mh_parser/vol_split/34 - Nahum/Chapter 1.xml

<div2 id="Nah.ii" n="ii" next="Nah.iii" prev="Nah.i" progress="88.89%" title="Chapter I">
<h2 id="Nah.ii-p0.1">N A H U M.</h2>
<h3 id="Nah.ii-p0.2">CHAP. I.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Nah.ii-p1" shownumber="no">In this chapter we have, I. The inscription of the
book, <scripRef id="Nah.ii-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Nah.1.1" parsed="|Nah|1|1|0|0" passage="Na 1:1">ver. 1</scripRef>. II. A
magnificent display of the glory of God, in a mixture of wrath and
justice against the wicked, and mercy and grace towards his people,
and the discovery of his majesty and power in both, <scripRef id="Nah.ii-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Nah.1.2-Nah.1.8" parsed="|Nah|1|2|1|8" passage="Na 1:2-8">ver. 2-8</scripRef>. III. A particular
application of this (as most interpreters think) to the destruction
of Sennacherib and the Assyrian army, when they besieged Jerusalem,
which was a very memorable and illustrious instance of the power
both of God's justice and of his mercy, and spoke abundance of
terror to his enemies and encouragement to his faithful servants,
<scripRef id="Nah.ii-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Nah.1.9-Nah.1.16" parsed="|Nah|1|9|1|16" passage="Na 1:9-16">ver. 9-16</scripRef>.</p>
<scripCom id="Nah.ii-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Nah.1" parsed="|Nah|1|0|0|0" passage="Na 1" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Nah.ii-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Nah.1.1" parsed="|Nah|1|1|0|0" passage="Na 1:1" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Nah.ii-p1.6">
<h4 id="Nah.ii-p1.7">Inscription of the Book. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Nah.ii-p1.8">b. c.</span> 710.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Nah.ii-p2" shownumber="no">1 The burden of Nineveh. The book of the vision
of Nahum the Elkoshite.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Nah.ii-p3" shownumber="no">This title directs us to consider, 1. The
great city against which the word of the Lord is here delivered; it
is the <i>burden of Nineveh,</i> not only a prophecy, and a weighty
one, but a burdensome prophecy, a dead weight to Nineveh, a
mill-stone hanged about its neck. Nineveh was the place concerned,
and the Assyrian monarchy, which that was the royal seat of. About
100 years before this Jonah had, in God's name, foretold the speedy
overthrow of this great city; but then the Ninevites repented and
were spared, and that decree did not <i>bring forth.</i> The
Ninevites then saw clearly how much it was to their advantage to
turn from their evil way; it was the saving of their city; and yet,
soon after, they returned to it again; it became worse than ever,
<i>a bloody city,</i> and <i>full of lies</i> and <i>robbery.</i>
They repented of their repentance, returned with the dog to his
vomit, and at length grew worse than ever they had been. Then God
sent them not this prophet, as Jonah, but this prophecy, to read
them their doom, which was now irreversible. Note, The reprieve
will not be continued if the repentance be not continued in. If men
turn from the good they began to do, they can expect no other than
that God should turn from the favour he began to show, <scripRef id="Nah.ii-p3.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.18.10" parsed="|Jer|18|10|0|0" passage="Jer 18:10">Jer. xviii. 10</scripRef>. 2. The poor prophet
by whom the word of the Lord is here delivered: It is <i>the book
of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite.</i> The burden of Nineveh was
what the prophet plainly foresaw, for it was his vision, and what
he left upon record (it is the <i>book of the vision</i>), that,
when he was gone, the event might be compared with the prediction
and might confirm it. All the account we have of the prophet
himself is that he was an <i>Elkoshite,</i> of the town called
<i>Elkes,</i> or <i>Elcos,</i> which, Jerome says, was in Galilee.
