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Nahum 1:9&10 – When God strikes, it is strikeout

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On August 9, 2013

In Christian, Nahum, Through the Bible

Nahum 1:9 suggests the state of how God’s enemies will be dealt with. The Assyrians were a wicked people who boasted in their military strength and oppressed the people of God (the people of Judah) and it is in this situation that prophet Nahum brings the message of hope, the God will fight for his people. The people who hate God and oppress God’s people may plan and imagine things against the Lord, but this only makes him laugh (Psalms 2:1-4). God will make an utter end of his enemies and when he strikes, it is strikeout, for affliction shall not rise a second time (Nahum 1:9). Nineveh (Assyrian capital) is no where to be found today, making it impossible for it to rise again, which is a testament to God’s faithfulness in the fulfillment of his prophecies. Though the enemies are like a thorny curse (Genesis 3:17-18), their mental state shall be a state of instability like a drunkard (Nahum 1:10) and they shall be devoured by the fire (Nahum 3:15) of God’s wrath as stubble fully dry (Nahum 1:10).

Points to ponder:
When you are persecuted for belonging to God and ridiculed for bearing the Name of Jesus Christ, take solace in the fact, that it is God who will fight your battles. God does not need us to defend him against those who bully us for his name sake. He finds these bullies (just like the Assyrian king and army was) to be jokers who make him laugh. All we ought to be is be still and know that he is God for he will be exalted among the heathen and the whole earth (Psalm 46:10). He can fight for himself and will fight for us, his people, and when God strikes, it is strikeout – affliction shall not rise a second time.

Nahum 1:9-10 (KJV)
9 What do ye imagine against the Lord? he will make an utter end: affliction shall not rise up the second time.
10 For while they be folden together as thorns, and while they are drunken as drunkards, they shall be devoured as stubble fully dry.

Psalm 2:1-4 (KJV)
1 Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?
2 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord, and against his anointed, saying,
3 Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.
4 He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision.

Psalm 46:10 (KJV)
10 Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.

Nahum 1:7 – The Good Lord is a strong hold and he knows

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On August 7, 2013

In Christian, Nahum, Through the Bible

Nahum 1:7 reads, “The LORD is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble, and he knoweth them that trust in him.”

Many times, in Psalm 136, we are counseled to give thanks to the LORD for he is good (Psalm 136:1-26). Jesus said, that he is the good Shepherd and he knows his sheep (John 10:14). Sheep trust their Shepherd to keep them safe, secure and satisfied for the good Shepherd leads his sheep by still (peaceful) waters and green (productive) pastures. Sheep that wander away are lost but the good Shepherd comes seeking for the lost (Luke 15:4-7). Many a times, like sheep, we wander away from the presence of God and get lost, but because the Lord is good, and he knows who are his (2 Timothy 2:19), he instructs sinners (us) in his ways (Psalm 25:8). Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness (2 Timothy 2:19).

God is a strong hold – he is a strong foundation and his solid foundation stands firm (2 Timothy 2:19). He holds on strongly to those who trust in him amidst the tempestuous storms of troubles, that buffet against their lives. Because God is the stronghold in the times of troubles, the Lord is the Salvation to the righteous (Psalm 37:39), who trust in him and who believe in his name. When the shepherd boy David faced the giant Goliath, he went forth holding on to the name of the Lord (1 Samuel 17:45) and God held on to him as he faced the giant, giving him victory, which in human minds seemed implausible and impossible.

Points to ponder:
Jesus is the good Shepherd coming in search of you and me. Only in him, can we be safe, secure and satisfied. We who confess his name, must turn away from wickedness and hold on strongly to him. He will never leave us nor forsake us and he will hold on to us strongly, and is therefore our Salvation, no matter how gigantic our troubles may be.
O taste and see that the Lord is good (Psalm 34:8), bless is the man who trusteth in God, for God knows them that trust in him. Does God know you?

