The Bloody City (Nahum 3:1-4)

This study was done using the Amplified Bible, which I don't have permission to publish, so I will replace the verses here with the American Standard Version.  Because of that some of the comments may not totally make sense because the AMP has expanded explanations.  I would highly recommend going to a site like BibleGateway.com where you can read the AMP version for free.

Nahum Chapter 3: 

1. Woe to the bloody city! it is all full of lies and rapine; the prey departeth not.

 Nineveh certainly was a bloody city.  It's kings were known for awful brutality.  When they defeated their enemies there would lead their captives by putting hooks through their noses and even execute them by skinning them alive.

It was full of lies as are many nations, particularly the nobles and politicians.  They make great promises to nations and peoples in order to convince them to submit, but in the end do not fulfill their end of the bargain.

2 The noise of the whip, and the noise of the rattling of wheels, and prancing horses, and bounding chariots,

A.  Such distinct sounds the inhabitants of the city would have hear from far off.  The cracking of the whip also indicates haste, the rushing onslaught toward the great city. 

3 the horseman mounting, and the flashing sword, and the glittering spear, and a multitude of slain, and a great heap of corpses, and there is no end of the bodies; they stumble upon their bodies;-

A.  Such a large multitude of flashing swords and gleaming spears would have been terrible to look at from the city walls.  Then, when they burst into the city the bodies became innumerable.  The stumbling was by both the horsemen and the fleeing Ninevites who were forced to trip over the bodies of their own family and friends.  The horsemen, having no respect for those they killed continued forward, trampling the bodies of their victims.

4 All because of the multitude of the harlotries [of Nineveh], the well-favored harlot, the mistress of deadly charms who betrays and sells nations through her whoredoms [idolatry] and peoples through her enchantments.

 Harlotry in fact was a mainstay of Assyria, John Gill explains: "...all the Assyrian women must be harlots, since they were obliged once in their lifetime to lie with a stranger in the temple of Venus, whom the Assyrians call Mylitta, as Herodotus (b) and Strabo (c) relate; to all which here may be an allusion: and particularly the inhabitants of this city had all the arts of address and insinuation to deceive others as harlots have; and both men and women very probably were given to whoredom and adultery in a literal sense as is generally the case where luxury and intemperance abound; and especially were grossly guilty of idolatry, which in Scripture is frequently expressed by whoredom and adultery; worshiping Bel, Nisroch and other deities and which was highly provoking to God; and therefore for these things, his judgement came upon them, before and after described."

Nineveh had a long history of enslaving nations.  Those nations which rose up and destroyed it were enslaved nations before that time.  

Ashurbanipal - Lion Slayer? (Nahum 2:6-13)

This study was done using the Amplified Bible, which I don't have permission to publish, so I will replace the verses here with the American Standard Version.  Because of that some of the comments may not totally make sense because the AMP has expanded explanations.  I would highly recommend going to a site like BibleGateway.com where you can read the AMP version for free.

6 The gates of the rivers are opened, and the palace is dissolved.

     A.  Despite the great efforts of the Ninevites to survive and fight back, God's judgement and the prophecy of Nahum was unstoppable.  According to John Gill, the rivers here are, "Of Diava and Adiava, or Lycus and Caprus, between which, according to some writers (i), Nineveh was situated; or the gates of the city, which lay nearest to the river Tigris, are meant; or that river itself, the plural for the singular, which overflowing, broke down the walls of the city for two and a half miles, and opened a way for the Medes and Chaldeans to enter in...".  It was the overflowing of the river Tigris that truly sealed the fate of the Ninevites.  They could have possibly fought for longer and held off the powerful attack the the Babylonians had it not been for the flooding that destroyed their walls.

7 And it is decreed: she is uncovered, she is carried away; and her handmaids moan as with the voice of doves, beating upon their breasts.

It is decreed.  Once God decrees something, there is nothing that can stop it.  Not the largest armies, wisest men, or thickest walls. 

Some translations have the word Huzzab instead of "She".  This is because Hebrew word "Huzzab" means "Appointed", and there has been debate as to whether Huzzab is the name of the queen, who would have very likely been taken captive as was the custom in those days, or is this referring to Nineveh itself.  This is unknown for sure, however in my opinion the fact that this passage specifically refers to "her maids" makes me lean toward Huzzab indeed being the queen.

