrogant who think of themselves as eternal.
OVERVIEW OF NAHUM
This 7TH in the Book of the Twelve is an unrelenting denunciation of, and the pronouncement of God’s judgment against, Assyria for her own unrelenting cruelty as master of the nations.
As such, Nahum stands in contrast to the book of Jonah, which depicts at an earlier point in time Yahweh’s concern for even his bitterest enemies (Assyria).
The KEY to Nahum’s message is 1:7-8, which simultaneously expresses comfort to Judah and destruction for Nineveh.
SPECIFIC ADVICE FOR READING NAHUM
The book of Nahum is a carefully crafted, brilliantly executed piece of poetry in which a whole variety of prophetic forms—hymns, salvation, doom, taunt, and dirge---are carefully interwoven so as to effect what is basically a “woe oracle” over Nineveh (Assyria), along with a salvation oracle to Judah.
An alertness to these various structural and metaphorical matters will enhance your reading of this book.
For biblical/historical background to Nahum you may want to read 2 Kings 17-23 and 2 Chronicles 33-34.
a. He is prophesying while Assyria is still at the height of her powers (Nah. 1:12)
b. Assyria was well known among the ancients—indeed, the records of her own kings verify it—as the most CRUEL of conquerors; her treacheries were legendary and barbaric, including the total destruction of peoples that were conquered.
c. During the whole period in which Nahum could have prophesied, the kings Judah (Manasseh and Josiah) were vassals of Assyria. All of this means that Nahum’s prophesying was politically incorrect in every way—except from Yahweh’s point of view.
Another important matter: Nahum (like Obadiah) is primarily directed against a foreign nation. As it always is in the Hebrew prophets, the theology that lies behind this is Yahweh’s sovereignty over the entire universe, including all the nations as well as Judah, plus his covenant with Abraham in which he promised that “whoever curses you I will curse” (Gen. 12:3).
Judah’s servitude to Assyria—plus her present political insignificance is to be understood in the light of God’s omnipotence and justice. Be alert also for the reasons for Yahweh’s judgments against Assyria: Besides her idolatries, her most pronounced sin is cruelty and injustice; she has enslaved nations (3:4), her cruelty is endless (3:19) and her merchants have stripped the lands clean (3:16).
Against these evils, God’s own goodness and compassion (1:7) stand as POLAR OPPOSTIES.
Nahum reminds us of the essential character of the God whose story is told in the Bible, a God of goodness and salvation as well as of justice and judgment standing side by side in a way that is finally exhibited in the same way in the death of Jesus Christ on a cross.