Fleeing to Christ for Refuge - Nahum 1-3

“The burden against Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite.” Nahum 1:1

The exact location of Elkosh is unknown and debated according to various sources. The obscurity of the Prophet Nahum’s hometown has a message for us. No one need come from one of the world’s most respected locations to be chosen by God. Elkosh was likely a small town in Galilee around Capernaum. Nahum means “comfort” in Hebrew. Capernaum means “village of comfort” or “village of Nahum.”

The Lord gave this “burden” to Nahum via a vision. The Lord refers to prophecies that bring sorrow or grief as burdens. Lamentations 3:33 says that God “does not afflict willingly, nor grieve the children of men.” Rendering severe consequences for sin is burdensome to God.

150 years prior to this burden, the Lord sent Jonah to warn the Ninevites to repent. They did repent with fasting and wearing of sackcloth. Thus, God could justly forgive them and not issue harsh consequences against them. But now, they were behaving very abusively one again.

“God is jealous, and the Lord avenges. The Lord avenges and is furious. The Lord will take vengeance on His adversaries. He reserves wrath for His enemies. The Lord is slow to anger and great in power and will not at all acquit the wicked. The Lord has His way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of His feet. He rebukes the sea and makes it dry and dries up all the rivers. Bashan and Carmel wither, and the flower of Lebanon wilts. The mountains quake before Him, the hills melt, and the earth heaves at His presence, yes, the world and all who dwell in it. Who can stand before His indignation? And who can endure the fierceness of His anger? His fury is poured out like fire, and the rocks are thrown down by Him.” Nahum 1:2-6

God’s jealousy and vengeance are rooted in love. He deals with covenant breakers. In 2 Corinthians 11:2, Paul wrote of the love of God in his heart for his fellow Christians, “For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. For I betrothed you to one husband, so that to Christ I might present you as a pure virgin.” In other words, God is jealous of our affections. He knows if we are truly committed to our relationship with Him, or if another “lover” means more to us than Him. In Matthew 22:36-40, according to Jesus, the first and great commandment is to love God. How is that we forget that? The second great commandment is to love people.

God is patient and longsuffering with us, but ultimately, He is a just Judge. He must judge sin in accordance with His law recorded in the Bible. Law breaking (sin) must be atoned for by blood to avoid the law’s penalties. Hebrews 9:22 says, “Without the shedding of blood there is no remission.”

In the Old Testament, God required animal sacrifices to atone for sin. These sacrifices had to be done repeatedly. Hebrews 7:27 and 1 Peter 3:18 verify that the atoning sacrifice of Christ on the cross for humanity’s sin was a single, complete, and sufficient act that dealt with sin once and for all. 1 Peter 3:18 says “For Christ suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God.” Hebrews 6:18 confirms that those who have fled to Christ for refuge and who have placed their hope in Christ have a sure and steadfast anchor for their soul.

In Nahum 1:3-6, God is coming to Ninevah the capital of the Assyrian Empire as a whirlwind (tornado) with intense heat that dries up water sources. Flowers shall wilt. Mountains shall quake. Fires shall breakout. Rocks shall be dislodged from their secure places. Nahum asks the Ninevites, “Who can stand before His indignation? And who can endure His fierce anger?”

“The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble. He knows those who trust in Him. But with an overflowing flood He will make an utter end of its place, and darkness will pursue His enemies.” Nahum 1:7-8

Who is wise? Let him or her flee to the Lord for refuge. Trust in the Lord! 1 Peter 5:10 says, “The God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.” The God of all grace comes through for those who trust in Him. Hold onto Jesus! When the storm is over, you will be alright.

“What do you conspire against the Lord? He will make an utter end of it. Affliction will not rise up a second time. For while tangled like thorns, and while drunken like drunkards, they shall be devoured like stubble fully dried. From you comes forth one who plots evil against the Lord, a wicked counselor.” Nahum 1:9-11

In Matthew 25:45-46, Jesus said, “Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ In this passage, these people did not care for the hungry, the thirsty, the foreigner, the naked, the sick or the prisoner among them. The Lord took their calloused hearts towards the suffering of others personally. Of them, He said, “And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

In Nahum, the Lord issued severe judgments on the Ninevites for their violence. In Matthew, the Lord issued severe judgments on those who had no concern for the suffering of others.

