Randall, David J.
Severe Compassion: The Gospel According to Nahum (Cook)
Gregory Cook helps us to navigate the book of Nahum, a poetic masterpiece that teaches us about God’s love for his adulterous people. As the prophet Nahum shows us, God’s passionate love threatens all our other loves. When we find God boring and the world fascinating, we commit the sin of rebellion—but God, with severe compassion, refuses to abandon us when we stray into destructive paths.
Ultimately, Nahum’s prophecy is fulfilled in Christ, who relentlessly pursued his people and entered history in order to redeem them for himself. Cook further aids our understanding with historical background, cultural references, literary allusions, poetic devices, and challenging application.
Table of Contents:
Foreword by Elizabeth W.D. Groves
1. Jealous Love (1:1-2)
2. Restoration (1:3a)
3. God Comes to Earth (1:3b-8)
4. Nahum and Psalm 9 (1:2-8)
5. Disarmed (1:9-12a)
6. Good News (1:12b-15)
7. The Weapons of Our Warfare (2:1-5)
8. Reversal (2:6-10)
9. The Good Shepherd (2:11-13)
10. The Shadow of Death (3:1-3)
11. Human Trafficking (3:4)
12. The Great Prostitute (3:5-7)
13. No Confidence in the Flesh (3:8-10)
14. The Liberation of Ninevah (3:11-17)
15. The Prince of Darkness (3:18-19)
Author
Gregory D. Cook has completed a PhD in hermeneutics and biblical interpretation from Westminster Theological Seminary, prior to which he was the pastor of Providence Presbyterian Church (PCA) in West Virginia and the youth and college pastor at Evangelical Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Delaware.
Endorsement
"Greg has done the hard work of digging into the Hebrew text; he has gleaned insights from scholars and learned about the world and time in which Nahum wrote; he has sat with and listened carefully and humbly to the text; he has seen and appreciated how it speaks about and points to Jesus; and he has then gone on to consider how its message speaks to us today as people in union with Christ." — Elizabeth Groves, Lecturer in Old Testament, Westminster Theological Seminary