Reflections on Nahum 1

 Nahum 01  (Contemporary English Version)

1. I am Nahum from Elkosh. And this is the message that I wrote down about Nineveh.
2. The LORD God demands loyalty. In his anger, he takes revenge on his enemies.
3. The LORD is powerful, yet patient; he makes sure that the guilty are always punished. He can be seen in storms and in whirlwinds; clouds are the dust from his feet.
4. At the LORD's command, oceans and rivers dry up. Bashan, Mount Carmel, and Lebanon wither, and their flowers fade.
5. At the sight of the LORD, mountains and hills tremble and melt; the earth and its people shudder and shake.
6. Who can stand the heat of his furious anger? It flashes out like fire and shatters stones.
7. The LORD is good. He protects those who trust him in times of trouble.
8. But like a roaring flood, the LORD chases his enemies into dark places and destroys them.
9. So don't plot against the LORD! He wipes out his enemies, and they never revive.
10. They are like drunkards overcome by wine, or like dry thornbushes burning in a fire.
11. Assyria, one of your rulers has made evil plans against the LORD.
12. But the LORD says, "Assyria, no matter how strong you are, you are doomed! My people Judah, I have troubled you before, but I won't do it again.
13. I'll snap your chains and set you free from the Assyrians."
14. Assyria, this is what else the LORD says to you: "Your name will be forgotten. I will destroy every idol in your temple, and I will send you to the grave, because you are worthless."
15. Look toward the mountains, people of Judah! Here comes a messenger with good news of peace. Celebrate your festivals. Keep your promises to God. Your evil enemies are destroyed and will never again invade your country.

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Israel, the northern kingdom, was captive in Assyria and Judah, the southern kingdom, was in fear of the same fate at the hands of Assyria. God sent Nahum to assure Judah she need not fear Assyria for God had plans for Nineveh's destruction. Leading up to the message of Nineveh's destruction in verse 8, Nahum reminded Judah of the Lord's greatness. He is a jealous God who is fierce when He is driven toward vengeance. He is "slow to anger but great in power." (V. 3) The power He turns loose in vengeance is the same power that can dry up the sea and the rivers. It can make mountains quake, hills melt, and the earth tremble. This is the power that will be unleashed on Nineveh when the time is right, and the city will be completely destroyed.

Judah was in fear of attack by the Assyrians, but God was telling her that her concern was not the Assyrians but her relationship with the Lord. For the Lord "cares for those who take refuge in Him." (V. 7) After his description of God's anger and wrath, Nahum says in verse 7 that "The Lord is good." Some people read these Old Testament passages that speak of God's wrath and anger and that is the picture of God they take away from them, missing verses such as verse 7 that tell us He is good. So is He an angry God who is sometimes good, or is He a good God who is sometimes angry?

Jesus once asked a man who had called Him good, "Why do you call Me good? . . . No one is good but One--God." (Mark 10:18) In 1 John 4:16, John says, "God is love," saying that God's character and who He is defines love. It might be said that the closer we get to God His love becomes most prominent in our understanding of Him, and the further away we get from God His anger becomes most prominent in our understanding.

Nineveh had laid siege to Jerusalem once before and God had intervened and destroyed their army. But the Assyrians continued to plot evil against Judah, which the Lord says in verse 11 was actually plotting against Him. The Lord assured Judah that Assyria would not come out against them again. He had issued an order concerning Assyria: "There will be no offspring to carry on your name. I will eliminate the carved idol and cast image from the house of your gods; I will prepare your grave, for you are contemptible." (V. 14) But to Judah the Lord said, "Look to the mountains--the feet of one bringing good news and proclaiming peace! Celebrate your festivals, Judah; fulfill your vows. For the wicked one will never again march through you; he will be entirely wiped out." (V. 15)