Nahum 2
Notes
Transcript
God is the scatterer
God is the scatterer
In Chapter two we’re not going to go deep into metaphor and try and parse out the hidden meanings. Nahum is far to straight forward for that now. I think there might be a tad bit of sarcasm here though. Let’s read the first verse.
The scatterer has come up against you.
Man the ramparts;
watch the road;
dress for battle;
collect all your strength.
Nahum knows the outcome of God’s plans here and yet he seems to be giving a warning as if something can be done. I don’t think his intention is a warning at all though. This is a taunt intended to be heard by your allies. Specifically here the peopl of Judah. This whole book although about Nineveh is really to God’s people. In the same way Jonah was really a book to God’s people about God’s sovereignty and responding to his will with the object lesson revolving around Nineveh. Here we revolve around the same subject but it again is still not the point. The point for this chapter is that God is the scatterer and there is no chance for Nineveh/Assyria. This reminds me of a kid taunting his bully knowing his big brother is on the bike right then pedalling feverishly to intercede. “Hey make sure you ate your wheaties this morning, tie your shoelaces, and get your dukes up big bro is here. There’s no intention in the little brother’s words to bolster, warn, or encourage the bully. Nahum likely wanted as badly the destruction and complete end of Ninevah that Jonah did.
We see that compassion played out toward Judah in the next verse.
For the Lord is restoring the majesty of Jacob
as the majesty of Israel,
for plunderers have plundered them
and ruined their branches.
Here is the setup, we’re going to know we’re wrapping up when we reference this verse again. Jacob / Israel are promised many things and being destitute and plundered isn’t really on the blessing list. It’s not like they didn’t deserve it at this point but the punishment from Assyria is going to come to an end. They’ve already been plundered and a lot of their future independant stability has been crippled.
This takes us back to our attentions on the destruction of Ninevah.
The shield of his mighty men is red;
his soldiers are clothed in scarlet.
The chariots come with flashing metal
on the day he musters them;
the cypress spears are brandished.
The chariots race madly through the streets;
they rush to and fro through the squares;
they gleam like torches;
they dart like lightning.
Some scholars try to argue that Nahum was written after the fall of Ninevah because he was so right on the money and no one thought Assyria could be taken out. Apparently the descriptions in this verse perfectly line up with the reality that happened.
Another point to know about the history here is that there was a coallition between the Medes and the Babylonians to get this done. There wasn’t a singular world power behind the army that took out Ninevah yet Nahum references everyone as here his. I contend His is God’s. It was two lesser world powers that came together but it was the will of God that drove the attack that destroyed Ninevah. Knowing this helps to answer the question someone might have about who is this his/he pronoun that just showed up with no reference. It’s the Scatterrer from verse one, the Lord, who is against Nineveh.
He remembers his officers;
they stumble as they go,
they hasten to the wall;
the siege tower is set up.
He again still points to the scaterrer from verse one but the officers stumbling doesn’t sound like a word to hype up what they were doing. I think it’s more like saying “They were tripping over themselves to get to town.” So it’s an indication of the intensity not an indication of failure. There is intensity, speed, and power referenced in this verse.
Verse 6 leaves the lead up and moves into the actual battle. There are other accounts that the river happened to flood during the attack. Of course we know that coincidence isn’t a kosher word so the Lord’s hand was involved here. This is one of the reasons like I mentioned that scholars want to say Nahum was written after the fact.
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