Through the Bible takes listeners on a journey back in time to learn from the prophetic words of Nahum. With guidance from Dr. McGee, this episode uncovers the deeper meanings behind Nahum’s dire warnings to Nineveh and highlights how they serve as cautionary tales for our modern world. Nahum’s narrative challenges us to examine the spiritual and moral decline that can arise when nations fail to uphold their commitment to divine principles. Explore how historical cycles of faith and apathy resonate with the current global landscape, and consider the importance of genuine repentance and commitment to God. Along with
The foundation, ye saints of the Lord, is laid for your faith.
SPEAKER 02 :
When reading the Bible, a good rule to keep in mind is, not all of it is to us, but no matter where you turn in the Word of God, it is all for us. You know, those are wise words from our teacher, Dr. J. Vernon McGee, as we begin our study on Through the Bible. Welcome. I’m your host, Steve Schwetz, and I’m so glad that you’re here as the Bible bus steers back to the Old Testament and the little book of Nahum. And while Nahum may have lived a long time ago, Dr. McGee shows us his message is relevant for us today. Before we jump into Chapter 1, though, let’s listen to Dr. McGee’s introduction.
SPEAKER 01 :
The news media played it up for all it was worth. Orwell predicted in 1948 that man would become captive to an electronic system headed up by a world dictator who was labeled, Big Brother is watching you. And of course, he took 1948 and turned 48 around and made it the year 84. And that is the reason he picked that year. It could have been any other year, of course. Now, publicity writers have marveled that Orwell almost pictured the present hour and that all systems indicated that we were moving toward a world dictator who would use the electronic system to accomplish his purpose and to come into power. Now, the word of God has predicted for over 2,000 years that there’s coming a world dictator who is labeled Antichrist. And some of us have preached about his coming without very little impression being made. In fact, some of us have made no impact as much as Orwell has made. Well, Orwell didn’t quite hit it. But the Word of God has. And I’ve said repeatedly in my ministry that the day is coming when there will be one button that will control the future of the world. And the man who gets to that button and sits at a desk where that button is, he will be the Antichrist. He’ll be the one that’ll rule the world. He is the coming world dictator. And he is the big brother who’s watching you. We’re coming to a little book now that contains a prophecy about a city, a nation, and a civilization that God predicted would be destroyed. The prophecy was fulfilled in 100 years after it was given. The world knows nothing about it. That is this little book. It’s the little book of Nahum. And the church has ignored it. Preachers have neglected it. And that little book is the book of Nahum. But Christians treat it as if it were ho-hum and not nay-hum. We’re now going to begin a study of this little book. It’s going to be very difficult for those of us that have been weaned on the mother’s milk of love today to come to any type of reconciliation of believing that a God of love would judge a nation aren’t judge of people. But the Word of God does teach that. And there’s something very interesting about these little prophecies, little in size, in the Old Testament, but they’re all important. They reveal that God loves even in judgment, and that sometimes judgment is an act of love on the part of God. That is something I’m sure that a great many of us are not prepared for today to accept.
SPEAKER 02 :
If you haven’t yet gotten your free copy of Dr. McGee’s notes and outlines for NAM, you’ll find them in our app or download them anytime when you visit ttb.org. Just look for our digital book, Briefing the Bible. If you prefer to have an abridged paperback copy sent to you by mail, well, we got you covered. Just call 1-800-65-BIBLE or email us at biblebus at ttb.org or write to us at Box 7100, Pasadena, California, 91109. Canadian listeners can write to Box 25325, London, Ontario, N6C 6B1. Let’s pray together and ask the Lord for understanding as we open his word. Heavenly Father, would you speak to our hearts through this study in Nahum? We’re all prone to wander from you, Lord. Help us to heed this warning and the invitation to come back. We’re listening. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen. Now here’s our study of Nahum on Through the Bible with Dr. J. Vernon McGee.
