When Jonah prophesied against Nineveh, the people repented and God forgave them, see The Book of Jonah. However, the people went back to their ruthless ravages and sinful behavior (Nahum 3:1–4). God therefore called Nahum, a hundred years later, to prophesy against them (Nah 1:1). God tells them through Nahum that judgement will come upon Nineveh and they will fall.
That happened too. Nineveh fell in 612 BC and the last remnants of the Assyrian resistance were defeated in Harran in 609 BC. The Assyrian Empire was never heard from again (Nah 2:8, 13, 3:7, 13, 19). They were conquered by Nabopolassar, who was the first king of the Babylonian Empire (Nah 2:1). He was a Chaldean leader who came to power in the Babylonian Empire in 625 BC. This led to the dissolution of the Assyrian Empire and Assyrian possessions went to the
Babylonian Empire. Because of the position of the Chaldeans in the Babylonian
Empire, this country became known as the Chaldeans and its inhabitants were generally Chaldeans.
King Nebuchadnezzar took over the entire region as king of the Babylonian Empire
after the Battle of Karkemish in 605 BC (2 Chron 35:20, Dan 1:1).
God showed through these prophesies that he is in control, he is sovereign, all nations must answer to him. God comforts his people in the southern kingdom (Judah) with these prophecies. The Assyrian Empire had conquered the northern Kingdom (Israel), and was an ongoing threat to Judah, see King Hezekiah of Judah.
Nahum also talks about God's character, see God's Attributes. God is a jealous and avenging God (Nah 1:2a). He keeps wrath for his enemies (Nah 1:2b).
He is slow to anger and great in power, and will by no means leave the guilty unpunished (Nah 1:3a). God is also good, a stronghold in the day of trouble,
he knows those who take refuge in him (Nah 1:7).
See also The Prophet Books in the Old Testament.
