Habakkuk 3.6b-The Lord Jesus Christ Will Cause the Nations to Tremble with Fear at His Second Advent (Doctrinal Bible Church in Huntsville, Alabama)

Doctrinal Bible Church

Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom

Sunday January 7, 2024

Habakkuk: Habakkuk 3:6b-The Lord Jesus Christ Will Cause the Nations to Tremble with Fear at His Second Advent

Lesson # 44

Habakkuk 3:3 God will travel from Teman. Then, the Holy One will travel from Mount Paran. Selah. His majesty will cover the heavens so that His praise will certainly fill the earth. 4 In fact, His splendor will be like lightning. Flashing rays of light will come from His hand on His behalf. Indeed, there it covers His strength. 5 Plague will proceed from His presence. Correspondingly, pestilence will follow at His feet. 6 He will stand while He causes the earth to shake. He will look while He causes the citizens of the nations to tremble in fear while the ancient mountains will disintegrate. The primeval hills will be flattened. Ancient processions assist Him. (Pastor’s translation)

Now, the third statement recorded in Habakkuk 3:6 asserts that the Lord Jesus Christ at His Second Advent will look and the fourth statement coincides with the third and asserts that the Lord Jesus Christ will cause the citizens of the nations to tremble in fear at His Second Advent.

These two statements constitute the second prophetic statement in this verse.

So therefore, they reveal that when He returns to earth at His Second Advent, the Lord will strike them with great fear when He merely looks at them.

Of course, His enemies will be those who will be trembling with fear at His presence when He looks at them to destroy them.

Revelation 1:7 teaches that the people of the earth will mourn when the Lord Jesus Christ appears on planet earth at His Second Advent and this mourning will be that of His enemies because they will experience great fear because of His presence.

Revelation 1:7 (Look! He is returning with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all the tribes on the earth will mourn because of him. This will certainly come to pass! Amen.) (NET)

Now, the fifth statement recorded in Habakkuk 3:6 asserts that the ancient mountains will disintegrate.

This constitutes the third prophetic statement in this verse.

The sixth statement in this verse asserts that the primeval hills will be flattened and constitutes the fourth prophetic statement.

Both of these prophetic statements will find their fulfillment at the same time as the first two prophetic statements, namely at the Second Advent of Christ.

Therefore, this would indicate that while the Lord Jesus Christ is standing and causing the earth to shake while looking and causing the nations to tremble with fear, the ancient mountains will disintegrate, and the primeval hills will be flattened.

Revelation 6:14 teaches that when the sixth seal judgment is broken, every mountain will be moved from its place.

Also, Revelation 16:20 teaches that when the seventh bowl judgment takes place, it will result in the Second Advent of Jesus Christ and an unprecedented earthquake will occur so that the mountains cannot be found.

Revelation 6:12 Then I looked when the Lamb opened the sixth seal, and a huge earthquake took place; the sun became as black as sackcloth made of hair, and the full moon became blood red; 6:13 and the stars in the sky fell to the earth like a fig tree dropping its unripe figs when shaken by a fierce wind. 6:14 The sky was split apart like a scroll being rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved from its place. 6:15 Then the kings of the earth, the very important people, the generals, the rich, the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains. 6:16 They said to the mountains and to the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of the one who is seated on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb, 6:17 because the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to withstand it?” (NET)

The seventh and final bowl judgment is recorded in Revelation 16:17-21 and is poured out into the earth’s atmosphere resulting in an unprecedented earthquake, the greatest to ever take place on the earth since man has been on it.

As in the case of the final seal judgment and seventh and final trumpet judgment the seventh and final bowl judgment is introduced by the sound of voices, peals of thunder, lightning, and a great earthquake.

This massive world-wide earthquake will reduce the cities of the Gentiles to rubble and change the topography of the earth and will also result in tremendous tsunamis.

Also, the city of Babylon will be split into three parts as a result of this earthquake.

Some interpret this city to be Jerusalem.

However, Revelation 16:19 makes clear that this city will be Babylon since the cup of the wine of God’s fierce wrath is poured out on this city.

This city of Babylon located on the Euphrates River will be rebuilt and will be the capital of the final world government.

Revelation 16:17 Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl upon the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple from the throne, saying, “It is done.” 18 And there were flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder; and there was a great earthquake, such as there had not been since man came to be upon the earth, so great an earthquake was it, and so mighty. 19 The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. Babylon the great was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of His fierce wrath. 20 And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. 21 And huge hailstones, about one hundred pounds each, came down from heaven upon men; and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, because its plague was extremely severe. (NASB95)

The supernaturally formed huge hailstones that will weigh one hundred pounds each will destroy anything left standing from the earthquake and would no doubt kill or seriously injure those they hit.

Again, instead of this judgment leading to repentance and trust in Jesus Christ as Savior, the unsaved continue to blaspheme the person of God instead.

This seventh bowl judgment is reminiscent of the seventh plague in Egypt (Exodus 9:22-26).

Just as Pharaoh and the Egyptian leaders refused to humble themselves before the Lord and trust in Him, so the unsaved inhabitants of the earth during this seventh bowl judgment will do the same.

This seventh bowl judgment, which results in this unprecedented, massive world-wide earthquake completes God’s judgment program for the final three and a half years of Daniel’s Seventieth Week and will result in the Second Advent of Christ.

Satan’s masterpiece, his world-wide system is destroyed, reduced to rubble as a result of these seven bowl judgments.

So, at His “Second Advent,” the Lord Jesus Christ will bring to an end the Times of the Gentiles and the seventieth week of Daniel and thus the exercise of God’s righteous indignation during the last three and a half years of this seventieth week.

There will also be a national regeneration of the nation of Israel at the Second Advent.

He will also destroy the Tribulational armies, have Antichrist and the False Prophet thrown into the Lake of Fire (Rev. 19:11-19), will imprison Satan for a thousand years (Rev. 20:1-3) and will establish His millennial reign on planet earth (Rev. 20:4-6). At that time,

At that time, the Lord and His armies will orbit the earth before landing on the Mount of Olives, which was the site of His Ascension (Acts. 1:9-11).

There will be a great earthquake when our Lord’s foot touches the Mount of Olives (Zech. 14:1-8) and will be a unique day having neither day nor night (Zech. 14:7).

The Lord Jesus Christ describes the Tribulation period in detail and His Second Advent in Matthew 24:29-31 and Luke 21:25-28.