MORNING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 2/21/2026
9:32 AM
My
Worship Time Focus: PT1
“Inescapable Judgment”
Bible
Reading & Meditation Reference:
Nahum
3:14-17
Message of the verses: “Draw for yourself water for the siege!
Strengthen your fortifications! God into
the clay and tread the mortar! Take hold of the brick mold! There, fire will consume you; The Sword will
cut you down; It will consume you as the locust does. Multiply yourself
like the creeping locust, Multiply yourself like the swarming locust. You have increased your traders more than the
stars of heaven—The creeping locust strips and flies away. Your guardsmen are like the swarming
locust. Your marshals are like a
locust-swarm Encamping in the stone walls on a cold day. The sun rises, and they flee, And the place
where they are is not known.”
In today’s morning SD I will begin
to look at the verses above and do as I have been doing, that is quoting from
John MacArthur’s commentary along with adding my thoughts and also for the most
part looking up any verse references that he adds. As I read these four verses I am thankful to
the Lord that I can gleam truths from MacArthur’s commentary as on my own they
do not make a lot of sense to me.
“Nahum’s prophecy then emphasized
that no amount of preparation would spare the city from God’s judgment. While the Ninevites would make every effort
to prepare for battle, they would be destroyed.
Conveying the rhetorically, Nahum taunted the people to draw for themselves
water for the siege, storing up a supply in case their access to water
was cut off by the enemy (cf. 2 Kings 20:20; 2 Chron. 32:30).”
(cf. 2 Kings 20:20; 2 Chron. 32:30)
“20 The rest of the deeds of Hezekiah and all his
might and how he made the pool and the conduit and brought water into the city,
are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?”
“30 This same Hezekiah closed the upper outlet of
the waters of Gihon and directed them down to the west side of the city of
David. And Hezekiah prospered in all his works.”
“They were
also to strengthen their fortifications by reinforcing the
outermost walls. To do this, the prophet
directed them to go into the clay, or the clay pits, to acquire the
materials to make bricks. They were then
to tread the mortar to create grout for binding bricks together. Nahum also told them to take hold of the
brick mold to shape the bricks into the proper size. With clay bricks and mortar, they could build
fortifications and reinforce their armaments.
The Hebrew word for take hold shares the same root with strengthen,
reinforcing Nahum’s taunting call to the Ninevites to do all they can to
defend themselves. But the prophet’s
message was clear: no matter how masterfully they buttressed their defenses,
defeat was inescapable. Their efforts
would fail, as any attempt to resist the decree of God fails (Nah. 1:9, 14-15;
2:6-7; 3:15; cf. Isa. 47:12-15).”
(Nah. 1:9, 14-15; 2:6-7; 3:15; cf. Isa.
47:12-15)
9 ¶ What do you plot against the LORD? He will
make a complete end; trouble will not rise up a second time.”
“14 The LORD has given commandment about you:
"No more shall your name be perpetuated; from the house of your gods I
will cut off the carved image and the metal image. I will make your grave, for
you are vile." 15 Behold, upon the
mountains, the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace! Keep your
feasts, O Judah; fulfill your vows, for never again shall the worthless pass
through you; he is utterly cut off.”
“6 The river gates are opened; the palace melts
away; 7 its mistress is stripped; she is
carried off, her slave girls lamenting, moaning like doves and beating their
breasts.”
“15 He brings all of them up with a hook; he drags
them out with his net; he gathers them in his dragnet; so he rejoices and is
glad.”
“12 Stand fast in your enchantments and your many
sorceries, with which you have labored from your youth; perhaps you may be able
to succeed; perhaps you may inspire terror. 13 You are wearied with your many counsels; let
them stand forth and save you, those who divide the heavens, who gaze at the
stars, who at the new moons make known what shall come upon you. 14 Behold, they are like stubble; the fire
consumes them; they cannot deliver themselves from the power of the flame. No
coal for warming oneself is this, no fire to sit before! 15 Such to you are those with whom you have
labored, who have done business with you from your youth; they wander about,
each in his own direction; there is no one to save you.”
“Nahum proceeded to declare that the very places where
Nineveh reinforced their fortifications, prepared their defenses, and drew
water, there, fire will consume you.
There, the prophet declared, as if emphatically pointing to the
places Nineveh thought would protect them; there would be the very
places where the city’s defenses would collapse. Nahum predicted that fire will consume you
as flames engulfed the gates and outer walls while spreading to the inner
city. Though Nahum had previously
predicted that the city would be flooded by water (cf. Nah. 2:6), here he also
announced that it would be burned by fire.” (9 Robertson, The Books of
Nahum, Habakkuk and Zephaniah, 90, 124)
Nahum 2:6
“6 The river gates are opened; the palace melts
away;”
“Could
both be true? Historical accounts record
that the palaces of the city, including the place of Sennacherib, were burned
to the ground. (10 “Armerding, “Nahum,” 599) “Historical accounts also indicate
the Nineveh was flooded, and that ‘the king, recognizing in this the fulfilment
of the oracle, gathered together his concubines and eunuchs, and, mounting a
funeral pyre which he had caused to be constructed, perish in the flames.’
(11Pinches, “Nineveh,” 4:2151). “Despite
the incompatibility of fire and water, God’s Woprd was fulfilled and His
prophecy confirmed as Nineveh fell both by flood and by flame.”
Spiritual
Meaning for my Life Today: As I look at the prophecies that are found in
the book of Nahum, I realize that many people do not believe that they would be
fulfilled, but this is no problem for God to fulfill these prophecies, and not
only fulfill them but have His prophet write about them before they would be
fulfilled.
My
Steps of Faith for Today: Trusting the Lord to give peace to my wife as
she was upset from a young lady’s death with cancer caused by the treatment she
received which my wife took. I believe
that the Lord is in control of what is going on in our lives as He promised
this in His Word. God knows best and
that I am sure even though it is difficult at times to go through what He has
planned for us to go through.
From the
pen of David Jeremiah: “The Bible is
bread for daily use, not cake for special occasions.” (Author Unknown)
“All
Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for
reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God
may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. (II Timothy 3:16-17)
2/21/2026
10:24 AM
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