I. The Parallels of Nahum to Jonah 1. Just as Jonah declared that God is long suffering and gracious (4:2), so Nahum acknowledged divine grace while affirming the Lord is also jealous and avenging (1:3). 2. In Jonah, God appointed a storm and then calmed the sea (1:4, 15-16; 2:10-3:5), and in Nahum, God directed the rivers to flood Nineveh in order to destroy the city (1:8; 2:6). 3. In Jonah, God allowed the prophet to reach dry land (2:10), and in Nahum, God rebuked the sea and made it dry in judgment (1:4). 4. In Jonah, the common people were spared (3:5-10), but in Nahum, all the people were scattered (1:2; 3:18). 5. In Jonah, the message reached the king, and he repented (3:5-10), but in Nahum, God addresses the king and describes his demise (3:18-19). 6. In Jonah, both the sailors and the prophet offered vows to God (1:16; 2:9), so Nahum called Israel to pay their vows and give praise to the Lord for His judgment (1:15). 7. In Jonah, the book ends with a question (4:11), so the Book of Nahum ends with a question (3:19). The only two books in the Bible that do that. BTW - They are two very different questions! 8. Nahum’s description of the Ninevites mourning at the fall of their city intended to evoke the prophet Jonah and his hopeful mission. Nahum described the woman moaning like doves (2:7), that is what Jonah’s name means (“dove”). Nahum means “comfort,” and he was true to his name, for God comforts those decimated by the evil of others. I. The RISE of Assyria (History) II. The RESCUE of Assyria(Jonah) III. The FALL of Assyria (Babylon) • The Character of God = Exodus 34 (again) - Jonah 4:2; Joel 2:13; Nahum 1:4 = Sin must be punished (“guilty”) = Wrath & Grace - “The Lord is good” - Psalm 1:5; 9:16; 19:9 (NASB); 36:6; 51:4; 105:5; 119:120 • The Judgment of God = against Assyria (by Babylon) = against Babylon (by Persia) = against Persia (by Greece) = against Greece (by Rome) • The Comfort of God = for Judah = until Babylon (587 BC) = Then Ezra, Nehemiah, Haggai, Zechariah, & Malachi = Comfort in the Bible - II Thess. 1:5-12; Revelation 11:15-18
