Habakkuk 3:8-15
Notes
Transcript
Habakkuk 3:8-15
Habakkuk 3:8-15
Outline
Hab 1:1-4 - Habakkuk has gone to the Lord with a problem
Hab 1:5-11 - The Lord has responded with judgment is coming in the form of Babylon. This is in accordance with the covenants of God.
Hab 1:12-2:1 - Habakkuk then responds trying to reconcile the truth he knows and believes about God with what is coming in judgement and asks the Lord for help.
Hab 2:2-20 - From this point forward, there is great deviance of opinion.
The Lord has commanded Habakkuk specifically to write this down in a way that is understandable. He has then pointed that the response to what comes isn’t dependent upon Habakkuk’s understanding, but on how he responds to the Word of the Lord.
Then the Lord outlines the two responses to His revelation
The righteous one who lives by his faith
The proud one, the one who despises understanding who does not live by his faith
Then we get the explanation of the law for the people going into exile
Blessing comes from following the Lord
There is safety in dwelling with the Lord
God’s kingdom will be established
You are to Love your neighbor
You are to Love your God
Hab 3:1-2 - Habakkuk’s acceptance of the Lord’s vision “revive Your work”
Deep parallels with what the Lord said in Hab 1:5
Hab 3:3-7 - The Lord is coming!
We focused on God’s glory in unapproachable light as He proceeds forward.
Our hope is in the coming of the Lord!
This is true for Habakkuk and it is true for us!
Hab 3:8-15 continues Habakkuk’s song as we see what the Lord is marching towards in Habakkuk’s vision of the theophany of the Lord.
Before we dive in though, there is a point we briefly mentioned last week that I want to develop a little bit more regarding tenses in Hebrew, as I believe it is important for understanding our passage here in Habakkuk - I’m not an expert in Hebrew grammar, so please give me grace as I articulate what I have learned and continue to learn.
Habakkuk saw this vision before he wrote it down, so the vision has already happened. Yet the events described, may or may not have already occurred. Often times the Old Testament writers are not concerned with a chronological perspective of what is being written, especially in poetry. As such we will often see historical events placed next to future ones or current and ongoing events.
What this means for Habakkuk 3 is that there is not an emphasis on “when” the events described have or will take place. Hebrew language in general is not concerned with emphasizing the time in which an event took place. The past tense construal we read here is more of a statement of completeness than timing. It’s a statement of fact.
This is a difficult concept to grasp because it is so foreign compared to English, as we use a tense prominent language. The closest parallel I can come up with, is we might say “It’s a done deal” speaking of something in the future to emphasize our certainty about it. Because of how difficult this is to grasp in English, all of the verbs here are rendered in the past tense so that we can read it. Otherwise it would be so cumbersome we would struggle to put it together into an understandable thought.
In knowing this, I propose to you that the vision that Habakkuk has seen is of the future. He articulates this using allusions to Scripture and historical events and prophecy as the imagery used here flows throughout both testaments. Therefore today we will be surveying the historical references to the imagery used and their future fulfillment as we can see them.
Since we broke last week in the middle of Habakkuk’s hymn, let’s read our portion from last week together with today’s text before we begin:
3 God comes from Teman, And the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah. His splendor covers the heavens, And the earth is full of His praise.
4 His radiance is like the sunlight; He has rays flashing from His hand, And there is the hiding of His power.
5 Before Him goes pestilence, And plague comes after Him.
6 He stood and surveyed the earth; He looked and startled the nations. Yes, the perpetual mountains were shattered, The ancient hills collapsed. His ways are everlasting.
7 I saw the tents of Cushan under distress, The tent curtains of the land of Midian were trembling.
8 Did the Lord rage against the rivers, Or was Your anger against the rivers, Or was Your wrath against the sea, That You rode on Your horses, On Your chariots of salvation?
9 Your bow was made bare, The rods of chastisement were sworn. Selah. You cleaved the earth with rivers.
10 The mountains saw You and quaked; The downpour of waters swept by. The deep uttered forth its voice, It lifted high its hands.
11 Sun and moon stood in their places; They went away at the light of Your arrows, At the radiance of Your gleaming spear.
12 In indignation You marched through the earth; In anger You trampled the nations.
13 You went forth for the salvation of Your people, For the salvation of Your anointed. You struck the head of the house of the evil To lay him open from thigh to neck. Selah.
14 You pierced with his own spears The head of his throngs. They stormed in to scatter us; Their exultation was like those Who devour the oppressed in secret.
15 You trampled on the sea with Your horses, On the surge of many waters.
Let’s Pray
8 Did the Lord rage against the rivers, Or was Your anger against the rivers, Or was Your wrath against the sea, That You rode on Your horses, On Your chariots of salvation?
Habakkuk asks a question here, that doesn’t get answered until verse 13.
Previously Eloah (a poetic form of Elohim) and Holy One - Yahweh! - then moves to the second person solidifying the arrival of God.
