Book of Nahum bible study

            Here the book of Nahum is again a prophecy against the city of Nineveh, like that of Jonah. This was written well after the prophecy Jonah during which Nineveh repented at Jonah’s preaching. It seems as if the people of Nineveh had backslid and were as evil as ever, it wasd as if they never had repented, and this time the prophet Nahum is sent to prophesy the coming judgment which would be carried out by the Babylonian empire. He also made prophecies of the restoration of Israel/Judah from Assyrian captivity, as well (if not Babylonian) I am including a link to the bible study of Jonah in case you want to do that book before going on to this bible study, for comparison and contrast because both books deal with Nineveh, but at different times and by different prophets

https://www.facebook.com/notes/jay-dougherty/book-of-jonah-bible-study/10200572329844292

In Nahum chapter 1 then it is reminded that it is an oracle of Nineveh, and reminds us of God’s grace and mercy yet does not let the evil go unpunished, making a full end of His adversaries yet while saving His people, punishing yet rescuing Israel

(Nahum 1:1)  An oracle concerning Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum of Elkosh.

(Nahum 1:2)  The LORD is a jealous and avenging God; the LORD is avenging and wrathful; the LORD takes vengeance on his adversaries and keeps wrath for his enemies.

(Nahum 1:3)  The LORD is slow to anger and great in power, and the LORD will by no means clear the guilty. His way is in whirlwind and storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet.

(Nahum 1:4)  He rebukes the sea and makes it dry; he dries up all the rivers; Bashan and Carmel wither; the bloom of Lebanon withers.

(Nahum 1:5)  The mountains quake before him; the hills melt; the earth heaves before him, the world and all who dwell in it.

(Nahum 1:6)  Who can stand before his indignation? Who can endure the heat of his anger? His wrath is poured out like fire, and the rocks are broken into pieces by him.

(Nahum 1:7)  The LORD is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; he knows those who take refuge in him.

(Nahum 1:8)  But with an overflowing flood he will make a complete end of the adversaries, and will pursue his enemies into darkness.

(Nahum 1:9)  What do you plot against the LORD? He will make a complete end; trouble will not rise up a second time.

(Nahum 1:10)  For they are like entangled thorns, like drunkards as they drink; they are consumed like stubble fully dried.

(Nahum 1:11)  From you came one who plotted evil against the LORD, a worthless counselor.

(Nahum 1:12)  Thus says the LORD, "Though they are at full strength and many, they will be cut down and pass away. Though I have afflicted you, I will afflict you no more.

(Nahum 1:13)  And now I will break his yoke from off you and will burst your bonds apart."

(Nahum 1:14)  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."

(Nahum 1:15)  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.

Nahum chapter 2 is a book that simultaneously prophesies the restoration and rebuilding of Judah and yet severe judgments against Nineveh (Assyria) warning to be ready for the siege

(Nahum 2:1)  The scatterer has come up against you. Man the ramparts; watch the road; dress for battle; collect all your strength.

(Nahum 2:2)  For the LORD is restoring the majesty of Jacob as the majesty of Israel, for plunderers have plundered them and ruined their branches.

(Nahum 2:3)  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.

(Nahum 2:4)  The chariots race madly through the streets; they rush to and fro through the squares; they gleam like torches; they dart like lightning.

(Nahum 2:5)  He remembers his officers; they stumble as they go, they hasten to the wall; the siege tower is set up.

(Nahum 2:6)  The river gates are opened; the palace melts away;

(Nahum 2:7)  its mistress is stripped; she is carried off, her slave girls lamenting, moaning like doves and beating their breasts.

(Nahum 2:8)  Nineveh is like a pool whose waters run away. "Halt! Halt!" they cry, but none turns back.

(Nahum 2:9)  Plunder the silver, plunder the gold! There is no end of the treasure or of the wealth of all precious things.

(Nahum 2:10)  Desolate! Desolation and ruin! Hearts melt and knees tremble; anguish is in all loins; all faces grow pale!

(Nahum 2:11)  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?

(Nahum 2:12)  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.

(Nahum 2:13)  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.

In Nineveh chapter 3 the final prophecies of judgment and destruction for Nineveh are given even encouraging laments for the city of Nineveh over what is to happen also even Assyria the whole country are described

(Nahum 3:1)  Woe to the bloody city, all full of lies and plunder-- no end to the prey!

