Habakkuk 3
A Bible Study -
Commentary by Jim Melough
Copyright 2002 James
Melough
3:1.
“A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet upon Shigionoth.”
Shigionoth is defined in
Strong’s Concordance as aberration, technically a dithyramb or rambling poem;
dithyramb being defined as 1. a Greek choral song or chant of vehement or wild
character and usually of irregular form. 2. any wildly enthusiastic speech or
writing. Taylor translates this verse: “This is the prayer of triumph that
Habakkuk sang before the Lord.”
It seems that the revelation
given him by God had so moved the prophet emotionally that he couldn’t refrain
from expressing his gratitude in the form of this enthusiastic poem or song.
His grateful and joyful response rebukes the cold indifference with which we
today read the revelations given us in Scripture. It says much for Habakkuk’s
faith that he could write such a poem in view of what had just been revealed
to him, particularly in view of the long time that must intervene before the
ultimate deliverance would come.
3:2.
“O Lord, I have heard thy speech, and was afraid: O Lord, revive thy work in
the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known; in wrath
remember mercy.”
The knowledge of the judgment
which Jehovah was about to mete out to rebel Judah filled the prophet with
dread, as well it might. He was all too well aware of the murderous cruelty
of the Chaldeans into whose hand Judah was about to be delivered, hence his
fervent plea that the Lord, while having to chastise His sinful people, would
at the same time exercise His almighty power to control the activity of the
enemy so that Judah wouldn’t be completely destroyed.
3:3.
“God came from Teman, and the Holy One from mount Paran. Selah. His glory
covered the heavens, and the earth was full of his praise.”
The reference appears to be to
the display of God’s glory which accompanied the giving of the law at Sinai.
Teman is a synonym for Edom which was in the general vicinity of Sinai, as was
also Paran. A detailed description of the manifestation of God’s glory on
that occasion is recorded in Exodus 19 and 24. How much had transpired since
that day when the people stood in fearful awe of God come down to give them
His holy law, and “all the people that was in the camp trembled,” Ex 19:16!
What changes the years had brought! Now only the prophet and the small
believing remnant trembled, while the people brazenly defied God to His face,
falling down before idols to render to them the worship that belonged to Him
alone, and violating just as brazenly every other segment of His law.
Selah was a sign used to
indicate an end or a pause in a piece of music. According to the Jamieson,
Fausset & Brown Commentary “It implies a change in the modulation. It
comes from a root to rest or pause ... implying a cessation of
the chant during an instrumental interlude. The solemn pause here prepares
the mind for contemplating the glorious description of Jehovah’s manifestation
which follows,”
3:4.
“And his brightness was as the light; he had horns (rays of light) coming out
of his hand: and there was the hiding (place) of his power.”
“... his brightness” is also
rendered: splendor: flash: radiancy: brilliance, and has been called
the effulgence of His glory. The fact is, the brightness of the Divine
glory cannot be described, for no man has ever seen it. That it is synonymous
with His power is clearly stated in the remainder of the verse, “he had horns
(rays of light) coming out of his hand: and there was the hiding
(place) of his power.” The horn is one of the biblical symbols of power, so
the description of the rays of light as horns, declares the power inherent in
the light which is the effulgence of God’s glory, and it is to be noted that
the heavens are the work, not of God’s hands, but just of His fingers,
Ps 8:3, the measure of our eternal security being declared in the fact that He
holds us in His hand, “I give unto them (My sheep) eternal life; and they
shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My
Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck
them out of my Father’s hand. I and my Father are one,” Jn 10:28-30. We are
held by, and in the very center of God’s power! Another has pointed out that
“Even light, God’s garment, covers, instead of revealing fully,
His surpassing glory, Ps 104:2.”
3:5.
“Before him went the pestilence, and burning coals went forth at his feet.”
The pestilence was the general
name for a destructive sickness; and “burning coals” as used here is a
metaphor for a burning fever. God’s being the Source of these deadly
sicknesses reminds us that He is as holy as He is powerful, and will destroy
that which is not also holy, it being written three times in Scripture that,
“Our God is a consuming fire,” Heb 12:29 and De 4:24; 9:3.
The going forth of these dread
agents “at his feet” declares them to be His servants.
