One bullet grazed his elbow, but a second lodged in the back of President James Garfield, who was shot this day, July 2, 1881, as he waited in the Washington train station. He had been in office four months. Though not wounded seriously, unsterile medical practices caused him to die two months later. A distinguished Civil War major, James Garfield was also a college president and was a preacher for the Disciples of Christ. He said: “If the next century does not find us a great nation … it will be because those who represent the … morality of the nation do not aid in controlling the political forces.”

Federer, B. (2003). American minute. St. Louis, MO.: Amerisearch, Inc.

You ask: what is the meaning or purpose of life?
I can only answer with another question:
do you think we are wise enough to read God's mind?
--- Freeman Dyson, quoted in The Meaning of Life,
compiled by Hugh S. Moorhead

... from here, there and everywhere

15 A person may have gold and a wealth of pearls,
but lips informed by knowledge are a precious jewel.

16 Seize his clothes,
     because he guaranteed a stranger’s loan;
take them as security for that unknown woman.

Stern, D. H. (1998). Complete Jewish Bible-OE
: An English version of the Tanakh (OT) and
B'rit Hadashah (NT) (1st ed.). Clarksville, Md.: Jewish
New Testament Publications.

                         The conditions of discipleship

     If any man come to Me, and hate not …, he cannot be My disciple. Luke 14:26, also 27, 33.

     If the closest relationships of life clash with the claims of Jesus Christ, He says it must be instant obedience to Himself. Discipleship means personal, passionate devotion to a Person, Our Lord Jesus Christ. There is a difference between devotion to a Person and devotion to principles or to a cause. Our Lord never proclaimed a cause; He proclaimed personal devotion to Himself. To be a disciple is to be a devoted love-slave of the Lord Jesus. Many of us who call ourselves Christians are not devoted to Jesus Christ. No man on earth has this passionate love to the Lord Jesus unless the Holy Ghost has imparted it to him. We may admire Him, we may respect Him and reverence Him, but we cannot love Him. The only Lover of the Lord Jesus is the Holy Ghost, and He sheds abroad the very love of God in our hearts. Whenever the Holy Ghost sees a chance of glorifying Jesus, He will take your heart, your nerves, your whole personality, and simply make you blaze and glow with devotion to Jesus Christ.

     The Christian life is stamped by ‘moral spontaneous originality,’ consequently the disciple is open to the same charge that Jesus Christ was, viz., that of inconsistency. But Jesus Christ was always consistent to God, and the Christian must be consistent to the life of the Son of God in him, not consistent to hard and fast creeds. Men pour themselves into creeds, and God has to blast them out of their prejudices before they can become devoted to Jesus Christ.

Chambers, O. (1993). My Utmost for His Highest

It will not always be like this,
The air windless, a few last
Leaves adding their decoration
To the trees’ shoulders, braiding the cuffs
Of the boughs with gold; a bird preening

In the lawn’s mirror. Having looked up
From the day’s chores, pause a minute,
Let the mind take its photograph
Of the bright scene, something to wear
Against the heart in the long cold.

Thomas, R. S. Selected poems, 1946-1968

     Who was Ahithopel? Modern scholars, especially the Word Biblical Commentary say he was not the grandfather of Bathsheba, but I tend to lean toward the Jewish interpretation since it is much older and after all, we are reading Jewish literature which we have appropriated as our own. Ahithophel is the only fellow-conspirator of Absalom who is mentioned by name in this story.

     Among David's courtiers and attendants, a prominent place is occupied by his counsellor Ahithophel, 1  with whom the king was connected by family ties, Bath-sheba being his granddaughter. 2  Ahithophel's wisdom was supernatural, for his counsels always coincided with the oracles rendered by the Urim and Thummim, and great as was his wisdom, it was equalled by his scholarship.

