When was the last time you heard a message taught out of the book of Nahum, or, for that matter, when was the last time you read the three-chapter book of Nahum? A great many Christians couldn’t tell you a thing about the book, and they probably wouldn’t fare much better after they read it. You see, Nahum writes not to Israel nor to Judah, but rather he writes to the capital of Assyria, Nineveh, of pending judgment and doom.
“I thought Jonah went to Nineveh and the whole city repented?” Well, they did, but that was close to 150 years earlier, and the Ninevites had been back up to their old ways for better than 50 years, and in fact they had become even worse. Nahum’s name means “comfort,” and I bet Jonah prior to his change of heart would have read the cover off of this book, finding “comfort” in their destruction!
The only information we are given of Nahum is his location, as he is called an “Elkoshite.” Though we can’t be certain of the location, it is interesting to note that Capernaum on the Sea of Galilee means “City of Nahum,” which would make his home area similar to that of Jonah’s right in the area of the first invasion from the people of Nineveh.
Nahum makes a very important point as to the nature of God in 1:2-3, saying, “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.” God is not jealous of us; He is jealous for us, and as such, His jealousy will come forth even though He is “slow to anger and great in power.” He will not acquit the wicked. People really struggle with this concept of God’s jealousy, as Oprah said during one of her shows: “I was raised a Baptist, and we were too hung up on traditional ways.
I was sitting in church and heard that God is a jealous God. I asked, ‘Why?’ Come on—let’s get over it!” It’s apparent that she related God’s “jealousy” in human terms, making God insecure. Think of it in terms of a doctor who is jealous of cancer in a patient. He isn’t jealous of the cancer; he doesn’t wish he had it himself! No, his jealousy brings him to action against the cancer as he realizes its potential to destroy the person so prescribes actions that, though may be painful, are designed to eradicate the cancer from the person he cares about. How unfortunate it is that some folks misunderstand God’s patience as indifference and seize that as an opportunity to continue in self-destructive ways. Nahum says in 1:7-8, “The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble, and He knows those who trust in Him. But with an overflowing flood, He will make an utter end of its place, and darkness will pursue His enemies.” Oh, how we love the truth of the first part of this verse but seem to think that the second part contradicts the first. 18 years after Nahum uttered these words, the combined armies of the Babylonians and the Medes after a three-month siege against the Nineveh gained access.
Now take a look at verse 1:15 as we are told, “Behold, on the mountains the feet of him who brings good tidings, Who proclaims peace!” This is also quoted in Isa. 52:7 as well as Romans 10:15. The context of this is that of the judgment of the Ninevites being “good tidings.” Saints God’s judgment is good news because it means that He wins and evil loses.