Nahum 3:19 reads “There is no healing of thy bruise; thy wound is grievous: all that hear the bruit of thee shall clap the hands over thee: for upon whom hath not thy wickedness passed continually?” The prophetic reference here is primarily to the ruler and king of Assyria, who was vile and whose officials were wicked men, sparring no mercy but pervasively and perpetually spreading their wickedness on all the nations they invaded and conquered. Essentially, the prophet Nahum, here is stating that the vile Assyrian and his nobles shall be bruised and wounded grievously that whoever shall hear of his destruction, shall rejoice with a clapping of their hands for the comfort that the Lord God has brought upon them.
Points to ponder:
Though in the physical realm, the reference to the vile Assyrian king is most likely to Sennacherib who blasphemed against the Lord, in the spiritual realm, prophet Isaiah refers to the devil as the evil Assyrian ruler (Isaiah 14:25) and his wickedness has not only been perpetual from the very beginning (John 8:44; 1 John 3:8), but also pervasive, so much so that whole creation groans (Romans 8:22) and all have fallen short of God’s glory (Romans 3:23). Even though the devil tried to destroy Jesus Christ, the Savior of all mankind, all he could do, was merely bruise the heel of Jesus with the nails that pierced his feet (Genesis 3:15), but Jesus once and for all grievously destroyed the devil (1 John 3:8) bruising the head of the wicked (evil) one, for which there is no healing (Genesis 3:15; Nahum 3:19) and laying him out bare from head to toe (Habakkuk 3:13), so that all who hear of the total shameful defeat of the devil by Jesus Christ, can rejoice for their liberty found in Christ (Galatians 2:4; 5:1), and rejoice always in the Lord (Philippians 4:4), with the clapping of hands.
Nahum 3:19 (KJV)
19 There is no healing of thy bruise; thy wound is grievous: all that hear the bruit of thee shall clap the hands over thee: for upon whom hath not thy wickedness passed continually?
Genesis 3:14-15 (KJV)
14 And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:
15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
1 John 3:8 (KJV)
8 He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.
Habakkuk 3:13 (KJV)
13 Thou wentest forth for the salvation of thy people, even for salvation with thine anointed; thou woundedst the head out of the house of the wicked, by discovering the foundation unto the neck. Selah.
