Nahum 1:1-14 An oracle of the Lord against His enemies. The Lord is a jealous and avenging God. He directs His wrath against those who refuse Him.
The Lord is slow to anger and of great power. He will not let the guilty go unpunished.
He causes droughts and earthquakes. Who can stand before His anger and wrath poured out like fire, rocks shatter before Him
The Lord is a refuge in times of trouble – He cares for those who trust Him
Why do you conspire against the Lord? He will make an end of you.
From you, Assyria, one has come forth, a wicked counsellor – plotting evil against the Lord.
Assyria; this is what the Lord has ordained for you. I will destroy you and your idols. Your grave is ready, for you are of no account. Isaiah 31:8-9
Nahum 1:12-15 The Lord says; Judah, though your punishment has been great, yet it will pass away and be gone. Your enemies are many, but they will be gone and the yoke laid on you will be lifted.
Look; here is the one who brings good news, who proclaims peace. Keep your festivals, Judah and fulfil your vows. No more will your enemies invade you, they are totally destroyed.
Nahum 2:1 The Lord will restore the pride of Israel, [all 12 tribes, plus those grafted in] though enemies have ravaged them. Reference: REB, NIV. Some verses abridged.
Nahum chapters 2 & 3 describes the enemies of the Lord, portrayed by Assyria, as it was destroyed in ancient times, but also what will happen in the future to those who reject the Lord and persecute His people.
Nahum: His name means “comfort, consolation”. He lived about 660 to 610BC, so, after the Assyrian conquest of the Northern tribes of Israel, but before the Babylonian conquest of Judah in 585BC. Capernaum literally means ‘the village of Nahum”.
Nahum shows God to be slow to anger, but One who by no means will clear the guilty and will bring His vengeance and retribution to pass. Ninevah was conquered by the Medes and Persians in 612BC as predicted so graphically by Nahum- squadrons of horses charging madly… troops dressed in scarlet…the palace topples down…slave girls moaning like doves….myriads of slain, heaps of corpses…all who hear of your fate clap hands, etc.
But, chapter one, particularly, must be future prophecy as well, as Paul quotes Nahum 1:15 in Romans 10:15. Nahum 1:11 says about a ‘wicked counsellor’ who comes from Assyria. This may refer to the Anti Christ, still to come.
Then in Nahum 1:12-13 specifically says that Judah is being punished, but soon their enemies will pass away. Today, the persecution of the Jews still continues – pogroms, the Holocaust, anti Semitism, etc. Therefore, this prophecy is yet to be completed. The final Judgement of Judah will happen at the same time as their enemies. Jeremiah 12:14
The Prophetic Word 