The burden of Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite.
The burden is a prophetic message of doom against Nineveh, revealed by God in vision through Nahum the Elkoshite, whose personal history remains uncertain, concerning the wicked capital of Assyria. It came around 700 B.C., about 150 years after the city was spared through repentance at Jonah's preaching, when at the height of its power it had relapsed into a bloody city full of lies, robbery, cruelty and violence. The book foretells Assyria's overthrow in Nineveh's eternal downfall from being a city, whose visible ruins and uncovered records prove the foretold desolation and the divine origin of prophecy. Its first chapter portrays the second advent and the day of God, with the chariots running like lightning as the sign of the day of preparation that warns the world of the coming judgment and second advent. Nineveh stands as a type of the wickedness of the last days and of the world itself, showing that kingdoms built on injustice fall even at the height of their power, and that as the vengeful day took Nineveh away so the pomp of all modern cities will likewise perish in the final punishment of the ungodly.
Words and Historical Setting
The opening word marks the book as a prophetic message concerning Nineveh, called its burden because it announces its impending doom as a decree of destruction. It is introduced as such a burden among the judgments that follow human wickedness and injustice. It is called a vision because its message was revealed by God to and through Nahum.
Nahum is named as the Elkoshite who received the vision, but his personal history and place of origin are uncertain. Nineveh is the chief subject of the vision directed against her. She was Assyria's wicked capital.
The prophecy came around 700 B.C., about one hundred and fifty years after Nineveh was saved from impending doom when its people repented at the preaching of Jonah. By Nahum's day, at the height of its power, it had relapsed into a very sinful condition and become altogether corrupt. It had become a bloody city all full of lies and robbery, with an empire notorious for cruelty, fraud, and violence.
Fulfilled Prophecy and Second Advent
The book foretells Assyria's overthrow and scattering in three predictions directed against Nineveh, the capital of Assyria. The burden is the decree of her destruction given after she became altogether corrupt following the repentance in Jonah's day, and it was fulfilled when the vengeful day took her away from being a city and gave her an eternal downfall. The ruins of Nineveh now to be seen prove the prophecy was fulfilled, and the later uncovering of records buried in its mounds bears witness to that foretold desolation. That historical condition stands as an example of fulfilled prophecy and evidence for the divine origin of the prophetic Scriptures.
The first chapter portrays the second advent and the day of God. It identifies the event for which the day of preparation described in chapter 2 is appointed. Its description of chariots running like lightning identifies a sign of that day of God's preparation for that event. This preparation precedes the judgment, making it the time for the world to receive warnings about the judgment and the second advent.
The book is a vision concerning Nineveh, an ancient city destroyed thousands of years ago. That ancient history does not by itself settle whether the description of chariots foretells something later such as modern railroad cars. To use the city's past destruction alone to dismiss such an application is a jump to conclusions.
Types and Moral Lessons
The vision concerns Nineveh, Assyria's wicked capital, whose fate is its chief subject, and the burden is the decree of her destruction given after she became altogether corrupt following the repentance in Jonah's day. Prophesied against the city around 700 B.C., it presents Nineveh as a type of later cities and of the wickedness of the last days. Nineveh is a type of the world itself, because she nearly or quite filled the world even as Rome did later. Her fate serves as a type of the final punishment of the ungodly and formal professors.
The burden was fulfilled when the vengeful day took her away from being a city and gave her an eternal downfall, and in the same way the day of vengeance hastens to come upon this world, so that the burden of the prophets today is the destruction of the world. The ruins of Nineveh now to be seen prove the prophecy was fulfilled, making Nineveh a striking object-lesson of fulfilled prophecy alongside Laodicea, Babylon, Tyre, Capernaum, Samaria, Memphis, Rome, Sodom and Gomorrah. As they perished, the pomp of all modern cities will likewise perish and become one with Nineveh and Tyre.
The burden announces the impending doom of Nineveh, named among the judgments that followed human wickedness and injustice. About one hundred and fifty years before, Nineveh was saved from impending doom because its people repented at the preaching of Jonah, but in Nahum's day it had relapsed into a very sinful condition as a bloody city all full of lies and robbery. Though it had once reformed and been spared, it went down into oblivion destroyed on account of its wickedness. This shows the oft-repeated history of nations and individuals retrograding from comparative righteousness and virtue to corruption and vice even after reform.
Nineveh's destruction is the book's central theme. Assyria's empire, notorious for cruelty, fraud, and violence, would be ruined even at the height of its power. Kingdoms built on injustice fall before God's kingdom, founded on truth and righteousness. God governs the world morally.
