the titles Jacob and Israel do not always refer in the prophets to the divided nation. Elijah, for example, refused to recognize the division when he built his altar on Mount Carmel with twelve stones.15 The reference to laying waste to the land and ruining the vines might suggest the restoration of land and the return of economic prosperity; but surely Nahum is looking for a much deeper spiritual restoration? If we go back to the story of Jacob in the book of Genesis we find the clearest clue to
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