which had then been established, and ye walk in their counsels, in agreement with the idolatry and the abomination introduced by these wicked kings, that, as an actual result of this idolatrous behavior, I should make thee a desolation, an object of astonishment and horror, and the inhabitants thereof an hissing, to be jeered at on every side. Therefore ye shall bear the reproach of My people, the

disgrace which is ordinarily heaped upon the people of God if it is delivered into the hands of its enemies. The greater the grace and mercy of the Lord which was upon them, the greater would be their punishment for having rejected His mercy. If people have a form of godliness, but deny its power, then this outward semblance is all the more liable to bring the Lord's reproach upon such hypocrites.

The Lamentation of the People and the Lord's Promise.

THE PRAYER OF REPENTANCE. V. 1. Woe is me! so the prophet calls out in the name of the congregation, for I am as when they have gathered the summer-fruits, as when a few lonely stalks are left in the harvest-field, as the grape-gleanings of the vintage, when only a few berries are left, the entire picture being one of utter desolation; there is no cluster to eat, all the fruit having been removed; my soul desired the first-ripe fruit, panting for this delicacy, which was particularly relished by the people. The entire sentence may also be construed as an exclamation: Not a grape to eat! Not an early fig, such as my soul desired! The picture is now explained. V. 2. The good man is perished out of the earth, one who can be depended upon for faithfulness, and there is none upright among men, the upright having become as scarce as early figs after the grape-harvest. They all lie in wait for blood, cp. Ps. 10, 8 ff.; they hunt every man his brother with a net, although they are the sons of one Father and each one is bound by the Law to love the other as himself. V. 3. That they may do evil with both hands earnestly, literally, "upon evil are their hands to perform it well," they are glad, eager, full of zeal for the evil; the prince asketh, and the judge asketh for a reward, seeking revenge for themselves whenever they consider their dignity hurt; and the great man, he uttereth his mischievous desire: so they wrap it up, or, "and the great man - the mischief of his soul he utters, and together they plait it," all the mighty men of the nation intriguing together to weave webs of intrigues, snares for their unwary victims. V. 4. The best of them is as a brier, from which one may expect only evil and harm; the most upright, the one considered an example of virtue, is sharper than a thorn hedge; the day of thy watchmen, the day foretold by the true prophets, and thy visitation cometh, the judgment is at hand; now shall be their perplexity, confusion, that men would not know where to turn for counsel and assistance. The extreme moral corruption of the people is now sketched in a few bold strokes.

V. 5. Trust ye not in a friend, in any with whom one might daily associate, put ye not confidence in a guide, in a most intimate friend; keep the doors of thy mouth from her that lieth in thy bosom, for it was not safe to place unlimited confidence in one's very wife. V. 6. For the son dishonoreth the father, openly despising him, the daughter riseth up against her mother, refusing her the love and honor which she owes, the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, all the most sacred relationships being utterly broken down; a man's enemies are the men of his own house. Similar conditions preceded the fall of Jerusalem and will precede the end of the world. Cp. Matt. 10, 21. V. 7. Therefore, so the prophet cries out, because such were the conditions, I will look unto the Lord, lifting up his eyes for salvation from the God of the covenant; I will wait for the God of my salvation, holding out in spite of what seems a disheartening delay; my God will hear me, with an effectual, active answer. Cp. Ps. 27, 9; Is. 17, 10. V. 8. Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy, the hostile worldpower in general being addressed, as from the standpoint of the Lord's people; when I fall, I shall arise, for the restoration of Israel was thought of chiefly in the spiritual sense; when I sit in darkness, suffering with the affliction brought on by God's judgments, the Lord shall be a light unto me. Cp. Ps. 27, 1. V. 9. I will bear the indignation of the Lord, with the humble submission which characterizes the repentant heart, because I have sinned against Him, such a free and unequivocal confession being essential if the sorrow is genuine, until He plead my cause, taking the part of His people against the enemies, and execute judgment for me, maintaining and establishing His Church in spite of all hostility; He will bring me forth to the light, namely, out of the darkness of captivity and oppression, and I shall behold His righteousness, for the deliverance of His people was in agreement with the Lord's ancient promises. V. 10. Then she that is mine enemy shall see it, this being the confident expectation of the Lord's people, and shame shall cover her which said unto me, Where

