Habakkuk 3:3 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.
4 And his brightness was as the light; he had horns coming out of his hand: and there was the hiding of his power.
5 Before him went the pestilence, and burning coals went forth at his feet.
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 are everlasting.
7 I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction: and the curtains of the land of Midian did tremble.
Teman was an Old Testament place that was close to Seir. Seir, and mount Paran are closely connected to Mount Sinai. Paran was a desert area. God is likely referring to the time when He gave the Law to Israel. We know that when God gave the law to Moses, that His glory covered the mountain. When Moses came down from the mount, he did not realize that his face shone and the people were afraid of him. He needed to cover his face to speak to the people, but when he went to speak to the LORD, he would remove the veil from his face.
In verse 4 we are given a further description of that time. The glory and holiness of God were on full display at that time. God was giving His law. The people needed to be in awe of Him. That meant they needed to see the imperative of obedience to God. We know that Aaron chose not to lead the people in the fear of the Lord. The people foolishly chose to listen to him rather than to the instructions that God had already given them.
The horns coming out of His hands are symbolic of God’s power. God’s hands are powerful all on their own. Then to have horns come out of those hands just accentuates that power even more. The horns would also be anchors to hold things. The point is that God revealed Himself in a way that should have encouraged the nation to bow before Him and to follow Him faithfully. Obviously God was directing Habakkuk to use symbolic language here to describe the greatness of the LORD.
In verse 5 we read that Habakkuk referred back to the plagues of Egypt. The pestilence was devastating to the nation of Egypt. The Hebrew word translated as “pestilence” is also translated as “murrain” in the fifth plague that God sent against Egypt in the time prior to the exodus. Even though the plagues were very devastating to Egypt, Pharaoh stubbornly persisted in his taunting of God. He knew his gods had no power. He taught the people to fear them. However, the Pharaoh would have had enough occasions to see that those gods were unable to help him. However, he would discover that the true God was not like his false gods. Those plagues devastated the land. The last one killed the Pharaoh’s firstborn son as well as all the firstborn sons of Egypt and even of their cattle. The Pharaoh then made the foolish choice of pursuing after Israel. He and his entire army perished in the Red Sea due to his stubbornness.
The use of the burning coals speaks to the holiness and judgment of the Lord. God sent lighting that ran along the ground and destroyed everything in its path. That was a picture of the holiness and power of the LORD as well. The magicians became quite impressed with what they witnessed. Yet the Pharaoh hardened himself.
In verse 5 we read further of the authority of the LORD. He measured the earth. He owns the earth. He looked to see how each nation was responding to His holiness. He divided the nations through language and also through power. God is capable of empowering one nation and weakening another. We have seen that in the Bible, and also in history since that time. Israel in particular has done amazing things when it comes to defending herself in spite of insurmountable odds. There is no other explanation for their survival except to exalt God for His protection over them.
God has sent earthquakes at different times to show His power. B.C. had an earthquake this past week. It is interesting to watch how the so called experts tried to explain the type of earthquake and the depth of it, etc. They are such fools. God is still warning us of His power. Man cannot make anything to withstand God’s judgment.
God can destroy a mountain. We know He did that during Noah’s flood. He tipped some of them on their side. He flattened others. It takes man a long time to even cut a path through a mountain. God can remove a mountain. He can also change the shape of a mountain, without any dynamite or any heavy equipment. He just sends an earthquake. God created the mountains and they are there at His command and they can be removed in the same manner.
God’s ways are everlasting. He is trustworthy. God is not unpredictable. There are people who look at the current president of the U.S. and they claim he is a man with a mental problem. Yet those same people never warned of the clear mental weakness of the last president. The wicked do not like a strong man unless he follows their agenda. The wicked are powerful. They hold the majority. However, they are not greater than the LORD. He still sets up kings and removes them.
In verse 7 Habakkuk mentioned the tents of Cushan. Cushan and Midian were in the same general area. They were in the region of Arabia. They were enemies of Israel. Yet they were nothing to the true God. He did not tremble at their presence. He did not run from them. He allowed them to exist and He even allowed them to benefit from the land they lived on.
God was revealing His greatness to Habakkuk. He needed a greater understanding of Who was in charge. He needed to reveal God’s greatness to the people. He needed to record that for future generations. We live in a time when the true God is being misrepresented in many ways. We need to get back to the Word of God and humbly submit to the true God. We need to be sure we know Him.
Today is the Lord’s Day. It is another opportunity given to us by God to meet together in a true local church. For the saints it is another opportunity to fellowship with the true God and the Lord Jesus Christ and with fellow saints. The lost need to attend a true church to hear the truth. People have time for all kinds of things. Most people take little interest in the health of their souls. The devil has been very successful in building a carelessness into the heart of man. God addressed this through the apostle Paul:
II Corinthians 4:3 But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:
4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
Be sure to attend a true church today. It will be the right place to be on the Lord’s Day.
Pastor Bartel