“Thus says the Lord: though they are safe, and likewise many, yet in this manner they will be cut down when he passes through. Though I have afflicted you, I will afflict you no more; for now I will break off his yoke from you and burst your bonds apart.” Nahum 1:12-13

Proverbs 11:21 says, “Though hand join in hand, the wicked shall not be unpunished: but the seed of the righteous shall be delivered.” The Ninevites were many. The Israelites were few. But God assured Israel that He would deliver them from Ninevah’s afflictions, yokes and bonds.

“The Lord has given a command concerning you: “Your name shall be perpetuated no longer. Out of the house of your gods I will cut off the carved image and the molded image. I will dig your grave, for you are vile.” Nahum 1:14

The Ninevites were proud to be Ninevites, but the Lord was going to reduce respect for their name. He was going to cut down that which they idolized. He would bring them to the grave.

“Behold, on the mountains the feet of him who brings good tidings, who proclaims peace! O Judah, keep your appointed feasts, perform your vows. For the wicked one shall no more pass through you; he is utterly cut off.” Nahum 1:15

The Lord encourages His people in the land of Judah to hold on. Help is on the way. They should keep their feasts and vows to the Lord. In 2 Kings 19, God sent one angel to deliver Judah’s capital city of Jerusalem from Ninevah’s mighty army. King Hezekiah of Judah and the Prophet Isaiah had fled to the Lord for refuge. They prayed to God. God answered their prayer by sending one angel. That single angel slew 185,000 enemy soldiers. And after that, when the King of Assyria was back in Ninevah worshipping his false god, his sons slew him.

“He who scatters has come up before your face. Man the fort! Watch the road! Strengthen your flanks! Fortify your power mightily. For the Lord will restore the excellence of Jacob like the excellence of Israel, for the emptiers have emptied them out and ruined their vine branches.” Nahum 2:1-2

Nahum urges the Ninevites to prepare for an invasion. God allowed the Ninevites to chastise Jacob (Judah) and Israel (the ten tribes) for a season, but now, it is Ninevah’s turn. Soon, Babylon shall attack and defeat them.

“The shields of his mighty men are made red the valiant men are in scarlet. The chariots come with flaming torches in the day of his preparation, and the spears are brandished. The chariots rage in the streets. They jostle one another in the broad roads. They seem like torches. They run like lightning. He remembers his nobles. They stumble in their walk. They make haste to her walls, and the defense is prepared. The gates of the rivers are opened, and the palace is dissolved. It is decreed: she shall be led away captive. She shall be brought up, and her maidservants shall lead her as with the voice of doves, beating their breasts.” Nahum 2:3-7

Calvin wrote that the Medo-Babylonian soldiers dyed their bull’s-hide shields red to strike terror in the enemy, and to camouflage blood stains from their wounds on those shields. The Assyrians needed to prepare for war with Medo-Babylonian army.

“Though Nineveh of old was like a pool of water, now they flee away. ‘Halt! Halt!’ they cry, but no one turns back. Take spoil of silver! Take spoil of gold! There is no end of treasure, or wealth of every desirable prize. She is empty, desolate, and waste! The heart melts, and the knees shake. Much pain is in every side, and all their faces are drained of color.” Nahum 2:8-10

Ninevah’s silver, gold, treasures, wealth and all their desirable prizes shall vanish like water during a drought. The invading army will take away the idols that they built their lives upon..

“Where is the dwelling of the lions, and the feeding place of the young lions, where the lion walked, the lioness and lion’s cub, and no one made them afraid? The lion tore in pieces enough for his cubs, killed for his lionesses, filled his caves with prey, and his dens with flesh. Behold, I am against you, says the Lord of hosts, 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 be heard no more.” Nahum 2:11-12

The metaphor God uses to describe the Ninevites is of a pride of lions. They teamed up as lions do to hunt, capture, and consume prey. They literally ate good people for lunch. The Lord told them, ”Behold, I am against you.” “Nineveh enjoyed its status as a power-center of the world and gloried in the fact that the voice of her messengers commanded attention in palaces all over the world. That day would come to an end under the judgment of God.” [1]

“Woe to the bloody city! It is all full of lies and robbery. Its victim never departs. The noise of a whip and the noise of rattling wheels, of galloping horses, of clattering chariots! Horsemen charge with bright sword and glittering spear. There is a multitude of slain, a great number of bodies, countless corpses—they stumble over the corpses—because of the multitude of harlotries of the seductive harlot, the mistress of sorceries, who sells nations through her harlotries, and families through her sorceries.” Nahum 3:1-4

Ninevah’s fall is symbolic of what happens to all evil empires. In Revelation 17:1-2, an angel showed John the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters, with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication.” Revelation 18:23 says of this empire, “By your sorcery all the nations were deceived.” God characterizes idolatrous empires as harlots and sorceresses. These evil empires have expiration dates while God’s kingdom lasts forever.

