The seventh century marked one of the most critical periods in the whole history of the nation of Israel, for it then tottered on the threshold of national destruction and the long-predicted Babylonian captivity. Already, Judah's sister nation of the ten northern tribes had met disaster in the previous century after refusing to repent of her sin in spite of the battery of prophets who were graciously sent to her and warned her of the impending danger. Especially disastrous was the northern kingdom's introduction of idolatrous calf worship and its accompanying forms of apostasy. Finally in 722 B.C., Samaria fell to the Assyrian invaders (2 Kings 17); the end came suddenly, and the land was quiet again.
But Judah was none the wiser for the lesson. She too plunged headlong into disaster, courting God's judgment at every turn, with very few reprieves of justice and goodness toward God or man.
Once again God sent prophets, this time to warn Judah. Their theme was the imminent divine judgment. Nahum warned of God's judgment on Nineveh because of that city's wickedness and her ruthless destruction of Samaria in 722 B.C., which had exceeded the method and extent of the divinely authorized judgment on Samaria. Zephaniah reintroduced the message of Joel and Obadiah; however, for him the day of the Lord was both a day of world-wide judgment and a day when Judah would be punished. Habakkuk's message carried God's rebuke for Judah's sin and Babylon's haughty excess in administering that rebuke. But the greatest of all these spokesmen for God was Jeremiah. No prophet agonized more over the announcement of the bitter words of impending judgment than did that man. Yet to him was also given a most surprising word about another future day when God would fulfill His ancient word of promise made to the fathers and David. Thus, as remarkable as the times were, so were the words of the prophets. Instead of concluding that the old promise had now failed and God's everlasting plan had been prematurely terminated, they projected its continuity on into the future.
MISSION TO THE GENTILES REVISITED - NAHUM
Nahum's prophecy was the complement to Jonah, for whereas Jonah celebrated God's mercy, Nahum marked the relentless march of the judgment of God against all sinners world-wide. Jonah 3:10 had focused on God as merciful and forgiving, but Nahum 3:1-8 now demonstrated God's judicial wrath against all wickedness.
However even in this book of judgment, Yahweh's mercy was not altogether absent. Triumphantly Nahum announced that Yahweh was "slow to anger" (1:3a), "good" and a "a stronghold in the day of trouble" (v. 7). Thus while He will not overlook or absolve the wicked (v. 3b) since He is "a zealous God" ('el qanno') and an avenger of wrongs (v. 2), neither is He without love and forgiveness.
"A zealous [or less appropriately, "jealous"] God . . . is Yahweh" began Nahum in a simple but formidable introduction. Popular misconceptions about this adjective qanno' or the related noun qin'ah must not be attached to Nahum's meaning, i.e., a God who was suspicious, distrustful, and fearful of rivalry. When used of God, it denoted: (1) that attribute which demanded exclusive devotion (Ex 20:5; 34:14); Dt 4:24; 5:9; 6:15); (2) that attitude of anger directed against all who persisted in opposing Him (Nu 25:11; Dt 29:20; Ps 79:5; Eze 5:13; 16:38, 42; 25:11; Zep 1:18); and (3) the energy He expended in vindicating His people (2 Kings 19:31; Isa 9:7; 37:32; Joel 2:18; Zec 1:14; 8:2). Thus His zeal was the forerunner of His vindication or impending punishment (Dt 4:24: Jos 24:19). He was the Judge, the "Vindicator" noqem, not "avenger"; for after years of affliction meted out by the Assyrians, Yahweh would move to vindicate His people. Even the Assyrians would be forced to recognize the universal sovereignty of the Lord.
