Nahum 1
1 The burden of Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite.
Question 1.1
Against whom does the prophet Nahum prophesy?
Answer 1.1
The prophet speaks against Nineveh.
Question 1.2
From where is the prophet Nahum?
Answer 1.2
The prophet Nahum was from Elkosh, which, according to the Early Church Father Jerome, was a village located in Galilee; according to others, it was a village to the east of the Jordan.
2 God is jealous, and the Lord revengeth; the Lord revengeth, and is furious; the Lord will take vengeance on his adversaries, and he reserveth wrath for his enemies.
Question 2.1
What attribute of God is in view?
Answer 2.2
Jealousy is the attribute of God in view.
Observe. An attribute is anything that is true about God. For instance, God is love; therefore, love is an attribute. God is spirit; therefore, spirituality is an attribute. God is just; therefore, justice is an attribute, etc.
Question 2.2
What does the Lord do?
Answer 2.2
The Lord will revenge, or inflict harm on those who have hurt another.
Question 2.3
On whom will the Lord take vengeance?
Answer 2.3
The Lord will take vengeance on His adversaries.
Observe. The Devil is an adversary of the Lord and of every Christian. “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Pet. 5:8).
Question 2.4
For whom does the Lord reserve His wrath?
Answer 2.4
The Lord reserves His wrath for His enemies.
3 The Lord is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked: the Lord hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet.
Question 3.1
What is the Lord slow to do?
Answer 3.1
The Lord is slow to manifest anger.
Question 3.2
What is the Lord great in?
Answer 3.2
The Lord is great in power.
Question 3.3
What will the Lord not do?
Answer 3.3
The Lord will not acquit or make clean the wicked.
Observe. The wicked is a reference to someone who is bad or evil, naturally or morally.
Question 3.4
In what does the Lord have His way?
Answer 3.4
The Lord has His way in the whirlwind (tempest), and in the storm (hurricane).
Question 3.5
What is said to be the dust of the feet of the Lord?
Answer 3.5
The clouds are the dust of the feet of the Lord.
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.
Question 4.1
What does the Lord rebuke?
Answer 4.1
The Lord rebukes (reproves, chides) the sea.
Question 4.2
What does the Lord make the sea when He rebukes it?
Answer 4.2
The Lord makes it dry.
Question 4.3
What is said to languish (droop; be sick, mourn)?
Answer 4.3
Bashan, Carmel, and the flower of Lebanon languish (mourn).
Observe. Bashan (fertile plain) is the territory east of the Jordan River and the Sea of Galilee.
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.
Question 5.1
What quakes before the Lord?
Answer 5.1
The mountains quake before the Lord.
Question 5.2
What happens to the hills?
Answer 5.2
The hills melt.
Question 5.3
What happens to the earth at the presence of the Lord?
Answer 5.3
The earth is burned at the presence of the Lord.
Question 5.4
What happens to the world, and all that dwell in the world at the presence of the Lord?
Answer 5.4
The world, and all that dwell in the world, are burned at the presence of the Lord.
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.
Question 6.1
Who can stand before the indignation (fury) of the Lord?
Answer 6.1
No one can stand before the indignation, or fury of the Lord (especially when God is displeased with sin).
Question 6.2
Who can abide (rise, continue), in the fierceness of the anger of the Lord?
Answer 6.2
No one can abide, or rise in the fierceness of the anger of the Lord.
Question 6.3
The fury of the Lord is like liquid fire poured out.
Question 6.4
What happens to the rocks in the presence of His fierce anger?
Answer 6.4
The rocks (boulders) are thrown down by the Lord.
7 The Lord is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him.
Question 7.1
What is the attribute of God described in this verse?
Answer 7.1
The Lord is good. Goodness is an attribute of, or something true about, God.
Question 7.2
What is the Lord in the day of trouble?
Answer 7.2
The Lord is a strong hold, or fortified place, in the day of trouble.
Question 7.3
What does the Lord know?
Answer 7.3
The Lord knows them that trust in Him.