Get Ready
Nahum is the second of three prophets to focus on Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrian Empire and the most powerful city in the world at that time. But Nahum prophesied that Nineveh’s sins brought it under God’s judgment and the city and the empire would disappear.
Author
This prophet identifies himself as “Nahum of Elkosh,” [1:1], which is all the information we have about him. Scholars put his home, Elkosh, in northern Judah, but there is no consensus on its exact location (although Capernaum, the site of Jesus’ ministry activities, does mean “village of Nahum” in Hebrew). Nahum was a contemporary of Jeremiah, Habakkuk and Zephaniah.
Context
Nahum is another of the prophets working near the end of the southern kingdom of Judah. The Assyrians, whose capital was Nineveh, defeated the northern kingdom in 722 BCE. They continued to dominate the region and exact tribute from Judah for another century.
In 612 BCE, the Babylonian armies attacked Nineveh and the Assyrian Empire collapsed. As they had humiliated the smaller nations of the Middle East, the Assyrians were humiliated by Babylon – as Nahum prophesied. Since Nahum refers to the destruction of Thebes (661 BCE) as a past event, he probably wrote this book between 660 and 612 BCE.
Nahum’s prophecy of Nineveh’s destruction because of its sins should have served as a potent warning to the leaders of Judah. But they did not return to following God, and the Babylonians began their attacks on Jerusalem before 600 BCE, and destroyed the city and the temple in 586 BCE.
Structure
Nahum presents his “oracle concerning Nineveh” in three sections:
- The opening is an extended praise of God that describes his power and his “wrath” [see Note under Micah] and judgment of sin [1:2-11].
- In the brief second section Nahum conveys God’s promise of restoration and ultimate victory for Judah [1:12-15a]. The prophet does not follow the usual order, which puts God’s promise to Israel at the end of the prophecy.
- The final section predicts the ultimate destruction of Nineveh, the “city of bloodshed, utterly deceitful, full of booty – no end to the plunder,” [3:1]. The prophet provides quite a bit of detail on Nineveh’s sins as well as the coming ruin: “There is no assuaging your hurt, your wound is mortal,” [3:19].
Major Themes
Nahum focuses almost exclusively on God’s judgment against sin. The judgment is inevitable and the destruction will ultimately be complete. Even though the prophecy is about the coming destruction of a pagan city and empire, Nahum is actually speaking to the Israelites – he wants them to repent and return to God?
This makes the book one of the most negative and pessimistic in the Bible. Except for the four verses of promise to Judah [1:12-15a], the prophet describes God’s overwhelming power over all aspects of creation and then gives us considerable detail – often graphic – about Nineveh’s coming destruction. Among the images he uses:
- Crack of whip and rumble of wheel
- Flashing sword and glittering spear
- Piles of dead, heaps of corpses, dead bodies without end
- Infants dashed in pieces at the head of every street
- Devastation, desolation and destruction
- The fire will devour you, the sword will cut you off
Even though God had used the Assyrian Empire to carry out his judgment against the northern kingdom of Israel, this did not excuse that nation from judgment for its own sins – a long history of cruelty and oppression of people throughout region for more than a century.
Nahum underscores the seriousness with which God deals with sin. In this the prophet prepares us for the seriousness of God’s ultimate solution to the problem of sin. We really should not be surprised that Christ went to the cross. For us.
Get into the Word
1. Who wrote this book? Where did the author come from? What other prophets were working at the same time? What else do we know about the prophet?
2. When did this prophet do his work? What was the political and military situation at this time? Who was the major power in the region? What was Judah’s relationship with this nation?
3. What happened to this empire? Who was involved in this change? How did Judah respond to this situation? What eventually happened to the southern kingdom?
4. How is this book organized? What are the primary sections of the prophecy? In what respect is this book different than other Old Testament prophets?
5. What is this book about? What is the prophet’s primary message? Who is the prophet actually speaking to? Why is he speaking to this group?