A few examples of His use of
these plagues are His slaying the firstborn of the Egyptians on the night of
the Passover; destruction of the Philistines in connection with their having
taken the ark, 1 Sa 5; the deaths of 185,000 Assyrians, 2 Ki 19:35; the
slaughter by “great hailstones” of the soldiers of the enemy coalition, Jsh
10:11; the death by plague of a multitude of disobedient Israelites, Nu 11:33,
and again in Nu 16:49, and many others. The Lord Himself declared that
pestilence would be one of God’s destructive agents in the Tribulation, see Mt
24:7.
3:6.
“He stood, and measured (shook) the earth: he beheld, and drove asunder the
nations; and the everlasting mountains were scattered, the perpetual hills did
bow: his ways are everlasting.”
“... measured” is literally
shook the earth, the occasion of that shaking being perhaps when Lucifer
rebelled, and the earth became as described in Ge 1:2, the present earth being
the result of God’s renovation of that ruin during what are mistakenly called
the “six days of creation,” but which were in reality the days of renovation
or reshaping of the original earth, see the author’s notes on Genesis chapters
1 and 2, also available on this web site.
Another time when God’s voice
shook the earth was at the giving of the law, see Heb 12:18-29; and yet
another was at Calvary, see Mt 27:51-54. The final great shaking of the earth
(and the heavens) will occur at the end of the Millennium, see Heb 12:26-29.
His driving “asunder the
nations” may have reference to His dispersion of the nations and His confusing
their speech, in connection with the building of the tower of Babel, as
described in Ge 11.
The scattering of the
mountains is literally “dashing in pieces”; and bowing of the hills is to
“sink or depress” them. There doesn’t appear to be any scriptural record of
this occurrence.
3:7.
“I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction: and the curtains of the land of
Midian did tremble.”
Nothing is known with
certainty of Cushan, but it is presumed to have been Ethiopia, or the name of
a people descended from Cush, a son of Ham; and the occasion when this people
or place may have been in affliction is not revealed in Scripture.
The “curtains” of the land of
Midian are used here as a metaphor for tents, the land itself being in
Arabia; and again, nothing certain is known of the trembling mentioned here.
3:8.
“Was the Lord displeased against the rivers? was thine anger against the
rivers? was thy wrath against the sea, that thou didst ride upon thine horses
and thy chariots of salvation?”
“... the rivers” here are
generally taken to mean the Red Sea and the Jordan; the occasions being God’s
division of the Red Sea to bring Israel out of Egypt, and His division of the
Jordan to bring them into Canaan. The question therefore is, Was God’s
division of these waters an indication of His displeasure with them? and the
answer is No.
The horses and chariots are
metaphors for His power and might exercised in bringing salvation to Israel.
And so far from His being displeased, it was His great pleasure to deliver
them.
3:9.
“Thy bow was made quite naked, according to the oaths of the tribes, even thy
word. Selah. Thou didst cleave the earth with rivers.”
This verse presents a very
different picture. While it had been God’s gracious pleasure to redeem
Israel, His inherent holiness had required Him to warn them that sin would
bring retribution, this being the meaning of “according to the oaths of (to)
the tribes, even thy word”; and it wasn’t long before it became necessary to
give effect to that warning, the naked bow, i.e., the bow taken out of its
sheath and strung with an arrow, speaking symbolically of His necessary
execution of judgment.
For the significance of Selah,
see comments on verse 3.
God’s cleaving of the earth
with rivers, literally bringing forth waters in dry places, is the antithesis
of His executing judgment. It speaks of His pouring out blessing, the very
objective He has in mind when He corrects those who belong to Him, as declared
in Heb 12:5-11.
Some understand God’s cleaving
of the earth with rivers, to refer to what one expositor describes as, “the
fearful physical phenomena attending Jehovah’s attack on Israel’s foes.”
3:10.
“The mountains saw thee, and they trembled: the overflowing of the water
passed by: the deep uttered his voice, and lifted up his hands on high.”
