Find the book of Nahum with me, a small book with a massive view of God.
You won’t wake up one day to find Nahum trending on social media. If the Bible were a playlist, Nahum would be the song you’d skip every time. It’s the book we totally ignore. But we shouldn’t ignore it.
Here’s why you should pay attention to Nahum. Nahum tells us about a God who reigns, and He will have the final word against evil.
Today’s Scripture
“1 An oracle concerning Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum of Elkosh.
2 The LORD is a jealous and avenging God;
the LORD is avenging and wrathful;
the LORD takes vengeance on his adversaries
and keeps wrath for his enemies.
3 The LORD is slow to anger and great in power,
and the LORD will by no means clear the guilty.
His way is in whirlwind and storm,
and the clouds are the dust of his feet.
7 The LORD is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; he knows those who take refuge in him. 8 But with an overflowing flood he will make a complete end of the adversaries, and will pursue his enemies into darkness” (Nahum 1:1-3, 7-8).
When evil looks loud and God feels quiet, Nahum answers three questions:
Sermon Preview
1. What Does God Know?
2. What Does God Feel?
3. What Will God Do?
Nahum is unique in that it is the only book in your Bible that is devoted to the destruction of a single city.
1. What Does God Know?
1.1 Courtroom Scene
A small-town attorney called his first witness—an elderly woman known as the local gossip. He approached her and said, “Mrs. Jones, do you know me?” She said, “Why yes, I know you, Mr. Williams. I’ve known you since you were a young boy.” He smiled until she said, “…and frankly, you’ve been a big disappointment to me. You lie, you cheat on your wife, you manipulate people, you talk about them behind their backs, you charge far too much money, and you don’t have the brains to realize you're never going to amount to anything more than a two-bit paper pusher. Yes, I know you.”
Well, this lawyer was stunned. Flabbergasted and not knowing what else to do, he pointed across the room and said, “Mrs. Jones, do you know the defense attorney?” She said, “Why yes, I do. In fact, I used to babysit for Mr. Bradley’s parents. He has also been a tremendous disappointment to me. He’s lazy, he has a drinking problem, he cheated his way through law school, and he’s one of the most crooked lawyers in this state.”
The judge slammed his gavel. “Silence! Both of you, to the bench,” he said. Then, leaning forward, he warned, “If either of you asks her if she knows me, I’ll hold you in contempt.”
It’s 2,600 years ago, we ask more seriously, “What does God know?”
1.2 An Oracle
“An oracle concerning Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum of Elkosh” (Nahum 1:1).
God gives an “oracle” to Nahum about a city named Nineveh. Instead, an “oracle” is a weighty word from God given to someone God trusts, His prophet. Nahum’s name comes from a root word that means “to comfort.” He comforts God’s people by confronting their oppressor.3
1.3 The Darkness of Nineveh
If we know next to nothing about the prophet, we know a lot about the city of Nineveh. Nineveh, which lies across from modern-day Mosul, Iraq, was the last capital of Assyria before the empire fell. The city’s name struck fear in the hearts of its enemies. Its people were perverse, sadistic, and evil. Assyrian kings didn’t hide their brutality — they advertised it. One inscription you can find in the British Museum today describes the kings of Assyria flaying their enemies’ skins and draping these skins over a pile of human bodies.2 The cruelty was intended to communicate: “This is what happens when you resist Assyria.” Terrorism was Nineveh’s policy.
1.4 Jonah and Nineveh
Keep in mind that this isn’t the only book of the Bible that deals with this ancient evil city. The prophet Jonah refused to share God’s message of mercy and grace to the people of Nineveh. Around 150 years before Nahum, Jonah didn’t want the people of this great city forgiven; he wanted them destroyed. Did God change His mind from Jonah’s day to Nahum’s? Jonah’s message: grace for Nineveh if they repent. Nahum’s message: judgment on Nineveh for refusing to. If cruelty had a hall of fame, then Nineveh would be first ballot.
1.5 Assyria Went Too Far
Now, the prophet Isaiah tells us that Assyria went beyond God’s instruction to discipline His children, and they sought to destroy Israel (Isaiah 10:5-11).
Because of this, Nahum tells us that when God is finished judging His own people through the Assyrians, He will now turn to judge the Assyrians themselves.
1.6 Is God Watching?
While Nineveh is racking up bodies and running roughshod over God’s people, you couldn’t blame people for wondering, “Is God still on His throne? Is He watching all this?” For this reason, God must remind us of this vital truth: “The LORD is slow to anger and great in power, and the LORD will by no means clear the guilty” (Nahum 1:3a).
