Background Information

Who was Nahum?

The name “Nahum” means “Comfort” or “Consolation.” A native of Elkosh, little is known about the prophet himself. A brief introduction in 1: 1 is the only time in Scripture that either the prophet or the city Elkosh appears. Nahum 1:1 1 This message concerning Nineveh came as a vision to Nahum, who lived in Elkosh. Nahum is a shortened form of the name Nehemiah. The city of Capernaum is named after Nahum. The Jews call the city “Kepher-Nahum,” or “The City of Nahum.”

Where was Nineveh?

Who were the Ninevites? And what does their reputation tell us about them?

What is the message of Nahum?

This is what Jonah couldn't stomach, and what we struggle with- we rejoice in the teaching of Jesus that sinners can repent- but we only like little sinners to repent, like us- but when the big sinners repent, we kind of feel cheated—we feel like they needed to be punished.

Nahum 1:1-10 (MSG) The L ORD ’s Anger against Nineveh 2 The L ORD is a jealous God, filled with vengeance and rage. He takes revenge on all who oppose him and continues to rage against his enemies! 3 The L ORD is slow to get angry, but his power is great, and he never lets the guilty go unpunished. He displays his power in the whirlwind and the storm. The billowing clouds are the dust beneath his feet.

4 At his command the oceans dry up, and the rivers disappear. The lush pastures of Bashan and Carmel fade, and the green forests of Lebanon wither. 5 In his presence the mountains quake, and the hills melt away; the earth trembles, and its people are destroyed. 6 Who can stand before his fierce anger? Who can survive his burning fury? His rage blazes forth like fire, and the mountains crumble to dust in his presence.

7 The L ORD is good, a strong refuge when trouble comes. He is close to those who trust in him. 8 But he will sweep away his enemies in an overwhelming flood. He will pursue his foes into the darkness of night.

Looking at Verses 2-8, what attributes of God do you see?

Let’s take a look at the scripture.

Nahum 1:2 1:2 starts by saying “A jealous and avenging God is the Lord; the Lord is avenging and wrathful.”

1 Peter 2:9-10 (MSG) 9-10 But you are the ones chosen by God, chosen for the high calling of priestly work, chosen to be a holy people, God’s instruments to do his work and speak out for him, to tell others of the night-and-day difference he made for you—from nothing to something, from rejected to accepted.

Nahum 1:3 3 The L ORD is slow to get angry, but his power is great, and he never lets the guilty go unpunished.

Nahum 1:3b-6 1:3b-6 – speaks of God’s power especially as it relates to His creation. Storms: Tornadoes and hurricanes are the wake of his passage, Storm clouds are the dust he shakes off his feet. (MSG) Drought: He yells at the sea: It dries up. All the rivers run dry. The Bashan and Carmel mountains shrivel, the Lebanon orchards shrivel. (MSG)

Earthquakes and mudslides: Mountains quake in their roots, hills dissolve into mud flats. Earth shakes in fear of G OD. (MSG)

Does God’s anger cause natural disasters?

The Record of God: He is not in every storm (He allows them -in that he doesn’t stop them from happening). Ecclesiastes 9:11--Sooner or later bad luck hits us all.

b. He is in some storms (He causes some). Psalm 105:16 (NIV) 16 He called down famine on the land and destroyed all their supplies of food;

Deuteronomy 32:20, (NIV) 20 “I will hide my face from them,” he said, “and see what their end will be; for they are a perverse generation, children who are unfaithful. 23 “I will heap calamities on them and spend my arrows against them. 24 I will send wasting famine against them, consuming pestilence and deadly plague; I will send against them the fangs of wild beasts, the venom of vipers that glide in the dust.

2 Samuel 24:13 (VOICE) Gad: I am supposed to tell you this: “The Eternal says, ‘I will offer you three choices. Pick one, and that will be what I will do to you.’” Do you want to have seven years of famine in the land? Would you rather be on the run from your enemies for three months? Or shall a plague rage for three days through the land? Make a choice, and tell me what answer to give to the One who sent me.

Amos 4:6-13 (MSG) 6 “You know, don’t you, that I’m the One who emptied your pantries and cleaned out your cupboards, Who left you hungry and standing in bread lines? But you never got hungry for me. You continued to ignore me…” 7-8 “Yes, and I’m the One who stopped the rains three months short of harvest… People would stagger from village to village crazed for water and never quenching their thirst. But you never got thirsty for me. You ignored me…” 9 “I hit your crops with disease and withered your orchards and gardens. Locusts devoured your olive and fig trees, but you continued to ignore me…” 10 “I revisited you with the old Egyptian plagues, killed your choice young men and prize horses. The stink of rot in your camps was so strong that you held your noses—But you didn’t notice me. You continued to ignore me…” 11 “I hit you with earthquake and fire, left you devastated like Sodom and Gomorrah… But you never looked my way. You continued to ignore me…” 12 “All this I have done to you, Israel, and this is why I have done it. Time’s up, O Israel! Prepare to meet your God!” 13 Look who’s here: Mountain-Shaper! Wind-Maker!...His name is G OD, God-of-the- Angel-Armies.

Nahum 1:7-8 7 The L ORD is good, a strong refuge when trouble comes. He is close to those who trust in him. 8 But he will sweep away his enemies in an overwhelming flood. He will pursue his foes into the darkness of night.

References If God Is Against Us W. Maynard Pittendreigh Natural Disasters & The God of the Bible -- Paul Wallace The Minor Prophets -- James Montgomery Boice Understanding God's Judgment – Rick Ezell