Nahum 1:7 (KJV)
7 The Lord is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him.

2 Timothy 2:19 (KJV)
19 Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness.“

Psalm 34:8 (KJV)
8 O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.

Nahum 1:6 – Who can stand (before God)?

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On August 6, 2013

In Christian, Nahum, Through the Bible

Nahum 1:6 has two questions, which are Who can stand before his indignation? and who can abide in the fierceness of his anger? and it describes how God’s fury is poured out like fire, and the rocks are thrown down by him.

Malachi 3:2 asks the same questions in the context of who can stand before God when he appears, and it goes on to tell us that he is a refiner’s fire. The indignation of the Lord is on sin and not the sinner and all of us have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory (Romans 3:23) and unless the sanctifying Holy Spirit is poured into us as a purifying (refining) fire, we cannot stand before the Holy God.

God’s fury is poured out like fire, implying that it is a consuming fire which will devour all those who are wicked. The Assyrians were a wicked and proud nation and God was not willing to be stand still when Judah (God’s people) was oppressed, for he is a jealous God (Hebrew 12:29; Deuteronomy 9:3; Deuteronomy 4:24). Prophet Nahum brings the word of the Lord that Nineveh (Assyria’s capital) will burn as fire devours the bars (of the gates) (Nahum 3:13) just as God’s fury was poured out, as fire, upon the two wicked cities, Sodom and Gommorah, that were wicked and evil (Genesis 19:24). The rocks are thrown down by God is also transliterated as the rocks rent asunder which is what happened when God passed by the mountain on which his prophet servant Elijah was asked to stand (1 Kings 19:11). At the presence of the Lord, mountains are rent asunder and his word is like a hammer that breaks forth the rocks (Jeremiah 23:29).

Points to ponder:
As God passes by our mountainous issues and problems of life, they simply are broken and rent asunder. When his word comes to us like a hammer, anything that is hard against us is broken down as rocks hit by a hammer. When we believe in Jesus Christ, we are sealed with the Holy Spirit of God, who purifies and refines us. Who can stand before God’s indignation? Who can abide in the fierceness of his anger? No one unless they have been sanctified by the Holy Spirit refining fire of God and made upright by believing in Jesus Christ. Can you stand before God?

Nahum 1:6 (KJV)
6 Who can stand before his indignation? and who can abide in the fierceness of his anger? his fury is poured out like fire, and the rocks are thrown down by him.

Nahum 1:5 – The fiery God

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On August 5, 2013

In Christian, Nahum, Through the Bible

The latter part of Nahum 1:5 reads “and the earth is burned at his presence, yea, the world, and all that dwell therein.” The direct reference to the earth burning at the presence of the Lord is the reference to mount Sinai which was altogether on a smoke, because the LORD descended upon it in fire: and the smoke ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly (Exodus 19:18).

Additionally, we can see in other parts of the scripture, that where God is, there is fire. God was present in the burning bush (Exodus 3:2). God was present in the pillar of fire (Exodus 14:19; Numbers 9:14-15), giving light in the darkness (Isaiah 9:2; Matthew 4:16), and guiding his people by going in front of them (Numbers 9:17-23, Deuteronomy 9:3). The Bible teaches us that the Lord is a consuming fire (Hebrews 12:29). He is a consuming fire in the context of his passionate jealousy that burns against those who follow after false and other gods (Deuteronomy 4:24). The LORD’s fire fell and consumed the acceptable sacrifice of his servant Elijah on mount Carmel, to show to all, that the LORD God was the living God (1 Kings 18:38). And when all the people saw this, they fell on their faces and proclaimed that the LORD God is God (1 Kings 18:39). Ezekiel in his vision see the fire infolding himself before God’s voice is heard (Ezekiel 1:4). The Son of God was seen in the midst of the fire when Shadrach, Mesach and Abednego were thrown into the fiery furnace (Daniel3:25). John the Baptist said that Jesus will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire (Matthew 3:11) and on the day of the Pentacost, before the Holy Spirit came in to dwell in the disciples, there was seen on the disciples cloven tongues like as of fire (Acts 2:3-4). The two men on the road to Emmaus felt the presence of God as a sensation of “burning hearts” within themselves (Luke 24:32).

