WEEKEND JOURNAL # 15

1. WEEKEND JOURNAL #15 • Left Column (must be completely filled): What did you do this weekend? • Right Column (make comments concerning…) Think of when, where and how God was (was not) involved in your weekend? Why was He, or why was He not?

2. Nahum “Comfort/Consolation”

4. The Latter Prophets Prophet Date • Obadiah 840-830 • Joel 830-820 • Jonah c. 760 BC Assyrian Captivity 722 • Amos 758-750 • Hosea 760-710 • Isaiah 740-690 • Micah 735-700 • Nahum 661-612 (II Kgs 21-23) • Zephaniah 630-620 Fall of Nineveh 612 • Habakkuk 607 • Jeremiah 625-585 • Lamentations 585-580 • Ezekiel 593-570 • Daniel 606-530 • Haggai 520-519 • Zechariah 520-480 • Malachi 430-420 Relationship to Babylonian Exile • Pre-Exilic • Exilic • Post-Exilic

5. Background • NAHUM=“comfort” • Hometown = Elkosh (Elkoshite 1:1) • Location = uncertain • Audience • Southern Kingdom/Judah – 100 yrs. after the Assyrian Captivity • Assyria / All the Nations – God doesn’t play favorites/Judgment applies to all nations equally • Time Period • During the reigns of Manasseh, Amon, and Josiah (II Kings 21-23) 661-612 BC est. • Contemporaries • Zephaniah, a young Jeremiah, and possibly Habakkuk • Duration • Unclear – estimate 20 years

6. My Best response Explain the importance of fixing something that is broken.

7. Key Word: Doom Major Themes • Israel and Judah’s Sin • In the Background – Manasseh (The last straw for the southern kingdom) • The Character of God • “Jealous, avenging, and wrathful” (1:2) • “Slow to anger and great in power” (1:3) • Will not leave the guilty unpunished • “Good, a stronghold in the day of trouble” (1:7) • Judgment of Assyria • The capitol of Nineveh destroyed in 612 B.C. • “Bloody city, completely full of lies and pillage” (3:1) • Restoration • 1:15-2:2 – Destruction of Assyria / Deliverance of Jacob

8. Factoids • At this point in history Assyria is at the peak of their world power • They have destroyed Samaria • Scattered the 10 Northern tribes • Nearly taken Judah as well during Hezekiah’s reign (701 B.C.) • A coalition of Babylonians, Medians, and Scythians was formed – Two year siege of Nineveh before the Tigris river overflowed/walls broke down to let in the invading forces • This is a little over 100 years after Jonah preached repentance to Nineveh • Idolatry back in full-force (1:14)

9. “The Great City” • Founder: Nimrod (Gen 10:11) • Population: 600,000 est. • Walls: 8 miles surrounded the inner city • 100 ft high / 3 chariots could ride abreast • Towers 100 ft higher than the walls • Mote: 150 ft wide / 60 ft deep - surrounded the city • Circumference: 60 miles • Strength: Could sustain a 20 year siege

10. Structure • Destruction Decreed (1:1-2:2) • Principles of Judgment/The Lord’s Kindness and Sterness (1:1-8) • Destruction of Nineveh decreed (1:9-14) • Deliverance of Judah (1:15-2:2) • Destruction Described (2:3-13) • Nineveh’s destruction described in detail (2:3-13) • Destruction Deserved (3) • The crimes/sins deserving destruction (3:1-7) • The comparison with No-amon (Thebes) (3:8-11) • The strongholds are weak (3:12-15) • The leaders are weak (3:16-19)

11. Application

12. God does not play favorites! The only way to be delivered from God’s wrath is to be in Christ (1 Thess. 1:10; 5:9)

13. No Fortress of your own construction will ever deter God’s Judgment

14. Don’t Presume upon the Grace of God Nineveh was spared a little over 100 yrs prior to this