Jealousy and vengeance are not good attributes for sinful humans to have because they lead to destructive actions that come from selfish, insecure hearts. However, the Lord is described by Nahum as being a jealous and avenging God who is full of wrath. The word jealous
(qana
) comes from the name that God gives himself in Exodus 34:14, where he says that his name is Jealous and that he is a jealous God. (He says the same in Exodus 20:5 when he makes his covenant with Israel.) In Exodus 34 the Lord has just delivered his people from Egypt but they have given credit to the golden calf made by their own hands. This idolatry makes God jealous of his name and his people. God’s jealousy is grounded in his self. God is rightly jealous, because his people belong to him.1 The Lord’s jealousy is a vigilant commitment to maintain a relationship. His jealousy reflects his love and determination to maintain the covenant relationship he has with his people.2
God’s jealousy is rooted in the fact that he is both Creator and Redeemer of his world. Israel is God’s own people. Their existence as a nation originates from the promise God made to Abraham in Genesis 12:1–3 to make his descendants into a great nation, give them the land, bless them, and through them, bless the world. This promise is itself rooted in God’s commitment to restore his blessing to his world as revealed in Genesis 1:1 – 2:25. Nineveh’s endless cruelty toward Judah is a personal attack on the Lord.3 It is an attack on his plans and purposes for his creation, and therefore ultimately an attack on his glory. God’s jealousy protects not just Judah but his creation because it protects his glory as Creator and Redeemer. It is therefore not only right, but also essential, that God is jealous for his people and his world.
The Lord’s vengeance therefore flows from his jealousy. Vengeance is the action God takes because of his jealousy.4
In the same way, God’s wrath toward Assyria is rooted in his jealousy for his glory. God is described as wrathful
and is said to “keep his wrath for his enemies.” The meaning here is of someone who is in control of their wrath and not controlled by it. God rightly directs his wrath toward the enemy of his people.
As the Son takes his Father’s anger onto himself, he opens up the way of redemption for those who trust in him.
On the final Day of Judgment, when Jesus returns, the Lord’s enemy will be finally and comprehensively destroyed by God’s righteous anger.
2 The LORD is a jealous and avenging God; the LORD is avenging and wrathful; the LORD takes vengeance on his adversaries and keeps wrath for his enemies.