The earth burned (Exodus 19:18) and the Bible teaches us that it will burn again in the day of the Lord when he comes like a thief (2 Peter 3:10) to steal those who believe in him from the clutches of the evil one and this world where he has dominion (2 Corinthians 4:4).

Points to ponder:
Where God is, there is fire. When we believe in Jesus and allow the Holy Spirit of God to indwell in us, he sanctifies us by purifying us by the blood of Jesus. As fire consumes the dross from the silver, refining it, God the Holy Spirit burns up any unrighteousness (Psalm 66:10; Proverbs 17:3) as He is the the agent of our sanctification. The Lord is a passionate and purifying fire. Before the world burns and all its elements are laid bare (2 Peter 3:10), let us believe in Jesus, the fiery God, so that we can have the fiery presence of the Holy Spirit in our life to purify and perfect us. The earth is burned at his presence, yea, the world, and all that dwell therein and we shall be burned as well, unless we have the burning Holy Spirit within our heart for God is a fiery God! Do you have the fire of God in you?

Nahum 1:5 (KJV)
5 The mountains quake at him, and the hills melt, and the earth is burned at his presence, yea, the world, and all that dwell therein.

2 Peter 3:10 (KJV)
10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.

Matthew 3:11 (KJV)
11 I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance. but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire:

Nahum 1:5 – Quaking mountains and Melting hills

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On July 30, 2013

In Christian, Nahum, Through the Bible

The first part of Nahum 1:5 reads “The mountains quake at him, and the hills melt.” When the Lord declared his fury against the Assyrians, in Nineveh, who were oppressing the people of Judah (God’s people), his power is described as one, to which even the natural elements (mountains and hills) succumb. So great is God’s power in his presence!

When the Lord delivered David from the hands of his enemies and the hand of Saul, David praised God by expressing that “God heard him when he cried out to the Lord and because of the Lord’s anger, the earth shook and trembled” (2 Samuel 22:8). When God went forth before his people and marched through the wilderness, the earth shook. When God visited his people on Mount Sinai during their Exodus, the mount itself was moved at the presence of God (Psalm 68:7-8) and the hills melted like wax at the presence of the Lord of the whole earth (Psalm 97:5; Judges 5:5) when God spoke (Psalm 46:6).

In the day of the Lord of hosts, everyone who is proud and lofty, and lifted up, like high mountains and hills shall be brought low and the Lord alone shall be exalted (Isaiah 2:12-14).

Points to ponder:
When God comes forth to fight for his people, even all the elements which signify stability, such as mountains and hills, shall shake and melt away at his presence. When Jesus died and yielded up the ghost on the Cross, the earth quaked and the rocks rent, and the graves were opened and the saints that slept were resurrected and came out of the graves after his resurrection (Matthew 27:50-53).
When and where God is present, there is nothing else stable except him. Jesus alone is the strong unshakeable foundation and Rock of our Salvation. Jesus is the presence of God with and in us. He is the Emmanuel, which when interpreted means ‘God with us’ (Matthew 1:23). At his presence, all the proud things of the world are brought low and only he is exalted with a name that is above all names (Philippians 2:9). And at the presence of Jesus is life – resurrected life – for the old things are passed away and the new is come to all who believe in his name (2 Corinthians 5:17). Are you alive with a resurrected life?

Nahum 1:5 (KJV)
5 The mountains quake at him, and the hills melt, and the earth is burned at his presence, yea, the world, and all that dwell therein.

Nahum 1:4 – Languishing Land (Lebanon)

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On July 29, 2013

In Christian, Nahum, Through the Bible

The latter part of Nahum 1:4 reads “Bashan languisheth, and Carmel, and the flower of Lebanon languisheth.”