is the Lord, thy God? in the scornful question usually asked by the enemies of the Church. Mine eyes shall behold her, with quiet satisfaction; now shall she be trodden down as the mire of the streets. V. 11. In the day that thy walls are to be built, rather, "a day of building thy walls" (is coming), so the prophet assures the believing members of His people, those who were truly awaiting the Messiah's coming, in that day shall the decree be far removed, namely, the decree which fixed a sharp line of division between Israel and the heathen nations. V. 12. In that day also He shall come even to thee, the restored Zion, from Assyria and from the fortified cities, from the cities of Egypt, and from the fortress, namely, Egypt, even to the river, the Euphrates, to indicate all the countries lying between, and from sea to sea, and from mountain to mountain, from all the regions and countries of the earth, all those whom the Lord had chosen from the various countries of the world. Cp. Is. 19, 18-25. V. 13. Notwithstanding the land shall be desolate, the reference very likely being to the earthly Palestine, because of them that dwell therein, for the fruit of their doings. While the Land of Promise, which formerly flowed with milk and honey, has largely lost its fertility, the spiritual Zion, the Church of God, is built up by members added from all the nations of the earth.

THE PROPHET'S LAST SUPPLICATION. — V. 14. Feed Thy people with Thy rod, with a true shepherd's care, the staff being the mark of the shepherd, Zech. 11, 4 ff.; Ps. 23, 4, the flock of Thine heritage, the possession of Jehovah, which dwell solitarily in the wood, in the midst of Carmel, rather, "in the forest in the midst of Carmel let them feed," surrounded by the richest blessings; let them feed in Bashan and Gilead, whose rich meadows were proverbial in Israel, as in the days of old, when, under David, the kingdom enjoyed the fulness of material and spiritual prosperity. The Lord answers this plea with an assurance of His mercy, to be given in a larger measure than His people asked for. V. 15. According to the days of thy coming out of the land of Egypt when He overthrew the enemies with a mighty hand and revealed His goodness to

Israel, will I show unto him marvelous things, His Church being given the wonders of His grace. V. 16. The nations shall see and be confounded at all their might, because all their vaunted power would be as nothing in the sight of the almighty God; they shall lay their hands upon their mouth, in reverent silence, in extreme astonishment, their ears shall be deaf, before the thunder of Jehovah's mighty deeds. V. 17. They shall lick the dust like a serpent, in deepest humiliation; they shall move out of their holes like worms of the earth, literally, "as those things that creep on the earth”; they shall tremble forth out of their hidingplaces; they shall be afraid of the Lord, our God, approaching to Him with terror, and shall fear because of thee. With these words the prophet once more turns directly to Jehovah, addressing Him in words of praise. V. 18. Who is a God like unto Thee, that pardoneth iniquity, in the act of justification which is the basis of the work in His Church, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of His heritage? in granting forgiveness to those who are His people in truth. Cp. Ex. 34, 6. 7. He retaineth not His anger forever, because He delighteth in mercy, His great acts of mercy being the outstanding feature of His work in His Church. V. 19. He will turn again, so the prophet assures the believers; He will have compassion upon us, He will subdue our iniquities, treading them down like enemies that rise up against the believers; and Thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea, so that they are covered over and can no more rise to condemn the Lord's people. V. 20. Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob and the mercy to Abraham, as contained in the wonderful Messianic promises, which Thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old. With this exalted hymn of praise Micah closes his book, speaking in a strain similar to that of Paul in Rom. 11, 33-36. We have here true Gospel-preaching, such as sustained the believers of the Old Testament in their eager watching for the time of the Messiah, to which we also may turn for comfort in the midst of the corruption of these last days of the world, knowing, however, that our salvation is nigh.

