The Hebrew name
“Nahum” means “comfort” or “consolation.” The theme of the prophecy is the fate and destruction of
Nineveh, the one-time capital city of the mighty Assyrian empire, which had
destroyed Israel and taken many inhabitants of the land captive (722 B.C.).
The message was
proclaimed to Judah (Nahum 1:15) and not to the 10 tribes of Israel who were already in
captivity. Nahum’s announcement was a “comfort” and a “consolation” to the
inhabitants of Judah, as it predicted the downfall of Assyria, a savage and
cruel enemy of Israel and Judah.
The burden of
Nineveh
While the book of
Jonah records Nineveh’s reprieve (stay of execution), Nahum predicts its
destruction. Assyria was the
archenemy of Israel and Judah. It was used by God to punish the inhabitants of
Israel who had turned to idol worship and other evil practices.
Notice how Halley’s
Bible Handbook introduces the book of Nahum: “Two of the Prophets had to do with Nineveh:
Jonah, about 785 B.C., and Nahum, about 630 B.C.; about 150 years apart. Jonah’s was a message of Mercy; Nahum’s, a message of Doom.
Together they illustrate God’s way of dealing with nations: prolonging the day
of grace, in the end visiting punishment for sins” (p. 368).
Nahum shows that
despite the unjust and lawless nature of a nation, God is slow to anger (1:3), but He will not always delay His intervention
and punishment. God had judged Israel and Judah for their appalling wickedness,
and now He was to judge the Assyrians. Assyria had reached the zenith of its
power, and its downfall probably appeared impossible to many.
Nineveh, that great
city
Nineveh, at the time
Nahum predicted its downfall, was at the heart of a vast, powerful empire—the
commercial center of the world. However, its wealth was not the result of trade alone, but also
came through the practice of deceit and the plundering of neighboring nations. As Nahum writes: “Woe to the bloody
city! It is all full of lies and robbery” (3:1).
Nineveh’s heinous methods are likened to a pride of ravaging
lions tearing apart their prey. As Nahum puts it, Nineveh was a lion who
“filled his caves with prey and his dens with flesh” (2:12). God made clear
this was certainly not the way nations should gather wealth!
Halley’s Bible
Handbook provides this information: “The term Nineveh refers to a whole complex
of associated villages served by one great irrigation system, and protected by
the one network of fortifications based on the river defenses. … Greater
Nineveh was about 30 miles long and about 10 miles wide. … It was protected by
5 walls and 3 moats (canals) built by the forced labor of unnumbered thousands
of foreign captives. … The inner city of Nineveh proper, about 3 miles long,
and 1½ miles wide, built at the junction of the Tigris and Khoser rivers, was
protected by walls 100 feet high, and broad enough at the top to hold 4
chariots driven abreast, 8 miles in circuit. At the height of Nineveh’s power, on the eve of its sudden overthrow,
Nahum appeared with this prophecy” (p. 369).
The fall of Nineveh
Within the space of about 20 years of Nahum’s prophecy, an army
of Babylonians and Medes closed in on the city and besieged it. The prediction
was that a sudden rise in the level of the Tigris River would cause a breach in
the walls (2:6) and that the invading armies would sweep into the city,
plundering and destroying it.
Nahum, in vivid,
poetic and dramatic detail, describes the battle scenes and subsequent destruction (2:1-4;
3:1-7). Heaps of human bodies would be piled up in the streets (3:3), including
children dashed to pieces (3:10). Survivors would be led away into captivity
(verse 10).
This all came to pass
exactly as Nahum had predicted.
Nahum further predicts that the city would not rise again to
prominence (3:19), and apparently that it would be difficult to locate (3:11).
And, indeed, for many years the existence of Nineveh was uncertain, even
regarded as a myth.
Yet all along the city lay buried under layers of earth until
the 1800s when archaeologists uncovered the ruins. Today archaeologists are able to confirm with certainty that Nineveh
existed, proving the authenticity of the city Jonah and Nahum were told to
prophesy against.
An end-time warning
Most people are
interested in the future. People in general want to know whether world leaders will find
peace or if our modern weapons of mass destruction will wipe all life from the
earth. Yahshua (Jesus) Christ predicted that humanity would self-destruct if He
did not intervene in the affairs of mankind (Matthew 24:22).
Can we really be
confident that the United Nations or some other power will have the capability
to bring about world peace and prosperity?
