Habakkuk 3:15-The Lord Jesus Christ Will Destroy the Unrepentant Gentile Nations at His Second Advent

Habakkuk 3:15 You will certainly trample the sea, the raging, great waters, with Your horses. (Author’s translation)

Habakkuk 3:15 brings to a close a poetic and prophetic section of Habakkuk chapter three, which began in Habakkuk 3:3.

I believe that Habakkuk 3:3-15 is not only prophetic but also echoes the mighty acts of the Lord in the Old Testament on behalf of the nation of Israel in her past.

Now, Habakkuk 3:15 contains a solemn poetic, prophetic statement which asserts that the Lord Jesus Christ will trample the seas, the great, raging waters with His horses.

This is a figurative reference to the Lord Jesus Christ destroying the unregenerate Gentile peoples and nations during the last three and a half years of the seventieth week of Daniel and His Second Advent as a figurative extension of a horse trampling on something much less powerful than itself.

The articular masculine singular form of the noun yām (יָם) literally means “the sea” since the word pertain to a large body of salt water partially enclosed by land.

Thus, it literally refers to the various bodies of salt water on planet earth in contrast to land.

This would refer to the oceans.

However, the word is used here in a figurative sense for the unregenerate Gentile nations of the earth.

Like the noun yām (יָם), “the seas,” the word mǎ·yim (מַיִם), “the waters” is used here in a figurative sense for the unregenerate Gentile nations of the earth for the same reason as the former.

This interpretation is supported by the fact that Habakkuk 3:3-15 is prophetic of the events of the seventieth week of Daniel and Second Advent of Jesus Christ, which we have noted many times.

So therefore, the sea is being personified representing the unregenerate Gentile nations who will attack Jesus Christ at His Second Advent.

Furthermore, the sea in Revelation 13:1 is also a figurative reference to the unregenerate Gentiles nations which will exist during the seventieth week of Daniel and Second Advent of Jesus Christ, which is indicated by Revelation 17:15.

Revelation 13:1 And the dragon stood on the sand of the seashore. Then I saw a beast coming up out of the sea, having ten horns and seven heads, and on his horns were ten diadems, and on his heads were blasphemous names. (NASB95)

Revelation 17:15 And he said to me, “The waters which you saw where the harlot sits are peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues.” (NASB95)

The “sea” in Revelation 13:1 refers to the Gentile nations according to Revelation 17:15 indicating that this beast is a Gentile kingdom and the “ten horns” refers to the ten nation European Confederacy according to Daniel 7:7, which is the revived form of the Roman Empire.

This beast represents the Revived Form of the Roman Empire because it corresponds to both the feet of iron and clay in the image that appeared in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream in Daniel 2:40-43.

It also corresponds to the ten horns in Daniel’s vision recorded in Daniel 7:7, both of which as we noted represented the Roman Empire.

Also, Antichrist will be a Gentile since he arises from the sea according to Revelation 13:1 and since the sea depicts the Gentile nations according to Revelation 17:15, he must be of Gentile origin.

He will arise from the Roman Empire, since he is a ruler of the people who destroyed Jerusalem (Dan. 9:26).

In Habakkuk 3:15, the expression ḥōmer mayim rabbîm (חֹ֖מֶר מַ֥יִם רַבִּֽים), “raging, great waters” is in apposition to the prepositional phrase bayyām (בַיָּ֖ם), “the sea.”

This means that the former defines specifically for the reader the referent of the latter, which we noted is a figurative reference to the unrepentant, unregenerate Gentile nations and peoples on the earth during the seventieth week of Daniel and Second Advent of Jesus Christ.

Therefore, this appositional clause is describing these unrepentant, unregenerate Gentile nations and peoples on the earth during the seventieth week of Daniel and Second Advent of Jesus Christ as raging against themselves, the nation of Israel and the Lord Himself.

The expression sûsêkā (סוּסֶ֑יךָ), “Your horses” is an instrumental of means indicating that by means of His horses, the Lord Jesus Christ will trample the unrepentant, unregenerate Gentile nations and peoples during the seventieth week of Daniel and His Second Advent.

However, as was the case in Habakkuk 3:8 and Revelation 19:11, the horses here in Habakkuk 3:15 are not literal but figurative because the language is poetic and apocalyptic.

Habakkuk 3:8 Is the Lord angry with rivers? Is your anger against these rivers? Is your wrath against the sea so that you ride on your horses, your chariots of deliverance? (My translation)

Revelation 19:11 I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and wages war. (NIV)

J. Dwight Pentecost writes, “The Greek word apokalypsis, from which comes the English “apocalypse,” means an unveiling, a disclosing, or a revelation. Though all Scripture is revelation from God, certain portions are unique in the form by which their revelations were given and in the means by which they were transmitted. literature in the Bible has several characteristics: (1) In literature a person who received God’s truths in visions recorded what he saw. (2) literature makes extensive use of symbols or signs. (3) Such literature normally gives revelation concerning God’s program for the future of His people Israel. (4) Prose was usually employed in literature, rather than the poetic style which was normal in most prophetic literature. In addition to Daniel and Revelation, literature is found in Ezekiel 37-48 and Zechariah 1:7-7:8. In interpreting visions, symbols, and signs in literature, one is seldom left to his own ingenuity to discover the truth. In most instances an examination of the context or a comparison with a parallel biblical passage provides the Scriptures’ own interpretation of the visions or the symbols employed. literature then demands a careful comparison of Scripture with Scripture to arrive at a correct understanding of the revelation being given.”[1]

Apocalyptic literature in the Bible uses symbols to describe literal persons and events.

For instance, in Revelation 19:15, the Lord is described as a having a sharp sword coming from His mouth.

This is not literal but figurative language.

In the same way, when Habakkuk 3:8 describes Jesus Christ as riding on His horse-drawn chariot or riding on His white horse in Revelation 19:11, both Habakkuk and the apostle John are using apocalyptic language to describe His Second Advent when He destroys His enemies.

He will not be riding literally on a white horse or a horse-driven chariot.

The white horse symbolized in the ancient victory or conquest of one’s enemies.

Thus, the language in both passages is emphasizing with the reader that the Lord will literally wage war against His enemies and will be victorious over them.

So therefore, the reference to the Lord Jesus Christ riding on a white horse in Revelation 19:11 and riding on a horse-driven chariot in Habakkuk 3:8 as well as riding on a horse in Habakkuk 3:15 is apocalyptic language.

However, the horses are symbolic of a real mode of transportation the Lord Jesus Christ will employ when He leaves the throne room of God and returns to earth at His Second Advent.

What that mode of transportation will literally be, the Word of God does not say?

Here in the twenty-first century, we could say that the horses and the chariots are symbolic language for some type of vessel or craft that can travel through space and fly through the earth’s atmosphere.

Or it could be something altogether different since this is all speculation.

[1] Walvoord, J. F., Zuck, R. B., & Dallas Theological Seminary. (1983-). Vol. 1: The Bible knowledge commentary : An exposition of the scriptures (1323). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.