The Annihilation of Nineveh
December 17, 2019
Commentary
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 attributes.
1. God’s avenging jealousy (v. 2) – Only the one who loves me becomes jealous. God loved Israel and Nineveh had destroyed the northern kingdom and threatened to do the same to Judah. He is jealous or protective of His people.
2. God’s amazing longsuffering (v. 3) – The Lord is slow to anger (Psalm 103:8) but this should never be interpreted as weakness (II Peter 3:9). God held off His judgment of Nineveh many years when Jonah preached and the people repented, turning to God. However, now she had returned to her wicked ways and God’s hand of judgment was restrained no longer.
3. God’s almighty power (vv.3-6) – God controls nature. The winds and clouds are subject to Him. Seas and rivers are dried up at His command. If He held back the seed and the rain the vineyards and forests would not produce. He also controls the earthquakes and volcanoes. Nineveh would soon be destroyed.
God is slow to anger, but when He is ready to punish, even the earth trembles (vv. 7-8). Because God is slow to anger, he gives his followers time to share His love and truth with evil doers.
Application
Because I have been blessed of God in the past does not mean that I can do anything I want to and still be blessed. In fact, God will judge my unconfessed sin now or later. I must be quick to keep my accounts with the Lord settled (I John 1:9).
Nahum 1:1– 8 (NET)
1 This is an oracle about Nineveh; the book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite:
2 The Lord is a zealous and avenging God; the Lord is avenging and very angry. The Lord takes vengeance against his foes; he sustains his rage against his enemies.
3 The Lord is slow to anger but great in power; the Lord will certainly not allow the wicked to go unpunished. He marches out in the whirlwind and the raging storm; dark storm clouds billow like dust under his feet.
4 He shouts a battle cry against the sea and makes it dry up; he makes all the rivers run dry. Bashan and Carmel wither; the blossom of Lebanon withers.
5 The mountains tremble before him, the hills convulse; the earth is laid waste before him, the world and all its inhabitants are laid waste.
6 No one can withstand his indignation! No one can resist his fierce anger! His wrath is poured out like volcanic fire, boulders are broken up as he approaches.
7 The Lord is good — indeed, he is a fortress in time of distress, and he protects those who seek refuge in him.
8 But with an overwhelming flood he will make a complete end of Nineveh; he will drive his enemies into darkness.
Illustration: The City That Dared God to Show Himself
In a book entitled Down to Earth, John Lawrence tells the story of a city that dared God to show Himself and paid a terrible price. It seems that the city of Messina, Sicily, was home to many wicked, irreligious people. On December 25, 1908, a newspaper published in Messina printed a parody against God, daring Him to make Himself known by sending an earthquake. Three days later, on December 28, the city and its surrounding district was devastated by a terrible quake that killed 84,000 people. (Today in the Word, October 1997, p. 25).