This verse speaks about three lands that languished, the third of which that is mentioned is Lebanon.

Lebanon is a mountain range that bordered the northern boundary of the land of Canaan. Lebanon was known for its forests of cedar (Judges 9:15; 1 Kings 4:33, 2 Kings 19:23; 2 Chronicles 2:8; Psalm 29:5; 92:12; 104:16; Isaiah 2:13; 14:8; Ezra 3:7; Ezekiel27:5; Zechariah 11:1), its fruitfulness (Psalm 72:16), its roots (Hosea 14:5), its flowers (Nahum 1:4), its fragrance (Hosea 14:6; Song of Solomon 4:11), its wine (Hosea 14:7), for it was a land with a mountain of snow that melted to streams of cold water that brought life (Song of Solomon 4:15; Jeremiah 18:14). The wood from Lebanon was hewn to Solomon’s chariot (Song of Solomon 3:9) and in the building of the temple of God (1 Kings 5:6,9,14) . It was a land that Moses desired to go to (Deuteronomy 3:25) and because of its beauty made recorders of the Scripture expressed it with similes, such as skip like an unicorn (Psalm 29:6). The beasts of Lebanon are described as being insufficient for sacrifices (Isaiah 40:16).

Five lords of the Philistines, and all the Canaanites, the Sidonians and the Hivites dwelt in the mountain of Lebanon (Judges 3:3) and the valley (Joshua 11:17; 12:1). The kings that were by the coasts of the great sea over against Lebanon sought to fight against the people of the Lord (Joshua 9:1; Joshua 13:6) for they were a violent people (Habakkuk 2:17) but the Lord God had set Lebanon before his people that he wanted them to go to and possess (Deuteronomy 1:7; 3:25; 11:24; Joshua 1:4; 9:1) and he would fight for them.  So all the lovers of Lebanon are destroyed (Jeremiah 22:20) and God makes the forests of Lebanon into a wilderness, a city that is not inhabited (Jeremiah 22:6). The people of Lebanon trusted in making their habitation (nest) on its cedars (Jeremiah 22:23) instead of the Lord (Psalm 91:9) and are ashamed and hewn down (Isaiah 33:9) languishing as a woman in labor with pangs of pain (Jeremiah 22:23) for its glory would be stripped and be given to the redeemed people of God (Isaiah 35:2) and to Zion (Isaiah 60:13).

Ezekiel 31 speaks of the word of God coming to prophet Ezekiel who was asked to inform the Pharoah of Egypt that he would fall to the depths of hell (Ezekiel 31:17).  Assyria with its capital at Nineveh (against whom Prophet Nahum brings the word of God) was a great nation and its ruler, Sennacherib, is likened to a cedar in Lebanon with a canopy of branches of high stature, signifying the greatness of this Assyria. It was the Lord God that had allowed this Assyrian to achieve such greatness (Ezekiel 31:9) but this Assyrian had a haughty heart (Ezekiel 31:10) like the heart of Lucifer (Isaiah 14:13-14), and he reproached the Lord God and his people by sending vain and vile threats against the people of Judah during the time of King Hezekiah, but the Lord intervened and the angel of the LORD slew 185 thousand Assyrians in one night (Isaiah 37:36). Sennacherib himself was then cut down (as a tree would be felled) by the sword by his own two sons, Adrammelech and Sharezer (Isaiah 37:38), as was Lucifer (Isaiah 14:8, 12) brought down to the pit (Ezekiel 14) cast down to hell (Ezekiel 31:16). Egypt was compared to Assyria and the Lord reminds Pharoah that just as he would hewn down Assyria, so would he do to the Pharoah of Egypt and all those who exalt themselves to be like God or above him (Ezekiel 31:18).