SPEAKER 01 :
Now, friends, I can’t say when we come to the book of Nahum, as some folk now are kidding me about it, that every book I come to in every chapter, I say it’s the greatest. Well, very candidly, I have to say that the little book of Nahum is not the greatest book in the Bible. But it’s a great book, and it’s in the Word of God for a very definite purpose. And I dare say that very few of you have ever heard a sermon from the little book of Nahum. I recognize that these that deal in wild utterances, prophecy mongers as well. Sir Robert Anderson called them, used this to try to say that Nahum prophesied of the automobile when in the second chapter the chariots shall rage in the streets. Well, may I say that we’ll see that when we come to it, that it has no reference to the automobile at all. But now what we do have in the little book of Nahum is a remarkable prophecy. And it seems very much out of date. To begin with, we know so little about Nahum. And then the thing he prophesies, he has just one theme, and that is the judgment of Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrian Empire. And that’s all that his prophecy is about. Now, how could that be meaningful to us today? How could that fit into our common and contemporary culture? Would it have a message for us? Well, the remarkable thing about the Word of God is that no matter where you turn in the Word of God, it’s for us. Now, some is to us, but all of it is for us. That is, it has a message for us. So today, I want us, first of all, to get acquainted with Nahum the best that we can. And we can know something about him, by the way. Now, his name means comforter. The message that he gives us, one, a judgment. And you probably will immediately say, how in the world can Nahum live up to his name? How can he be a comforter? Well, it’s owing to how you look at the judgments. If it’s a judgment of your enemies, one that you’re afraid of, one that dominates you, then may I say it can be a comfort to you. But his name means that just the same, Comforter. Now, he’s identified here in verse 1, and I probably will just read that verse today. The burden of Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum, the Elkoshite. Now, all that we’re told about him here is that we have a burden of Nineveh. And the burden, as we’ve seen before, we had that in Isaiah, means judgment. It’s the judgment of Nineveh. And then it’s the vision of Nahum. And he’s called an Elkoshite. Now, what do we know then about him? He’s identified as an Elkishite. And the next question is, who’s an Elkishite? Well, we know very little about the writer. Elkish was a city in Assyria, a few miles north of the ruins of Nineveh. Nahum could well have lived there and prophesied to Nineveh as Daniel did to Babylon later on. But very candidly, I don’t think that is the thing that is true. And I think the content of the book reveals that he did not go to Nineveh. I don’t think that he was there. He was never called to go there. Then another explanation that’s offered is that there was a village by the name of Elkosh in Galilee. And Jerome recorded that a guide pointed out to him such a village as the birthplace of Nahum. And I’ve had that pointed out to me also when I was over there. But actually, the first time it was ever pointed out was a thousand years after Nahum lived. So that actually, that is largely traditional. Now, Dr. John Davis gives the meaning for Capernaum as the village of Nahum, Capernaum. Now, if Capernaum is a Hebrew word, then this is the evident origin, and we have no reason to believe otherwise. So this was the village of Nahum. He was either born there or he lived there as a boy. But also down in Judah, there was a place called Elkosh. It seems to have been a familiar place. You know, we have certain places in this country that you’ll find one of them practically in every state, the same name. It will be a name that you have in California, you have it in Texas, you have it maybe up in Connecticut. And so evidently, Elkosh was a common name. And there was this village down in Judah. Now, it is the belief of a great many that what actually then happened was that he was probably born up in the northern kingdom, up in Israel. And that probably explains his great attachment for the northern kingdom. but that he moved down to Elkosh, a place that is actually in the south of Judah. And he probably went down there as a lad, and he was raised in the southern kingdom. So that the man who wrote this evidently knew something about Sennacherib’s attack upon Jerusalem, because it seems to be an eyewitness account. And we’re going to see that even here in this first chapter, when Sennacherib King of Assyria invaded Judah during the reign of Hezekiah. Probably Nahum was an eyewitness at that time. And that would mean that Nahum would be a… contemporary of both Isaiah and Micah. And it’s a belief of some that that is accurate. I personally have not decided on any definite date at all. I have given this in my notes that many of you have, and I’m reading