     Therefore David did not hesitate to submit himself to his instruction, 3  even though Ahithophel was a very young man, at the time of his death not more than thirty-three years old. 4  The one thing lacking in him was sincere piety, 5  and this it was that proved his undoing in the end, for it induced him to take part in Absalom's rebellion against David. Thus he forfeited even his share in the world to come. 6

     To this dire course of action he was misled by astrologic and other signs, which he interpreted as prophecies of his own kingship, when in reality they pointed to the royal destiny of his granddaughter Bath-sheba. 7  Possessed by his erroneous belief, he cunningly urged Absalom to commit an unheard-of crime. Thus Absalom would profit nothing by his rebellion, for, though he accomplished his father’s ruin, he would yet be held to account and condemned to death for his violation of family purity, and the way to the throne would be clear for Ahithophel, the great sage in Israel. 8

     The relation between David and Ahithophel had been somewhat strained even before Absalom’s rebellion. Ahithophel’s feelings had been hurt by his being passed over at the time when David, shortly after ascending the throne, invested, on a single day, no less than ninety thousand functionaries with positions.

     On that day a remarkable incident occurred. When the Ark was to be brought up from Geba to Jerusalem, the priests who attempted to take hold of it were raised up in the air and thrown violently to the ground. In his despair the king turned for advice to Ahithophel, who retorted mockingly: “Ask thy wise men whom thou hast but now installed in office.” It was only when David uttered a curse on him who knows a remedy and withholds it from the sufferer, that Ahithophel advised that a sacrifice should be offered at every step taken by the priests. Although the measure proved efficacious, and no further disaster occurred in connection with the Ark, yet Ahithophel’s words had been insincere.

     He knew the real reason of the misadventure, and concealed it from the king. Instead of following the law of having the Ark carried on the shoulders of priests, David had had it put on a wagon, and so incurred the wrath of God. 9

     Ahithophel's hostility toward David showed itself also on the following occasion. When David was digging the foundations of the Temple, a shard was found at a depth of fifteen hundred cubits. David was about to lift it, when the shard exclaimed: “Thou canst not do it.” “Why not?” asked David. “Because I rest upon the abyss.” “Since when?” “Since the hour in which the voice of God was heard to utter the words from Sinai, ‘I am the Lord thy God’, causing the earth to quake and sink into the abyss. I lie here to cover up the abyss.” Nevertheless David lifted the shard, and the waters of the abyss rose and threatened to flood the earth. Ahithophel was standing by, and he thought to himself: “Now David will meet with his death, and I shall be king.” Just then David said: “Whoever knows how to stem the tide of waters, and fails to do it, will one day throttle himself.” 10  Thereupon Ahithophel had the Name of God inscribed upon the shard, and the shard thrown into the abyss. The waters at once commenced to subside, but they sank to so great a depth that David feared the earth might lose her moisture, and he began to sing the fifteen “Songs of Ascents”, to bring the waters up again. 11

     Nevertheless David’s curse was realized. Ahithophel ended his days by hanging himself. His last will contained the following three rules of conduct: 12 1. Refrain from doing aught against a favorite of fortune. 2. Take heed not to rise up against the royal house of David. 3. If the Feast of Pentecost falls on a sunny day, then sow wheat. 13

     Posterity has been favored with the knowledge of but a small part of Ahithophel’s wisdom, and that little through two widely different sources, through Socrates, 14  who was his disciple, and through a fortune-book written by him. 15

     I know, I know, but I still think much can be learned from Jewish sources. Don't we accept that God spoke through a donkey? Well then ...

1 Berakot 3b, which reads: David did not engage in any war before he took counsel with Ahitophel. Targum Ps. 141:10 describes Ahitophel as the head of the Synedrion.