(Nahum 3:2)  The crack of the whip, and rumble of the wheel, galloping horse and bounding chariot!

(Nahum 3:3)  Horsemen charging, flashing sword and glittering spear, hosts of slain, heaps of corpses, dead bodies without end-- they stumble over the bodies!

(Nahum 3:4)  And all for the countless whorings of the prostitute, graceful and of deadly charms, who betrays nations with her whorings, and peoples with her charms.

(Nahum 3:5)  Behold, I am against you, declares the LORD of hosts, and will lift up your skirts over your face; and I will make nations look at your nakedness and kingdoms at your shame.

(Nahum 3:6)  I will throw filth at you and treat you with contempt and make you a spectacle.

(Nahum 3:7)  And all who look at you will shrink from you and say, Wasted is Nineveh; who will grieve for her? Where shall I seek comforters for you?

(Nahum 3:8)  Are you better than Thebes that sat by the Nile, with water around her, her rampart a sea, and water her wall?

(Nahum 3:9)  Cush was her strength; Egypt too, and that without limit; Put and the Libyans were her helpers.

(Nahum 3:10)  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.

(Nahum 3:11)  You also will be drunken; you will go into hiding; you will seek a refuge from the enemy.

(Nahum 3:12)  All your fortresses are like fig trees with first-ripe figs-- if shaken they fall into the mouth of the eater.

(Nahum 3:13)  Behold, your troops are women in your midst. The gates of your land are wide open to your enemies; fire has devoured your bars.

(Nahum 3:14)  Draw water for the siege; strengthen your forts; go into the clay; tread the mortar; take hold of the brick mold!

(Nahum 3:15)  There will the fire devour you; the sword will cut you off. It will devour you like the locust. Multiply yourselves like the locust; multiply like the grasshopper!

(Nahum 3:16)  You increased your merchants more than the stars of the heavens. The locust spreads its wings and flies away.

(Nahum 3:17)  Your princes are like grasshoppers, your scribes like clouds of locusts settling on the fences in a day of cold-- when the sun rises, they fly away; no one knows where they are.

(Nahum 3:18)  Your shepherds are asleep, O king of Assyria; your nobles slumber. Your people are scattered on the mountains with none to gather them.

(Nahum 3:19)  There is no easing your hurt; your wound is grievous. All who hear the news about you clap their hands over you. For upon whom has not come your unceasing evil?

God is merciful and slow to anger but by no means will let the guilty go free and will punish as needed, and as severely as needed. Such is what happened to Nineveh, the city who backslid after repenting of their wrongs when warned by Jonah of judgment coming in the book of Jonah. God would have mercy on us, too, when He sent His only begotten Son, Jesus, to die for us on the cross so that we might have eternal life, and more importantly to God than that Jesus paid the penalty for the sins that were separating us from a relationship with God. God and Jesus prize that relationship so much that this was done in love for all mankind, so that the relationship can then be restored to all mankind, and this relationship is something that God prizes very much. There is nothing that can be compared to a relationship with God, whatsoever, nothing at all comes remotely close. I am now including a prayer which can be used to invite Jesus in your heart to begin this wonderful love relationship or even to come back to it if for some reason you have drifted away. God loves it when people repent and return to Him. Please pray this prayer with me now

Dear God in heaven, I come to you in the name of Jesus. I acknowledge to You that I am a sinner, and I am sorry for my sins and the life that I have lived; I need your forgiveness. I believe that your only begotten Son Jesus Christ shed His precious blood on the cross at Calvary and died for my sins, and I am now willing to turn from my sin. You said in Your Holy Word, Romans 10:9 that if we confess Jesus as our Lord and believe in our hearts that God raised Jesus from the dead, we will be saved. Right now I confess Jesus as the Lord of my soul. With my heart, I believe that God raised Jesus from the dead. This very moment I accept Jesus Christ as my own personal Savior and according to His Word, right now I am saved. Thank you Jesus for your unlimited grace which has saved me from my sins. I thank you Jesus that your grace never leads to license, but rather it always leads to repentance. Therefore Lord Jesus transform my life so that I may bring glory and honor to you alone and not to myself. Thank you Jesus for dying for me and giving me eternal life.

Amen.

God bless you and yours