The good news is God often slows down His wrath as He waits for our turnaround. Nineveh had tested the very limits of God’s patience. Remember, God communicates this vision to Nahum of impending destruction after first sending Jonah, 150 years before, with a message to change their ways. God slows down His wrath as He waits for our turnaround.
1.7 Nineveh Falls!
When Nineveh fell in 612 BC, it was the headline of a generation. Your grandparents know precisely where they were when Kennedy was shot on November 22, 1963. And Nahum’s children knew exactly where they were when they learned the awful city of Nineveh fell in 612 BC.
God in His Goodness and in His Time Makes All Things Right.
1. What Does God Know?
2. What Does God Feel?
2.1 Nahum’s Message
Note carefully that a version of the word “avenging” is used 3 times in verses 2, once as an adjective and twice as a verb: “The LORD is a jealous and avenging God; the LORD is avenging and wrathful; the LORD takes vengeance on his adversaries and keeps wrath for his enemies” (Nahum 1:2).
The word translated as “wrathful” in verse 2 can refer to heat, or God’s inner fire, if you will. Nahum takes us inside the emotional boiler room of God to know what makes Him tick, if you will.
Most of our culture CANNOT reconcile a God who is jealous and is wrathful with a God who is also good and loving.
Here’s where you come in, future pastors and missionaries.
Pastors, we must take great care in our day and age to communicate carefully and precisely what it means that our God is a jealous God.
A generation of Americans was led astray by the media mogul Oprah, all because she misunderstood God’s jealousy.
The name isn’t as popular as it once was, but Oprah Winfrey was at one time a household name. Oprah explains in her own words: “I happened to be sitting in church in my late twenties. I was going to a church where you had to get there at 8 o’clock in the morning or you couldn’t get a seat … a very charismatic minister where everybody is into the sermon. This great minister was preaching on how great God was and how omniscient and omnipresent and God is everything and then he said, ‘the Lord thy God is a jealous God.’ I was caught up in the rapture of that moment until he said ‘jealous,’ and something struck me. I was like 27 or 28 and I’m thinking, ‘God is all. God is omnipresent. And God is also jealous?’ God is jealous of me? And something about that didn’t feel right in my spirit….” Yes, you must be careful when teaching and preaching on what it means for God to be a jealous God.4 It’s so easy for people to misunderstand this.
Have you considered how God’s wrath is entirely consistent with His goodness? If you haven’t, then consider this.
2.2 God in Greek Mythology
In Greek mythology, the god Apollo once mocked Cupid. In retaliation, Cupid shot Apollo with an arrow to make him fall in love with Daphne. He then shot Daphne with an arrow that made her reject Apollo’s love. Apollo chased her endlessly, and in desperation, she begged her father for help. He answered by turning her into a laurel tree. In the end, Daphne lost her freedom, not because of anything she had done, but because the gods were petty and capricious.5
2.3 Can You Imagine Praying to This Kind of God?
How would you like to pray to this god to answer your desperate prayers each day? Prayer would be a gamble each and every time. If you were single and you were praying for love and marriage, this kind of mercurial god might give you Hannibal Lecter or Jeffrey Epstein for a boyfriend! Can you imagine entrusting your most desperate prayers to a god like this? God isn’t anything like this. Nahum startles us because God devotes one whole book to the destruction of a single terrible city.6 But, it’s not so much about an ancient city, but to show us how God acts whenever He sees such wickedness on the earth.
2.4 God’s Jealousy
Notice verse 2 says God is jealous, while verse 7 says God is good. These characteristics aren’t enemies, but friends. Many stumble here.
We hear jealous and think petty insecurity; we hear wrath and picture a temper tantrum. God’s jealousy is not a mood swing but a moral stance. God’s jealousy isn’t impulsive; it’s intentional. When you think of God’s jealousy, think of God’s protection. God zealously protects His people. The God of Nahum is the God of Calvary—where wrath and refuge meet.
2.4.1 Injustice
First, as in Nahum, He protects His children from injustice.
God doesn’t just notice injustice; He feels it.
Verse 2 says injustice moves Him.
You can also expect God to act decisively against the enemies of His people:
God’s jealousy is His principled reaction to all injustice. I say principled to highlight the Bible shows us explicitly what triggers God’s jealousy and how to avoid it. This is good news. You do not want a God who is indifferent to injustice, exploitation, or abuse. You want a God whose goodness is not morally neutral.
How good would a police officer be if he sees a crime and does nothing?
