John Calvin Commentary 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." — Nahum 1:4 (ASV)

Nahum continues his discourse — that God, in demonstrating his displeasure, would disturb the sea or make it dry. There may be an allusion here to the history described by Moses; for the prophets, in promising God’s assistance to his people, often remind them how God miraculously brought their fathers up from Egypt.

Since the passage through the Red Sea was highly regarded among the Jews, it may be that the prophet alluded to that event (Exodus 14:22). But another view seems more probable to me. Indeed, we know how impetuous an element the sea is; and therefore in Jeremiah 5, God, intending to display his own power, says that it is in his power to calm the raging of the sea, than which nothing is more impetuous or more violent.

The majesty of God is also described in the same manner in Job 28. The meaning of this passage, I think, is the same — namely, that God by his chiding makes the sea dry, and that he can dry up the rivers. The fact that the prophet connects rivers with the sea confirms what I have just said — that the passage through the Red Sea is not referred to here, but that the object is generally to show how great God’s power is in governing the whole world.

What he adds serves the same purpose: Bashan shall be weakened, and Carmel, and the branch of Lebanon shall be weakened, or destroyed. By these words he intimates that there is nothing so magnificent in the world that God does not change when he demonstrates his displeasure; as it is said in Psalm 104:

Send forth Your Spirit, and they will be renewed;
And again, Take away Your Spirit, or remove it, and all things will return to the dust; yes, into nothing.

So Nahum also says in this place: As soon as God shows his wrath, the rivers will dry up, the sea itself will become dry, and then the flowers will fade and the grass will wither; That is, though the earth is wonderfully ornamented and replenished, yet all things will be reduced to solitude and desolation whenever God is angry. And he adds afterwards —