NAHUM+—An Illustrated Summary of Life Applications from Every Chapter of the Bible by G. Campbell Morgan

"On every page of the God-breathed writings are many thoughts that stretch out like long, clear arms of light across the darkness, discovering things otherwise hidden and illuminating wider areas than those of the immediate context. They are searchlights. I have selected one in each chapter of Scripture, for at least one central thought in every chapter should arrest the mind and affect the life," wrote G. Campbell Morgan, a skilled, wise, warm-hearted Bible teacher who conducted a classic 3-year study called Life Applications from Every Chapter of the Bible. Here is the fruit of that research—summarized, illustrated, and amplified with useful details—on all 66 books of the Bible.

GENESIS, EXODUS, LEVITICUS, NUMBERS, 

DEUTERONOMY, JOSHUA, JUDGES, RUTH, 

1 SAMUEL, 2 SAMUEL, 1 KINGS,  2 KINGS, 

1 CHRONICLES, 2 CHRONICLES, EZRA, 

NEHEMIAH, ESTHER, JOB, PSALMS, 

PROVERBS, ECCLESIASTES, 

SONG OF SOLOMON,  ISAIAH, JEREMIAH,

 LAMENTATIONS, EZEKIEL, DANIEL, 

HOSEA, JOEL, AMOS, OBADIAH, JONAH, 

MICAH, NAHUM, HABAKKUK, ZEPHANIAH,  

HAGGAI, ZECHARIAH, MALACHI,

 MATTHEW, MARK, LUKE, JOHN, 

ACTS, ROMANS, 1 CORINTHIANS,

2 CORINTHIANS, GALATIANS, EPHESIANS, 

PHILIPPIANS, COLOSSIANS, 1 THESSALONIANS,

2 THESSALONIANS, 1 TIMOTHY,  2 TIMOTHY, TITUS,

PHILEMON, HEBREWS, JAMES, 1 PETER, 2 PETER,

1 JOHN, 2 JOHN, 3 JOHN, JUDE, REVELATION

Nahum 1:14 "I will make your grave, for you are evil." Nahum is a prophecy displaying the wrath of God in its national application.  The Lord was merciful to the Assyrian nation under the ministry of Jonah, but this is now many years later, and all signs of national repentance have faded away. Nahum presents 3 messages from the Lord: 1. A verdict of divine vengeance, 2. A vision of that vengeance carried out, 3. The vindication of that vengeance. They center on the capital city of Nineveh, delivered almost certainly when it was at the height of its power. One hundred years before, Jonah had preached on its streets, and the people all together repented. Those following them, however, repented of that repentance, and the Assyrians again became characterized by oppression and cruelty. Nahum personifies Nineveh, saying that God will bury it. Although "the Lord is good" (verse 7) and "slow to anger," He is "great in power [and] will not leave the guilty unpunished" (verse 3). God's wrath brought Nineveh and Assyria to a "full end" (verse 8), and the same is true now that in His perfect timing, all pride, cruelty, and vice are doomed.

Nahum 2:10 "Nineveh is destroyed, robbed and stripped! Hearts melt away in fear. Knees give way. Bodies tremble with fear. Everyone's face turns pale." Destroyed, robbed, and stripped summarize with finality the complete fall of Nineveh and the Assyrian Empire. The proud city of splendid architecture, accumulated treasure, and utmost luxury is seen as a dreary, degraded desolation. The literal fulfillment of God's divine sentence is a matter of history. The prophecy here also movingly describes the state of the people. When the divine vengeance fell in hammer blows upon the vile nation, hearts melted and knees knocked together: inward and outward courage failed. That led to anguish and death. As the Book of Hebrews states, "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God." God is still "slow to anger" (Nahum 1:3), but when people or nations persist in wickedness in spite of His patience, "with an overwhelming flood He will make a full end" (1:8). That brings comfort and courage to those who trust Him, however proudly temporary evil  raises its head and vaunts itself.

Nahum 3:7 "Nineveh is destroyed. Who will sob over it? Where can I find anyone to comfort you?" This chapter alternates between descriptions of Nineveh's vice and the Lord's vengeance upon it. To study it is to be convinced that the vice demanded the vengeance. In the presence of corruption so complete, cruelties so brutal, and depravity so profound, anything less than divine justice to blot out the plague would have been unjust. If asked, all nations would have agreed with the destruction of Nineveh. None would pity it or could even be found to offer any comfort. The principle is that in the underlying conscience of humankind, the sense of justice is never destroyed. The beauty of righteousness is recognized, and the repulsiveness of evil admitted. People and nations go in evil directions and persist in them, but deep down they know the wrong of it. For some imagined temporary advantage they sin against this deep conviction, but still it is there and it comes to the surface whenever the wrath of God proceeds in judgment. When the full process of God's work in this world is complete, the whole universe will agree with its rightness and judgment. That which is then doomed will be so not by God only, but also by the consent of creation.

How Nahum (around 650 to 620 B.C.) relates to other prophetic writings and historical events.

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