The languish of Lebanon is that its violent heathen kings were smitten by the Israelites led by Moses and Joshua during their Exodus from Egypt, the land of their physical bondage. The languish of Lebanon is that God would cause Lebanon to mourn (Ezekiel 31:15) as he cut down the evil king Sennacherib, likened to a great cedar of Lebanon, to the pit, to the grave, to hell (Ezekiel 31:17).

Points to ponder:
Those who attempt to exalt themselves shall be abased. Pride does come before a fall and when God makes one fall because they are proud, there is not getting back up.   Let us trust in the Lord God and set our habitation in him i.e., dwell in his presence by letting him dwell in us.  Let us have humble hearts. No matter how great (like the cedars of Lebanon) or how small we are, let us not seek to magnify ourselves, above the Most High God. Let us not be haughty like the evil king Sennacherib for a haughty heart is the heart of the devil (Lucifer) for if we do, what we can expect is languish.

Nahum 1:4 (KJV)
4 He rebuketh the sea, and maketh it dry, and drieth up all the rivers: Bashan languisheth, and Carmel, and the flower of Lebanon languisheth.

Isaiah 14:12-15 (KJV)
12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!
13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.
15 Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.

Ezekiel 31:3-17 (KJV)
3 Behold, the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon with fair branches, and with a shadowing shroud, and of an high stature; and his top was among the thick boughs.
4 The waters made him great, the deep set him up on high with her rivers running round about his plants, and sent her little rivers unto all the trees of the field.
5 Therefore his height was exalted above all the trees of the field, and his boughs were multiplied, and his branches became long because of the multitude of waters, when he shot forth.
6 All the fowls of heaven made their nests in his boughs, and under his branches did all the beasts of the field bring forth their young, and under his shadow dwelt all great nations.
7 Thus was he fair in his greatness, in the length of his branches: for his root was by great waters.
8 The cedars in the garden of God could not hide him: the fir trees were not like his boughs, and the chestnut trees were not like his branches; nor any tree in the garden of God was like unto him in his beauty.
9 I have made him fair by the multitude of his branches: so that all the trees of Eden, that were in the garden of God, envied him.
10 Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Because thou hast lifted up thyself in height, and he hath shot up his top among the thick boughs, and his heart is lifted up in his height;
11 I have therefore delivered him into the hand of the mighty one of the heathen; he shall surely deal with him: I have driven him out for his wickedness.
12 And strangers, the terrible of the nations, have cut him off, and have left him: upon the mountains and in all the valleys his branches are fallen, and his boughs are broken by all the rivers of the land; and all the people of the earth are gone down from his shadow, and have left him.
13 Upon his ruin shall all the fowls of the heaven remain, and all the beasts of the field shall be upon his branches:
14 To the end that none of all the trees by the waters exalt themselves for their height, neither shoot up their top among the thick boughs, neither their trees stand up in their height, all that drink water: for they are all delivered unto death, to the nether parts of the earth, in the midst of the children of men, with them that go down to the pit.
15 Thus saith the Lord God; In the day when he went down to the grave I caused a mourning: I covered the deep for him, and I restrained the floods thereof, and the great waters were stayed: and I caused Lebanon to mourn for him, and all the trees of the field fainted for him.
16 I made the nations to shake at the sound of his fall, when I cast him down to hell with them that descend into the pit: and all the trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon, all that drink water, shall be comforted in the nether parts of the earth.
17 They also went down into hell with him unto them that be slain with the sword; and they that were his arm, that dwelt under his shadow in the midst of the heathen.

Nahum 1:4 – Languishing Land (Carmel)

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On July 25, 2013

In Christian, Nahum, Through the Bible

The latter part of Nahum 1:4 reads “Bashan languisheth, and Carmel, and the flower of Lebanon languisheth.”

This verse speaks about three lands that languished, the second of which that is mentioned is Carmel.