8 But Nineveh hath been from of old like a pool of water: yet they flee away. Stand, stand, they cry; but none looketh back.

    A.  Nineveh as a standing pool is an reference to the age of the city, Nineveh was founded by Nimrod (Genesis 10:11) the great hunter before the Lord.  It had been strong for a very long time, but now, even with such deep roots the people fled in chaos.  The bravest of their champions called for them to stand their ground, but they would not listen even to them.

9 Take ye the spoil of silver, take the spoil of gold; for there is no end of the store, the glory of all goodly furniture.

   A.  It is truly incredible the accuracy of Nahum's description of what would happen. Babylonian accounts of the siege of Nineveh describe that they actually stopped their advance toward the city because the surrounding temples and villages were so full of plunder, they decided to take their times and divvy it up before making their way into the main city.

   B.  According to Gordon Franz*, "Nineveh was the Fort Knox of mid-seventh century BC Mesopotamia. On every Assyrian campaign they removed the silver, gold and precious stones and other items from the cities they sacked. When they bragged about the booty that was taken, silver and gold always topped the list. As an example, after the fall of No-Amon (Thebes), Ashurbanipal bragged that he took:

Silver, gold, precious stones, the goods of his palace, all there was, brightly colored and linen garments, great horses, the people, male and female, two tall obelisks...I removed from their positions and carried them off to Assyria. Heavy plunder, and countless, I carried away from Ni’ [Thebes] (Luckenbill 1989, 2:296,)

* Source: Associates For Biblical Research (http://www.biblearchaeology.org/), Bible and Spade Magazine.

10 She is empty, and void, and waste; and the heart melteth, and the knees smite together, and anguish is in all loins, and the faces of them all are waxed pale.

A.  There is no doubt that this is truly what became the fate of Nineveh.  Utter destruction.  To this day it is still nothing but dust and ruins.  The three Hebrew words for, "Emptiness! Desolation! Utter waste!" Are Bukah, Mebukah, Mebullakah, and are intense, definitive words meant to signify the ominous climax to the battle.

11 Where is the den of the lions, and the feeding-place of the young lions, where the lion and the lioness walked, the lion's whelp, and none made them afraid?

Nineveh was such a powerful city, the crown of a world dominating nation that it is entirely appropriate to compare it to a lion's den.  Assyrian Kings were also expected to be men of great bravery, and lion hunting is often depicted in their art.  Pictured here is an artifact from the British Museum taken from the dig of Nineveh's North Palace.  Here were see Ashurbanipal on a royal lion hunt.  

12 The lion did tear in pieces enough for his whelps, and strangled for his lionesses, and filled his caves with prey, and his dens with ravin.

A.  Nineveh, the lion was the source of power, strength, and wealth for all of Assyria.  As Gordon Franz* stated, it was the Fort Knox of the nation.  Out of it the military decisions to conquer and destroy others came, and the spoils of those conquests were then brought back to the city.

*Source: Associates For Biblical Research (http://www.biblearchaeology.org/), Bible and Spade Magazine.

13 Behold, I am against thee, saith Jehovah of hosts, and I will burn her chariots in the smoke, and the sword shall devour thy young lions; and I will cut off thy prey from the earth, and the voice of thy messengers shall no more be heard.

 God says He will burn the chariots of Nineveh in smoke.  The fires that will burn the city will be so great that the heat from just the smoke will be enough to cook the famous chariots and their riders.

John Wesley states, "Thy messengers - Ambassadors or muster - masters. Probably this refers to Rabshakeh who had blasphemed the living God. Those are not worthy to be heard again, that have once spoken reproachfully against God."

Nahum's Sarcasm (Nahum 2:1-5)

This study was done using the Amplified Bible, which I don't have permission to publish, so I will replace the verses here with the American Standard Version.  Because of that some of the comments may not totally make sense because the AMP has expanded explanations.  I would highly recommend going to a site like BibleGateway.com where you can read the AMP version for free.

Nahum Chapter 2

 1. He that dasheth in pieces is come up against thee: keep the fortress, watch the way, make thy loins strong, fortify thy power mightily.

