Book of Small Prophets Nahum Chapter 3

 

 

Book of Small Prophets

 Nahum

 Chapter

 3

 

 

¹ Ah  City of bloodshed, utterly deceitful, full of booty no end to the plunder! ² The crack of the whip and rumble of the wheel, galloping horse and bounding chariot! ³ Horsemen charging, flashing sword and glittering spear, piles of dead, heaps of corpses, dead bodies without end they stumble over the bodies!

 

(Book of Small Prophets Nahum Chapter 3 verses 1 to 3)

 

Oh God my Father, the threat of a nuclear war is always pending, advances in science and technology, are leading to advances in warfare and the creating of missiles that could span greater distances in order to cover the distance between one nation to its rival. On the other hand, the spread of disease is also on the increase and the rate of poverty is also escalating. I know that You are in control, but please bring all this to an end. Draw the curtain and visit the world for its final judgment for this cannot keep going on anymore. Day after day people are. forced to flee their homeland to avoid certain death and end up scarred by the post-trauma of the situation. This is not a healthy world that we are living in.

 

Predictions of World War 3 Credit to Cryptic Mind 

 

 ⁴ Because of the countless debaucheries of the prostitute, gracefully alluring, mistress of sorcery who enslaves nations through her debaucheries, and peoples through her sorcery ⁵ I am against you, says the LORD of hosts, and will lift up your skirts over your face; and I will let nations look on your nakedness and kingdoms on your shame.

 

(Book of Small Prophets Nahum Chapter 3 verses 4 to 5)

 

Oh God, my Father expose us to our real self, shame us before the world, for the world has become more corrupt than ever. Throughout the years there have been many scandals and many have been hurt by such atrocities and negative acts. Now is the day of judgment oh Lord my God and Father, unleash your justice on myself and on the entire world, for sorcery and wickedness has overstepped its boundaries Amen.


⁶ I will throw filth at you and treat you with contempt, and make you a spectacle.


(Book of Small Prophets Nahum Chapter 3 verse 6)



Oh God my loving Father, there are times when You show us love and care, however, there are times when we deserve a mocking and a lesson in humility, especially when we start feeling high and mighty over others Amen. 


⁷ Then all who see you will shrink from you and say, "Nineveh is devastated; who will bemoan her?" Where shall I seek comforters for you?


(Book of Small Prophets Nahum Chapter 3 verse 7)


Oh God my beloved Father, I know that due to future decisions many will shrink away from me as if they never have known me, many from whom I found support and comfort will be no more, however, I am not afraid for You are my sole comforter and You are enough for me Amen. 


⁸ Are you better than Thebes that sat by the Nile, with water around her, her rampart a sea, water her wall? ⁹ Ethiopia was her strength, Egypt too, and that without limit; Put and the Libyans were her helpers.



(Book of Small Prophets Nahum Chapter 3 verses 8 to 9)


Oh God my Father, I am not better than Thebes, like Thebes I  am losing my support systems, I  have everything at risk including my faith and my state of mind. God have mercy.



¹⁰ Yet she became an exile, she went into captivity; even her infants were dashed in pieces at the head of every street; lots were cast for her nobles, all her dignitaries were bound in fetters.


(Book of Small Prophets Nahum Chapter 3 verse 10) 



Oh God my beloved Father, when we decide to act according to our own ways we end up on our own and in a state of spiritual exile. At times we may even start feeling guilty and blaming ourselves, and then our feelings of bitterness and slavery will increase, however, God still loves you and me as sinners and is begging us to turn back from our ways Amen. 



¹¹ You also will be drunken, you will go into hiding you will seek a refuge from the enemy.


(Book of Small Prophets Nahum Chapter 3 verse 11) 



Oh God, my beloved Father, I thank You for reminding me that I am still a sinner and that my sins are the reason for my salvation. Even though we are together in prayer every morning I am still prone to sin my God and Father, and therefore beg for Your protection Amen.


¹² All your fortresses are like fig trees with first-ripe figs-if shaken they fall into the mouth of the eater.


(Small Prophets Nahum Chapter 3 verse 12) 


Oh God, my beloved Father, even though the world has armed itself with nuclear weapons both on sea air and land, if You turn against them they become fragile and powerless like toys and lose their power to unleash their message of destruction Amen.