2 Sanhedrin 101b; ps.-Jerome 2 Sam. 11:3. Ahitophel was at first David's best friend; Tehillim 55, 290.

3 Nedarim 37b; Yerushalmi Sanhedrin 10, 29a; Tehillim 3, 38, which reads: His wisdom was superhuman, like that of an angel. Comp. also Tehillim 55, 391, which reads: David feared nobody except Ahitophel, who was his master and teacher in the knowledge of the Torah. According to some, David learned two things only from Ahitophel, to acquire colleagues with whom to study the Torah, and to walk quickly to the house of God for prayer and service; see Abot 6.2; Nispahim 18; Kallah 6, 16; Mahzor Vitry 556; Nehemias, Commentary on Abot, 77; BaR 18.17.

4 Sanhedrin 69b; compare footnote 97 on p. 906.

5 Sanhedrin 106b; Hagigah 15b; Tehillim 55, 292–293, and 119, 495 and 500. Compare with p. 906, where a similar characteristic is attributed to Doeg. Ahitophel used to compose three prayers for each day; Yerushalmi Berakot 4, 8a (bottom), which is a play on the name Ahitophel brother of prayer;, i. e. man of prayers; comp., however, Ratner, Ahabat Ziyyon, ad. loc. It was his pride which brought destruction upon him, as may be seen from his haughty behavior towards David at the removal of the ark; ER 31, 157.

6 Sanhedrin Mishnah 10.1. Compare footnote 100 on p. 906.

7 Sanhedrin 101b; an unknown Midrash in Yalkut II, 151 on 2 Sam. 16. Compare footnote 52 on p. 898, and footnote 2 on p. 981.

8 Yalkut II, 151 on 2 Sam. 16. Ahitophel thought that David was fallen from the grace of God for ever since he had committed the sin with Bath-sheba. But he did not know that no sin can efface the merit acquired by the study of the Torah;, and these merits stood David in good stead in the time of his disgrace; see Sotah 21a; comp. also Baba Meziʿa 59a; PK 2, 10b; Tan. B. II, 106; Tan. Ki-Tissa 4; Tehillim 2, 38, which reads: Doeg and Ahitophel used to remark mockingly: Is it conceivable that he who took the sheep and slew the shepherd should be able to make good? On the reading Doeg in this passage, see Tosafot שנץ on Sotah, loc. cit.

9 Yerushalmi Sanhedrin 10, 29a; BaR 4.20; ER 31,157, which reads: The ark was suspended in the air, and Uzzah put forth his hand; to take hold of it. The sinners in Israel then said: Were it not for Uzzah, the ark would have dropped down to the ground. No sooner did they utter these blasphemous words than Uzzah dropped dead. All then became convinced that the ark was able to support itself without human help. According to Sotah 35a, Uzzah eased himself near the ark, and as a punishment was smitten dead, whereas according to Rimze Haftarot, Shemini, he brought his death upon himself by uncovering the ark. As to the grave error committed by David in putting the ark on a wagon, see Josephus, Antiqui., VII, 4.2; Aphraates, 363; Ephraem, 2 Sam. 6:7; Ginzberg, Haggada bei den Kirchenv. The king chose pious men, and therefore passed over Ahitophel, who was wise but not pious; Hasidim 416.

10 Ahitophel ended his life by strangling himself; 2 Sam. 17:18. A somewhat different reason for Ahitophel's death by strangling is given in ER 31, 157.

11 Yerushalmi Sanhedrin 10, 29a; Sukkah 53a–53b; Makkot 11a; Shemuel 26, 125; Maʾasiyyot (Gaster's edition, 113–14); Raziel; Sode Raza as quoted in Yalkut Reubeni, Gen. 1:1; Hakam ha-Razim in Yalkut Reubeni, Num. 26:56; Al-Barceloni, 72–73; Zohar III, 198b. In the last source it is stated that David found a pot filled with magic herbs at the abyss where it was placed by Balak; As to the waters below the holy of holies, see Mid-dot 2.6, and Yoma 77b–78a. All these Haggadahs belong to the cycle of legends concerning the Eben Shetiyyah; see Index, s. v.

12 2 Sam. 17:23 is quoted as proof for the law that the last wish of the dying has legal validity; comp. Baba Batra 147a.