 As mentioned in the AMP version, this is a sarcastic message to Nineveh by the prophet.  As Elijah mocked the prophets of Baal so Nahum is mocking the Ninevites who were in a time of expansion when this was written.  They were growing in strength and becoming ever stronger, believing that they could not possibly fall.  Nahum knew that for all their strength it would come to a bitter and bloody end, as it certainly did.

2 For Jehovah restoreth the excellency of Jacob, as the excellency of Israel; for the emptiers have emptied them out, and destroyed their vine-branches.

     A.  What a declaration of redemption!  God's desire has always been to restore the excellency of His people.  They so often open the gates and allow plunderers to come in and empty them of their goods, but God is there waiting to restore and bless.

3 The shield of his mighty men is made red, the valiant men are in scarlet: the chariots flash with steel in the day of his preparation, and the cypress spears are brandished.

  A.  The Medes in fact did use red shields and clothing as is depicted in the image of a Median cavalryman here.

Median Cavalryman

It is also likely that the redness of the shields is also in reference to the blood of those killed in the battle.  In the case of the fire and steel it is historically recorded that the Medes and Babylonians always carried torches with them into battle.  Aside from providing light at night, they were also used to honor their gods.

4 The chariots rage in the streets; they rush to and fro in the broad ways: the appearance of them is like torches; they run like the lightnings.

   A.  What an image of desperation and chaos is this prophecy of what Nineveh will look like when that inevitable war was to come.  The wild, bewildered attempts to escape by the Ninevites as they are overrun by torch carrying chariots of the Babylonian army.  Without a doubt the Babylonians used those torches to set homes and anything else they could on fire.  One can only imagine the terror they must have felt when the overwhelming surge of the enemy began to push through the streets.

5 He remembereth his nobles: they stumble in their march; they make haste to the wall thereof, and the mantelet is prepared.

     A.  At this point, when the siege actually took place, the brilliant king Ashurbanipal had died, and a less effective king, the son of Ashurbanipal, named Sin-shar-ishkun was ruling in Nineveh.  Once Ashurbanipal had died, the kingdom of Assyria began to unravel fairly quickly.  There were multiple violent conflicts, including with his own brother whom he removed from the throne.   He was killed in the attack.

Nahum 1:13-15

This study was done using the Amplified Bible, which I don't have permission to publish, so I will replace the verses here with the American Standard Version.  Because of that some of the comments may not totally make sense because the AMP has expanded explanations.  I would highly recommend going to a site like BibleGateway.com where you can read the AMP version for free.

13 And now will I break his yoke from off thee, and will burst thy bonds in sunder.

A. This breaking of bonds and yokes is a violent action, and definite.  When God decides to set a person or nation free, it is true freedom.  Unfortunately too many people decide to return to their former bonds and are once again enslaved.  This is not to say that God will not free them again, but they must go through the entire freedom process again.

B.  Here God is no longer referring to Sennacherib as a person, because Sennacherib had already been defeated before this.  He is now referring to Assyria as a nation and the bonds which Sennacherib caused to be placed on the Israelites by war.

14 And Jehovah hath given commandment concerning thee, that 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.

A. The Ninevites worshipped primarily Dagon, the fish god of the Philistines, and Nisroch the Assyrian god of agriculture.  

Dagon image 1

Dagon image 2

The god Nisroch

Nisroch was a god that Sennacherib invented: "In the Midrash, "Nisroch" is actually said to be derived from the Hebrew word "neser." Neser was the name given to a plank of wood discovered by Sennacherib on his return to Assyria from his campaign in Judah. The sages write that this plank was originally part of Noah's Ark, and that Sennacherib worshiped it as an idol. It would therefore be concluded that it was this idol that Sennacherib was worshiping when he was murdered by his two sons."

15 Behold, upon the mountains the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace! Keep thy feasts, O Judah, perform thy vows; for the wicked one shall no more pass through thee; he is utterly cut off.

 A. In this passage Nahum comes very close to quoting Isaiah, who was a nearby contemporary.  

"How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace, that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation, that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!" - Isaiah 52:7

This goes again to show the influence that Isaiah must have had on Nahum's life.  Here Nahum, even goes on in great assurance of this prophecy in telling the Israelites to go on celebrating their feasts, to celebrate as if the Assyrian's grip had already been broken, although this didn't not happen for another fifty years or so.

