Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Pt. 4 Habakkuk 3.1-15 - The Prophet’s Prayer - 090308AM@TBC




Review and Overview
1 Segway
     Habakkuk

2 Background
A. Title - “an oracle” that was “a burden”   (1:1)
B. Timing   Manasseh, Josiah, or Jehoiakim
Clues (1:2, 5, 6 & 3:19)
1.5 a work, which you will not believe…utterly astounding...
1.6 Chaleans, which marches through the breadth of the earth
3.19 To the chief Musician.
           Geography and History of Habakkuk’s Time
620 BC—Babylon (Chaldeans) becomes independent
612 BC—Babylonians and Medes destroy Nineveh
609 BC—Babylonians defeat the Assyrians at Haran
605 BC—Babylonians defeat Necho II of Egypt at Carchemish
605 BC—Jerusalem defeated and exile begins (Daniel)
597 BC—Jerusalem defeated (Ezekiel probably taken Ez 1.2)
588-86 BC—Jerusalem burned & temple 
2. Early in the Babylonian rise to power (625-612 BC)C. Overview of Habakkuk series
1.1-11  “The Prophet’s Plea” -
1st prayer & God’s response
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.12-2.4 “The Prophet’s Puzzle” -
2nd prayer & God’s response
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2.5-20  “Prophet’s Pronouncement” -
The five “woes” pronounced
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.1-16  “The Prophet’s Prayer” -
Prayer in response to God
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.16-19  “The Prophet’s Praise” -
The chorus or closing hymn
 
D. Review
1.
 1.1-11  “The Prophet’s Plea”
1st prayer and God’s response
Habakkuk: Why don’t You do something about Judah’s wickedness?  (2-4)
God: I am going to use the Chaldeans to punish Judah.
(5-11)
 Application:  Acts 13.40-41“Beware therefore”
Paul uses Habakkuk to warn against presumption and complacency. 

2.
 1.12-2.4 “The Prophet’s Puzzle”
2nd prayer and response
Habakkuk: Why do You look and hold Your tongue?
God: The appointed time is coming. The Just shall live by faith.
 Application:  “The just shall live by faith.”
Romans 1:17; Galatians 3:11; Hebrews 10:38

3.
 2.5-20  “Prophet’s Pronouncement” The five “woes” pronounced
Introduction
Woe #1 - Ambition
Woe #2 - Greed
Woe #3 - Violence
Woe #4 - Contempt for others
Woe #5 – Idolatry/Self trust
  Big Idea: God will certainly punish the sins of unbelief and  pride.

 3. Overview
3.1-16  “The Prophet’s Prayer” -
Prayer in response to God

1. Title
2. Prayer
3. Theophany
A. Display of God's Glory   1-6
B. Demonstration of God's Wrath   7-11
C. Deliverance of God's People  12-15

 Big Idea:     
The God Who worked in history is not finished .

44. Stand, Read text, and Pray
      Habakkuk 3:1-16 (nkjv)

1 A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet, on Shigionoth.
2 O LORD, I have heard Your speech and was afraid;
O LORD, revive Your work in the midst of the years!
In the midst of the years make it known;
In wrath remember mercy.
3 God came from Teman,
The Holy One from Mount Paran. 
Selah 
His glory covered the heavens,
And the earth was full of His praise.
4 His brightness was like the light;
He had rays flashing from His hand,
And there His power was hidden.
5 Before Him went pestilence,
And fever followed at His feet.
6 He stood and measured the earth;
He looked and startled the nations.
And the everlasting mountains were scattered,
The perpetual hills bowed.
His ways are everlasting.
7 I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction;
The curtains of the land of Midian trembled.
8 O LORD, were You displeased with the rivers,
Was Your anger against the rivers,
Was Your wrath against the sea,
That You rode on Your horses,
Your chariots of salvation?
9 Your bow was made quite ready;
Oaths were sworn over Your arrows.
Selah  

You divided the earth with rivers.
10 The mountains saw You and trembled;
The overflowing of the water passed by.
The deep uttered its voice,
And lifted its hands on high.

