Nahum 1:11-15
Nahum 1:11
(KJB)
There is one come out of thee, that imagineth evil
against the LORD, a wicked counseller.
The counselor in view may be referring to Sennacherib the
king himself who plotted to attack and defeat Judah or it may be referring to
Rabshakeh who delivered the ultimatum to King Hezekiah.
2 Kings 18:19 (KJV) And Rab-shakeh
said unto them, Speak ye now to Hezekiah, Thus saith the great king, the king of
Assyria, What confidence is this wherein thou trustest?
Rabshakeh tried to shake the confidence of Judah and turn them from
trusting the Lord to complying with the terms the Assyrians offered Judah.
Their plan was to get Judah to distrust the Lord and to trust Sennacherib
and the Assyrians. This is why this
man was called a wicked counselor.
Anyone who counsels another to distrust the Lord and place their trust in man is
wicked.
Nahum 1:12
(KJB)
Thus saith the LORD; Though they be quiet, and likewise
many, yet thus shall they be cut down, when he shall pass through. Though I have
afflicted thee, I will afflict thee no more.
Now the prophecy switches from the Assyrians to
addressing Judah. The Lord is
assuring Judah that though the Assyrians be quiet, that is, well-disciplined and
that they fear no danger because of their great might that they have enjoyed for
years plus their many numbers which gave them a false confidence in believing
that they could never be attacked and defeated.
Just as the angel of the Lord passed through the Egyptians on the tenth
plague, the same situation will happen here.
The Assyrians will face a great slaughter to the point of defeat.
No army is too big for the Lord when he pronounces judgment and an end.
Then God assures Judah that he has afflicted them in the past by allowing
the Assyrians to badger them but he will no longer afflict them by means of
Assyria. In a few decades however,
Judah will be afflicted by the Babylonians in 587 B.C. but for now the Assyrian
threat has been neutralized.
Nahum 1:13
(KJB)
For now will I break his yoke from off thee, and will
burst thy bonds in sunder.
Since Assyria had demanded that Judah begin to pay
tribute or else they would suffer the consequences, here God is assuring Judah
that no longer would they be in bondage to Assyria as God will destroy them thus
breaking the yoke of financial slavery and threats.
He will break those bonds in sunder, that is, remove or pull off those
shackles of oppression with the destruction of Nineveh.
Nahum 1:14
(KJB)
And the LORD hath given a commandment concerning thee,
that no more of thy name be sown: out of the house of thy gods will I cut off
the graven image and the molten image: I will make thy grave; for thou art vile.
Now the prophecy switches back to King Sennacherib
himself and God pronounces a three-fold judgment upon him.
First, he will have no descendants to rule in any capacity since God is
telling him no more which means none and that is final.
The second judgment is that God is going to remove the graven and molten
images out of their temples. Those
false gods have been the source of lies that have been perpetuated in their name
for the benefit of the rulers. This
would also show that once a false god is defeated by another god, it means, the
defeated god had no power to stop him.
God is showing that he is the true God and their gods were nothing but
false images. The third judgment
that God is going to bring is that Sennacherib will be killed and will be
buried. The word “vile” carries
with it the meaning of “small, insignificant, or light.”
In other words, in comparison to God, Sennacherib was only a small
potato. All his glory and all his
wealth and strength means nothing as the day of his death and the death of his
kingdom approaches.
Nahum 1:15
(KJB)
Behold upon the mountains the feet of him that bringeth
good tidings, that publisheth peace! O Judah, keep thy solemn feasts, perform
thy vows: for the wicked shall no more pass through thee; he is utterly cut off.