13 Yerushalmi Sanhedrin 10, 29a–29b; Baba Batra 147a (here the first rule of conduct reads: Do not engage in dissension, which is very likely a doublet to rule 2; comp. ER 31, 157); PRK 23a (as in Baba Batra, with the addition: When you begin to suffer the travail of the Messiah, start to prepare gifts for him).

14 R. Moses Isserles, Torat ha-ʿOlah 1.11, quoting an “old source”.

15 On the fortune-book, see Steinschneider, Hebräische Uebersetzungen, 870.

Louis Ginzberg, Henrietta Szold and Paul Radin, Legends of the Jews, 2nd ed. (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 2003), 922.

     The knowledge that a part of Absalom's following sided with him in secret,—that, though he was pursued by his son, his friends remained true to him, —somewhat consoled David in his distress. He thought that in these circumstances, if the worst came to the worst, Absalom would at least feel pity for him. 1 At first, however, the despair of David knew no bounds. He was on the point of worshipping an idol, when his friend Hushai the Archite approached him, saying: The people will wonder that such a king should serve idols. David replied: Should a king such as I am be killed by his own son? It is better for me to serve idols than that God should be held responsible for my misfortune, and His Name thus be desecrated. Hushai reproached him: Why didst thou marry a captive? There is no wrong in that, replied David, it is permitted according to the law. Thereupon Hushai: But thou didst disregard the connection between the passage permitting it and the one that follows almost immediately after it in the Scriptures, dealing with the disobedient and rebellious son, the natural issue of such a marriage.2

     Hushai was not the only faithful friend and adherent David had. Some came to his rescue unexpectedly, as, for instance, Shobi, the son of Nahash, who is identical with the Ammonite king Hanun, the enemy of David at first, and later his ally. 3 Barzillai, another one of his friends in need, also surprised him by his loyalty, for on the whole his moral attitude was not the highest conceivable. 4

1 Berakot 7b; Tehillim 3, 34. Owing to an incorrect reading in Tehillim, loc. cit. , Zohar, I, 151b, maintains that David felt some consolation in the fact that the leaders of the people remained faithful to him, and did not join Absalom; comp. the preceding note. In the Book of Psalms the psalm which David composed when he fled from Absalom follows the one concerning Gog and Magog (the nations in uproar against God and the Messiah; comp. Ps. 2 and 3). The reason is that if one should say: How is it possible that the slave should rebel against his master? he will receive the answer: Behold, it even happened that the son rebelled against his father. See Berakot 10a.

2 Sanhedrin 107a; DR 4.4; Zohar III, 24a; EZ 3, 177; ps.-Jerome, 2 Sam. 15:25. Comp. Ginzberg, Haggada bei den Kirchenv., 53–54. David served an idol because he wished to make his fate appear just in the eyes of men, who would say: “Behold, he merited his punishment.” That David on this occasion had his head covered and went barefoot (2 Sam. 16:30) was due to the fact that the Synedrion excommunicated him (on account of his sin with Bath-sheba?), and one who is excommunicated is forbidden to put on shoes or to have his head uncovered. The ban was removed from him by his master Ira. Comp. Shemuel 8, 70; BaR 3.2; Zohar II, 107b.

3 Tehillim 2, 34–36, where also the different kinds of food sent by David's friends (2 Sam. 17:28–29) are described in detail.

4 Shabbat 152a, which reads: Barzillai had led a lascivious life, and having spent his strength, he could not enjoy life any more when he became old; comp. 2 Sam. 19:36. In Tehillim 2, 35–36 it is stated that David had feared these very men who came to his assistance. Barzillai was a proselyte; see Jerushalmi Kiddushin 4.65b./span>

Louis Ginzberg, Henrietta Szold and Paul Radin, Legends of the Jews, 2nd ed. (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 2003), 932.

     one person tells you: “You have donkey ears,” don’t believe him; two, make for yourself a bridle.

