Habakkuk Chapter Three

Read Habakkuk 3:1-17 – The Prophet’s Prayer

v.1 “A PRAYER OF HABAKKUK THE PROPHET UPON SHIGIONOTH.”

In our study Habakkuk has lamented the condition of Judah and the fact that God has chosen Chaldea, a nation even more wicked that Judah to provide her punishment. He challenged God because of this and in chapter two we studied the answer that Habakkuk received and the declaration of his faith in God Almighty. Now in this chapter we find Habakkuk in prayer. A prayer that the scripture says was “UPON SHIGIONOTH.” Shigionoth is a musical term and signifies that his prayer was a lament, sorrowful, perhaps even made in tears as a cry to God because of the fate of Judah.

v.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.”

Habakkuk assures God that he has heard his words, understands their importance and that he is approaching Him in reverence and fear. When God spoke to Job, he responded in much the same way:

Job 42:5-6 “ ⁵I HAVE HEARD OF THEE BY THE HEARING OF THE EAR: BUT NOW MINE EYE SEETH THEE.  ⁶WHEREFORE I ABHOR MYSELF, AND REPENT IN DUST AND ASHES.”

Or that we find use by the writer of:

Psalms 119:120 “MY FLESH TREMBLETH FOR FEAR OF THEE; AND I AM AFRAID OF THY JUDGMENTS.”

The prophet then continues “REVIVE THEY WORK”, or go on with the work at hand that must be done. But he beseeches God to temper his wrath against Judah with mercy.

v.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.”

There are some interesting locations named in this verse. Habakkuk says God “CAME FROM TEMAN”, who remembers where Teman is from our study of Genesis? Teman was a son of Eliphaz and a grandson of Esau (Genesis 36:10-11). The Eliphaz that sought to counsel Job was a Temanite or a descendant of Teman, grandson of Esau and that is the only other place we find that name used.

Mount Paran is more likely Mount Seir in the Wilderness of Paran, also called the “Land of Seir”. This area lies south and east of the Dead Sea and again was that allocated to by God Esau and his descendants. It is the land called Edom. The words of Habakkuk refer to the appearance of God to Israel in their wilderness journey. Moses wrote:

Deuteronomy 33:2 “AND HE SAID, THE LORD CAME FROM SINAI, AND ROSE UP FROM SEIR UNTO THEM; HE SHINED FORTH FROM MOUNT PARAN, AND HE CAME WITH TEN THOUSANDS OF SAINTS: FROM HIS RIGHT HAND went A FIREY LAW FOR THEM.”

So in Deuteronomy, in Judges and here in Habakkuk, God is pictured as having come out of the east, from the region of Paran or Seir. We should remember from our study of Genesis that this is also the direction of the Garden of Eden, the only place where man and God lived together and therefore, in their minds, the direction from which God would be expected to come.

v.4 “AND his BRIGHTNESS WAS AS THE LIGHT; HE HAD HORNS [rays] coming OUT OF HIS HAND: AND THERE was THE HIDING OF HIS POWER.”

Habakkuk continues to honor God in his prayer with a description that reflects his power and might. His brightness was as the light, not just any light with a very bright light, like trying to look directly at the sun. The word “HORNS” is translated “RAYS” in the ASV, depicting rays very similar to the rays of the sun.

v.5 “BEFORE HIM WENT THE PESTILENCE, AND BURNING COALS [fiery bolts] WENT FORTH AT HIS FEET.”

In his prayer the prophet reminds us once again that”

“It is A FEARFUL THING TO FALL IN THE HANDS OF HE LIVING GOD.” Hebrews 10:31

The words Habakkuk used to describe the terrible power and might of God are very similar to those used by David:

Psalms 18:6-8 “IN MY DISTRESS I CALLED UPON THE LORD, AND CRIED UNTO MY GOD: HE HEARD MY VOICE OUT OF HIS TEMPLE, AND MY CRY CAME BEFORE HIM, even UNTO HIS EARS. THEN THE EARTH SHOOK AND TREMBLED; THE FOUNDATIONS ALSO OF THE HILLS MOVED AND WERE SHAKEN, BECAUSE HE WAS WROTH. THERE WENT UP A SMOKE OUT OF HIS NOSTRILS, AND FIRE OUT OF HIS MOUTH DEVOURED: COALS WERE KINDLED BY IT.”

So the Holy Spirit gives us a word picture of the wrath of God, a wrath that none of us wish to witness in person.

v.6 “HE STOOD AND MEASURED THE EARTH: HE BEHELD, AND DROVE ASUNDER THE NATIONS; AND THE EVERLASTING MOUNTAINS WERE SCATTERED, THE PERPETUAL HILLS DID BOW: HIS WAYS [goings] are EVERLASTING.”

In this verse it is as though God has stopped his relentless march against the evil of mankind to measure, to see what effect his efforts have caused. In terms of Judah this is the calm before the final storm that will sweep her into captivity. Meanwhile the mountains flee from the wrath of God in fear and the hills bow down to his majesty and power.

v.7 “I SAW THE TENTS OF CUSHAN IN AFFLICTION: and THE CURTAINS OF THE LAND OF MIDIAN DID TREMBLE.”

