Nahum

The book of Nahum, as it says in the first verse of the first chapter, is a message concerning Nineveh that came as a vision to him. One of God’s other prophets reluctantly delivered a message to Nineveh and the people repented and were not destroyed. This vision of Nahum’s came after that.

We learn a lot about God in the first few verses:

• The Lord is a jealous God, filled with vengeance and rage
• He takes revenge on all who oppose him and continues to rage against his enemies
• The Lord is slow to get angry
• His power is great
• He never lets the guilty go unpunished
• The Lord is good, a strong refuge when trouble comes
• He is close to those who trust in him
• He will sweep away his henemies in an overwhelming flood

A lot of people probably like to skip over the parts about the Lord never letting the guilty go unpunished. Isn’t it great that we don’t have to worry about that? Through the blood of Christ, we are declared “Not Guilty.” Romans 8:33-34 tells us: “Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one—for God himself has given us right standing with himself. Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us.”

The Assyrians and Nineveh were destroyed around 600 BC. Unlike with Jonah, they did not repent because of the vision and message of Nahum.

Tomorrow, we’ll be reading II Kings 22 - 23 and II Chronicles 34 - 35.

Until next time…