The prophet Nahum wrote and preached around 660 to 630 BC. At Nahum 1:3, he famously wrote,
The Lord is slow to anger and great in power, and the Lord will by no means leave the guilty unpunished….
Of course, all can find forgiveness for sin in Jesus Christ. At 1 John 2:2, we read, “And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.” The Greek noun hilasmos is defined as, “the means of appeasing, a propitiation.”[1] Jesus Christ is the atonement for the sins of all people. Jesus Christ makes things right between God and people.
Because of Jesus’ sacrificial death on the cross, we can have fellowship with God. However, we do not have a license to sin and rebel. Peter wrote, “Act as free people, and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, but use it as bond-servants of God” (1 Peter 2:16). Additionally, the Apostle Paul wrote,
Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a person sows, this he will also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will reap destruction from the flesh…”
(Gal. 6:7-8)
The words of the prophet Nahum remain a warning for all of humanity. Yes, we can find forgiveness and fellowship through and with Christ Jesus, but there are consequences for sin and rebellion against God.
Discussing the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BC and the Jewish exile to Babylon, Ezra wrote:
And after everything that has come upon us for our evil deeds and our great guilt, since You our God have spared us by inflicting less than our wrongdoing deserves,…
(Ezra 9:13)
Thankfully, because of the grace and mercy of God, we often do not receive the full punishment that we deserve. At Psalm 103, King David wrote:
The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in mercy. He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor rewarded us according to our guilty deeds. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His mercy toward those who fear Him.
(Psalm 103: 8, 10-11)
Interestingly, the Assyrian Empire (911-609 BC) was the specific focus of Nahum’s prophecy. The Assyrian Empire destroyed the Northern Kingdom of Israel in 722 BC, and many Israelites were taken captive. The Assyrian Empire was a cruel oppressor of Judah. Nineveh was the most important city in the Assyrian Empire. Nahum called Nineveh, “the bloody city” (Nahum 3:1). At Nanum 1:2, Nahum writes, “…The Lord takes vengeance on His adversaries, and He reserves wrath for His enemies.” The wrath of God is a powerful Biblical Image of God’s righteous judgment and justice.
The Zondervan Illustrated Bible Background Commentary offers the following description of horrors that the Assyrians inflicted upon their conquered foes:
The inscriptions of Ashuranasirpal give the most frightful reports: “I captured many soldiers alive. The rest of them I burnt. I carried off valuable tribute from them. I built a pile of live (men and) heads before his gate. I erected on stakes 700 soldiers before their gate…. I burnt their adolescent boys and girls.[2]
The reader may recall that Jonah was sent to preach to the city of Nineveh, which is estimated to have occurred between 780-750 BC.[3] Though the people of Nineveh, “from the greatest to the least of them” (Jonah 3:5) were responsive to the preaching of Jonah and repented, they returned to their evil ways. In 612 BC, the Babylonians destroyed Nineveh, and Nineveh’s ruins were not discovered until the 1800s in present-day Iraq along the banks of the Tigres River.[4] At Nahum 3:19, we read the following about Nineveh, “There is no relief for your collapse, your wound is incurable…. For upon whom has your evil not come continually?”
Whether believer or unbeliever, there will be negative consequences for sin and rebellion against God. At 1 Peter 1:14-15, we read:
As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior.
[1] “G2434 – hilasmos – Strong’s Greek Lexicon (nasb20).” Blue Letter Bible. Web. 14 Jul, 2025. <https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g2434/nasb20/mgnt/0-1/>.
[2] “Nahum.” Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary: Volume 5. Gen. Editor, John Walton, Zondervan Academic, 2002, p. 159.
[3] “When did Jonah preach to Nineveh” prompt. ChatGPT, GPT-4, Open AI, 14 July 2025, chat.openai.com/chat.
[4] “When was Nineveh destroyed and when were its remains discovered” prompt. ChatGPT, GPT-4, Open AI, 14 July 2025, chat.openai.com/chat.
