The Peculiar Prophecy of Nahum ( And Others)

Bible prophecy is one of the most interesting subjects, well, anywhere.  Plus, the Bible is the only holy book that offers predictive prophecy; the Quran of Islam doesn't; the Vedas of Hinduism don't; nor does the Buddhist Tipitaka.  No, only the Bible dares to venture into the realm of predictive prophecy, some of which we covered on another post called, Undeniable Proof the Bible is Real: Predictive Prophecy.

What we are going to look at today are peculiar prophecies.  These are things that the prophets spoke of that may be alluding to things in our modern world that they couldn't understand and used language and symbolism they were familiar with to describe them; or even just having been inspired to write in a way that we would recognize what they were talking about.  And today, we will start with the peculiar prophecy of Nahum.

The book of Nahum was written to the inhabitants of Nineveh, the Assyrian capital, about 100 years after Jonah was spit out of the great fish onto their shores preaching repentance.  Nineveh did repent and was spared.  But, it wasn't long before they fell back into their old ways.  Thus comes Nahum.

It's kind of funny, Jonah was chomping at the bit to give Nahum's message to Nineveh, so much so that he fled the will of God, ended up in the belly of the fish, and had to go preach repentance anyway.  If you have read Jonah, he ended up pouting and upset with God for sparing Nineveh.  He wanted God's wrath to fall upon them and not His mercy.  The point is, though, that God was willing to spare even the Assyrians who were among the most brutal of peoples in the world.  They were cruel and merciless.  When they repented, they were shown the mercy they failed to show others.

Now, we return to Nahum.  His book is actually a poem and you can tell when you read it that it isn't just another book where the prophet is preaching.  There is kind of a lilt to it, even though it is a book of coming judgment.  But, the passage of interest today is Nahum 2:4.  We will compare three translations, which say:

"The chariots shall rage in the streets, they shall justle one against another in the broad ways: they shall seem like torches, they shall run like the lightnings." KJV

"The chariots race madly in the streets, they rush wildly in the squares, their appearance is like torches, they dash to and fro like lightning flashes." NASB

"The chariots race madly through the streets; they rush to and fro through the squares; they gleam like torches; they dart like lightning." ESV

What does this sound like to you?  Could the prophet have been seeing cars?  What else could he have had to compare to but chariots?  And weren't the chariots in this context war chariots?  Why would the be racing through the streets in the city?  Just a thought.

We look to the Old Testament prophets for insight into our world.  We are told to.  Jesus tells us to read the prophet, Daniel (Matthew 24:15, Mark 13:14).  The book of Revelation tells us that its readers are blessed (Revelation 1:3).  As a matter of fact, there is no way you can completely understand the book of Revelation if you haven't read the Old Testament Prophets.  This shows us that we aren't out of line by studying these books.  And for those who would tell you that end times prophecy is a distraction, they are wrong.  It is part of the word of God and deserves study and attention as much as any other part of God's Word.  

With that in mind, knowing that Nahum is likely referring to some aspect of our world, how else can we take it, this prophecy of jostling, lightninglike chariots?  It's nothing to get dogmatic about.  We can agree to disagree.  But, I think he could be referring to cars. 

There are other peculiar prophecies like this one in Nahum that might lead us to wonder if the prophet wasn't seeing something he didn't understand; something that could only be understood on our time.  For instance, there are a several prophecies in Revelation that allude to television.  A couple are: 

"And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves.  And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and send gifts one to another, because these tow prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth." Revelation 11:9-10

"Behold, He cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see Him, and they also which pierced Him; and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of Him. Even so, Amen." Revelation 1:7

Then, along the same lines, there are the verses, Matthew 24:14,30 that say:

 "And this Gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come." 

"Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory."

Try as I might, I can't figure out how everyone in the world will see these things at the same time without digital technology like cell phones and television.

Then there's that verse, Daniel 12:4, which says:

"But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased."

The Hebrew word, shuwt (Strong's Hebrew 7751), used for 'to and fro' here, implies long distances.  Some other verses that show this are:

"Having gone through the entire land for nine months and twenty days, they returned to Jerusalem."  2 Samuel 24:8  

"The eyes of the Lord search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him." 2 Chronicles 16:9 

"Where have you come from?" the Lord asked Satan.  Satan answered the Lord, "I have been patrolling the earth, watching everything that's going on." Job 1:7 

So, knowing that this word isn't used for a jaunt around the neighborhood, could this possibly be a reference to mass transit?  I think it might.