Three types of transgression committed by Assyria are mentioned. The first, in Nahum 1:11, is probably a reference to Sennacherib's unsuccessful attack on Jerusalem (2 Kings 18), when his generals taunted God's covenant people, the Judeans, with slurs on the impotency of Yahweh (2 Kings 18:22ff.). This transgression was the same type of religious fault committed by the Pharaoh of the Exodus. The second set of sins is in 3:1 - the blood guilt of Nineveh as she conducted some of the most murderous and brutal wars known to the ancient Near East. Furthermore, she was filled with deception and lies; she could not be counted on in any of her dealings. Even her plunder was a ready witness against her as she disregarded others' property rights. The third set of sins appears in 3:4 and consisted of a harlotry, which in this case was the sale of nations wherein diplomats bickered over the fate of other nations. Consequently, Nahum was no proud nationalist who evidenced a contemptuous disdain for the heathen. On the contrary, one of his complaints was that Nineveh sold "nations through her harlotries and peoples through her witchcrafts" (v. 4) so that her sins passed "continually" over all nations (v. 19). Moreover, when Nineveh's fall came, it would be a relief as well as a warning to other nations, for the Lord said, "I will show nations thy nakedness and kingdoms thy shame" (v. 5). All of Nineveh's robbery, plunder, harlotry, murder, and warmongering, in addition to being basic sins, were also against Yahweh and His plan for the nations (1:11).
A word of blessing or promise was also to be found in Nahum. God still "knew those who took refuge in Him," and He would be their "stronghold in the day of trouble" (1:7). In fact, F.C. Fensham, following the lead of W.L. Moran, identified the word "good" (tob) as a covenant term in Nahum 1:7. And following the study of H.W. Wolff on Hosea and Herbert B. Huffmon on Near Eastern materials, Fensham also connected the word "to know" (yada') with the covenant God had made between Himself and His people (v. 7). Thus while God's enemies would suffer the heat of His anger (vv. 6, 8), His own covenant people would be safe in His stronghold.
The "good news" (mebasser) that Nineveh was to be destroyed (Na 1:15 [2:1]) was a reminder of God's justice and faithfulness even as it had been in the parallel wording of Isaiah 52:7. Even as the tables had been turned on someone who had gone out from Nineveh (Sennacherib) and had planned and spoken evil against Yahweh and His covenant people only to find that matters had turned out differently, so the cup of affliction had been taken from Israel and had been given to the afflicting nations in Isaiah 51:22-23. Isaiah 52:10-13 went on to point to the universal work of God's salvation and to His Servant who would be His instrument by which His total reign over all humanity would be effected. But so did Nahum 2:1-2 [2-3] place the "good news" about Nineveh's destruction along with Yahweh's work of restoring "the majesty of Jacob and the splendor of Israel." The whole of Israel ("Jacob" and "Israel") would be "restored" (sub) while those who had stripped and plundered her vine branches (cf. Ps 80:8-16) would go down in defeat.
THE DAY OF THE LORD - ZEPHANIAH
Zephaniah ministered during the days of that remarkable king, Josiah (1:1). Abruptly he commenced his prophecy with an announcement of a universal judgment over all the "ground" (v. 2) and "mankind" (v. 3). The terms and scope of all impending divine judgment were precisely those given by God prior to the Noahic flood (Gen. 6:7). The day of the Lord was "at hand" (Zep 1:7). It would be "the day of Yahweh's sacrifice" (v. 7), "the great day of Yahweh," "the day of Yahweh's wrath," "a day of terror and distress," "a day of desolation and destruction," "a day of darkness and gloom," "a day of clouds and smoke," "a day of trumpet blast and battle alarm" (vv. 14-16).
Obadiah, Joel, Amos, and Isaiah had all spoken of this day, but Zephaniah alone emphasized more strenuously than them all the universality of its judgment while also surprisingly predicting the conversion of the nations as one of its fruits. Therefore, he urged, "Be still before Yahweh, Lord [of all]! For the day of the Lord is near. The Lord has prepared a slain sacrifice and consecrated His invited ones" (1:7). Isaiah 13:3 had already alluded to that sacrificial feast and to the guests who were the wild foes whom the Lord would summon against His people. Judgment would begin against Judah first (Zep 1:4), for so judgment always begins at the house of God. It would be a divine rebuke for Judah's introduction of the worship of Baal, the celestial bodies, and Milcom (vv. 4-6).
