Nahum is a small 3-chapter book in the Bible which tells of the overthrow of ancient Nineveh, the capital city of the Assyrian Empire. Today, Nineveh’s remains can be seen in the country of Iraq.
Ancient Assyria was known for its brutality. It terrorized the people around them with their extreme barbarianism. Because they set a precedent for those who think they have a right to rule by terror, God has a message for our day through the history of Nineveh. God sent Jonah to call Nineveh to repent because He loved them. He gave them 40 days. Having heard from eyewitnesses the story of Jonah spit out of the whale’s belly, they knew God wasn’t joking. They repented. From the king to the pauper to the prisoner. They were spared.
But the next generation went right back to their evil ways and committed such atrocities that only God’s judgment could comfort the heart of the sufferers. Thus, the Hebrew language offers a play on words… God will comfort (naham) His people through His vengeance (naqam) on Nineveh.
Today, Nineveh still represents the terrorists coming out of that region… “Thus says the Lord, Though they be completely united, and many, yet they shall be cut down when HE (Jesus) shall pass through (in judgment).”
The only comfort for the violence we’re witnessing today is God’s justice. It shall come because His love and offer of grace came first through Jesus – a greater than Jonah. Eyewitnesses saw Him defeat death and emerge from the tomb. God isn’t joking when He calls the world to repent… “for who can abide the fierceness of His anger?”
Nahum also comforts the upright… “The Lord is good, a Stronghold in the day of distress; and He knows those who trust in Him.”
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