     BIBLE TEXT / Genesis 16:6–11 / Abram said to Sarai, “Your maid is in your hands. Deal with her as you think right.” Then Sarai treated her harshly, and she ran away from her. An angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the road to Shur, and said, “Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?” And she said, “I am running away from my mistress Sarai.” And the angel of the Lord said to her, “Go back to your mistress, and submit to her harsh treatment.” And the angel of the Lord said to her, “I will greatly increase your offspring, and they shall be too many to count.” The angel of the Lord said to her further, “Behold you are with child and shall bear a son; You shall call him Ishmael, for the Lord has paid heed to your suffering.”

     MIDRASH TEXT / Genesis Rabbah 45, 7 / An angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water. On the way to Ḥalutzah. … And said, “Hagar, slave of Sarai.…” And she said “… from my mistress Sarai.” The proverb says, If one person tells you, “You have donkey ears,” don’t believe him; two, make for yourself a bridle. Thus Abram said, “Your maid is in your hands.” The angel said, “Hagar, slave of Sarai” “[a]nd she said … ‘from my mistress Sarai.’ ”

     And the angel of the Lord said to her.… The angel of the Lord said to her further.… How many angels came to her? Rabbi Yosé bar Rabbi Ḥanina said, “Five—each time it says ‘said,’ [there is] an angel.” The Rabbis said, “Four—each time it says ‘angel.’

     Rabbi Ḥiyya said, “Come and see the difference between the early ones and the later ones. Manoah said to his wife, ‘We shall surely die, for we have seen a divine being’ [Judges 13:22]. Yet Hagar, slave of Sarai, saw five angels, one after the other, and wasn’t afraid of them.” Rabbi Ḥiyya said, “The fingernails of the fathers rather than the bellies of the sons.” Rabbi Yitzḥak said, “ ‘She oversees the activities of her household’ [Proverbs 31:27]. Those [the angels] who ‘oversee’ were members of our father Abraham’s household, so she [Hagar] was used to seeing them.”

     CONTEXT / An angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water. On the way to Ḥalutzah. The Midrash begins by helping us to locate the geographic point where the biblical story took place. Ḥalutzah is a town in the northern Negev, about twelve miles southwest of Beer-sheba. During the Roman period, Ḥalutzah (also spelled Elusa) was where the road from Israel to Egypt began. It makes sense that if Hagar, an Egyptian, were going to run away from Sarah (Sarai is Sarah’s original name), she would probably return to the land of her birth.

     “And she, Hagar, said ‘… from my mistress Sarai.’ ” Hagar seems to have been a feisty and defiant young woman. The Midrash wants to know why she refers to Sarai as “my mistress” (Genesis 16:8). By using this term (גְּבִרְתִּי/g’virti in Hebrew), Hagar seems to be accepting her subservience. The answer is that she was referred to twice, once by Abraham, once by the angel, as a שִׁפְחָה/shifḥah, meaning “maid” or “slave.” After the second time, Hagar began to believe what others said about her. This is illustrated by the Rabbinic comment about believing people who tell you that you have donkey’s ears.

     And the angel of the Lord said to her.… The angel of the Lord said to her further.… How many angels came to her? The third section of our text wants to know how many angels actually spoke to Hagar. We might assume that the dialogue took place between just one angel and Hagar. But the Rabbis saw each additional mention of the word “angel” as a clue that it was a new and different angel who was speaking. Rabbi Yosé counted not the uses of the word angel, but rather the number of times an angel spoke to Hagar, and thus deduced there were five different angels. (In verse 8 of chapter 16, an angel speaks without being identified as such.)