11 The sun and moon stood still in their habitation;
At the light of Your arrows they went,
At the shining of Your glittering spear.

12 You marched through the land in indignation;
You trampled the nations in anger.
13 You went forth for the salvation of Your people,
For salvation with Your Anointed.
You struck the head from the house of the wicked,
By laying bare from foundation to neck.  
Selah  
14 You thrust through with his own arrows
The head of his villages.
They came out like a whirlwind to scatter me;
Their rejoicing was like feasting on the poor in secret.

15 You walked through the sea with Your horses,
Through the heap of great waters.


 1. Title
1 A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet, on Shigionoth.
& the term Selah
prophet  ...that is may not be regarded as a lyrical effusion of the subjective emotions, whishes, and hopes of a member of the congregation, but may be recognized as a production of the prophets, enlightened by the Sprit of Jehovah, the name of the author is given with the predicate "the prophet" 
—C.F. Keil in Commentary of the OT in Ten Volumes
Shigionoth
ylt—concerning erring ones; nlt—was sung;
all others—Shigionoth
kjv—upon; nasb, esv—according to; nkjv, niv—on;
“probably denotes an emotional, passionate hymn from the word shgh, “to go astray, err, sin” (Lev. 4:13), “be intoxicated with love, reel with emotion: (Prov. 5:19-20).  
——Merrill Unger in Unger’s Commentary on the OT
a song delivered in the greatest excitement, or with a rapid change of emotion
——C.F. Keil in Commentary of the OT in Ten Volumes

The precise meaning of the phrase are uncertain; its characteristics in Psalm 7 suggest that, as a musical genre, it constitutes a vehement cry for justice against sin.
——Carl Armerding in  the Expositor’s Bible Commentary
after the manner of a stormy, martial, and triumphal ode        ——Schmieder

Selah
seventy-one times in thirty-nine Psalms
Its meaning has been obscure to translators since early times; its exclusive association with psalmic literature suggests that it had a liturgical function, possibly relating to music or prayer in the temple worship.   
——Carl Armerding in  the Expositor’s Bible Commentary
"The word probably signified elevatio, from sâlâh=sâlal, and was intended to indicate the strengthening of the musical accompaniment…"  
——C.F. Keil in Commentary of the OT in Ten Volumes
Selah is to call attention to what has been said.  J.V. McGee
 2. Prayer
2 O LORD, I have heard Your speech and was afraid;
O LORD, revive Your work in the midst of the years!
In the midst of the years make it known;
In wrath remember mercy.

a. He was moved by God's Words
was afraid ary 03372 TWOT - 907,908 Yare' yaw-ray' (Qal)  1. to fear, be afraid  2. to stand in awe of, be awed  3. to fear, reverence, honour, respect     "am alarmed" ——C.F.Keil
ylt, kjv, nkvafraid; nasb, esvfear; niv, nltstand in/filled with) awe
We are so unmoved today often because we have not taken time to really take in God's words and reflect on them as Habakkuk did.  Notice how he was affected by what God had said.

b. He desired to see God work
revive Your work  חיה  H2421 twot 644 chayah khä·yä'  to live, to be restored to life or health

Habakkuk longs that God's powerful work in the past should be seen in his own day…     —Jonathan Lamb in From Why to Worship

— “O Lord, revive thy work [Thy work of grace to Thy people, Israel, and judgment upon their enemies] in the midst of the years [of disaster that we face under Thy chastening hand and at the hand of the cruel Chaldean]”

In wrath (envisioning the years of the Exile in Babylon)
remember mercy (răhēm, “compassion” Num.14:19; 2 Sam. 24:15-17; Isa. 54:8).  
——Merrill Unger in Unger’s Commentary on the OT
c. He understood God's character and God's will
The balance between mercy and wrath.
Wrath and mercy are found right at the heart of the Christian gospel.    —Jonathan Lamb in From Why to Worship
The essence of prayer is to plead God's character… —Jonathan Lamb in From Why to Worship

Exodus 34
6 And the LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, 7 keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation.”
Romans 11
22 Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, …

 APPLICATION:

to know God’s character
to know God’s will
to pray for His will
          instead of our wants.
 
