As we continue our journey through the Trei Asar, I’d like to begin with a question.
Now that we have been through six of the twelve “minor” prophets, we have a pretty good sampling of what they are about. So here’s my question:
What do the prophets say are the things that invite God’s wrath?
I’m hoping that you have seen a pattern regarding the things that make God angry:
Oppression…hoarding…dishonest gain…abuse…idolatry…hypocrisy…indifference toward suffering.
These are some of the things that “arouse” HaShem from His habitation. And that is never a good thing!
We’ve also learned from the Trei Asar that the God of Israel does not only get angry at the Jewish people. He also gets angry with the nations when they are engaged in evil – because remember, as Paul even noted in Romans, God is not just the God of the Jews…but the God of the Gentiles also! (see Romans 3:29).
Well, we’re ready now for Nahum. And Nahum is not an easy book to read or discuss because it is essentially about God’s wrath from beginning to end. Sounds like fun, right? God’s wrath is certainly an uncomfortable topic. But it’s in the Bible, so we need to discuss it. But before we get into that, let’s get oriented a bit toward this navi (prophet). Who was Nahum? And what do we know about this book?
First, there is something unique about Nahum within Judaism that this book shares only with Sefer Zephaniah. Nahum and Zephaniah are the only books in the Tanach that we do not have any haftarah readings from. (The haftarah readings are excerpts from the prophets read weekly in synagogues along with the weekly Torah portion)
So I would say that Ovadiah competes with Nahum as the least well-known book of the Bible! But with Ovadiah, at least we read it as the haftarah for Parsha Vayishlach.
Since we don’t read Nahum as a haftarah, and since it’s not the most pleasant of books, most people don’t know much about it. But don’t underestimate its importance.
Verse 1 tells us this prophecy concerns Nineveh and comes from “Nahum of Elkosh.” We really aren’t sure where Elkosh was. There is an Elkosh in Iraq, near the former city of Nineveh, and a local tradition identifies a tomb there as the tomb of Nahum. Other opinions place Nahum in the land of Israel. But again, nothing is conclusive.
Now, like Yonah (Jonah), Nahum addresses his prophecy to the city of Nineveh, which was the capital of the ancient Assyrian Empire. Remember what happened with Yonah?
When Yonah preached his message of repentance, Nineveh did a massive teshuvah (repentance), and God spared them from the judgment He had ordained for the city. Well now, with Nahum, we are further down the road. A generation or two has gone by since the days of Yonah, and the people of Nineveh have gone back to their evil ways. And Nahum has a stark message: God’s wrath, vengeance, and the coming destruction of Nineveh. Just isten to some of the language in chapter 1:
“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….Who can stand before his indignation? Who can endure the heat of his anger?” (Nahum 1:2, 6)
Two things POP out of this text: God’s wrath and God’s vengeance.
So, is there a difference between God’s wrath and God’s vengeance?
My understanding is that anger and wrath describe God’s internal response or attitude toward evil, whereas vengeance is the ACTION taken by God in response to His wrath.
Put differently, vengeance could be described as the pouring out of God’s wrath. That said, anger, wrath, and vengeance are not all that’s here. Right in the middle of all this, Nahum 1:7 says:
“The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; he knows those who take refuge in him.”
Why would Nahum bring up God’s goodness right in the middle of his discussion of God’s wrath? The two concepts might seem unrelated. But are they?
The truth is, we serve a good God. He’s a really good God. And part of what makes Him good is that He hates evil and wickedness and things that bring destruction to individuals, families, and societies.
I am thankful to know that murder, rape, and oppression make God angry. A good God does something about these things. And that’s where His wrath and His vengeance are expressed. Now, I want to make two brief points about God’s vengeance. First, God does not delight in the destruction of the wicked
Ezekiel 18:23 says:
“Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord God, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live?”
I think another way of looking at this is that God’s heart breaks when a wicked person gets what’s coming to them. In other words, sometimes justice requires that evil people be stopped. But their destruction does not bring God pleasure. And if we want to be in tune with God’s heart, it shouldn’t bring us pleasure either.
Second, vengeance is best done by God Himself. Paul expresses this powerfully in Romans 12 when he says, “Never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God,” and then he adds: “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”
When we have been wronged, it’s very tempting to go beyond justice and seek to make another person suffer. God tells us to let Him handle it because He will handle it in the right way at the right time.
Now, there is one positive word in Nahum that I don’t want us to miss. In Nahum 2:2, we get the only mention of Israel in the entire book:
“For the Lord will restore the splendor of Jacob like the splendor of Israel, even though devastators have devastated them and destroyed their vine branches.” The “devastators” here are the Assyrians, who brought terrible destruction throughout Israel. And yet, right in the middle of this difficult book, Nahum speaks of Israel’s future restoration.
But Nineveh’s story is different.
The Assyrian generations that came after Jonah’s visit did not follow in the footsteps of the generation that repented through Jonah’s preaching. They returned to the wickedness that had characterized Nineveh before. And according to Nahum, God had had enough. The book ends with Nineveh’s wound described as “incurable.” There is something sobering here:
Faithfulness does not always pass from one generation to the next.
We certainly know that in our own generation. And I wonder if part of the problem sometimes involves how we talk, or don’t talk, about God’s wrath and vengeance to the next generation. But here’s the thing: There is a danger if we ignore the reality of God’s wrath and anger. But there is also a danger if we push it too much with nothing but hell, fire, and brimstone. Personally, I think Nahum offers a key for us.
The prophet pours on the wrath-of-God talk, but he also comes back to God’s goodness. And I think we should follow his example.
When we talk about God’s wrath and anger, with any generation, that conversation needs to be seasoned with talk about God’s goodness. God is angry at evil because He is good. And His desire is not ultimately destruction, but salvation. As Paul writes:
“For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Yeshua the Messiah.” (1 Thessalonians 5:9)
Nahum is not an easy book. But don’t underestimate its importance!
