Delve Into The ProphetsSample

DAY 12 – NAHUM

In 612 BC the Assyrian Empire was nearing collapse. Its capital of Nineveh was about to fall to a combined invasion of Babylonian, Medean, and Scythian forces. The people this empire had cruelly oppressed felt little pity for it. In their view, the Assyrians were simply getting a long-overdue taste of their own medicine. The prophet Nahum put these feelings into words on behalf of the people of Judah. He situated the destruction of Nineveh within the larger context of God’s rule over all the kingdoms of the earth. Isaiah had warned that God would judge the Assyrians, even though he’d used them as instruments of his purposes, because they’d been excessively destructive and proud. In the same way, Nahum says that Assyria will fall because of its “endless cruelty.” God is “slow to anger but great in power” and “will not leave the guilty unpunished.” 

There are five oracles in the book of Nahum. The first describes God’s character and power, announcing that it’s God’s purpose to judge Assyria. The second oracle alternately speaks words of doom to Nineveh and comfort to Judah. The third oracle offers a vivid description of how the defense of the Assyrian capital will prove futile and how the city will be plundered. A fourth oracle concentrates on the reasons for God’s judgment. The fifth and last oracle warns the people of Nineveh not to feel secure behind their city’s defenses, but rather to remember how their own army had once captured the seemingly impregnable Egyptian city of Thebes. The need for this comparison shows that even to the very end, the Assyrians persisted in the arrogance for which they were finally judged.

PRAYER: Lord, You are good. Thank You for being my refuge in times of trouble.