Instead, Judah should "seek" (biqqes) and "inquire of" (daras) Yahweh (1:6). That seeking could be defined: it was an attitude of humility (anawah) which turned back to trust Yahweh and drew near to Him (2:3; 3:12). Such humble people of the land observed and did the commands of Yahweh, for the will of God was their own (2:3). They also were known as those who "feared" Him and accepted "discipline" (musar) in Zephaniah 3:7.
All three of these terms linked the prophet's message to the wisdom literature: the humble, the God-fearers, and those who accepted correction. They would be part of that future "remnant" (se erit, 2:7, 9; cf. 3:13) or "flock" (so'n, 2:6) who would enjoy the promised blessing of God after Yahweh had triumphed over the nations.
Beyond the terrible and dreadful day of the Lord, Zephaniah saw a new era dawning. The gods of the earth would vanish; and from the distant countries of the earth ("isles," meaning those countries surrounding the Mediterranean Sea), all would pray to Yahweh (2:11). Such pedagogical significance to the judgment of the nations had been previously taught in Isaiah 24:27. Now "everyone from his place" (Zep 2:11), where they were at home, would pay homage to the Lord.
As Kapelrud summarized the order of the promises, they were as follows: (1) believers would be hidden on the day of wrath (2:3); (2) the remnant would settle down peacefully along the seacoast (v. 7); (3) Israel would have her revenge on her enemies (v. 9); (4) foreigners would call on the name of the Lord (3:9); (5) shame and wickedness would have come to an end and cease forever (vv. 11-13). These promises were followed with a final and triumphant shout: "The King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst; you shall fear evil no more" (v. 15).
The purification of the language ("lip") of the nations previously defiled by the names of strange gods was much as Isaiah had promised to Ethiopia (Isa 18:7) and Egypt (Isa 19:18). Then the poor and humble would rejoice as Isaiah had promised in 29:19 and as von Orelli so aptly cautioned:
"If Zephaniah has not spoken of the human mediator of the days of redemption, who was to spring from David's stem, he bears witness all the more powerfully to the divine aim, which even the Messiah must serve, viz., the future blessed rule of God, which according to him also will have its centre on Zion, while dispensing life and blessing throughout the world . . . The range of the divine plan, the universality of the judgment which must subserve that plan, [and] the universality of the redemption arrived at, are dwelt on by Zephaniah with special emphasis . . . His visions move around the summits of Isaiah's prophecy, illuminating them from fuller consciousness of the range they command."
THE JUST SHALL LIVE BY FAITH - HABAKKUK
If Zephaniah stressed humility and poverty of spirit as prerequisites for entering into the benefits of the company of the believing, Habakkuk demanded faith as the most indispensable prerequisite. But these are all part of the same picture.
Whereas Zephaniah stressed Judah's idolatry and religious syncretism, Habakkuk was alarmed by the increase of lawlessness, injustice, wickedness, and rebellion. So sensitive was his own heart to these things that he cried to God for relief; he must either be changed or the people's sin had to be dealt with in judgment (1:2-4).
The divine solution was as straightforward as it was disturbing to this prophet: the Babylonians would invade Judah and punish her (1:5-11). This only increased the agony of the prophet, for how could God use a more wicked agent to punish a less wicked people (vv. 12-17)?
The answer to that last question was delayed until the fivefold woe was given in 2:6-20. here Habakkuk reminded Babylon, as Assyria had already been warned in Isaiah 10, that God is the one who wielded the ax of judgment; therefore, nations had better be especially careful what methods and what persons they involved in their warfare.
