wickedness wherever they are found, though 4:8 "Tower of the flock" – Jerusalem the
1209 MICAH 4:9
to declare to Jacob his transgression,
and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. 3 And he will judge among many peoples,
and to Israel his sin. 9 Please hear this, you heads of the
and rebuke strong nations far off, and they will beat their swords into
house of Jacob, and rulers of the house of Israel, you who despise justice,
plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not lift up sword against nation, nor will they learn war any more. 4 But each man will sit under his vine
and pervert every straight thing.
10 They build up Zion by bloodshed, and Jerusalem with wickedness. 11 Her heads judge for reward, and her priests teach for pay, and her prophets foretell for money. Yet they lean on the LORD, and say, "Is not the LORD among us? No disaster can come on us." 12 Therefore, on your account Zion will be plowed like a field, and Jerusalem will become heaps, and the mountain of the temple like
and his fig tree, and no one will make them afraid; for the mouth of the LORD of hosts
has spoken. 5 For each one of all the peoples may
walk in the name of his god, but we will walk in the name of the
LORD our God forever and ever.
6 "In that day," says the LORD,
"I will assemble the lame,
the high places of the forest.
and I will gather the exile, and those whom I have afflicted, 7 And I will make the lame a remnant,
But in the last days it will come about, that the mountain of the house of the
and the exile a strong nation, and the LORD will reign over them in
LORD will be established on the top
of the mountains, and it will be exalted above the hills,
mount Zion from now on, and forever. 8 And you, O tower of the flock,
and peoples will flow to it. 2 And many nations will come, and say,
the stronghold of the daughter of Zion, the former dominion will come to you again, the kingdom will come to the daughter
"Come, and let us go up to the
mountain of the LORD and to the
of Jerusalem."
house of the God of Jacob, and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths." For the law will go out of Zion,
9 Now why do you cry aloud?
Is there no king in you? Has your counsellor perished?
48:16; Ezek 2:2; Zech 4:6; Eph 5:18; 1 Pet 1:11. Note at John 14:16,17. "His sin" – this was one of the most important tasks of God's prophets. Compare Isa 58:1. 3:9 "You who despise justice" – v 1. They perverted justice for personal gain – compare Ezek 22:27. 3:10 Compare 7:2; Jer 22:13,17; Isa 59:7. 3:11 Rulers, priests and prophets wanted only money. They cared nothing at all for people, for goodness, for justice. In other words, they were much like the corrupt society we see today.
abolish private property.
"Afraid" – Lev 26:6; Ezek 39:25-29; Zeph 3:13.
"LORD of hosts" – note at 1 Sam 1:3. 4:5 "Walk in the name of" – means to identify with and behave in accordance with. Other nations choose the gods they please and behave in accordance with the character they think those gods have. God's people must be different. They must trust in the one true God and behave in accordance with His character. Compare 1 Cor 8:4-6; Col 1:10; 1 Thess 2:12. 4:6 "In that day" – v 1; Isa 2:2,11,17,20. "Lame" – Jer 31:8,9. "Exile. . .afflicted" – Ps 147:2,3; Isa 11:12; 35:10; Ezek 34:13,16; 37:2123; Zeph 3:19. 4:7 "The LORD will reign. . .forever" – Dan 2:44; 7:14; Joel 3:20,21; Obad 21; Zech 14:9,16; Luke 1:33; Rev 11:15. 4:8 "Tower of the flock" – Jerusalem the capital city of the people of God.
"Yet" – they had their religion and thought everything would be all right. They were badly mistaken, as the next verse reveals. The words there were fulfilled when the king of Babylon invaded the land and destroyed Jerusalem. See 2 Kings chapter 25. God will punish greed, corruption and wickedness wherever they are found, though men may vainly imagine they can escape the consequences of their actions. 4:1-3 See notes on Isa 2:2-4. 4:4 "His vine" – even in the future reign of Christ over Israel and the world He will not
"Daughter" – 1:13. "Former dominion will come to you again" – this will happen "in that day" (vs 1,6). 4:9 Jer 8:19; 30:6.
MICAH 4:10 1210
For pains have seized you like
thousands of Judah, yet out of you will come forth to me
those of a woman in labour. 10 Writhe and labour to give birth, O daughter of Zion, like a woman in labour. For now you will go out of the city, and you will live in the field, and you will go to Babylon. There you will be rescued, there the LORD will redeem you from
the one who is to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from of old,
from everlasting." 3 Therefore he will give them up,
until the time that she who travails
has given birth. Then the remnant of his brethren will
return to the children of Israel. 4 And he will stand and shepherd his
the hand of your enemies. 11 But now many nations have gathered against you. They say, "Let her be defiled,
flock in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the
LORD his God; and they will remain, for now he will
and let our eye look on Zion." 12 But they do not know the thoughts of the LORD, nor do they understand his purpose. For he gathers them like sheaves to
be great to the ends of the earth. 5 And this man will be our peace.
When the Assyrian comes into our land,
and when he treads in our palaces, then we will raise against him seven
the threshing floor.
shepherds, and eight leaders of men. 6 And they will waste the land of Assyria
13 "Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion, for I will make your horn like iron, and I will make your hooves like bronze, and you will crush many peoples. And I will consecrate their ill-gotten
with the sword, and the land of Nimrod at its entrances. And he will deliver us from the
Assyrian, when he comes into our land, and when he treads within our borders.
gain to the LORD, and their wealth to the Lord of the
7 And the remnant of Jacob will be in
whole earth."
the midst of many peoples
like a dew from the LORD, like showers on the grass,
Now gather yourself in troops,
O daughter of troops. He has laid siege against us. They will strike the judge of Israel
which do not delay for man, or wait for the sons of men. 8 And the remnant of Jacob will be
on the cheek with a rod. 2 "But you, Bethlehem Ephratah,
among the Gentiles in the midst of
many peoples,
though you are little among the
and had no origin, no beginning – Isa 9:6; Ps 90:2; John 1:1. He was active all through the history of mankind. 5:3 "Give them up" – Jer 7:29; Hos 3:4,5; 5:6,15; Rom 11:11,25-27. 5:4 "He" – the Messiah, the Lord Jesus. "His flock" – John 10:1-16. "Ends of the earth" – Isa 9:7; 11:4,9; Dan 2:34,35. 5:5 "Peace" – Isa 9:6; Luke 2:14; Eph 2:14. "Assyrian" – Isa 8:7; 10:24-27. 5:6 "Waste the land of Assyria" – Israel has never laid waste Assyria to this day. So the fulfillment of this is still in the future. Note on Assyria at 2 Kings 15:19.
4:10 "Babylon" – Micah uttered this remarkable prophecy 100 years before it was fulfilled. At that time Assyria, not Babylon, was the strongest power in that area.
"There you will be rescued" – this was another 70 years in the future. 4:11-13 Compare Zech 12:1-9. 4:12 "Understand his purpose" – Rom 11:33,34; Ps 2:1-12. 5:1 The scene in this verse seems to be the city of Jerusalem.
"The judge of Israel" – or "the leader of Israel", that is, the king. See 2 Kings 25:7 for the fulfillment of this. 5:2 God speaks through the prophet. "Ephratah" was the area where Bethlehem was located – Ruth 1:2; 4:11; 1 Sam 17:12. Bethlehem was a small town about 10 kilometers south of Jerusalem. "Goings forth" – this signifies activities. This prophecy is about the Messiah the Lord Jesus Christ and gives the place of His birth 700 years before He came to earth. See Matt 2:4-6. As the Son of God He is eternal
"Nimrod" – Gen 10:8-12. "He will deliver us" – "he" here is Christ. 5:7 "Remnant of Jacob" – the survivors of the people of Israel (Isa 10:20; 11:11; 37:31,32; Amos 3:12). "Dew" – speaks of blessing (Deut 32:2; Ps 110:3; Prov 19:12; Isa 26:19). 5:8,9 These verses signify a victory of the people of Israel not yet seen on earth.