The prophet here recounts prior occasions when God has visited his judgment upon mankind. When God escorted the Israelites in to the land of Canaan, and at various times during their history God wrath was unleashed against their enemies. When God used Cush to punish Israel and they prayed and pleaded with him for deliverance he did so:

Judges 3:10 “AND THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD CAME UPON HIM, AND HE JUDGED ISRAEL, AND WENT OUT TO WAR: AND THE LORD DELIVERED CHU-SHAN-RISH-A-THA-IM KING OF MESOPOTAMIA INTO HIS HAND; AND HIS HAND PREVAILED AGAINTS CHUSHANRISHATHAIM.”

And the destruction of the Midianites because they tempted Israel with the worship of Baal, even in the wilderness:

Numbers 31:7 “AND THEY WARRED AGAINST THE MIDIANITES, AS THE LORD COMMANDED MOSES; AND THEY SLEW ALL THE MALES.”

v.8 “WAS THE LORD DISPLEASED AGAINST 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?”

Habakkuk has been chosen to bring a message of God’s wrath and destruction first to Judah and then to Chaldea or Babylon. These words reflect the fear and alarm that he feels knowing the wrath and power of God. Here he refers first to the occasion when God stopped the Jordan so that Israel could cross:

Joshua 3:17 “AND THE PRIESTS THAT BARE THE ARK OF THE COVENANT OF THE LORD STOOD FIRM ON DRY GROUND IN THE MIDST OF THE JORDAN, AND ALL THE ISRAELITES PASSED OVER ON DRY GROUND, UNTIL ALL THE PEOPLE WERE PASSED CLEAN OVER JORDAN.”

The second reference, concerning God’s wrath against the sea, relates to the deliverance of Israel from Egypt by God literally dividing the waters to the left and right allowing Israel to march through on dry ground. God, in his power, can control things like the rivers and seas; things that have men at their mercy.

v.9 “THE BOW WAS MADE QUITE NAKED, according TO THE OATHS OF THE TRIBES, even thy WORD SELAH. THOU DIDST CLEAVE THE EARTH WITH RIVERS.”

There are two very different metaphors in this verse. God has made his bow naked refers to the practice of soldiers riding in a chariot to lean out as far as possible to the outside to they would have a clear shot at their target. The second refers to two occurrences during the wandering Israel in the wilderness. The first was recorded in Exodus 17:6, the second in Numbers 20:11 where God caused water to flow from solid rock. The Psalmist Asaph uses these words:

Psalms 78:15-16 “HE CLAVE THE ROCKS IN THE WILDERNESS, AND GAVE them DRINK AS out of THE GREAT DEPTHS. HE BROUGHT STREAMS ALSO out of THE ROCK AND CAUSED WATERS TO RUN DOWN LIKE RIVERS.”

v.10 “THE MOUNTAINS SAW THEE, and THEY TREMBLED: THE OVERFLOWING OF THE WATER PASSED BY: THE DEEP UTTER HIS VOICE, and LIFTED UP HIS HANDS ON HIGH.”

The literal translation would be that the mountains are trembling in pain; this is again a reference to the power and might of God. A power and might that we understand fully when we consider that God spoke them into existence from nothing and then destroyed and reshaped them with a massive flood that covered the entire earth. The language is again very similar to Judges 5:4-5.

v.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.”

The prophet uses the metaphor of weapons of war to praise the power of God over the universe. Literally translated the sun and moon obeyed God because of their fear of God’s arrows and spear; probably rendering that which would be required by men to understand the prophet’s words. God did stop the sun and moon. occurred during a battle between Israel, led by Joshua, and the Amorites:

Joshua 10:12-13 “Then spake Joshua to the LORD in the day when the LORD delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon; and thou, Moon, in the valley of Ajalon.

¹³And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies. Is not this written in the book of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down about a whole day.”

v.12 “THOU DIDST MARCH THROUGH THE LAND IN INDIGNATION, THOU DIDST THRESH THE HEATHEN IN ANGER.”

As we have studied often in the minor prophets; when God marches through the land in anger, bringing His wrath on his enemies He frequently leaves nothing behind. The prophet Jeremiah warns Babylon:

Jeremiah 51:33 “FOR THUS SAITH THE LORD OF HOSTS, THE GOD OF ISRAEL; THE DAUGHTER OF BABYLON is LIKE A THRESHINGFLOOR, it is TIME TO THRESH HER: YET A LITTLE WHILE, AND THE TIME OF HER HARVEST SHALL COME.”

What is the significance of a city or nation becoming like a threshingfloor? When grain was threshed it was beaten with a flail and then winnowed to remove the chaff. The ground upon which this was done was cleared, leveled and beaten to make sure there were no places where grain could be lost. In our study of Nahum we repeatedly referred to the fact that Nineveh was destroyed to the extent that men could stand on the site and never know that a great city existed there because it was a flat and bare as a threshing floor.

v.13 “THOU WENTEST FORTH FOR THE SALVATION OF THY PEOPLE, even FOR SALVATION WITH THINE ANOINTED; THOU WOUNDEST THE HEAD OUT OF THE HOUSE OF THE WICKED, BY DISCOVERING THE FOUNDATION UNTO THE NECK. SELAH.”

