Habakkuk 3:10-Three More Prophetic Statements Regarding the Second Advent of Christ

Habakkuk 3:10 Having seen You, the mountains will tremble in fear. A torrential rain of waters will sweep through. The deep will raise its voice. It will lift its hands high. (My translation)

As we noted in our exegesis of Habakkuk 3:3-9, Habakkuk 3:3-19 is a prayer which the prophet Habakkuk offered up to the God of Israel, which he directed to be sung in the temple as part of the worship of the God of Israel.

We also noted in verses 3-9 that Habakkuk 3:3-15 is not only prophetic referring to the events of the seventieth week and Second Advent of Jesus Christ but are also alluding to the mighty acts of God which He performed on behalf of the nation of Israel in past history such as during Israel’s exodus from Egypt under Moses.

As we also noted in detail in our study of Habakkuk 3:3, I adhere to the eschatological interpretation of Habakkuk 3:3-15 in the sense that I interpret these verses as being fulfilled in the future during the seventieth week of Daniel and the Second Advent of Christ.

Now, Habakkuk 3:10 contains four more prophetic statements.

Each of these prophetic statements contain the figure of asyndeton which means that there is not a connective word between each of these statements and those preceding them.

The purpose of this figure is to emphasize the solemn nature of each of these prophetic statements.

Three of these prophetic statements are using the figure of personification, which is the ascribing of human characteristics to any inanimate object, abstract concept, or impersonal being or to animals.

The first prophetic statement solemnly asserts that the mountains will tremble in fear after having seen the Lord God of Israel, who is the Lord Jesus Christ.

This prophetic statement will be fulfilled at His Second Advent since Habakkuk 3:3-15 contains prophecy which will be fulfilled during the seventieth week of Daniel and the Second Advent of Jesus Christ.

The purpose of the figure of personification in this statement is to emphasize the tremendous power and presence of the Lord Jesus Christ when He returns to earth at His Second Advent.

This prophecy is related to the third prophetic statement in Habakkuk 3:6 which asserts that the ancient mountains will disintegrate.

Habakkuk 3:6 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. (My translation)

The fifth statement recorded in Habakkuk 3:6 asserts that the ancient mountains will disintegrate, which constitutes the third prophetic statement in this verse.

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.

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.

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.

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, 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.

Therefore, a comparison of the first prophetic statement in Habakkuk 3:10 with the third prophetic statement in Habakkuk 3:6 indicates that the mountains will tremble in fear after seeing Jesus Christ at His Second Advent because they were about to be disintegrated by the omnipotence of the Lord.

The second prophetic statement in Habakkuk 3:10 solemnly asserts that a torrential rain of waters will sweep through planet earth at the Second Advent of Jesus Christ.

This statement does not employ the figure of personification.

The third prophetic statement solemnly asserts that the deep will raise its voice.

It appears to be alluding to the worldwide flood which destroyed the Antediluvian civilization in the days of Noah (cf. Gen. 6:-9).

This interpretation is supported by the fact that the noun tehôm (תְּהוֹם), “the deep” here in Habakkuk 3:10 appears in the flood account in Genesis 7:11 and 8:2.

This third prophetic statement in Habakkuk 3:10 is related to the third and final prophetic statement in Habakkuk 3:9.

Habakkuk 3:9 Your bow will be removed from its sheath. Your arrows swore oaths to uphold Your command. Selah. You will cause the earth to be split open with rivers. (My translation)

As we noted in our study of this verse, the third and final prophetic statement recorded in Habakkuk 3:9 solemnly asserts that the Lord Jesus Christ will cause the earth to be split open with rivers.

In other words, it speaks of the Lord causing the earth to be flooded by causing rivers to overflow their banks.

However, this too is figurative language and here it is figurative language for the armies of the tribulation, which like rivers, will flood the earth.

This kind of language is used in Daniel 9:26.

Revelation 12:15 also uses this language of comparing armies at war to a flood in the natural realm.

Therefore, the third and final prophetic statement in Habakkuk 3:9 would indicate that the third prophetic statement in Habakkuk 3:10 is also prophetic and is also figurative language for the armies of the tribulation, which like rivers, will flood the earth and oppose the Lord Jesus Christ at His Second Advent.

This interpretation is further supported by the noun tehôm (תְּהוֹם) which not only pertains to an area below the surface of bodies of water, a dark, inaccessible, inexhaustible, and mysterious place controlled only by objects with vast powers[1] but also is an intense word.

It is also signifying “raging or chaotic mass of water convulsing,” and implies anything but peace and order and uniformity.

The anarthrous construction of the word emphasizes the chaotic nature of the deep which is symbolic of the enemies of the Lord Jesus Christ who will oppose Him at His Second Advent.

Therefore, the purpose of the figure of personification in this third statement is to emphasize the chaos which will ensue among the enemies of Jesus Christ when He returns to earth at His Second Advent.

The fourth and final prophetic statement recorded in Habakkuk 3:10 solemnly asserts that the deep will lift its hands high.

This is prophetic for the utter terror and panic, which the enemies of the Lord Jesus Christ will express when He returns to destroy them at His Second Advent.

Keil and Delitzsch write “The lifting up of the hands is not a gesture denoting either an oath or rebellion; but it is an involuntary utterance of terror, of restlessness, of anguish, as it were, with a prayer for help (Delitzsch).”[2]

The Net Bible writes “Lifting the hands here suggests panic and is accompanied by a cry for mercy (see Ps 28:2; Lam 2:19). The forces of chaos cannot withstand the Lord’s power revealed in the storm.”[3]

Therefore, the purpose of the figure of personification in this fourth statement is to emphasize the utter terror and panic which the enemies of Jesus Christ will express when He returns to earth at His Second Advent to destroy them.

Now, we must remember as we noted in our study of Habakkuk 3:9 that the purpose of the seven seal, trumpet and bowl judgments during the seventieth week of Daniel and the Second Advent of Jesus Christ is to imprison Satan and his angels for a thousand years, destroy Antichrist and the false prophet and defeat the tribulational armies and deliver regenerate Jews and Gentiles.

They are also designed of course to establish the Lord Jesus Christ’s millennial reign on the earth.

[1] Swanson, J. (1997). Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains : Hebrew (Old Testament) (electronic ed.). Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

[2] Keil, C. F., & Delitzsch, F. (1996). Commentary on the Old Testament (Vol. 10, pp. 423–424). Peabody, MA: Hendrickson.

[3] Biblical Studies Press. (2006). The NET Bible First Edition Notes (Hab 3:10). Biblical Studies Press.