The Book Of Nahum
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Feature 2 – July/August 2025 – Grace & Truth Magazine
The Book Of Nahum
We may have had parents who promised us things when we were growing up. Often we had to wait, and after a while we might have thought they had forgotten because we felt we had been waiting for so very long! But when they finally did what they had promised, it would be done in the wisest and best way possible. We learned that we could trust our parents when they made a promise to us. Of course, none of us had perfect parents, and some of us grew up with parents who could not be trusted at all. Nevertheless, despite any failings there may have been in our families, we can affirm that God always keeps His promises. He may wait much longer than we expect, but He always does things in the wisest and best way. That lesson forms the backdrop of the Old Testament book of Nahum. It is prophetic, written in a time when the people of God had already endured much trouble at the hands of the Assyrians, a longtime foe. Nineveh was their capital. Now, through Nahum the prophet, God announced His intentions to act in righteousness and justice. Although the book of Nahum is primarily a message of judgment for the wicked, it also serves to encourage the righteous who are waiting for God to act. Nahum’s Place In History
Nahum occupied a special place in the history of the Old Testament. He is the second of two prophets who received a message addressed directly to Nineveh.1 The first prophet was Jonah, who lived about a century before Nahum and whose message is probably better known. Because Jonah’s ministry was also connected with the reign of Jeroboam II in the northern kingdom of Israel (2 Ki. 14:25), it is believed that he lived in the mid-700s BC. Jonah eventually went to Nineveh and heralded God’s warning in the streets: “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” (Jon. 3:4 NKJV). Receiving the message, Nineveh repented! From the ruler in the palace to the common man and woman in every house, all the people sought the mercy of God. Because of their humble, contrite response, God had pity on them and spared the city. Did the people of Nineveh, and indeed the whole Assyrian empire, deserve God’s condemnation? They surely did. Even by ancient standards, the Assyrians were known for their excessive cruelty and torture. As only one example of many, an Assyrian ruler named Assurnarsipal described in about 845 BC how he treated his war captives: “I built a pillar over against his gate, and I flayed all the chief men … and I covered the pillar with their skins … some I impaled upon the pillar on stakes. Many captives … I burned with fire … From some I cut off their hands and their fingers, and from others I cut off their noses, their ears … of many I put out the eyes.”2 Assyria’s bloodthirsty assaults and its general inhumanity stood at the apex of evil. Therefore it was amazing that God showed mercy to Nineveh in the days of Jonah. It proves His tremendous longsuffering, for He is “not willing that any should perish” (2 Pet. 3:9). It also proves that He is always ready to accept true confessions and conversions. But Nineveh’s repentance in that generation was apparently short-lived, and soon the city was overflowing with wickedness once again. No further repentance was forthcoming, and God’s righteousness would not be mocked. Although the Old Testament primarily records God’s ways with the people of Israel, there is ample evidence that He is sovereign over every nation. He raises the rulers of the earth, and He also brings them low. This is the context of Nahum, whose subject is God’s impending judgment on Nineveh and the Assyrian empire. His prophetic message proclaims their complete downfall. Indeed, history records that the supremacy of the Assyrians essentially ended in 612 BC, when the Babylonians defeated them at the Battle of Nineveh in fulfillment of Nahum’s prophecy.3 As Bible believers, we assert that God Himself was behind their defeat, for He had declared through Nahum: “I will dig your grave, for you are vile” (Nah. 1:14). Nahum’s Prophetic Message
The Bible scholar John N. Darby noted that every enemy of Israel had unique characteristics. In the case of Nineveh, he wrote: “Nineveh is the haughty glory of the world, which recognizes nothing but its own importance.”4 The description of Nineveh in Zephaniah 2:15 drives that point home: “This is the rejoicing city that dwelt securely, that said in her heart, ‘I am it, and there is none besides me.’” It was Nineveh’s pride which led them to turn away from the LORD after He had previously spared them. It was their pride which led to their ruthless violence. And it was their pride which Nahum’s prophetic message condemned in the sternest tones. A brief overview of his writing will bring this to the surface. • Chapter 1
Early in his message, Nahum declared, “The LORD is slow to anger and great in power” (v.3). God had allowed many decades of increasing evil after Nineveh’s encounter with Jonah, and this proves He is slow to anger. He also is great in power. Whenever any people would fill up their measure of iniquity, He would exercise His power to limit the extent of that wickedness. Nahum then added, “The LORD is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; and He knows those who trust in Him” (v.7). The judgment upon Nineveh would be evidence not only of God’s righteousness but also of His goodness. It would be an assurance to His oppressed people that He had not forgotten them. His work would be thorough: “With an overflowing flood He will make an utter end of its place … Affliction will not rise up a second time” (vv.8-9). A unique expression in Nahum 1:11 says that Nineveh will produce “one who plots evil against the LORD, a wicked counselor.” This was already displayed in Shalmaneser V, the aggressive king of Assyria who had besieged Samaria about 100 years earlier, ultimately taking the ten northern tribes of Israel into captivity (2 Ki. 17:1-6). Nahum’s prophecy may refer to the Assyrian ruler in Nahum’s time who would still grasp for power as the empire was falling. However, the spotlight on this individual seems even more closely linked with “the Assyrian” of other prophetic Scriptures, such as Isaiah 10:24 and Micah 5:5. This still-future enemy will come from the north to oppress God’s people even while Christ is setting up His kingdom in the millennial age. Despite the audacity of his wickedness, he too will be destroyed. As Nahum foresaw the LORD’s victory, he encouraged the hearts of those who would hear about it, even today. It is good news! “Behold, on the mountains the feet of him who brings good tidings, who proclaims peace” (1:15). A similar verse is found in Isaiah 52:7, and in Romans 10:15 this verse is applied to the privilege we have to preach the gospel: “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things!” The defeat of our spiritual enemies and the peace of Christ announced through the gospel comprise the best news of all. • Chapter 2