How good would a fireman be if he sees a fire and doesn’t put it out?
What kind of God would God be if He were not just?
If you’ve ever wept over injustice or longed for someone to answer for evil, then you’ve touched the edge of divine jealousy.
2.4.2 Idolatry
Second, you can expect God’s zealous jealousy to show up when His people worship a false god.
“You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God…” (Exodus 20:5a).
God is not jealous like an insecure employer who fears that his employees might get lured away by a better salary elsewhere. God knows there are no better options for His people than Himself. We, the people of God, are His wife, and He wants the best for us. He demands an exclusive relationship with us because He is our best. God isn’t jealous OF you; He’s jealous FOR you. He wants the very best for His children.
Again, God in His Goodness and in His Time Makes All Things Right.
1. What Does God See?
2. What Does God Feel?
3. What Will God Do?
“The LORD is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; he knows those who take refuge in him. 8 But with an overflowing flood he will make a complete end of the adversaries, and will pursue his enemies into darkness” (Nahum 1:7-8).
3.1 Spurgeon and Luther
Behold the beauty of verse 7 with me. Pause and marinate on the goodness of God on a busy day. Spurgeon says verse 7 pictures a green island of comfort amidst a raging river that threatens to take out everything in its path.7 Martin Luther loved verse 7, saying this verse was “an outstanding statement, overflowing with consolation.”8
If Luther loved verse 7 and Spurgeon found consolation in verse 7, you have good reason to do so as well.
Let me plead with you: There is a great God of glory and power and generosity behind all this awesome universe; you belong to Him! He is patient with you in sustaining your rebellious life; turn and bank your hope on Him and delight yourself in Him.
3.2 God is Doing Two Great Things
Verses 7 and 8 tell us God is doing two great things. He is protecting His people, and He is judging His enemies.
First, the Bible says, “he knows those who take refuge in him” (Nahum 1:7b). Look at how He protects us.
3.3 The Day of Trouble
Please take note that the Bible says our God is a stronghold in the day of trouble. It’s a day of trouble, and only one day. It’s not a week of trouble. Nor is it a month of trouble. It’s only a day of trouble.9
Sooner or later, we all have that day, don’t we? The Bible says every single one who desires to live a godly life will be persecuted. When that day comes for all of us, remember God says it is only “day of trouble.”
3.4 Stronghold
And when that day comes for you, you can know that our God is a stronghold. Our God is a fortress and a castle in the day of trouble.
“God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way,
though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,
3 though its waters roar and foam,
though the mountains tremble at its swelling” (Psalm 46:1-3).
Again and again, the Lord protects His own! You’re greatest stronghold and refuge today is the cross of Jesus. Here is where you’ll find protection from the wrath of God! Here is where you’ll find the mercy of God!
3.5 God’s Power
I love how Nahum describes God’s great power. Never fret, for God has an abundant ability to protect you, my friend in Christ.
Look at how Nahum points to God’s abundant power at the end of verse: “His way is in whirlwind and storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet. He rebukes the sea and makes it dry; he dries up all the rivers” (Nahum 1:3b-4a).
Nahum mentions God’s might in terms of His ability to control nature itself.
“The mountains quake before him; the hills melt; the earth heaves before him, the world and all who dwell in it” (Nahum 1:5).
Robert Wells wrote a book entitled, Is a Blue Whale the Biggest Thing There Is? It is a children's book to help little ones see just how big the universe really is.
The largest animal on earth is the blue whale. Just the flippers on its tail are bigger than most animals on earth. But a blue whale isn’t anywhere near as big as a mountain. If you could put one hundred blue whales inside a huge jar, you could put millions of those whale jars inside a hollowed-out Mount Everest. But Mount Everest isn't anywhere near as big as the Earth. If you stack one hundred Mount Everests on top of one another, it would be just a whisker on the face of the earth. The Earth isn’t anywhere near as big as the Sun. You could fit one million Earths inside the sun. But the sun isn’t anywhere near as big as the Milky Way galaxy. Billions of stars make up the Milky Way galaxy. And there are billions of other galaxies in the universe. This is the vast expanse of God’s control. God has plenty of power to care for His own and rout His enemies.
3.6 Make an End of His Enemies
Yes, Almighty God brings His infinite power to protect His own, and to judge His enemies: “But with an overflowing flood he will make a complete end of the adversaries, and will pursue his enemies into darkness” (Nahum 1:8).
God uses a flood, nature, to end His enemies. Greek historians tell us that it was rain that flooded the Tigris and other rivers, apparently washing away a portion of the walls, leaving a breach for the armies to enter the city of Nineveh.10 Promise made, promise kept.
