Nahum

Although He is slow to anger, granting us time to change our ways, God will bring justice to his enemies in time.

Nahum 1:2-3
"God is jealous, and the Lord revengeth;
the Lord revengeth, and is furious;
the Lord will take vengeance on his adversaries,
and he reserveth wrath for his enemies.
The Lord is slow to anger, and great in power,
and will not at all acquit the wicked:
the Lord hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm,
and the clouds are the dust of his feet"

Nahum warns them that they will be utterly destroyed, as a farmer burns the stubble or the thorns in his field.

Nahum 1:9-10
"What do ye imagine against the Lord?
he will make an utter end:
affliction shall not rise up the second time.
For while they be folden together as thorns,
and while they are drunken as drunkards,
they shall be devoured as stubble fully dry"

An end is coming to the Kingdom of Assyria and this will be a cause for celebration in Judah, their enemy.

Nahum 1:14-15
"And the Lord hath given a commandment concerning thee,
that no more of thy name be sown:
out of the house of thy gods will I cut off the graven image and the molten image:
I will make thy grave; for thou art vile.
Behold upon the mountains
the feet of him that bringeth good tidings,
that publisheth peace!
O Judah, keep thy solemn feasts, perform thy vows:
for the wicked shall no more pass through thee;
he is utterly cut off"

He also describes the chaotic scenes as chariots career through the streets of the city.

Nahum 2:3-4
"The shield of his mighty men is made red,
the valiant men are in scarlet:
the chariots shall be with flaming torches in the day of his preparation,
and the fir trees shall be terribly shaken.
The chariots shall rage in the streets,
they shall justle one against another in the broad ways:
they shall seem like torches,
they shall run like the lightnings"

Nahum 2:7
"And Huzzab shall be led away captive,
she shall be brought up,
and her maids shall lead her as with the voice of doves,
tabering upon their breasts."

We do not know for sure who Huzzab was. She may have been the Queen of Nineveh, or possibly its goddess. It seems most likely though that Huzzub was a metaphor for the city itself, as the word means "established". The city which thought of itself as being permanently established was now being taken captive

There will be an abundance of treasures to be taken while the people of the city look on in shock and fear.

Nahum 2:9-10
"Take ye the spoil of silver, take the spoil of gold:
for there is none end of the store and glory out of all the pleasant furniture.
She is empty, and void, and waste:
and the heart melteth, and the knees smite together,
and much pain is in all loins,
and the faces of them all gather blackness"

Nahum talks of how the once mighty lion will have its prey taken from him and its cubs killed.

Nahum 2:11-13
"Where is the dwelling of the lions, and the feedingplace of the young lions, where the lion, even the old lion, walked, and the lion's whelp, and none made them afraid?
The lion did tear in pieces enough for his whelps, and strangled for his lionesses, and filled his holes with prey, and his dens with ravin.
Behold, I am against thee, saith the Lord of hosts, and I will burn her chariots in the smoke, and the sword shall devour thy young lions: and I will cut off thy prey from the earth, and the voice of thy messengers shall no more be heard"

Nahum's vision is not a pleasant one, as Nineveh, city of blood, lies and robbery, is punished by God's hand.

Nahum 3:1-3
"Woe to the bloody city!
it is all full of lies and robbery;
the prey departeth not;
the noise of a whip, and the noise of the rattling of the wheels,
and of the pransing horses, and of the jumping chariots.
The horseman lifteth up both the bright sword and the glittering spear:
and there is a multitude of slain, and a great number of carcases;
and there is none end of their corpses;
they stumble upon their corpses"

The whole of the kingdom shall be overrun with enemies and it will fall.

Nahum 3:12-13
"All thy strong holds shall be like fig trees with the firstripe figs:
if they be shaken, they shall even fall into the mouth of the eater.
Behold, thy people in the midst of thee are women:
the gates of thy land shall be set wide open unto thine enemies:
the fire shall devour thy bars"

The fate of Assyria will be final, with no chance of return. All their neighbours will clap their hands at the demise of their enemy.

Nahum 3:18-19
"Thy shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria:
thy nobles shall dwell in the dust:
thy people is scattered upon the mountains,
and no man gathereth them.
There is no healing of thy bruise;
thy wound is grievous:
all that hear the bruit of thee shall clap the hands over thee:
for upon whom hath not thy wickedness passed continually?"