Nahum 1 – 3

As we read the book of Nahum we return to Nineveh that God spared in the book of Jonah. Interestingly this great city did not survive and faced the wrath of God described by Nahum. The archeological digs support the account of what happened in this book. A once great city became nothing.

Verse 1:2 starts with a statement about God:

he Eternal One won’t tolerate anything that distracts from Him
    and will avenge and settle the score on behalf of His covenant people.
The Eternal will serve up justice when His anger finally overflows.
    He brings justice to those who oppose Him
And sustains His fury toward those who work against Him.

I read this after watching a series from Prager University which explains the Ten Commandments in detail. The “thou shalt not take the Lord’s name in vain” was discussed and explained as it’s not saying God’s name in contract by rather “carrying” God’s name to do things evil. Those who oppose God like to point out how much evil was done in the name of God, like the Inquisition and the Holocaust, to discredit God. In reality they miss that these things were what was evil.

It seems like Nineveh was doing this since in Jonah they acknowledged God and repented yet the belief became so twisted by Nahum they were subject to God’s wrath. Just wonder if that was the ultimate “sin” of Nineveh since other nations and civilizations of the time with false gods still exist. Was Nineveh using God’s name to “work against Him”?

The key to chapter 1 is to show God is above ALL and is very slow to anger (as we saw in Jonah). Chapter 2 shows God’s vengeance and desire for justice.

Verse 2:7 is supported by archeological digs:

A decree is set and goes out: Nineveh will be ransacked.
    She is stripped and will be carried far away from home.
You can hear the young girls pounding their breaking hearts
    and moaning like terrified doves.

Today we see these writing were true; the great city of Nineveh was overrun by its neighbors and ransacked around the time of Nahum’s writings. The question is did Nahum record what happened or was this written before this happened? The belief is he wrote this a few years before the fall of Nineveh.  

Now I learned a new word, “theophany”, or God appearing to man. We see this daily in what many call “nature” or “Mother Nature”.  Chapter 1 describes how God is in everything and therefore “theophany” to mankind.