You can draw a direct line from verse 8 to the end of verse 8: “…the LORD is avenging and wrathful; the LORD takes vengeance on his adversaries and keeps wrath for his enemies” (Nahum 1:2b). His wrath is a deliberate and intentional strategy on His part to intensely oppose everything that is evil. When God finally shows His wrath, He has NOT lost His temper. Instead, the slow, long fuse of His patience has finally given way to the venting of His anger.
3.7 Repent
All these later, here and you are.
A lot has changed.
Nineveh is an archaeological site, Nahum is with the Lord, and the empire that once terrified the world is now long gone. But the same God still reigns! Even now, He is slow to anger, great in power, and good to all who take refuge in Him.
Again, God in His Goodness and in His Time Makes All Things Right.
3.8 American Airlines Flight 5342
It was the deadliest American plane crash in decades. 64 people were on board American Airlines Flight 5342, and another 3 soldiers were on the US Army Blackhawk when the two collided on January 29, 2025, in a mid-air collision over the Potomac River. American Airlines Flight 5342 was just your typical midweek regional flight. Many of you have been on dozens of these kinds of flights.
A mother and father with their two cats traveled to see their daughter, who was away in college. A flight attendant switched careers in the middle of her life in order to see the world. Most of the 64 people on board had never met one another. There are young ice skaters, lawyers, and duck hunters aboard. There are parents, singles, and teenagers. Liz wanted to catch an earlier flight, but her work meetings ran long. She was the valedictorian of her class and graduated from Georgetown Law School. She had been texting with her mother throughout the day and was looking forward to returning home to DC for her 33rd birthday. When she was supposed to land, her mother texted the word “Landed” with a question mark at 9:07 pm when she didn’t hear from her daughter.11
After the crash, they each stand before God stripped of credit cards, offshore bank accounts, the latest clothes, their how-to-succeed books, and their Marriott reservations. Here they all are – the duck hunter, the corporate lawyer, the flight attendant, and a community college professor – all are now on ground level with nothing in their hands. They only possess what they brought with them in their hearts.12
God’s wrath and His mercy met most powerfully at Calvary, where Jesus Christ drank from the cup of God’s wrath so that sinners like me might drink from the cup of God’s mercy. Jesus Christ, the sinless one, took the punishment we all deserve. Repent, and believe on Him for eternal life.
3.9 Closing Prayer
Father,
Thank you for your incredible patience, goodness, and even your jealousy and wrath. Conform us to the image of your Son. Make our character like your holy character.
We trust in the actions of your Son on the cross completely. We don’t trust in our good works We believe He died for us, was buried for us, and rose again for us. Thank you for showing us the way and providing us the way. Your Son is the only way.
EndNotes
1 Kenneth L. Barker, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1999), 142.
2 Daniel C. Timmer, A Gracious and Compassionate God: Mission, Salvation and Spirituality in the Book of Jonah, New Studies in Biblical Theology, vol 26, ed D. A. Carson (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2011), 64.
3 E. Gerstenberger, “ ????? ?emâ excitement,” Theological Lexicon of the Old Testament, ed. Jenni, Ernst, and Claus Westermann (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1997), 435.
4. https://96tolife.blogspot.com/2013/08/oprah-winfrey-jealous-god.html; accessed October 19, 2025.
5 Ovid: Metamorphoses, translated by A.D. Melville (Oxford World’s Classics, Oxford University Press, 2008), Lines 128–158.
6 O. Palmer Robertson, The Books of Nahum, Habakkuk and Zephaniah The New International Commentary on the Old Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1990), 56.
7 C. H. Spurgeon, “The Stronghold,” The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons. (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1898), 61.
8 Martin Luther, Luther’s Works, vol. 18, Lectures on the Minor Prophets: I, ed. Hilton C. Oswald (Saint Louis: Concordia, 1975), 288.; as quoted in James Montgomery Boice, The Minor Prophets: An Expositional Commentary, vol 2 (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2002), 374.
9 C. H. Spurgeon, “The Stronghold,” The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons. (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1898), 66.
0 Boice, 376-377.
1 https://nypost.com/2025/01/31/us-news/attorney-who-caught-early-flight-to-celebrate-her-birthday-with-long-term-boyfriend-among-dead-in-dc-plane-crash/; accessed October 23, 2025.
12 This illustration was taken from John Piper. http://www.desiringgod.org/sermons/money-currency-for-christian-hedonism; accessed June 8, 2014.
