Dear readers,
Over the 14 years we have been writing on this blog, we have read all bar two of the books of the Bible. Nahum is one of those two books.
In the June 1934 issue of The Christian Science Journal, there is an interesting piece about Nahum. It’s from Westminster Commentary* and it includes this lovely remark:
His vivid imagination and his power to express what passes rapidly before his mental eye in vigorous, well-compacted, realistic language are unsurpassed by any of the Old Testament prophets. Expressing himself in as few words** as possible, he sets before his readers the entire scene which he describes in such a way that they are made to feel that it is actually being transacted before their eyes. It is like a picture which an artist sketches… His constructions are classical and idiomatic, and his language forcible and pure; they reveal the intensity of his feelings and create the impression that he is convinced of the certainty of his prediction, the truth of his charge, and the necessity of his denunciation.
The gist of Nahum’s “powerful prophecy”*** is that the flourishing Assyrian nation will be overthrown.
Is Nahum’s message that good always overthrows evil? Let’s take a look and find out.
Julie Swannell
*Aren't we grateful for Bible Commentaries!
**e.g. Nahum 1:9 "...he will make an utter end: affliction shall not rise up the second time."
***from the Encyclopedia Americana – quoted in The Christian Science Journal June 1934
