An Oracle of Divine Reassurance for Judah

Nahum 1:2-15

Main Idea: God destroyed Judah’s enemy and proclaimed freedom and peace to His people.

1. I. A Portrait of Divine Punishment (1:2-6)
2. II. A Proclamation of Divine Peace (1:7-15)

A Portrait of Divine Punishment

Nahum 1:2-6

God Is Not Pleased! The prophet begins his oracle in a tone that might shock the average twenty-first-century audience. Most of the time we are accustomed to messages that begin with an interesting story or a bit of humor. But the prophet wastes no time in getting to the heart of the issue: God’s displeasure. Nahum is not the only biblical prophet who began his oracles on a note of divine displeasure. God’s principle accusation against His people in Isaiah 1:2 is “I have raised children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against Me.” This is not exactly a warm, fuzzy, endearing introduction to the sermons and oracles of the prophet! Yet it is God’s word to the people about their need for repentance and redemption.

Nahum’s message is directed toward Nineveh, the center of the imperial operations of the Neo-Assyrian Empire. Nineveh deserves judgment for its crimes against the people of God, Judah. “The Lord is a jealous and avenging God; the Lord takes vengeance and is fierce in wrath. The Lord takes vengeance against His foes; He is furious with His enemies” (v. 2). Though not apparent in English translation, the prophecy begins with a partial acrostic that indicates the prophetic intentionality and literary coherence of Nahum’s oracle. The acrostic pattern is a poetic arrangement in which each new line or section of text begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. In Nahum’s case the acrostic covers only part of the Hebrew alphabet. The prophet skillfully crafted his prophetic message in a manner that would impact his audience.

The first declaration is that God is “jealous.” To the modern reader, jealousy might not be the first attribute of God that comes to mind. We love to recite that God is patient, kind, gracious, loving, caring, and much more. Jealousy probably is not one of the attributes of God that people think of today. But God is a jealous God (Deut 4:24; 5:9). Longman comments that God’s jealousy

does not imply that God is subject to petty suspicions, but rather that he demands the exclusive loyalty of his people along the lines of the first and second commandments. Indeed, both versions of the second commandment (Exod. 20:5; Deut. 5:9) contain the divine self-assertion of jealousy. Exclusivity of worship is the explicit motivation behind God describing his name as “Jealous” to Moses (Exod. 34:14). (Longman, “Nahum,” 788)

In the divine prohibitions of idolatry in Exodus 20:5, the Lord says, “You must not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God.” In Exodus 34:14 the Lord says, “You are never to bow down to another god because Yahweh, being jealous by nature, is a jealous God.” To be clear, God is not jealous of His people but He is jealous (zealous) for His people. God’s attribute of jealousy comes from the concept of covenant loyalty. The relationship of God to His people is one of covenant loyalty and mutual faithfulness. He cannot tolerate disloyalty. He alone will be worshiped and no one else. God is jealous if His people violate their covenant loyalty to Him, and He is also jealous if others attack His covenant people. The Lord’s jealousy refers to His zeal to protect and defend the honor of His covenant relationship with His people (Deut 6:13-15). This truth about the Lord’s jealousy to defend His honor is expressed in the words of the prophet Jeremiah, a contemporary of Nahum.

“Have you seen what unfaithful Israel has done? She has ascended every high hill and gone under every green tree to prostitute herself there. I thought: After she has done all these things, she will return to Me. But she didn’t return and her treacherous sister Judah saw it. I observed that it was because unfaithful Israel had committed adultery that I had sent her away and had given her a certificate of divorce. Nevertheless, her treacherous sister Judah was not afraid but also went and prostituted herself. Indifferent to her prostitution, she defiled the land and committed adultery with stones and trees. Yet in spite of all this, her treacherous sister Judah didn’t return to Me with all her heart—only in pretense.” This is the Lord’s declaration. (Jer 3:6-10)

Jeremiah articulates the idolatrous ways of both Israel and Judah, for this is how the Lord is provoked to jealousy and anger regarding His people. Prostituting themselves with foreign powers (and their idols) for political protection and progress was an act of disloyalty to the covenant with the Lord, and it led to their brutal subjugation to those nations. God is displeased with God’s people prostituting themselves and with the foreign powers that abused them. Therefore, the Lord’s jealousy leads to His vengeance not only against those who violate His covenant but also against those who violate His covenant people.