Habakkuk transitions into recognizing the future of God’s covenantal promises!
As we mentioned last time, there is connection to Exodus within this hymn.
No doubt the mention of God’s wrath towards the rivers and the sea would have conjured up images of the Exodus:
Nile turned to blood
Red Sea parted
However, I’m not personally convinced that is what Habakkuk has seen:
3 The second angel poured out his bowl into the sea, and it became blood like that of a dead man; and every living thing in the sea died.
4 Then the third angel poured out his bowl into the rivers and the springs of waters; and they became blood.
8 Did the Lord rage against the rivers, Or was Your anger against the rivers, Or was Your wrath against the sea, That You rode on Your horses, On Your chariots of salvation?
Next we see the appearance of the Lord set upon horses with chariots.
Horses and chariots are used to signify battle array
15 Now when the attendant of the man of God had risen early and gone out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was circling the city. And his servant said to him, “Alas, my master! What shall we do?” 16 So he answered, “Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” 17 Then Elisha prayed and said, “O Lord, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.” And the Lord opened the servant’s eyes and he saw; and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.
15 For behold, the Lord will come in fire And His chariots like the whirlwind, To render His anger with fury, And His rebuke with flames of fire.
11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war.
Picture of Christ at the second advent
8 Did the Lord rage against the rivers, Or was Your anger against the rivers, Or was Your wrath against the sea, That You rode on Your horses, On Your chariots of salvation?
The final aspect of verse 8 that we want to mark is the transition that occurs in Habakkuk’s question.
He moves from rage, anger, and wrath to the content of salvation or deliverance.
This marks a huge shift in Habakkuk’s perspective as he now recognizes the Lord’s judgment as part of God’s salvific work, or more literally stated God’s deliverance.
From here the battle imagery is continued:
9 Your bow was made bare, The rods of chastisement were sworn. Selah. You cleaved the earth with rivers.
One commentary states that there are over a hundred explanations for this verse. Through the difficulty of translation, much is made of the phrase “made bare”
The following phrase, “the rods of chastisement were sworn” holds many different translations. In Hebrew this is a mere 3 words, all of which can have multiple meanings. Add this to the genre of poetry, and you have a field ripe with options to pick from.
Some say the rods are the arrows, others the spear, both are referenced later in 3:11.
Regardless of the varying translations of the words, what we do see is clear imagery.
The Lord has made ready His weapons.
The question remaining, against who?
Reminiscent of Deut 32:40-41
40 ‘Indeed, I lift up My hand to heaven, And say, as I live forever, 41 If I sharpen My flashing sword, And My hand takes hold on justice, I will render vengeance on My adversaries, And I will repay those who hate Me.
We spent some time here last week as a parallel to Hab 3:2-8 as the song of Moses.
9 Your bow was made bare, The rods of chastisement were sworn. Selah. You cleaved the earth with rivers.
Selah - as we discussed last time, escalation, added intensity
9 Your bow was made bare, The rods of chastisement were sworn. Selah. You cleaved the earth with rivers. 10 The mountains saw You and quaked; The downpour of waters swept by. The deep uttered forth its voice, It lifted high its hands. 11 Sun and moon stood in their places; They went away at the light of Your arrows, At the radiance of Your gleaming spear.
Once again we see the natural world in awe of the Lord.
Earth
Divided the earth with rivers
Mountains saw and quaked
Sea
Waters passed over their own way
Deep utters forth
Sky
Sun and Moon stood still
There is more imagery here than what we could cover in a Sunday, but I will call your attention to a few so you can read throughout this week in study.
The allusions to the creation account:
divided the earth from sea - Gen 1:7
the waters hovered over the deep - Gen 1:2
God “uttered” the sun and the moon in the expanse of the heavens - Gen 1.17
There are allusions to Sinai and the Exodus:
Sinai quaked (similar wording, not the same) - Ex 19:18
Deeps of Red Sea covered Pharoah and his army - Ex 15.5
There are allusions to the flood
the wind swept away the waters - Gen 8.1
the deep and the sky were closed - Gen 8.2
As we’ve discussed prior, we can see many allusions to Christ’s return
11 Sun and moon stood in their places; They went away at the light of Your arrows, At the radiance of Your gleaming spear.
The response of the Sun and the Moon at the coming of the Lord is to give up their function. They were created to provide light and govern the night and the day.
5 And there will no longer be any night; and they will not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illumine them; and they will reign forever and ever.
The Lord’s coming brings new order over all things
12 In indignation You marched through the earth; In anger You trampled the nations.
Indignation is not used often in Scripture and is almost exclusively used of the Lord or of a time of indignation with a couple of exceptions.
19 He said, “Behold, I am going to let you know what will occur at the final period of the indignation, for it pertains to the appointed time of the end.
Daniel marks a period of indignation in the end times
25 The Lord has opened His armory And has brought forth the weapons of His indignation, For it is a work of the Lord God of hosts In the land of the Chaldeans.