1211 MICAH 6:8
like a lion among the beasts of the forest, like a young lion among the flocks of
For the Lord has a case against his people, and he will plead his case against Israel.
sheep, which, passing through,
3 "O my people, what have I done to you?
both tramples down and tears in
And how have I wearied you? Testify against me. 4 For I brought you up from the land of Egypt,
pieces, with no one to rescue. 9 Your hand will be lifted up against your foes,
and all your enemies will be cut off.
and redeemed you out of the house of
servitude, and I sent Moses, Aaron, and Miriam
10 "And it will come to pass in that day," says the LORD, "that I will cut off your horses from
in front of you. 5 O my people, remember now what
among you, and destroy your chariots, 11 And I will destroy the cities of your land, and tear down all your strongholds. 12 And I will destroy witchcraft from your hand, and you will have no more soothsayers. 13 I will also destroy your carved images, and your sacred pillars from your midst, and you will no longer worship the
Balak, king of Moab, counseled, and what Balaam, the son of Beor, answered him from Shittim to Gilgal, that you may know the righteousness
of the LORD."
6 With what shall I come before the LORD
and bow down before the God
work of your hands. 14 And I will uproot your sacred groves from your midst, and destroy your cities. 15 And I will execute vengeance in anger and fury on the nations which have
on high? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
with calves a year old? 7 Will the LORD be pleased with
thousands of rams, or with ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? 8 He has showed you, O man, what is good.
not obeyed me."
Hear now what the LORD says: "Arise, plead your case before the mountains, and let the hills hear your voice. 2 Hear the LORD's case, O mountains,
And what does the LORD require of you,
but to behave justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?
and you strong foundations of the earth.
treated them with kindness and love. 6:5 "Balak. . .Balaam" – see Numbers chapters 22-24, especially 23:8-10,20-24; 24:5-9,17-19. "Shittim to Gilgal" – Josh 3:1; 4:;19. "Righteousness" – in this case God's righteous acts were displayed in bringing His people across the Jordan river to occupy the land He had promised them. 6:6,7 It seems here that Israel speaks and the only defense the people can offer is a series of questions. They appear to be expressing ignorance of what God really wants. And the last question in v 7 is not a proper question at all. God never asked Israel to do any such thing. 6:8 Micah speaks for God to every individual in the nation.
5:10-14 These are all things which Israel trusted in after forsaking God. God will destroy all these things so that Israel might trust in Him alone. 5:10 Ps 20:7. 5:11 Hos 10:14; Amos 5:9. 5:12 Deut 18:10-12; Isa 2:6; 8:19. 5:13 Isa 2:18; Ezek 6:9; Hos 10:2; Zech 13:2. 5:14 "Groves" – or "Asherah poles" – Ex 34:13; Jud 3:7; 2 Kings 17:10. 5:15 "Vengeance" – Deut 32:41,43; Isa 34:8; 35:4; 2 Thess 1:7,8; Rev 19:11-16. 6:1,2 In this chapter God makes His accusations against Israel. It is like a scene in a courtroom, only the court in this case is the wide outdoors with mountains and hills as witnesses. Compare Isa 1:2. Israel is called on to make its defense, if indeed it dares to attempt any. 6:3 "My people" – Amos 3:2. "Wearied you" – compare Jer 2:5. God is asking if they think He has been unreasonable and cruel toward them. 6:4 Ex 2:23-25; 14:29-31; Deut 7:7,8. "Moses" – Ex 3:7-10. "Aaron and Miriam" – Ex 3:14-16; Num 33:1; Ex 15:20. Far from being cruel and unreasonable, God gave them some of the best leaders any people ever had and
"He has showed you" – Israel was not really ignorant of what God wanted. He had told them repeatedly how they should behave. The ten commandments in Ex 20:1-17; much of Deuteronomy, psalms like 1, 15, 24, 119, the book of Proverbs, and passages in the prophets like Isa 1:11-17 showed Israel how they should live. What does God require of us now? That we should be righteous in our behavior; that we should know that our righteous acts cannot save us – we need God's mercy for
MICAH 6:9 1212
Woe is me!
9 The LORD's voice cries out to the city,
For I am like those who gather summer
and the man of wisdom will see
fruits, like those gleaning the vineyard. There is no cluster to eat of the first
your name.
"Heed the rod, and the one who has
appointed it. 10 Are there yet storehouses of wickedness in the house of the wicked,
ripe fruit my soul craves. 2 The good man has perished from the earth,
and there is no one upright among men. They all lie in wait for blood, each one of them hunts his brother
and the short measure,
which is an abomination? 11 Shall I acquit those with wicked balances, and with a bag of false weights? 12 For her rich men are full of violence, and her inhabitants speak lies, and the tongue in their mouth is deceitful. 13 Therefore I will also make you sick by striking you, by making you desolate because of your sins. 14 You will eat, but not be satisfied, and you will be cast down in the midst of you. And you will take hold, but will not deliver, and what you do deliver I will give
with a net. 3 They do evil with both hands eagerly.
The ruler and the judge demand a bribe, and the man in a high position speaks
out his evil desire. So they weave their plots. 4 The best of them is like a briar,
the most upright worse than a thorn hedge. The day of your watchmen and your
punishment is coming. Now will be the time of their confusion.
5 Do not trust in a friend;
to the sword. 15 You will sow, but you will not reap. You will trample the olives,
do not put confidence in a guide. Guard the doors of your mouth from
her who lies in your bosom. 6 For the son dishonours the father;
but you will not anoint yourselves with oil, and make sweet wine, but will not drink wine.
the daughter rises up against her mother, the daughter-in-law against her
16 "For the statutes of Omri are kept, and all the deeds of the house of Ahab, and you walk in their counsels. So I will make you a desolation, and her inhabitants an object of hissing. Therefore you will bear the reproach
mother-in-law; a man's enemies are the individuals of
his own house. 7 Therefore I will look to the LORD.
I will wait for the God of my salvation. My God will hear me.
of my people."
ourselves and we need to show it to others; and we must not let our righteous behavior make us self-righteous and proud. Walking humbly with God means obedience to Him, trust in Him, and the mind Jesus speaks of in Matt 5:3. 6:9 "The city" – Jerusalem. "Rod" – compare Isa 10:5,6. Israel was not able to offer any good defense against God's accusations. The people were guilty and God must punish them. 6:10 "Wicked" – Israel was not a victim of unfortunate circumstances, not ignorant of what God said. It was wicked. It was determined to do what it pleased regardless of what God thought about it.
"In the midst of you" – the Hebrew of here is obscure and the meaning uncertain. 6:15 Deut 28:38; Jer 12:13. 6:16 "Omri. . .Ahab" – 1 Kings 16:25,29-33. "Desolation. . .hissing" – Deut 28:37; Jer 25:9; 51:51. 7:1-7 Micah speaks. He begins by expressing his sorrow and ends with hope. 7:1 "Woe is me" – compare Jer 8:21 - 9:1. "My soul craves" – he could see no fruit from his labors as a prophet. He could find no good people left in the land. 7:2 "No one upright among men" – Ps 12:1,2; 14:1-3. 7:3 "Bribe" – Ex 23:8. 7:4 "Thorn" – 2 Sam 23:6,7; Isa 10:17; Heb 6:7,8.
"Short measure" – an "ephah", a measure for grain. Sellers cheated buyers. 6:11 Prov 11:1; 20:23; Hos 12:7; Amos 8:5. 6:12 "Violence" – 3:2,3; Amos 2:6,7; 4:1; 5:11. "Lies. . .deceitful" – Ps 5:3; 12:2; 34:13; 62:4; 63:11; Prov 6:19; 19:22; Isa 32:7; 59:3; Jer 9:3; John 8:44. 6:13 "Therefore" – 2:3. Sin has inevitable consequences (Gal 6:7,8). 6:14 Isa 9:20; Hos 4:10; Lev 26:26.
