A Brief Introduction to the Book of Nahum.
*HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF THE MINOR PROPHETS
-Northern Kingdom consisted of ten tribes called "Israel." The capital city of Israel was "Samaria." Israel was conquered by the Assyrians in 722 BC. But the Assyrians were later conquered by the Babylonians.
-Southern Kingdom consisted of two tribes called "Judah." The capital city of Judah was "Jerusalem." Judah was conquered by the Babylonians in 586 BC (but with other conquests in 605 BC and 597 BC). But the Babylonians were later conquered by the Persians.
-Returns from Persia by the Jew happened three different times. First in 538 BC (see Ezra 1-6) led by Zerubbabel. Second in 458 BC (see Ezra 7-10) led by Ezra. Third in 444 BC led by Nehemiah.
*AUTHOR
We don't know much about Nahum except that he was from the town of Elkosh, which we don't know much about either.
*AUDIENCE
Nahum's prophecies predict the doom of Assyrian and it's capital city, Nineveh. But the book also is supposed to serve as a comforting message to Judah, because Assyria had tried to conquer them in the past.
*DATE
The book was written sometime between 663-612 B.C. We know this because the fall of the city of "Thebes" is mentioned in Nahum 3:8, and that event occured in 663 B.C. The fall of the city of Nineveh occured in 612 B.C. Therefore, the book was written sometime between 663-612 B.C.
*OUTLINE (from Wiersbe's commentary)
-God Is Jealous: Nineveh Will Fall (Nahum 1)
-God Is Judge: How Nineveh Will Fall (Nahum 2)
-God Is Just: Why Nineveh Will Fall (Nahum 3)
*KEY VERSE
“The LORD is a jealous God, filled with vengeance and rage. He takes revenge on all who oppose him and continues to rage against his enemies! . . . The LORD is good, a strong refuge when trouble comes. He is close to those who trust in him.” (Nahum 1:2, 7, NLT)
*THEME
The vengeance of God on his enemies.
ADDITIONAL STUDY THOUGHTS:
The Bible Knowledge Commentary has an amazing chart of fulfillments of Nahum's prophecies on pages 1495 which connects the book of Nahum to contemporary secular history.
Purchase the books I mentioned in the video here:
-Bible Knowledge Commentary, Old Testament, amzn.to/2H210A6
-An Introduction to the Old Testament Prophetic Books, amzn.to/2H2C1fS
-Be Amazed, amzn.to/31Amqw6 (commentary)
-Restoring an Attitude of Wonder and Worship, amzn.to/2GZJPiu (Bible study)
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Thanks for watching!
Christopher L. Scott
www.ChristopherLynnScott.com
Subscribe to my free monthly email newsletter and receive a free Bible study guide titled, "How Anyone Can Study the Bible Anywhere" here eepurl.com/hk0iPP
Bibles I Recommend:
- The Bible I Use Daily: The NLT Slimline Center-Column Reference Bible, amzn.to/2M5R757
- The NKJV Study Bible I Recommend for In-Depth Study: The Wiersbe Study Bible, amzn.to/2WXlgt1
- The NLT Study Bible I Recommend for In-Depth Study: The Swindoll Study Bible, amzn.to/2xf2LFk
- Another Study Bible I Recommend for In-Depth Study: The English Standard Version (ESV) Study Bible, amzn.to/2N9WLmi
Small Group Studies I Recommend:
-Warren Wiersbe Bible Study Guides, amzn.to/2IkNkhq
-Warren Wiersbe Commentaries, amzn.to/2K3HuGN
-Living on the Edge Group Studies by Chip Ingram, livingontheedge...
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