Nahum was a prophet of Judah. His name means comfort. The message given to him by God was that Nineveh would be destroyed bringing comfort to Judah. (1:1)
No Judean or Israelite was pleased when Nineveh repented after Jonah’s begrudging warning from God around 760 B.C..
Nahum’s short, three-chapter book is a sequel to and a dramatic contrast with the book of Jonah.
Nahum’s book was likely composed after 660 B.C. and before 630 B.C., over 100 years after Jonah.
Nineveh was the capital of Assyria which was at the height of its power when Nahum wrote his “burden” against Nineveh (specifically identified in 2:8) – decades before Nineveh actually fell.
The Ninevites repentance didn’t last beyond 745 B.C. when Tiglath-Pileser III made his people the leading military power in the Near East.
The vast Assyrian empire was established through massacre, cruelty, torture, plundering and destruction that had seldom been seen in history to that point in time.
Which is why God said through Nahum, “I will dig your grave, for you are vile.” (1:14)
Assyria invaded Israel and the nations around them and exacted tribute payments in lieu of a total takeover.
But then Shalmaneser V took the Northern Kingdom into exile around 727-722 B.C.
Sennacherib reigned from 704-681 B.C. and he invaded Judah, and forced tribute from Hezekiah (2Kings 18:3-16)
Later, he besieged Jerusalem and demanded Hezekiah’s surrender, but the Lord delivered Jerusalem. (2Kings 18:17-19:9)
Nineveh was destroyed in 612 B.C. never to be restored, marking the end of Assyria.
God had used Assyria as his scourge on unfaithful Israel, but He did not allow Judah to be annihilated completely in order to preserve the line of David leading to the Messiah.
Thus says the Lord: “Though they [Assyrians] are safe, and likewise many, yet in this manner they will be cut down when he passes through. Though I have afflicted you [Judah], I will afflict you no more; For now I will break off his yoke from you, and burst your bonds apart.” (1:12-13)
Nineveh was a large, wealthy Gentile commercial city, but it fell because it was a godless and idolatrous city, a city of violence, lust and greed.
The attacking army against Nineveh was a coalition made up of Medes and Babylonians and possibly Scythians.
They laid siege against Nineveh (2:5), its gates were breached and Nineveh was ravaged and plundered.
Many of the details of Nahum’s prophecies against Nineveh proved to be quite accurate after the fact.
For example, the Khoser River flowed through Nineveh, with dams north of the city. The attackers opened the river gates to flood the city (2:8) as Nahum predicted in (1:8).
Nahum doesn’t have anything to say about the future other than Nineveh’s fall, but he did offer the Israelites timeless wisdom that resonates with us today:
God is jealous, and the Lord avenges; the Lord avenges and is furious. The Lord will take vengeance on His adversaries, and He reserves wrath for His enemies; the Lord is slow to anger and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked. (1:2-3)
The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; and He knows those who trust in Him. (1:7)
Behold, on the mountains, the feet of him who brings good tidings, who proclaims peace! O Judah, keep your appointed feasts, perform your vows. For the wicked one shall no more pass through you; He is utterly cut off. (1:15)
Gospel of Grace 