Concerning Nahum ("consolation," or "the consoler") we have only so much authentic information that we know he was a native of Elkosh, probably a village of Galilee. The period in which he prophesied may only approximately be fixed by the fact that he was active before the destruction of Nineveh in the year 606 B. C., but after the dissolution of the northern kingdom through the Assyrian hosts and after some serious visitation which struck the southern kingdom. The time of his activity may thus be placed either at the very end of the eighth century or in the first half of the seventh century before Christ. He seems to have been at that time a citizen of Judah, residing in Jerusalem. The object of Nahum's book was to bring his nation, representative of the spiritual Israel, comfort and strength over against the Assyrian worldpower, which at that time had subdued Israel and assumed the sovereignty over Judah. The gist of the book is the Lord's announcement

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of Nineveh's total destruction, in accordance with which its conquest took place in the year 606 B. C.

The Book of Nahum evidently forms a wellordered unit, which may be divided in agreement with its chapters. It sets forth the vengeance decided upon by the mighty and jealous God, the conquest and destruction of Nineveh as determined upon by the Lord, and the reason for the Lord's judgment, namely, the guilt and wickedness of the city and its inhabitants. The form of presentation is vivid and powerful, the style rhythmical, the language of classic beauty, with passages breathing a true fire of divine enthusiasm and power. The Messianic element is not entirely wanting, and the entire book supports the plan of God of preserving His people over against the oppression of the world-power.1)

1) Cp. Fuerbringer, Einleitung in das Alte Testament, 89.

The Divine Counsel Concerning the
Judgment upon Nineveh.

God, who is at the same time the God of the covenant and the almighty Sovereign of the universe, states that He has fully decided to bring about the overthrow and destruction of Nineveh, as the enemy of His people. V. 1. The burden of Nineveh, the sentence bringing the threat of Jehovah against the wicked city. The book of the vision of Nahum, the Elkoshite, the term probably indicating that Nahum did not deliver his prophecy in person, but reduced it to writing at once. V. 2. God is jealous, and the Lord revengeth, or, "A God jealous and taking vengeance is Jehovah," as He had stated of old, Ex. 20, 5. The Lord revengeth and is furious, literally, "An Avenger is Jehovah and a Master of fury," terrible in His wrath. The Lord will take vengeance on His adversaries, His punishment sometimes being delayed, but always inevitable in coming, and He reserveth wrath for His enemies, for it is not weak indulgence that causes His delay in punishing, but an exhibition of His love and mercy, which would have all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. V. 3. The Lord is slow to anger, long-suffering and patient over against wickedness of long standing, and great in power, His almighty strength becoming evident when He does strike, and will not at all acquit the wicked, those who have shown that they are guilty. The Lord hath His way in the whirlwind

and in the storm, which are but instruments and exhibitions of His power, and the clouds are the dust of His feet, they are insignificant before Him, and He uses them as He pleases. V. 4. He rebuketh the sea and maketh it dry, as when He caused the Red Sea to part before the children of Israel, Ex. 14, 15, and drieth up all the rivers, since they all are subject to His directions; Bashan, the rich pasture-land east of Jordan, languisheth, and Carmel, the wooded slopes of the mountain overlooking the Mediterranean, and the flower of Lebanon, otherwise a symbol of rich fertility, languisheth, namely, when He withholds the moisture or bids the river go dry. V. 5. The mountains quake at Him, cp. Amos 8, 8, and the hills melt, as at the time of terrible earthquakes, and the earth is burned at His presence, yea, the world, and all that dwell therein, both men and the irrational brutes. V. 6. Who can stand before His indignation? before His wrath when it burns freely. And who can abide in the fierceness of His anger? Cp. Jer. 10, 10. His fury is poured out like fire, in a torrent consuming everything before it, Deut. 4, 24, and the rocks are thrown down by Him. Cp. Jer. 23, 29. But this wrath of God does not strike those who put their trust in Him. V. 7. The Lord is good, even in the midst of His judgments, a stronghold in the day of trouble, a refuge when distress and misery come upon the believers; and He knoweth them that trust in Him, He has