Some observe that the scripture ordinarily says little of the
prophets themselves, that our faith might not stand upon their
authority, but upon that of the blessed Spirit by whom their
prophecies were indited.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Nah.ii-p3.2" osisRef="Bible:Nah.1.2-Nah.1.8" parsed="|Nah|1|2|1|8" passage="Na 1:2-8" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Nah.ii-p3.3">
<h4 id="Nah.ii-p3.4">The Judgment of Nineveh; The Awful Power of
God. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Nah.ii-p3.5">b. c.</span> 710.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Nah.ii-p4" shownumber="no">2 God <i>is</i> jealous, and the <span class="smallcaps" id="Nah.ii-p4.1">Lord</span> revengeth; the <span class="smallcaps" id="Nah.ii-p4.2">Lord</span> revengeth, and <i>is</i> furious; the <span class="smallcaps" id="Nah.ii-p4.3">Lord</span> will take vengeance on his
adversaries, and he reserveth <i>wrath</i> for his enemies.  
3 The <span class="smallcaps" id="Nah.ii-p4.4">Lord</span> <i>is</i> slow to anger,
and great in power, and will not at all acquit <i>the wicked:</i>
the <span class="smallcaps" id="Nah.ii-p4.5">Lord</span> hath his way in the
whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds <i>are</i> the dust of
his feet.   4 He rebuketh the sea, and maketh it dry, and
drieth up all the rivers: Bashan languisheth, and Carmel, and the
flower of Lebanon languisheth.   5 The mountains quake at him,
and the hills melt, and the earth is burned at his presence, yea,
the world, and all that dwell therein.   6 Who can stand
before his indignation? and who can abide in the fierceness of his
anger? his fury is poured out like fire, and the rocks are thrown
down by him.   7 The <span class="smallcaps" id="Nah.ii-p4.6">Lord</span>
<i>is</i> good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth
them that trust in him.   8 But with an overrunning flood he
will make an utter end of the place thereof, and darkness shall
pursue his enemies.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Nah.ii-p5" shownumber="no">Nineveh knows not God, that God that
contends with her, and therefore is here told what a God he is; and
it is good for us all to mix faith with that which is here said
concerning him, which speaks a great deal of terror to the wicked
and comfort to good people; for this glorious description of the
Sovereign of the world, like the pillar of cloud and fire, has a
bright side towards Israel and a dark side towards the Egyptians.
Let each take his portion from it; let sinners read it and tremble;
let saints read it and triumph. The wrath of God is here revealed
from heaven against him enemies, his favour and mercy are here
assured to his faithful loyal subjects, and his almighty power in
both, making his wrath very terrible and his favour very
desirable.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Nah.ii-p6" shownumber="no">I. He is a God of inflexible justice, a
jealous God, and will take vengeance on his enemies; let Nineveh
know this, and tremble before him. Their idols are insignificant
things; there is nothing formidable in them. But the God of Israel
is greatly to be feared; for, 1. He resents the affronts and
indignities done him by those that deny his being or any of his
perfections, that set up other gods in competition with him, that
destroy his laws, arraign his proceedings, ridicule his word, or
are abusive to his people. Let such know that Jehovah, the one only
living and true God, is a <i>jealous God, and a revenger;</i> he is
jealous for the comfort of his worshippers, <i>jealous for his
land</i> (<scripRef id="Nah.ii-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Joel.2.18" parsed="|Joel|2|18|0|0" passage="Joe 2:18">Joel ii. 18</scripRef>), and
will not have that injured. He is a revenger, <i>and he is
furious;</i> he <i>has fury</i> (so the word is), not as man has
it, in whom it is an ungoverned passion (so he has said, <i>Fury is
not in me,</i> <scripRef id="Nah.ii-p6.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.27.4" parsed="|Isa|27|4|0|0" passage="Isa 27:4">Isa. xxvii.
