Nahum 1:15

The Bible says in Nahum 1:15, “Behold upon the mountains the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace! O Judah, keep thy solemn feasts, perform thy vows: for the wicked shall no more pass through thee; he is utterly cut off.” A similar statement was made in Isaiah 52:7 that says, “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!” Paul quoted this verse in Romans 10:15 in a great salvation passage. The world needs “good tidings.” There is bad news everywhere, especially from the news media. They tend to pick up the negative stories and ignore the good ones much of the time. Also, many people have a negative outlook on life and tend to view life from a negative standpoint: the half-glass full syndrome. But also many people have had terrible things happen to them in their past, and the bad memories are hard to escape. What is the solution to all the problems of the world and to all the negativism of the world? The best solution is the good tidings from God about Christ. The word gospel means literally “good news.” The good news is that God loves you, Jesus died for you, all your sins can be forgiven through faith in Jesus, and you can live forever in heaven. The news does not get any better than that, but there is even more good news after you accept Christ as your Savior. All of the promises of the Bible become yours. Just to name a few: God promises to answer your prayers. He promises to always be with you. He promises to comfort you, to guide you, and to protect you. Jesus promises to strengthen you, fight your battles, and make something good out of you for a good purpose. There are as many promises as there are pages in the Bible. O what good news this is. If you are a preacher or a teacher, make sure that you bring good news about the good things of Christ. Do not speak against the bad things of the world so much. Don’t make that mistake. God has called believers to bring “good” tidings to the world.

Nahum 1:15 speaks about the believer who “bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace.” One of the most important results of the gospel of Christ is “peace.” One of the problems of the world is that there is no peace. One war is always followed by another one: always. People sue each other at the law. Families are split apart. Fellow-citizens are divided over their political disputes. And then there is the internal turmoil of a heart that has guilt or regret or confusion or anger or fear. It says in Jeremiah 6:14, “They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.” This fact of human life is made even more clear in Isaiah 57:21, “There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.” The most important kind of peace to have is peace with God. People are at enmity with God when they resist Him or refuse Him. It says in Romans 5:1, “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Jesus is the Prince of Peace. Whatever peace you need, He can give it. The most important peace is peace with God when you know that your sins are forgiven and that you are rightly related to Christ.

Another type of peace that Jesus will bring one day is world peace, but that will not happen until the return of Christ after the battle of Armageddon. Until that time comes, nations must be prepared for whatever enemies will come against them, and they will come. Jesus warned in Matthew 24:6-7, “And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.[7] For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.” It says in Nahum 2:1, “He that dasheth in pieces is come up before thy face: keep the munition, watch the way, make thy loins strong, fortify thy power mightily.” It will take much preparation and a great effort to be able to fight the enemies who will surely come against you. Your leader being “nice” to the evil people of the world will not change this fact of life on this planet. Of course, there is a much more important war going on: the spiritual war that every soul is involved in or not. Some have already been captured by the evil one, and their soul is lost in darkness. Christians are every day involved in a spiritual warfare that is described very clearly in Ephesians 6:10-18. It says in Ephesians 6:10-13, “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.[11] Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.[12] For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.[13] Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.”

The Bible says in Nahum 2:2-8, “For the LORD hath turned away the excellency of Jacob, as the excellency of Israel: for the emptiers have emptied them out, and marred their vine branches.[3] The shield of his mighty men is made red, the valiant men are in scarlet: the chariots shall be with flaming torches in the day of his preparation, and the fir trees shall be terribly shaken.[4] 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.[5] He shall recount his worthies: they shall stumble in their walk; they shall make haste to the wall thereof, and the defence shall be prepared.[6] The gates of the rivers shall be opened, and the palace shall be dissolved.[7] And Huzzab shall be led away captive, she shall be brought up, and her maids shall lead her as with the voice of doves, tabering upon their breasts.[8] But Nineveh is of old like a pool of water: yet they shall flee away. Stand, stand, shall they cry; but none shall look back.” Notice that Jacob and Israel are mentioned in verse 2. Nahum appears to go back and forth in his book between the judgments that fall on Israel and the judgments that will fall on the city of Nineveh. That is consistent with the other prophets. Israel is made up of God’s people who have chosen to go away from the Lord, and of course they had to be judged for such great sins. But the other nations of the earth will also be judged for not coming to the Lord in the first place. The Great Tribulation is a seven year period that will come upon the whole earth in the last days, but the focus will be on Israel and the events that will happen around Israel. That is why the Great Tribulation is also called the Time of Jacob’s Trouble in Jeremiah 30:7, “Alas! For that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.” The word “Huzzab” in Nahum 2:7 is found only in this verse in the Bible. It either refers to a ruler in Nineveh or to Nineveh itself; but the message is that no matter how well-established Nineveh seems to be, it will be totally destroyed. Notice the words of destruction that are used in this passage: “the chariots shall rage,” “they shall stumble,” “the palace shall be dissolved,” “led away captive,” and “none shall look back.” Perhaps the last phrase is a reference to what happened at Sodom and Gomorrah, and we know how thorough that destruction was.

