Old Testament - Nahum 1-3 - November 28, 2022

 11/28/2022 – Nahum 1-3

Once again the Lord has a prophet telling the people that their cities would be destroyed because of the wickedness of the people. One of the cities Nahum is warning is Nineveh—those living in Nineveh were not the same as those who had repented of their sins after Jonah had preached to them more than a century before. Why do people in every time period tend to slowly fall away from the Lord’s commandments, even though they have lived through sweet and loving periods when the Lord has been their guide and their comforter?

V 3 tells us that while “the Lord is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked...” V’s 4-5 tell us that He uses droughts and earthquakes and volcanoes, and fires, and floods, and great winds to get His people to focus on Him once again.

He knows who has fallen from Him, and He “knows them that trust in him” (v7).  Then in v 15 He encourages all of us to stay close to Him. I take that to mean that whatever is happening outside my home, I need to work to keep Him part of my everyday efforts. I can do that by continuing to honor any calling I have been given, and by going to the temple on a regular basis—for that not only helps me, but it gives those who have left this earth the opportunity to take part in their temple covenants. And I want to continue to live this way no matter my age, and in hard times as well as good times.

The synopsis of chapter 2 helps us realize that these scriptures are for all people, no matter when or where they lived: “Nineveh shall be destroyed, which is a type of what shall be in the latter days”. The words that Nahum gives us are good for the time in which he lived, AND for the times in which we now live.

The Lord is warning the people of what will happen if they continue to follow the ways of the world, instead of the ways of the Lord. When I read 2:4 I wonder if He isn’t speaking to those of us who are living now: “The chariots shall rage in the streets, they shall justle one against another in the broad ways: they shall seem like torches, they shall run like the lightnings.” I read this and wonder if Nahum had seen the streets and highways of our time on earth. If that is so, Nahum warns US if we do not stay worthy of His help then we “shall stumble in their walk”. 

In v’s 9 &10 the Lord tells us that in difficult time riches will offer us protection or comfort or understanding. What we need to do first and foremost is to fill our lives with the things that bring us light and renewal and communication with our Father. If we have that, we need not fear.

The meaning of Nahum’s name is ‘consoler’. That plays an important role with his hard messages. He assures the people that the unrepentant wicked will receive no comfort, but the righteous can take comfort from Nahum’s message. Those who are living far from Heavenly Father’s commandments will feel no comfort: “There is no healing of thy bruise” (v 19) because they turned not to God.  But those who come back to His commandments will learn for themselves that the Lord cares dearly for them, and what they are doing. And one day He will bring an end to all wickedness on earth. Until then, we are to strengthen ourselves spiritually for the ‘last days.” And He tells us just how to do that in 3:14 “Draw thee waters for the siege, fortify thy strong holds; go into day, and tread the morter, make strong the brickklin.”