4</scripRef>), but he has it in such a way as becomes the righteous
God, to put an edge upon his justice, and to make it appear more
terrible to those who otherwise would stand in no awe of it. He is
<i>Lord of anger</i> (so the Hebrew phrase is for that which we
read, <i>he is furious</i>); he has anger, but he has it at command
and under government. Our anger is often lord over us, as theirs
that have <i>no rule over their own spirits,</i> but God is always
<i>Lord of his anger</i> and <i>weighs a path to it,</i> <scripRef id="Nah.ii-p6.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.78.50" parsed="|Ps|78|50|0|0" passage="Ps 78:50">Ps. lxxviii. 50</scripRef>. 2. He resolves to
reckon with those that put those affronts upon him. We are told
here, not only that he is a revenger, but that he <i>will take
vengeance;</i> he has said he will, he has sworn it, <scripRef id="Nah.ii-p6.4" osisRef="Bible:Deut.32.40-Deut.32.41" parsed="|Deut|32|40|32|41" passage="De 32:40,41">Deut. xxxii. 40, 41</scripRef>. Whoever are
his adversaries and enemies among men, he will make them feel his
resentments; and, though the sentence against his enemies is not
executed speedily, yet he reserves wrath for them and reserves them
for it in the day of wrath. Against his own people, who repent and
humble themselves before him, he keeps <i>not his anger for
ever,</i> but against his enemies he will for ever let out his
anger. <i>He will not at all acquit the wicked</i> that sin, and
stand to it, and do not repent, <scripRef id="Nah.ii-p6.5" osisRef="Bible:Nah.1.3" parsed="|Nah|1|3|0|0" passage="Na 1:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>. Those <i>wickedly depart from
their God</i> that depart, and never return (<scripRef id="Nah.ii-p6.6" osisRef="Bible:Ps.18.21" parsed="|Ps|18|21|0|0" passage="Ps 18:21">Ps. xviii. 21</scripRef>), and these he will not acquit.
Humble supplicants will find him gracious, but scornful beggars
will not find him easy, or that the door of mercy will be opened to
a loud, but late, Lord, Lord. This revelation of the wrath of God
against his enemies is applied to Nineveh (<scripRef id="Nah.ii-p6.7" osisRef="Bible:Nah.1.8" parsed="|Nah|1|8|0|0" passage="Na 1:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>), and should be applied by all
those to themselves who go on still in their trespasses: <i>With an
over-running flood he will make an utter end of the place
thereof.</i> The army of the Chaldeans shall overrun the country of
the Assyrians, and lay it all waste. God's judgments, when they
come with commission, are like a deluge to any people, which they
cannot keep off nor make head against. <i>Darkness shall pursue his
enemies;</i> terror and trouble shall follow them, whithersoever
they go, shall pursue them to utter darkness; if they think to flee
from the darkness which pursues them they will but fall into that
which is before them.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Nah.ii-p7" shownumber="no">II. He is a God of irresistible power, and
is able to deal with his enemies, be they ever so many, ever so
mighty, ever so hardy. He is <i>great in power</i> (<scripRef id="Nah.ii-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Nah.1.3" parsed="|Nah|1|3|0|0" passage="Na 1:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>), and therefore it is good
having him our friend and bad having him our enemy. Now here,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Nah.ii-p8" shownumber="no">1. The power of God is asserted and proved
by divers instances of it in the kingdom of nature, where we always
find its visible effects in the ordinary course of nature, and
sometimes in the surprising alterations of that course. (1.) If we
look up into the regions of the air, there we shall find proofs of
his power, for <i>he has his ways in the whirlwind and the
storm.</i> Which way soever God goes he carries a whirlwind and a
storm along with him, for the terror of his enemies, <scripRef id="Nah.ii-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.18.9" parsed="|Ps|18|9|0|0" passage="Ps 18:9">Ps. xviii. 9</scripRef>, &amp;c. And, wherever
there is a whirlwind and a storm, God has the command of it, the
control of it, makes his way through it, goes on his way in it, and
serves his own purposes by it. He spoke to Job out of the
whirlwind, and even <i>stormy winds fulfil his word.</i> He has
<i>his way in the whirlwind,</i> that is, he goes on undiscerned,
and the methods of his providence are to us unaccountable; as it is
said, <i>His way is in the sea. The clouds are the dust of his
feet;</i> he treads on them, walks on them, raises them when he
pleases, as a man with his feet raises a cloud of dust. It is but
by permission, or usurpation rather, that the devil is the prince
of the power of the air, for that power is in God's hand. (2.) If
we cast our eye upon the great deeps, there we find that the sea is
his, for he made it; for, when he pleases, <i>he rebukes the sea
and makes it dry, by drying up all the rivers</i> with which it is
continually supplied. He gave those proofs of his power when he
divided the Red Sea and Jordan, and can do the same again whenever
he pleases. (3.) If we look round us on this earth, we find proofs