“Behold, I am against you, says the Lord of hosts. I will lift your skirts over your face. I will show the nations your nakedness, and the kingdoms your shame. I will cast abominable filth upon you, make you vile, and make you a spectacle. It shall come to pass that all who look upon you will flee from you, and say, ‘Nineveh is laid waste! Who will bemoan her?’ Where shall I seek comforters for you?” Nahum 3:5-7

In Luke 8:17, Jesus said, “Nothing is secret that will not be revealed, nor anything hidden that will not be known and come to light.” Skirts over the face and nakedness speak of having one’s sin exposed to everyone. Ninevah’s pride was gross in the spiritual realm and in due season it would appear vile in the physical realm. People would flee from them.

“Are you better than No Amon that was situated by the River, that had the waters around her, whose rampart was the sea, whose wall was the sea? Ethiopia and Egypt were her strength, and it was boundless; Put and Lubim were your helpers. Yet she was carried away. She went into captivity. Her young children also were dashed to pieces at the head of every street. They cast lots for her honorable men, and all her great men were bound in chains.” Nahum 3:8-10

No-Amon is the Egyptian name for Thebes in Upper Egypt. Amon was the Egyptian version of the Greek god Jupiter. It was especially worshipped there. The Egyptian inscriptions call the god Amon-re, that is, Amon the Sun. He is represented as a human figure with a ram’s head. The blow inflicted on No-Amon described in Nahum 3:8-10 was probably by the Assyria. As Thebes was defeated by Assyria, so Assyrian Nineveh shall be defeated by Babylon. [JFBC]

“You also will be drunk. You will be hidden. You also will seek refuge from the enemy. All your strongholds are fig trees with ripened figs. If they are shaken, they fall into the mouth of the eater. Surely, your people in your midst are women! The gates of your land are wide open for your enemies. Fire shall devour the bars of your gates.” Nahum 3:11-13

They shall drink the cup of God’s wrath. The Lord uses the metaphor of ripe figs falling off of fig tree to describe how Ninevah’s enemies will shake them and swallow up their produce. Their soldiers will be like women. Women were not trained for war. Ninevah’s army would be ill-prepared to fight the Babylonians. Their city would be destroyed by fire.

“Draw your water for the siege! Fortify your strongholds! Go into the clay and tread the mortar! Make strong the brick kiln! There the fire will devour you, the sword will cut you off. It will eat you up like a locust. Make yourself many—like the locust! Make yourself many—like the swarming locusts! You have multiplied your merchants more than the stars of heaven. The locust plunders and flies away. Your commanders are like swarming locusts, and your generals like great grasshoppers, which camp in the hedges on a cold day. When the sun rises they flee away, and the place where they are is not known. Your shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria. Your nobles rest in the dust. Your people are scattered on the mountains, and no one gathers them. Your injury has no healing your wound is severe. All who hear news of you will clap their hands over you, for upon whom has not your wickedness passed continually?” Nahum 3:14-19

The Lord urges the Assyrians to prepare for battle. Preserve water! Make bricks to fortify the walls! Multiply your soldiers until they are like a massive swarm of locusts. But guess what? Your soldiers will flee in the day of battle and not be found. The King of Assyria’s shepherds will be asleep while on duty. His nobles will rest in the dust – die. The city’s people shall flee to the mountains for refuge. Their wound shall be incurable. News of Ninevah’s downfall will be good news to their neighbors.

Nahum’s prophecy is not good news for Ninevah. Usually, preachers try to end their messages on a positive note. Not so with Nahum. He left his readers thinking about sin and its unwanted consequences. We can choose sin, but we cannot choose sin’s consequences. I trust that some people in Ninevah took Nahum’s message from God to heart and repented. Otherwise, why would God have taken the time to write to them?

“Heavenly Father, please forgive us for failing to love You and people as we should. We place all our failures under the atoning blood of Your Son Jesus Christ for You forgiveness. Holy Spirit please fill us with love for God and people. We rely on You, not ourselves. In Jesus’ Name, I pray. Amen.”


[1] Enduring Word Commentary
[JFBC] – Jamieson Fausset Brown Commentary