Minor Prophets

Nahum
GOD WILL NOT LEAVE THE WICKED UNPUNISHED
Sometime before the fall of Nineveh in 612 B.C.,
the prophet Nahum preached a message proclaiming
judgment upon the city. That is similar to what the
unwilling and defiant prophet, Jonah, had done about
one hundred years before. It was during the first half
of the 8th century that God had sent Jonah to march
through the city of Nineveh and proclaim, “Yet forty
days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” (Jonah
3:4). Surprisingly, at that time, the pagan people of
Nineveh, from the king down to the lowest peasant,
believed God and they repented. The king of Nineveh
published a decree that everyone should “call on God
earnestly that each may turn from his wicked ways
and from the violence which is in his hands” in hopes
that God would “relent and withdraw His burning
anger” (3:8- 9). God, in His mercy, spared the city.
One century later, Nineveh had grown to be the
largest city in the world. Nineveh had become the
capitol of Assyria, the most powerful nation on earth,
economically, politically, and militarily. But in pride
and arrogance, Nineveh had also become the most
idolatrous, violent, oppressive, morally perverted, and
cruel place imaginable. The prophet Nahum called it
“the bloody city” (3:1).
At the time Nahum prophesied, Assyria had
conquered the northern kingdom of Israel and
proudly boasted they would also bring down the
kingdom of Judah. The people of Judah lived in fear
of the Assyrian army, as did the rest of the world.
So, God sent Nahum to comfort His people with the
announcement that Nineveh would be wiped from
the face of the earth.
The people of Nineveh thought their city was
invincible, surrounded by walls 100 feet high and a
moat 150 feet wide and 60 feet deep. But Nahum
proclaimed that God would bring down judgment
upon those who scorned His law and treated His
people with contempt. “Nineveh would fall because
it was a godless and idolatrous city, a city of violence,
lust, and greed” (from the ESV Student Study Bible,
“Introduction to Nahum.” God had shown His mercy,
but now He would judge the wickedness.
Nahum says, The LORD is good (1:7) and slow
to anger (1:3), but He will not leave the wicked
unpunished (1:3).
God is a God of compassion, mercy, and patience,
but He is also a God of justice. He forgives those who
repent and turn to Him, but judges the wicked, who
revel in their sin. Nahum’s words are both a comfort
and a warning to all people. His words are comforting
because they tell us God is kind and patient with
sinners. His words are a warning because they show
there is a limit to God’s patience. He will surely judge
those who willfully and habitually sin against Him.
Nahum’s prophecy brought comfort to the people
of Judah and to all people who lived in fear of the
Assyrians.
Nahum said Nineveh’s end would come “with an
overflowing flood” (1:8), and he was right. In 612 B.C.
while the Babylonians were besieging the city, the
Tigris River overflowed its banks and destroyed a
portion of Nineveh’s mighty wall. It was just enough
to make a pathway for the Babylonians to enter and
make an end of the wicked city.
Nineveh was so completely demolished by the
Babylonians that its remains were not discovered
until 1842! When threatened with destruction, the
people of Nineveh repented, but one hundred years
later a new generation was even more arrogant, cruel,
and defiant of God.
all wickedness and those who perpetrate it will be
judged. God is sovereign and He is true to His Word.
Nahum proclaimed that God always has His way
and then adds, “The clouds are the dust of His feet”
(Nahum 1:3). Since studying the Book of Nahum, every
time I look at the clouds I think of the sovereignty of
God and the truth and power of His Word. His Word
is a comfort to me.
Behold, on the mountains the feet of him
who brings good news, who announces
peace! Celebrate your feasts, O Judah;
pay your vows. For never again will the
wicked one pass through you; he is cut off
completely. (Nahum 1:15)
Galatians 6:7 tells us,
Do not be deceived,
God is not mocked;
for whatever a man
sows, that he will also
reap. This was true of
the city of Nineveh
and is a timeless
truth of God in
relation to all people and nations. In Jonah’s day the
people of Nineveh had repented and reaped mercy.
The following generations defied God and reaped
judgment. Like the people of Nineveh to whom Jonah
preached, every person has a choice: the choice to
repent of his or her sin and turn to God, or the choice
to live in rebellion against Him. The results of those
two choices are polar opposites. The first leads to
salvation and eternal life while the later leads to
judgment.
As believers, the messages of Jonah and Nahum
should be a comfort. Knowing we are God’s people
and living for Him, we are assured of His mercy and
grace. And although it often seems that evil runs
rampant in this world, we have hope in God and
trust the day will come, as God has promised, when
May you always find
comfort and peace
in God’s Word.
Job 36:6 “He
does not keep the
wicked alive but
gives justice to the
afflicted.”
Psalm 37:28 For the LORD loves justice and does
not forsake His godly ones; They are preserved
forever, But the descendants of the wicked will be cut
off.
Psalm 145:20 The LORD keeps all who love Him,
but all the wicked He will destroy.
1 Peter 3:12 “For the eyes of the LORD are on the
righteous, And His ears are open to their prayers. But
the face of the LORD is against those who do evil.”
2nd Peter 2:9 The Lord knows how to rescue the
godly from temptation, and to keep the unrighteous
under punishment for the day of judgment
18 INTRODUCTION TO MINOR PROPHETS DISCIPLERS BIBLE STUDIES 19