Nahum 1:2, commentary and pictures

God is jealous for what is right and for what is His own, and He takes vengeance on His adversaries, is furious against His enemies, and keeps wrath stored up for them. Though He is love and merciful, slow to anger and great in power, He will by no means acquit the wicked, and none can stand before His indignation or abide His fierce anger. That vengeance is a real execution inflicted by God Himself, not only the natural results of sin nor correction meant to reform, and it makes an utter end, devouring the wicked like fully dry stubble and blotting them from existence so that they remain dead forever. It comes at the close of the great day of the Lord and at the Second Advent, when Satan and all the wicked are consumed in the lake of fire, leaving a clean universe with new heavens and a new earth that ever remain before the Lord. Yet on the other side of the same character the Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble to those who trust in Him, vengeance belongs to Him and not to people, and the warning that unforgiven sin will be punished can awaken the guilty conscience to repentance.

Words and Historical Setting

God is jealous for what is right and for what is His, taking vengeance on His adversaries, furious against His enemies, and reserving wrath for them. His vengeance is slow to anger and great in power, and He will by no means acquit the wicked or leave the guilty unpunished. He has His way in the whirlwind and the storm, with the clouds as the dust of His feet, quaking mountains, melting hills, and burning earth at His presence. His fury is poured out like fire throwing down rocks, so that none can stand before His indignation or abide His fierce anger.

Though God is love and merciful, He still keeps wrath stored up for His enemies. The verse introduces a prophecy whose great burden is the fall of Nineveh, portrayed as a bloody city. About 150 years after Jonah warned the city, it had returned to evil ways, and its coming overthrow shows God's judgment on its wickedness. Its ruin displays God's moral government, under which the Assyrian empire, built on violence and cruelty and founded on fraud, force, and cruelty, falls before His kingdom of truth and righteousness. Nineveh's destruction stands among historical judgments that followed widespread wrong and injustice.

The later historical condition of Nineveh described in the surrounding prophecy is evidence that prophecy is fulfilled and that the prophetic Scriptures are divine.

Prophesied Final Punishment

Nahum 1:2 means there will be a real execution against the sinner by God Himself. It denies the claim that there is no execution and that death means only the subduing and conversion of the sinner. His punishment is direct vengeance inflicted by Him, not only the natural results of sin and not only fatherly correction meant to reform the sinner.

That vengeance brings an utter end, for the wicked are devoured like fully dry stubble. When that reserved wrath is finally poured out it blots them from existence, and because His wrath abides on them they remain dead forever and have no existence thereafter. So affliction does not rise a second time. That vengeance is the day of retribution at the close of the great day of the Lord, when Satan and all the wicked are consumed in the lake of fire, described as an overrunning flood. That destruction leaves a clean universe with new heavens and a new earth that ever remain before the Lord as an everlasting kingdom.

The chapter portrays the Second Advent and the day of God, when God brings judgment on His adversaries. The day of preparation described in the next chapter is preparation for that judgment and event. So the warning about judgment must come before the day itself in the period leading up to the Second Advent. The reserved wrath is fulfilled when Christ ends His present reign as priest-king on the throne of grace, lays off priestly robes, is clothed with kingly attire, and leads the armies of heaven to execute judgment. While He reigns as priest-king His power as Prince of Peace is exerted to the uttermost to convert and save His enemies, but some will not yield to His mild scepter, so He delivers His people and destroys His enemies. He smites the nations and rules them with a rod of iron and sweeps them away as chaff, after which the saints inherit the everlasting kingdom.

The judgment on Nineveh also typifies latter-day conditions and the final punishment of the ungodly and formal professors.

Character and Human Response

God is jealous toward evil and takes vengeance on His adversaries in fury, reserving wrath for His enemies, slow to anger and great in power and by no means acquitting the wicked, having His way in the whirlwind and storm with clouds as the dust of His feet, quaking mountains, melting hills and burning the earth at His presence so that none can stand before His indignation or abide His fierce anger, His fury poured out like fire throwing down rocks. There is another side to this same character: the Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble, and He knows those who trust in Him.

Sin left unforgiven will be punished, for God takes vengeance on His adversaries and reserves wrath for His enemies, as shown in the coming overthrow of Nineveh, which had returned to evil ways about 150 years after Jonah warned the city. His reproof warns that His law must not be spurned and that He will not leave the wicked unpunished, and His wrath against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men is as evident from Scripture as that there is a God, for the Lord takes vengeance on His adversaries and keeps wrath in store for His enemies to punish the ungodly. Vengeance belongs to God, not to people.

The prospect that God is an avenging God who visits sinners for their sins can awaken a guilty conscience and lead a person to repentance. His taking vengeance on His adversaries and reserving wrath for His enemies stands as an example of the judgments provoked by widespread wrong and injustice, with the destruction of Nineveh named among the historical judgments that followed.