now. Dates are given anywhere from 720 to 636 B.C. by conservative scholars. It seems reasonable to locate him about 100 years after Jonah. And about 100 years before the destruction of Nineveh, about 606 BC, he probably lived during the reign of Hezekiah. And he saw the destruction of the northern kingdom of Israel. And he was greatly moved by that, of course. And so the theme of his message is the judgment of Nineveh. And that’s all that it’s about, by the way. Now, this man, he sounds the death knell of Nineveh, and he pronounces judgment by the total destruction on Assyria, Nineveh being the capital. Now, the thing that Nahum is going to maintain is that God was just in doing this. Now, you will recall that Jonah went to Nineveh with a message. And that was about 100 to 150 years before Nahum appeared on the scene. And actually, I like to look at the little book of Jonah and the little book of Nahum together. But the only thing is, when you’re going through the Bible as we are, you’ve got Micah that comes between here. And since that is the way that it is arranged, we follow that arrangement. But I’d like to look at them together. Now, God told this man Jonah to go to Nineveh and to bring a message there. And a remarkable thing happened as we saw the entire city turn to God 100%. And frankly, there’s been nothing quite like that in the history of the world. We just don’t seem to have anything that could compare to that at all. That an entire city, 100%, turned to God. And how far-reaching it was in the nation, I don’t know. But certainly, the capital city had a tremendous effect upon the nation. And there was a great turning to God in that day. Now, the question would naturally arise, How did it work out? Did it last? Did this nation become a godly nation? And the answer is no, they didn’t. In time, the revival wore off. In time, they went back to their paganism. In time, they became as brutal as they were before. Now, this nation has had a message from God. Now, here comes along Nahum with a message. Now, why doesn’t he go to Nineveh? And I don’t think that he went to Nineveh at all. I believe that this man stayed in the southern kingdom. I don’t think he left there. Now, if God sent Jonah, why did he not send Nahum? Well, God’s methods vary, friends. God is certainly immutable. He never changes. But he does change his methods at times. Now, he sent this man Jonah because here’s a great wicked city, but they were totally ignorant of God. And when the message was brought, the city turned to God all the way from the king on the throne to the peasant in the hovel. And as a result, God spared the city. Now, 100 to 150 years has gone by. And the city has relapsed and returned back to its old way. And why doesn’t Nahum go? Well, because now they’ve already had the light and they’ve rejected the light. And when light is rejected, it becomes what the Lord Jesus said. And it’s this, if the light in you be darkness, how great is that darkness? Now, how can light be darkness in anyone? Well, light that is darkness is to refuse to accept the Word of God. There are more Bibles in this country than any other book. No book can touch it as far as the publishing of the Bible is concerned. Here is a nation that’s had light. But what is the net result? If the light in you be darkness, how great is that darkness? Now, this nation had had light. God had sent a message to them. And for a while, they turned and served the living and true God. It was a revival in the general sense of the term. And it was wonderful, but it didn’t last. Now, isn’t that really the history of revivals? France had a revolution. At that same time, why, England had a revival under the Wesleys and Whitfield, a great turning to God. But how did England make out? Well, go look at England today. At that time, they were a first-rate nation. They were number one as the great nations of the world. But they’re not number one today, and they’re not even number two. They’re not even number three. They’re way down the list today. What happened? Well, they departed from the living and true God. And actually, the guide, the first time I was in England, I asked to be taken to the cemetery across from Wesley’s church and where Wesley is buried at his church and where he was born. And the guide had difficulty. He and the driver talked it over, and they finally wound their way around through the streets in London. I don’t know where all they went, but Finally, we arrived at the place. They’d looked on the map, the city map, and they brought us. And the guide said to me, this is the first time I’ve ever brought anyone here. And he says, I think that we’ll put it on our route. And when we take tours, we’ll bring them here. He said, I didn’t know it was here. They’ve forgotten John Wesley. They’ve forgotten the great revival that was under him. And as a result, England is sunk down to, I would say, a very low level today and a nation that has had such a tremendous history in the past. It actually makes you weep, those of us that have a background that