The Beauty of Daily Study
Thank you for joining us again today on our journey through the Bible. I hope you consider it a blessing to spend time with God daily. People often ask me what my favorite book or verse is, and I always give the same answer—all of them. Each day, I am astonished as I delve into His Word. There is so much more I will never know, at least in this lifetime. It will require an eternity to learn all there is. We serve an awesome God.
A Poetic Prophet
Today, we’re looking at the poetic book of Nahum. Although it isn’t visible in English, the first chapter uses an acrostic structure, with each verse beginning with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet, just like Psalm 119(1). Nahum is part of the twelve books we call the Minor Prophets, which were traditionally compiled as one scroll called The Twelve(2).
There are multiple correlations to the number twelve in Scripture: twelve tribes, twelve apostles, twelve jewels on the high priest’s breastplate. Twelve represents divine structure and spiritual completeness—a covenantal fullness. So, when the Bible describes God as jealous, it does not mean the suspicion or insecurity we associate with jealousy today. It’s a divine expectation. A promise from and to God. He provides and protects; we love and obey. We’ve seen that He is faithful—but we are not.
Purpose, Perfection, and Prophetic Timing
Twelve also represents purpose. God has a purpose for everything under heaven (Ecc 3:1). Nothing that happens in this world is random. We may not like the events—they break our hearts, disrupt our lives—but God will use all things for good for those who love and obey Him (Romans 8:28). We need to live through that lens. When things happen, ask: Why? What is God doing? Henry Blackaby teaches we should look for where God is working and join Him in that work(3). Those are wise words; everything happens for a reason.
Nahum is the seventh minor prophet. Seven is the number of perfection. Not to say Nahum was perfect—we know little about him, and all people sin (Romans 3:23). But there’s strong symbolism in his placement. The seventh tribe of Israel is Gad, whose name means “troop” or “fortune.” That fits, considering Nahum was prophesying around 650 BC about the fall of Nineveh, which occurred in 612 BC(4).
God’s Justice Is Not Distant
People often think God’s actions are far off. We see His patience and assume there’s no urgency. But in Nahum’s case, the judgment he foretold came within the lifetime of his audience. And just a century after Jonah lamented Nineveh’s repentance, they had already returned to their wicked ways.
Deuteronomy 33:20 calls Gad a warrior who “dwells as a lion.” That matches the lion metaphors in Nahum well (Nahum 2:11). Then we have the seventh apostle—Thomas—who questioned Jesus, but later made the bold proclamation: “My Lord and my God” (John 20:28). That tension between doubt and faith echoes Nahum’s message of wrath and refuge.
The seventh jewel on the breastplate is jacinth—a reddish-orange gem associated with fire and judgment(5). Nahum describes mountains melting, even though there is no volcanic activity in the region. After the destruction of Nineveh, archaeologists found ash layers in the ruins(6). Some associate that with volcanic imagery, but I see it as a reminder that when God wants to make a change, it doesn’t require millennia of evolution. He created this world and has full creative control over how the story unfolds.
The Fall of Empires and the Urgency of Today
So when I look at the events happening in this world, I don’t take comfort in time. We may think we always have tomorrow. The Ninevites thought so too—but in 612 BC, an alliance of Babylonians, Scythians, and Medes destroyed them(7). Thebes, though protected by surrounding waters, fell as well. There is no defense when God corrects a sinful nation(8).
Nineveh worshipped false gods. God used them to chastise Israel, but once they had fulfilled their purpose, He removed them. We should all realize that our actions have consequences. We don’t control how much time we have, and God will judge the wicked. There is only one day we control—and that is today. If you haven’t given your life to Christ, you are playing a dangerous game of chicken.
Tomorrow, we will read Habakkuk.
Footnotes
Stuart, Douglas. Nahum: A Commentary. Hermeneia Series. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2002.
Boda, Mark J., and Michael H. Floyd, eds. The Book of the Twelve: One Scroll, One Story? Atlanta: SBL Press, 2012.
Blackaby, Henry T., Richard Blackaby, and Claude V. King. Experiencing God: Knowing and Doing the Will of God. Nashville: B&H Publishing Group, 2008.
Radner, Ephraim. Time and the Word: Figural Reading of the Christian Scriptures. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2016.
Meyers, Carol. Exodus. New Cambridge Bible Commentary. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005.
Reade, Julian. “Assyrian City Destruction and Archaeological Evidence.” Iraq 66 (2004): 201–215.
Grayson, A. Kirk. Assyrian and Babylonian Chronicles. Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns, 2000.
Kitchen, K.A. On the Reliability of the Old Testament. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2003.