Nahum was God’s messenger to announce the fall of Nineveh and the complete overthrow of Assyria. This coming judgment from the Lord was certain and irrevocable, as was Obadiah’s message concerning Edom.
Nahum’s book is a sequel to, and a dramatic contrast with, the book of Jonah, which likely was written over a century before Nahum’s prophecy. While the Ninevites heeded Jonah’s message and were spared from God’s judgment, they eventually returned to their wicked ways. Eventually, the Assyrians, including the citizens of their capital city, Nineveh, disappeared from history.
Although God had used the Assyrians to chasten the wayward southern kingdom, he did not allow Judah to be annihilated. God’s plan, that the Messiah would come from the line of David, would not be thwarted. The religious feasts of Judah, which God encouraged them to keep (Nah. 1:15), would have reminded them of the future Savior.
