NAHUM
Jonah was sent to Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrian Empire, to give the people an opportunity to repent. But Nahum was called to announce that their judgment was imminent. The city fell to the Medes and Babylonians in 612 b.c. The prophet Zephaniah also prophesied the fall of Nineveh (Zeph. 2:13–14).
Nahum means “comfort,” and his message was certainly a comfort to the Jews who feared and hated the cruel Assyrians’ threats to their security. The book focuses on the holy character of God who cannot allow sin to go unpunished. In chapter 1, Nahum declares Nineveh’s fall; in chapter