"Watchmen" – Isa 21:11; Ezek 3:17; 33:7; Hos 9:8. God's prophets were the watchmen over Israel, warning them of coming disasters. Now the time had come for God to act according to those warnings. 7:5 This reveals how much lying and deceitfulness (6:12) had corrupted the people as a whole. 7:6 Ex 20:12; Ezek 22:7; Matt 10:35,36. 7:7 Lam 3:19-24; Ps 4:3.
1213 MICAH 7:20
the flock of your inheritance, which lives alone in the forest,
8 Do not rejoice over me, O my enemy.
When I fall, I will arise; when I sit in darkness,
in the midst of Carmel. Let them feed in Bashan and Gilead,
the LORD will be a light to me. 9 I will bear the indignation of the LORD,
as in the days of old. 15 "As in the days of your coming out of the land of Egypt I will show him
because I have sinned against him, until he pleads my case and executes
marvellous things."
judgment for me. He will bring me out to the light,
16 The nations will see and be ashamed of all their might. They will lay their hand on their mouth.
and I will see his righteousness. 10 Then my enemy will see it, and shame will cover her,
Their ears will be deaf. 17 They will lick the dust like a serpent. They will move out of their holes like
the one who said to me, "Where is the LORD your God?" My eyes will see her. Now she will be trampled down like
things that crawl on the earth. They will be afraid of the LORD our God,
and will fear because of you.
the mire of the streets.
18 Who is a God like you, who pardons wickedness, and passes over the transgression of
11 At the time when your walls are to be built, on that day the decree will go out to
distant places. 12 And on that day he will come to you from Assyria, and from the fortified cities, and from the fortress to the River, and from sea to sea, and from mountain to mountain. 13 However, the land will be desolate because of those who live in it,
the remnant of his inheritance? He does not retain his anger forever,
because he delights in mercy. 19 Once more he will have compassion on us. He will subdue our wicked deeds. And you will cast all their sins into the
depths of the sea. 20 You will grant the truth to Jacob, and mercy to Abraham, which you have sworn to our fathers
as the fruit of their deeds.
14 Shepherd your people with your rod,
from the days of old.
7:8-10 It seems that in these verses the city of Jerusalem (representing the people of Israel) speaks. The time is in the future. 7:8 "My enemy" – enemy nations like Assyria and Babylon.
7:15 God speaks again. "Marvellous things" – Joel 2:30,31. 7:16-20 Micah speaks again and gives a fitting conclusion to his prophecy. 7:16 Isa 26:11. 7:17 Ps 2:8,9; Isa 25:3; 59:19; Rev 19:15. 7:18 "Who is a God like you" – Ex 15:11; 1 Sam 2:2; Ps 89:6; Isa 40:18,25,26. "Pardons. . .passes over" – Ex 34:6,7; Ps 103:8-13; Isa 43:25; 55:7-9; Jer 50:20; Luke 24:46,47; Eph 1:7. "Remnant" – Micah has the people of Israel in mind (v 20; Jer 31:34; Ezek 36:25; Rom 11:26,27). "Anger forever" – Ps 103:9; Isa 54:9; 57:16; Jer 3:12. "Mercy" – Ps 25:6; Ezek 18:23,32; Amos 5:15; Rom 11:32. 7:19 "Compassion" – 2 Chron 30:9; Jer 31:20; 32:41. "The sea" – compare Ps 103:12; Isa 38:17; 44:22 – different ways of saying that God will put away the sins of His people, will obliterate them, and remember them no more (Jer 31:34; Rom 4:7,8). 7:20 Gen 12:1-3; 22:16,17; 28:14; Deut 7:8; Ps 108:4. "Grant" – the Hebrew word here does not mean "perform" (KJV).
"Fall" – this looks into the future to the time when Jerusalem would fall (4:10; Jer 52:4-27).
"I will arise" – Amos 9:11-15; Rom 11:11. "Light" – Isa 42:16; 46:13; 60:1-3. 7:9 Lam 3:39-47; Hos 5:15; Ps 32:5; 107:10-16; Prov 28:13. 7:10 4:11-13; Ps 35:26; 42:3; Isa 51:22,23; Zech 10:5. 7:11-13 It seems Micah speaks again to Jerusalem (and, of course, God is speaking through Micah). 7:11 Isa 54:11,12; Amos 9:11. The same Jerusalem that was destroyed would be rebuilt. 7:12 Isa 11:11. 7:13 Isa 24:1-6. 7:14 Either Israel or Micah speaks, representing the future godly remnant of Israel. This prayer God will answer.
"Shepherd" – 5:4; Isa 40:11; Jer 31:10; Ezek 34:11-16; 37:24. "Inheritance" – v 18; Ps 94:14; Deut 4:20; Eph 1:18. "Bashan and Gilead" – fertile regions east of the Jordan river.
NAHUM
Author:
Nahum means "compassion" or possibly "consolation."
Date:
Sometime about 650 BC.
Themes:
God's holiness is revealed both in punishing the wicked and in showing grace and kindness toward those who trust in Him; the righteous rejoice when they see God's justice at work; the coming destruction on the wicked city of Nineveh.
Contents:
God's anger against the ungodly,
his compassion toward the godly ............................................................. 1:2-11 The future well-being of Judah ...................................................................... 1:12-2:2 The siege against Nineveh ............................................................................ 2:1-10 The destruction of Nineveh ........................................................................... 2:11-13 The reasons for the fall of Nineveh ................................................................ 3:1-19
1215 NAHUM 1:13
The burden concerning Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite.
His fury is poured out like fire, and the rocks are thrown down by him. 7 The LORD is good, a stronghold in the
2 God is jealous, and the LORD avenges.
day of trouble, and he knows those who trust in him. 8 But with an overwhelming flood he will
The LORD avenges, and is furious. The LORD will take vengeance on his
adversaries, and he reserves wrath for his enemies. 3 The LORD is slow to get angry,
make a complete end of its place, and darkness shall pursue his enemies.
and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked. The LORD has his way in the whirlwind
9 What do you plot against the LORD?
He will make a complete end of it. Trouble will not rise up a second time. 10 For while they are tangled up like thorns, and while they are drunk like drunkards, they will be consumed like fully dry stubble. 11 From you comes out a wicked counsellor who plots evil against the LORD.
and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet. 4 He rebukes the sea and makes it dry,
and dries up all the rivers. Bashan and Carmel wither,
and the flower of Lebanon withers. 5 The mountains quake before him,
12 Thus says the LORD: "Though they are secure, and also numerous, yet they will be cut down,
and the hills melt, and the earth heaves at his presence, yes, the world and all who live in it. 6 Who can stand before his indignation?
when he passes through. Though I have afflicted you,
I will afflict you no more. 13 For now I will break off his yoke from you,
And who can endure the fierceness of
his anger?
1:1 "Burden" – or "oracle" – note at Isa 13:1. "Nineveh" – Gen 10:11; 2 Kings 19:36; Jonah 1:2; 3:2,3; Zeph 2:13; Matt 12:41.
2 Thess 1:7,8; Heb 12:29. 1:7 "The LORD is good" – Ps 25:7,8; 34:8; 100:5; 106:1; 107:1; 145:9; Matt 19:17. Since God is angry and takes vengeance and pours out His wrath like fire, how can He be good? He does those things because He is good. Justice is an element in His goodness, and in His goodness He cannot allow men to corrupt the earth and try to destroy His kingdom, His work and His people without rising up to defend them and to punish evildoers (Num 3:1-3). In His goodness He loves good and so hates evil and is angry with it.
"Vision" – Gen 15:1; Isa 1:1. "Elkoshite" – of the town of Elkosh, location unknown. 1:2 "Jealous" – Ex 20:5; 34:14; Deut 4:34; Josh 24:19; Zech 8:2. The word jealous here indicates love for His people and anger against those who would try to destroy them. Nineveh, the capital of Assyria and here representing the whole Empire, had destroyed the northern kingdom of Israel (2 Kings 17:5,6).
