In this final chapter, we read Habakkuk’s prayer in the form of a song, where he asks God to intervene in the affairs of the nations. It’s taken some time, but he finally understands, as much as humanly possible, that God is actually working in and amongst the nations for the benefit of His own people. In his prayer, he basically asks God to go ahead and do what needs to be done.
No one knows what the word ‘Shigionoth’, Habakkuk 3:1, actually means, but some believe it’s referring to some kind of musical instrument or musical term with the idea of a wild dance rhythm, Habakkuk 3:19 / Psalms 7:1.
Standing in awe of God certainly brings about fear, which in turn should bring about obedience. This was the main problem the nation of Israel had; they lacked a fear of the Lord, and as a result of having no fear, they got involved in all kinds of evil, including idolatry.
In fact, they had strayed so far away from the Lord that it forced God to discipline His people by sending them into captivity so that when they were freed from captivity, He could fulfil the blessing He promised Abraham, Genesis 12:1-3.
Habakkuk asks God to remember those who would come out of captivity, Habakkuk 3:2, and hence asks God to be merciful towards them. Even though God acts in judgment, we can always be sure His judgment comes with mercy.
In the KJV, we find the word ‘selah’ in Habakkuk 3:3 / Habakkuk 3:9 / Habakkuk 3:13. This word in the psalms means to pause, and it corresponds with Habakkuk 3:19. This is a song of past glories, things God has done for His people in the past.
This is Habakkuk responding to God’s second answer: the unrighteousness within God’s people must be taken care of. He sees that God will take care of all the evil he sees in the country.
Notice that God is pictured as coming from Teman and Paran to deliver His people, and His glory covered the heavens, and his praise filled the earth, Habakkuk 3:3 / Deuteronomy 33:2-4.
Barnes, in his commentary, says the following concerning Teman and Paran.
‘It was in this area that Israel experienced the redemptive grace of God, entered into a covenant relationship with him, and it was also in these districts that some of the unbelieving generation perished.’
God’s glory was like the sunrise, and his rays flashed from His hand, Habakkuk 3:4 / Exodus 34:29-30 / Exodus 34:35. The word ‘rays’ in Hebrew is actually the word horn. Despite His glory being so powerful, most of it remained hidden, Habakkuk 3:4.
Plague went before Him and pestilence followed His steps, Habakkuk 3:5 / Exodus 9:9. He comes in a great storm cloud, and when the earth sees Him coming, they shake and tremble, and the ancient mountains crumbled, Habakkuk 3:6. The KJV tells us that God ‘measured the earth’.
Coffman, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Some thirty-two kingdoms of Canaan were defeated in order for God to repopulate the land with Israel. God’s standing and measuring the earth appears to be a reference to the deliberate purpose and full intention before the event to remove the Canaanites and settle Israel in their place.’
Notice the reference to the age-old hills collapsed, but He marches on forever, Habakkuk 3:6.
Deane, in his commentary, says the following.
‘This means, ‘As God acted of old, so he acts now. The ancient ways of acting are His, Proverbs 31:27.’
Habakkuk saw the tents of Cushan in distress, and the dwellings of Midian in anguish, Habakkuk 3:7.
Constable, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Habakkuk saw the semi-nomadic Ethiopians and Midianites, who lived on both sides of Mt. Sinai, trembling with fear because they witnessed something of Yahweh’s power. The terms Midianite and Cushite both described Moses’ wife, Exodus 2:16-22 / Exodus 18:1-5 / Numbers 12:1, so they may be synonyms here. Perhaps this is a reference to Yahweh parting the Red Sea. It is small wonder that these tribes trembled since His glance can cause mountains to melt, Habakkuk 3:6.’
Habakkuk asks God if He was angry with the rivers? Was His wrath against the streams? Habakkuk 3:8. The answer to both of these questions is that God was angry with the sins of people, not the actual rivers and streams.
This is possibly referring to the parting of the Red Sea, and or the crossing of the Jordon, Exodus 14 / Joshua 3, but whatever it’s speaking about, it’s pointing to God’s power.
Did you rage against the sea when you rode your horses and your chariots to victory? Habakkuk 3:8. This is a reference to Pharaoh leading his horsemen into the Red Sea to catch the Israelites; it was actually God who was riding upon the horses, Exodus 14:26-28 / Hebrews 11:29, and his chariots were his angels.