¹³ Look at your troops; they are women in your midst. The gates of your land are wide open to your foes; fire has devoured the bars of your gates.


(Small Prophets Nahum Chapter 3 verse 13)


Oh God my Father, even though we may think we are protected by the latest technology in warfare and security, You have the ability to destroy them as if they have never existed Amen. I pray that we find our security in You and not in the ways of the world Amen.


¹⁴ Draw water for the siege, strengthen your forts; trample the clay, tread the mortar take hold of the brick mold!


(Small Prophets Nahum Chapter 3 verse 14)


Oh God my beloved Father, I thank You for giving me this fair warning in order to be ready for I do not know the hour when I shall appear before You Amen. I pray that I am found ready Amen


¹⁵ There the fire will devour you, the sword will cut you off. It will devour you like the locust. Multiply yourselves like the locust, multiply like the grasshopper!


(Small Prophets Nahum Chapter 3 verse 15)


Oh God my Father many times You give us insights on what is to come in order to show us the way ahead, during other times You make use of others. I pray that during such moments we pay heed to such counsel Amen.


¹⁶ You increased your merchants more than the stars of the heavens. The locust sheds its skin and flies away. ¹⁷ Your guards are like grasshoppers, your scribes like swarms of locusts settling on the fences on a cold day when the sun rises, they fly away, no one knows where they have gone. ¹⁸ Your shepherds are asleep, O king of Assyria; your nobles slumber. Your people are scattered on the mountains with no one to gather them.



(Small Prophets Nahum Chapter 3 verses 16 to 18)



Oh God my beloved Father the prophecy of the time of the prophet Nahum is valid even for our times in 2018. We have improved in science and technology. Our weapons have become able of causing more destruction than ever before. Our world economy is like a scale from which one scale tips on the side of the rich and one side tips on the side of the poor showing that the rich grow richer and the poor grow poorer than ever. Our shepherd may also have gone to sleep, for the Church of our times is not like that of the original Church as in the times of the Apostles. Cases of scandals and certain opinions that have a political slant are doing much harm, especially in Malta. The faith is not as it used to be so much that secularism is on the incline. 


¹⁹ There is no assuaging your hurt, your wound is mortal. All who hear the news about you clap their hands over you. For whoever has escaped your endless cruelty?



(Small Prophets Nahum Chapter 3 verse 19)


Oh God, my beloved Father, I pray for the Roman Catholic Church especially for the Church in Malta. Due to the intervention in politics and involvement a big wound has been inflicted that throughout the years to this very day has never healed but has become more cancerous and fatal than ever before. Many people are not attending mass anymore because they have lost faith in its shepherds.On the other hand, there are those who have been personally abused are their hurts continue to add fuel to the flame. I pray that You send us a shepherd who is brave enough to challenge the institution and mend the wrongs that have been done in the past and give us hope and courage for the future Amen.


I would like to end this last chapter of the book of the Small Prophet Nahum with the following prayer and invite you to click on the following link below in order to move on to the book of the next small prophet, the prophet Habbakuk.


Oh God, my Father I pray that You purge our world from the forces of evil. Sanctify with shepherds who are able to lead us through these times of darkness so that we will be able to experience Your light Amen.


Please click on the following link:



http://bookofsmallprophethabbakuk.blogspot.com.mt/2016/07/book-of-small-prophet-habbakuk-chapter-1.html
























 

 

 

 

 

Book of Small Prophet Nahum Chapter 2

Book of Small Prophet

 Nahum

 Chapter

 2

¹ A shatterer has come up against you, Guard the ramparts: watch the road; gird your loins; collect all your strength.

(Book of the Small Prophet Nahum Chapter 2 verse 1)

Be on guard my brothers and sisters for our greatest enemy is on the loose. His name is Satan, father of lies. a Doctor in all that is Evil, who will stop at nothing to see us in a state of sin, and will keep on trying to make us lose hope in God and in ourselves so that we will take our own lives, and then he will come and reap our souls in hell!

God my Father I pray for Your protection both for myself and family and for the entire world. Amen. 