Consider also, the end of the verse from Daniel, "...knowledge shall be increased,"  then consider the internet.  Buckminster Fuller created the "Knowledge doubling Curve."  He determined that, up to the turn of the century in 1900, knowledge doubled every century.  By the end of World War II, knowledge was doubling every 25 years.  Now, we don't just have knowledge doubling, we have types of knowledge doubling. For instance, nanotechnology is doubling every two years; clinical knowledge doubles every 18 months; but, overall knowledge doubles every 13 months.  IBM predicts that with the internet of things, knowledge will double every 12 hours!  That's crazy!  Did Daniel predict the internet?  Probably.

With the internet came the rise of the selfie.  Are selfies predicted in the Bible?  Not so much; but the mindset behind the selfie is.

"This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.  For men shall be lovers of their own selves (snapping selfies, maybe?), covetous, boasters, proud (how about some duck lips), blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection (homosexual, transgender, etc.), trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent (without self control), fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness (social justice warriors) but denying the power thereof: from such turn away." 2 Timothy 3:1-5

 I know that not all that is in these verses refer to selfies, but it is all so true these days.

Let's just do a list of a couple of others and you can make up your own mind:

• Air travel- Isaiah 60:4, 8- "Lift up thine eyes round about, and see; all they gather themselves together, the come to thee: thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side.  Who are these that fly as a cloud, and as the doves to their windows?
• Smart Weapons- Jeremiah 50:9- "For, lo, I will raise and cause to come up against Babylon an assembly of great nations from the north country: and they shall set themselves in array against her; from thence she shall be taken: their arrows shall be as of a mighty expert man; none shall return in vain."
• Nuclear Warfare- Zephaniah 1: 14-15- "The great day of the Lord is near, it is near, and hasteneth greatly, even the voice of the day of the Lord: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly.  That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness."
• More Nuclear War- Revelation 6:14- "And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places."
• Nuclear Bomb Detonation- Zechariah 14: 12- "And this shall be the plague wherewith the Lord will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem: their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth."
•  Bomb Shelters/ Bunkers- Revelation 6:15- "And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains."
• Nuclear Bomb (even describes lead as being used to contain evil)- Zechariah 5:1,3,7-8- "Then I turned and lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and behold a flying roll (missile?). Then said he unto me, This is the curse that goeth forth over the face of the whole earth; for every one that stealeth shall be cut off as on this side according to it; and everyone that sweareth shall be cut off as on that side according to it...And behold, there was lifted up a talent of lead; and this is a woman that sitteth in the midst of the ephah.  And He said, This is wickedness, And he cast it into the midst of the ephah; and he cast the weight of lead upon the mouth thereof. (The woman isn't a bomb.  It's just interesting that of all materials that could be used to house wickedness, Zechariah mentions lead.  It is the metal used to keep out radiation).
  
• Aftermath of a Nuclear Attack- Ezekiel 39:12-15- "And seven months shall the house of Israel be burying of them, that they may cleanse the land.  Yea, all the people of the land shall bury them; and it shall be to them a renown the day that I shall be glorified, saith the Lord God.  And they shall sever out men of continual employment, passing through the land to bury with the passengers those that remain upon the face of the earth, to cleanse it: after the end of seven months shall they search.  And the passengers that pass through the land, when any seeth a man's bone, then shall he set up a sign by it, till the buriers have buried it in the valley of Hamongog." (Notice that travelers will set up some kind of marker if they find a bone so the burriers can come and bury it.  Radiation maybe?)

This is just a partial list.  The book or Revelation predicts globalism, probable microchip technology, the locusts of chapter 15 may be drones.  We see through a glass darkly (1 Corinthians 13:12) and sometimes the prophecies of the Bible aren't understood until they are right in front of us.  This is just to let us know that just because we can't see it yet, doesn't mean that it won't happen.

Author's Note: Most of the verses listed in this post are from the King James Version of the Bible.  You can go to Bible Hub or Blue Letter Bible and compare translations if the King James gives you difficulty.