Luke 22:24
Luke 22:42   ...not My will, but Yours, be done.”

When it comes to knowing God we are a culture of the spiritually stunted. So much of our religion is packaged to address our felt needs—and these are almost uniformly anchored in our pursuit of our own happiness and fulfillment. We are not captivated by his holiness and love; his thoughts and words capture too little of our imagination, too little of our discourse, too few of our priorities."
 ——D.A. Carson in A Call to Spiritual Reformation p. 15
 Theophany:
 Theophany: a visible (but not necessarily material) manifestation of a deity to a human person 
"theophany." WordNet® 3.0. Princeton University.

  3. Theophany
A. Display of God's glory   1-7
B. Demonstration of God's Wrath   8-11
C. Deliverance of God's People  12-15

"...the prophets generally were accustomed to describe the divine revelations of the future under the form of imagery drawn from the acts of God in the past." 
——C.F. Keil in Commentary of the OT in Ten Volumes

God is spoken of in third person. verses 3-6

The giving of law at Mt. Sinai and Egyptian plagues are pictured.

3 God came from Teman,
The Holy One from Mount Paran. 
Selah 
His glory covered the heavens,
And the earth was full of His praise.
4 His brightness was like the light;
He had rays flashing from His hand,
And there His power was hidden.
5 Before Him went pestilence,
And fever followed at His feet.
6 He stood and measured the earth;
He looked and startled the nations.
And the everlasting mountains were scattered,
The perpetual hills bowed.
His ways are everlasting.
7 I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction;
The curtains of the land of Midian trembled.
Display of God's glory   1-7

1. God's glory recalled  (at Mt. Sinai)
3 God came from Teman,
The Holy One from Mount Paran.  Selah 
His glory covered the heavens,
And the earth was full of His praise.
3.3
Terman
The name of a district and town in the land of Edom, named after Teman the grandson of Esau, the son of his firstborn, Eliphaz (Genesis 36:11; 1 Chronicles 1:36). In Ezekiel 25:13 desolation is denounced upon Edom: "From Teman even unto Dedan shall they fall by the sword." Dedan being in the South, Teman must be sought in the North ...
The manner in which the city is mentioned by the prophets, now by itself, and again as standing for Edom, shows how important it must have been in their time.
——W. Ewing in [Orr, James, M.A., D.D. General Editor. "Entry for 'TEMAN'". International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. . 1915.]

Mount Paran
The hilly country between Edom and Sinai (Deut. 33:2)

The similarity between Habakkuk 3.3 and Deuteronomy 33.2 makes a connection in the language between

  Deuteronomy 33.2
 1 Now this is the blessing with which Moses the man of God blessed the children of Israel before his death. 2 And he said:
      “The LORD came from Sinai,
      And dawned on them from Seir;
      He shone forth from Mount Paran,
      And He came with ten thousands of saints;
      From His right hand
      Came a fiery law for them.
 3 Yes, He loves the people;
      All His saints are in Your hand;
      They sit down at Your feet;
      Everyone receives Your words.
 4 Moses commanded a law for us,
      A heritage of the congregation of Jacob.
As Moses depicts the appearance of the Lord at Sinai as a light shining from Seir and Paran, so does Habakkuk also make the Holy One appear thence in His glory: but apart from the other difference, he changes the preterite [past]— (Jehovah came from Sinai) into the future — , He will come, or comes, to indicate at the very outset that he is about to describe not a past, but future revelation of the glory of the Lord. 
——C.F. Keil in Commentary of the OT in Ten Volumes
The recognition of the presence of Chiastic structures in texts enable the interpreter to appreciate the comparisons and contrasts, to apprehend the emphasis of the textual unit defined by the chiasmus, to understand the point being made, and to determine the point or purpose of a composition (Man 1984).
——The Westminster Dictionary of New Testament and Early Christian Literature and Rhetoric By David Edward Aune  p. 94

A. Display of God's glory   1-7
2. God's power hidden  (in light)
3.4
4 His brightness was like the light;
He had rays flashing from His hand,
And there His power was hidden.

