Nahum and Habakkuk

In today's post I treat of both Nahum and Habakkuk. Amazingly, this is my second shortest post. In regard to Nahum I've only given some background and a summary of Nah 1:1-11. I have provided a link to a post giving an outline and summary of the rest of the book. It is my hope that people take time to view it at some point, for this book is one of the least read and, in some circles, most despised of the prophetic book.

NAHUM

The LORD has given commandment about you: "No more shall your name be perpetuated; from the house of your gods I will cut off the graven image and the molten image. I will make your grave, for you are vile"~Nah 1:14 RSVCE

The above photo is the head of a winged bull deity called a Lamassu. It was excavated at the ancient site of Assyria by Iraqi archaeologists. These idol gods were thought to provide protection for Assyrian royalty but I suspect this one was asleep on that fateful day in July, 612 BC. This photo is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

The book of Nahum is never quoted in the NT. No major Christian Sunday lectionary includes readings from it. No Haftorah reading in the Jewish synagogue service employs it. In Year II of the Catholic Daily Lectionary, Nahum 2:1, 3; 3:1-3, 6-7 is read on Friday of the 18th week in Ordinary Time. The responsorial verse for this day helps set the theme of the Mass: "It is I who deal death and give life." The Responsorial Psalm is Deut 32:35c-36b, 39, 41; it too helps set the theme: God has the power to punish and save, give life or death. He has power to vindicate His people and punish their oppressors. The Gospel reading is Mt 16:24-28.

To the best of my knowledge no reading from Nahum is used in the Office of Readings.

Nahum (Hebrew: nachum) means "one who is consoled," "one who is comforted." The name is widely believed to be a contraction of the name Nehemiah, "the consolation of God." It is related to the name Noah, an interesting fact given the flood imagery employed in the book There may be a play on the name in Nah 3:7~"And all who look on you will shrink from you and say, Wasted is Nineveh; who will bemoan her? whence shall I seek comforters (Heb. nacham,) for her." The book has been greatly criticized in modern times because of the apparent glee with which the prophet celebrates the demise of the Assyrian Empire, but two things should be kept in mind: 1. the sheer brutality of the Assyrians, which they both glorified and eroticized; 2. A proper understanding of the biblical concepts of wrath and vengeance.

The book opens with a superscription (Nah 1:1) which describes the content of the work as an oracle (literally, "burden") against Nineveh, the capitol and personification of the Assyrian Empire. Most scholars are of the opinion that Nahum uttered his words shortly before the conquest of Nineveh by the Babylonians in 609 BC. The superscription is followed by an introduction (Nah 1:2-11), beginning with a hymn which portrays God as a divine warrior (Nah 1:2-8),. In this hymn God is portrayed as a avenger of wrongdoing possessing cosmic power (Nah 1:2-5) against which nothing or no one can stand (Nah 2:6). He can protect those who trust in Him (Nah 2:7) even as He brings down punishment on His foes (Nah 1:8). This hymn is followed by a rhetorical question directed towards the Assyrians and, possibly, doubters among God's people (Nah 1:9a). This question introduces a statement about the certainty of His victory (Nah 1:9b-10). This introductory section ends with a reminder of how God had rescued His people and the city of Jerusalem from the Assyrians in time past (Nah 1:11). This is a reference to the 701 BC siege of Jerusalem by the Assyrian king Sennacherib who, through his commander, counseled the defenders of Jerusalem not to trust either their king of their God. God, however, forced the Assyrians to withdraw (see 2 Kings 18:13-19:37). For more on the remainder of Nahum see my OUTLINE SUMMARY OF NAHUM 1:12-3:19.

HABAKKUK

I will take my stand to watch, and station myself on the tower, and look forth to see what he will say to me~Hab 2:1

 

A reconstructed agricultural or shepherd's watchtower at Nazareth. Such towers were common (Isa 5:2; Matt 21:33; Gen 35:21).

Habakkuk's prophetic activity seems to date from shortly after the final demise of the once mighty Assyrian Empire which met its final end against Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, at the battle of Carchemish in 605 BC; but before the first conquest of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar in 597 BC. He was, therefore, a contemporary of the Prophet Jeremiah who ministered circa 628-585 BC. His ministry slightly post-dates that of Nahum (circa 612 BC); and slightly pre-dates the beginning of Ezekiel's prophesying (circa 593 BC).

The book opens with the prophet uttering a complaint to God about the wickedness of the people of Judah, and about the seeming slowness of God to respond to it. (Hab 1:2-4). God answers that His response to the situation is already brewing. The rise of the Babylonians (Chaldeans) is His doing, even though they are a violent and greedy nation, determining for themselves what constitutes justice, and worshiping their own might as if it were a god (Hab 1:5-11). Although it is not stated explicitly, the implication is that their rise is for the sake of chastising the evildoers in Judah.

Needless to say, the response causes the prophet confusion and gives rise to a second complaint. The people need to be chastised, but how is it that God, the Immortal Holy One can bring a nation more faithless than Judah to do it? Will this situation last forever? (Hab 1:12-17). The prophet then notes that he will, like a sentinel, keep a patient and faithful watch for God's response (Hab 2:1). In doing so he is unknowingly already doing what God will say is necessary, exhibiting faith and patience (Hab 2:3-4, see next paragraph). 

 

In response God shows the prophet a vision of his workings and tells him to write it down. He has a plan and it works out on His timetable, a point already hinted at in his first response about the rise of Babylon. One must, sentinel like, wait patiently, it will come to fruition (Hab 2:2-3). Then it will be seen that he whose soul is not upright in him shall fail, but the righteous shall live by his faith (Hab 2:4).

The word "soul" (Hebrew nephesh) in the first half of 2:4 has a broad range of meaning, and can designate the seat of the appetites, the meaning I take for it here: "He whose appetite is not upright in him shall fail." This is a dig against the rapacious greed for land, captives, power, and luxury and false gods, exhibited by the Babylonians (Hab 1:6-11; Hab 1:15-17). It prepares for the imprecations against idolatry and unjust acquisitions through greed and power in Hab 2:5-19.

The second half of 2:4, the righteous shall live by his faith, prepares for Hab 3:1-19. This prayer of the prophet opens with Habakkuk, sentinel-like, looking and waiting for the day when God will act with mercy on behalf of his people (Hab 3:2). The focus is upon God who "dominates solemnly the world scene...For the sacred author, the Lord's entry into the world has a precise meaning. He wills to enter into human history in the course of the years as repeated twice in verse 2, to judge and make its affairs better which we conduct in such a confused and at times perverse way." (Pope John Paul II's Commentary on Hab. 3 ). In other words, the psalm builds upon issues that concerned the prophet earlier in the book. It ends on a note of patient waiting, and confident, faithful trust in God (Hab 3:16-19), returning to the them of the second part of Hab 2:4.

Photo: It is believed that this sentinel's tower is on the sight of the famous watchtower of Jezreel (see 2 Kings 9:17).