"Vengeance" – Num 31:11-3 (note); Deut 32:40,41. The word means that God will justly judge and punish those who oppose Him the Creator and Ruler of the universe.
"Stronghold" – or "refuge" – Deut 33:27; Ps 2:12; 5:11; 7:1; 9:9; etc.
"Knows" – the Hebrew word indicates an intimate relationship. Ps 1:6; etc. "Trust" – 2 Kings 17:14; Ps 4:5; 20:7; 62:8; Prov 3:5; Isa 26:4; 30:15; John 14:1. 1:8 "But" – those who continue on in their sins and refuse to trust in the one true God do not deserve any good thing, and have no right to expect any good thing from Him. Nineveh did not trust Him, was "vile" (v 14), and so would be destroyed. This happened in 612 BC. 1:9-14 God foretells the utter destruction of Nineveh. For other prophecies about Nineveh and Assyria see Isa 10:12-19; Ezek 32:22,23. Note on Assyria at 2 Kings 15:19. 1:9 "Plot" – compare Ps 2:1-5. 1:12 "I have afflicted" – see Isa 10:5,6. It seems that God is speaking to Judah here. The Assyrians tried to capture Jerusalem, failed, and had no second chance (Isaiah chapters 36,37). 1:13 Assyria once exercised some control
"Wrath" – notes at Num 25:3; Ps 90:711; John 3:36; Rom 1:18. "Enemies" – those who are enemies of His people are His enemies. 1:3 "Slow to get angry" – Ex 34:6. "Not at all acquit" – Ex 34:7. Nineveh was guilty and could not escape God's judgment.
"Whirlwind. . .clouds" – Ps 18:7-15; 68:4; 77:16-19; 104:3,4. 1:4 Ex 14:21,22; Josh 3:14-17. Bashan, Carmel and Lebanon were very fertile places but God can turn such places into deserts if He wishes to do so. 1:5 Ex 19:18; Ps 18:7; 46:2,3; 97:5; 114:4; Joel 2:10; Ezek 38:20; Heb 12:26-28. 1:6 Ps 76:7; 90:11,12; Jer 10:10; Ezek 22:14; Rev 6:17. "Like fire" – Isa 5:24,25; 24:6; 42:25;
NAHUM 1:14 1216
6 The river gates will be opened,
and will break your shackles in two."
and the palace will be dissolved. 7 And Huzzab will be led away captive.
14 And the LORD has given a commandment concerning you, that your name will no longer be perpetuated. "I will cut off the carved images and
She will be brought up, and her maid servants will lead her,
moaning with voices like doves,
cast metal idols from the house of your gods. I will make your grave; for you are vile."
beating their breasts. 8 From olden times Nineveh is like
15 See on the mountains the feet of him who brings good tidings,
a pool, but her waters drain away. "Stop! Stop!" they cry,
who proclaims peace! O Judah, keep your appointed feasts,
but no one will look back. 9 Take the plunder of silver,
perform your vows. For the wicked will no longer pass through you; he is utterly cut off.
take the plunder of gold. For there is no end of treasure,
wealth from all kinds of desirable articles. 10 She is empty, and vacant, and waste. And the heart melts, and the knees
He who dashes in pieces has come up
before your face. Guard the fortress! Watch the road! Strengthen your flanks! Muster all your strong forces! 2 For the LORD will restore the
knock together, and every back is in anguish, and all their faces are drained of colour.
11 Where is the dwelling place of the lions, and the feeding place of the young lions,
excellence of Jacob, like the excellence of Israel, even though
where the lion, the old lion, and the lion's cub, walked, and no one made them afraid? 12 The lion tore in pieces enough for his cubs, and strangled the prey for his lionesses, and filled his caves with prey,
destroyers have laid them waste, and ruined their vine branches. 3 The shield of his mighty men are red.
The valiant men are in scarlet. The chariots will be with flaming
and his dens with flesh. 13 "See, I am against you," says the LORD of hosts, "and I will burn her chariots in the smoke, and the sword will devour your young lions. And I will cut off your prey from the earth, and the voice of your messengers will
torches in the day of his preparation, and the fir tree spears will be brandished. 4 The chariots will rage in the streets,
they shall jostle one another in the broad roads. They will seem like torches. They will speed like lightning flashes.
be heard no more."
5 He will remember his nobles.
They will stumble in their walk. They will hurry to its wall,
Woe to the city of blood! It is all full of lies and robbery;
and the defense will be prepared.
over Judah. God, by destroying Assyria, would break their "yoke" over Judah. 1:14 "Your gods" – compare Ex 12:12. "Vile" – compare Hos 9:10. 1:15 The mountains are the mountains of Jerusalem. The good news was deliverance from the Assyrians (Isa 37:29,33-35). Compare Isa 52:7; Rom 10:15. God through Nahum assures Judah that the Assyrians would never again invade them, and indeed, they never did. 2:1 "He who dashes in pieces" – one who headed a combined army of three nations – Babylonia, Media and Scythia. 2:2 Isa 11:10-13; 35:1,2; Ezek 37:22,23. 2:3-10 These verses describe the battle for the city of Nineveh in 612 BC before it fell to its enemies. Nahum is uttering a prophecy that was fulfilled a few years afterwards.
2:11,12 A description of Nineveh before its destruction. It was like the king of beasts breaking into pieces the nations round about. Now it would be done to Nineveh as Nineveh had done to others. 2:13 "Against you" – if God is against anyone who can be for them?
"I will" – God used the army of v 1 to burn Nineveh's weapons of war and to kill its soldiers. Compare Jer 51:20. 3:1 God would destroy Nineveh because it fully deserved destruction.
"Blood" – the Assyrians were notorious for their thirst for bloodshed, brutality and cruelty.
"Lies" – in God's eyes lying is so grave a sin that it is put alongside murder. Lying is brutality and cruelty against the truth, an attempt to murder it. Swords destroy
1217 NAHUM 3:18
the prey never gets away. 2 The noise of a whip!
10 Yet she was taken away, she went into captivity. Also her young children were dashed in pieces at the head of all the streets. And they cast lots for her honourable men, and all her great men were bound in chains. 11 You also will be drunk, you will be hidden, you also will seek refuge because of the enemy. 12 All your strongholds will be like fig trees with the first ripe figs; when shaken, they fall into the mouth
And the noise of the rattling of the wheels,
and of prancing horses,
and of jolting chariots! 3 The horseman lifts up both the bright
sword and the glittering spear, and there is a multitude of slain, and a great number of bodies,
no end of their corpses; they stumble over the corpses, 4 all because of the many acts of
of the eater. 13 See, your people in the midst of you are women. The gates of your land will be opened
prostitution of the well-favoured prostitute, the mistress of witchcrafts, who sells nations through her acts of
wide to your enemies. The fire will devour your bars. 14 Draw water for the siege! Fortify your strongholds! Go to the clay, and tread the mortar! Strengthen the brick kiln! 15 There the fire will devour you. The sword will cut you down,
prostitution, and families through her witchcrafts.
5 "See, I am against you,
says the LORD of hosts, and I will lift your skirts over your face, and I will show the nations your nakedness, and the kingdoms your shame. 6 And I will throw abominable filth
it will devour you like locusts. Make yourselves as many as the locust, make yourselves as many as the
on you, and reveal your vileness, and will make you a spectacle. 7 And this will happen:
swarming locusts ! 16 You have multiplied your merchants more than the stars of heaven. The locust plunders, and flies away. 17 Your officials are like locusts, and your captains like the great
All who look at you will flee from you, and say, 'Nineveh is laid waste. Who will mourn for her? Where will I seek comforters for you?'" 8 Are you better than populous No that
grasshoppers, which settle in the hedges on a cold day,
was situated among the rivers, that had water all around it? Her rampart was the sea,
but when the sun rises,
they flee away, and it is not known where they will be. 18 Your shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria. Your nobles dwell in the dust.
and her wall was the sea. 9 Ethiopia and Egypt were her strength,
and it was without limit. Put and Lubim were your helpers.
bodies, lies destroy souls. 3:2,3 A further description of the future battle for Nineveh. 3:4 "Prostitute" – Ex 34:16; Lev 17:7; Isa 1:21; 23:15,16; Jer 2:20; 3:1; Rev 17:5. Nineveh had many gods, many idols.
