Nahum is telling the people in Nineveh that God will punish them. They are enemies of Israel and Judah. And they have hurt God’s people and people from other countries too. Now God is going to punish them for all the wrong things that they have done. Until now, he has been very patient. He is very angry with the people in Nineveh.
God has used armies to punish his people. This is because they have not listened to him. And they have not done what he says. One of those armies came from Nineveh. Now God will help his people. God will use other armies to punish the people in Nineveh because they have been so cruel and bad.
After King Solomon died, the country called Israel became two countries. The country in the north was then called Israel and the country in the south was called Judah. Jacob is another name for Judah in chapter 2.
All the people in Nineveh run away to different places. Some of them try to stop the water but they fail. This is because the people in this city have no love for each other. They only came to live there because of the many valuable things that their soldiers had taken from other countries.
The people in Nineveh were strong and cruel like lions. But Nahum tells them that God will be strong and cruel to them. God will attack the people in Nineveh because they have attacked many countries.
In chapter 3 ‘city of blood’ means that soldiers from that city have killed many people. The people in Assyria are very rich and powerful. They are also very cruel. Nineveh is their capital. They have attacked many countries including Israel and Judah. Nineveh has become rich and powerful because they killed people.
Nahum tells Nineveh and God’s people that this will stop. God will save his people and he will destroy Nineveh.
Today, we know that soldiers from Babylon did destroy Nineveh. This happened 612 years before Jesus came.
Nahum’s message is one of coming judgment for the Ninevites. Their sins will be punished: specifically