20160131 Sunday, January 31 2016
Nahum 01: The Vision Of Nahum

by Wayne Blank
See also 1 Year Holy Bible Reading Plan

"The book of the vision of Nahum ... For the wicked shall no more pass through thee; he is utterly cut off"

Two prophets of the LORD (see The Identity Of The LORD God and The LORD God Our Saviour; also Where Did True and False Prophets Originate?) were given to prophesy to Nineveh, the imperial capital of the Assyrian Empire (see also The Nineveh Prophecies).

The first was Jonah (see Jonah's Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea and Jonah's Prayer), who was sent to get the Assyrians to repent, so that they would not be destroyed (see Why Was Nineveh Saved From Destruction? and Their Right Hand And Their Left Hand), with the purpose that they could then be used as the instruments of the LORD's Wrath to destroy the incorrigibly-corrupt northern Kingdom of Israel (see The Politics And Religion Of The Lost Ten Tribes).

Then, over 120 years later, Nahum was also sent to prophesy the Assyrian capital, not to deliver them from what would have been their self-inflicted destruction, but to deliver the LORD's Judgment upon them after they again became a heathen, malignant-minded nation that threatened the nations of the world around them - including the Kingdom of Judah (see Sennacherib's Turn From Israel To Judah and What Did Isaiah Do During The Siege Of Judah?).

The fall of the Assyrian Empire enabled the rise of the Babylonian Empire - that would then continue the imperial rise and fall cycle of nations right to the present day (see also The Empires Of Bible History And Prophecy).

"1:1 The burden of Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite.

1:2 God is jealous, and the LORD revengeth; the LORD revengeth, and is furious; the LORD will take vengeance on his adversaries, and he reserveth wrath for his enemies.

1:3 The LORD is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked: the LORD hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet.

1:4 He rebuketh the sea, and maketh it dry, and drieth up all the rivers: Bashan languisheth, and Carmel, and the flower of Lebanon languisheth. 1:5 The mountains quake at him, and the hills melt, and the earth is burned at his presence, yea, the world, and all that dwell therein.

1:6 Who 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.

1:7 The LORD is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him. 1:8 But with an overrunning flood he will make an utter end of the place thereof, and darkness shall pursue his enemies. 1:9 What do ye imagine against the LORD? he will make an utter end: affliction shall not rise up the second time. 1:10 For while they be folden together as thorns, and while they are drunken as drunkards, they shall be devoured as stubble fully dry. 1:11 There is one come out of thee, that imagineth evil against the LORD, a wicked counsellor.

1:12 Thus saith 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 thee, I will afflict thee no more. 1:13 For now will I break his yoke from off thee, and will burst thy bonds in sunder.

1:14 And the LORD hath given a commandment concerning thee, that no more of thy name be sown: out of the house of thy gods will I cut off the graven image and the molten image: I will make thy grave; for thou art vile.

1:15 Behold upon the mountains the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace! O Judah, keep thy solemn feasts, perform thy vows: for the wicked shall no more pass through thee; he is utterly cut off." (Nahum 1:1-15 KJV)

Fact Finder: Who were the Medes and the Chaldees?
See The Medes And Chaldees Prophecies