of his power, when, either by the extreme heat and drought of
summer or the cold and frost of winter, <i>Bashan languishes, and
Carmel, and the flower of Lebanon languishes,</i> the choicest and
strongest flower languishes. His power is often seen in
earthquakes, which shake the mountains (<scripRef id="Nah.ii-p8.2" osisRef="Bible:Nah.1.5" parsed="|Nah|1|5|0|0" passage="Na 1:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>), melt the hills, and melt them
down, and level them with the plains. When he pleases <i>the earth
is burnt at his presence</i> by the scorching heat of the sun, and
he could burn it with fire from heaven, as he did Sodom, and at the
end of time he will burn the world <i>and all that dwell
therein.</i> The earth, and all the works that are therein, shall
be burnt up. Thus <i>great is the Lord</i> and <i>of great
power.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Nah.ii-p9" shownumber="no">2. This is particularly applied to his
anger. If God be an almighty God, we may thence infer (<scripRef id="Nah.ii-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:Nah.1.6" parsed="|Nah|1|6|0|0" passage="Na 1:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>), <i>Who can stand before
his indignation?</i> The Ninevites had once found God <i>slow to
anger</i> (as he says <scripRef id="Nah.ii-p9.2" osisRef="Bible:Nah.1.3" parsed="|Nah|1|3|0|0" passage="Na 1:3"><i>v.</i>
3</scripRef>), and perhaps presumed upon the mercy they had then
had experience of, and thought they might make bold with him; but
they will find he is just and jealous as well as merciful and
gracious, and, having shown the justice of his wrath, in the next
he shows the power of it, and the utter insufficiency of his
enemies to contend with him. It is in vain for the stoutest and
strongest of sinners to think to make their part good against the
power of God's anger. (1.) See God here as <i>a consuming fire,</i>
terrible and mighty. Here is his indignation against sin, and the
<i>fierceness of his anger,</i> his fury <i>poured out,</i> not
like water, but <i>like fire,</i> like the fire and brimstone
rained on Sodom, <scripRef id="Nah.ii-p9.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.11.6" parsed="|Ps|11|6|0|0" passage="Ps 11:6">Ps. xi. 6</scripRef>.
Hell is the fierceness of God's anger, <scripRef id="Nah.ii-p9.4" osisRef="Bible:Rev.16.19" parsed="|Rev|16|19|0|0" passage="re 16:19">Rev. xvi. 19</scripRef>. God's anger is so fierce that
it beats down all before it: <i>The rocks are thrown down by
him,</i> which seemed immovable. Rocks have sometimes been rent by
the eruption of subterraneous fires, which is a faint resemblance
of the fierceness of God's anger against sinners whose hearts are
rocky, for none ever hardened their hearts against him and
prospered. (2.) See sinners here are stubble before the fire, weak
and impotent, and a very unequal match for the wrath of God. [1.]
They are utterly unable to bear up against it, so as to resist it,
and put by the strokes of it: <i>Who can stand before his
indignation?</i> Not the proudest and most daring sinner; not the
world of the ungodly; no, not the angels that sinned. [2.] They are
utterly unable to bear up under it so as to keep up their spirits,
and preserve any enjoyment of themselves: <i>Who can abide in the
fierceness of his anger?</i> As it is irresistible, so it is
intolerable. Some of the effects of God's displeasure in this world
a man may bear up under, but the <i>fierceness of his anger,</i>
when it fastens immediately upon the soul, who can bear? Let us
therefore <i>fear before him;</i> let us <i>stand in awe, and not
sin.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Nah.ii-p10" shownumber="no">III. He is a God of infinite mercy; and in
the midst of all this wrath mercy is remembered. <i>Let the sinners
in Zion be afraid,</i> that go on still in their transgressions,
but let not those that trust in God tremble before him. For, 1. He
<i>is slow to anger</i> (<scripRef id="Nah.ii-p10.1" osisRef="Bible:Nah.1.3" parsed="|Nah|1|3|0|0" passage="Na 1:3"><i>v.</i>
3</scripRef>), not easily provoked, but ready to show mercy to
those who have offended him and to receive them into favour upon
their repentance. 2. When the tokens of his rage against the wicked
are abroad he takes care for the safety and comfort of his own
people (<scripRef id="Nah.ii-p10.2" osisRef="Bible:Nah.1.7" parsed="|Nah|1|7|0|0" passage="Na 1:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>): <i>The
Lord is good</i> to those that are <i>good,</i> and to them he will
be <i>a stronghold in the day of trouble.</i> Note, The same
almighty power that is exerted for the terror and destruction of
the wicked is engaged, and shall be employed, for the protection
and satisfaction of his own people; he is able both to save and to
destroy. In the day of public trouble, when God's judgments are in
the earth, laying all waste, he will be a place of defence to those
that by faith put themselves under his protection, those that trust
in him in the way of their duty, that live a life of dependence
upon him, and devotedness to him; he knows them, he owns them for
his, he takes cognizance of their case, knows what is best for
them, and what course to take most effectually for their relief.
