Nahum 1:4
“He rebuketh the sea, and maketh it dry, and drieth up all the rivers: Bashan languisheth, and Carmel, and the flower of Lebanon languisheth.”
King James Version (KJV)
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Read Full Chapter →At God's mere word the sea dries and the most fertile lands wither; nothing in creation can resist Him.
What Does Nahum 1:4 Mean?
Bashan, Carmel, and Lebanon were bywords for lushness, the richest pastures and forests known to Israel. The sea, in ancient imagination, was the great unruly force no king could tame. Nahum gathers them all to make one point: what humans cannot control, God commands with a rebuke. He needs no army to dry the sea; His voice is enough. The verb recalls the same Lord who divided the waters before His people.
If the strongest and greenest places languish at His approach, what hope has the pride of Nineveh? The verse strips away every false security. Wealth, fertility, and natural strength are gifts that fade in a moment when their Giver withdraws His hand. For the believer this is not terror but humility and trust: the One who can wither Lebanon can also restore a barren life. The Lord who silenced the sea would later still a storm with a word from the boat, the same authority walking among us in mercy.