Nahum 1:13-15

This study was done using the Amplified Bible, which I don't have permission to publish, so I will replace the verses here with the American Standard Version.  Because of that some of the comments may not totally make sense because the AMP has expanded explanations.  I would highly recommend going to a site like BibleGateway.com where you can read the AMP version for free.

13 And now will I break his yoke from off thee, and will burst thy bonds in sunder.

A. This breaking of bonds and yokes is a violent action, and definite.  When God decides to set a person or nation free, it is true freedom.  Unfortunately too many people decide to return to their former bonds and are once again enslaved.  This is not to say that God will not free them again, but they must go through the entire freedom process again.

B.  Here God is no longer referring to Sennacherib as a person, because Sennacherib had already been defeated before this.  He is now referring to Assyria as a nation and the bonds which Sennacherib caused to be placed on the Israelites by war.

14 And Jehovah hath given 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.

A. The Ninevites worshipped primarily Dagon, the fish god of the Philistines, and Nisroch the Assyrian god of agriculture.  

Dagon image 1

Dagon image 2

The god Nisroch

Nisroch was a god that Sennacherib invented: "In the Midrash, "Nisroch" is actually said to be derived from the Hebrew word "neser." Neser was the name given to a plank of wood discovered by Sennacherib on his return to Assyria from his campaign in Judah. The sages write that this plank was originally part of Noah's Ark, and that Sennacherib worshiped it as an idol. It would therefore be concluded that it was this idol that Sennacherib was worshiping when he was murdered by his two sons."

15 Behold, upon the mountains the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace! Keep thy feasts, O Judah, perform thy vows; for the wicked one shall no more pass through thee; he is utterly cut off.

 A. In this passage Nahum comes very close to quoting Isaiah, who was a nearby contemporary.  

"How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace, that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation, that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!" - Isaiah 52:7

This goes again to show the influence that Isaiah must have had on Nahum's life.  Here Nahum, even goes on in great assurance of this prophecy in telling the Israelites to go on celebrating their feasts, to celebrate as if the Assyrian's grip had already been broken, although this didn't not happen for another fifty years or so.