- Seeking Scripture - https://seekingscripture.com -

Nahum 1-3 Deep Diving Bible Study

 

Good Morning, Siblings!

Today’s readings are Nahum 1-3

Read today’s Bible readings at BibleGateway by clicking here.

Today’s notes are courtesy of Shawn Parris, a friend of mine who has developed quite a following for his detailed comments in the Facebook group! I have a lot on my plate right now and Shawn generously offered to step in for me.

~Shawn’s Rabbit Trails~

The following are interesting facts about the book of Nahum.

Observations:
The only time Nahum is mentioned in the Old Testament occurs in Nahum 1:1.
Nahum’s prophetic ministry has to do with the fall of Assyria and its capital city of Nineveh.
As a result of Jonah’s preaching in the city of Nineveh, the people repented and God spared the city.
150 years after the preaching of Jonah, Assyria and the city of Nineveh fell.
Nahum’s prophecies against Nineveh takes place:- 100 years after Jonah’s preaching in Nineveh.- 50 years before Nineveh will be conquered.

At this point, Nineveh had become the mightiest city on earth.

Its walls were 100 feet high and wide enough to accommodate three chariots riding side by side.
The walls were surrounded by a moat 150 feet wide and 60 feet deep.
It was believed that Nineveh could withstand a 20-year siege

Nahum prophesied that:
-Nineveh would end “with an overflowing flood” (Nahum 1:8) That occurred when the Tigris River overflowed its banks and destroyed part of Nineveh’s wall. As a result of the flood damage, the Babylonians invaded through the breach in the wall in 62 B.C., plundered the city, and set it on fire.

-Nineveh would “be hidden” (Nahum 3:1). After its destruction in 612 B.C. the city truly was hidden in that it was not discovered until A.D. 1842, some 2, 254 years after its destruction.

-After Nineveh’s destruction in 612 B.C., it has never been rebuilt.

-In Nahum 2:1-2, the prophet had prophesied that Assyria would be conquered, but that Judah would be restored.

When we read Nahum, we read a prophecy of the destruction of Nineveh. Yes, the same Nineveh as in Jonah and the fish. He gave Nineveh a warning prophesy to repent and to return from your ways. We see Nahum, again, prophesying their destruction.

Nineveh was top dog in the Assyrian Empire. In Genesis 10, we are introduced to the person who built Nineveh, Nimrod (Genesis 10:8-14).

What is interesting that Nineveh seems to be a pattern of the world governments. We see Yehovah bring judgment on Nineveh and later He will be bring judgment to all the nations of the world.

In Nahum 1, we see attributes of Yehovah as described:

The key takeaway here, Yehovah will protect His character. His is very clear on this. In my opinion, if each of us keep His character in mind AND the fact that we are made in the likeness of His image/character, much of what we read falls into place as we naturally apply it to our lives.

Archeologists have found an ancient library in Nineveh over 10,000 clay tablets that was started before Shalmaneser (King of Assyria and Babylon) around 860BC. When Shalmaneser doubled it, his successors added to it. According to the British Museum, Sennacherib had records about his wars with Hezekiah and siege and capture of Lachish. King Hezekiah was forced to pay Sennacherib (2Kings 18:14) Here is something interesting, the people of Nineveh spoke a Shemitic dialect, connected the Hebrew and with the so called Chaldee of the books of Daniel and Ezra.

Isaiah 14:24-25 talks about the destruction of Nineveh. Yes, they repented for a short time but then went back to doing what they were before the warning by Jonah (Nahum 1:1-3:19, Zephaniah 2:13), after Cyarazes and Nabopolassar of the Medes.

Look in Ezekiel 23:6, Ezekiel 23:14, Ezekiel 23:15 and Ezekiel 26:7-12. What does it remind you of?

In Chapter 2 of Nahum gives a prophetic word against Nineveh. Assyria land was known to the Jews as “the land of Nimrod.” Zephaniah, about B.C. 630, couples the capital and the kingdom together, Zephaniah 2:13 and this is the last mention of Nineveh as an existing city. The destruction of Nineveh occurred B.C. 606. The city was then laid waste, its monuments destroyed and its inhabitants scattered or carried away into captivity. It never rose again from its ruins. This total disappearance of Nineveh is fully confirmed by the records of profane history.

When we read Nahum, maybe it is a pattern of the nations of the world when they match the pattern of Nineveh? I am reminded of Ezekiel 24:13-14:

Nineveh was something to behold in the Assyrian Empire, but for me, it reminds of future prophecy of Babylon in Revelation 18.

Revelation 18:8: “For this reason her plagues will come in a single day, death and mourning and famine, and she will be burned up with fire; for mighty is the Lord God who has judged her.”

Maybe we need to consider while living in the World, should we act like the World when we have clearly been told to walk as Christ did?  It is something to consider.

I urge you to test everything and seek Yehovah’s face.

For the next few books, we will not have Focus Sheets during this reading cycle. We look forward to sharing them with you during next year’s cycle. 


Test everything, hold tight to what is good.~ 1 Thess 5:21

We are saved by Grace alone: Obedience is not the root of our salvation, it is the fruit!

May YHWH bless the reading of His Word!