They are perhaps obscure and little regarded in the world, but the
Lord knows them, <scripRef id="Nah.ii-p10.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.1.6" parsed="|Ps|1|6|0|0" passage="Ps 1:6">Ps. i.
6</scripRef>.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Nah.ii-p10.4" osisRef="Bible:Nah.1.9-Nah.1.15" parsed="|Nah|1|9|1|15" passage="Na 1:9-15" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Nah.ii-p10.5">
<h4 id="Nah.ii-p10.6">Destruction of the Assyrian Army; Overthrow
of Sennacherib. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Nah.ii-p10.7">b. c.</span> 710.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Nah.ii-p11" shownumber="no">9 What do ye imagine against the <span class="smallcaps" id="Nah.ii-p11.1">Lord</span>? he will make an utter end: affliction
shall not rise up the second time.   10 For while <i>they
be</i> folden together <i>as</i> thorns, and while they are drunken
<i>as</i> drunkards, they shall be devoured as stubble fully dry.
  11 There is <i>one</i> come out of thee, that imagineth evil
against the <span class="smallcaps" id="Nah.ii-p11.2">Lord</span>, a wicked
counsellor.   12 Thus saith the <span class="smallcaps" id="Nah.ii-p11.3">Lord</span>; Though <i>they be</i> quiet, and likewise
many, yet thus shall they be cut down, when he shall pass through.
Though I have afflicted thee, I will afflict thee no more.  
13 For now will I break his yoke from off thee, and will burst thy
bonds in sunder.   14 And the <span class="smallcaps" id="Nah.ii-p11.4">Lord</span> hath given a commandment concerning thee,
<i>that</i> no more of thy name be sown: out of the house of thy
gods will I cut off the graven image and the molten image: I will
make thy grave; for thou art vile.   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.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Nah.ii-p12" shownumber="no">These verses seem to point at the
destruction of the army of the Assyrians under Sennacherib, which
may well be reckoned a part of the burden of Nineveh, the head city
of the Assyrian empire, and a pledge of the destruction of Nineveh
itself about 100 years after; and this was an event which Isaiah,
with whom probably this prophet was contemporary, spoke much of.
Now observe here,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Nah.ii-p13" shownumber="no">I. The great provocation which the
Assyrians gave to God, the just and jealous God, for which, though
<i>slow to anger,</i> he would take vengeance (<scripRef id="Nah.ii-p13.1" osisRef="Bible:Nah.1.11" parsed="|Nah|1|11|0|0" passage="Na 1:11"><i>v.</i> 11</scripRef>): <i>There is one come out of
thee, that imagines evil against the Lord</i>—Sennacherib, and his
spokesman Rabshakeh. They framed an evil letter and an evil speech,
not only against Hezekiah and his people, but against God himself,
reflecting upon him as level with the gods of the heathen, and
unable to protect his worshippers, dissuading his people from
putting confidence in him, and urging them rather to put themselves
under the protection of the <i>great king, the king of Assyria.</i>
They contrived to alter the property of Jerusalem, that it should
be no longer the city of the Lord, the holy city. This one, this
mighty one, so he thinks himself, that comes out of Nineveh,
<i>imagining evil against the Lord,</i> brings upon Nineveh this
burden. Never was the glorious Majesty of heaven and earth more
daringly, more blasphemously affronted than by Sennacherib at that
time. He was <i>a wicked counsellor</i> who counselled them to
despair of God's protection, and surrender themselves to the king
of Assyria, and endeavour to put them out of conceit with
Hezekiah's reformation (<scripRef id="Nah.ii-p13.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.36.7" parsed="|Isa|36|7|0|0" passage="Isa 36:7">Isa. xxxvi.
