What is the purpose of the Lord sending Nahum with this powerful, graphic warning of the inevitable Babylonian invasion? Why does the Lord even taunt Nineveh with the words of his prophet? Is it a call for repentance? The nature of Nahum’s message seems to suggest that the time for repenting is over. The Lord has reached the end of his patience with Nineveh’s wickedness, especially with their cruelty toward Judah. So why send his prophet? The message was directed toward the people of Nineveh, so on one level Nahum is simply revealing what the Lord is about to do. In a sense, the judgment has already begun simply by the Lord speaking of it through his prophet. But Judah would also have been aware of this message. So, the other purpose of this comparison with Thebes is not so much to convince Nineveh to repent, but to strengthen the faith of believers concerning the coming judgment of the Lord that will deliver them from years of oppression.1
8 Are you better than Thebes that sat by the Nile, with water around her, her rampart a sea, and water her wall?