The clouds are the chariots of the Lord, Psalms 104:3, and angels are sometimes signified by horses and chariots, Psalms 18:10 / Psalm 68:17 / 2 Kings 2:11 / 2 Kings 6:17.
Constable, in his commentary, says the following.
‘In Canaanite mythology, Baal had confronted the personified god Yam (sea), alternatively called Judge River. Israel borrowed this motif but dropped any idea that natural phenomena are personified deities. Yahweh is presented as having engaged in combat with the sea at creation or at other unspecified periods, Job 26:12-13 / Psalms 29 / Psalms 89:9-10.’
God uncovered His bow and called for many arrows, Deuteronomy 32 / Psalms 7:12 / Jeremiah 47:6-7, and He split the earth with rivers, Habakkuk 3:9.
Robertson, in his commentary, says the following.
‘God had enlisted weapons and pledged them on oath for the destruction of his enemies.’
Notice how Habakkuk personifies the mountains and describes them as shaking when they saw the Lord, Habakkuk 3:10 / Isaiah 37:23 / Isaiah 40:26. Torrential rain swept by, Genesis 7:11 / Genesis 7:19-20, and the sea lifts up its hands, Psalms 77:15-17 / Psalms 77:19.
The calamitous picture of the natural world Habakkuk gives us depicts the greatness of God. In other words, if God’s coming causes so much calamity, then He’s more than capable of delivering His people in the future.
The sun and moon stood still in the heavens at the glint of His flying arrows, at the lightning of His flashing spear, Habakkuk 3:11 / Deuteronomy 32:23 / Deuteronomy 32:42.
This could be a possible reference to Joshua 10:1-15, when time stopped for Joshua so he could win the battle. Again, this is pointing to God’s power, and if God did that back then, then He could do it again. In His wrath, God strode through the earth and in anger He threshed the nations, Habakkuk 3:12.
Coffman, in his commentary, says the following.
‘This verse is clearly a direct reference to the displacement of the kingdoms of Canaan in order for Israel to be settled in the land they formerly occupied, that being the most prominent example in all history of God’s ‘threshing the nations in anger.’
Barnes, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The word ‘tread’ is used of very solemn manifestations of God, Judges 5:4 / Psalms 68:8, of the procession of the ark, 2 Samuel 6:13. It is denied as to the idols, Jeremiah 10:5, of His going to give to His own victory over their enemies Not the land only, as of old, but the earth is the scene of His judgments; the earth which was ‘full of His praise,’ which He ‘meted out’, Habakkuk 3:3 / Habakkuk 3:6, which contained the nations whom He chastened, the whole earth.’
God came out to deliver His people and to save His anointed one. He crushed the leader of the land of wickedness and stripped him from head to foot, Habakkuk 3:13.
Clarke, in his commentary, says the following concerning the anointed one.
‘Joshua is undoubtedly meant, who was God’s instrument to put the people in possession of Canaan’
Some commentators suggest that the ‘anointed one’ is a reference to Christ. Some commentators suggest that the words ‘crushed the leader’, Habakkuk 3:13, are a reference to what Jesus was going to do to Satan at the cross, Genesis 3:15.
Constable, in his commentary, says the following.
‘This may refer to Moses in his battles with Israel’s enemies, or it may refer to a coming anointed one: Cyrus, Isaiah 45:1, or Messiah, Psalms 2:2 / Daniel 9:26, or more than one of these.’
With God’s spear, He pierced his head when his warriors stormed out to scatter us, gloating as though about to devour the wretched who were in hiding, Habakkuk 3:14.
Barnes, in his commentary, says the following.
‘When the Midianites and Amalekites and the children of the east, Judges 6:3-4, wasted Israel in the days of Gideon ‘the Lord set every man’s sword against his fellow, even throughout all the host’, Judges 7:22, and when God delivered the Philistines into the hand of Jonathan, 1 Samuel 14:12 / 1 Samuel 14:16 / 1 Samuel 14:20, so it was with ‘Ammon Moab and the inhabitants of Mount Seir,’ at the prayer of Jehoshaphat and his army, 2 Chronicles 20:22-23.’