The reference here may still
be to the quaking of mount Sinai at the giving of the law; and the overflowing
of the waters, to the dividing of the Red Sea and Jordan; but it leaves
without any readily apparent interpretation the deep uttering his voice and
lifting up his hands. It is possible therefore that the language is the
symbolic description of events to transpire at Christ’s judgment of the
nations at the end of the Tribulation. The mountains, as frequently in
Scripture, would then represent rulers, and in the present context, evil
rulers trembling as they stand before the Lord prior to being consigned to
hell.
The passing by of the
overflowing waters, in the same context, may represent the final destruction
of earth’s rebellious masses also at the end of the Tribulation. It is
instructive to note in this connection that while “passing” is used in a
variety of ways, many of them are in a bad connotation, e.g., cross over:
alienate: go beyond: meddle: overrun: perish: provoke to anger: rage: raiser
of taxes: transgress: turn away: wrath. “... overflowing” also speaks of
evil rather than good, for it means flood: storm: tempest.
This leaves the deep, speaking
and uplifting its hands, to portray the godly remnant of Israel and of the
nations, worshiping as they prepare to enjoy millennial blessings.
3:11.
“The sun and moon stood still in their habitation: at the light of thine
arrows they went, and at the shining of thy glittering spear.”
Most commentators take this to
refer to the day spoken of in Jsh 10:12-14, when the sun and moon stood still
to enable Israel to complete the extermination of their enemies. The latter
half of the verse is a poetic way of saying that the bright glory of the
victory given by God to Israel eclipsed and made unnecessary the light of
either sun or moon.
“... thine arrows ... thy
glittering spear” may refer to the lightning, and abnormally large hailstones
which God rained down on the armies of the five kings opposing Israel.
3:12.
“Thou didst march through the land in indignation, thou didst thresh the
heathen in anger.”
Since no specific event is
indicated here, the reference may be to the victories granted Joshua and
Israel during the initial seven-year conquest of Canaan, the destruction of
the enemy being likened to the beating out of wheat under the feet of the
oxen, to separate the grain from the husk.
3:13.
“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.”
There are recorded in
Scripture many instances of God’s going forth for the salvation of His people
Israel, but since it is said that on this occasion He went forth for salvation
“with thine anointed,” the reference appears to be to the salvation secured by
the work of His Anointed, the Lord Jesus Christ, at Calvary. This seems to be
confirmed by the next clause, “thou woundedst the head out of the house of the
wicked,” for relative to the Lord’s destruction of Satan it is said in Ge 3:15
“... it (the seed of the woman) shall bruise thy head.”
“... by discovering the
foundation unto the neck” means simply that the destruction of Satan was
utter, the activity which God presently permits him being that of a desperate
dying creature.
While some take “thine
anointed” to refer to Israel, it is to be noted that the word used here in not
the usual word for anointed, but rather one which is defined in
Strong’s Concordance as “a consecrated person (as a king, priest, or
saint); specifically the Messiah.”
This deliverance of Israel,
like all the others, points to that which will come at the end of the
Tribulation when the Lord, returning in power and glory, will deliver them out
of the hand of those seeking their destruction.
3:14.
“Thou didst strike through with his staves the head of his villages: they came
out as a whirlwind to scatter me: their rejoicing was as to devour the poor
secretly.”
While certainly the reference
here may be to God’s former deliverances of Israel, there is equally good
reason to believe that it continues the metaphoric description of Christ’s
defeat of Satan at Calvary.
The first clause means that
the foe was smitten with his own weapon, and one can’t ignore the fact that
Satan was slain with his own weapon: death, as it is written concerning
Christ, “Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he
also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might
destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil,” Heb 2:14.
“... they came out as a
whirlwind to scatter me.” Here the prophet is identifying himself with the
victim of the enemy’s hatred, just as the Psalmist also at times identified
himself with Christ, see, for example Ps 69:1,2,14,15,20; 88:6,7,16-18.” What
is written here applies to Christ as much or more than it does to Israel.
“... their rejoicing was to
devour the poor secretly.” “... their” relates to those who gladly aided and
abetted Satan in his attempt to destroy the Lord, i.e., the Jewish leaders,
and Satan’s evil minions. Christ is also described as being poor, see, e.g.,
Ps 40:17, “But I am poor ...” the reference here as in many of the Psalms,
having its ultimate application to the Lord rather than to the Psalmist.
3:15.