God's anger is poured out on them (compare Jer 25:15,16). 3:12 Nineveh was a huge city, very well fortified, but when the "enemy" (v 11) came their forts would fall as easily as fruit from a tree. 3:13 "Women" – in the day of battle their soldiers would be ineffective. 3:14,15 Nineveh would try desperate measures to keep enemy troops out of the city, but they would fail. 3:16 The merchants, greedy for gain, would salvage what they could from the collapse of Nineveh. Swarms of locusts coming on any land completely strip it of vegetation. 3:17 Nineveh's officials were no better than its merchants. Both groups were only out for what they could get. Between them they would strip Nineveh of its wealth. 3:18,19 Nahum the prophet speaks of the
"Witchcrafts" – Deut 18:10. 3:5-7 God would deal with Nineveh as men sometimes dealt with prostitutes. He would show to other nations its filthiness, corruption and weakness, and utterly humiliate that great and proud city. 3:8-10 "No" – or "No Amon" – the city of Thebes, a large city in Egypt, the capital of the southern part of the country. The Assyrians destroyed it in 663 BC. If they could destroy Thebes they should not think they could not be destroyed themselves.
"Ethiopia" – Isa 18:1. 3:11 "Drunk" – out of their senses because
NAHUM 3:19 1218
Your people are scattered on the
All who hear the news about you will
mountains, and no one gathers them. 19 There is no healing for your injury. Your wound is incurable.
clap their hands over you, for who has not had your wickedness
coming on them continually?
future as if it were past.
complete destruction. Nineveh was never rebuilt, and the Assyrians lost their power forever.
"Slumber. . .dwell in the dust" – a figurative way of speaking of death (see John 11:11,14).
"Clap their hands" – in delight at Nineveh's destruction.
"Your wound is incurable" – indicates
HABAKKUK
Author:
The prophet Habakkuk is not mentioned in any other place in the Bible, so all we know about him is in this writing of his.
Date:
Habakkuk probably wrote a short time before the armies of Babylon invaded Judah, during the reign of either Josiah or Jehoiakim. The Babylonians invaded in 605 BC.
Theme:
Faith in God overcoming doubt about the wisdom of His ways. The question which troubled the prophet's mind was this: Why would God use the cruel and wicked Babylonians to punish His own people Judah? The answer God gave was: "The righteous will live by his faith" (2:4), words referred to three times in the New Testament (Rom 1:17; Gal 3:11; Heb 10:38,39).
Contents:
The prophet is alarmed at the evil conditions in Judah
in his days .......................................................................................... 1:1-4 God's answer: He is bringing the Babylonians
to punish His people ............................................................................ 1:5-11 The question of the prophet: Why should God
use the wicked Babylonians for this? ...................................................... 1:12-17 God's purpose was soon to be fulfilled ............................................................ 2:1-4 Punishment on the proud and wicked whether
Babylonians or His own people .............................................................. 2:5-20 A psalm of praise ......................................................................................... 3:1-19
God's compassion, God's glory ................................................................... 3:1-6 God's fierce anger against the nations ....................................................... 3:7-15 The prophet's faith and joy in God,
no matter what may happen................................................................. 3:16-19
HABAKKUK 1:1 1220
The burden which Habakkuk the prophet saw.
the earth to take possession of
dwelling places which are not theirs. 7 They are terrible and dreaded.
O LORD, how long will I cry out,
and you not listen? And call out to you about violence,
Their judgment and their exaltation
come from themselves. 8 And their horses are swifter than leopards,
and you not save? 3 Why do you make me look at evil, and cause me to see trouble? For plundering and violence are
and fiercer than evening wolves. And their horsemen charge ahead, and their cavalry comes from afar. They fly like an eagle swooping to eat. 9 They all come for violence.
before me, and there is strife, and contention rises up. 4 Therefore the law is made feeble, and justice never goes forth. For the wicked surround the righteous;
Their faces advance like the east wind,
and they gather captives like sand. 10 And they scoff at kings, and princes are scorned by them. They deride every stronghold,
so perverted justice results.
5 "Look among the nations, and watch, and be utterly amazed, for I will do a work in your days,
for they heap up earth, and take it. 11 Then his mind changes, and he passes on, and offends, imputing this his power to his god."
which you will not believe, even though it is told you. 6 For, see, I am raising up the Chaldeans,
12 Are you not from everlasting, O LORD my God, my Holy One?
that bitter and rash nation. They will march through the breadth of
1:1 "Burden" – note at Isa 13:1. Habakkuk received a revelation of truth from God, as all the true prophets of the Old Testament did (2 Pet 1:21). 1:2 The prophet could not get an answer to his prayers, could not get an explanation from God for the problem that troubled him. This was sometimes the complaint of other Old Testament believers – Ps 6:3; 13:1-4; 74:10,11; 89:46,47; Lam 5:20. Probably this same thing has bothered all of us at one time or another. All they (or we) could do was to wait and look to God for Him to work in His time and way. 1:3,4 Here is the problem which tormented Habakkuk. In Judah, where he lived, wicked people had the upper hand and crushed the righteous. Injustice, oppression and violence were everywhere. Yet it seemed to the prophet that God did not care; that He tolerated the situation and did nothing about it. This is a problem that has vexed many people, perhaps nearly all of us at one time or another (see Job 24:1-12; Ps 10:1-12; 13:1,2; 73:2-12; Eccl 3:16,17). God is the all-powerful Ruler of the universe, and He loves justice and righteousness – Ps 33:5; 47:2; 89:14. Yet in this world the wicked prosper and the good suffer and are denied justice. Why doesn't God do something about it? 1:5-11 In these verses God gives an answer to Habakkuk. He assures him that He is going to do something about the corrupt society of Judah. He will bring an end to it, and the instrument He will use is the Babylonian army. 1:5 "Amazed" – Isa 29:9,14. The people of Judah were God's special people whom He chose above all nations on earth – Deut 10:15; Ps 135:4. Though God had used
the Assyrians to destroy the northern kingdom of Israel (2 Kings 17:5,6), the people of Judah did not believe such a thing could happen to them.
"Told" – Acts 13:41. 1:6 "I am raising up" – compare 1 Chron 5:26; 2 Chron 21:16; Isa 13:17; Jer 51:1; Amos 6:14. If any nation comes to a place of power on earth it is because the one true God has raised it up; if any falls into weakness and decay it is because He has put it down. Compare Dan 4:34,35; Isa 40:15,22-24; Acts 17:26 "Chaldeans" – the Babylonians. Babylonia became a world power and crushed Assyria, the previous greatest power, between 612 and 605 BC.
"The breadth of the earth" – here this means the lands known to the people of Judah, including their own land. God would use that people to punish His own people. See Jer 51:10 and compare Isa 10:5,6. 1:6-11 From this description of the Babylonians we see they were an exceedingly violent, arrogant and lawless people who cared nothing at all for the true God. 1:11 "His god" – compare Dan 4:30; 11:38. The Babylonians practically worshiped their military power. 1:12-17 God has given an answer to Habakkuk's questions in vs 2-4. But the prophet was not happy with the answer. He wanted God to do something, but was not pleased with what God planned to do. It seems to him that the proposed remedy was worse than the disease. He knew that his own people were bad, but that the Babylonians were even worse (v 13). And now his question is, how can a perfectly holy God use such a wicked nation to punish His own people? 1:12 "Everlasting" – Ps 90:2; Ex 3:14.