Clarke, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The Hebrew will bear this sense: ‘Thou hast pierced amidst their tribes the head of their troops,” referring to Pharaoh and his generals, who came like a whirlwind to fall upon the poor Israelites, when they appeared to be hemmed in by sea, and no place for their escape. If we follow the common reading, it seems to intimate that the troops of Pharaoh, in their confusion (for God shone out upon them from the cloud) fell foul of each other; and with their staves, or weapons, slew one another: but the head of the villages or towns, i.e., Pharaoh, was drowned with his army in the Red Sea.’
Again, some commentators suggest that the words ‘pierced his head’ are a reference to what Jesus was going to do to Satan at the cross, Genesis 3:15 / Hebrews 2:14.
He trampled the sea with His horses, churning the great waters, Habakkuk 3:15, which may be a reference to the events of Exodus 14:19-20 / Isaiah 63:13 / Zechariah 10:11 / Exodus 15:8 / Psalms 78:13. Habakkuk envisions what it will be like when the Babylonians attack the Israelites, Habakkuk 3:16.
Notice his response to all this was so great that his ‘heart pounded’, his ‘lips quivered,’ ‘decay crept into his bones’, and ‘his legs trembled,’ Habakkuk 3:16. In other words, he was overwhelmed and in awe of God’s power, to the point of collapsing mentally and no doubt spiritually.
If God’s presence can cause such disturbance in the things that He created, then certainly He can control all that man does on the earth. Habakkuk learned to trust God and wait patiently for Him to work things out for the benefit of His people, Habakkuk 3:16.
Constable, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Having been reminded of the infinitely more powerful Yahweh, he had nothing more to say, Job 42:1-6. God would handle the Babylonians. All Habakkuk had to do was wait.’
Amidst all the turmoil and trouble, there is some kind of comfort for God’s people. God is in control. God would send them into captivity, but God will free them later, only after they have been disciplined and learned from their mistakes.
This is what Habakkuk has concluded.
1. Babylon will judge Judah.
2. If God is behind Babylon, then Judah will need help, salvation.
3. Only God can help Judah.
As we come to the end of the book, we can’t help but notice the difference in Habakkuk’s thinking, Psalms 18:46 / Psalms 25:5. It’s clear his faith in God is growing despite the circumstances, Philippians 4:4 / 1 John 5:4.
What Habakkuk is describing here is what the land looked like when the Babylonians went around invading the nations, Lamentations 2:12 / Lamentations 2:20 / Lamentations 4:4 / Lamentations 4:9-10 / Lamentations 5:17-18.
People would starve, people would die because of them, and they would leave the land in such a condition that it would be impossible for anyone to live there anymore, Habakkuk 3:17.
Bruce, in his commentary, says the following.
‘It is right and proper to voice appreciation of God’s goodness when he bestows all that is necessary for life, health, and prosperity. But when these things are lacking, to rejoice in God for his own sake is evidence of pure faith.’
But even still, Habakkuk will rejoice in the Lord and be joyful, Habakkuk 3:18 / Job 13:15 / Daniel 3:18. He will remain faithful to God and rely on God’s strength instead of his own, Habakkuk 3:19.
The ‘feet of a deer’ Habakkuk 3:19, is probably the most skilled feet in the animal world when we think about the terrain, they live in. Habakkuk now believes that no matter how hard things get, no matter how rough his circumstances feel, he won’t fall and stumble to the ground. His faith is now totally in God.
Wiersbe, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Habakkuk teaches us to face our doubts and questions honestly, take them humbly to the Lord, wait for His Word to teach us, and then worship Him no matter how we feel or what we see.’
God’s patience with Habakkuk is very humbling. He allowed him to grow in his faith and taught him to be patient. As Christians, we often think that some Christians aren’t growing, but some Christians take a little longer than others, and some can only digest a little of God’s Word at a time. We too must be patient with them, as God is with us, as we all have a lot of growing to do, 2 Peter 3:18.
If we learn anything from Habakkuk, it’s this: although at first, He didn’t understand why God could use an evil nation like Babylon to punish His own people, he went on to see the bigger picture. Judah needed to be disciplined for her unfaithfulness, and God was going to use the Babylonians to carry this out.
They needed to learn from their past mistakes so that God would later free them from their captivity. It’s interesting because Israel never committed idolatry again after they were freed from captivity.
When Habakkuk finally understood what God was doing and why, he had peace of mind and would go on to rely on God for the rest of his life. For Habakkuk, faith really was his victory, 1 John 5:4.