MORNING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 2/6/2026
9:33 AM
My
Worship Time Focus:
PT-1 “Divine
Prosecution”
Bible
Reading & Meditation Reference: Nahum
2:13
Message of the verse: “Behold, I am against you,” declares
Yahweh of Hosts. “And will burn up her
chariots in smoke, and a sword will devour your young lions; and I will cut off
your prey from the hand, and no longer will the voice of your messengers be
heard.”
“13 Behold, I am against you, declares the LORD of
hosts, and I will burn your chariots in smoke, and the sword shall devour your
young lions. I will cut off your prey from the earth, and the voice of your
messengers shall no longer be heard.” (ESV)
This morning I begin a new section from the book of
Nahum, and it is from the very last verse in the second chapter, and I have
been doing while working on this Old Testament book I will quote from John
MacArthur’s commentary, give some thoughts of my own and also quote all of the
verses that he brings up in order to make his commentary more
understandable. One more thing and that
is as I mentioned in my last SD on 2 Peter that I will probably move my study
on Nahum to my evening Spiritual Diaries and I want to use the morning SD to
begin what will be a very long study on the Gospel of Luke.
John MacArthur begins: “Though the destruction of Nineveh might be
attributed to Assyria’s foes, the Lord stated that it was ultimately His
doing. ‘Behold, I am against you,’
declares Yahweh of hosts.’ Nineveh
fell because of God’s sovereign intervention.
On account of Assyria’s atrocities against His people, the Lord declared
Nineveh to be His enemy. As Israel’s covenant
God and the Captain of heaven’s armies, Yahweh of hosts announced His
zeal to avenge His people.
“The Lord proclaimed that He would
ensure every aspect of Nineveh’s downfall.
First, He would destroy their military:
‘I will burn up her chariots in smoke.’ The chariots, which
once symbolized Nineveh’s invincibility (Nahum 2:3) and swiftness (2:4), would
become an ash heap, signaling not only the army’s defeat but its annihilation
(cf. Josh. 8:21; Judges 20:38).”
(Nahum 2:3)
“3 The shield of his mighty men is red; his
soldiers are clothed in scarlet. The chariots come with flashing metal on the
day he musters them; the cypress spears are brandished.”
(2:4)
“4 The chariots race madly through the streets;
they rush to and fro through the squares; they gleam like torches; they dart
like lightning.”
(cf. Josh. 8:21; Judges 20:38)
“21 And when Joshua and all Israel saw that the
ambush had captured the city, and that the smoke of the city went up, then they
turned back and struck down the men of Ai.”
“38 Now the appointed signal between the men of
Israel and the men in the main ambush was that when they made a great cloud of
smoke rise up out of the city”
“Second, Yahweh would bring down the
next generation of Nineveh’s nobility, exclaiming that ‘a sword will devour
your young lions.’ Nahum had earlier
prophesied that Nineveh’s young lions, the princes and noble youths (cf. Nah.
2:11), would become homeless and destitute.”
(cf. Nah. 2:11)
11 ¶ Where is the lions’ den, the feeding place of
the young lions, where the lion and lioness went, where his cubs were, with
none to disturb?”
“Here, the
Lord reiterated that promise. Though
these young men thrived on devouring others, God would cause the sword of
Babylonians military to devour them.
“Third, God announced He would end Nineveh’s
prosperity, saying, I will cut off your prey from the land.’ Nahum recounted that Nineveh had grown
wealthy by preying on other nations, subjugating their people and pillaging t heir goods (cf. 2:12).”
(cf. 2:12)
“12 The lion tore enough for his cubs and
strangled prey for his lionesses; he filled his caves with prey and his dens
with torn flesh.”
“But God
decreed that He would cut off such prey from the land, abolishing
Assyria’s ability to conquer and oppress others. Just as a lion without its prey starves, so
Nineveh would collapse and come to nothing.
The Lord would use the Babylonians as His instrument of judgment against
Assyria. Nonetheless, He would be the
One behind each part of Nineveh’s colossal fall. Vengeance belongs to the Lord and He is the
One who repays (cf. Deut. 32:35; Rom. 12:19; Heb. 10:30).”
(cf. Deut. 32:35; Rom. 12:19; Heb.
10:30)
“35 Vengeance is mine, and recompense, for the
time when their foot shall slip; for the day of their calamity is at hand, and
their doom comes swiftly.’”
“19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it
to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says
the Lord.’”
“30 For we know him who said, “Vengeance is mine;
I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.’”
“Nahum issued a fourth act of divine
judgment with these words: ‘No longer
will the voice of your messengers be heard.’ Assyria had often sent its messengers to
other lands on diplomatic and military ventures. Judah experienced this when Assyria sent
messengers to intimidate them and insult Yahweh (cf. 2 Kings 19:9, 14, 23).”
(cf. 2 Kings 19:9, 14, 23)
9 Now the king heard concerning Tirhakah king of
Cush, "Behold, he has set out to fight against you." So he sent
messengers again to Hezekiah, saying,”
“14 Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of
the messengers and read it; and Hezekiah went up to the house of the LORD and
spread it before the LORD.”
“23 By your messengers you have mocked the Lord,
and you have said, ‘With my many chariots I have gone up the heights of the
mountains, to the far recesses of Lebanon; I felled its tallest cedars, its
choicest cypresses; I entered its farthest lodging place, its most fruitful
forest.”
“In
response to that particular provocation, God sent His own ‘messengers,’ The
Angel of Yahweh, to put to death 185,000 Assyrian soldiers in one night
(19:35).”
(19:35)
“35 ¶ And that night the angel of the LORD went out
and struck down 185,000 in the camp of
the Assyrians. And when people arose early in the morning, behold, these were
all dead bodies.”
“As part
of its military strategy, Assyria used its messengers to herald its supremacy
throughout the ancient Near East. But
after the destruction of Nineveh, those messengers disappeared. Their deafening silence was a resounding
testimony to Assyria’s total dissolution.”
Looks like I will finish this
section in tomorrow mornings SD.
I remember a long time ago that I
was visiting the church that I attended at that time, and I went into our
Pastor’s office and he had some papers laid out on the floor, and it looked
like to me that he was about to get down on his knees to have some prayer
time. This reminded me of what Hezekiah
did after he heard the news that Assyria was about to attack Judah, and his
prayer was answered as we see in this SD that the Lord killed 185,000 Assyrians
who were about to attack Jerusalem.
Spiritual
meaning for my life today: When I think about prayer there are different
thoughts that come into my mind. I think
that as a person grows in the Lord that they will get knowledge about prayer as
they walk with Him each day. God
sometimes says no to our prayers, but even then I have to trust Him for He is
all knowing and can never do anything wrong.
God answered Hezekiah’s prayer as it was totally in His will to do
so. Trust in the Lord to do what He will
do is the best thing that can happen.
Jesus prayed on the night that He would be crucified that if it was the
will of His Father to take this cup from me, but then He added not my will but
your will be done.
My
Steps of Faith for Today: Trusting the Lord to bring glory to
His name as He deals with my wife’s cancer.
From Dr.
David Jeremiah: “O Lord, let us not live
to be useless, for Christ’s sake.” (John Wesley)
“Go
therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of
the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” (Matthew 28:19)
2/6/2026
10:22 AM
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