More from Nahum

“Nahum emphasizes that God remedies sin through retributive judgment and that this principle is rooted in his very character revealed to Israel at Sinai. One cannot eliminate this sort of retribution “without discarding the concern for justice as well” (Roberts 1991: 49). Whereas Jonah has revealed that the “gracious” half of the character creed is the foundation for the repentance and forgiveness of the nation of Assyria, Nahum reveals that the same Yahweh is also a God who takes sin seriously and deals with it through punishment”—A Severe Mercy, page 326

<idle musing>
Of course, we want to hang onto the gracious half and discard the other...but, you can't discard one without changing the very nature of who YHWH is.
</idle musing>