THE DESTRUCTION of Nineveh, capital of Assyria, was prophesied by Nahum about a century after the city was spared in the days of Jonah. However, its ultimate destruction may be linked to the fate of Mystery Babylon in the last days.

This week, we begin a detour through the short book of Nahum, inspired by Jesus’ decision to base his ministry in Capernaum (Hebrew kfar nahum: “village of Nahum”) and the discovery by scholars that Nineveh was one of several Mesopotamian cities sometimes called Babylon.