As Nahum continued his theme, he foretold the futility of Nineveh’s defenses. The call went out: “Man the fort! Watch the road! Strengthen your flanks! Fortify your power mightily. For the LORD will restore the excellence of Jacob” (vv.1-2). Nineveh’s army prepared for battle, but the LORD would have the victory. The scene in the city was chaotic as they faced the LORD of all the earth! Nahum described how “the chariots rage in the streets” and the “nobles … stumble in their walk” (vv.4-5). Then we read: “The gates of the rivers are opened, and the palace is dissolved … she shall be led away captive … now they flee away. ‘Halt! Halt!’ they cry, but no one turns back” (vv.6-8). This passage describes the frenzied conditions in the streets of Nineveh as the city’s ultimate defeat by the Babylonians unfolded. In fact, a historian named Diodorus Siculus recorded that severe river flooding suddenly and unexpectedly demolished an extensive section of the city wall during the Babylonian siege. Some modern historians differ as to the reliability of his account, but many accept those details precisely because of this text in Nahum.5 Furthermore, archaeology has confirmed that a significant portion of Nineveh’s wall is indeed missing where the “gates of the rivers” may have burst into the city. • Chapter 3
The conquest of Nineveh would be all-encompassing. “There is a multitude of slain, a great number of bodies, countless corpses – they stumble over the corpses” (v.3). This proud, violent oppressor of many nations was addressed by God Himself: “‘Behold, I am against you,’ says the Lord of hosts … ‘I will show the nations your nakedness, and the kingdoms your shame’” (v.5). God then challenged the Ninevites: “Are you better than No Amon that was situated by the River, that had the waters around her, whose rampart was the sea? … Yet she was carried away, she went into captivity” (vv.8,10). “No Amon” was the Hebrew name for the Egyptian city of Thebes, a prominent political and commercial center. About 50 years before the days of Nahum, the Assyrians had captured that city and installed their own ruler there. History records the gloating of the Assyrian king at the time of that victory;6 but now the LORD essentially said, “You will be defeated just as completely” (see v.11). The LORD even invited Nineveh to increase its armies against Him. “Make yourself many – like the locust!” But He added, “Your commanders are like swarming locusts, and your generals like great grasshoppers, which camp in the hedges on a cold day; when the sun rises they flee away” (vv.15,17). The armies and leaders would be numerous and strong; but fear would fill their hearts in the day of battle. Nahum’s book ends with both a statement and a question. First, the prophet declared: “Your wound is severe” (v.19). The historical reality is that the city of Nineveh was eventually destroyed so thoroughly that its location was scarcely known for centuries. It was only in the 1840s that exploration and excavation confirmed its location and began to uncover its walls once again. Then in the book comes the final question: “All who hear news of you will clap their hands over you, for upon whom has not your wickedness passed continually?” (v.19). It is striking that the book of Jonah and the book of Nahum both end with a question related to Nineveh. In the case of Jonah, the final question was intended to convict a wayward prophet about God’s mercy. In the case of Nahum, the final question validated God’s condemnation of that proud, rebellious, violent people who had received and then rejected that mercy. Nahum’s Purpose Today
The book of Nahum proves that God is both patient and righteous. He is both merciful and just. He loves to pardon those who repent, yet He will ultimately condemn those who have trampled upon His kindness. His purposes cannot be resisted. As one hymn writer put it: When He makes bare His arm, Who shall His work withstand? When He His people’s cause defends, Who then shall stay His hand?
We leave it to Himself To choose and to command, With wonder filled, we soon shall see How wise, how strong His hand.7 Nahum also shows us that God is trustworthy. He has not forgotten us in our trouble. He is the Sovereign God who moves among the nations. What’s more, in the New Testament era we can know that same power as He works in our lives on our behalf. All those who trust in Jesus Christ can be confident that God does everything in the wisest and best way possible, and He will work all things together for our good.ENDNOTES 1. The passage in Zephaniah 2:13-15 also mentions Nineveh and Assyria, although it does not directly address the city as Jonah and Nahum did.
2. “Assyrians: Cavalry And Conquests, Ancient Civilizations. ” This Assurnarsipal was a direct ancestor of Shalmaneser V, whose army conquered Samaria and took the ten northern tribes of Israel into captivity.
3. It is interesting to note that Babylon was headed at that time by Nabopolassar, the father of Nebuchadnezzar, who became a prominent figure in the lives of Daniel, Ezekiel and Jeremiah. Although the Bible is not primarily a history book, it is rooted in actual historical events, as these references show.
4. Darby, J. N., “Nahum – Summary.”
5. Scurlock, J. A. (1990). “The Euphrates Flood And The Ashes Of Nineveh. ” (Diod. II 27. 1-28.7). Historia: Zeitschrift Für Alte Geschichte, 39(3), 382–384.
6. “Nahum, Nineveh, And Those Nasty Assyrians.” Associates for Biblical Research.
7. Gerhardt, Paul (1607–1676). “Through Waves, Through Clouds And Storms.” Translated to English by John Wesley. By Alfred Bouter