Always Be Prepared

Last week my family and I went into David for our weekly rounds of grocery shopping and other errands (like paying rent, electric, etc...) which is always a fairly hectic and tiring time.  In order to make things go faster we usually split up.  She does the grocery shopping while I am doing everything else.  

On this particular day I had to teach in our Tuesday night Bible study and had been in a long meeting before going into town, so time was even more crunched.  

I went to the bank first, which had a horrible line and took a lot longer than I expected to pay the rent. After that I went to a local hardware store to get some supplies for our upcoming trip into the mountains.  In that store both registers were not working properly and I ended up having to wait to the point that Karmy was starting to send me messages asking when I would come get her because she was finished with with the grocery shopping.   I couldn't go just yet though, I had one more stop at a different grocery store because it carries some things the other one doesn't.  

So I finished getting everything I needed, and rushed through that last line and out to the truck.  I had just opened the door and tossed the stuff in the back when I heard, "Excuse me sir, sir."  I turned around to see a bony old woman with a little boy about the age as my oldest son.  She said, "Please help us, I need some food for the child."  My natural instinct was to think, "I don't have time, Karmy is waiting for me and I have another meeting to get to!"  But Matthew 5:42 always goes through my head in response to my excuses, "Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away."

The fact is, we could all argue that the woman may have been using that child to get money for her own drug problem, which is certainly possible, but all I know is what the Scripture says.  So I will give until I know for sure it is being used for sinful purposes or God tells me not to (which He sometimes does).  I can't leave that child to starve.

I told her to stay put, grabbed a cart and went back inside.  I filled the cart up with as much food as I could afford and went back outside and told the lady.  "You know, I'm a gringo, so people ask me for money almost every time I come into the city, and a lot of times God tells me not to give them anything.  But this time He told me to help you, so take this food and know that God loves you and He is going to take care of you."  She said "Thank you, please remember to pray for us."  

I have been praying for them since that happened, and I want to ask that you reading this would do the same.  We need to always be ready for what God may bring our way, even in the most hectic of times. You never know when it is going to be an angel in disguise sent to test you to check your availability to the Kingdom.  Yes, some of our groceries melted, but that is such a tiny price to pay compared to being able to bless that woman and child, and tell them that Jesus loves them.

Schools, Teams, and Secrets

Students, Secrets and Teams

A torrent of activity with so much more to come!

September was such a crazy month.  I can't believe it is already over.  God has been so good to us!  We had the privilege of hosting teams from the World Race for three weeks, which proved to be a great help to us as we had our very first week of the Discipleship Training School in the Comarca (indian reservation).  We had seven students arrive in Tugri from all kinds of different backgrounds.

Here are a couple of testimonies from the students:

Mercides Testimony:

Mercides grew up around Christian family and friends, however, her father was not a Christian.  She, as a young girl would often go to church with her friends, but as a result her father would abuse her in an attempt to dissuade her from going.  At first she decided she would stand firm in her decision to go to church, but as she got older she fell in with the wrong crowd and the combination of friends of bad influence and pressure from her father, she fell away from The Lord for a few years.  It wasn't until Rafael came to Tugri and his influence he had in the area that brought her back to church.  Since then she has decided that she wants to be involved in ministry, specifically in singing.  She is doing the DTS because she wants to stay strong in her walk with the Lord.

Girl from Boquete (Haven't got her name yet)

She was born in Boquete and spent a large part of her life there involved in the church.  She was part of a group of traveling ministers who would go to different villages and towns and run different church services and campaigns.  She really enjoyed this ministry, and wanted to continue in it, however division entered her group of ministers and they began to fight and argue.  She did not like this and thought it was wrong.  

As this continued she decided to leave her group, and her church as well because she saw that there was fighting there as well.  She fell away from The Lord for three years until she tired of the life she was living.  She wanted to return to church but didn't want to have to be around the fighting that goes on there.  As she thought about this, she thought the following, "I need to decide whether or not I am going to follow God or not.  If I decide to follow Him, I am going to do it no matter what anyone else does, whether there is fighting or not."  

The result was her rededicating her life to Christ.  She has been faithful since then, and when Rafael arrived she decided she wanted to do the DTS because she wants to be involved in ministry again, particularly in singing.

Each of the testimonies we heard we amazing stories of redemption.  God calling people back after some issue pulled them away as we see in these stories.  In truth, they aren't much different from what we see in the States and other developed nations.