Jeremiah prophecies similarly against Babylon, potentially alluding to this very passage of Habakkuk.
12 In indignation You marched through the earth; In anger You trampled the nations.
Here we begin to see the target of the imagery, marching through the earth and trampling the nations.
Yet in this marking of indignation and anger, we see it transition to salvation as it did at the beginning of our section in 3:8.
13 You went forth for the salvation of Your people, For the salvation of Your anointed. You struck the head of the house of the evil To lay him open from thigh to neck. Selah.
We want to be careful of the baggage we carry with words here.
The first word is “anointed”
The word for anointed here is messiah in Hebrew, Christos in Greek
Before you start chasing that rabbit, let’s pause, because I do not think this is alluding to Jesus on the cross. For those reading ahead, let’s deal with the second half of this verse in a moment.
Messiah is used in the Old Testament of Kings, Priests, and in near association with Prophets.
It is often used of David and his line representative of the eternally promised Davidic King of united Israel.
We know from Scripture this eternal king to be Jesus, but Habakkuk doesn’t have a name.
As such, in this context, I think anointed is referential of the return of the future king of Israel, though not specific in nature, singular in person. This is used in parallel to “the people” drawing on the plurality of Israel and the singularity of it as a nation.
The second word is Salvation
We often associate this word with justification before God. When we see this word though, we should always ask “what are we being saved from or for?”.
It would be appropriate to substitute into that question deliverance for salvation.
“What are we being delivered from? What are we being delivered for?”
In the immediate context of Habakkuk, this is easy to answer. Judgment and captivity being brought through Babylon. In the context of the vision that Habakkuk has seen, deliverance from indignation, deliverance from wrath, deliverance from evil.
“You struck the head of the house of the evil To lay him open from thigh to neck.”
Reading on, some of you may have instantly noted a parallel between this verse and Genesis 3:15. Though the words are different in Hebrew, it does tie in to the fulfilled promise of Israel that this passage speaks of.
15 And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel.”
Protoevangelium - The first gospel
When we say that we often associate the gospel and this verse with Jesus death and resurrection on the cross, and that’s not wrong.
One will come who will restore right relationship with God that was lost at Adam’s sin in the garden, a return to garden state. Jesus has restored our ability to have right relationship with God - GOSPEL PRESENTATION
But I want to ask you a question, has Genesis 3:15 been fulfilled?
Certainly the “heel” of Eve has been struck in Jesus’ death
Has the serpents head been crushed?
We know from the great comment in Matthew 28 that all authority has already been given to Jesus.
I would propose to you that the complete fulfillment of this has not been accomplished it, nor will it be until the end of the millennial kingdom that we see in Rev 20.
13 You went forth for the salvation of Your people, For the salvation of Your anointed. You struck the head of the house of the evil To lay him open from thigh to neck. Selah.
In the same way that “anointed” is a singular used indicative of the future of Israel, the head of the house of evil is as well. We could loosely state it as wicked people.
Selah! - add intensity
14 You pierced with his own spears The head of his throngs. They stormed in to scatter us; Their exultation was like those Who devour the oppressed in secret. 15 You trampled on the sea with Your horses, On the surge of many waters.
Spears is the same word as in 3:9 for Rods
Throngs here could also mean warriors in this context
You slayed the head of his warriors
Here the hymn ends with a description reminiscent of God’s description of the one who despises understanding in the warnings of chapter 2.
Those who scattered us
Those who devour the oppressed in secret
Those who despise understanding
15 You trampled on the sea with Your horses, On the surge of many waters.
He closes mirroring the imagery of 3:8 with the sea, the waters and the image of God riding on horses for the deliverance of His people!
So what do we do with a passage like this?
If we look at our Bible, we know what happens to Judah. Babylon and the Medes come and carry them away into exile for 70 years. This is the timeframe prophesied by Jeremiah and recognized by Daniel. Cyrus does release Israel to go back to their land and Babylon and Median are ultimately conquered as nations, but not in a manner consistent with the description here in Habakkuk 3.
We also want to recognize that there are two responses to the vision, one who will live by his faith, and one who despises understanding.
As this is the same song we were in last week, the major theme here is the same one we ended with last time:
Hope is in the coming of the Lord
Now I want to clarify this point:
Hope is not in the coming of the Lord for justification
Justification is by faith alone and is guaranteed and secure at the moment of belief
So Habakkuk doesn’t need hope for this, it is something that he already possesses
Hope is in the coming of the Lord for deliverance
For Habakkuk, this would be understood as hope for deliverance from Babylon but looking to ultimate hope in the coming of the Lord.
For us:
regardless of circumstance
regardless of persecution as we heard from our brother in Pakistan last week
regardless of the problems and struggles you encounter today and tomorrow
Our hope, our deliverance, is in the coming of the Lord!
Let’s Pray!
