This features a short prophetic book that is a scathing denunciation of Assyrians generally and Nineveh, the capitol city, particularly. The oracle points out that, though God is gracious, this same deity is also willing to avenge evildoers. Even though Assyria was used by the Israelite God to punish Israel, Assyrian policy was at the end of the day too severe and inhumane. The Israelite God is powerful enough to take on even an empire as formidable as Assyria. Even some of the countries with which Assyria was allied come in for denunciation. By the time Nahum was written, Assyria had already lost its status as an empire. Though ascendant in the 8th century and beyond, soon Nineveh would be replaced by other powers, notably Babylon and the Medes.
