CHAPTER 1 Dec. 10 
Against Nineveh 
A divine word about Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite. 2Yahweh is a jealous God and avenges; Yahweh avenges and is full of wrath. Yahweh takes vengeance on His adversaries, and He maintains wrath against His enemies. 3Yahweh is slow to anger, and great in power, and will by no means leave the guilty unpunished. Yahweh has His way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of His feet. 4He rebukes the sea, and makes it dry, and dries up all the rivers. Bashan languishes, and Carmel; and the flower of Lebanon languishes. 5The mountains quake before Him, and the hills melt away. The earth trembles at His presence, yes, the world, and all who dwell in it. 6Who can stand before His indignation? Who can endure the fierceness of His anger? His wrath is poured out like fire, and the rocks are broken apart by Him. 7Yahweh is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; and He knows those who take refuge in Him. 8But with an overflowing flood He will make a full end of His adversaries, and will pursue His enemies into darkness. 9What do you plot against Yahweh? He will make a full end; affliction won’t rise up the second time. 10For while they are entangled in thorns, and intoxicated with their drink, they will be consumed utterly like dry stubble. 11There is one gone forth out of you, who devises evil against Yahweh, who counsels wickedness. 12Thus says Yahweh: Though they be in full strength, and likewise many, even so they will be cut down, and he shall pass away. Though I have afflicted you, I will afflict you no more. 13Now will I break his yoke from off you, and will burst your bonds apart. 14Yahweh has commanded concerning you: No more descendants will bear your name. Out of the house of your gods will I cut off the engraved image and the molten image. I will make your grave, for you are vile.  15Behold, on the mountains the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace! Keep your feasts, Judah! Perform your vows, for the wicked one will no more pass through you. He is utterly cut off.

Commentary

1:4 He rebukes- These verses are full of allusion to what God did at the Red Sea- but they are written in the present tense, as if God’s wonders are no less in our day too, even though they are expressed in a less visual way.
1:8 Pursue His enemies into darkness- The final day of judgment will feature the rejected being chased by Angels into darkness, where they will weep and bang their teeth in anger with themselves (Ps. 35:5,6; Job 18:18; Mt. 22:13).
1:15 The feet of him- This prophecy about Christ is quoted in Rom. 10:15 about our preaching, but with a subtle change of pronoun: “How beautiful are the feet of themthat preach”. We are the Lord Jesus to this world, because we are brethren in Him. This alone is a powerful imperative as to who we are, how we speak, the men and women we show ourselves to be. The Nahum passage is in the context of preaching to Israel the good news of their ultimate freedom from the Assyrian invasion which was then imminent. We are in a strikingly parallel situation in these last days, and should be making a special witness to Israel and the Jewish people.