Nahum wrote his book, then, basically as a message of comfort and hope. Nations more powerful than the Lord’s chosen people were always threatening their very existence. Assyria was one such nation, perhaps the most cruel and powerful of them all. The Lord allowed—yes, even had brought—the king of Assyria against Israel and Judah. Almost one hundred years earlier, he had said as much to Ahaz, king of Judah, through the prophet Isaiah: “The LORD will bring on you and on your people and on the house