The picture is most likely of the sunrise which shines on the whole earth.
According to Hebrew notions, flashes of lightning do not proceed from the hand of God …: and — does not occur either in Arabic or the later Hebrew in the sense of flashes of lightning, but only in the sense of the sun's rays. 
——C.F. Keil in Commentary of the OT in Ten Volumes
Psalm 104
   – 1 Bless the LORD, O my soul!
         O LORD my God, You are very great:
         You are clothed with honor and majesty,
 2 Who cover Yourself with light as with a garment,
         Who stretch out the heavens like a curtain.

rays flashing
kjv "horns" 
Interestingly the Hebrew verb "to send our rays", related to the Hebrew noun for "horns." was used to describe Moses' countenance after he had come down from Mount Sinai: "his face was radiant" (lit., "his face sent our rays of light", Ex. 34:29-30, 35).
      ——Ronald Blue in The Bible Knowledge Commentary
Exodus 34
29 Now it was so, when Moses came down from Mount Sinai (and the two tablets of the Testimony were in Moses’ hand when he came down from the mountain), that Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone while he talked with Him. 30 So when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him.
Some commentators see this as picturing the thunder and lightning on Mt. Sinai, but the language here does not seem to support that view as well.
A. Display of God's glory   1-7
God's hand is a picture of His strength.
Exodus 13.14 & 16
14 So it shall be, when your son asks you in time to come, saying, ‘What is this?’ that you shall say to him, ‘By strength of hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 15 And it came to pass, when Pharaoh was stubborn about letting us go, that the LORD killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man and the firstborn of beast. Therefore I sacrifice to the LORD all males that open the womb, but all the firstborn of my sons I redeem.’ 16 It shall be as a sign on your hand and as frontlets between your eyes, for by strength of hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt.


3.5
5 Before Him went pestilence,
And fever followed at His feet.
 pestilence דבר   h1698 twot 399b deber deh'·ber —1) pestilence, plague  2) murrain, cattle disease, cattle-plague

fever  רשף   H7566 twot 2223a  resheph   reh'·shef   —-1) a flame; 2) lightning;  3) a burning fever, a plague;  Gesenius's Lexicon

ylta burning flame; kjv—burning coals;
nasb, esv, nlt—plague; nkjv—fever; niv—pestilence

"The view has been expressed that rešep in Job 5:7 refers not to literal sparks but to Reshep the god of fever and pestilence (see Pope, M., Job, AB, in loc.)."  twot
The former going before Him as a shield-bearer (1 Sam. xvii. 7)… the latter coming after Him as a servant (1 Sam. xv.1)
——C.F. Keil in Commentary of the OT in Ten Volumes
Accompanying Him in the context of Sinai, they refer particularly to the plagues that devastated Egypt (Exod 9:3.15; Ps 78:50) and which attended Israel's disobedience to the covenant given at Sinai (Exod 5:3, Lev 26:25; Num 14:12 …)
——Carl Armerding in  the Expositor’s Bible Commentary

3. God's presence feared  (
3.6
6 He stood and measured the earth;
He looked and startled the nations.
And the everlasting mountains were scattered,
The perpetual hills bowed.
His ways are everlasting.

measured dwm  04128 TWOT - 1157 Muwd mood  (Polel) to shake

"The verb "shook" (yeded) is derived either from
a root cognate with the Arabic "to be convulsed" (d; KB p. 501; cf. LXX, Targ.) or
from the Hebrew "to measure" (dad, cf. Vul., kjv, asv, rsv).
The first etymology emphasizes the effects of God's action, whereas
the second stresses the motive of judgment underlying it (cf. Isa 65:7; Dan 5:25-28).
There seems to be little basis for choosing between them (cf. asv, nasb). The repercussions of such judgment and physical upheaval are reflected among the "nations," the verb "tremble" (tar) implying both emotional turmoil (cf. Job 37:1) and abrupt physical dislocation (eg. Pss 105:20, "release"; 146:7 "sets free').
——Carl Armerding in  the Expositor’s Bible Commentary
ylt, kjv, nkjv, esv—measured; nasb—surveyed
niv, nlt, mess—shook, shakes