Carmel was a city known for its forest (Isaiah 37:24), fruits (Isaiah 33:9), mountains (1 Kings 18) by the sea (Jeremiah 46:18). It was known for its excellency (Isaiah 35:2), its beauty (Song of Solomon 7:5), its fruitfulness (Isaiah 35:2), its vine culture (2 Chronicles 26:10), and its prosperity (Jeremiah 50:19).

Carmel’s forest is also mentioned as the one that Sennacherib, the evil king of Assyria, said he would enter through (Isaiah 37:24), when Sennacherib reproached the Lord by sending the message to king Hezekiah that he would come against the people of God with his might and even God would not be able to defend them (2 Kings 19:23). But the Lord overthrows Assyria and strips Carmel bare of its fruits (Isaiah 33:9) showing his glory and excellency as he delivers Israel (Isaiah 35:2), stripping the excellency of Carmel (Isaiah 35:2; Amos 1:2).

King Saul was commanded by the Lord to destroy all of the Amalekites, but he spared Agag the king of Amalekites and took the choicest of the cattle. After he did not obey the commandment of the Lord to destroy all of the Amalekites, he came by Carmel and set up a monument for himself (1 Samuel 15:12). King Saul disobeyed God commandments and was rejected as king for he rejected the word of the Lord (1 Samuel 15:23), setting up a monument for himself, instead of an altar for the Lord.

Abigail, the wise wife of Nabal who became the wife of king David, after her evil husband Nabal, a son of Belial, died, was from Carmel (1 Samuel 25:2, 40; 1 Samuel 27:3). One of the chief mighty men of king David was Hezrai who was also from Carmel (2 Samuel 23:35).

Mt. Carmel was an idolatrous place of worship of Baal, and is the place where, God’s prophet, Elijah slew the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and four hundred prophets of the groves (1 Kings 18:19,20,40).

Of the thirty one kings that Joshua and the children of Israel smote, one of them was of Jokneam of Carmel (Joshua 12:22). The children of Israel possessed the land of Carmel (Joshua 15:55; Joshua 19:26).

The languish of Carmel refers to the vengeance of the Lord against the land and her complete withering away (Isaiah 33:9) and utter desolation (Amos 1:2).

Points to ponder:
Carmel means “fruit garden” or “garden with fruit trees”. But even an excellent place that is idolatrous, and which gives way to evil kings (Sennacherib), allows kings to erect monuments for themselves (Saul), and which houses sons of Belial (Nabal), will come to utter desolation and wither away, languishing as it is stripped bare of its fruit and utterly destroyed, so much so that it can no longer be called a garden with fruit trees. The garden of Eden was filled with fruit trees, and in it man attempted to erect himself as a god, becoming a son of Belial (John 8:44) by disobeying God’s commandment, and was stripped from the garden of Eden, making all of creation itself languish (groan). Jesus had to come and become a man of agony, sweating blood  (Luke 22:44) so that the world no longer needs to languish. Let us stop being idolatrous chasing after the gods of this world and follow the God who languished for us, so that we do not need to. To continue to be idolatrous would mean certain death as it did happen to the prophets of Baal, on mount Carmel.

Nahum 1:4 (KJV)
4 He rebuketh the sea, and maketh it dry, and drieth up all the rivers: Bashan languisheth, and Carmel, and the flower of Lebanon languisheth.

Nahum 1:4 – Languishing Land (Bashan)

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On July 24, 2013

In Christian, Nahum, Through the Bible

The latter part of Nahum 1:4 reads “Bashan languisheth, and Carmel, and the flower of Lebanon languisheth.”

This verse speaks about three lands that languished, the first of which that is mentioned is Bashan.

Bashan was a fertile and productive land with butter of kine (cows), milk of sheep, fat of lambs (Ezekiel 39:18), and rams of the breed, and goats, with wheat, and grapes (Deuteronomy 32:14). Sharon, the suburbs of Bashan (1 Chronicles 5:16) was known for its roses (Song of Solomon 2:1) and Bashan was known for its high oaks (Isaiah 2:13; Ezekiel 27:6; Zechariah 11:2) and high hills, hills as high as the hill of God (Psalm 68:15).

