Is God Still Good When He Judges? (Nahum 1-3)

A Few Thoughts to Consider

If you were to edit Scripture, are there any parts you’d want to delete?

Ask the casual reader of the Old Testament, and they might well pick the book of Nahum as an example. James Bruckner writes, “Reading it aloud takes only about eight minutes, yet it is perhaps the least read book in the Old Testament. Many readers do not immediately identify with the subject matter, and it may be difficult to understand for those who have not been victims of a strong and devastating oppressor.”^[1]

Nahum, whose name means “to comfort,” was a minor prophet in the Old Testament, traditionally believed to have lived in the 7th century BCE. “The historical setting of most of the book of Nahum is dated to the second half of the seventh century by the majority of scholars.”^[2] Nahum’s vision addresses not only the cruel oppressor, Nineveh, but also provides insight into Yahweh’s compassion amidst the oracle of destruction. The text highlights Nineveh's atrocities, including the enslavement of tens of thousands, idol worship, and the building of temples filled with plundered wealth.

“Nineveh was the capital city of the Assyrian Empire from 701 B.C. until its destruction in 612 B.C. by the Babylonians.”^[3] Unfortunately, their scorched earth policy led to environmental disasters, and its wealth, obtained through relentless plundering, was described as endless. The Ninevites were depicted as self-satisfied oppressors who preyed on their victims, likened to lions devouring their prey.

Nineveh is called a “city of blood,” enslaving and corrupting whole cultures, reducing societies to serve its national power through prostitution and witchcraft.^[4] Nahum 2:11-12 describes them this way: ¹¹ “Where is the lions’ lair, or the feeding ground of the young lions, where the lion and lioness prowled, and the lion’s cub, with nothing to frighten them away? ¹² The lion mauled whatever its cubs needed and strangled prey for its lionesses. It filled up its dens with the kill, and its lairs with mauled prey.” Thus, in Nahum 1:7-8, we get this odd juxtaposition.

⁷ The Lord is good,
a stronghold in a day of distress;
he cares for those who take refuge in him.
⁸ But he will completely destroy Nineveh
with an overwhelming flood,
and he will chase his enemies into darkness.

God is a refuge, but he is also a destroyer. While to some, this makes little sense, to those who are suffering under brutal killings, rape, and torture, it’s the best news they could ever receive. As Bruckner writes, “Nahum is primarily a book of hope and comfort to those who are being or have been victimized or oppressed. It is a book for survivors, for those who want to find hope beyond their oppression.”^[5] It “provides hope to believers who live in the midst of unmitigated cruelty.”^[6] As Thomas Renz clarifies, “Nahum does not present a call to arms—there is no need for Judah to take matters into their own hands—but a challenge to trust in the superiority and sovereignty of YHWH.”^[7]

This is the beauty of Scripture. The Bible is not just a book for those living in prosperous times with relatively decent people around them. It’s a raw and sometimes violent narrative that reveals a God who is unbelievably wonderful when times are good and unspeakably dependable when times are bad.