CRITICAL NOTES.] Burden] (Vulg. onus), from a word to lift up, a threatening utterance; some, heavy and full.
Nahum 1:2. Jealous], (words from the decalogue), to be warm. Burns against those who hate him (Deuteronomy 6:15). The term indicates feeling of injured right, and strong inclination for justice. Furious] Lit. a lord or master of fury: a master of dreams, i.e. a dreamer, &c. Reserveth] Applied to God, sig. to keep or bear wrath (Leviticus 19:18; Psalms 103:9).
Nahum 1:3. Acquit] Clear the guilty (Exodus 20:7; Exodus 34:7). Dust] Light dust easily raised.
Nahum 1:4. Rebuketh] (Matthew 8:26).
Nahum 1:5.] Fruitful districts fade under his wrath. Burned] Lit. lifts itself as in an earthquake (Psalms 89:10), hence to burn as a flame.
Nahum 1:6. Abide] Stand up before wrath poured out like fire from a volcano, which rends rocks to pieces (1 Kings 19:11; Jeremiah 23:29).
Nahum 1:7. Strong] A fortress. Knoweth] Stands emphatically for the knowledge with which God fosters and provides for his elect, and which is experienced by them (Hosea 13:5) [Lange].
Nahum 1:8. Over.] Judgment by invading armies, sweeps through the land like overwhelming floods (cf. Psalms 42:7; Isaiah 8:7-8; Habakkuk 3:10).
HOMILETICS
THE SERVANT’S BURDEN.—Nahum 1:1
In this verse we have the substance and object, the form and author, of the whole prophecy.
I. The nature of the burden. A burden is something heavy and important.
1. The commission from God was a burden. An awful responsibility, a solemn duty imposed upon the messenger. Who is sufficient for these things?
2. The commission was a burden upon the mind of the prophet. He was not reluctant to obey, but its solemnity weighed heavily upon him. He had to threaten judgment upon his fellow-creatures, to be faithful in his threatening, and declare the whole message from God. His duty was a burden. He was deeply sensible of its import, of his own unworthiness and weakness. This is the spirit of all true servants. “A dispensation of the gospel is committed unto me.”
II. The form of the burden. “The book of the vision.”
1. It was first a vision to the prophet. He saw what he uttered. He had a commission from God, and spoke in God’s authority. We should always testify what we have seen, and declare what we have been taught. Some speak a vision of their own heart (Jeremiah 23:16); but God’s servants see the vision of the Almighty.
2. Then the vision was recorded in a book. Reason teaches us to write laws and record events in a book. God’s prophets were taught to pen their thoughts in a permanent form for the benefit of future ages. “Many a man lives a burden to the earth; but a good book is the precious life-blood of a master-spirit, embalmed and treasured up on purpose to a life beyond life.”
III. The object of the burden. “The burden of Nineveh. Nineveh repented once, but returned to its wicked ways again. The first was a message of mercy, the second one of judgment. If men despise warnings they must expect rebukes. Employed by God to chastise, Nineveh sought to destroy the chosen people. Now God will punish the city, and its last state will be worse than the first. If men return to their former sins because judgment is not executed, if they cease to do the good they once begin, then God will withdraw his promised favour. “If it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them.”
JEHOVAH A JEALOUS GOD.—Nahum 1:2-5
wGod’s judgments are traced to God’s jealousy as the cause of them. His honour is injured. His tender feeling for his people is wounded, and though punishment is suspended for a time, eventually it is certain and severe.
I. God’s jealousy is connected with God’s long-suffering. “The Lord is slow to anger.” Towards enemies even God is long-suffering. For one hundred years he had endured the wickedness of the Assyrians. Judgments are often delayed.
1. This delay is not through weakness. “Great in power.” Men cannot execute their vengeance because they lack power. But God has all power, and can accomplish his will at all times.
2. This delay is not remission of punishment. He “will not at all acquit the wicked.” There is a limitation of mercy. He will not clear the guilty, nor leave them unpunished. He is not insensible to violations of his law, nor dilatory to vindicate his justice. Sinners have a respite in love, but not a reprieve in weakness. All who abuse his long-suffering will smart at last. “For the Lord thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God.”
II. God’s jealousy is often provoked to vengeance. “And the Lord revengeth.” Vengeance is a defect, and censured in man. Here it is predicated of God three times.
1. Vengeance is associated with provocation. Slow to anger, he can be provoked. His jealousy has the warmth of love and the fire of wrath. “The coals thereof are coals of fire, which hath a most vehement flame.”
2. Vengeance is associated with mastery. “And is furious,” a master of fury, one who has anger under control. He is Lord of vengeance. “One who, if he pleases,” says Grotius, “can most readily give effect to his fury.”