7</scripRef>); with this wicked counsellor he here expostulates
(<scripRef id="Nah.ii-p13.3" osisRef="Bible:Nah.1.9" parsed="|Nah|1|9|0|0" passage="Na 1:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>): "<i>What do
you imagine against the Lord?</i> What a foolish wicked thing it is
for you to plot against God, as if you could outwit divine wisdom
and overpower omnipotence itself!" Note, There is a great deal
imagined against the Lord by the gates of hell, and against the
interests of his kingdom in the world; but it will prove a <i>vain
thing,</i> <scripRef id="Nah.ii-p13.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.2.1-Ps.2.2" parsed="|Ps|2|1|2|2" passage="Ps 2:1,2">Ps. ii. 1, 2</scripRef>.
<i>He that sits in heaven laughs</i> at the imaginations of the
pretenders to politics against him, and will turn their counsels
headlong.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Nah.ii-p14" shownumber="no">II. The great destruction which God would
bring upon them for it, not immediately upon the whole monarchy
(the ruin of that was deferred till the measure of their iniquity
was full), but,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Nah.ii-p15" shownumber="no">1. Upon the army; God will <i>make an utter
end</i> of that; it shall be totally cut off and ruined at one
blow; one fatal stroke of the destroying angel shall lay them dead
upon the spot; <i>affliction shall not rise up the second time,</i>
for it shall not need. With some sinners God makes a quick
despatch, does their business at once. Divine vengeance goes not by
one certain rule, nor in one constant track, but one way or other,
by acute diseases or chronical ones, by slow deaths or lingering
ones, he will <i>make an utter end</i> of all his enemies, who
persist in their imaginations against him. We have reason to think
that the Assyrian army were mostly of the same spirit, and spoke
the same language, with their general, and now God would take them
to task, though they did but say as they were taught; and it shall
appear that they have laid themselves open to divine wrath by their
own act and deed, <scripRef id="Nah.ii-p15.1" osisRef="Bible:Nah.1.10" parsed="|Nah|1|10|0|0" passage="Na 1:10"><i>v.</i>
10</scripRef>. (1.) They are <i>as thorns</i> that entangle one
another, and are <i>folded together.</i> They make one another
worse, and more inveterate against God and his Israel, harden one
another's hearts, and strengthen one another's hands, in their
impiety; and therefore God will do with them as the husbandman does
with a bush of thorns when he cannot part them: he puts them all
into the fire together. (2.) They are <i>as drunken men,</i>
intoxicated with pride and rage; and such as they shall be
irrecoverably overthrown and destroyed. They shall be as drunkards,
besotted to their own ruin, and shall stumble and fall, and make
themselves a reproach, and be justly laughed at. (3.) They shall be
<i>devoured as stubble fully dry,</i> which is irresistibly and
irrecoverably consumed by the flame. The judgments of God are as
devouring fire to those that make themselves as stubble to them. It
is again threatened concerning this great army (<scripRef id="Nah.ii-p15.2" osisRef="Bible:Nah.1.12" parsed="|Nah|1|12|0|0" passage="Na 1:12"><i>v.</i> 12</scripRef>) that <i>though they be quiet and
likewise many,</i> very secure, not fearing the sallies out of the
besieged upon them, because <i>they are numerous,</i> yet <i>thus
shall they be cut down,</i> or certainly shall they be cut down, as
grass and corn are cut down, with as little ado, when <i>he shall
pass through,</i> even the destroying angel that is commissioned to
cut them down. Note, The security of sinners, and their confidence
in their own strength, are often presages of ruin approaching.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Nah.ii-p16" shownumber="no">2. Upon the king. He <i>imagined evil
