Nahum 1:1,2 - Concerning Nineveh

1:1

“A prophecy concerning Nineveh”. All the direct stuff in the prophecy is directed at Assyria and its capital Nineveh, and that is no doubt one of the reasons why Nahum is so little preached on. This verse is also where we get the sum total of our information on who Nahum was, he was an Elkoshite.

The current NIV describes the message as a prophecy, the older NIV versions have “oracle”, as does the ESV. The word “oracle” is usually reserved for prophecies concerning non-Israelite nations. “Gods” in those days tended to be restricted to either certain peoples or certain geographical areas. The Lord is Lord of all the earth. There is a lot of nonsense talked about how the Old Testament borrows from other religions, often implying it is little more than a copy. Such talk is sheer nonsense. There is an excellent book, The Bible Among the Myths, that very clearly demonstrates the absolute uniqueness of the Bible, in particular its worldview.

As well as clearly referring directly to Assyria and Nineveh, there are general lessons to be learnt. The prophecy is referred to as a book, the only prophecy to be so called. This has led to speculation that it circulated as an underground pamphlet during Assyrian persecution, though that is perhaps being a little fanciful.

1:2

The prophecy comes from God, or as 2 Pet 1:21 tells us, all prophecy came from the mind of God, albeit through human agency. So the character of God is the most important aspect to consider. Here we are given two key characteristics of God, He is a jealous God, and an avenging God. Jealous for whom? Jealous for His people Israel. In understanding the world, and our own lives, we need to appreciate the depths of God’s love for Israel, and for all of us who are His people. And He will avenge Himself on those who abuse His people. It is of course vital that we remember that “vengeance belongs to the Lord” (Rom 12:19). We need to remember this for two reasons. First, we must not take it upon ourselves to execute vengeance, we have no authority to do that. Secondly, we need to appreciate that God will one day execute vengeance. The Lord is a God who judges.

This verse makes it abundantly clear that God executes vengeance, pouring out His wrath. In the modern world we seem to have an enormous problem with the concept of God’s wrath. This is chiefly because we do not want to face up to the reality of sin and its consequences. I will repeat something I have said elsewhere on God’s wrath. There are two key aspects of wrath: (i) it is a passionate hatred of sin, and of what sin does to us, and what our sin does to other people; (ii) God’s wrath is perfectly rational and just. The second of these aspects is very important, for we tend to associate wrath with an irrational, uncontrolled anger. This is not the case with God’s wrath, it is perfectly rational and just, but there is also passion. It is not a dispassionate justice, there is more to it than that.