SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 12/3/2025 8:31
AM
My Worship
Time Focus:
PT-1 “Intro
to Nahum”
This SD and the following ones will
be a bit different as I quote from John MacArthur’s commentary on Nahum which I
promised I would do in my last SD after I finished looking at the book of
Jonah.
“More than a hundred years after
Jonah preached to Nineveh, God raised up the prophet Nahum to pronounce
judgment on the same city. Though the
Assyrians repented in Jonah’s day and received mercy, later generations
presumed upon God’s grace and returned to their wicked ways. So, Nahum prophesied woe against them,
demonstrating that although God is merciful and gracious, He is also righteous
and holy. In promising to pour out His
wrath on wicked Nineveh, God also His people by reminding them that He will
bring evildoers to justice.
“Nahum’s message parallels that of
his predecessor in at least eight ways.
First, just as Jonah declared that God is longsuffering and gracious
(Jonah 4:2), so Nahum acknowledged divine grace while affirming that the Lord is
also jealous and avenging (Hahum 1:3).
Second, in Jonah God orchestrated a storm and then calmed the sea (Jonah
1:4, 15-16; 2:10-3:5), and in Nahum God directed the rivers to flood Nineveh in
order to destroy the city (Nahum 1:8; 2:6).
Third, in Jonah God allowed the prophet to reach dry land (Jonah 2:10),
and in Hahum God rebuked the sea and made it dry in judgment (Nahum 1:4). Fourth, in Jonah the common people were
spared (Jonah 3:5-10), but in Nahum all the people were scattered (Nahum 1:2;
3:18). Fifth, in Jonah the message
reached the king and he repented (Jonah 3:5-10), but in Hahum God addressed the
king and described his demise (Nahum 3:18-19).
Sixth, in Jonah both the sailors and the prophet offered vows to God
(Jonah 1:6; 2:9), so Nahum called Israel to pay their vows and give praise to
the Lord for His judgments (Nahum 1:15).
Seventh, the book of Nahum ends with a question (Nahum 3:19), the only
two books in Scripture to do so.
Finally, Nahum’s description of the Ninevites mourning at the fall of
their city intended to evoke the prophet Jonah and his ministry. Nahum expressed that the women moaned like
doves (cf. 2:7), recalling the prophet Jonah since his name is the Hebrew word
for ‘dove’ (jonah).
“The parallels demonstrate that the
book of Nahum is the sequel to the book of Jonah, though with vastly different
conclusions. The city that received
divine grace became the city that was destroyed by divine wrath. Nineveh serves as a memorial to both the
mercy and wrath of God. While the Lord
gives grace to the worst of sinners who repent, He also executes judgment on
those who refuse to turn from their sin (cf. 2 Peter 3:3-9; James 5:7-9). Nahum’s
prophecy demonstrates that God will avenge His people by punishing the wicked
and preserving the righteous (Nahum 1:15; cf. Isa. 52:7).
TITLE
“The book is titled after the name of the prophet
Hanum (i. e., ‘comfort’ or ‘comforter’), which is related to the name (‘Nehemiah’
(i.e., “Yah[weh], comforts”). Despite
the prophet’s name, the message Nahum preached was one of judgment. This tension indicates that God intended
Nahum’s prophecy to communicate both comfort and judgment—comfort to Israel
that the Lord was zealous for the protection of His people, and judgment
against Nineveh that God would destroy the nation of her wickedness.”
Lord willing I will continue the
different phases of the introduction to Nahum in John MacArthur’s commentary in
tomorrow’s SD.
12/3/2025
8:57 AM
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