6. What is the overall tone of this book? What images does the prophet use to describe what will happen to Nineveh? How do you think the intended audience responded to these images? How do you feel about them?
7. What does the prophet say about sin? About God’s response to sin? About our response to sin and our relationship with God?
Bible Trivia:
Even though it is a pagan city, Nineveh is the subject of three Old Testament prophecies. Jonah actually (and finally) went and preached to Nineveh, and the people did repent, which led God to defer his judgment. Nahum then preached about the city. And he was followed by Zephaniah, who also predicted the coming destruction [Zeph 2:4-15]. The Israelites ignored the meaning of the three prophecies, as well as the disappearance of the Assyrian Empire.
45: God’s consuming wrath & good news for Judah –Nahum 1:1-15
The Word
1An oracle concerning Nineveh.
The book of the vision of Nahum of Elkosh.
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.
3 The Lord is slow to anger but great in power,
and the Lord will by no means clear the guilty.
His way is in whirlwind and storm,
and the clouds are the dust of his feet.
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.
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.
7 The Lord is good,
a stronghold in a day of trouble;
he protects those who take refuge in him,
8 even in a rushing flood.
He will make a full end of his adversaries, and will pursue
his enemies into darkness.
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.
Good News for Judah
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.
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.”
15 Look! On the mountains the feet of one
who brings good tidings,
who proclaims peace!
Celebrate your festivals, O Judah,
fulfill your vows,
for never again shall the wicked invade you;
they are utterly cut off. NRSV
Get into the Word
1. How does the prophet begin his book? How does he identify himself? What is this book about? Who is this book about?
2. How does the author describe God? What attributes of his character does Nahum mention? What images does he use to describe God’s power? What is God’s relationship with the natural world? Why do you suppose he focuses so much on God’s power?
3. How does Nahum describe God’s response to sin? How does this affect the people involved? How does God respond to those who seek him? What about those who ignore or oppose God? What image does the prophet use to describe those who “plot against the Lord?” What will happen to them?
4. What message does God have for the Israelites? What will happen to Judah’s enemies? What will God “break off” from them? What will happen to the Assyrian name [see Notes]? To the Assyrian gods? To their value as a nation?
Get Personal
How has God helped you understand the concept of sin and its effect on your relationship with him? What has he taught you about forgiveness? How does this affect your walk with Christ?
Notes . . .
1:1. Nineveh — in Nahum’s time the capital of the Assyrian Empire. It was originally built by Nimrod, a great grandson of Noah [Gen 10:11].
Nahum — his name means “comfort” in Hebrew.
1:2. Jealous — God describes himself as jealous in the Ten Commandments: You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me, but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments, [Exodus 20:5-6, also check Joshua 24:19-20 – and the Note under Micah].
1:3. Whirlwind and storm — a fairly common symbol of God’s power (also used in reference to pagan gods as well).
1:4. Bashan and Carmel — two areas known for their verdant, fertile gardens and pastures – one was east of the Sea of Galilee, the other on the Mediterranean coast.
1:6. Who can stand — perhaps a rhetorical answer to the Assyrian commander who asked King Hezekiah, Who of all the gods of these countries has been able to save his land from me? [2 Kings 18:35]. God killed 200,000 Assyrian soldiers in their camp that night and they retreated from Jerusalem.
1:13. Yoke . . . bonds — symbols of the military and political oppression of Assyria.
1:14. Your name — Ashurbanipal, the Assyrian king, had ordered that his name be memorialized throughout the empire.
1:15. Mountains . . . messenger — an echo of Isaiah: How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of the messenger who announces peace, who brings good news, [52:7].
Memory Verse
The Lord is good, a stronghold in a day of trouble;
he protects those who take refuge in him,
even in a rushing flood, [Nahum 1:7-8].
Next Lesson
Habakkuk 1: The prophet’s complaint and God’s reply.