     Rabbi Ḥiyya said, “Come and see the difference between the early ones and the later ones.” Our Midrash ends by comparing the earlier generations (Hagar) and the later generations (Manoah, father of Samson, whose story is told in Judges 12). The earlier figures were familiar with angels and showed no surprise when they spoke to them. Manoah, on the later end, fears immediate death after coming in contact with an angel. Rabbi Ḥiyya said, “The fingernails of the fathers rather than the bellies of the sons.” Hagar is compared to a fingernail of the fathers, a small insignificant part of the earlier biblical figures. Manoah is compared to the belly of the sons, a crucial organ of the later stories. We are told that the greatness of the former far surpassed that of the latter.

     The verse from Proverbs, “She oversees the activities of her household,” is applied to Hagar and the four (or five) angels who visited her. The angels are referred to as seers or overseers, for their ability to know the future. “Those [the angels] who ‘oversee’ were members of our father Abraham’s household, so she [Hagar] was used to seeing them.” As a member of the household, Hagar would be used to seeing these angels.

Katz, M., & Schwartz, G. Searching for Meaning in Midrash: Lessons for Everyday Living Philadelphia, PA: The Jewish Publication Society.

     He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. --- Mark 12:27

     In the Bible, the nature of the life to come is not so clear as the fact of the life to come. The Faith Once Delivered Yet we are not left without hint as to what the nature of that life will be.

     The Bible tells us that our personalities persist, go on. The Sadducees, who did not believe in angel or spirit or resurrection, once came to Jesus with that question about the seven-times-married woman who had survived all her husbands. The Sadducees wanted to know whose wife she would be in the Resurrection. Jesus told them that they misconceived the nature of the Resurrection and the future life. He reminded them of what God said to Moses at the burning bush: “Have you not read,… ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ God is not the God of the dead but of the living.” Personality, the you, the me, goes on.

     The Bible tells us that the future life will be a life of great power and endowment—the “powers of the coming age.” Paul said our bodies in the life to come will be like the resurrection body of Christ. If so, what an organ of expression we will have and what a platform of existence on which to stand!

     Since we are to have so wonderful an organ of life and expression, it follows that we will have some great and high use for such a body and such a spirit. Here in this life all the noblest human work is done in connection with ignorance, suffering, sorrow, vice, and sin. But one day all those things are to pass away. What, then, will be the work of redeemed souls? What has Moses been doing since God buried him on Nebo’s lonely mountain? What has Elijah been doing since the day he went up to heaven in a whirlwind? That we must leave to the infinite resources of God.

     Further, the Bible tells us that the life to come will be a life of holiness. This we learn from one of those great “no mores” with which the Bible describes the heavenly life: no more sea of separation, no more night, no more fear, no more tears, and no more curse—that is, no more sin. We will do naturally and gladly what God wills. Then, with every evil cast out, clothed and in our right minds, we will stand before the Creator as God designed us at the beginning when he said, “Let us make man in our image.”
--- Clarence E. Macartney

Wallis, D. (2001). Take Heart: Daily Devotions with the Church's Great Preachers

     “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” (Gen. 18:25) God is long-suffering, but there comes a time when His hand of judgment falls. “You have rebuked the nations, You have destroyed the wicked; you have blotted out their name forever and ever” (Ps. 9:5, NKJV). Nahum gives three reasons why Nineveh deserved to be judged.

     Their ruthless bloodshed (Nahum 3:1–3). The Assyrians were clever diplomats who lied to other nations and then broke their promises and destroyed them. They slaughtered people without regard for age or sex, and they stacked up corpses like lumber as warning to anybody who would oppose them. The shedding of innocent blood is a serious sin that God notes, remembers, and judges (Deut. 19:11–13; 2 Kings 21:16; 24:4; Ps. 106:38; Prov. 6:16–17; Isa. 59:7). Depraved dictators who authorize the heartless slaying of innocent victims will someday answer to God for their crimes against Him and humanity.