against the Lord,</i> and shall he escape? No (<scripRef id="Nah.ii-p16.1" osisRef="Bible:Nah.1.14" parsed="|Nah|1|14|0|0" passage="Na 1:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>): "<i>The Lord has given a
commandment concerning thee;</i> the decree has gone forth, <i>that
thy name be no more sown,</i> that thy memory perish, that thou be
no more talked of as thou hast been, and that the report of thy
mighty actions be dispersed upon the wings of fame and celebrated
with her trumpet." Because Sennacherib's son reigned in his stead,
some make this to point at the overthrow of the Assyrian empire not
long after. Note, Those that <i>imagine evil against the Lord</i>
hasten evil upon themselves and their own families and interests,
and ruin their own names by dishonouring his name. It is further
threatened, (1.) That the images he worshipped should be cut off
from their temple, the <i>graven image</i> and the <i>molten image
out of the house of his gods,</i> which, some think, was fulfilled
when Sennacherib was slain by his <i>two sons, as he was
worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god,</i> by which barbarous
parricide we may suppose the temple was looked upon as defiled, and
was therefore disused, and the images were cut off from it, the
worshippers of those images no longer attending there. Or it may be
taken more generally to denote the utter ruin of Assyria; the army
of the enemy shall lay all waste, and not spare even the images of
their gods, by which God would intimate to them that one of the
grounds of his controversy with them was their idolatry. (2.) That
Sennacherib's grave shall be made there, some think in the house of
his god; there he is slain, and there he shall be buried, for <i>he
is vile;</i> he lies under this perpetual mark of disgrace, that he
had so far lost his interest in the natural affection of his own
children that two of them murdered him. Or it may be meant of the
ignominious fall of the Assyrian monarchy itself, upon the ruins of
which that of Babylon was raised. What a noise was made about the
grave of that once formidable state, but now despicable, is largely
described, <scripRef id="Nah.ii-p16.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.3.3 Bible:Ezek.3.11 Bible:Ezek.3.15 Bible:Ezek.3.16" parsed="|Ezek|3|3|0|0;|Ezek|3|11|0|0;|Ezek|3|15|0|0;|Ezek|3|16|0|0" passage="Eze 3:3,11,15,16">Ezek. xxxi. 3, 11,
15, 16</scripRef>. Note, Those that make themselves vile by
scandalous sins God will make vile by shameful punishments.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Nah.ii-p17" shownumber="no">III. The great deliverance which God would
hereby work for his own people and the city that was called by his
name. The ruin of the church's enemies is the salvation of the
church, and a very great salvation it was that was wrought for
Jerusalem by the overthrow of Sennacherib's army.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Nah.ii-p18" shownumber="no">1. The siege shall hereby be raised:
"<i>Now will I break his yoke from off thee,</i> by which thou art
kept in servitude, and <i>will burst thy bonds asunder,</i> by
which thou seemest bound over to the Assyrian's wrath." That vast
victorious army, when it forced free quarters for itself throughout
all the land of Judah, and lived at discretion there, was as yokes
and bonds upon them. Jerusalem, when it was besieged, was, as it
were, bound and fettered by it; but, when the destroying angel had
done his work, Jerusalem's bonds were burst asunder, and it was set
at liberty again. This was a figure of the great salvation, by
which the Jerusalem that is above is made free, is made free
indeed.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Nah.ii-p19" shownumber="no">2. The enemy shall be so weakened and
dispirited that they shall never make any such attempt again, and
the end of this trouble shall be so well gained by the grace of God
that there shall be no more occasion for such a severe correction.
