The Lord knows those that have a heart for him and will not allow there ungodly to go unpunished. The only question is when and how. We find God’s wrath delayed as king Josiah finds a scroll, the Torah, and renews the covenant with the Lord and with all of the people. Josiah had taken steps to remove foreign God’s from the land, but now, with the agreement of the people, Josiah is able to countermand even the former edicts of the kings before him. Josiah moves again to cleanse the land of every idol, every memorial.
He (the Lord) Knows Those Who Take Refuge in Him
Nahum 1:1–8
We often say the Lord is creator of heaven and earth and all that is in them, but do we really have a sense for his strength and power? The prophet says in Nahum 1:3 “storm clouds are the dust of his feet” and in Nahum 1:5 “Mountains quake before him”. But it isn’t this power that the prophet wants to emphasize, it is God’s power that, in Nahum 1:2 “rages against his adversaries” and in Nahum 1:6 “Who can endure his fierce anger? His wrath is poured out like fire” so that none can stand against him. And on the other side, is in
Nahum 1:7 “Yahweh is good—a refuge in the day of distress; he knows those who take refuge in him”.
Or, as it says in
2 Peter 2:9 “the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to reserve the unrighteous to be punished at the day of judgment”
I Will Break His Yoke From Upon You
Nahum 1:9–15
There is, in Nahum 1:11 “one who plots evil against Yahweh, one who plans wickedness”. And in Nahum 1:12 “Yahweh says this: “Even though they are powerful and likewise many, even so they will be cut off and pass away”. It doesn’t matter how many there are in opposition, it doesn’t matter what their plans are, the prophet by the word of the Lord says in
Nahum 1:15 Look! On the mountains! The feet of the one who brings good tidings, the one who proclaims peace! “Celebrate your festivals, O Judah, Fulfill your vows! For he will not invade you again; the wicked one is cut off completely!”
Who is this one that brings good news? and who is this one that is cut off completely? in
Acts 10:36–38 As for the message that he sent to the sons of Israel, proclaiming the good news of peace through Jesus Christ—this one is Lord of all—37 you know the thing that happened throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee, after the baptism that John proclaimed: 38 Jesus of Nazareth—how God anointed him with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, because God was with him.
It is Jesus Christ, “Lord of all” and “the devil who has been the oppressor of the people.
Yahweh Will Restore the Majesty of Jacob
All of the People Joined in the Covenant
2 Kings 23:1–10
Josiah had gone through out the land to stop idol worship, he had repaired the temple and in the process, found, in 2 Kings 22:8 “the scroll of the Torah”. Now Josiah gathers all of the leaders and the priests and the prophets and the people in 2 Kings 23:2 “and in their hearing he read all of the words of the scroll of the covenant”. You see, this covenant was not just for the leaders, this was a covenant for all of the people.
But Josiah took his rightful place as the king, he took his place as the leader and in 2 Kings 23:3 “the king stood by the pillar, and he made a covenant before Yahweh, to go after Yahweh and to keep his commands and his warnings and his statutes with all of his heart and with all of his soul, to keep the words of this covenant written on this scroll”. This was no minor gathering and there was order and ceremony and “The King stood by the pillar as Joash had done (2 Kgs 11:14); ‘on the dais’ NEB (cf. Neh. 8:4). The word (‘ammûd) may simply denote ‘a standing place’, the royal station.1
And in response, in 2 Kings 23:3 “Then all of the people joined in the covenant”. It wasn’t enough for the king to declare his covenant to serve the Lord, here, “The people ‘gave their allegiance’ (JB) to the covenant and thus pledged themselves (lit. ‘stood’, NRSV ‘joined in’) in ratification of the Deuteronomic command to follow the LORD. For this they stood (literally), and both symbolically (Jer. 34:18) and verbally (saying ‘Amen’, Deut. 27:11–26) gave their assent”.1
Following this renewal of the covenant, Josiah has the authority to countermand the orders even of previous kings. So, Josiah begins a deeper cleansing of the nation. They had already stopped the ritual of offering to these other gods, but now, they are removing every vestige, every memorial, and in 2 Kings 23:4 “he burned them outside of Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron, and then he carried their ashes to Bethel”.
The Man of God Had Proclaimed These Things
2 Kings 23:11–20
The Lord had sent a prophet to foretell what would happen in Josiah’s day. Josiah not only had to deal with the culture of idolatry, there was legislation passed by prior kings that supported idolatry and gave it government sanction and financial support. For example, in
2 Kings 23:11 “the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun” and in 2 Kings 23:12 “The altars that were on the roof of the upper room of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courtyards of the temple of Yahweh” and in 2 Kings 23:15 “the altar that was in Bethel, the high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who had caused Israel to sin, had built”.
The horses, “he burned with fire” and the altars “the king tore down” then “he burned down the high place”. Then in 2 Kings 23:16-17 “he sent and took the bones from the tombs and burned them on the altar. Thus he defiled them according to the word of Yahweh that the man of God had proclaimed who had proclaimed these things”. This man of God is not named so, “Who this prophet was cannot be ascertained, He came by divine authority. It could not be either Iddo or Ahijah, for both were alive after the events here related … the prophet foretold its utter destruction [1 Ki 13:3]”.2
Study Verses
- Nahum 1:1–8 He (the Lord) Knows Those Who Take Refuge in Him
- Nahum 1:9–15 I Will Break His Yoke From Upon You
- 2 Kings 23:1–10 All of the People Joined in the Covenant
Today’s Reading
- Nahum 1:1-21
- Nahum 2:1-13
- 2 Kings 23:1-28
References
- 1. Wiseman, D. J. (1993). 1 and 2 Kings: an introduction and commentary (Vol. 9, p. 319). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.
- 2. Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., & Brown, D. (1997). Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (Vol. 1, p. 222). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