I will be going back to Tugri on October 7th for another five days to teach on How to Study the Bible in the DTS.  Karmy will be going with the kids to help run our King's Kids program there.

Esther and Elias showing off their crafts from the Kings Kids Camp in Tugri.

Karmy with two ngobe girls from the Kings Kids Camp.  The light bulb crafts represent when God created light!

The Ngobe staff and DTS students of YWAM Tugri.

As I mentioned before, we were able to host four different World Race teams over this month.  It was great having them here.  They went through a lot of God infused experiences with us; everything from the week in Tugri to Bible distribution in our area, working at the boy's home and much more.  We have a team from Kona, Hawaii coming to work with us for two weeks during the month of October.

God has recently opened a lot of new doors for us here that are very exciting.  Many of these in particular are teaching opportunities, but there is one very exciting new event coming up that I want to go into.  

First of all, this month I will be teaching for a week in our Tugri DTS on Bible Study Methods, after that I will be going to Nicaragua for several days for a leadership conference in which I will be meeting with the Central American Frontier Missions council about an opportunity I will be bringing up shortly!  After that, I return to the base here in Chiriqui and teach another week on Bible Study Methods to the classic DTS running on our base.

As you can see, things are quite busy right now!  That is not including an upcoming trip to teach in Costa Rica in December for a week, and an invitation to teach in Africa at a conference which unfortunately I will be unable to attend.  However, this brings me to this upcoming opportunity I would like to share with you all.

Secrets

For those of you who know me I have for many years taught on, and been a part of frontier missions.  Frontier missions is the most neglected part of missions in the world.  It is the mission field where nobody has gone, or less than 2% of the population has been reached, and there are often severe amounts of persecution taking place. 

I spent two years in Turkey where there was some persecution, but I feel like God is calling me to become more involved in the persecuted church and frontier missions globally.  On top of that, YWAM Central America is currently in a push to unite in a similar effort.  As part of the frontier missions council, I have a great opportunity to actually pioneer in this direction.  In order to move this region into unreached nations and people groups, we need to get some boots on the ground and start making connections there.  Once we have made those connections, we can come together and actually have a long lasting impact on these nations.  

For example, there is a group of missionaries in an undisclosed part of the world that currently feed up to 30,000 people a day in a closed nation.  Other groups are sending Bibles and other materials in order to help.  There are parts of the world right now where the church is growing so fast, they are struggling to train pastors and leaders simply because there aren't enough to disciple so many new believers.  We can help with that!

So to start, this coming March I am planning an exploratory trip for three weeks to a closed nation where there is persecution currently taking place.  Because of that, I can't openly name this place in this public newsletter.  I can talk about it over email however if anyone would like to write me.  

I will go for three weeks with the intent to make contacts, and begin this process of making a network of opportunities for those of us here in Central America, as well as our supporters, to have an impact in places that only 1% of all missionaries and church funds ever reach.  From there I hope to continue these trips and strengthening our ministry in these places, and that it will grow into other nations as this develops.

This first trip is going to cost about $3,000, about $2,000 of that is the plane ticket itself.  I would like to ask that you prayerfully consider participating in helping us to raise funds for this.  $3,000 is a very small seed to sow when considering the impact this could have.  This is not a simple mission trip, it is serious and risky.  It will touch people who have never heard the name of Jesus, and will help believers who are being beaten, tortured, and killed for the faith.  It is going to grow from there, and long term partners are a must for this to be successful.

That's all for this month's newsletter.  Thank you all so much for your support in prayer and financially as well.  You will probably never know the extent of what it accomplishes for the Kingdom of God!  

I also have a YouTube channel with a lot of videos.

https://www.youtube.com/user/AlanCrookham

And of course I have a Facebook account with a lot of photos you can check out as well.

If you would like to support our ministry, or the trip to this unreached nation the best way to do so is through Mission Enablers International:

You can either donate online through the following link:
https://www.meigiving.com/mei.php

Simply fill out the short form, and when asking for the account number, write 9052.  Donations through Mission Enablers are tax deductible and you will receive a receipt for them.

If you would rather donate by check, you can also do it through MEI at the following address, just add a note saying the donation is for the account number above.

MEI
P.O. Box 1311
Fayetteville, AR 72702

If you do are donated toward the unreached nation trip, please let me know so I can be sure to designate those funds toward that.