² (For the LORD is restoring the majesty of Jacob, as well as the majesty of Israel, though ravagers have ravaged them and ruined their branches.)



(Book of the Small Prophet Nahum Chapter 2 verse 2)



Oh God my Father I thank You for loving me so much, even though my sins be as red as scarlet, You still want to restore me to a better state. You care for me so much that regardless of my sins You would like to give me a new beginning. Amen. Thank You, Jesus and God my Father Amen.



³ The shields of his warriors are red; his soldiers are clothed in crimson. The metal on the chariots flashes on the day when he musters them; the chargers prance. 


(Book of the Small Prophet Nahum Chapter 2 verse 3)



Oh God, my Father the shields of the enemy have become red with the bloodshed of his victims. Many of us have twisted their values and have slipped into a degenerate life of base values, thus living an alienated life from You. This life is being considered as being the modern trend or way of life. Relationships online which in this world of cybercrime can never be trusted are interfering or even creating problems in the daily lives of many couples and the story goes on. 


⁴ The chariots race madly through the streets, they rush to and fro through the squares; their appearance is like torches, they dart like lightning.



(Book of the Small Prophet Nahum Chapter 2 verse 4)



Oh God my Father during these times there were chariots, today there are armed tankers with missile launchers that have the potential of spreading their message of death to all their victims. I pray for those of us, whose lives are constantly under threat, who end up having to flee from their countries in order to seek refuge elsewhere.



⁵ He calls his officers; they stumble as they come forward; they hasten to the wall, and the mantelet is set up.



(Book of the Small Prophet Nahum Chapter 2 verse 5)



The evil spirits stumble as in a drunken stupor, or as if having worked one night shift after another and are in need of urgent time off. However evil never stops taking place and those employed in this trade are full-time employees against the forces of God my Father. I pray that as a nation we all become tired as a result of doing positive acts instead of negative ones Amen.


⁶  The river gates are opened, the palace trembles.


(Book of the Small Prophet Nahum Chapter 2 verse 6)



Oh God many times You give us many opportunities however we feel scared to make the first step. Right now this is my situation. I would like to move out and start a new life, however, I feel unsure if this is according to Your plan for me. My dilemma is the word that I had given You at the time when I gave my consent to marry my wife in Your presence. I wish that You would help me solve my dilemma for in substance the marriage has broken down and we do not have a relationship, my life trembles in insecurity and I feel really bad about what to do.


⁷ It is decreed that the city be exiled, its slave women led away, moaning like doves and beating their breasts. 


(Book of the Small Prophet Nahum Chapter 2 verse 7) 


Oh God my Father, I pray that You help me during this period of exile. I pray that You help me to reflect on one of the greatest decisions of my life. Help me to see the light among the darkness of my indecision and follow it Amen. 


⁸ Nineveh is like a pool whose waters run away. "Halt! Halt!"- but no one turns back. ⁹ "Plunder the silver, plunder the gold! There is no end of treasure! An abundance of every precious thing!" 


(Book of the Small Prophet Nahum Chapter 2 verses 8 to 9)  



Oh God my Father today we are in a state of social and spiritual disobedience. We are being bombarded with many different messages and we are confused behind which one we are to follow or to pay heed to. Even among us Christians we are being given mixed messages, re important issues such as homosexual acts, mixed marriages, which go against the model that You established and even other issues such as baptism of children born out of wedlock, and the giving of communion to people who are living in union with other partners out of wedlock. Some Fathers were administering the sacraments, to such people while others were not. Now recently the permission has been granted and confirmed, which still is violating the principle of marriage as You wanted it! We are living in a state of confusion and as a consequence many have decided to become atheists. 


¹⁰ Devastation, desolation! Hearts faint and knees tremble,  all loins quake, all faces grow pale!


(Book of the Small Prophet Nahum Chapter 2 verse 10) 


 Devastation, war, death and depression! It is all around us. We are experiencing a culture of war and death. Litigation end up in court instead of dialogue and problem solving, knees tremble out of fear of imminent war worldwide. Faces grow pale at the mentioning of certain people, whose very name causes fear trembling up our spine. However You are in control and if we trust in You we will never be dissapointed Ame.


