Nahum

His name and the message of Nahum means ‘comfort’. Nahum lived during the reign of the good king Hezekiah of Judah and Isaiah. When the cruel Assyrians invaded, he escaped into Judah.

In 2 Kings 19:35 it is recorded that 185,000 people perished during that takeover. These are God’s words in response to the day many of His people died. “The Lord is a jealous and avenging God; the Lord takes vengeance and is filled with wrath. The Lord takes vengeance on His foes an maintains His wrath against His enemies. The Lord is slow to anger and great in power; the Lord will not leave the guilty unpunished.” (Na 1:2)

Jonah warned Nineveh, and Nahum talks about the complete ruin of Nineveh 150 years after Jonah’s prediction. After the people had repented and accepted God, they did not change their ways.

The same people defiantly and deliberately rejected God. The Assyrians were cruel warriors and they built their empire on the treasures of other people. For 300 years, Assyria was a world empire and Nineveh was the capital. This time God destroyed Nineveh and its rebellious residents.

Nahum’s words were declared Assyria as a grave. “O king of Assyria, your shepherds slumber; your nobles lie down to rest. Your people are scattered on the mountains with no one to gather them. Nothing can heal your wound; your injury is fatal.” (Nahum 3:18)

Nahum describes God as the jealous and avenging Judge. Our Father is slow to anger, but He will Judge the living and destroy evil. His word is to warn, to discipline, to comfort and to bless us. God is our stronghold in the day of trouble for He is trustworthy.

All our holy God can do is to annihilate Nineveh for her continuous rebellion against God’s people. (Nahum 2:6) God’s law is upheld. The truth remains today, it never changes. What we sow, we reap. Even with 100 feet high walls, with a 140 foot wide moat circling the 80 mile circumference, Nineveh’s bricks could not stop God.

The mighty empire was thrown down with a single word. All nations or rulers, who think that the size of their military can defeat God’s word, should consider the history of Nineveh, which is no more.

A prideful nation shall be humbled by heaven’s hand of justice. The Medes and the Babylonians completely destroyed Nineveh six hundred and twelve years before Jesus.

“The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.” (2 Peter 3:9-10)

The writer Nahum was from Elkosh, a place known today as Alkush, a village on the east bank of the Tigris, about two miles north of Mosul.

“It is finished.” 4/18/19