The Book of Nahum

Nahum 1-3

Tucked away among the Minor Prophets is the relatively unknown book of Nahum. While the book of Jonah records Nineveh’s repentance and therefore reprieve from God’s anger, Nineveh’s repentance was short lived, as it soon under various leaders returned to its evil ways. The prophet Nahum predicts its final destruction. Nahum shows that despite the unjust and lawless nature of a nation, God is slow to anger, 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. 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 exactly as Nahum had predicted.

But the book of Nahum is more than just a history lesson. God spoke through his prophets to proclaim His complete message, a message that stretches through the generations. Through the prophet Isaiah God speaks to humanity with pleading: “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)

This Sunday we will investigate Nahum’s message for us.

Pastor Darryl

Photo by NeONBRAND on Unsplash