The Lord is an “avenging God.” The Hebrew term for “vengeance” is employed three times in verse 2 alone. God is not pleased with what the Assyrians have done to Judah. “Vengeance” affirms that God is a God of justice. He will not allow wrongdoing to go unpunished forever. He is patient with sinners so as to give them opportunity for repentance, but He will certainly hold them accountable for all evil they have done against His people. In Deuteronomy 32:35 the Lord says concerning Israel, “Vengeance belongs to Me; I will repay.”

God’s patience toward Assyria was reflected in the ministry of the prophet Jonah, who reluctantly preached the message of impending divine judgment on Nineveh in the eighth century BC. Nahum acknowledges the patience of the Lord in verse 3 when he says, “The Lord is slow to anger but great in power; the Lord will never leave the guilty unpunished.” The Lord being slow to anger is mentioned in several passages in Scripture. For example, Exodus 34:6 records the words of the Lord to Moses on Mount Sinai: “Yahweh—Yahweh is a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger and rich in faithful love and truth.” This indicates that the Lord is not willing that people should perish in divine judgment, so He is compassionate and gracious in being slow to anger. He exercises divine patience for a long time before He executes divine judgment on people. In Numbers 14:18 Moses speaks of the divine patience of the Lord in his intercession on behalf of Israel by quoting the Lord’s words on Mount Sinai recorded back in Exodus 34:6. “Slow to anger” is an act of divine grace toward sinners.

God is still slow to anger. He often allows people to live a long time before He brings judgment on them for their sins. Peter the apostle writes in 2 Peter 3:8-9,

Dear friends, don’t let this one thing escape you: With the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. The Lord does not delay His promise, as some understand delay, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish but all to come to repentance.

Part of the good news is that God is slow to execute divine judgment against sinners in order that they may repent of their sins. Let no one mistake the patience of God for aloofness or weakness. God is not aloof, and He is not weak.

In fact, the Lord is not only “slow to anger,” but He is also “great in power.” God will hold the guilty accountable. No one will get away with sin and injustice—neither individuals nor nations. Now is always the appropriate time to respond to God’s gracious patience with repentance and faith. Those who delay turning to the Lord in repentance and faith are only storing up divine judgment for themselves. Don’t be like Nineveh, for whom it was already too late.

If anyone doubts that the Lord is great and awesome in power, the prophet describes His power in the eloquent language of divine theophany in verses 3b-6. This is one of the most vivid verbal illustrations of the cosmic power of God, who created and controls all the elements mentioned and who has the power to reverse creation and turn it into chaos to fulfill His purpose (Baker, Nahum, 28). Psalm 89:11 affirms this by declaring, “The heavens are Yours; the earth also is Yours. The world and everything in it—you founded them.” Nahum proceeds from the highest elevations to the lowest in his description of divine theophany. God controls the “whirlwind,” “storm,” and “clouds.” The Assyrians may control much of the ancient Near East, but the Lord controls wind and water. God’s power cannot be matched. The Assyrians ought to fear the divine judgment to come because the Lord is all-powerful. The imagery of “path” and “feet” refer to God’s way of bringing divine justice on His enemies. This is anthropomorphic language intended to communicate the attributes of God’s awesome and terrible judgments. God can take the elements and turn them into chaos against His enemies. In Proverbs 1:27 fools are warned that calamity will come on them like a “whirlwind.” The tools at God’s disposal are limitless, so He can employ the phenomena of weather to accomplish His judgments on sinners.

He controls the water by His ability to dry up the sea and the rivers. Bashan and Carmel and the “flowers of Lebanon” are references to the fact that God’s divine judgment affects everything, everywhere. One thing is certain: When God comes in divine judgment, everyone knows it. In the future the Lord will come in divine judgment on the entire earth, according to Revelation 1:7: “Look! He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, including those who pierced Him. And all the families of the earth will mourn over Him.”