that intimate knowledge of them, that peculiar insight into their needs which guarantees them His help. V. 8. But with an overrunning flood, a deluge which carries everything before it, He will make an utter end of the place thereof, so that Nineveh would cease to be a city and its very site be used for altogether different purposes, and darkness shall pursue His enemies, a figure of a complete desolation. V. 9. What do ye imagine against the Lord? Did the people of Judah think that Jehovah was not able to carry out His threat against Nineveh? He will make an utter end; affliction shall not rise up the second time, for the one blow on the part of the Lord would be quite sufficient, so that the affliction which Judah suffered on the part of Assyria would not arise twice. V. 10. For while, or though, they be folden together as thorns, braided together or entangled, and while they are drunken as drunkards, though they are drowned in their carousing, in their wine, so that it might seem that fire would not be able to reach them or to affect them seriously, they shall be devoured as stubble fully dry. The comparison shows the pride and the boldness which the Assyrians possessed, also in their idea that they were invincible. V. 11. There is one come out of thee, namely, Sennacherib or one of the other rulers who invaded Judah, that

imagineth evil against the Lord, meditating and speaking in this sense, a wicked counselor, one who advised worthlessness, things that were foolish and brought no results. Cp. Is. 36, 14-20. V. 12. Thus saith the Lord, Though they be quiet and likewise many, no matter how tranquilly secure and how numerous they are, yet thus shall they be cut down, suddenly disappearing as though mowed down, when he shall pass through, rather, and he passes away, namely, the daring invader who had meditated evil against Jehovah. Though I have afflicted thee, bending Judah down to the ground, I will afflict thee no more, this being a source of consolation to the Lord's people. V. 13. For now will I break his yoke from off thee and will burst thy bonds, which the proud invader had laid upon Judah, in sunder. V. 14. And the Lord hath given a commandment concerning thee that no more of thy name be sown, that the dynasty of the Assyrian kings should become extinct; out of the house of thy gods will I cut off the graven image and the molten image, in whom the Assyrians placed their trust; I will make thy grave, for thou art vile, morally unworthy, no longer fit to live and to be in power. Thus the destruction of the power of Assyria was clearly set forth, in outlines that could not be misunderstood.

The Conquest, Plundering, and Destruction of Nineveh.

The conquerors of Nineveh would be Jehovah's instruments, who would effect the destruction of the city with all its vaunted glory. V. 15. Behold upon the mountains the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, of the messenger of joy hastening forward to bring the good news, that publisheth peace, announcing to Judah the overthrow of the enemies. O Judah, keep thy solemn feasts, resuming their celebration especially at this time, when the deliverance of the Lord's people from violence and oppression constituted a further incentive for joy and thanksgiving, perform thy vows, those made in anticipation of this deliverance; for the wicked shall no more pass through thee, he is utterly cut off. The use of Is. 52, 7 in this connection is very clear, and Luther is undoubtedly right in finding here a Messianic allusion, especially since Assyria, as the great world-power, was the type of the antichristian forces which try to overthrow the Church of God. Chapter 2, 1. He that dasheth in pieces, the Babylonian invader, is come up before thy face, appearing before the walls of Nineveh. Keep the munition, rather, "Guard the fortress!" in an

effort to withstand the foe; watch the way, having spies out on all the roads leading to the city; make thy loins strong, as a warrior preparing for battle; fortify thy power mightily. All this detailed description is given to emphasize the futility of these preparations. V. 2. For the Lord hath turned away the excellency of Jacob, Jehovah being on the side of the invading army, and He intends to restore the glory of His people, as the excellency of Israel, when the covenant nation was at the height of its glory; for the emptiers have emptied them out, or, "plunderers have plundered them," and marred their vine-branches, outrageously destroying the land and outraging its inhabitants, so that the Lord felt obliged to avenge this indignity. V. 3. The shield of His mighty men, of the heroes commissioned by the Lord to execute His punishment, is made red, all shining for the battle, the valiant men are in scarlet, their war-clothes being made of this color; the chariots shall be with flaming torches in the day of his preparation, blazing with their iron equipments, and the fir-trees shall be terribly shaken, the spears made of cypresses are brandished. V. 4. The chariots shall rage in

