The Pulpit Commentary — Nahum — Section 9

~be bad deceh·ed an<l destroyed the nations, Spia, Phamfoie., Philistia, I~fa·cl, ati'.d oven Egypt. 2. The burden. This, which refers to Nahum's oracle conl.-erning Nineveh 1 appropriately <le~cribes: (1) Its mo'metJ.tous character. A burden on tho prophet's soul until it was uttered, it forthwith became a weight of -doom upon the city against which it was pronounced. (2) Its certain fulfilment. Laid upon the bloody city by Jehovah's hand (eh. ii. 13; iii. 5), it would inflict a grievous wouJl,d and cause a bruise for which there should be no healing (eh. iii. 19). • LEssoNs. 1. The argument from prophecy for the inspiration of the Scriptures. 2. The superiority of the Christian dispensation, whose messenger wae not a prophet of .Tehovah, but the Son of God (Heb. i. 1). S. The excellence of the gospel, which con- tains a burden, not of wrath, but of mercy. Vers. 2-6.-The wrath of God--<1, warning. I. NEOEBSABY AS TO ITB EXiSTENOE. Based upon the character of God as a jealous God. Jealous: 1. For his own _qlory, and therefore admitting of no rival claimant to man's worship and homage (Exod. xxxi,. 14; Deut. iv. 24). 2. For his holy Law, and therefore shut up to punish iniquity (Exod. xx. 5; Deut. v. 9; xxix. 20; Josh. xxiv. 19). 3. For his own people, and therefore impelled to take vengeance on their adversaries. II. RmHTEous AS TO ITS CHARACTER. Directed only and always: 1. .Against his adversaries; i.e. against those who decline to do him homage, an:d show this by wor~ shipping idols. 2. .Against those who dishonour his holy Law by their disobedience and unrighteousness. 3. .Again5t those who oppress and tyrannize over his people, as the Assyrians had done and were doing. • III. FURIOUS AS To OPERATION. The wrath of Jehovah is not a trifle. Nahum speaks of it as something that bas fury in it (vers. 2, 6). The prophets generally repr~ sented it as terrible in its forth-flashing against sin and sinners (Deut. xxix. 28 ; 2 Chron. xxviii. 13; Isa. xiii. 9; Jer. :x.xi. 5; Zeph. i. 18; Zech. vii. 12). Christ did not view it as of small moment (Luke xxi: 23; xxii. 22). Reason does not warrant the idea that it will be slight and easy to bear, it being the anger of a great and holy God. iv. SLOW AS TO ll.AlIIFESTATION. It does not spring forth readily. Scripture dis- tinctly testifies that God is slow to anger (ver. 3). 1. Jehovah himself claimed that such was his clvuader, (1) when he spake to the people at Mount Sinai (Exod. x:x, 6); and (2) when be declared bis Name to Moses (Exod. xxxiv. 6). 2. The Bible through- out concedes to him this character. Moses (Numb. xiv. 18), David (Ps. lxxxvi. 15), Jonah (iv. 2), Micah (vii. 18), Nehemiah (ix. 17), alike proclaim it. In the New Testament, Paul (Rom. i.x. 22) and Peter (2 Pet. iii. 9, 15) entertain the same idea. 3. Experience sufficiently confirms the Divine claim and the Scripture representation. The providential treatment of the world, of the antediluvian race, of Israel and Judah, of Nineveh and Babylon, of unbelievers in Christendom and of idolaters in heathendom, -the best evidence that God is not willing that any should perish. • V. CERTAIN AS TO INCTDENCE. 1. H.is character such as to demand tJi,is. "He will by no means clear the guilty." If he did he would contradict the representations of his character, falsify his word, and endanger his government. Hence his long-suffering caunot arise from any secret sympathy which he has with sin, but must spring solely from bis own inherent mercifulness. 2. Bis power sufficient to secure this, If J ebova.h is slow to anger, this proceeds not from any defect in his ability to exepilte wrath upon his adversaries. He is of great power-a truth explicitly set forth in Scripture (Gen. :xviii. 14 ; Exod. xv. 11; Deut. vii. 21 ; Job i.x. 4; Ps. lxxxix. 8, etc,), and amplified and illustrated by Nahum, who depicts that power in a threefold way. (1) By its character as snpernatural. "The Lord hath bis way in the wb_irl~ind and ~n the ~torm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet" (ver. 3). As such 1t 1s mysterious, v10lent, and swift, inscrutable as to origin, immeasurable as to vehemence, incalculable as to velocity. (2) By its effects as irresistible. Nothing can stand before it; not the most uncontrc,llable element in natur1i, the sea, which with its dashing billows and moaning waters is to the human mind a striking emblem of power. "~e rebuketh th~ sea. and maketh it dry, and drieth up all the rivers" (ver. 4)-an alluSJon to the dryrng up of the Red Sea and of the Jordan for the Israelites to pass over (Exod. xiv. 22; Josh. iii. 17). Jehovab's supremacy 01'er the sea a frequent theme with Scripture writers (Job on. 1. 1-15.] THE BOOK OF NAHUM. 7