¹¹ What became of the lions' den, the cave of the young lions, where the lion goes, and the lion's cubs, with no one to disturb them? ¹² The lion has torn enough for his whelps and strangled prey for his lionesses; he has filled his caves with prey and his dens with torn flesh. ¹³ See, I am against you, says the LORD of hosts, and I will burn your chariots in smoke, and the sword shall devour your young lions; I will cut off your prey from the earth, and the voice of your messengers shall be heard no more.


(Book of the Small Prophet Nahum Chapter 2 verse 11)  



Oh evil forces, there will come the day, when God my Father, will destroy You completely. The ultimate victory is that of my beloved Father. You and Your evil spirits like the lion have torn flesh apart, killed by means of others who shoot, pillage and decapitate heads of others. Your evil spirit is the true source of such evil. Morever families are separating, or in divorce. Many of us are being convinced by You to become more selfish than ever, thus giving them the impression that they are God's of their own life. Oh humanistic psychology that places humans in the centre of control, how wrong you are. When given this attitude, the evil one convinces them that their lives are theirs and they can end it whenever they want to. What a sick attitude you have plagued us with. Cursed be you Satan and all your evil spirits. There will come the time, when your den and your followers will be no more. Your tanks of war, missiles of mass destruction, chemical weapons and nuclear bombs will be no more, for God my Father will destroy them like smoke that withers until it is no more. Amen  

 
But we are not alone oh God my Father, for You are always with us. We need not be afraid, we have the Lion of Jjudah on our side as in the following link that is in credit to lifeofanaveragefreak


You are the Lion of Judah 


I would like to end this chapter with the following prayer:-


Oh God in You, I place my trust, my hope, my faith and my love. Even though by nature, as a human I am selfish, by Your grace You have given me a higher and noble nature that is fitting to be called as being one of the sons and daughters of God Almighty. Therefore we are to learn to trust You, for nobody who has placed trust in You has ever been dissapointed. You are our champion the "Lion of Judah" Amen.

Book of Small Prophet Nahum Chapter 1

Book of Small Prophet

 Nahum

 Chapter

 1

 An oracle concerning Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum of Elkosh. 1. A jealous and avenging God is the LORD, the LORD is avenging and wrathful; the LORD takes vengeance on his adversaries and rages against his enemies.

(Book of Small Prophets Nahum Chapter 1 verse 1)

Oh God my Father during this day and age, I have a strong feeling given to me during these moments of prayer that we are living the apocalypse and all that is written in the book of Revelations. 2016 has become an era of death. Isis are on the warpath, trains have been crashing, bees that have the sting of death are in the air. The great enemy, the evil of evil spirit is adding the extra dose of chaos along with that of our sins. However even though all seems to be covered under a cloak of doom, I am fully convinced that You are already taking revenge on this great enemy, and that at the end of times You will deal Satan and all his evil followers the death blow, that will end this evil spirits existence once and for all. Amen. In the meantime, we need to be focused on You, my God for we know not when temptation will strike and the form it may use in order to make us sin against You, my God and Father. Amen.

2. A jealous and avenging God is the LORD, the LORD is avenging and wrathful; the LORD takes vengeance on his adversaries and rages against his enemies.



(Book of Small Prophets Nahum Chapter 1 verse 2)




Oh God my Father, I thank You for being my avenger. This means that we are not to hold grudges or fight wars meaning military or even legal wars against our adversaries, for it is You who is going to fight our wars and personal issues. God is going to fight our addictions and compulsions. You are a jealous God, who wants to the first priority of our lives, having the first place and never the second. We are to dedicate our time for family and work, but we must also dedicate time for prayer in order to have a relationship with You Amen.



3. The LORD is slow to anger but great in power, and the LORD will by no means clear the guilty.


(Book of Small Prophet Nahum Chapter 1 verse 3)



Oh God my Father You are so patient with me, even though we were all guilty of our sins, You chose to take on Yourself the penalty of our sins, even though You had never done anything wrong.  I thank You for being so kind and merciful Amen.