(1.) God will not again afflict Jerusalem; his anger is <i>turned
away,</i> and he says, <i>It is enough;</i> for he has by this
fright <i>accomplished his whole work upon Mount Zion</i>
(<scripRef id="Nah.ii-p19.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.10.12" parsed="|Isa|10|12|0|0" passage="Isa 10:12">Isa. x. 12</scripRef>), and
therefore "<i>though I have afflicted thee, I will afflict thee no
more;</i>" the bitter portion shall not be repeated unless there be
need and the patient's case call for it; for God <i>doth not
afflict willingly.</i> (2.) The enemy shall not dare again to
attack Jerusalem (<scripRef id="Nah.ii-p19.2" osisRef="Bible:Nah.1.15" parsed="|Nah|1|15|0|0" passage="Na 1:15"><i>v.</i>
15</scripRef>): <i>The wicked shall no more pass through thee</i>
as they have done, to lay all waste, <i>for he is utterly cut
off</i> and disabled to do it. His army is cut off, his spirit cut
off, and at length he himself is cut off.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Nah.ii-p20" shownumber="no">3. The tidings of this great deliverance
shall be published and welcomed with abundance of joy throughout
the kingdom, <scripRef id="Nah.ii-p20.1" osisRef="Bible:Nah.1.15" parsed="|Nah|1|15|0|0" passage="Na 1:15"><i>v.</i> 15</scripRef>.
While Sennacherib prevailed, and carried all before him, every day
brought bad news; but now, <i>behold, upon the mountains, the feet
of him that bringeth good tidings,</i> the <i>feet of the
evangelist;</i> he is seen coming at a distance upon the mountains,
as fast as his feet will carry him; and how pleasant a sight is it
once more to see a messenger of peace, after we have received so
many of Job's messengers! We find these words made use of by
another prophet to illustrate the mercy of the deliverance of the
people of God out of Babylon (<scripRef id="Nah.ii-p20.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.52.7" parsed="|Isa|52|7|0|0" passage="Isa 52:7">Isa.
lii. 7</scripRef>), not that the prophets stole the word one from
another (as those did, <scripRef id="Nah.ii-p20.3" osisRef="Bible:Jer.23.30" parsed="|Jer|23|30|0|0" passage="Jer 23:30">Jer. xxiii.
30</scripRef>), but speaking by the same Spirit, they often used
the same expressions; and it may be of good use for ministers to
testify their consent to wholesome truths (<scripRef id="Nah.ii-p20.4" osisRef="Bible:1Tim.6.3" parsed="|1Tim|6|3|0|0" passage="1Ti 6:3">1 Tim. vi. 3</scripRef>) by concurring in the same forms
of sound words, <scripRef id="Nah.ii-p20.5" osisRef="Bible:2Tim.1.13" parsed="|2Tim|1|13|0|0" passage="2Ti 1:13">2 Tim. i.
13</scripRef>. These words are also quoted by the apostle, both
from Isaiah and Nahum, and applied to the great redemption wrought
out for us by our Lord Jesus, and the publishing of it to the world
by the everlasting gospel, <scripRef id="Nah.ii-p20.6" osisRef="Bible:Rom.10.15" parsed="|Rom|10|15|0|0" passage="Ro 10:15">Rom. x.
15</scripRef>. Christ's ministers are those messengers of good
tidings, that preach <i>peace by Jesus Christ. How beautiful are
the feet</i> of those <i>messengers!</i> How welcome their message
to those that see their misery and danger by reason of sin! And
observe, He that brings these good tidings brings with them a call
to Judah to <i>keep her solemn feasts</i> and <i>perform her
vows.</i> During the trouble, (1.) The ordinary feasts had been
intermitted. <i>Inter arma silent leges—The voice of law cannot be
heard amidst the shouts of battle.</i> While Jerusalem was
<i>encompassed with armies</i> they could not go thither to
worship; but now that the embargo is taken off they must return to
the observance of their feasts; and the feasts of the Lord will be
doubly sweet to the people of God when they have been for some time
deprived of the benefit of them and God graciously restores them
their opportunities again, for we are taught the worth of such
mercies by the want of them. (2.) They had made vows to God, that,
if he would deliver them out of this distress, they would do
something extraordinary in his service, to his honour; and now that
the deliverance is wrought they are called upon to perform their
vows; the promise they had then made must now be made good, for
<i>better it is not to vow than to vow and not to pay.</i> And
those words, <i>The wicked shall no more pass through thee,</i> may
be taken as a promise of the perfecting of the good work of
reformation which Hezekiah had begun; the wicked shall not, as they
have done, walk on every side, but they shall be cut off, and the
baffling of the attempts from the wicked enemies abroad is a mercy
indeed to a nation when it is accompanied with the restraint and
reformation of the wicked at home, who are its more dangerous
enemies.</p>
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