The burden is a prophetic message of doom against Nineveh, revealed by God in vision through Nahum the Elkoshite, whose personal history remains uncertain, concerning the wicked capital of Assyria. It came around 700 B.C., about 150 years after the city was spared through repentance at Jonah's preaching, when at the height of its power it had relapsed into a bloody city full of lies, robbery, cruelty and violence. The book foretells Assyria's overthrow in Nineveh's eternal downfall from being a city, whose visible ruins and uncovered records prove the foretold desolation and the divine origin of prophecy. Its first chapter portrays the second advent and the day of God, with the chariots running like lightning as the sign of the day of preparation that warns the world of the coming judgment and second advent. Nineveh stands as a type of the wickedness of the last days and of the world itself, showing that kingdoms built on injustice fall even at the height of their power, and that as the vengeful day took Nineveh away so the pomp of all modern cities will likewise perish in the final punishment of the ungodly.
Words and Historical Setting
The opening word marks the book as a prophetic message concerning Nineveh, called its burden because it announces its impending doom as a decree of destruction. It is introduced as such a burden among the judgments that follow human wickedness and injustice. It is called a vision because its message was revealed by God to and through Nahum.
Nahum is named as the Elkoshite who received the vision, but his personal history and place of origin are uncertain. Nineveh is the chief subject of the vision directed against her. She was Assyria's wicked capital.
The prophecy came around 700 B.C., about one hundred and fifty years after Nineveh was saved from impending doom when its people repented at the preaching of Jonah. By Nahum's day, at the height of its power, it had relapsed into a very sinful condition and become altogether corrupt. It had become a bloody city all full of lies and robbery, with an empire notorious for cruelty, fraud, and violence.
Fulfilled Prophecy and Second Advent
The book foretells Assyria's overthrow and scattering in three predictions directed against Nineveh, the capital of Assyria. The burden is the decree of her destruction given after she became altogether corrupt following the repentance in Jonah's day, and it was fulfilled when the vengeful day took her away from being a city and gave her an eternal downfall. The ruins of Nineveh now to be seen prove the prophecy was fulfilled, and the later uncovering of records buried in its mounds bears witness to that foretold desolation. That historical condition stands as an example of fulfilled prophecy and evidence for the divine origin of the prophetic Scriptures.
The first chapter portrays the second advent and the day of God. It identifies the event for which the day of preparation described in chapter 2 is appointed. Its description of chariots running like lightning identifies a sign of that day of God's preparation for that event. This preparation precedes the judgment, making it the time for the world to receive warnings about the judgment and the second advent.
The book is a vision concerning Nineveh, an ancient city destroyed thousands of years ago. That ancient history does not by itself settle whether the description of chariots foretells something later such as modern railroad cars. To use the city's past destruction alone to dismiss such an application is a jump to conclusions.
Types and Moral Lessons
The vision concerns Nineveh, Assyria's wicked capital, whose fate is its chief subject, and the burden is the decree of her destruction given after she became altogether corrupt following the repentance in Jonah's day. Prophesied against the city around 700 B.C., it presents Nineveh as a type of later cities and of the wickedness of the last days. Nineveh is a type of the world itself, because she nearly or quite filled the world even as Rome did later. Her fate serves as a type of the final punishment of the ungodly and formal professors.
The burden was fulfilled when the vengeful day took her away from being a city and gave her an eternal downfall, and in the same way the day of vengeance hastens to come upon this world, so that the burden of the prophets today is the destruction of the world. The ruins of Nineveh now to be seen prove the prophecy was fulfilled, making Nineveh a striking object-lesson of fulfilled prophecy alongside Laodicea, Babylon, Tyre, Capernaum, Samaria, Memphis, Rome, Sodom and Gomorrah. As they perished, the pomp of all modern cities will likewise perish and become one with Nineveh and Tyre.
The burden announces the impending doom of Nineveh, named among the judgments that followed human wickedness and injustice. About one hundred and fifty years before, Nineveh was saved from impending doom because its people repented at the preaching of Jonah, but in Nahum's day it had relapsed into a very sinful condition as a bloody city all full of lies and robbery. Though it had once reformed and been spared, it went down into oblivion destroyed on account of its wickedness. This shows the oft-repeated history of nations and individuals retrograding from comparative righteousness and virtue to corruption and vice even after reform.
Nineveh's destruction is the book's central theme. Assyria's empire, notorious for cruelty, fraud, and violence, would be ruined even at the height of its power. Kingdoms built on injustice fall before God's kingdom, founded on truth and righteousness. God governs the world morally.