Bashan was not only a fruitful land, but it was also called the land of the giants (Deuteronomy 3:13; Joshua 12:4) and was ruled by a king named Og, who lived in Astaroth at Edrei (Deuteronomy 1:4). He was a giant and his bedstead was a bedstead of iron, nine cubits (13.66 feet) in length and four cubits (6.073 feet) in breadth (Deuteronomy 3:11). Bashan was a land of the giants, and its sixty cities were fortified cities with walls and brasen bars (1 Kings 4:13).

Bashan’s people were a forceful people known for their strength and referred as strong bulls (Psalm 22:12) and kines that oppressed the poor and crushed the needy (Amos 4:1).

Og went out against the Israelites, with all of his people, at the battle at Edrei (Numbers 21:33; Deuteronomy 3:1). But the Lord God delivered Og and all of his people into the hands of the Israelites and they smote every single one of them, leaving none to remain (Deuteronomy 3:3; Deuteronomy 29:7; Joshua 13:12), for the Lord’s mercy endures forever (Psalm 136:20). They took all the cities, leaving none, sixty cities in total in the region of Argob in the kingdom of Og (Deuteronomy 3:4,10; Joshua 13:30). And Moses gave unto the half tribe of Manasseh the son of Joseph, the kingdom of Og king of Bashan, sixty cities in the coasts and the country round about (Numbers 32:33) and Jair the son of Manasseh took all the country of Argob unto the coasts of Geshuri and Maachathi and called them after his own name, Bashanhavothjair (The hamlets of Bashan, now the hamlets of Jair), unto this day (Deuteronomy 3:14; Deuteronomy 4:47). The children of the half tribe of Manasseh dwelt in the land and they increased from Bashan unto Mount Hermon (1 Chronicles 5:23). One of these cities, named Golan in Bashan with her suburbs, is later assigned as a city of refuge for the slayer (Joshua 21:27; 1 Chronicles 6:71). The children of Israel possessed the land of Bashan (Nehemiah 9:22).

Points to ponder:
Neither the fertile fruitfulness, nor the gigantic fortifications, nor the oppressive forcefulness of the people and land of Bashan could keep it safe from the Lord God, who delivered the giant king and his people to his people. The people of God smote all and left none remaining, so much so that the land languished under the hand of the Lord for God went out to deliver his people. Nothing or no one can come against God and his people, not even a giant king or all his people, and expect to be successful. The question is not if the Lord is on our side,as our refuge, but if we are on the Lord’s side?

Nahum 1:4 (KJV)
4 He rebuketh the sea, and maketh it dry, and drieth up all the rivers: Bashan languisheth, and Carmel, and the flower of Lebanon languisheth.

Nahum 1:4 – On dry ground amidst walls of water

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On July 23, 2013

In Christian, Nahum, Through the Bible

The first part of Nahum 1:4 reads “He rebuketh the sea, and maketh it dry, and drieth up all the rivers.”

During the time of the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt, the people of God found themselves caught in between a pursuing army of the Egyptians and the Red sea, which at that time would have seemed like a watery grave. The people started to murmur against God’s, servant, Moses, who was leading the Israelites out of the land of physical bondage (Egypt) to the land God had promised them, and in that manner, provoked God (Psalm 106:7). Moses assured the people that God’s would show forth his salvation and that they had nothing to fear about (Exodus 14:13). All that the people needed to do was to stand still (Psalm 46:10) and they would no longer have to face their enemies anymore after God saves them (Exodus 14:13). God told Moses to lift his his rod and stretch out his hand over the sea, and divide it and the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea (Exodus 14:16). True to his word of deliverance, God saved the people for his name’s sake and so that his mighty power is known and rebuked the Read sea and it dried up, so that he could led the people of God through the depths (Psalm 106:8-9). At the blast of the breath of his nostrils, the channels (bed) of waters were seen, and the foundations of the world were discovered at the rebuke of the Lord (Psalm 18:15). God split the Red sea and made it dry and when the enemy army pursued the people of God, God turned back the waters on them so that the enemies of his people would drown and be no more (as per he promised). The people that saw the great work which the Lord did (upon their enemies – the Egyptians) and feared the Lord and believed the Lord (Exodus 14:31).

