SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 12/6/2025 9:45
AM
My
Worship
Time Focus: “Intro to Nahum”
PT-2 HISTORICAL CONTEXT
I continue looking at what John
MacArthur wrote in “Historical Context of Nahum.
“The looming threat of Assyria
continued as the empire sought to reinforce its power in the ancient Near
East. A building inscription from the
time of Esarhaddon (ca. 681-669) records that the Judaean king Manasseh was
summoned to provide assistance to build an Assyria’s palace, suggesting that
Judah likely served as Assyria’s vassal. Later, when Manasseh rebelled against
Assyria, Ashurbanipal (ca. 669-663 BC) took him captive and exiled him to
Babylon (then under Assyrian rule; ca. 648). The author of 2 Chronicles
described Assyria’s gruesome tactics vividly, saying “Yahweh brought the
commanders of the army of the king of Assyria against them, and they captured
Manasseh with hooks, bound him with bronze chains, and took him to
Babylon” (2 Chr. 33:11). The
brutality of Assyria continued to define the empire as it had done throughout
its history.
“Beyond Judah, Ashurbanipal expanded
his rule even down to Egypt. In 663 BC,
he campaigned against Thebes (No -amon), the capital of Egypt, and decimated
the city. Describing this conquest,
Ashurbanipal boasted:
From
Thebes [I] carried away booty, heavy and beyond counting: silver, gold,
precious stones, his entire personal possessions, linen garments with
multicolored trimmings, fine horses (certain) inhabitants, male and
female. I pulled two high obelisks, cast
of shining zahalu-bronze, the weight of which was 2,500 talents,
standing at the door of the temple, out of their bases and took (them) to
Assyria. (Thus) I carried off from
Thebes heavy booty, beyond counting.” “Pritchard, ed., The ancient Near
Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament, 295.
“This
conquest left such an impression on Judah that Nahum referred to it and listed
various horrors from the battle, as He prophesied the impending destruction of
Nineveh (cf. Nah. 3:8-10). Nahum’s
prophecy, in effect, announced that not only would Nineveh fall but that the
Ninevites would experience the same violence their armies had inflicted on
others.
“The magnitude of Nineveh’s demise
was stunning given the city’s historic significance. Among the first major cities in the history
of the world, Nineveh is originally mentioned in Genesis 10:11-12, when Nimrod
built “Nineveh and Rohoboth-Ir and Calah, and Resen between Nineveh and
Calah.” Nineveh’s distinction
endured as it boasted the glory of an ancient temple for Ishtar, the goddess of
love and war (ca. 2300 BC). Prominent
kings such as Hammurabi (ca. 1792-1750 BC) and Tiglath-pileser I (ca. 1115-1071
BC) acknowledged the greatness of Nineveh and developed it unto a grand
metropolis. Located on the east bank of
the Tigris River (in modern-day Iraq), with ample water to cultivate plentiful
crops, Nineveh enjoyed an abundance of trade and rich agriculture. Being the capital of Assyria, Nineveh was
home to Assyria’s royal houses, including the grand palace of Sennacherib (cf.
2 Kings 19:36; Isaiah 37:37). Nineveh
also became a major cultural center in which Ashurbanipal (ca. 669-663 BC)
built an impressive library. With the
inner city being approximately three to four square miles, the outer city
stretched to about fifty-five miles all around.
According to Jonah 4:11, with more than 120,000 children in Nineveh, the
total population was likely about 600,000 people. God therefore, appropriately referred to
Nineveh as “the great city” (Jonah 1:2).
“Nineveh’s history was marked by
both magnificence and brutality. So, God
raised up Nahum to confront this formidable and vile capital. Though God has spared Nineveh in the time of
Jonah as an expression of His surpassing grace, the Ninevites subsequently
returned to their wicked ways.
Therefore, Nahum pronounced judgment on them, and exactly as he prophesied,
Nineveh was destroyed in 612 BC. Its destruction was so complete that the ruins
of the city were not discovered for over 2,400 years, until the nineteenth
century.”
Now I have completed this section, Lord
willing in tomorrows SD I will begin to look at “THEMES.”
Spiritual
Meaning for my Life Today: When I look at the kind of history
that I have been writing about this morning I realize that this is all in God’s
plans. Nations rise and fall, but God is
in control of all of this as He has written history even before it takes place
because He is God and can do that.
My
Steps of Faith for Today: Continue to trust the Lord as He is also in
control of what is going on with my wife, and so the best thing we can do is to
trust Him.
12/6/2025
10:34 AM
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