MORNING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 2/18/2026
9:28 AM
My
Worship Time Focus: “Inevitable
Judgment”
Bible
Reading & Meditation Reference: “Naham
3:8-13”
Message of the verses: “8 ¶ Are you better than Thebes that sat by the
Nile, with water around her, her rampart a sea, and water her wall? 9 Cush was her strength; Egypt too, and that without
limit; Put and the Libyans were her helpers. 10 Yet she became an exile; she went into
captivity; her infants were dashed in pieces at the head of every street; for
her honored men lots were cast, and all her great men were bound in chains. 11 You also will be drunken; you will go into
hiding; you will seek a refuge from the enemy. 12 All your fortresses are like fig trees with
first-ripe figs— if shaken they fall into the mouth of the eater. 13 Behold, your troops are women in your midst.
The gates of your land are wide open to your enemies; fire has devoured your
bars.”
I will continue quoting the commentary on Nahum by
John MacArthur: “The opening words ‘Are
you better than’ set the tone for God’s rebuke of Nineveh in this final
section of Nahum’s prophecy. The
question emphasized that despite Assyria’s arrogance, its capital city would
not escape God’s judgment. In its pride,
Assyria even considered itself to be like God.
As Zephaniah declared: “This
is the exultant city which inhabits securely, who says in her heart, ‘I am, and
there is no one beside me’” (Zephaniah 2:15; cf. Isaiah 14:13-14; 45:5-6;
Ezekiel 28:2, 6).”
(cf. Isaiah 14:13-14; 45:5-6; Ezekiel
28:2, 6)
“13 You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to
heaven; above the stars of God I will set my throne on high; I will sit on the
mount of assembly in the far reaches of the north; 14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;
I will make myself like the Most High.’”
“5 ¶ I am the LORD, and there is no other, besides
me there is no God; I equip you, though you do not know me, 6 that people may know, from the rising of the sun
and from the west, that there is none besides me; I am the LORD, and there is
no other.”
“2 "Son of man, say to the prince of Tyre,
Thus says the Lord GOD: "Because your heart is proud, and you have said,
‘I am a god, I sit in the seat of the gods, in the heart of the seas,’ yet you
are but a man, and no god, though you make your heart like the heart of a god”
“6 therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Because you
make your heart like the heart of a god,”
“The
Ninevites never imagined that they would be the objects of God’s wrath. They saw themselves as supreme and
invincible. But they were profoundly
mistaken.
“To expose the folly of their
overconfidence, Nahum referred to the city of No-amon, which translated
means ‘the city of Amon’ (the chief god of Egypt). This town, which is modern-day Thebes, was
destroyed by the Assyrians in 663 BC.
Describing his victory over Thebes, the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal
wrote:
“Upon
a trust (-inspring) oracle of Ashur and
Ishtar, I, myself, conquered this town completely. 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 (them0)to Assyria.
(Thus) I carried off from Thebes heavy booty, beyond counting. I made Egypt (Musur) and Nubia feel my
weapons bitterly and celebrated my triumph.
With full hands and safety, I returned to Nineveh, the city (where I
exercise) my rule.” (Pritchard, ed.. The Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating
to the Old Testament, 295.)
“Since
this conquest had been recent to Nahum’s generation, the Ninevites would have
readily remembered the destruction of No-amon, especially because the parallels
between No-amon and Nineveh was surrounded by three rivers (the Tigris, Khosr,
and Tebiltu). As Nineveh’s rivers brough
the city prosperity, so the waters of the Nile, including the network of
waterways that branch out from the Nile, brought wealth to Thebes. Being in a prime location, Thebes, like
Nineveh, was its nation’s capital, containing key monuments of Egypt’s grandeur
and housing the royal family. The city
had numerous temples, streets lined with sphinxes, and even one hundred
gates. The military successes of their armies gave both Nineveh and Thebes
great renown.”
2/18/2026
10:06 AM
2/18/2026
11:43 AM
“Thebes also boasted of the
protection provided by the water surrounding her. Like Nineveh, the waters around No-amon
acted as a natural moat, keeping potential enemies at a distance. Thebes also had a rampart which was
the sea itself. The rampart
is the most outward fortification or defensive structure of a city. For Thebes, the sea provided a
formidable buttress, since the Mediterranean and the Nile delta formed a
natural obstacle against foreign invaders.
These bodies of water, which were north of Thebes, were such an
effective protection that Nahum declared that No-amon’s wall consisted of
the sea. To brings troops, war
machines, and weapons against Thebes through such waters presented an immense
challenge for any invading force.
“Thebes also had additional
protection through political alliances, in that Ethiopia, a Cushite
dynasty, was the dominant power in the region, ruling even over Egypt. Ethiopia’s strength provided security for
Thebes on its southern and southeastern sides.” (5) “Renze, The Books of
Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah, 170.)
“On the northern flank of No-amon, Egypt was their defense without
end. Though Egypt was not a strong at
that time as it had been in prior generations, it was still a constant thorn in
Assyria’s side, putting up resistance seemingly without end (cf. 2 Kings
18:21, 24).”
(cf. 2 Kings 18:21, 24)
“21 Behold, you are trusting now in Egypt, that
broken reed of a staff, which will pierce the hand of any man who leans on it.
Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him.’
“24 How then can you repulse a single captain
among the least of my master’s servants, when you trust in Egypt for chariots
and for horsemen?”
“Rounding
out No-amon’s protection to the west and southwest, Put and Lubim were among
her helpers. Put referred to the
country of Libya which is west and southwest of Egypt (cf. Jeremiah 46:9;
Ezekiel 30:5).
(cf. Jeremiah 46:9; Ezekiel 30:5)
“9 Advance, O horses, and rage, O chariots! Let
the warriors go out: men of Cush and Put who handle the shield, men of Lud,
skilled in handling the bow.”
“5 Cush, and Put, and Lud, and all Arabia, and
Libya, and the people of the land that is in league, shall fall with them by
the sword.”
“The term Lubim,
infrequent in the Old Testament, described the Libyans of North Africa
including the military forces of Put (cf. 2 Chr. 12:3; 16:8). Like Nineveh, No-amon enjoyed economic prominence,
physical protection, and political support.”
(cf. 2 Chr. 12:3; 16:8)
“3 with 1,200 chariots, 60,000 cavalrymen, and countless
people who came with him from Egypt—Libyans, Sukkiim, and Ethiopians.” (HCSB)
“8 Were not the Ethiopians and the Libyans a huge
army with very many chariots and horsemen? Yet because you relied on the LORD,
he gave them into your hand.”
Spiritual
Meaning for my life Today: I have to admit that Nahum has been difficult
for me to understand, but I am learning things that I certainly did not know
before, and hope to continue to do so.
My Steps
of Faith for Today: Trusting the Lord for my wife to continue to
do good with her cancer treatments, and trusting the Lord to help me to get
Sunday’s Sunday school lesson ready.
From Dr.
David Jeremiah: “Let every student be
plainly instructed and earnestly pressed to consider well the main ends of his
life and studies; to know God and Jesus Christ, which is eternal life, and
therefore to lay Christ in the bottom as the only foundation of all knowledge
and learning and see that the Lord only giveth wisdom.” (John Harvard [Harvard
University])
“If you
receive My Words, and treasure My commands within you…Then you will understand
the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom; from His mouth
come knowledge, and understanding.” (Proverbs 2:1, 5-6)
2/18/2026
12:17 PM
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