Through The Bible Study
Session #28
Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah[1]
April 2, 2003
Remember this about the struggle of reading prophetic material: The typical prophetic book consists of a collection of oracles given by the prophet at different times and occasions during the prophet’s sometimes extended ministry.
Our struggle with reading prophetic oracles:
v We are most at home reading narrative literature which usually has and develops a story line or an argument in sequential fashion.
v Prophetic material doesn’t often follow this pattern.
v A good analogy for prophetic material: a collection of relatively short sermons or sayings from a preacher which the reader/hearer then has to use to reconstruct the situation in which the preacher was saying/preaching them. In just having these sermons, it would be tough to reconstruct chronologically what was going on. The sermons might be arranged topically, chronologically, or randomly.
v One of the main tasks of the reader in reading prophetic material is to recognize the beginning and ending of specific oracles.
The book of Nahum’s theme is centered on Yahweh’s impending judgment on Assyria, the Assyrian king, and his capital city of Nineveh.
v Nahum has almost been totally ignored by the Church. No lectionary reading is taken from it. No hymns seem to contain its words.
v Because the book focuses so on the destruction of Nineveh, many have scorned Nahum as being vengeful and nationalistic. Some have even gone so far to label Nahum a ‘false prophet.’ Another commentator writes, “Ethically and theologically it is deficient.”
v Nahum is not a book about human beings, but a book about God. A lesson to be learned from Nahum is that we are to let God be God. We are not the judge of what God can do and what God cannot.
Some subsidiary themes that support the main theme:
v Judah has a lack of confidence in God’s ability to deliver them from their Assyrian oppressor (1.9).
v Despite outward appearances to the contrary, God is about to act (1.10-2.1).
v The book ends with an oracle assuring the Assyrian king that Assyria is finished (3.18-19).
Outline of Nahum
I. Superscription (1.1)
II. Oracle of reassurance to Judah (1.2-1.15)
III. Oracle threatening the Assyrian king (2.1-13)
IV. Oracle against Nineveh (3.1-17)
V. Another oracle against the Assyrian king (3.18-19)
Dating of Nahum
v We must do some inference to come up with dating.
v The fall of Thebes is mentioned as a past event (3.8) and this happened in 663 BC. The fall of Nineveh happened in 612 BC so we must conclude that Nahum was written between 663-612 BC. Most date Nahum more specifically between 640-630 BC.
Nahum the prophet
v Little is know about Nahum apart from his hometown – Elkosh (1.1).
v While his biblical prophecy is concerned with the downfall of Assyria, he perhaps was a prophet longer and had other concerns of which we know nothing.
v At the heart of his message is a recognition of Yahweh as a God of justice who will not let injustice and oppression go unpunished.
Habakkuk is not the typical prophetic book.
v Like other books, it contains oracles given on different occasions but in Habakkuk these oracles have been arranged to develop a coherent, sequential argument.
v What Habakkuk is not about…
- The justice of God. Many want to ask from Habakkuk, “Why does God reward the wicked and punish the righteous?”
- It’s not a book about human doubt.
- It’s not primarily about human suffering and the helplessness of people before the powers of evil in the world.
v What Habakkuk is about: The purposes of God and the realization of his will for his world.
v The argument or flow of the book...
- Habakkuk laments the injustice that is rampant in Judean society (1.2-4).
- God responds to Habakkuk’s complaint and says he is sending the Chaldeans to take care of Judean injustice (1.5-10).
- Habakkuk is astonished and feels God is overreacting. He laments again that God’s plan is more unjust than Judah’s problems (1.11-17).
- Habakkuk waits for God’s response to his 2nd lament (2.1).
- God gives Habakkuk a vision that is described as reliable and trustworthy and Habakkuk is to wait for its fulfillment (2.2-20). Note that the vision is not revealed until chapter 3.
- The vision is revealed – a divine warrior will rescue God’s people (3.3-15).
Date of Habakkuk
v The injustice in Judah most likely dates Habakkuk’s material sometime between 609-605 BC.
The prophet Habakkuk and his message:
v We know very little about this prophet. It seems he was familiar with the worship traditions of the people, but whether he was employed as a religious professional remains uncertain.
v Habakkuk is deeply concerned with injustices he sees in Judean life.
v When God promises to punish Judah, Habakkuk feels there must be something beyond the punishment of God. The vision of God’s divine warrior rescuing the people reminds us that God’s final word is not judgment but redemption.
v Habakkuk 2.4 has been key for Christians – righteous live by faith.
v Remember Habakkuk is an encouragement to persevere. For people who often live in the “meantime,” Habakkuk is encouraging. Sometimes we get frustrated waiting for the revelation of God’s promises and the fulfillment of those promises.
Zephaniah was the first prophetic voice to be heard since the time of Isaiah (701 BC) so people were longing to hear from God again.
Some would label Zephaniah as a “prophetic drama” broken down into three acts:
1. Act 1 would be 1:2-17
2. Act 2 would be 1:18-3:5
3. Act 3 would be 3:6-20
Another opinion on how to divide Zephaniah is as follows:
1. Zephaniah 1:1-2:3 announces God’s terrifying judgment on Jerusalem and Judah.
A. The threat of judgment on some in Judah (1:2-6).
B. The encouragement to be silent before God (1:8-13).
C. The announcement of the terrifying day of God against his sinful people (1:14-18).
D. An admonition to the poor and humble to seek Yahweh while there is a faint hope of escape from the terrible judgment (2:1-3).
2. Zephaniah 2:4-15 announces a collection of oracles against foreign nations.
A. An oracle against Philistia (2:4-7).
B. An oracle against Moab and Ammon (2:8-10).
C. A fragment of an oracle against Ethiopia (2:12).
D. An oracle against Judah’s main enemy in Zephaniah’s time – Assyria (2:13-15).
3. Zephaniah 3:1-20 announces judgment against Jerusalem and ends with the promise of transformation and salvation (3:1-20).
A. An oracle against the rebellious and polluted city whose surprising failure to learn from God’s punishments will lead to further punishment at the hands of the nations (3:1-8).
B. The judgment will transform the city and the people so that the inhabitants will serve God with one accord (3:9-13).
C. Once the transformation has taken place, the city may rejoice for the period of judgment will have come to an end (3:14-20).
Dating Zephaniah
v The superscription (1:1) dates the book to the reign of Josiah (reigned 640-609 BC). Most likely Zephaniah’s words here should be dated well before Josiah’s famous reforms (see 2nd Kings 22:3-23:25) in 622 BC.
v Was there something going on that caused Zephaniah to speak of the God’s terrible day of judgment was at hand?
o We just don’t know. Some have suggested a Scythian invasion.
Zephaniah the man
v Relatively little is known about the prophet.
v His message has much in common with the earlier prophetic tradition. He speaks about the Day of the Lord which reminds us of what Amos and Isaiah said.
v Many other themes are similar to Isaiah’s: judgment is refining; judgment on the ruling classes; judgment performs a positive function – the transformation of the people.
[1] The majority of my comments are based on J.J.M. Roberts’ commentary, The Old Testament Library, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah (Louisville, KY: Westminster/John Knox Press, 1991). Roberts is the William Henry Green Professor of Old Testament Literature at Princeton Theological Seminary. I have also used Elizabeth Achtemeier’s commentary, Interpretation – Nahum-Malachi (Atlanta: John Knox Press, 1986).