O. Palmer Robertson - Books of Nahum, Habakkuk and Zephaniah

General Editors

R. K. HARRISON

(1968-1993)

ROBERT L. HUBBARD, JR.

(1994)

by

O. PALMER ROBERTSON

vii

ix

1. Subjects

The design of the New International Commentary on the Old Testament challenges the commentator to combine the carefulness of an exegete with the concern of a pastor. This design intends to provide a resource for pastors and teachers of the Word in a useful and practical form.

The first beneficiary of such a procedure naturally will be the author himself. What a privilege it has been to wrestle with the writings of these seventh-century B.C. prophets in terms of their significance for today.

The close-knit bond between prophecy and history becomes particularly apparent through the study of these three books. Their brevity demands a context. As the place in history of these messages is explored, it becomes more and more apparent that biblical history itself embodies prophecy. Not only does biblical prophecy arise out of the concrete circumstances of history; biblical history itself functions as prophecy. The events that occurred to Judah and its neighbors spoke in anticipation of worldshaking circumstances that were yet to come.

This perspective on the events of Judah's history provides the needed link for seeing the current implications of the message of these ancient seers. For if successive divine judgments on ungodly nations have a prophetic dimension, then people and nations of today must take heed (Nah. 1:2). If God has promised that his own people "shall live" despite the crumbling of mighty nations all about them, then those who keep trusting in the Lord may continue in hope despite all calamities (Hab. 2:4). If God has promised that he would manifest himself in the form of the "victorious hero" who saves because of his determined love, then every successive generation must center its hope on the coming of the Lord in his great Day (Zeph. 3:17).

May the Lord of the Scriptures now be pleased to bless these comments on a relatively neglected portion of his Word with a fresh outpouring of his Spirit. May all preachers and teachers committed to the Christ of Scripture find renewed reason for making their contributions toward the fulfill ment of the prophecy that the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea (Hab. 2:14).

0. Palmer Robertson

Washington, D.C.

May 1, 1986

If Moses and Joshua provided the direction for Israel in their possession of the land, then the writing prophets provided the direction for Israel through their loss of the land. An appreciation for the richness of the biblical-theological significance of the land imagery in Scripture may enhance this aspect of the ministry of Israel's writing prophets, including Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah.

Abraham had been promised a land not because he had none, but because this gift of God communicated the hope of restoration to paradise. He wandered in the land all his lifetime, waiting to possess the promise until the day of his death. When the land was finally claimed, it was described in idyllic terms: it was a land "flowing with milk and honey" (Exod. 3:8, 17; etc.). Like a paradise restored, its possession symbolized the consummation of God's redemptive purposes.

But what then could banishment from the land mean to God's people? They had become "Not-My-People" (cf. Hos. 1:9). They no longer possessed the symbol of the blessings of redemption. What could be more drastic? Who could explain such an experience? This task was given to Israel's writing prophets. As the God-inspired interpreters of the breakup of nations, they offered the framework for a faith that would provide the key to life in the midst of cataclysmic circumstances.

In many respects, the exile of Israel from the land was a redemptive event far more complex than the call of Abraham. God's purposes of redemption focused originally on a single individual. But now an entire nation manifesting a diversified response to the challenges of faith became the center of redemptive acts of judgment and salvation. As God worked out his purposes, mighty world powers marshalled troops that strode across continents seeking the fulfillment of their ambitious goals. They too had a role to play in the ongoing drama of redemption.

The struggle of the life of faith originally demonstrated by a single wandering patriarch had become international in scope. Instead of claiming the promise of the land in opposition to other localized peoples, the people of God must now exercise faith in the face of an international power struggle seeking to control the Palestinian land bridge that joined three continents.

It is remarkable to see how faith triumphs (or how nonfaith fails to triumph) in a scene involving all the intrigue of international politics. Particularly when the struggle climaxes as it does in the 7th century B.C., the faith of the kings of Judah in the covenant promises of God determines the course of individuals and nations more than all the resources of the mightiest of monarchs in their hours of greatest strength.

Central to this entire cosmic drama is faith; and it is the prophets of Israel who interpret and apply the demands of faith to their own generation. The ministries of Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah fit within this scheme of God's redemptive purposes. Their ministries focus on the nation of Judah, since God had given her a central role as his chosen servant. But it is always Judah as his emissary to bring the message of redemption and judgment to the nations that provides the basis for God's concentration on this tiny nation among the giants of the globe.

In viewing the history of the world of the 7th century B.C. from a redemptive-historical perspective, key eras may be noted which crystallize the role of redemption on the international scene.