3. Vengeance is associated with execution. He reserves wrath for his enemies, not because he is angry, but because he is slow to anger. He allows it to accumulate, before execution. But he “will take vengeance on his adversaries.” (a) This execution is swift. He comes in the storm and the whirlwind (Nahum 1:3). He sweeps men away swift as the wind. “As the whirlwind passeth, so is the wicked no more.” (b) This execution is easy. The clouds are the mere dust of his feet. As man walks upon the dust, so Jehovah tramples upon the clouds, as the light dust of his feet. (c) This execution is mysterious. “Clouds and darkness are round about Him.” His purpose and his agents are often concealed, until they break upon the guilty like a lightning flash. (d) This execution is often terrible. The heavens above and the earth beneath feel the shock of his wrath. The sea is rebuked by his power, and the fertility of the land is consumed by his presence. The mountains quake and the hills melt; all nature trembles beneath his anger. No one can stand before fury like this. The strongest will quail, the hardest will melt. “Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him.”
HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES
Nahum 1:1. The Burden. The Bearer. The Destination. “He first defines the object of the prophecy, whereto it looks; then states who spake it, and whence it was” [Pusey].
Nahum 1:2. The titles of God rise in awe; first, intensely jealous and Avenger; then an Avenger and a Lord of wrath; the master of it (not as man, mastered by it); having it to withhold or discharge; yet so discharging it, at last, the more irrevocably on the finally impenitent [Ibid.].
The justice and severity of God should be contemplated.
1. As a warning to his enemies to deter them from evil.
2. As a consolation to his people to help them in trouble.
Nahum 1:3. Mercy, omnipotence, and justice.
1. The first attribute of God. “Slow to anger.” Because he never smites without first threatening. He is very slow to threaten. When God threatens, how slow he is to sentence the criminal! And when the sentence is signed and sealed, how slow to carry it out! Trace the attribute to its source. Why is God slow to anger? Because he is infinitely good. Because he is great.
2. The connecting link. A great reason why he is slow, because he is great in power. He that is great in power can restrain himself, and is greater than he that takes a city. When God’s power restrains himself, then it is power indeed. If he were less of a God than he is, he would long ere this have sent forth thunders and emptied the magazines of heaven. Bless God that the greatness of his power is our protection.
3. The last and most terrible attribute; He will not at all acquit the wicked. Unfold this first of all, then trace it to its source. God will not acquit the wicked. Never once has he blotted out sin without punishment. Calvary proves the truth of that. The wonders of vengeance in the Old Testament and hell itself are proofs of the text. Trace this terrible attribute to its source. Why is this? God will not acquit the wicked, because he is good. Goodness itself demands the punishment of the sinner. The justice of God demands it. If in Christ, never be afraid of God’s power. If not fled for refuge, then God will not acquit, but punish. Reprieved but not pardoned art thou. Reprieve will soon run out, haste to the refuge [Spurgeon].
Way in the whirlwind. The vengeance of God comes at last swiftly, vehemently, fearfully, irresistibly [Pusey].
Clouds the dust.
1. God hidden in his ways. Clouds are round about him. Deep and unsearchable in his counsels.
1. God powerful in his ways. Treading on the clouds, and making them as dust to his feet.
2. God terrible in his ways (Nahum 1:4; Nahum 1:6). Not difficult to put the elements in motion to destroy Nineveh or impenitent sinners. Great things to us are small with him. All nature subject to his control.
Nahum 1:4-5. The quaking of all things in the presence of an angry God. Celestial and terrestrial agencies subservient to the purpose of God, (a) in punishing the wicked, (b) in protecting his people. “The huge roots of the towering mountains are torn up when the Lord bestirs himself in anger to smite the enemies of his people. How shall puny man be able to face it out with God when the very mountains quake with fear? Let not the boaster dream that his present false confidence will support him in the dread day of wrath.”
HOMILETICS
GOD’S GOODNESS AND ANGER.—Nahum 1:6-7
Note two things in these words.
I. Jehovah’s anger.
1. It is real. Human theories of it are not always true. They are got up to persuade the sinner that he has no need to be alarmed for guilt. But God’s words are true—not exaggerations.
2. It is righteous. Not the rage of selfishness nor personal offence; but the anger of a righteous judge against sin, dishonoured right and insulted law. There is nothing in it unjust or arbitrary.
3. It is terrible. Though calm, it is awful and overwhelming. No power or numbers can withstand it. Expulsion from Paradise, the flood, the ruin of Sodom, and the destruction of the ungodly, are specimens.
4. It is inexorable. Nothing can turn it aside or quench it when kindled.
II. Jehovah’s goodness. He is good, and doeth good; kind to the unthankful and unholy.
1. His goodness is sincere. He does not utter words and feelings which are not in him. His words mean what they say, his deeds what they indicate. “God is not man that he should lie.”
2. His goodness is powerful. Almighty goodness. He is able to deliver those whom he loves. Their interests are safe in his hands.