the streets, as they are driven furiously in the attack, they shall jostle one against another in the broad ways, running to and fro in the market-places or squares of Nineveh, all confused by the attack of the enemy; they shall seem like torches, as the light struck the steel ornaments of the chariots, they shall run like the lightnings, namely, as lightning plays in blinding flashes. V. 5. He shall recount his worthies, the Assyrian king remembering, and counting on, his heroes; they shall stumble in their walk, all confused and uncertain in their effort to reach the point where the attack is launched against the city; they shall make haste to the wall thereof, and the defense shall be prepared. The entire paragraph pictures the haste and confusion which takes hold upon the citizens and the soldiers of a city which has been too secure and now finds itself surrounded by a host of enemies. V. 6. The gates of the rivers shall be opened, the reference being to some natural or artificial inundation of the city which helped in its destruction, and the palace shall be dissolved, its inmates being overcome with terror and losing all semblance of careful thinking and planning. V. 7. And Huzzab shall be led away captive, literally, "It is determined," by God; "she is made bare," namely, Nineveh, "like a ravished woman, and carried away." She shall be brought up, and her maids shall lead her, the inhabitants of the city being so regarded, as with the voice of doves, with mournful cries, taboring upon their breasts, beating upon them as though they were tabrets. V. 8. But Nineveh is of old like a pool of water, a term expressing her great population and prosperity; yet they shall flee away, her great population leaving her to her fate. Stand, stand! shall they cry, in an attempt to stop the heedless rush; but none shall look back, refusing to return to the ravished city. V. 9. Take ye the spoil

of silver, so the victors are admonished, take the spoil of gold! For there is none end of the store and glory out of all the pleasant furniture, of the various rich treasures with which the palaces of the city were filled. V. 10. She is empty and void and waste, literally, "emptiness and being emptied out and desolation!" and the heart melteth, in utter discouragement, and the knees smite together, in the terror which cannot control itself, and much pain is in all loins, Is. 21, 3, and the faces of them all gather blackness, all of them pale with fear. Thus the mighty city would be destroyed with all its rich treasures. V. 11. Where is the dwelling of the lions and the feeding-place of the young lions, for the Assyrians liked to compare themselves with the king of beasts, where the lion, even the old lion, walked and the lion's whelp, and none made them afraid? none of the nations, in the early days, daring to disturb the Assyrians in their possession of the land. V. 12. The lion did tear in pieces enough for his whelps, as much as his young ones desired, and strangled for his lionesses and filled his holes, the dens occupied by him, with prey and his dens with ravin, his lurking-places with spoil. Even so the kings of Assyria heaped up treasures taken from every part of the world for the use of the inhabitants of Nineveh. V. 13. Behold, I am against thee, saith the Lord of hosts, the ruler of the heavenly armies, and I will burn her chariots in the smoke, so that all her war material goes up in smoke, and the sword shall devour thy young lions, the mighty men of the city; and I will cut off thy prey from the earth, and the voice of thy messengers shall no more be heard, as they boasted of the might and prowess of Assyria and Nineveh. God has ways of subduing even the mightiest enemies, no matter how mightily they rise up in their own conceit.

The Miserable Ruin of Nineveh. Jehovah now shows that the cause of Nineveh's destruction is its wickedness, and that for this reason the city is bound to submit to the sentence which has been pronounced upon her. V. 1. Woe to the bloody city, or, “O city of blood, of blood-guiltiness!" It is all full of lies and robbery, so that deceit, violence, and extortion were the order of the day; the prey departeth not, robbery goes on without ceasing; v. 2. the noise of a whip, its sharp crack heard as the horses are urged forward in battle, and the noise of the rattling of the wheels and of the prancing horses and of the jumping chariots, bounding along over the ground, as the horses broke into a gallop. V. 3. The horseman lifteth up,

rather, "horsemen rearing," as they directed their mounts to charge, both the bright sword and the glittering spear, or, "the flame of the sword and the lightning of the lance"; and there is a multitude of slain, or of wounded, and a great number of carcasses, a wall of corpses heaped up; and there is none end of their corpses; they, the invading enemies, stumble upon their corpses, unable to pick their way forward because the entire battle-field is strewn with dead; v. 4. because of the multitude of the whoredoms, the acts of idolatry and wickedness, of the well-favored harlot, the mistress of witchcrafts, idolatry and witchcraft being the special marks of the heathen character, that selleth nations through her