NAHUM: the FALL of NINEVEH and the JUSTICE of GOD
- Mar 21
- 3 min read
::Nineveh, the great city of Assyria — once mighty, now fallen, just as the prophet Nahum foretold.
Last week, we walked with Jonah — the reluctant prophet who saw Nineveh repent.
This week, a very different voice rises.
Nahum speaks not of repentance, but of judgment.
A Different Word to the Same City
Nineveh, capital of the Assyrian Empire, was feared across the world. Its armies were ruthless. Its conquests were brutal. Its pride seemed unshakable.
But Nahum saw what others could not yet see:
Nineveh would fall.
The Justice of God
Nahum reminds us of something we do not always like to hear:
God is patient — but He is also just.
“God is jealous, and the LORD revengeth… the LORD will take vengeance on his adversaries.”— Nahum 1:2
This is not petty anger. This is righteous justice.
For years, God had allowed Assyria to rise. For years, He had even used them as an instrument of judgment against others. But their cruelty, arrogance, and violence would not go unanswered.
The fall of Nineveh would show the world that no empire stands above God.
The Fall of a Great City
Nahum describes the destruction of Nineveh in vivid terms — floods, fire, chaos, and complete collapse.
History confirms what the prophet declared.
In 612 BC, Nineveh fell to a coalition of Babylonians and Medes. The great city was destroyed so completely that for centuries its location was forgotten.
What seemed permanent was gone.
A Word of Comfort for God’s People
Nahum’s message is not only judgment — it is also comfort.
To Judah, living under the shadow of Assyria, these words brought hope:
“Behold upon the mountains the feet of him that bringeth good tidings… O Judah, keep thy solemn feasts.”— Nahum 1:15
The oppressor would not last forever.
God sees injustice. God remembers. God acts.
The Lesson of Nahum
Jonah shows us the mercy of God.
Nahum shows us the justice of God.
Both are true.
God gives opportunity to repent — but if that mercy is rejected, judgment follows.
For us today, Nahum is a warning and a reassurance.
A warning: pride and cruelty will not stand
A reassurance: evil does not have the final word
Closing Prayer
Lord, You are slow to anger and great in power.Keep us humble, turn us from sin, and help us trust in Your justice and Your mercy.Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
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The Great Judgment Morning
I dreamed that the great judgment morning
Had dawned, and the trumpet had blown;
I dreamed that the nations had gathered
To judgment before the white throne;
From the throne came a bright, shining angel,
And he stood on the land and the sea,
And he swore with his hand raised to Heaven,
That time was no longer to be.
Refrain:
And, oh, what a weeping and wailing,
As the lost were told of their fate;
They cried for the rocks and the mountains,
They prayed, but their prayer was too late.
The rich man was there, but his money
Had melted and vanished away;
A pauper he stood in the judgment,
His debts were too heavy to pay;
The great man was there, but his greatness,
When death came, was left far behind!
The angel that opened the records,
Not a trace of his greatness could find.
The widow was there with the orphans,
God heard and remembered their cries;
No sorrow in heaven forever,
God wiped all the tears from their eyes;
The gambler was there and the drunkard,
And the man that had sold them the drink,
With the people who gave him the license,
Together in hell they did sink.
The moral man came to the judgment,
But self-righteous rags would not do;
The men who had crucified Jesus
Had passed off as moral men, too;
The soul that had put off salvation,
“Not tonight; I’ll get saved by and by,
No time now to think of religion!”
At last they had found time to die.
Bertram H. Shadduck, 1894
Whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. Rev 20:15
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