Nahum—Introduction and Chapter One

Introduction—We know nothing of this prophet except his name and that he was from the city of Elkosh. And we don’t even know where that was. His prophecy was directed against the city of Nineveh, and was written at some point before 625 B.C., the year the city was sacked by the Medes and the Babylonians. Nahum probably wrote about the middle of that century, maybe 150 years after Jonah. There is an interesting comparison here. Jonah preached to Nineveh, and the city repented. 150 later, there’s no hope. Each generation must be taught or the truth of God will be lost. The Ninevites failed to pass on the message about Jehovah and it cost them dearly. Nineveh no longer exists, except for the extensive ruins that speak almost as loudly as the prophetic pronouncement of doom by Nahum.

“Who can stand before His indignation?” (vs. 1-8)—In vivid, powerful language, Nahum announces the coming ruin of the Assyrian capital. God is jealous (He brooks no opposition gods), avenges, is furious, will take vengeance on His adversaries and “reserves wrath for His enemies” (v. 2). He is “slow to anger and great in power,” but the guilty will not be acquitted. “The Lord has His way” (v. 3). Nahum draws allusions from nature to indicate the power and control of Jehovah—whirlwinds, clouds, the sea, rivers, “Bashan and Carmel (two very lush, productive areas of Israel) wither,” the lovely flowers of Lebanon wilt before Him, “the mountains quake…the hills melt, and the earth heaves at His presence” (vs. 4-5). Man, of course, has no control over nature; we are at the mercy of its capricious whims. Well, if the Lord has such omnipotence as to dominate even mountains, hills, rivers, seas, whirlwinds, etc., then “who can stand before His indignation and who can endure the fierceness of His anger?” (v. 6). The answer is obvious—no one, not even a great, powerful city like Nineveh, which, as Nahum writes, stood at the pinnacle of Near Eastern supremacy. Now, the prophet does not want us to forget that “the Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; and He knows those who trust in Him” (v. 7). But, regarding Nineveh, the people of which did not match that description of trusting in Jehovah, “He will make an utter end of its place” (v. 8). And again, as noted, Nineveh today is nothing but a heap of ruins—an “utter end” has indeed been made of that once mighty city.

“I will dig your grave” (vs. 9-15)—There is no value in conspiring against Jehovah. Again, Nahum announces an “utter end” to Nineveh, in fact, so complete that “affliction will not rise up a second time”—the Lord won’t need to come back for a second touch (v. 9). Nineveh is so blind to its fate (“tangled like thorns” and “drunken like drunkards”) that “they shall be devoured like stubble fully dried” (v. 10); i.e., just as it doesn’t take much effort to start a fire in very dry straw, it won’t take much to destroy Nineveh. They had plotted their evil “against the Lord” (v.11--and His people), and Jehovah had even used Assyria to punish Samaria and the northern kingdom of Israel (read the interesting discussion of that in Isaiah 10). But, regardless of how strong Nineveh might seem in Nahum’s day (v. 12), the Lord would cut them down, and again, there would be no need of a second judgment (v. 12). He would free Israel from Assyrian domination (v. 13), and the name of Assyria “shall be perpetuated no longer” (v. 14). Their gods would be destroyed, and “I will dig your grave, for you are vile” (v. 14). This is, of course, “good tidings” for His people, and the Lord hopes it will be an inspiration for Judah to “keep your appointed feasts, [and] perform your vows. For the wicked one shall no more pass through you; He is utterly cut off” (v. 15). Imagine how joyous the countries of eastern Europe felt when the Soviet Union’s armies were withdrawn and left them free from communist tyranny. Such is what Nahum is saying to Judah.