No wonder Habakkuk called his message a "burden" (massa', 1:1). Massa' occurred 67 times in the OT, probably being derived from the root ns', "to lift." The first reference where this word was used of a prophecy whose contents were detailed in 2 Kings 9: 25-26. There Jehu reminded Bidkar, his officer, how the Lord had uttered this massa' against Ahab, his father: "As surely as I saw the blood of Naboth and the blood of his sons yesterday, says the Lord, I will requite you on this plot of ground." Thus Jehu referred to Elijah's prophecy in 1 Kings 21:19, 29 and called it a burden. Thus massa' could be nothing less than God's "sentence" (as the Jerusalem Bible correctly translated it) passed on Ahab and his son for murdering Naboth in order to get his vineyard. In Isaiah, nine of his eleven oracles against foreign nations were designated massa' (Isa 13:1; 14:28; 15:1; 17:1; 19:1; 21:1, 11, 13; 23:1). Nahum (1:1) and Habakkuk (1:1) both had categorized their messages by this name (cf. later Jer. 23:33-40 for the people's mocking use of massa' and Zec 9 and 12). These prophecies all emphasized the grave and solemn note in their contents. The modern versions that translate massa' as an utterance or oracle miss the aspect of verdict or sentence. Habakkuk obtained God's verdict for Judah's sin and Babylon's excessive cruelty in carrying out the divinely decreed judgment on Judah.
Again there was more, however, than divine judgment even in a massa'. The central oracle found in Habakkuk 2:4 was a word of hope and salvation. The importance of this remarkable word was indicated by the direction given along with it to engrave it on stone tablets in plain letters so that all who passed could easily read it (v. 2). It was to bear witness in the latter days after it had come to pass that God was true to His word.
But this word did not move to a ready condemnation of Babylon as Habakkuk might have expected. That had, in a way, already been given in Habakkuk 1:11: "He is guilty whose strength is his god." What needed to be shown to Judah, Habakkuk, and future generations was the striking contrast between the character of the wicked and the righteous people of God. To point to one's character was pretty well to determine one's final destiny.
Habakkuk 2:4a described the character of Babylon:" "Behold he is a puffed-up person, his soul is not upright in him." His inflated opinion of himself and of his accomplishments were the very opposite of Zephaniah's humble and poor-in-spirit believer. In contrast to the arrogance and conceit of this haughty leader of the kingdom of wickedness stood the description of the believer verse 4b: "But a righteous man shall live by faith." Thus, the righteous "shall not die," even as Habakkuk 1:12b had promised, but they "shall live" (2:4) despite the horror of the impending judgment.
What did living "by his faith" (be'emunato) mean to Habakkuk and his hearers? When used of physical things it meant "firmness" (Ex 17:12), but in the moral realm it meant "moral firmness" or "trustworthiness" as in daily living or commerce (Pr 12:17). It also meant, when used of God, that His fidelity to His word could be trusted (Dt 32:4). But in Habakkuk 2:4, faith was simply an unwavering trust in God's word. In contrast to the overbearing disposition of the wicked, the believer, like Abraham in Genesis 15:6 and Isaiah in Isaiah 28:16; 30:15 put an immovable confidence in the God who had promised His salvation and the coming Man of promise. It was a steadfast, undivided surrender to Yahweh, "a childlike, humble and sincere trust in the credibility of the divine message of salvation."
Therefore, despite Babylon's aspirations of empire building, another power would possess the earth: "for the earth will be filled with knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea" (Hab 2:14). This is a clear use of the older Isaiah 11:9 with slight changes.
With this bold announcement, Habakkuk prayed that the triumphant advent of God would come soon. Whatever had to take place by way of judgment under the hands of the Babylonians, he prayed that it would have an advantageous effect on God's work, that the ancient plan would be renewed and thus mercy would be interspersed with the wrath that also had to come.
Then borrowing language from God's appearance on Sinai (3:3ff) and His victory under Joshua when the sun ceased its shining and the moon was rebuked during a hailstorm (Jos 10:12-14), Habakkuk portrayed another theophany yet to come. He was frankly frightened by the awesomeness of God's glory as it appeared on this "day of trouble"; yet his joy was found in the same Lord in whom he had learned to put his trust and faith. God's salvation of his people (3:13) would include the salvation of His Messiah who would "crush the head [i.e., kingdom or dynasty] of the wicked" (3:13). Because the kingdom of the ungodly had been crushed, it no longer would be able to protect its inhabitants. But the redemption of God's people was assured. With that the prophet was confident and full of joy (3:16, 18-19).