The Bible states that humanity does not know the way to peace
and that without God’s help we cannot succeed (Isaiah 59:8-10).Yet the Bible is a book of hope for the future when the “Prince
of Peace” will secure lasting peace among all peoples and nations (Isaiah
9:6-7).
Nahum also predicted a time of
peace beyond this troubled world.
Nahum’s prophecy
for our time and future
Below are scriptures in Nahum that refer to end-time events:
Nahum 1:12 refers to a time when God says His
people will no longer be afflicted, and enemies will not be allowed to pass
through their land. This cannot be said of the Jewish people during the 2,600
years that have elapsed since the destruction of Nineveh.
Nahum 1:15: “Behold, on the mountains the feet of him who
brings good tidings, who proclaims peace!” This verse is similar to Isaiah
52:7, which in context is pointing forward to the time when the Kingdom of God will
be established on the earth.
The phrase “good
tidings” in the verse quoted above has the same meaning as the words “gospel”
or “good news.” The gospel of the
Kingdom of God was the message Christ preached wherever He went. “And Jesus
went about all Galilee … preaching the gospel of the kingdom” (Matthew 4:23).
Repentance and belief in the gospel message go hand in hand (Mark 1:14-15). When Christ’s
disciples, on whom the Church of God was founded, were sent out, they were
commanded to preach the gospel or good tidings about the Kingdom of God (Luke
9:1-2). The gospel was an integral part of the message Christ preached.
Unfortunately, few
understand the wonderful message contained in the gospel. It is an announcement of a future government
Christ will set up on the earth (Revelation 11:15), when people of all nations
will enjoy an abundant life, prosperity and lasting peace.
What you sow you
shall reap
God will not allow
rampant and unrestrained wickedness to prosper and increase indefinitely. Even though God is good and “a stronghold in
the day of trouble” (Nahum 1:7), He will act against those who reject Him and
who refuse to respond to His warning messages (1:6-10). It is inappropriate and
unfair to expect God’s continual blessings while showing a stubborn
unwillingness to acknowledge Him in the way we govern ourselves and conduct our
daily lives.
This principle has a New Testament application in James 1:15:
“Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when
it is full-grown, brings forth death” (emphasis added throughout).
This is a great
lesson. When sin in a nation
becomes so prevalent and widespread (“full-grown”), God will step in and
intervene.
One reference work
explains it as follows: “In a sense Nineveh’s doom epitomizes the fate of all nations.
… Military might does not preclude obligations of righteousness and justice.
The crumbling rubble of the arrogant city is a grim reminder that only those
nations who rely on the God who is the source of true peace. They will see ‘on
the mountains the feet of him who brings good tidings, who proclaims peace’ (1:15)” (William LaSor, David Hubbard and Frederic
Bush, Old Testament Survey, 1982, p. 449).
God speaks to us
God spoke through many
prophets to proclaim His complete message. Through the prophet Isaiah God speaks to mankind with pleading
and supplication: “I have stretched out My hands all day long to a rebellious
people, who walk in a way that is not good, according to their own thoughts; a
people who provoke Me to anger continually to My face … who say, ‘Keep to
yourself, do not come near me, for I am holier than you!’” (Isaiah 65:2-3, 5).
Is this a depiction of
modern Western people who claim allegiance to God, but when it comes to matters
of obedience to biblical laws and principles lean to their own understanding
(Proverbs 3:1, 5-6)? In the process, they
cut themselves off from the truths about life and the purpose of life outlined in the Word of God.
Humanity does not
understand God’s overwhelming desire for all people to experience radiant
happiness and hope for a prosperous, stable future. Fortunately, the Bible outlines a plan to
bring about a time when mankind will want to live the way that leads to peace,
happiness, abundance and joyful well-being.
A promise and hope
for the future
In a world beset by increasing warfare, strife, unhappiness,
sorrow, hunger and many other disasters and calamities, it is vital that we
keep the hope vested in the gospel message burning forever brightly in our
minds.
When Christ was brought before Pilate, He was asked if He was a
king. Jesus answered, “You say rightly
that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come
into the world” (John 18:37). However, Christ made it clear that “My
kingdom is not of this world” (verse 36).
No, Christ’s Kingdom
is not a part of this present world or society. The sure and reliable hope of true Christians
is that they can have a part in the future Kingdom of God (Daniel 2:44).
And for the people of God, there is this promise: “But the saints of the Most High shall
receive the kingdom, and possess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever”
(Daniel 7:18).