Nahum
The Capture of Nineveh And It’s Destruction
At the time of Nahum’s prophecy, Assyria was at the height of its power. Sennacherib had done much to increase the strength and magnificence of Nineveh, its capital, by building great temples, palaces, and fortifications. Nineveh was confident that it could not be overtaken but Nahum …
The Ninevites Lose Everything
Nineveh fell in 612. B.C. to a combined force of Babylonians, Medes, and Scythians who pillaged the city of its vast treasures and then burned it to the ground. Once the dam blocking the Tigris River was released, there was nothing the Ninevites could do to stop the destruction and loss. They …
Nahum Predicts Nineveh’s Destructon
Nahum now predicts the actual way Nineveh would meet its complete destruction (vv. 9-13). There would not be a second chance for the wicked city, which had experienced warning and mercy before. While a drinking party was in process in the place a flood of the Tigris River washed out …
Woe to Nineveh
Today’s scripture passage has been called a “woe oracle†because it announces the doom of Nineveh in typical woe oracle fashion (see Isa. 5:18-23; Amos 5:18-20; 6:1-7; Micah 2:1-4). “Woe†can also be used to express grief, but that is not the case in this passage. No one was going to miss …
The Annihilation of Nineveh
Nineveh had repented under Jonah’s preaching (Jonah 3:10). Nearly 150 years later she had returned to her wicked ways. The Holy Spirit gives a vision of this great city’s impending judgment to Nahum (v. 1). The annihilation of Nineveh is seen against the background of God’s divine …
Nineveh’s Comeuppance
The prophet declares that Nineveh’s fate is as certain at that of the Egyptian city of Thebes, which Assyria had conquered in 663 B.C. Both cities depended on their rivers: Thebes had the Nile, and Nineveh had the Tigris. Unlike Nineveh, Thebes had many allies: (1) Cush refers to Southern …
Conclusion
For the last time, Nahum gives his advice to the Ninevites. Make sure you have enough water! Strengthen the defenses! Make more bricks! (v. 14). All their preparations, however, would be in vain. They would be devoured by fire and cut by the sword (v. 15a). Nahum next uses locusts to …