3. His goodness is watchful. His eyes are upon us at all times, expecially in trouble. An unsleeping eye, an untiring hand, never weary of blessing, ever delighting to love and help us.
4. His goodness is unchanging. Without variableness like himself, ever flowing and not ebbing. Not like the tides and the seasons, his heart changes not. But the great day of his wrath will come. Judgment lingers not. He spares in pity, not willing that any should perish. Turn unto him, &c. [Dr. H. Bonar.]
THE TRIUMPH OF FAITH.—Nahum 1:7
Here we have a beautiful description of the security and comfort of those who trust in God in the day of distress.
I. God a Protection. Not armies, fleets, and fortresses. All other refuges are refuges of lies. He is the only accessible, impregnable, delightful shelter. II. God a Comfort. “The Lord is good.” Good in himself and to others. His goodness is spontaneous, undeserved, and boundless; consistent with the perfections of his character, and adapted to the wants of our nature. III. God a Friend. “He knoweth.” He not merely perceives and understands; but approves, acknowledges, and takes delight in us. He “takes pleasure in them that fear him, in them that hope in his mercy.” God is our friend. His attitude to us is like that to Abraham: “I will bless them that bless thee, and curse them that curse thee.”
HOMILETIC HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS
Nahum 1:7. The Lord is Good. He is essentially—immutably good—infinitely good. The good of all creation is derived from him. “He is good to all, and his tender mercies are over all his works.” But goodness does not appear in its highest forms here. These creatures never forfeited care and kindness. We have rebelled, and as children of disobedience deserve wrath. Yet he spares us, and provides for us—fitted up the world with sights, sounds, and relishes to our appetites. But if the bounties of nature and providence were stopped, we could say, “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that God loved us,” &c. This ensures every other blessing. “He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him freely give us all things?” This involves every other. He is “all in all.” By him and in him we are “blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places” [Jay].
The Lord a Stronghold. From whence does this trouble arise? From danger? He is our strength for protection. “The Lord is the strength of my life, of whom shall I be afraid?” “We are more than conquerors.” From duty? He is the strength to assist. If oppressed with a sense of our inability, “our sufficiency is of God.” From affliction? He is our strength to support and deliver. If ho does not release, he sustains and comforts. “My grace is sufficient for thee.” Whatever the nature and degree of affliction, in God we find a “very present help in the day of trouble” [Jay].
Nahum 1:7-8. God a refuge to his people, who are safe, happy, and cared for in his protection. God a terror to their enemies, who are overwhelmed with calamities (flood), pursued with darkness, and completely destroyed. God’s people only afflicted for a short time, but of the wicked he will make “an utter end.”
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 1
Nahum 1:1. Burden. He who possesses the virtues required in the care of souls, should not take upon him the priestly office, unless constrained to it; and he who knows he has them not, should not take it upon him, even though he were compelled to it [Gregory].
Nahum 1:2. Vengeance. When God sees it necessary to vindicate the honour of his justice to the world, he doth it with that severity which may make us apprehend his displeasure; and yet with that mercy which may encourage us to repent and return unto the Lord [Stillingfleet].
Nahum 1:3. Slow. God delays the punishment of wickedness, and does not strike presently, for a glorious manifestation of his holy attribute of patience. His two great attributes of justice and mercy, the full season of their manifestation upon the vessels of wrath and mercy, is at an end at the great day of reckoning [Bp. Browning].
Nahum 1:3-4. This passage is so sublime, says one, that it would be difficult to find its equal. May the reader’s heart adore the God before whom the unconscious earth and sky act as if they recognized their Maker, and were moved with a tremor of reverence. “Vain are the attempts of men to conceal anything from him whose word unbars the deep, and lifts the doors of earth from their hinges! Vain are all hopes of resistance, for a whisper of his voice makes the whole earth quail in abject terror” [Spurgeon].
Nahum 1:7. He who avails himself of a refuge is one who is forced to fly. It is a quiet retreat from a pursuing enemy. And there are trials, and temptations, and enemies, from which the Christian does best to fly. He cannot resist them. They are too strong for him. His wisdom is to fly into the refuge of the secret place of his God, to rest under the shadow of the Almighty. His strength is to sit still there (Isaiah 30:7) [B. M. Duncan].
Nahum 1:8-12. When God shakes men as dust from under the summer thrashing-floor, the right hand of a man’s strength is as powerless as the left hand of a man’s weakness, and his wisdom is as folly. What avails the wisdom of the apple to make it cling to the bough when it is ripe in autumn time? or the wisdom of the leaf to hold it fast to the stem when the tempest calls? or the wisdom of the tree to make it stand secure when a rock from the cliff comes crashing down through its puny branches? When God sends storms upon men, they must imitate the humble grass, which saves itself by lying down. Therefore it is said, “Humble yourselves before the mighty hand of God, that in due season he may raise you up” [H. W. Beecher].