God Is No Pushover

 Nahum 1:2 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.
3 The Lord is slow to anger and great in power,
    and the Lord will by no means clear the guilty.
His way is in whirlwind and storm,
    and the clouds are the dust of his feet.

Nahum is the sequel to Jonah.  Both have to do with Assyria and her capital, Ninevah.  In Jonah, when the city heard the judgment call of God, they repented and He relented, putting off judgment.  That is because God is patient, merciful, and forgiving.  But He is also holy and has a special place in his heart for his own. He is jealous - the same word as zealous.  It is not always a bad thing - like a husband watching over to protect his wife, children, and property God has entrusted to him. When necessary, He is a force to be reckoned with.  Assyria's time, and God's patience, were about up.  As the last verse of this chapter says: Keep your feasts, O Judah; fulfill your vows, for never again shall the worthless pass through you; he is utterly cut off. The "he" here is the Assyrian army, which had been harassing Jerusalem for years. Their time doing so was up.  They were going to face the wrath of God.