Nahum
An Introduction
Nahum (1:1)
The name “Nahum” means “comforter” and it was not an uncommon name in the Bible. The “Nehum” mentioned among those returning to Jerusalem with Zerubbabel is perhaps a different spelling of the same name (Nehemiah 7:7). In the New Testament, the name appears in the genealogy of Christ (Luke 3:25) and the name of the New Testament city Capernaum means “City of Nahum” or “City of Comfort”. Our Nahum was an Elkoshite, which means “son of Elkosh”, but probably means “from Elkosh”. Though several theories have been presented, the location of this city is unknown.
As with many of the other “minor” prophets, we know little about Nahum beyond his prophetic words recorded in this small book.
A Jealous and Avenging God (1:2-7)
The opening section of Nahum are an acrostic, though of course this is not evident in our English translations. This section, which extends through verse 11, is considerably different in style than the remainder of the book, which has a more advanced poetic form, though this largely has been lost in translation, as well. In explanation for this change in style, scholars suggest that this first section is an adaptation of an preexisting hymn which Nahum reapplied in his situation.
Most generally, the book of Nahum asserts the active role of God among all peoples in all times. This section, and indeed the book, may be summarized as declaring that God is patient, not inactive. His patience is to our benefit, but it has its limits. For Nineveh, that limit has been reached.
Having summarized the message of the book, we can begin to consider the manner in which this message is conveyed. Nahum begins by declaring that God is a jealous and avenging God. These two related attributes are never pleasant in humans, and we should consider how they apply to God.
In the Ten Commandments, jealousy is revealed as a basic characteristic of God (Exodus 20:4-5; Deuteronomy 5:8-9). It is this very characteristic which typifies the angry, judgmental, “Old Testament God” which we find so difficult to reconcile with the New Testament revelation. He is, for example, the God who praised Phinehas as “jealous with my jealousy” (Numbers 25:3-11) and whose jealous anger burns as the very fires of hell (Deuteronomy 32:21-22).
When his patience is exhausted, God acts out of his jealous anger to bring forth vengeance: punishment that is justly deserved. He reserves this expression of jealousy exclusively to himself (Romans 12:19). Our patience is not God’s patience, and with the Psalmist we would often call for the God of vengeance to shine forth (Psalms 94:1). But even the saints in heaven are told to wait a little longer (Revelation 6:9-11).
How can we reconcile the idea of the jealous vengeful God with the good, caring God that is our refuge? Essentially, how do we reconcile the Old Testament God of anger with the New Testament revelation? After all, there is no God but God (Isaiah 45:5-7).
First, we must remember that when we speak of anger, jealousy, and vengeance, or even patience, goodness, and love, we are using human ideas and attributes to describe God, and when we describe God in human terms, we always fall short. These words may guide us, but we can only come to understand and trust the anger of God in the same way we have come to know and trust the love of God – and that is by faith (Psalm 34:4-8).
An End of Nineveh (1:8-14)
Nineveh was in ancient Assyria. We first read of it very early on in Biblical history, as it was founded by a great-grandson of Noah (Genesis 10:8-12). The KJV gives the name Asshur as the founder, but this would be out of place in the genealogy. Modern translations take this word to be “Assyria” and the name of the founder to be Nimrod. Nineveh attained great stature and importance during the reign of Sennacherib, who is mentioned in the Bible together with Nineveh (2 Kings 19:35-36).
Of course, we are most familiar with Nineveh through the book of the prophet Jonah, who preceded both Sennacherib and Nahum (2 Kings 14:23-25). Nineveh had already become a wicked city, and God sent Jonah to preach against it (Jonah 1:1-2). But at that time the people of Nineveh repented, and the Lord had compassion on them – even if Jonah did not (Jonah 4:10-11). The repentance of Nineveh was used by one greater than Jonah as a conviction of the people of his day, and of any day in which the people of God refuse to change their ways (Matthew 12:41).
I Am Against You (3:1-5, 19)
By the time of Nahum, Nineveh had sealed her own fate. She had not only become completely wicked herself, but had ensnared the nations with her worldly religion. The result was horrible. When the Lord removes his favor, the result is more horrible than we can imagine (Ezekiel 5:8-11).
Nahum’s prophecy to Nineveh reminds us that we serve a great and awful God. God is active, and we should be sure that, should God be against us, there would be no recourse and no remedy. But we should also be sure that no one can separate us from the love of God (Romans 8:31).
“I am the LORD; there is no other god. I will give you the strength you need, although you do not know me. I do this so that everyone from one end of the world to the other may know that I am the LORD and that there is no other god. I create both light and darkness; I bring both blessing and disaster. I, the LORD, do all these things. (Isaiah 45:5-7 GNB)