Judgment is certain for the wicked. Salvation is certain for the righteous. Just as the weather elements indicate when storms and other related phenomena will come, so it is true that God can use those same elements to indicate the coming of His divine judgment. “The mountains quake before Him, and the hills melt; the earth trembles at His presence—the world and all who live in it” (Nah 1:5). Not only are the atmosphere and hydrosphere at His divine disposal, but also the earth. Earthquakes and tremors display examples of the Lord’s awesome power.

The message of impending divine judgment evokes two rhetorical questions in verse 6: “Who can withstand His indignation? Who can endure His burning anger?” The answer is obvious: no one! When we affirm the sovereignty of God, we are affirming these and many more truths about the attributes of God. This is the kind of prophetic language that would have been understood by ancient kingdoms like Assyria because their thirst for international dominance was insatiable. Only God in His awesome power could stop them in their quest for imperial supremacy in the region. No matter how powerful a nation may become, God still exercises ultimate sovereignty over them. He is far more powerful than human nations could ever be. When nations displease God, His wrath can overthrow them like volcanic fire and molten lava. This is why Psalm 2:10-12 warns kings to be careful not to displease the Lord:

So now, kings, be wise; receive instruction, you judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with reverential awe and rejoice with trembling. Pay homage to the Son or He will be angry and you will perish in your rebellion, for His anger may ignite at any moment. All those who take refuge in Him are happy.

A Proclamation of Divine Peace

Nahum 1:7-15

The message of divine judgment on Assyria was bad news for Nineveh. However, it was good news for Judah, who had endured the oppression of the Assyrian Empire and its imperial ambitions. After all the trouble God’s people had endured under their Assyrian overlords, Judah would finally get good news in the form of the message of judgment against Nineveh. God would deal with Assyria, and the people of God would be redeemed. Nahum continues his oracle with these words: “The Lord is good, a stronghold in a day of distress; He cares for those who take refuge in Him” (v. 7). God is not evil. God is good. God has not forgotten His people. God never forgets His people. Psalm 73:1 says, “God is indeed good to Israel, to the pure in heart.” In King David’s psalm of thanksgiving in 1 Chronicles 16:34, he says, “Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good.” The goodness of God is clear from the very beginning of Scripture. At creation, everything God created was declared to be “good” (Gen 1:4,10,12,18,21,25,31).

The good news for God’s people is that in His goodness He is a stronghold in times of trouble. Psalm 2:12 says, “All those who take refuge in Him are happy.” Psalm 9:9 says, “The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble.” The Lord is faithful to take care of His people in every crisis situation. God’s people can run to Him for refuge from their oppressors. The Lord wants us to turn to Him for refuge. He is our stronghold. Whenever we find ourselves surrounded by difficulty and distress, we must turn to the Lord in trust and prayer and seek refuge in Him.

While the Lord will completely take care of His people, He will completely destroy Nineveh (v. 8) just as it subjugated and destroyed other nations in order to fulfill its imperialistic ambitions. It will not be a partial destruction of Nineveh, but a total destruction of Nineveh and its empire. The enemies of God’s people are seen as God’s enemies, and He will make sure they never return by pursuing them “into darkness.”

Verse 9 ends the partial acrostic that began this oracle. Exactly why the acrostic pattern ends at this point is not clear, but what is clear so far is Nahum’s message of divine judgment against Nineveh and divine grace for the nation of Judah. This message comes at some point during the reigns of the Assyrian King Ashurbanipal and the Judahite Kings Manasseh and/or Josiah. It is significant because it would not have seemed possible given the size and military might of the empire. Nahum’s prophetic prediction says the impending doom of Nineveh would come sooner rather than later. The prophetic accusation of plotting against the Lord is powerful. Whatever imperial ambitions the Assyrians had for Judah, they were actually plotting against God, not merely against His people. The Assyrians may not have viewed themselves as plotting against the Lord, but that was in fact what their subjugation of the people of God amounted to. Psalm 2:1-2 asks the question, “Why do the nations rebel and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth take their stand, and the rulers conspire together against the Lord and His Anointed One.” The kings of this world will never succeed against the Lord and His people. Even though Judah is small compared to the Neo-Assyrian Empire, God’s protection of Judah—His people—will prevail over the superpower from Nineveh. Anyone who opposes God’s people opposes God Himself. The Lord will defend His people from the attacks of those who oppose Him.