     Their idolatry (Nahum 3:4–7). Often in Scripture, idolatry is associated with prostitution, and when you consider that the chief deity of Nineveh was Ishtar, goddess of sexual passion, fertility, and war, you can understand why Nahum used this metaphor. Because of their spiritual blindness, the Assyrians were ensnared by this evil goddess and were under the control of lust, greed, and violence. People become like the god that they worship (Ps. 115:8), for what we believe determines how we behave. Assyria spread this evil influence to other nations and enslaved them by their sorcery. (See the description of the corrupt end-times religious system given in Rev. 17.)

     In ancient times, prostitutes were often shamed by being publicly exposed, and this is what God promised to do to Nineveh. God would expose Assyria’s nakedness before all the nations, and this would be the end of their evil influence. The magnificent wealthy city would become a heap of ruins.

     Their pride and self-confidence (Nahum 3:8–19. In this closing paragraph, Nahum uses a number of images to show the Assyrians their weaknesses and assure them of their ultimate defeat.

     He begins with a fact of history: the defeat of the Egyptian city of Thebes, or No-Ammon, by the Assyrians, in 663 (vv. 8–11). If you visit Karnak and Luxor in Upper Egypt, you will be at the site of ancient Thebes. This capital city of Upper Egypt was sure it was safe from any invader, yet it went down in defeat before Assyria. Like Nineveh, Thebes was situated by waters which were supposed to be their defense, but the city fell just the same. Thebes had many allies, but they couldn’t protect her.

     What Assyria did to the people of Thebes would in turn be done to them: their children would be dashed to pieces, the leaders would become slaves, and the people would become exiles. Now, argues Nahum, if this happened to Thebes, why couldn’t it happen to Nineveh? Their pride and self-confidence would be totally destroyed as the Medes and Babylonians captured the city. Nineveh would drink the cup of God’s wrath and become drunk (v. 11; see Ps. 75:8; Isa. 51:17; Jer. 25:14ff).

     In fact, the conquest would be so easy, it would be like ripe figs dropping into a person’s mouth (Nahum 3:12). Why? Because the ferocious Assyrian soldiers would be drained of their strength and be like women: weak, afraid, and unable to meet the enemy (vv. 13–14). (This image is not meant to demean women in any way, whether civilians or in the armed forces, or to suggest that women lack strength and courage. The biblical examples of Rahab, Deborah, Jael, Ruth, and Esther prove that Scripture can magnify the courage and service of dedicated women. However, we must keep in mind that the ancient world was a masculine society; women were kept secluded and certainly wouldn’t have been expected to participate in battles. Phrases like “weak as a woman” were current; both Isaiah (19:16) and Jeremiah (50:37; 51:30) used them.) They wouldn’t be able to bar the gates or stop the enemy from setting fire to them, nor would they be able to repair the walls or carry water to put out the fires.

     The next image is that of insects (vv. 15–17). The invading soldiers would sweep through the land and the city like a plague of grasshoppers or locusts and wipe everything out. The Babylonian merchants were also like locusts as they collected all the treasures they could find. But the Assyrian leaders were like locusts that go to sleep on the wall on a cold day, but when the sun comes up, they feel the heat and fly away. The king and his council were overconfident, like locusts sleeping on the wall, but when the invasion occurred, they flew off to a safe place!

     Assyria was like a scattered flock with sleeping shepherds (v. 18), or like a wounded body with no way to be healed (v. 19a). They had no allies to rescue them, for all the other nations would rejoice when they heard that the Assyrian Empire was no more (v. 19b).

     Like the Book of Jonah, the Book of Nahum ends with a question: “for who has not felt your endless cruelty?” (v. 19, NIV) Nahum emphasizes the same truth that was declared by the Prophet Amos: God punishes cruel nations that follow inhumane policies and brutal practices (Amos 1–2). Whether it’s practicing genocide, exploiting the poor, supporting slavery, or failing to provide people with the necessities of life, the sins of national leaders are known by God and He eventually judges.

     If you question that fact, go and search for Nineveh.

W. W. Wiersbe, (1996) Be Amazed (Minor Prophets): Restoring an Attitude of Wonder and Worship (The BE Series Commentary)