1 month ago
21
GOD’S STORY –
When the Events of this Book Happened:
Sometime between 663 and 612 B.C.
During this time, Assyria dominated the ancient Near East. Samaria and the northern kingdom of Israel fell to Assyria in 722. In 663, Assyria had conquered the magnificent Egyptian stronghold of Thebes, located on the Nile River some 400 miles south of the Nile Delta. In Nah. 3:8, the prophet reminded the Assyrians of their great triumph. (“No” in the KJV is an alternate name for Thebes.) His argument was, if mighty Thebes fell, who are you to think you will stand
forever? Nineveh did fall in 612 to the Babylonians, just as Nahum predicted. Second Kings 21-22 and 2 Chr 33-35 describe the three kings who ruled Judah between the fall of Thebes and the fall of Nineveh: Manasseh, Amon, and Josiah. It is unclear which one was reigning when Nahum prophesied.
How Nahum Fits into God’s “Story”
The events of Nahum’s time belongs to “chapter 2” of the story: God educates his nation (disobedient Israel disciplined). When God Judges his own people because of their sins, he may use evil people or powers. In this situation, however, such evil people are still subject to the vengeance of God. Sooner or later, God’s sovereign justice prevails. His kingdom purpose for human history will succeed, not the purposes of evil. Although Assyria has long been destroyed, God’s last enemy will not meet its final doom until Jesus’s return to earth.
ORIGINAL HISTORICAL SETTING
Author and Date of Writing:
Nahum, perhaps ca. 650 B.C.
Nahum did not name his father or any king, and he left no personal traces in his prophecy. He named himself as an “Elkoshite,” that is, from the town of Elkosh, which is otherwise unknown. If Nahum prophesied soon after the fall of Thebes, the king of Judah was the idolatrous and long-reigning Manasseh, the “Ahab of Judah,” who became a vassal of Assyria (2 Chr 33:11-13). At this point Assyria was at its most arrogant and imperialistic height under Ashurbanipal (669-627). The year 650 would fit the evidence for the competition of Nahum’s book, but this is simply a best-guess estimate.
First Audience and Destination:
People in Nineveh or perhaps people in Judah
The first hearers of Nahum may have been the Ninevites themselves. Possibly the prophet traveled there to deliver his message, just as Jonah had done for an earlier generation. Ultimately, however, this was a message for God’s people. Nahum was preserved by the people of Judah in their canon of Scripture at least partly because it contained a message important to them.
Occasion
Assyria had long terrorized the ancient world. It had conquered Samaria and Thebes and appeared invincible. Nahum did not describe the specific occasion for his prophecy other than that it came as “the vision of Nahum.” Like the other prophets, he was specifically aware of the divine origin of his ministry. END OF PART 2
English (US) · 