SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 12/9/2025 10:45
AM
My
Worship
Time Focus: “Intro to Nahum”
I begin this Spiritual Diary with
what is the third SD on what John MacArthur entitles “Themes,” and today we
begin by looking at the sub-section entitled “Veracity of Scriptures.”
In proclaiming the prophecy of
Nineveh’s destruction, Nahum sought to assure Israel that God’s promises are
certain. To this end, the prophet
disclosed his precise identity as Nahum the Elkoshite, so that he could be held
accountable for the predictions he made… With such forthrightness, Nahum
recounted unique and specific details about Nineveh’s impending demise,
demonstrating that God fully knew and determined the future. The prophet reassured his readers that the
decree of the Lord ‘stands fixed’ (Nah. 2:7) and would not be
stopped. Most notably, Nahum indicated
that the prophecy was not of his own invention but was the precise Word of
Yahweh (Nah. 2:13; cf. 2 Peter 1:21). “Behold,
I am against you’ declares the Lord of Hosts.
‘I will burn up her chariots in smoke, a sword will devour your young
lions; I will cut off your prey from the land, and no longer will the voice of
your messengers be heard.’” “for no
prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit
spoke from God.”
“After Nahum wrote down this revelation (Nah. 1:1),
God fulfilled His promise and brought every detail of this prophecy to
pass. The Lord revealed that Nineveh
would be destroyed in a flood (cf. 1:8; 2:6).
That is exactly what occurred, with the city being leveled to the ground
by a raging torrent…God also predicted that the city would be burned by fire
(3:13, 15). That also took place, as
Nineveh was reduced to ashes even while being flooded with water. The Lord further declared that Nineveh would
be utterly devastated as though by locusts (3:7, 15-17). This too came to pass. The decimation of Nineveh was so thorough that
the ruins of the city were not uncovered for more that two millennia.
“Such precise predictions confirm
the divine nature of Nahum’s message and the rest of Scripture. The Lord’s fulfillment of this near prophecy
reassured His people Israel that He will fulfill every prophecy with the same
level of exactness… The destruction of Assyria, the mightiest nation of the
ancient Near East, demonstrated that God is sovereign over history and that
every event He has predicted will come to pass.
Thus the book of Nahum testifies both of the certainty of God promises
to Israel and to the veracity of all Scripture.”
I will now
try to post a couple of articles from what I found on the internet about the destruction
of Nineveh. There many books on this
subject but I wanted to keep it brief.
Nineveh
summary
The
Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Below
is the article summary. For the full article, see Nineveh.
Sennacherib
in a relief from NinevehSennacherib leading a military campaign, detail
of a relief from Nineveh, c. 690 bce; in the British
Museum.
Nineveh , Oldest and most populous city of
ancient Assyria,
on the eastern bank of the Tigris River opposite modern Mosul, Iraq. Its
greatest development was under Sennacherib and Ashurbanipal in
the 7th century bce. It was captured and destroyed by Nabopolassar
of Babylonia and
his allies, the Scythians and Medes, in 612 bce. Excavations made in
1845–51 revealed palaces, a library, city walls, and many gates and buildings.
Assyria
summary
Learn
about the rise and fall of Assyria, an ancient empire in Mesopotamia
The
Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Below
is the article summary. For the full article, see Assyria.
Assyria, Ancient empire, southwestern
Asia. It grew from a small region around Ashur (in
modern northern Iraq) to encompass an area stretching from Egypt to Anatolia. Assyria may
have originated in the 2nd millennium bc, but it came to power gradually.
Its greatest period began in the 9th century bc, when its conquests
reached the Mediterranean Sea under Ashurnasirpal II (883–859), and again c. 746–609 bc,
during the Neo-Assyrian empire, when it conquered much of the Middle East. Its
greatest rulers during the latter period were Tiglath-pileser
III, Sargon II, Sennacherib,
and Ashurbanipal.
Famous for their cruelty and fighting prowess, the Assyrians were also
monumental builders, as shown by archaeological finds at Nineveh, Ashur,
and Calah. The opulence of Ashurbanipal’s court at Nineveh became legendary.
Artistically, the Assyrians were particularly noted for their stone
bas-reliefs. The kingdom was finally vanquished in 612–609 bc by a
coalition of Media and Babylonia (Chaldea).
Now there is one more brief
sub-section to look at and I will do that tomorrow, Lord willing, and then I
will look at MacArthur’s outline and this will conclude the introduction to the
book of Nahum, from MacArthur’s commentary.
Spiritual
Meaning for my Life today: I want to write about trusting the Lord and
give a couple of evidences as to why I need to totally trust the Lord for leading
my life. As I look at this story of
Nineveh and how the prophets pre-told what was going to happen to it, then this
caused me to trust the Lord for my life.
As I look at what the Lord Jesus Christ did on the cross for me, and I
have heard it said, and believe it, that if I were the only person on the earth
who needed saving that He would have done that for me. If the Lord chose me in eternity past then
came to earth to die in my place so that I can become His child then trusting
the Lord is the very thing that I need to do.
My
Steps of Faith for Today: Trust the Lord for He is trustworthy.
12/9/2025
11:19 AM
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