06/07/2026
From The Desk of Pastor Tina:
Nahum, The Prophet
(Nahum 1/ 2:1 2a/7 & 8a/ 3: 5, 18 & 19)
Well, we know a bit more about Nahum than we do about Obadiah. Vs. 1 tells us that Nahum was a Elkosh*te which means he came from Elkosh, which is believed to be the region of upper Galilee region of today’s Israel. Some scholars believe it was the region between today’s Jerusalem & Gaza. Others suggest he comes from Capernaum whose name means “Village of Nahum”. One thing they agree on is that he comes from West Asia which encompasses modern Israel & palestinian territories. Nahum is believed to be written between 663 BC & 612 BC. It references the Assyrian attack of Thebes in past tense so this is where the time frame comes from. Nineveh was the Assyrian capital. Now where have we heard that name Nineveh before? Yes, Jonah. God sent Jonah to Ninevah & he hid on a ship (Well, he thought he could hide from God.) & went in the opposite direction. Jonah did not feel like the Ninevites deserved forgiveness & he didn’t want to preach to them to repent & be forgiven. Nahum is said to be the sequel to Jonah! Once Jonah returned to his senses, he went to Ninevah & preached the need for repentance to the people of Nineveh. Jonah 3:5-10 tells us that the whole city fasted, put on sackcloth, believed & repented of their sin. Now, the Ninevites lived for a time (about 150 yrs) serving God but its people eventually went back to their old sinful ways. They went back to idol worshipping. They returned to being vile & vicious people, leaving God behind. God has now sent Nahum to warn them against their sinful ways (Again!). May I add one more thing about Jonah?! Nineveh as I said is the capital of Assyria which was a fierce enemy against Israel & loved to see Israel suffer. Jonah wasn’t bad. He was rebellious & couldn’t figure out why God would want to save these awful people. It didn’t make sense to Jonah. Don’t we go against God sometimes when things don’t make sense to us or seem wrong & out of place?! I also don’t want to make light of the sins of Nineveh. They did horrendous things when they captured the Israelites. They would cut people’s heads off, skin them, mutilate their bodies, cut their tongues out, etc. Many times the Israelites were made to live in cages, without food if they were captured by the Ninevites & made examples out of. Ok, I believe you get the picture. (You may not read all this in scripture but look in
your history books too. You will see the Assyrians were a FEARED & HATED people! Jonah preached the need to repent & they repented & God spared judgement & destruction on them. God wants that NONE should perish! As new kings came…evil returned & they were out to destroy & torture Israel & other nations. Israel was attacked & destroyed by them. As I shared with Obadiah, God had enough! He sent Nahum with a divine message for Assyria, a warning to them, a message of judgement to come if they did not turn back to God. Some things in regard to God’s judgement with Assyria:
Judgement for one could bring comfort to another. The name Nahum means “comfort”. God used Nahum to bring hope & comfort to the Israelites. Also, to remind the people that God has the final say. He is in control. God has the final word. We should keep that in mind when we see things are unfair & it seems like evil is prevailing. God is still God & he makes final judgement & he is fair & just.
The warning sent by Nahum was directed to Assyria & the NInivites! Nahum’s message was in the form of an oracle. (An oracle means to be in the form of a medium of God, a vessel through which higher wisdom/power is delivered. Nahum was used by God to bridge the gap between humanity & divinity. It also meant that by God using someone in the form of an oracle, the one being used could not misinterpret God’s truth for the people. Nahum shared God’s truth; Nineveh will be destroyed. Here are 4 things from scripture that tell us Assyria/Nineveh will be destroyed: Nahum 2:13, their chariots will be burn away. You will devour your young. I will cut off your prey. ( He will cut you off financially. He will take away your power & leave you with nothing.) The voices of your messengers will be silenced, you will no longer be heard! God was making Assyria accountable!
The God of love is also the God of judgement. It is hard to wrap my mind around the fact that the God who loves us sooooo much & gave his Son as a sacrifice for our sins, is also a God who will not let your sin be unpunished. It is hard for us to understand that God will judge all people. Though God allows the devil to be on earth now, there will come a day when he is destroyed & ALL sin shall no longer be (read Revelation 20:10 & 1 John 3:8). God will punish those who chose evil against God’s goodness. Those who purposely mislead people from God will be
punished. Those who continue to sin with no regard to following God & having a relationship with him will not go unpunished. I believe God’s judgement on the evil one is an expression of His goodness on behalf of the victims of evil! You know God executes his judgement out of love for his people. We want judgement because of our anger & hate.
The God of salvation is the God of judgement. God continually sends the Holy Spirit to draw his people close to him & away from sin & the pulling of satan. He warns against sin & the enemy! He redirects us & guides us to righteousness but many people still choose to follow satan. You can say you don’t follow satan but if you're not following God, who are you following?! John 3:16, “God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, so that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” God wants us all to be with him in heaven one day! We must choose God. Nineveh/Assyria went back to choosing satan. They lived as they wanted. No longer giving any regard to God! Think about something: Do you really want God to ignore the sinful things you do? Do you never want to be accountable to God? Do you want to live as you please & never be Godly directed?
Someone said we can’t be grandfathered into our faith. It is something we come to (or should) on our own. We are all given the opportunity to come to Jesus. Jesus took on the sins of the world on the cross. He paid the price for all sin! But the day will come when we stand before Jesus, when he has had enough of satan & sin & we will stand before him! We, like Nineveh, can be destroyed if we do not turn to God. It sounds like God is being harsh but instead he is being just! He gave Nineveh ample warning or destruction was coming. Nahum 3:5, God tells Nahum to tell the Ninevites He is against them. Destruction is coming! In Nahum 2:2 tells of the restoration of Israel who has clung to God. Hold fast, cling tight, restoration is coming!!