As Christians, we have the same assurance that God will protect us from the attacks of those who oppose the Lord. Psalm 12:7 says, “You, Lord, will guard us; You will protect us from this generation forever.” God is faithful in every generation to protect and defend His people. Because of this we should not fear humans. The Lord’s protection is with us. God will see to it that the enemies of His people do not rise again. The Neo-Assyrian Empire would crumble in 612 BC, never to rise again.

The Lord further affirms the promise of His protection of His people in verses 12-13. This section of the prophetic oracle begins with words that introduce divine speech from the Lord Himself. “This is what the Lord says” is a common feature of prophetic literature in the Old Testament. It is referred to as the “messenger formula” and is always followed by the divine speech of Yahweh the Lord. This is the only time the prophet Nahum employs the messenger formula in his oracle. The great strength of Assyria will be no match for God, who will cut them down like mowed grass. Do not be fooled by the greatness of the Assyrians because the Lord will wipe it all out, and that will happen sooner than imaginable. Just when we think problems or oppressors are too big to be overcome, God can bring them down in a moment.

The Lord is not aloof to the suffering that He brought on His people because of their sinfulness. He says, “Though I have afflicted you, I will afflict you no longer.” God’s people are reassured that though they have been duly punished for their sins against the Lord, He will no longer allow the judgment of Assyrian oppression to afflict them. The Lord will break off the Assyrian yoke and tear off Judah’s shackles. After the Lord has disciplined His people sufficiently, Deuteronomy 32:36 says, “The Lord will indeed vindicate His people and have compassion on His servants when He sees that their strength is gone and no one is left—slave or free.” God’s people were oppressed under the enslavement of their Assyrian overlord, but the Lord would free them.

There is no sweeter freedom than freedom from the shackles of slavery and oppression. There is no freedom greater than freedom from slavery to sin and unrighteousness. This is the language of redemption. The Lord is the Redeemer of His people. He redeemed us from the crushing burden and eternal consequences of sin.

The promise of an end to Assyrian affliction of God’s people did not mean they would never again be punished for disobedience to the Lord. In fact, just a few years after Nahum’s prophecy the Babylonians would sack the city of Jerusalem in 587/586 BC and exile God’s people. However, we should consider a more significant theological purpose to this promise. O. Palmer Robertson comments:

Possibly the prophet views Nineveh as a typical representation of Israel’s archenemy, and her destruction as symbolic of God’s final act of judgment. Whoever might prove to be the archenemy of God’s people in the future generations could be sure from Nineveh’s experience that God would destroy them and deliver his people. God remains vitally concerned for his people in all their afflictions. When the right time comes for their deliverance, he shall break them free from all oppression. (Robertson, Nahum, 78)

The fate of Assyria is a prophecy of doom for all who oppose God’s people, even those whom the Lord uses as an instrument of divine punishment on His people. The Lord loves His people enough to discipline us whenever we disobey His Word. And He can use whatever means He chooses to discipline His people. The writer of Hebrews, quoting Proverbs 3:11-12, says, “My son, do not take the Lord’s discipline lightly or faint when you are reproved by Him, for the Lord disciplines the one He loves and punishes every son He receives” (Heb 12:5-6). God is the same yesterday, today, and eternally (Heb 13:8). He still disciplines His children. There are redemptive lessons to be learned from the experiences of God’s ancient people, Judah.

The message of divine judgment narrows from the empire to the one who rules it, the king of Assyria (v. 14). This is most likely Ashurbanipal, who was the last major monarch of the Neo-Assyrian Empire. God not only holds nations accountable for their deeds, but He also holds leaders accountable. God has given an order: the end has come for the Assyrian monarchy. The decree is irreversible and will surely come to pass.

The empire would be plunged into the chaos of civil war after the death of King Ashurbanipal in 627 BC. Though the empire was at the height of its strength, things quickly fell apart. At some point during the chaos, Ashurbanipal’s son succeeded him, but it was already too late to reverse the inevitable collapse of the empire. God not only put Ashurbanipal to death, but He also destroyed the Neo-Assyrian Empire, which paved the way for the Babylonians to begin their rise to supremacy in the region.