4. He rebukes the sea and makes it dry, and he dries up all the rivers; Bashan and Carmel wither, and the bloom of Lebanon fades. 5. The mountains quake before him, and the hills melt; the earth heaves before him. the world and all who live in it.




(Book of Small Prophet Nahum Chapter 1 verses 4 and 5)




Oh God my Father, there is none like You! You are mightier than all that exists on earth, stronger than our problems, more lovable than any human can ever love us. I thank You, my God and Father.



6. Who can stand before his indignation? Who can endure the heat of his anger? His wrath is poured out like fire, and by him the rocks are broken in pieces.



(Book of Small Prophet Nahum Chapter 1 verse 6)



Oh God my Father, even though we pray that You judge us and not the people of the earth, we do not know what we are saying, for it is already stressful to endure the judgment of the Civil and Criminal Law, however it is frightening to endure Your judgment especially if the fault is due to our sins Amen.





7. The LORD is good, a stronghold in a day of trouble; he protects those who take refuge in him,  even in a rushing flood. 8. He will make a full end of his adversaries, and will pursue his enemies into darkness.



(Book of Small Prophet Nahum Chapter 1 verses 7 to 8)



Oh God, my Father it is true that You are a fortress of defence for those who believe in You. You are even a good shoulder to cry on for You call us to Your side in order to comfort us and give us that courage to move on in life. Moreover oh God my Father You have made a parody of our greatest enemy when You fulfilled the will of the Father at the time of the passion. You are a winner Amen.



9. Why do you plot against the LORD? He will make an end; no adversary will rise up twice. 10. Like thorns they are entangled, like drunkards they are drunk; they are consumed like dry straw.  11. From you one has gone out who plots evil against the LORD one who counsels wickedness.


(Book of Small Prophet Nahum Chapter 1 verses 9 to 11)



There are many evil spirits oh God my Father, who day and night never stop plotting against You and Your Church, planning how to place themselves in a position of power thinking that they can ever be like You. Such spirits persuade humans to draft and agree on laws such as those of abortion and divorce or annulment and to make them active so that their evil schemes will succeed.




12. Thus says the LORD, "Though they are at full strength and many, they will be cut off and pass away. Though I have afflicted you, I will afflict you no more.



(Book of Small Prophet Nahum Chapter 1 verses 12)



Oh God my Father I need a break, all hell is breaking loose around me, one thing after another thus placing me under a lot of unwanted stress. For some reason, You are permitting me to be afflicted during the most critical moment of my life. I pray for Your deliverance oh God my Father. Amen.



13. And now I will break off his yoke from you and snap the bonds that bind you." 14. The LORD has commanded concerning you: "Your name shall be perpetuated no longer; from the house of your gods I will cut off the carved image and the cast image.  I will make your grave, for you are worthless.


(Book of Small Prophet Nahum Chapter 1 verses 13 to 14)



Oh God my Father, I believe in the day of my complete healing and deliverance. You will delete the images that I have in my mind and heal me totally of past and present negative experiences and even weaknesses. The day will come when people will no longer speak negatively of my weaknesses because they will no longer be there. You will also bury my old sinful self, and give me new birth in the Holy Spirit and then I will not be totally flesh but Spirit Amen. I long for that day my God and Father.


15. Look! On the mountains the feet of one who brings good tidings, who proclaims peace! Celebrate your festivals, O Judah, fulfil your vows, for never again shall the wicked invade you: they are utterly cut off.



(Book of Small Prophet Nahum Chapter 1 verse 15)



Oh God, how beautiful are those people who spread Your name. They are truly happy and positive people. Even when one looks at such people it can be noticed that they have something different from others. What makes this is the difference, is the fact that such people, have made a genuine experience of You my, God and Father, ao much that when they speak about You I can see it in their eyes and the passion that they feel, when they are sharing is not based on knowledge but on a spiritual experience Amen.


Oh God my Father  I would like to end this chapter with the following prayer:



Hello and Good morning to my God and Father. I would like to thank You for being so loving, comforting and caring. You have always loved and cared for me. Whenever I felt lonely and insecure You were always there for me. If everybody abandons me in this world or turn against me I can feel assured that You will never turn against me Amen.  Thank You for being such an amazing, loving and caring Father Amen.