Description
Nahum was written to between 663 and 612 B.C. to tell the people of Judah to not despair because the brutal Assyrians would soon be getting their just punishment from God. The prophet Habakkuk cries out against the sins of Judah but grapples with the fact that they will suffer at the hands of enemies even more wicked than themselves, but that they can trust God’s wisdom and plan of salvation. Zephaniah’s message is that God is sovereign over the nations, the wicked will be punished, the righteous vindicated and that God blesses all those who repent and trust in Him. When the people of Judah returned after the Babylonian Exile, Haggai called them to glorify God by rebuilding the temple in spite of opposition and to not to be discouraged because the temple would not be as elaborate as the temple of Solomon.