SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/21/2016
11:41 PM
My Worship Time Focus: The Invaders
Appear
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Nahum 2:1-4
Message of
the verses: 1 The one who scatters has come up against
you. Man the fortress, watch the road; Strengthen your back, summon all your
strength. 2 For the LORD
will restore the splendor of Jacob Like the splendor of Israel, Even
though devastators have devastated them And destroyed their vine branches. 3
The shields of his mighty men are colored red, The warriors are dressed in
scarlet, The chariots are enveloped in flashing steel When he is prepared to
march, And the cypress spears are brandished. 4 The chariots race madly in the
streets, They rush wildly in the squares, Their appearance is like torches,
They dash to and fro like lightning flashes.”
In today’s SD we begin to look at the second main
point from Dr. Warren Wiersbe’s outline that comes from his commentary. He has entitled this second main point “God
Is Judge: How Nineveh Will Fall” and it
covers the entire second chapter of Nahum.
He writes in his introductory comments:
“In 612 BC, the Medes and the Babylonians united to attack Nineveh, and
the Lord used them to judge the evil city.
This chapter is a vivid description of what happened as seen by Nahum in
the vision God gave him.”
I want to make one more point which I will care for
after we look at these first four verses of Nahum chapter two, and that is that
we did not cover what 1:14 has to say but we will.
“This chapter gives an account of the destruction of
the city of Nineveh; describes the instruments of it as very terrible and
powerful, and not to be resisted, #Na 2:1-4. The manner of taking it, the
flight of its inhabitants, and the spoil of its riches and treasures, #Na
2:5-10 and the king and the princes thereof, compared to a lion, and a lion’s
whelp, are insulted as being without a den or dwelling place, because of their
cruelty and ravening, for which the Lord was against them, and threatened them
with utter ruin, which he brought upon them, #Na 2:11-13 (From John Gill’s
commentary on the second chapter of Nahum.”
We now come closer to Nineveh, that great city; she
took, not warning by the destruction of her armies and the fall of her king,
and therefore may expect, since she persists in her enmity to God, that he will
proceed in his controversy with her. Here is foretold,
“I. The
approach of the enemy that should destroy Nineveh, and the terror of his
military preparations, #Na 2:1-5. II.
The taking of the city, #Na 2:6. III. The captivity of the queen, the flight of
the inhabitants, the seizing of all its wealth, and the great consternation it
should be in, #Na 2:7-10. IV. All this
is traced up to its true causes — their sinning against God and God’s
appearing against them, #Na 2:11-13.
“All this was
fulfilled when Nebuchadnezzar, in the first year of his reign, in conjunction
with Cyaxares, or Ahasuerus, king of the Medes, conquered Nineveh, and made
himself master of the Assyrian monarchy (Matthew Henry’s Commentary).”
As we can see from the writing of these two Bible
commentaries that Nineveh is being attacked which is what we read about in the
four verses that we are looking at today.
We have mentioned that during these times that nations would have men
standing guard looking for invaders and so the ones doing this can see the
advancing armies and probably the officers issue orders and encourage their
soldiers, but it will do the people of Nineveh no good as God is the One who is
controlling this battle and He has promised to destroy Nineveh. Dr. Wiersbe writes “Above all the noise, the
voice of the Lord is heard as He speaks to Israel and Judah and assures them
that they will be restored and reunited (v.2).”
He then writes this endnote: “Jacob’
probably refers to Judah, the Southern Kingdom, and Israel refers to the Northern
Kingdom that was dispersed by Assyria in 722=731 BC. Since this promise has not been fulfilled,
its fulfillment awaits the return of Christ when He will establish His kingdom
and restore the splendor of the Jewish nation.”
According to verses 3-4 we know that the armies that
were advancing against Nineveh were formidable with their manpower, armor,
weapons, and chariots. We can already
see the red on their shields which comes from the blood of the Nineveh’s. The chariots must look like flames of fire to
the men of Nineveh. All in all these
verses can give us a flavor of the war that was going on at Nineveh.
Now I want to look at 1:14: “14 The LORD has issued a command concerning
you: "Your name will no longer be perpetuated. I will cut off idol and
image From the house of your gods. I will prepare your grave, For you are
contemptible.’” God is giving a promise
to the Nineveh’s in this verse, a promise that they will not like when it is
fulfilled. John Gill writes “This is
directed to Sennacherib king of Assyria.”
Wikipedia writes the following on the destruction of Nineveh also stating it happened in 612 BC. “The Battle of Nineveh is conventionally dated between 613 to 611 BC, with 612 BC being the most supported date. An allied army composed of Medes and the Chaldeans, rebelling Assyrians and Babylonians, together with Scythians and Cimmerians besieged it and sacked it, leading to the destruction of the Neo-Assyrian Empire over the next three years[1] as the dominant state in the Ancient Near East, as well as the destruction of what was at that time the greatest city in the world, covering 750 hectares. After this battle the archeological record shows that the capital of the once mighty Assyrian Empire was extensively de-urbanized and depopulated.
“Babylon became the imperial center of Mesopotamia for the first time in over a thousand years leading to the Neo-Babylonian empire, claiming imperial continuity as a new dynasty.”
1/22/2016
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