The identity of this prophet is uncertain. Nahum calls himself the Elkoshite. Elkosh was probably situated in Galilee; certainly Nahum was familiar with this particular part of Palestine. It is most probable that the prophet moved into Judah after the fall of Israel, when the northern territory was re-populated by Esar-haddon. It is not difficult to date this prophecy; obviously it was written soon after the fall of No-Amon in Egypt (3:8) which took place in 665 or 664 bc, and shortly before the fall of Nineveh in 607 bc. It may well have been written in the 630’s or 620’s.
The subject of the prophecy can be conveniently expounded according to its chapter divisions. In the first chapter, we have a forceful reminder of the sovereignty of God’s power. The second chapter reminds us of how faithful God is to His Word. The last chapter declares the finality of God’s judgment.
The Supremacy of God’s Power
God, not man, is the final arbiter of men’s destinies. When Nahum prophesied, Nineveh’s day of grace was almost at an end. Since Jonah’s ministry in the city, succeeding generations had relapsed into all kinds of iniquity. We must never forget that, while God is always presenting men with opportunities to repent, while He is ready to pardon the penitent, He never condones sin, but judges it thoroughly.
There can be no doubt about the meaning of 1:2-5. The picture which Nahum paints is somber indeed, yet majestic in its description of the eternal God. He is portrayed as Master of the elements, rebuking the sea, withering the vine, removing the mountains by the thundering of His word, scorching the earth by the fire of His holiness. Nature, as Paul reminds us in Romans, is subjected to vanity because of man’s sin and consequently must share its judgment until the manifestation of the sons of God. Indeed the prophet reminds us that every force is subject to His sway: flood (v. 8), fire (vv. 5-6), darkness (v. 8), and drought (v. 4). It is a dark picture, yet not one of unrelieved darkness, for here and there a shaft of light penetrates the gloom. When we consider God’s sovereignty we must not think of it as unmitigated severity. In our consideration of this chapter we may notice three important truths.
1. God’s power is always subject to His patience. Though God is sovereign, He is not swift to punish the sinner. Nahum describes Him as “jealous.” In the Septuagint the word is rendered zelotes, from which comes our English word “zealot,” a term which gives a more correct indication of the prophet’s mind. Though God is zealous for righteousness He is slow to anger, and because He is sovereign He can afford to wait, yet men must never interpret His patience as weakness, for God will never acquit the wicked.
2. God’s omnipotence is always conditioned by His benevolence. God’s power may be irresistible (v. 6), but His purpose is beneficial. His might may be insuperable, but His mercy is undeniable. Nineveh had enjoyed His mercy; now it was to suffer His wrath. When God chastens, it is that He might cleanse.
3. Though God wages war on evil, He publishes peace to His people. The last verse of the first chapter is like the first ray of sunlight which breaks through the storm clouds. “When the city is destroyed; when the gods, the custodians of its civic life are dishonored (v. 14); when the roar of its falling masonry is hushed, and the noise of war is silenced, the sweet flute-like overtures of the gospel are heard. The Messiah swiftly and silently speeds on His way.
The Fidelity of God’s Word
Nahum declared that Nineveh was about to learn that, as obedience had brought them blessing in Jonah’s day, so now, iniquity would result in judgment. How vividly the prophet paints the picture and how dramatically he describes the horrors of a siege! How alarmingly the second chapter begins with the words, “The breaker is come.” Suddenly and swiftly Nahum imagines the enemy appearing before the battlements of the city. As we follow the course of the conflict there are three lessons we learn.
1. Man makes a vain effort to preserve his modus vivendi. Like every other city, Nineveh had its own civic consciousness, its own peculiar characteristics. Truly it was a wicked city; no people were more cruel and bloodthirsty than those of Nineveh, yet even Nineveh had its redeeming features. Its people had responded wholeheartedly to the preaching of Jonah. Men will defend their heritage no matter how degenerate it has become. Like the Ninevites we do our utmost to preserve our life, we zealously guard our gates. No matter how rotten a man’s way of life may be, he will cling tenaciously to it. It is a fact we must bear in mind in our evangelism among the unsaved.
2. A man’s enemies will make a determined assault on his way of life, seeking to destroy it, bringing him into captivity. That is why empires flourish and fade. Man in his lust and greed must ever impose his practices by force of arms on others. Freedom, indeed, is only to be found through faith in the Saviour. “If the Son shall make you free ye shall be free indeed.” Liberty can only be realized as we are “transformed by the renewing of our minds”; slavery is experienced conversely as we are “conformed to this world” with its evil principles. Nahum describes the soldiers in the streets and steel chariots flashing in the sun, a vivid description to which the most ludicrous interpretations have been attached, interpretations from which every sane commentator turns in disgust.
3. Divine judgment can leave behind it terrible desolation. The prophet records that the first to fall would be the defenders of the city. Veterans would be pressed into service (2:7), but they must stumble in the streets. Nahum predicts that the streets which will run red with blood, will be deluged with water ere the destruction of the city is complete. There was a tradition that the city of Nineveh would never fall to the enemy until the water of the Tigris flowed through its streets, and that is precisely what happened. Then the Assyrian would be devoured as he had devoured his prey (2:13).
The Finality of God’s Judgment
The final chapter of this short prophecy begins with a lurid picture of the horrors of the siege. We hear the crack of the whip (3:2), the rattle of wheels in the streets and the snorting of the horses as they speed to the scene of the fighting. Nahum shows us the flashing sword and the gleaming spear, the bodies of the slain piled high in the city streets, obstructing the escape of the defeated Ninevites (v. 3). It is an intensely human picture and yet inhuman. Yet behind the inhumanity of man, we see the terrible outcome of man’s sin and divine judgment. God permits one nation to be the scourge of another. The true cause of Nineveh’s fall is not the hostility of Babylon but the displeasure of God (v. 5). The prophet declares that God will treat Nineveh as a harlot, exposing her shame (vv. 5-6). In that day Nahum maintains that none will sympathize with her, so cruelly has she treated her captives (v. 7).
No city was more ideally situated for defense than No-Amon, the celebrated Thebes in Egypt, yet as it had fallen, so Nineveh would fall ingloriously. Is it not a warning that the strength of a nation lies not in its geographical position, its military defenses or influential allies, but in the godliness of its people? How vital it is to be reconciled to God, to be at peace with Him, to know Christ as Saviour. How incumbent it is on every gospel preacher to declare the whole counsel of God and warn his hearers to flee from the “wrath to come.”
The reaction of Nineveh was that of the unrepentant in every age. Instead of crying to God for mercy, its people made desperate efforts to save themselves, seeking refuge where it could not be found. When the judge has passed sentence, it is too late to escape the nemesis of one’s sin.
Finally, the prophet predicts the extinction of the city’s life. Nineveh was ripe for judgment, as ripe as the fig that falls from the tree into the mouth of the eater (v. 12). Its ill-gotten gains would be spoiled, its corrupt culture would collapse, and its doom was inevitable (v. 14). The whole prophecy is a warning to the wicked that God judges man’s sin, but a comfort to the godly that God vindicates righteousness. All that exalts itself against God must ultimately be as Nineveh. Truth will conquer and right must win since God is sovereign in the world He created and controls.