1:1 Nahum, like Jonah, was a prophet to Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrian Empire, and he prophesied between 663 and 612 B.C. Jonah had seen Nineveh repent a century earlier (see the book of Jonah), but the city had fallen back into wickedness. Assyria, the world power controlling the Fertile Crescent, seemed unstoppable. Its ruthless and savage warriors had already conquered Israel, the northern kingdom, and were causing great suffering in Judah. So Nahum proclaimed God’s anger against Assyria’s evil. Within a few decades, the mighty Assyrian Empire would be toppled by Babylon.
1:1 Elkosh was a village thought by some to be in southwest Judah.
1:2 God alone has the right to be jealous and to carry out vengeance. Jealousy and vengeance may be surprising terms to associate with God. When humans are jealous and take vengeance, they are usually acting in a spirit of selfishness. But it is appropriate for God to insist on our complete allegiance, and it is just for him to punish unrepentant evildoers. His jealousy and vengeance are unmixed with selfishness. Their purpose is to remove sin and restore peace to the world (Deuteronomy 4:24; 5:9).
1:3 God is slow to get angry, but when he is ready to punish, even the earth trembles. Often people avoid God because they see evildoers in the world and hypocrites in the church. They don’t realize that because God is slow to anger, he gives his true followers time to share his love and truth with evildoers. But judgment will come; God will not allow sin to go unchecked forever. When people wonder why God doesn’t punish evil immediately, help them remember that if he did, none of us would be here. We can all be thankful that God gives people time to turn to him.
1:4 Bashan and Carmel were very fertile areas.
1:6 No person on earth can safely defy God, the Almighty, the Creator of all the universe. God, who controls the sun, the galaxies, and the vast stretches beyond, also controls the rise and fall of nations. How could a small temporal kingdom like Assyria, no matter how powerful, challenge God’s awesome power? If only Assyria could have looked ahead to see the desolate mound of rubble that it would become—yet God would still be alive and well! Don’t defy God; he will be here forever with greater power than that of all armies and nations combined.
1:6-8 To people who refuse to believe, God’s punishment is like an angry fire. To those who love him, his mercy is a refuge, supplying all their needs without diminishing his supply. But to God’s enemies he is an overwhelming flood that will sweep them away. The relationship we have with God is up to us. What kind of relationship will you choose?
1:11 The “wicked counsellor” who plots evil against the Lord could have been (1) Ashurbanipal (669–627 B.C.), king of Assyria during much of Nahum’s life and the one who brought Assyria to the zenith of its power; (2) Sennacherib (705–681), who openly defied God (2 Kings 18:13-35), epitomizing rebellion against God; (3) no one king in particular but the entire evil monarchy. The point is that Nineveh would be destroyed for rebelling against God.
1:12-15 The good news for Judah, whom Assyria afflicted, was that its conquerors and tormentors would be destroyed and would never rise to torment it again. Nineveh was so completely wiped out that its ruins were not identified until 1845.