The announcement of the arrival of a herald with “good news” might normally be expected to come at the beginning of an oracle, but here in verse 15 the announcement of the herald is given at the end of Nahum’s first oracle, seemingly as a climax. The herald issues the declaration of good news for God’s people. The long, bitter experience of Assyrian tyranny is ending. God has sent a herald, an announcer, a preacher to proclaim it. The message of good news is proclaimed from “the mountains,” which serve as a platform from which the herald can deliver the message of good news far and wide throughout the land. Verse 15a literally says, “Behold, on the mountains, the feet of a herald who proclaims peace.” The image of the arrival of a herald proclaiming good news is also found in Isaiah 52:7: “How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of the herald, who proclaims peace, who brings news of good things, who proclaims salvation, who says to Zion, ‘Your God reigns!’” Also, quoting Nahum 1:15 and Isaiah 52:7, the apostle Paul in Romans 10:15 writes, “And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: How beautiful are the feet of those who announce the gospel of good things!”

The herald comes with the message of peace. Not only does this indicate the cessation of hostilities among humans, but also more importantly it affirms peace with God. God is at peace with His people, and now His people can be at peace with Him. When the people of God see and hear the good news coming from the herald, it is time for rejoicing. In fact, this is part of the herald’s message to the people. The people of God can “celebrate” their worship festivals before the Lord now that the stranglehold of their oppressor is being removed. J. J. M. Roberts comments:

Because of this good news, Judah is to celebrate her festivals in honor of Yahweh and fulfill the vows she made to him. The implication seems to be that Judah could not celebrate her festivals appropriately as long as she was under the thumb of Assyrian oppression. It is no accident that one of the more important acts of Josiah’s political and religious reform after Assyria’s loss of control in the west was the public celebration of the Passover festival (2 Kgs 23:21-25). (Nahum, 54)

After the discovery of the law of the Lord in the temple, the demise of Assyrian hegemony was an additional crucial factor in setting the stage for Josiah’s reforms in Judah. Nahum’s herald urges the celebration of the festivals of the Lord in order to fulfill vows and return to faithfulness to the Lord. God’s people had experienced the punishment they deserved for disobedience to the covenant of the Lord. Now they will rejoice because they have been saved from the power of Assyria.

What is the connection between Nahum’s good news and Christian good news? Nahum’s message of good news proclaims the salvation of God’s people from the oppression of a brutal enemy nation and the return to the Lord. Christian good news is the message that the same God is providing salvation from the brutal oppression of sin through the suffering and sacrifice of Christ our Savior on the cross. Nahum’s gospel and the Christian gospel are based on the same premise: God saves sinners. Nahum’s good news anticipated the ultimate good news of the Christian gospel. The Christian good news carries Nahum’s good news to its ultimate conclusion. When preachers proclaim the good news of the gospel, God’s people have occasion to rejoice in the good news that God saves sinners.

God’s ancient people would never again need to worry about Assyria oppressing them. “For the wicked one will never again march through you; he will be entirely wiped out” (v. 15b). The message of the herald not only contains the message of peace, but also the promise of security. This does not mean foreign armies will never again invade Judah, but the Assyrians will never again invade them.^[17]Christians have the assurance that we have been redeemed from sin never to be slaves to it again (Rom 6:6,14). The words of Nahum’s herald are ultimately fulfilled in the redemption of the Christian gospel, for the oppressor called sin will be entirely wiped out.

Reflect and Discuss

1. What do you think about the jealousy of God? How does God’s jealousy relate to the covenant with His people?
2. Is there any aspect of being jealous or zealous that is admirable in human beings?
3. How would you explain God’s vengeance to a fifth-grade Bible study class?
4. How has God’s patience worked out in your life? Have you ever experienced the displeasure of the Lord?
5. How do people presume on the patience of God?
6. How are the wrath of God and the righteous justice of God related? Have you seen examples of God’s judgment against people or nations? How does contemplating the wrath and justice of God help one to understand and appreciate the grace of God?
7. How does contemplating the sovereignty of God help one to understand the justice and grace of God?
8. How is it encouraging to see that God protected Judah by destroying her enemies? What enemies threaten Christians today?
9. How have you seen God’s protection when you faced physical or spiritual enemies?
10. Do you still remember the relief you felt when God freed you from slavery to sin? How can you keep that memory fresh?