“Thou didst walk through the sea with thine horses, through the heap of great
waters.”
This may continue the
figurative description of God’s might in dividing the Red Sea and the Jordan,
to bring Israel out of Egypt, and into Canaan, as described in verse 8; but it
is more likely to refer to His destruction of the Canaanite tribes after
having brought Israel into the land, for other Scriptures make it clear that
great waters are used typologically to represent the unconverted, see, for
example, Isa 57:20, “But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot
rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt.”
Undoubtedly it also points
forward to the deliverance that will be brought to Israel at the end of the
Tribulation.
3:16.
“When I heard, my belly trembled; my lips quivered at the voice: rottenness
entered into my bones, and I trembled in myself, that I might rest in the day
of trouble: when he cometh up unto the people, he will invade them with his
troops.”
The prophet here turns from
his contemplation of Jehovah’s power and might, to declare his own reaction to
the assurance that that same mighty God was about to come up against rebel
Judah because of her multiplied sin. That assurance caused him to tremble and
fear, so that he became like a man whose bones were rotten and no longer able
to support his body, his fear impelling him to pray that he might find rest in
that coming day of trouble. The One coming up unto the people, and invading
them with his troops is Jehovah, using the Chaldeans as his instruments.
3:17.
“Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines;
the labor of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the
flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the
stalls:”
The fig, the vine, and the
olive tree are symbols of Israel: the vine representing her as she was in the
past, a vine brought out of Egypt and planted in Canaan; the fig tree
representing her as she has been during these past two thousand years - cursed
and dead, but yet to bud again, that budding beginning with the restoration of
her autonomy in 1948, and continuing with the daily return of the Jews to
Palestine until the present. The olive represents her as she will be in the
Millennium, blest and fruitful.
Under the figure of these
three trees, then, God is revealing to His servant, not Israel’s complete
history from Egypt till the Millennium, but rather that there would be a long
time when she would continue to produce no fruit for God, because she would
continue to be disobedient. That time, in fact, has continued until today,
but it is soon to end, for the impending Tribulation judgments will do what no
past judgments have done: bring a repentant remnant, not only of Israel, but
also of the nations, to salvation through faith in the Messiah they (Israel)
have for so long rejected. Until that day she will remain cursed and barren,
and so will the Gentiles, for their blessing is to come through Israel
repentant, converted, and blest.
3:18.
“Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation.”
The prophet would rejoice, not
in anything of earth, but in the Lord, the God of his salvation; and so is it
with all who know the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior. Our peace and rest are not
dependant upon present circumstances, or on anything else in this world: they
are in the Lord, the God of our salvation. Here on earth He gives us His
peace, as it is written, “... the peace of God, which passeth all
understanding, shall keep your minds and hearts through Christ Jesus,” Php
4:7; and what awaits us in heaven transcends the grasp of finite minds, as it
is written, “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the
heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him,” 1
Cor 2:9.
We too, “rejoice in the Lord,”
and “in the God of my (our) salvation.”
3:19.
“The Lord God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds’ feet, and
he will make me to walk upon mine high places. To the chief singer on my
stringed instruments.”
God’s disclosure of Judah’s
coming judgment might make Habakkuk’s belly to tremble, his lips to quiver,
and his bones to become like rotten sticks, but he could conclude his hymn of
praise with the exultant note, “The Lord God is my strength.” Above and
beyond all of earth’s turmoil, chaos, and care is “the Lord God,” the One Who
by His Word has called that world into existence, Who upholds it by that same
Word, and Who orders all its affairs for His own glory, and the ultimate
blessing of those who love Him.
The prophet’s feet were,
metaphorically speaking, to become like those of a deer, i.e., swift and sure,
capable of bounding to the tops of the mountains. So also is the man whose
faith is in God and His Word. He will be able to pass confidently through
this world, being in it, but not of it, walking “on the mountains,” i.e., on a
higher plane, knowing that his citizenship is in heaven, not earth, his
experience being that of those described in Isa 40:31, “But they that wait
upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as
eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; they shall walk, and not
faint.”
The final sentence records the
prophet’s instructions for the use of his hymn. It was to be used in
connection with the Temple worship. What God has revealed to us should also
evoke our praise and worship.
THE END