Take comfort in the God who will judge his enemies – and be sure you are not one. Nahum, whose name means comfort, brings this stark word of the coming judgment of God against Assyria (1:1) that the people of God receive as “good news” (1:15).

In v. 2-8 we see a God is who awesome in the truest sense of the word. He is jealous because he is the only true God worthy of worship (Ex 20:4-5). He avenges injustice (Deut 32:43). He is wrathful against sin, especially idolatry (2 Kings 22:13). Moreover, he is “great in power” and controls the all forces of the natural world (1:3-8).

That this should comfort us seems strange to moderns, who often recoil at discussion of God’s wrath and judgment. However, the Assyrians had practiced innumerable evils and unimaginable violence for some four hundred years by the time of the writing of Nahum. They destroyed Samaria and exiled Israel, and now Judah was under constant threat. From that perspective one can see why the destruction of Assyria would be such good news.

But perhaps our disquiet is deeper still. This God does not sweep sin under the rug, and as we hear God’s word of justice we know that we share all too much in the violence (2:2), immorality (3:1-4) and idolatry (1:14) that God here condemns. On our own we are enemies of God as St. Paul says in Romans 5:10. This message of wrath is therefore a mercy, because it tells us the truth about where we stand and sends us running to the cross. For though “we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son’ (Rom 5:10) and for all who are in Christ by faith and baptism God is a “stronghold” and “refuge” in the day of trouble (Nahum 1:17).

Discussion Question: How is God's wrath similar and different to human anger?