In another instance, as the feet of the priests who bore the ark of the Lord dipped in the water of the Jordan river, the water which overflows all the banks of the river parted and the priests stood firm on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan, and all the Israelites passed over on dry ground (Joshua 3:15-17). This was to show that the living God was among the people of God (Joshua 3:10) and that he does wonders (Joshua 3:5). Once again, the Bible records that the Jordan river parted when God’s servants Elijah and Elisha had to cross over. Elijah smote the waters of the river with his mantle and the river parted and they crossed over on dry ground. Now after Elijah was taken up, in a whirlwind into heaven, in a chariot of fire drawn by horses of fire, Elisha returns to the Jordan bank, and questioned, “Where is the God of Elijah?” and smote the Jordan river with the mantle of Elijah that had fallen when he was taken up. Elisha smote the river with the mantle just as Elijah had done and the river parted and allowed Elisha to cross over (2 Kings 2).

Points to ponder:
God is indeed a Wonder working Great God (Psalm 86:10). His name is Wonderful (Isaiah 9:6) and he is full of wonders. He can make his people walk through dry ground amidst walls of water. He asks “Is my had shortened at all, that it cannot redeem? or have I no power to deliver? and asserts “behold, at my rebuke, the sea dries up and the rivers become a wilderness (Isaiah 50:2). When we are faced with tough situations and when things seems like there is no way to go through the seas of troubles we face, we can rely on a God who divided water from water, who can separate the issues that trouble us and make us pass through on a dry and solid foundation. He is a God who rebukes our troubles away for his name’s sake so that people would known his mighty power and believe in him. Do you believe in this wonder working mighty God? His name is Jesus Christ and when he rebuked the storm on the seas, peace set in and prevailed. No matter what your troubles and burdens are, believe in Jesus, who is the Salvation of the Lord, and cast your cares on him and the peace that passeth all understanding shall fill your heart and you shall walk on dry ground amidst the walls of your troubles.

Nahum 1:4 (KJV)
4 He rebuketh the sea, and maketh it dry, and drieth up all the rivers: Bashan languisheth, and Carmel, and the flower of Lebanon languisheth.

Exodus 14:13,21-22,29-31 (KJV)
13 And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will shew to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever.
…
21 And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided.
22 And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground: and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left.
…
29 But the children of Israel walked upon dry land in the midst of the sea; and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left.
30 Thus the Lord saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the sea shore.
31 And Israel saw that great work which the Lord did upon the Egyptians: and the people feared the Lord, and believed the Lord, and his servant Moses. 

Joshua 3:15-17 (KJV)
15 And as they that bare the ark were come unto Jordan, and the feet of the priests that bare the ark were dipped in the brim of the water, (for Jordan overfloweth all his banks all the time of harvest,)
16 That the waters which came down from above stood and rose up upon an heap very far from the city Adam, that is beside Zaretan: and those that came down toward the sea of the plain, even the salt sea, failed, and were cut off: and the people passed over right against Jericho.
17 And the priests that bare the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the midst of Jordan, and all the Israelites passed over on dry ground, until all the people were passed clean over Jordan.

2 Kings 2:8, 13-14
8 And Elijah took his mantle, and wrapped it together, and smote the waters, and they were divided hither and thither, so that they two went over on dry ground.
…
13 He took up also the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and went back, and stood by the bank of Jordan;
14 And he took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and smote the waters, and said, Where is the Lord God of Elijah? and when he also had smitten the waters, they parted hither and thither: and Elisha went over.

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