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Nahum, the Elkoshite (from a small place near Galilee) brings a message of warning throughout the three chapters within the book bearing his name in the Bible. The name Nahum means comforter, one of compassion, consolation, and is a shortened version of Nehemiah. While there is not much to know about the prophet Nahum there is enough to understand just what God inspired him with through his visionary message, one intended to bring great comfort to the people of Judah, while bringing news of the fall of the Assyrian Empire and the destruction of Nineveh in 612 B.C. The book of Nahum sits in our Bible in the midst of other minor prophets, twelve in all, namely — Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi — as part of the Old Testament and is known to some as a Hebrew masterpiece of poetry. The message is strong and some may think it was only intended for the people of Nineveh, but those close to God know Nahum's message has a dual significance and therefore is relevant and most important for those living in our time now — that's us!
With the benefit of prophecy fulfilled we know that those living in Nineveh thousands of years ago received the "wake-up" message from Jonah who was none-too-pleased in delivering it. You may remember his resistance by running away, then getting swallowed up by the huge sea creature, and his anger for the wickedness of the cruel Ninevites. The book of Jonah is placed before Nahum and Micah. These books can be read in succession as they are all small yet packed with very powerful messages to help us. As we know, the people of Nineveh listened to Jonah, much to his surprise, and repented from their sinful ways, but they eventually returned to these same wicked ways of oppression, cruelty, and idolatry. Proverbs 26:11 brings home this message by beginning with "as a dog returns to his own vomit…" and the filthy, putrid meaning is not lost on us. A thought-provoking apt summary from a sermon in the ucg.org archives renders Nineveh as beautiful on the outside, vicious and consuming on the inside while the occupants survived on plunder. There are several sermons about Nahum on the member's site if you desire to seek out further study and it is well worth it. There is one from Chuck Zimmerman (1948-2018) which is particularly informative and interesting. In addition, the commentary on Nahum is beneficial for contextual background to further enhance studies pertaining to the peoples of Judah and Israel.
https://www.ucg.org/bible-study-tools/bible-commentary/bible-commentary-nahum-1
https://www.ucg.org/bible-study-tools/bible-commentary/bible-commentary-nahum-2-3
The book of Nahum is precisely about God's judgment on Nineveh for her oppression, cruelty, merciless arrogance, lies, social injustice, depravity, idolatry, and wickedness because they did not stay faithful but returned to their previous heathen ways as previously mentioned. God is warning us now, just like those before us, to stay close to Him and keep apart from pagan ways which have nothing to do with righteous Christian living. This is translated into our times as we see how the vast majority of the world lives in sin, even reveling in it unashamedly with full vigour and lust. Each week our senses are assaulted with all types of images and reports of what is going on around us locally and globally. As a volunteer working in our local library I find it astonishing and shocking to see DVDs titled "The Exorcism of God" and a plethora of others blaspheming His name. The vast majority of movies are about killing, murder, crime, adultery, lust, torture and revenge, while the R rated (restricted to adults) section spews venomous hate for others with no value of life on an unimaginable scale. Horror and perversions abound in books also while people seek these out perhaps without realising they are pawns in the Devil's desensitization of their minds and hearts. This should not surprise me yet it does and hurts to the point I want to try harder to be obedient and think we, as God's elect, must all have this in common as we do sigh and cry and lament at the sinful world we must live in as we await our deliverance just like the people in Nahum's time (Ezekial 9:4).
Is Nahum's vision our vision for the future as we prepare in earnest for Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread? We may stumble and fall at various times in unexpected surprise for sins we believed to be well and truly buried with the "old man" only to find that we need to become even more vigilant (Ephesians 4:22-24). Proverbs 24:16 says "For a righteous man may fall seven times and rise again, but the wicked shall fall by calamity". This is very reassuring and comforting for God's people, and is reinforced in Psalm 37:24. As we make renewed commitment to our great and awesome God it is appropriate to reflect on all the blessings we receive for our steadfast faithfulness and love for God's Truth as the days ahead become even darker. God's protection will see us through while the Devil continues to seduce and plunder humanity into believing horrid lies, and we know our nation is crumbling before our very eyes. It is so sad to watch how the world is changing around us. Before long, those alive will see that the English speaking nations will be taken captive, plundered and devastated like Nineveh, totally trashed as this is the will of our enemy and it must be so for now as God will allow certain things to take place in order for Christ to return in all His glory. For the present, we should be greatly encouraged by Nahum's visionary message and take heart for we know the words written for us by God at the hands of Moses in Deuteronomy 31:6.