1221 HABAKKUK 2:6
We will not die. O LORD, you have
I will stand my watch, and place myself on the fortifications, and will look to see what he will say to me, and what answer I should give when I
appointed them for judgment, and,
O mighty God, you have established them for correction. 13 Your eyes are too pure to gaze at evil, and cannot look on wickedness. Why do you look on those who deal
am rebuked. 2 And the LORD answered me, and said,
"Write the vision, and make it plain on tablets, that he who reads it may run. 3 For the vision is yet for the appointed time,
treacherously, and hold your tongue when the wicked
devours the man who is more
but in the end it will speak, and not lie. Even though it delays, wait for it,
righteous than he? 14 Why do you make men like the fish of the sea, like crawling things which have no
because it will surely come, it will not delay.
4 "See the proud one.
ruler over them? 15 They take up all of them with a hook; they catch them in their net, and gather them in their dragnet. Therefore they rejoice and are glad. 16 Therefore they offer sacrifices to their net, and burn incense to their dragnet,
His soul is not upright in him. But the righteous will live by his faith. 5 And indeed, because he transgresses
through wine, he is a proud man, and does not stay at home. He enlarges his desire as hell, and,
like death, cannot be satisfied, but gathers for himself all nations,
because through them their portion
is rich, and their food abundant. 17 So will they go on emptying their net, and continually slaying nations
and heaps up for himself all people. 6 Shall not all these make up a parable
about him, and take up a taunting proverb against
without sparing?
"My Holy One" – Isa 1:4; 6:3; Lev 20:7. "Die" – Ps 118:17. "Judgment", "correction" – he accepts what God says in v 6 about raising up the Babylonians as an instrument to punish Judah. 1:13 "Wickedness" – v 3. It seemed to the prophet that God was going to tolerate an even greater wrong in letting the Babylonians destroy Judah than the wrong already present in Judah. And since God could do no evil and could not even look at it, how could He use the evil Babylonians?
"That he who reads it may run" or it could be translated "So that a herald may run with it."
"Though it delays, wait for it, because it" – or "though He linger, wait for Him, because He."
"It [or He] will not delay" – Babylon fell in 539 BC, about 65 years after God gave this message to His prophet – a brief time in prophecy and in the rise and fall of nations. 2:4 "The proud one" – possibly the king of Babylon representing the whole kingdom, or possibly the kingdom itself personified.
"Those who deal treacherously" – the Babylonians.
"Faith" – the message is that the prophet should trust God even though he does not understand a thing God is doing. The prophet was baffled at God's ways – 1:2-4,13,17. God tells him (and us) that faith in Him is the only way for the righteous, whether they understand little or much of what God does in the world. Compare 2 Cor 5:7. See how this great phrase from Habakkuk is used in the New Testament – Rom 1:17; Gal 3:11; Heb 10:38,39. 2:5-19 God describes the character of Babylon and speaks of its downfall – vs 6-8,17. He would use Babylon to punish His people (1:6), but this did not mean that He favored Babylon over them. He would deal with Babylon too at the proper time. This is God's answer to Habakkuk. 2:5 "Transgresses through wine" – Prov 20:1; 23:31,32; Dan 5:1-4. "His desire as hell" – the Hebrew has "Sheol" – note at Gen 37:35.
"More righteous than he"– though the prophet knew the people of Judah were bad, he thought they were still better than the Babylonians. 1:15 "They" – the Babylonians. The prophet describes them as determined fishermen who catch helpless peoples and nations. 1:16 "Net" – here signifies their military power. It enabled them to plunder other nations and live in luxury themselves. 1:17 This is an important question in the prophet's mind. Could God continue to tolerate the atrocities of the Babylonians? Would He not put a stop to them? 2:1 "Watch" – Isa 21:8; Ezek 3:17. As a prophet Habakkuk was like a watchman for the kingdom of Judah. He realized he had been questioning God and waits to see the result of it. 2:2,3 "Vision" – the revelation God gave him in a vision appears in the rest of this chapter. It concerns God's judgment on the Babylonians.
"All people" – 1:6,9,17. This is evidence that God is speaking of Babylon. 2:6 "Taunting proverb" – those nations could
HABAKKUK 2:7 1222
him, and say, 'Woe to him who piles up what is not his! And to him who loads himself down
that the peoples labour for the fire,
and the nations exhaust themselves
for nothing? 14 For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD,
with the weight of pledges.' But for how long? 7 Will not those who will bite you rise up suddenly, and those who will trouble you awake? And you become booty for them? 8 Because you have plundered many nations,
as the waters cover the sea.
15 "Woe to him who gives drink to his neighbour, who puts your bottle to him,
and makes him drunk also, that you may look on their nakedness! 16 You are filled with shame instead of glory. Drink, you also, and be counted as
all the remainder of the peoples will
plunder you, because of men's blood, and the
uncircumcised. The cup from the LORD's right hand
violence of the land, of the city,
and of all who live in it.
will come around to you, and utter disgrace will cover your glory. 17 For the violence done to Lebanon will overwhelm you, and the destruction of beasts which
9 "Woe to him who covets ill-gotten gain
for his house, that he may set his nest on high, that he may be delivered from the reach
of calamity!
made them afraid, and because of men's blood, and because of violence done to the land,
10 "You have devised a shameful thing for your house, cutting off many people,
to the city, and to all who live in it.
and sinning against your own soul. 11 For the stone will cry out of the wall, and the beam from the timbers will
18 "What profit is an idol when its maker has carved it, or a cast metal image, a teacher of lies? For the maker trusts in his own handiwork, making idols which cannot speak. 19 Woe to him who says to a piece of wood, 'Awake!', to a mute stone,
answer it.
12 "Woe to him who builds a town by bloodshed, and establishes a city by wickedness! 13 See, is it not of the LORD of hosts
what is done through God and for God and by God will endure. Compare 1 John 2:16,17. 2:14 Num 14:21; Isa 11:9. This will come about only when the kingdoms of this world become the kingdom of Christ – Rev 11:15; Dan 2:34,35,44. 2:15 This may refer to the methods Babylon used to strip neighboring nations of their wealth. 2:16 God would treat Babylon as it treated others (compare Ps 18:25,26). God would give Babylon a "cup" to drink which would make it stagger and fall and lie in nakedness and shame, stripped of its power, its wealth, and its glory. Compare Jer 25:15, 16,27,28. "As uncircumcised" – like those who are not the people of Israel, those in covenant relationship with the true God. 2:17 Apparently the Babylonians had been very severe in their treatment of Lebanon. 2:18,19 Compare Ps 115:4-8; Isa 40:1822; 41:29; 44:9-20. Babylon was full of idols – Jer 50:38; the people trusted in the work of their own hands, not in God. This would be a cause of terrible "woe" to them. Observe that an idol is a "teacher of lies" – it lies to people about the nature of God and how to receive divine help. Compare Rom 1:25.
only taunt Babylon if they thought Babylon was about to fall.
"Woe" – the five "woes" in vs 6-19 signify that punishment would come to Babylon because of their sins. We may be sure that God will not spare any nation, any people which behaves as Babylon did. Compare Isa 5:8-24.
"The weight of pledges" – things given in pledge by others to get loans. The KJV has "thick clay" here. It seems that here they were following the Syriac version or the Vulgate, rather than the Hebrew. 2:7,8 The oppressed will rise up and overcome their oppressor. Other nations will treat Babylon as Babylon treated them. 2:9-11 Like Babylon, individuals sometimes think that by lies, deceit or force they can make themselves secure for the future. Little do they realize that the methods they use to escape ruin will inevitably lead them to ruin.