If you have any questions, please feel free to write me either through Facebook or email me at: alan.crookham@gmail.com

Nahum 1:9-12 Notes

                                                        Notes: Nahum 1:9-12 

This study was done using the Amplified Bible, which I don't have permission to publish, so I will replace the verses here with the American Standard Version.  Because of that some of the comments may not totally make sense because the AMP has expanded explanations.  I would highly recommend going to a site like BibleGateway.com where you can read the AMP version for free.

^[9]What do ye devise against Jehovah? he will make a full end; affliction shall not rise up the second time. 

A.  The amplified Bible here says "What do you devise and [how mad is your attempt] to plot against the Lord."  I think this equation of plotting against the Lord to be on par with insanity is about as correct a statement as they come.  Only a complete fool would take the time to plan an attack on Jesus an think it possible to win.  It reminds me of a famous actor on a well known TV series who said he would like the opportunity to disprove the existence of God.  He is followed by tens of thousands of people, is in the world's eyes a brilliant man, but is in fact what a stereotype would look like for a fool by God's standards.

B. Affliction will not rise up a second time.  This promise from God is interesting.  One would so why God allowed it to happen the first time instead of choosing to stop it the second.  The blood of the saints, and explained in the book of Revelation is and important factor in the wrath of God, and as we have seen over and over again in the church, it is usually only the non-persecuted Christians who have any issue with persecution.  The underground church understands fully that persecution for Christ means to relate to Him in a way that no other christian can.  Bleeding as He bled puts us in an honor that non-persecuted Christians often take offense at.

10 For entangled like thorns, and drunken as with their drink, they are consumed utterly as dry stubble.

A.  As will happen at the end of days, people in Nineveh thought  themselves unbeatable, invincible, much the same way modern day America has felt for a very long time.  They abandoned the repentance and revival from the time of Jonah about a hundred years before, and moved into debauchery, wild parties and drunkenness, and then found themselves surrounded by smoke and rubble with no escape.  It was so definite her destruction that the Babylonians even depopulated and de-urbanized the entire 750 hectare (1853 acre) city leaving it as if it had always been piles of shattered stone.

¹¹ There is one gone forth out of thee, that deviseth evil against Jehovah, that counselleth wickedness.

                                    

        

A.  This, as many Bible translators and scholars agree, is referring to two people, not one, specifically Senaccherib and his spokesman The Rabshakeh (not a name, a title for a high ranking military official), as is explained in more detail in Matthew Henry's commentary on the Bible:

"I. The great provocation which the Assyrians gave to God, the just and jealous God, for which, though slow to anger, he would take vengeance (Nah 1:11): There is one come out of thee, that imagines evil against the Lord - 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 great king, the king of Assyria. 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, imagining evil against the Lord, 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 a wicked counsellor 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 (Isa 36:7); with this wicked counsellor he here expostulates (Nah 1:9): “What do you imagine against the Lord? 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 vain thing, Psa 2:1, Psa 2:2. He that sits in heaven laughs at the imaginations of the pretenders to politics against him, and will turn their counsels headlong."

B. Sennacherib began his campaign and laid siege to Judah and Jerusalem in the year 701, about 50 years before Nahum is thought to have written his book.  It is believed by many Bible scholars, and is pointed out by A.R. Faussett that because of his description of Sennacherib's army, he seemed to have intimate knowledge of it, and was very possibly inside of or near Jerusalem when Sennacherib laid siege.  This would also suggest that Nahum could have possibly been in contact with Hezekiah and Isaiah.  It is likely that Isaiah was an influence and role model in Nahum's life.

¹² Thus saith Jehovah: Though they be in full strength, and likewise many, even so shall they be cut down, and he shall pass away. Though I have afflicted thee, I will afflict thee no more.

A. It was twenty years after God delivered Jerusalem from Sennacherib that he was assassinated by his own sons.

"So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh.  And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer smote him with the sword: and they escaped into the land of Ararat. And Esar-haddon his son reigned in his stead."  - 2 Kings 19:36-37

                          

Another historical account also says he was killed and his sons pushed a llamasu (pictured above) on top of him and crushed him.  A llamamu, ironically, is a protective deity the Assyrians worshipped, although it dates all the way back to Sumerian culture.