The prophet Nahum, writing after the northern kingdom of Israel was destroyed and Jerusalem itself was threatened takes a victory lap on hearing the perpetrator of such violence, the kingdom of Assyria, had been destroyed. Celebrate your feasts, O Judah, For nevermore shall you be invaded by the scoundrel; he is completely destroyed. Of course subsequent history tell us that while the “scoundrel” Assyrian was destroyed a new scoundrel arose, Babylon, and they would conquer the Jewish nation and take it into exile. Maybe we can take this as a reminder that we should never imagine that our work is done, that we can rest on our laurels. We are always called to a deeper conversion, to become more forgiving, more generous, more compassionate.