"Cry out" (v 11) – Babylon was built by riches plundered from other nations. The very walls of the city would testify against it. In the same way do not the walls and beams of many houses all over our land cry out against their owners? 2:12,13 Towns, cities, and empires can be built by violence and sinful methods, but they will all come to nothing in the end. Only
1223 HABAKKUK 3:15
8 Was the LORD displeased with the rivers?
'Arise!' Can it teach? See, it is overlaid with gold and silver, and there is no breath at all in it. 20 But the LORD is in his holy temple. Let all the earth keep silence before him."
Was your anger against the rivers? Was your wrath against the sea,
that you rode on your horses and
your chariots of salvation? 9 Your bow was completely uncovered, oaths were sworn over your tribes. Selah
A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet,
on Shigionoth.
You split the earth with rivers. 10 The mountains saw you, and they trembled. Floods of water swept by. The deep uttered its voice,
2 O LORD, I have heard your renown,
and was afraid. O LORD, revive your work in the midst
and lifted up its hands on high. 11 The sun and moon stood still in their habitation. At the light of your arrows they went,
of the years. In the midst of the years make yourself
known. In wrath remember mercy.
3 God came from Teman, the Holy One
and at the shining of your
from mount Paran. Selah His glory covered the heavens, and the earth was full of his praise. 4 And his brightness was like the light.
glittering spear. 12 You marched through the land in indignation, you threshed the nations in anger. 13 You went forth for the deliverance of your people, for the deliverance of your anointed. You struck the head of the house of
He had rays flashing out of his hand,
and there his power was hidden. 5 Before him went the plague,
and burning coals followed at his feet. 6 He stood and measured the earth.
the wicked, by baring its foundation
to the neck. Selah 14 You pierced the head of his villages with his own spears. They came out like a whirlwind to scatter me. Their rejoicing was like devouring the
He looked and made the nations tremble, and the everlasting mountains were
scattered, the perpetual hills bowed down. His ways are everlasting. 7 I saw the tents of Cushan in distress;
poor in secret. 15 You walked through the sea with your horses, through the heap of great waters.
and the tent curtains of the land of
Midian trembled.
2:20 Idols cannot speak but God can. From His holy temple in heaven He has been pronouncing judgments on the wicked of the earth. Let men be quiet and listen and learn from Him. 3:1 "Prayer" – though this is called a prayer, only in v 2 do we see any requests. Prayer can be more than merely asking God for things. Much of this psalm is a very poetic description of God as the great judge and punisher of the nations, the great warrior against wickedness on earth, and the Redeemer of His people.
"Paran" – a mountain not far from Edom. The prophet pictures God coming from that direction to subdue His enemies. Whether Habakkuk is referring to a past event or describing a vision which has to do with the future is not clear. Compare Isa 34:5-10; 63:1-6.
"Selah" – note at Ps 3:2. "The earth" – 2:14. 3:4 Isa 18:4; Rev 1:16. 3:5 Ex 5:3; 9:14; Lev 26:25; Deut 32:24; Ps 91:3; Rev 15:1. 3:6 Ps 18:7; Jer 4:24-26; Heb 12:26-28; Rev 6:14; 16:18-20.
"Shigionoth" – no one knows now the meaning of this Hebrew word. It was probably a musical term indicating this prayer could be sung with musical instruments. 3:2 "Revive" – Ps 85:6; 119:25,37,40,88, 107,149,154,156,159; 138:7; 143:11; Isa 57:15; Hos 6:2; 14:7. Habakkuk no longer is set on questioning God as he did in chapter 1. He is willing for God to be God, and is pleading for a revival of God's marvelous work among the people.
"Everlasting" – Gen 21:33; Ex 3:14; Ps 90:2. 3:7 Cushan and Midian were tribes living near Edom. The prophet gives these two names as two examples among many – v 12. 3:8 Ex 7:20-24; 14:15-31; Ps 68:17; 77:16; Rev 8:8,9; 16:3,4. 3:9 Deut 32:23; Ps 7:12,13; 45:3-5. 3:10 Ps 77:16; 93:3. 3:11 Josh 10:12,13; Joel 2:30,31. 3:12 This happened in the past and is happening now, but will be more fully true in the future – Isa 24:1-6; 34:1-4; Zech 14:2-5. 3:13 Compare Ex 3:8; Ps 68:21; 110:6; Isa 31:5; Mic 5:6; Rom 11:26. 3:14,15 See v 8.
"Wrath" – see Num 25:3; Ps 90:7-11; John 3:36; Rom 1:18.
"Mercy" – Ex 34:6,7. 3:3 "Teman" – an area in the land of Edom southeast of Judah.
HABAKKUK 3:16 1224
16 When I heard, my body trembled, my lips quivered at the sound. Decay entered my bones, and I
and the fields produce no food, though the flock is cut off from the
fold and there is no herd in the stalls, 18 Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be glad in the God of my salvation.
trembled in myself. But I will wait quietly for the day of trouble
which will come on the people
19 The Lord God is my strength, and he will make my feet like a deer's feet, and he causes me to walk on my heights.
who will invade us with his troops. 17 Though the fig tree does not blossom and there is no fruit on the vines, though the yield of the olive fails
For the choir director. On my stringed instruments.
3:16 The language here seems to indicate that Habakkuk has seen and heard the things of vs 3-15 in a vision.
The condition described in v 17 would be the result of the Babylonian invasion. The whole idea of this was once a terrible shock to him – 1:12-17. Now he rests in God who always knows what is the best thing to do.
"Trembled" – compare Dan 4:19; 7:15,28; 8:27; 10:16,17. "I will wait quietly" – he will question God about it no more.
"Rejoice" – Ps 97:12; Isa 61:10; Phil 4:4. "God of my salvation" – Ex 15:2; Luke 1:47. What brought joy to the prophet was a personal knowledge of God and his own salvation. If we have this same knowledge we too can rejoice in all that may happen to us – Matt 5:11,12; John 16:33; Rom 5:3; 8:28. 3:19 "My strength" – Ex 15:2; Ps 18:1,32; 22:19; 73:26; Isa 40:29-31. "Heights" – Deut 32:13; Ps 18:33. Deer are very sure-footed on the hills and mountains.
"Who will invade us" – Babylon. He accepts God's word that Babylon would be punished and fall. 3:17,18 Habakkuk puts into practice the word God gave him – "the just will live by his faith" (2:4). He is willing to leave the matter of God's judgments and His dealings in the world where they belong – in God's hands, and trust Him and rejoice in Him no matter what happened. Surely this is a great lesson for all of us to learn.
ZEPHANIAH
Author:
Zephaniah was descended from king Hezekiah, but we know almost nothing about him.
Date:
He prophesied during the days of king Josiah who reigned 640-609 BC.
Themes:
The Day of the LORD; warning that unless the people of Judah repented of their detestable behavior God's punishment would come on them; promise that in the last days God would pour out His blessings on them.