Here we have a declaration by the prophet that all of God’s moves, God’s purpose throughout the history of mankind were for bringing of salvation to his people. In this case not just the children of Israel but all men, as all men are his creation, his people. In his words that read “FOR SALVATION WITH THINE ANOINTED” we have a reference pointing directly at the coming of Christ who would indeed provide salvation unto all.

With those thoughts in mind then, the latter phrase, explained by most commentators as referring to beheading or removing kings and rulers from their thrones by a higher power. In Genesis 3:15 God promises to bruise the head of Satan, remove his rule, his power and has done so by the coming of Christ and salvation from sin for mankind. We can also see that the prophet could very well be speaking of the coming of Christ instead of physical warfare.

v.14-15 “THOU DIDST STRIKE THROUGH WITH HIS STAVES THE HEAD OF THE VILLAGES: THEY CAME OUT AS A WHIRLWIND TO SCATTER ME: THEIR REJOICING was AS TO DEVOUR THE POOR SECRETLY. THOU DIDST WALK THROUGH THE SEA WITH THINE HORSES, through THE HEAP OF GREAT WATERS.”

The prophet continues his description of God’s power and might. Verse 15 refers again to the movement of the Israelite nation through the Red Sea.

Exodus 14:22 “AND THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL WENT INTO THE MIDST OF THE SEA UPON THE DRY ground; AND THE WATERS were A WALL UNTO THEM ON THEIR RIGHT HAND, AND ON THEIR LEFT.”

v.16 “WHEN I HEARD, MY BELLY TREMBLED; MY LIPS QUIVERED AT THE VOICE; ROTTENESS 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.”

In extremely vivid language Habakkuk describes his fear of the wrath of God and his sorrow that this wrath is to be visited upon Judah. Just looking at the phrases used: his belly trembled; we would call that butterflies in our stomach, a nervousness caused by fear. His lip quivered at the voice of God. Rottenness entering his bones tells of the physical weakness that he felt. In his fear, not only because of his direct interface with God but also because of that which was to befall Judah he petitioned God that he might have rest in this day of trouble; this day when God would come up against his people and invade them with the armies of Chaldea.

Read Habakkuk 3:17-19 – Habakkuk’s Faith

v.17-18 “ALTHOUGH THE FIG TREE SHALL NOT BLOSSOM, NEITHER shall FRUIT be IN THE VINES; THE LABOUR 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: YET I WILL REJOICE IN THE LORD, I WILL JOY IN THE GOD OF MY SALVATION.”

God had given Israel a land in which to live that yielded bountifully, that provided for their every need, and had blessed them beyond measure. Through a period of approximately 850 years, according to dating by Ussher, God had protected them from their enemies and cared for them. Now their land was to be devastated. In many of the prophecies we have studied it was declared that the fig trees would no longer bloom there, the vineyards would be destroyed, the olive groves that they would plant would yield their harvest to other peoples, their flocks and herds would feed the invading armies and those that were transplanted into the land. But Habakkuk is like Job who said it didn’t matter what troubles he faced he would not turn from God:

Job 13:14-15 “WHEREFORE DO I TAKE MY FLESH IN MY TEETH, AND PUT MY LIFE IN MINE HAND? THOUGH HE SLAY ME, YET WILL I TRUST HIM: BUT I WILL MAINTAIN MINE OWN WAYS BEFORE HIM.”

God is his, Job’s, and our God of salvation; salvation from our sins, salvation from a devil’s hell, salvation for eternity separated from God. It doesn’t matter what should befall us in this life. We should be like Isaiah wrote:

Isaiah 61:10 “I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.”

v.19 “THE LORD GOD IS MY STRENGETH, AND HE WILL MAKE MY FEET LIKE HIND’S feet, AND HE WILL MAKE ME TO WALK UPON MINE HIGH PLACES. TO THE CHIEF SINGER ON MY STRINGED INSTRUMENTS.”

Again we find words by Habakkuk that are very similar to those voiced by David in his psalm of praise and thanksgiving to God. Consequently we will end our study of this prophecy with the words of David:

Psalms 18:30-33 “As for GOD, HIS WAY is PERFECT: THE WORD OF THE LORD IS TRIED, HE is A BUCKLER TO ALL THOSE THAT TRUST IN HIM. FOR WHO is GOD SAVE THE LORD? OR WHO is A ROCK SAVE OUR GOD? It is GOD THAT GIRDETH ME WITH STRENGTH, AND MAKETH MY WAY PERFECT. HE MAKES MY FEET LIKE HIND’S feet, AND SETTETH ME UPON MY HIGH PLACES.” v.35 “THOU HAST ALSO GIVEN ME THE SHIELD OF THY SALVATION: AND THY RIGHT HAND HATH HOLDEN ME UP, AND THY GENTLENESS HATH MADE ME GREAT.”

William L. Schwegler, Sunset church of Christ, Shreveport, Louisiana; May 31, 2009