Assyria was a huge thorn in the side of Old Testament Israel for approximately 250 years. When their king at any time during those two and a half centuries wanted a road trip to remind everyone who was the boss, he would lead the most powerful nation of that time to ransack Israel over and over. The cruelty of these kings was meant to strike fear in the hearts of the peoples they conquered. The book of Kings (only one, not two, in Jewish Bibles) records the Assyrian kings. It started with Shalmaneser when he defeated Ahab, along with Ben-Hadad (I Kings 20-22). The last powerful Assyrian king was Ashurbanipal. He was followed by two more, but the nation of Assyria was already on its way out. Perhaps the most well-known king of Assyria was Sennacherib who came against Hezekiah and God stepped in to put a halt to his pillaging of Judah by using one angel in one night (II Kings 18:13-19:36). Phillips calls Assyria “a monument of tyranny.”

The capital city of Assyria was Nineveh. It was located on the eastern side of the Tigris River. The high, thick walls were legendary. Three chariots could ride abreast, and the length of the wall is estimated between 7 & 8 miles in length. It was thought to be so strong that none could defeat the Assyrian nation. This is the city that Jonah was commanded to preach. He didn’t want to preach to them. He knew how they had time and again rolled into Israel in the past 250 years raping, pillaging, and murdering. The little ones of Israel, the babies, would be held up by their heels, swung, and little heads crushed against the rocks. The leaders would often be flayed or beheaded. The Temple vessels taken, which in their minds meant their god was stronger than Israel’s God. Is it any wonder that Jonah didn’t want these people to repent? But God said preach, “Forty days and Nineveh will be overthrown.” The city repented in sackcloth and ashes, and God stayed his judgment. Fast-forward 100 years, another prophet is told to preach. His name is Nahum. Jonah would have gladly given his life to have gotten to preach Nahum’s message. Nahum 1:1 immediately declares his “burden.” The name Nahum means “comfort or consolation.” This comfort isn’t for Assyria it is for the people of God, Israel. The prophet declares that God will “break the yoke from them and burst their bonds asunder” (1:13) and tells Judah to “keep solemn feasts, perform thy vows: for the wicked shall no more pass through thee: he is utterly cut off” (1:15b).

Today, I want to give you some thoughts from 1:1-7. Nahum the Elkoshite. No one really knows much about this prophet. Some think he is from around the town of Capernaum located on the Sea of Galilee. They think this because of the last portion of Capernaum. Others think he was from Galilee. Personally, I think the latter of the two.

  1. God is Patient. 1:2-3a. The patience of God is often times frustrating. How many times have we seen an evil and think, “God needs to deal with that.” We want God to judge and do it on our timetable. Jonah wanted them to experience judgment for their crimes against his people. Years ago, I came across a little poem. “Though THE MILLS of God grind slowly, yet they grind exceeding small; Though with patience he stands waiting, with exactness grinds He all.” God takes His time giving people opportunity for repentance but there will come a day when that door closes, and judgment arrives. “God is jealous.” The jealousy of God isn’t like our petty jealousy. It isn’t some superficial emotion but an intensity to do right always. “God revengeth” simply means that God avenges. All those babies killed at the hands of godless Assyrians will be avenged. All those elderly killed because they couldn’t walk hundreds of miles into slavery will be avenged. God keeps the records. “God reserves his wrath for his enemies.” There is an appointed time, and Nahum is declaring the time is now here. One final thought from 1:3. “He will not acquit the wicked.” God won’t overlook or write off the sins committed against His people.
  2. God is Powerful. 1:3b-6. Sennacherib found out the hard way that God is the Lord of Hosts. God sent that one angel, and in one night 185,000 soldiers were killed and Sennacherib hurried back home with his tail tucked between his legs. Every time we are told about a hurricane or a tornado, I can’t help but think about Nahum 1:3. “The Lord has his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet.” The power of God is seen throughout the pages of the Bible from its beginning. “In the beginning God…” He, by the word of His power, speaks into existence something that never existed before. No previous raw materials, nothing. The Hebrew word for “created” is bara, “to come from nothing.” This is the God that is coming for Assyria. The seas recede from Him as do the rivers. Looking back at verse 2 there is a phrase “he reserveth wrath for his enemies.” Notice the word enemies is plural. God has many nations that are against Him all to their detriment. Ezekiel 38:18 tells us that Russia has also provoked the Lord. I have been reading recently about the “Six Day War” which was fought in 1967. Over 100 million Arabs had the little reborn nation of Israel surrounded. The Egyptian President Nassar had secured other Arab nations to rid the world of Jews by driving them into the Sea. The western nations such as the United States and Great Britain stood down. The Russians had supplied arms to some of those nations including Syria. Those guns were pointed downward toward Israel from the Golan Heights. A journalist was riding with an Israeli officer as those guns were silent. “How did Israel get up here with those huge guns pointed at you?” The officer never said a word; he simply pointed to the heavens. Never doubt the power of God.
  3. God gives us His Presence. 1:7. Hundreds of times visiting hospitals and other facilities, I have reached into my pocket for a little Bible. In the back of this little New Testament are verses for various problems. One of those problems is our need for the Lord in times of suffering. There are verses from Psalms and a verse from Isaiah, but one of my favorites is Nahum 1:7. “The Lord is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him.” God knows exactly what you are going through at this time and at all times. The word “knoweth” means He recognizes, has knowledge of and understands. My, how comforting it is to grasp this great truth. The darkest nights, the Lord is there. The hard days of pain, He is there. I was talking to Bro. Richards last night and in the background, I could hear a song. The truth of the song was “He is the God of the mountain and also the God the valley.”

Nahum has three major prophecies that all have come true. He prophesied that Sennacherib’s army would be defeated. It was with the angel from God. He prophesied that Sennacherib would die in his pagan god’s house; he was murdered by two sons in the pagan temple. His final prophecy was that Nineveh would fall. It did fall in 612 B.C. and all of Israel celebrated. The jealousy, the intensity of God, will one day arrive but until then man and nations have a chance to repent and come to Christ.