Contents:
God's judgment was about to come on Judah
and on the whole earth .......................................................................... 1:2-6 The destruction coming on the Day of the LORD .............................................. 1:7-18 The call to turn to God before punishment came .............................................. 2:1-3 Punishment coming on nations around Judah ................................................... 2:4-15
On the Philistines ................................................................................... 2:4-7 On the people of Moab and Ammon ......................................................... 2:8-11 On Cush ............................................................................................... 2:12 On Assyria ........................................................................................... 2:13-15 Punishment for the evil committed in Jerusalem................................................ 3:1-5 God's punishment on other nations ................................................................. 3:6-9 The well-being of the Jews after returning to the land ...................................... 3:10-13 The blessings to come to the people of Israel .................................................. 3:14-20
ZEPHANIAH 1:1 1226
for the day of the LORD is at hand, for the LORD has prepared a sacrifice,
The word of the LORD which came to Zephaniah the son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah.
he has invited his guests. 8 And this will take place on the day
of the LORD's sacrifice: I will punish the princes,
2 "I will completely make an end of all
and the king's children, and all those dressed in foreign clothes. 9 On the same day I will also punish all
things from the land,"
says the LORD. 3 "I will make an end of man and beast;
those who leap over the temple threshold, who fill their masters' houses
I will make an end of the birds of the sky, and the fish of the sea, and the stumbling blocks along with
with violence and deceit.
the wicked. And I will cut man off from the land,"
10 "And on that day," says the LORD, "this will take place: there will be the sound of a cry from
says the LORD.
the Fish Gate, and a wailing from the Second Quarter, and a loud crash from the hills. 11 Wail, you inhabitants of Maktesh, for all the merchant people will be
4 "I will stretch out my hand against
Judah and against all the inhabitants
of Jerusalem, and I will cut off what is left of Baal
from this place, and the names of the idolatrous priests
cut down, all those who carry silver will be cut off. 12 And it will happen at that time that I will search Jerusalem with lamps, and punish the men who are settled
along with the priests, 5 And those who worship the starry host
of heaven on the housetops, and those who worship and swear by
complacently like wine on its dregs,
the LORD, and who swear by Malcam, 6 And those who have turned back from
who say in their heart, 'The LORD will not do good,
the LORD, and those who have not sought the
nor will he do evil.' 13 Therefore their goods will become booty, and their houses a desolation. gods of the nations – this revealed much spiritual blindness and depravity. 1:6 This was their great sin and the root cause of other sins. 1:7 "Silent" – Hab 2:20. "Day of the LORD" – v 14; see Isa 13:613; Joel 1:15; 2:2,11; 3:31; Amos 5:18; 1 Thess 5:2; 2 Pet 3:10. "A sacrifice" – Jer 46:10. Here the word speaks of a slaughter. Judah's enemies were set apart for this work of destroying Judah. 1:8 "Foreign clothes" – God saw that His people's adopting foreign dress was a sign of their adopting foreign ways of life contrary to the ways a holy people should live. 1:9 "Leap over the temple threshold" – 1 Sam 5:5. This was one of the foreign ways Judah had adopted. They were careful to observe that, but thought nothing of lying and killing – another example of how some people think that a little religious superstition can win God's favor even if their lives are full of sin. 1:10,11 Neh 3:3; 11:9; 1 Kings 20:34. 1:12 "Complacently" – Amos 6:1. "Dregs" – Jer 48:11. "The LORD will not do" – they felt secure in their sin and unbelief, thinking that God was inactive. Compare Ps 10:11; 73:11,12. 1:13 "Booty" – Jer 15:13; 2 Kings 24:13.
LORD or inquired of him. 7 Be silent in the presence of the Lord God, 1:1 "Word. . .came" – Jer 1:4; Hos 1:1; Joel 1:1.
"Hezekiah" – 2 Kings 18:1. "Josiah" – 2 Kings 22:1. "Amon" – 2 Kings 21:19. 1:2,3 Judging from the language of this verse, v 18 and 3:8, God is speaking through Zephaniah of a time in the distant future which still has not come. Compare Gen 6:7. God promised Noah that He would never again destroy everything with a flood – Gen 9:15,16. Through Zephaniah He speaks of destruction by other means. Compare also 2 Peter 3:10-13. "The land" – or "the earth" – the Hebrew word means either. 1:4-13 Having announced the far-off event, God now speaks of the punishment of Judah and Jerusalem. There seems to be a mingling of events to come in the near future and the is tant future (v 7). They were partly fulfilled in 586 BC – 2 Kings chapter 25. 1:4 "I will" – compare Isa 10:5; Jer 51:20. "Baal" – note at Jud 2:11. "Idolatrous priests" – in Hebrew "Kemarim." 1:5 "Starry host" – 2 Kings 21:3; Jer 8:2; 19:13; Acts 7:42; Deut 4:19; 17:3-5. "Malcam" – the god Molech – note at Lev 18:21. Trying to combine the name of the one true God with the worship of the false
1227 ZEPHANIAH 2:9
And they will build houses but not live
before the day of the LORD's anger
in them, and they will plant vineyards but not
comes on you. 3 Seek the LORD, all you meek of the earth,
drink their wine.
who have behaved in accordance with
his justice. Seek righteousness, seek meekness. Perhaps you will be hidden in the day
14 "The great day of the LORD is near. It is near, and coming speedily. The sound of the day of the LORD! The mighty man there will cry out bitterly. 15 That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of devastation and desolation, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and dense darkness, 16 A day of the trumpet and alarm against the fortified cities, and against the
of the LORD's anger.
4 For Gaza will be abandoned,
and Ashkelon will become a desolation. At midday they will drive out the
people of Ashdod, and Ekron will be uprooted. 5 Woe to the inhabitants of the seacoast,
the nation of the Kerethites! The word of the LORD is against you,
high towers. 17 I will bring distress on men, so that they walk like blind men, because they have sinned against
O Canaan, the land of the Philistines: "I will destroy you, so that no one will
live there. "
the LORD. And their blood will be poured out like dust,
6 And the seacoast will become pastures,
and caves for shepherds,
and their flesh like dung. 18 Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to save them in the day
and folds for flocks. 7 And the coast will be for the remnant
of the house of Judah. They will feed their flocks there. In the evening they will lie down in
of the LORD's wrath; and the whole land will be devoured by
the fire of his jealousy. For quickly he will rid the land of all
the houses of Ashkelon; for the LORD their God will visit them,
those who live in it."
and turn away their captivity.
8 "I have heard the insults of Moab,
Gather yourselves together; yes, gather together, O nation not desirable, 2 Before the decree is carried out,
and the taunts of the children of Ammon, with which they have insulted my people, and exalted themselves against their
before the day takes away the chaff, before the fierce anger of the LORD
borders. 9 Therefore, as I live,"
comes on you,
1:14 Verse 7. "Near" – Joel 1:15. 1:15 Amos 5:18-20. 1:16 Joel 2:2. 1:17 "Blind men" – Deut 28:28,29; Isa 59:10. 1:18 "Wrath" – notes at Num 25:3; Ps 90:7-11; John 3:36; Rom 1:18. The wealthy sometimes think their riches give them security. But they will learn that there is no security when God rises in anger against them.
"Perhaps" – Joel 2:14; Amos 5:15. 2:4-7 A prophecy of God's judgment on the Philistines. See also Amos 1:6-8; Ezek 25:15-17. Note on Philistines at Gen 10:14. Gaza, Ashkelon, Ashdod and Ekron were important cities in their land.
"Kerethites" – 1 Sam 30:14; 2 Sam 8:18. 2:7 "Remnant" – Isa 11:11,16; 28:5; 37:32; Jer 23:3. "Turn away their captivity" – or "restore their well-being" – the Hebrew means either. Deut 30:3; Jer 32:44; Hos 14:49; Joel 3:1; Amos 9:13-15. 2:8,9 God pronounces judgment on the people of Moab and the Ammonites together. They were descended from the same man (Gen 19:36-38), and lived in the same general area. For other prophecies about them see Isa 11:14; 15:1 - 16:14; Jer 9:26; chapter 48; 49:1-6; Ezek 21:28-32; 25:1-11; Amos 2:1-3. Both nations were continual enemies of Israel. 2:9 "LORD of hosts" – note at 1 Sam 1:3. "Sodom", "Gomorrah" – Gen 19:23-29.
"Devoured" – vs 2,3; 3:8. 2:1 "Nation not desirable" – Judah (Jer 3:3,25; 6:15). Their behavior was shameful but they were not ashamed of it. 2:2,3 A call to repentance before punishment falls.
"Seek" – Hos 14:1-3; Joel 2:12-14; Amos 5:4,6; Isa 55:6,7; Jer 29:13.
"Meek" – only the humble would be willing to listen to the prophet and seek God.
"Righteousness" – Isa 1:17; Matt 6:33. "Meekness" – Isa 57:15; 66:2; Jam 4:6-10.