takes our ancestors They’re somewhere in the British Isles, whether it be England or Wales or Scotland or Ireland. Why, you just have to bow your head today in shame and feel like weeping when you think of the greatness of this nation and how at one time they listened to the voice of God. Well, now Nineveh is no longer listening. Nahum says, I’m not going over. I’m not going to waste my time going over. No point in it. They have passed the place of no return. Now, the question arises, as this nation that you and I live in today, has it come to that? This little book has a message for us, friends. It was years ago. that a United States senator, and I’m not able to tell you who it is, but I have the clipping here, and I’m going to read the clipping to you because this comes from a senator. When they say anything that’s godly, I always listen to it. And I don’t have to listen very often, by the way. Now, will you listen to this? A United States senator has stated that the average life of the great civilizations of the world has been about 200 years. He goes on to say that these civilizations have progressed, if that’s the right word, through the following stages. Now, will you listen to this? From bondage to spiritual faith. From spiritual faith to courage. From courage to liberty. From liberty to abundance. From abundance to selfishness. From selfishness to complacency. From complacency to apathy. From apathy back to bondage. Which of the above stages do you think we’re in? How much longer is our civilization going to last? Now, since he made that statement, we are now after our 200th anniversary. Now, think of that for just a moment, the average life of a nation. Now, where are we today? Are we a nation of abundance? Well, that’s true. However, the Lord’s beginning to cut us short from abundance to selfishness and selfishness to complacency. Is that a picture of us today? And from complacency to apathy. Is that the apathetic condition of the nation today? Well, the next step, according to the senators, from apathy back to bondage. That is the picture that is given here. And that is the message of Nahum, a great world power of Syria. Nineveh, the capital, had a message from God. turned to God and served God over a period. How long, I don’t know. But after 100 to 150 years went by, they’re right back where they were before. Now God’s going to judge them. And since God’s going to judge them, the question arises, is he right in doing it? And we’re going to find out that he’s not only right in doing it, But he’s good when he does it. And you have here in the first eight verses of this first chapter of Nahum, the justice and the goodness of God. We’re going to talk about that next time because the justice and goodness of God is demonstrated in his decision to destroy Nineveh. And also to send a message out to the rest of the world. And that message is the gospel that’s going out to the rest of the world today. And God still moves in the life of nations today. And this little book of Nahum, you may think it’s a ho-hum book. That it’s a pretty boring book, but it’s just speaking right in where we are today. And it’s speaking right in actually where the rubber meets the road. And we’re running out of rubber too, by the way. So until next time, may God richly bless you, my beloved.
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, Nahum is anything but out of date. To share this message with a friend or listen again or catch up on any of the programs you may have missed, download our app or visit ttb.org. And while you’re there, be sure to check out the many Bible study resources available, like Dr. McGee’s booklet, God So Loved. It’s based on John 3.16. This foundational teaching is really perfect for those who want to go further in their study of this pivotal verse, and the clear gospel presentation also makes it perfect to give to someone who doesn’t yet know the Lord. Feel free to download it or share it with anyone you like. God So Loved. It’s just one of the more than 100 of Dr. McGee’s booklet downloads available at ttb.org, so visit us and check them out yourself. And if we can help you locate anything that you’re looking for, just call us, 1-800-65-BIBLE. And when you visit us online at ttb.org or call 1-800-65-BIBLE, remember to sign up for our monthly newsletter. In each edition, you’ll get more great teaching from Dr. McGee, terrific prompts to help you go deeper and apply God’s Word to your life, as well as updates from our global team on what God’s doing all around the world. As we go, I want to encourage you to read ahead in the book of Nahum. Maybe you’ll even want to read the entire book. It might take you 10 or 15 minutes. Let’s do it together and ask God to prepare our hearts, our minds, and our spirits to receive his word. I’m Steve Schwetz, and I’ll see you next time as we make our way through the Bible.
SPEAKER 03 :
All to him I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain. He washed it white as snow.
SPEAKER 02 :
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