The Minor Prophets Bible Study VI: Nahum
February 16, 2012
BMC- Nahum
Opening Question: Name some great poets or memorable poems.
Background
Call: No true call. 1:1 an oracle/vision
When: 663-612 BCE (HCSB 1391), 612 BCE (Harris 172)
Where: Judah (HCSB 1391)
To Whom: People who are in need of assurance (Judah) (HCSB 1391) and against Assyria
Characteristics: (What do you notice about the style of the book)
- “The prophesy is full of vivid, dramatic poetry, possibly the finest in the Old Testament.”[1]
- Highly symmetrical (2:10 center?)
- “Nahum’s poems of rejoicing convey a message unlike that of any other Hebrew prophet (Harris 172).
- “Nahum has often been cited as an example of over zealous nationalism. In reality, it should be read in conjunction with Jonah to show both the power and grace of God (Harper’s Bible Commentary 736).
- Theophany – “Theophany in the Old Testament refers to those texts that speak of the coming of Yahweh from a definite place and the tumult in nature resulting from his nearness. The place is most often Sinai or the southern desert.” (Gowan 86-87)
Relationship with Kings & Others:
- King Josiah and his reforms (von Rad 158) though no direct connection is known.
Important Events:
- Conquest of Thebes (663/661 BCE – Nahum 3:8) (Gowan 85)
- King Josiah’s reforms
- “Despite these reforms and accompanying renewal of faith, an additional period of waiting required the people of Judah to hold on to faith in the midst of suffering and injustice.” [2]
- Fall of Nineveh (612 BCE)
Outline: (Sweeney pg. 197)
I. Superscription (1:1)
II. Massa Proper: Refutations of Contention that YHWH is Powerless (1:2-3:19)
A. Address to Judah and Assyria challenging their low estimation of YHWH (1:2-10)
B. Address to Judah asserting that the end of Assyrian oppression is an act of YHWH (1:11-2:1)
C. Address to Nineveh and the Assyrian king asserting that the fall of Nineveh is an act of YHWH (2:2-3:19)
Observations by Chapter: (Note observations make or questions you have as you read the book.)
Nahum 1: “Nahum whose name means ‘comfort’ or ‘consolation’”[3] Theophany, Divine Judgment, Anger, Vengence. God is liberator.
Nahum 2: Nineveh is attacked, lion imagery connected to imagery of Assyrian goddess.
Nahum 3: Nineveh’s defeat compares with Thebes, Locust imagery. Ends with a question like Jonah
Themes/Issues: (Note the major themes and issues the prophet addresses.)
- “Nahum’s message declares that the God of Israel is not merely a national deity but the true sovereign God, whose power extends over all the nations.”[4]
- Rejoicing ‘over Nineveh’s deserved fall’ (Harris 172)
- “Assyria’s world-dominating power had raised two serious theological issues for Judeans. The first was power itself. What good did it do them to have a God who could not protect them from a foreign king who did as he pleased with them?... But that raised an issue as serious as the former one, if not more so. Assyria was certainly no better than Israel and Judah, and all the evidence indicated that the conqueror also ought to stand under Yahweh’s judgment. How could Assyrian domination be accepted as the will of the God they believed to be just and righteous? Can both the power and the goodness of Yahweh be believed when Assyria rules the world?” (Gowan 86)
So What? (Having read the prophet, what do his words have to teach us today?)
- “If we have grasped Nahum’s message, we will not volunteer to join the ranks of Nineveh’s attackers; rather, we shall seek to transform the evil within the nation to which we belong.”[5]
- We have not experienced this kind of oppression which makes this hard to read.
- What goes around comes around.
- Discipleship is important. What could have been if Jonah had disciple them? Might they have stayed on track?
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