Talking about the destruction that would come on the city of Nineveh, the Bible says in Nahum 2:9-10, “Take ye the spoil of silver, take the spoil of gold: for there is none end of the store and glory out of all the pleasant furniture.[10] She is empty, and void, and waste: and the heart melteth, and the knees smite together, and much pain is in all loins, and the faces of them all gather blackness.” Of course, one of the things that non-spiritual people rely on when they do not rely on the Lord is money. And so God says that these people of Nineveh would lose their money. The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away that which He hath giveth. The people of Nineveh lost things that were more important than money. It says in verse 10, “the heart melteth, and the knees smite together.” That means they lost their courage and were overcome by fear. The bravest people in the world are the ones who have the most faith in God. Paul said in Philippines 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheth me.” There is no fear in such a statement, nor in those who live by it. But those who do not believe in Jesus, by the very act of running away from their own sins and running away from God, are giving in to fear already, and the path they have taken will lead to only more fear.

Continuing on the subject of the fear that would come upon the inhabitants of Nineveh, the Bible says in Nahum 2:11-13, “Where is the dwelling of the lions, and the feedingplace of the young lions, where the lion, even the old lion, walked, and the lion's whelp, and none made them afraid?[12] The lion did tear in pieces enough for his whelps, and strangled for his lionesses, and filled his holes with prey, and his dens with ravin.[13] Behold, I am against thee, saith the LORD of hosts, and I will burn her chariots in the smoke, and the sword shall devour thy young lions: and I will cut off thy prey from the earth, and the voice of thy messengers shall no more be heard.” The courage and the strength of lions is what the people of Nineveh could have had. But because they turned away from the Lord, they lost all that. A lion is called the king of the jungle because it is at the top of the food chain. Any other animal can be conquered and killed and devoured by a lion. A human being who is rightly related to God through Christ can be the strongest of all people. Unbelievers are weak because they do not have God’s help in the way that believers do. It says in Ephesians 6:10, “Be strong in the Lord,” because we can be strong in Him. Paul said, “I can do all things through Christ who strengtheneth me.” Can you imagine how weak someone would be if God decided to withdraw strength and courage from them? That is what happened to the people of Nineveh once God’s day of decision upon them came to pass. God said these fearful words to them in Nahum 2:13, “I am against thee.”

Continuing to talk about the judgment that would come upon the nation of Assyria and its capital city of Nineveh, the Bible says in Nahum 3:1-6, “Woe to the bloody city! it is all full of lies and robbery; the prey departeth not;[2] The noise of a whip, and the noise of the rattling of the wheels, and of the pransing horses, and of the jumping chariots.[3] The horseman lifteth up both the bright sword and the glittering spear: and there is a multitude of slain, and a great number of carcases; and there is none end of their corpses; they stumble upon their corpses:[4] Because of the multitude of the whoredoms of the wellfavoured harlot, the mistress of witchcrafts, that selleth nations through her whoredoms, and families through her witchcrafts.[5] Behold, I am against thee, saith the LORD of hosts; and I will discover thy skirts upon thy face, and I will shew the nations thy nakedness, and the kingdoms thy shame.[6] And I will cast abominable filth upon thee, and make thee vile, and will set thee as a gazingstock.” In this judgment that is pronounced in this passage, it is interesting to notice the parallel between what Nineveh had become, and what Babylon, the kingdom of the antichrist, will be in the last days. Nahum 3:4 speaks of “whoredoms,” “harlots,” “witchcrafts,” and nations that are corrupted by Nineveh, the dominate city of the Middle East in the days of Nahum. Compare those words to what is said about Babylon in Revelation 17:3-6, “So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.[4] And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:[5] And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.[6] And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.” False religion is compared to whoredom because human beings ought to have a relationship with the Lord that can be compared to a type of spiritual marriage or spiritual union. It also shows how much God is displeased by false religion. He offers the whole world forgiveness of sins through Jesus Christ, so those who reject Jesus face a terrible destiny. False religion united with government in the days of Nineveh and its judgment eventually had to come. The same kinds of godless human forces are always at work, attempting to build godless human governments and societies. These forces will be very successful for a very short time in the last days. But judgment will come swiftly. It says in Nahum 3:5-6, “Behold, I am against thee, saith the LORD of hosts; and I will discover thy skirts upon thy face, and I will shew the nations thy nakedness, and the kingdoms thy shame.[6] And I will cast abominable filth upon thee, and make thee vile, and will set thee as a gazingstock.” Turn to Jesus while you have time, before the judgment comes.

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