everlasting mountains
pictures how God disrupts even the things which never seem to change and are too big to be moved.
prophetic symbolism for kingdoms, Dan. 2:35; 44-45; Rev. 17:9-11)       ——Merrill Unger in Unger’s Commentary on the OT
His ways are everlasting   EMPHASIZE THIS
This phrase speaks of God's immutability.  His was are the same through eternity.
This passage see God as past, present, future all at once.
3.7
7 I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction;
The curtains of the land of Midian trembled.
Midianites were localized in Transjordan, ranging southward from the regions of Moab and Edom.
"Cushan" in uncertain… This close parallelism suggests the "Cushan" was a nation related or even identical to "Midian"—in inference corroborated by the identification of Moses' wife as both Midianite and Chushite (Exod 2:18-22; 18:1-5; Num 12:1).
These countries or area referred to here were close to Egypt and would have heard of what God did with the plagues.
trembled  רגז   H7264 twot 2112 ragaz rä·gaz'  (Qal) to quake, be disquieted, be excited, be perturbed
ylt, kjv, nasb, nkjv, esv, nlt—tremble (ed) (ing); niv—anguish;
 3-A  APPLICATION: A. Display of God's glory   1-7
Don’t let the truths about God in the Scriptures become trivia.
Fear the Lord.
Psalm 111
 6 He has declared to His people the power of His works,
In giving them the heritage of the nations.
 7 The works of His hands are verity and justice;
All His precepts are sure.
 9 He has sent redemption to His people;
He has commanded His covenant forever:
Holy and awesome is His name.
 10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom;
A good understanding have all those who do His commandments.
         His praise endures forever.
Proverbs 23:17-18
      17 But be zealous for the fear of the LORD all the day;
       18 For surely there is a hereafter,
      And your hope will not be cut off.
Proverbs 16:6b
And by the fear of the LORD one departs from evil.
 3. Theophany
A. Display of God's Glory   1-6
B. Demonstration of God's Wrath  8-11
C. Deliverance of God's People  12-15
8 O LORD, were You displeased with the rivers,
Was Your anger against the rivers,
Was Your wrath against the sea,
That You rode on Your horses,
Your chariots of salvation?
9 Your bow was made quite ready;
Oaths were sworn over Your arrows. Selah 
You divided the earth with rivers.
10 The mountains saw You and trembled;
The overflowing of the water passed by.
The deep uttered its voice,
And lifted its hands on high.

11 The sun and moon stood still in their habitation;
At the light of Your arrows they went,
At the shining of Your glittering spear.

——————————————————

In verse eight Habakkuk changes from talking about God in third person (He, His, Him)  to talking to God in second person (You, Your).
This section features images from the exodus and conquest.
It pictures God as the Lord of Hosts in a military role.
It also contains several allusions to rivers, sea, and water which remind us of God's control over the waters of the earth.

1. The Red Sea remembered
3.8
8 O LORD, were You displeased with the rivers,
Was Your anger against the rivers,
Was Your wrath against the sea,
That You rode on Your horses,
Your chariots of salvation?

This is a reference to the children of Israel crossing the Red Sea and crossing the Jordan River.    It is Hebrew poetry, and it speaks of the fact that God was not angry with the rivers because they blocked the way; rather, He merely opened up the Red Sea and …"     ——J.V. McGee in Thru the Bible with J. Vernon McGee

chariots of      salvation  h[wXy  H03467 TWOT 929b Y@shuw`ah yesh-oo'-aw  salvation, deliverance

2. God's faithfulness remembered
3.9
9 Your bow was made quite ready;
Oaths were sworn over Your arrows. Selah 
You divided the earth with rivers.

Made quite naked  free and entirely unencumbered, drown forth from its cover and ready to be directed at its target (v.11; Psalm 7:12-13).           ——Merrill Unger in Unger’s Commentary on the OT

This second phrase "is an enigma in Hebrew."
It contains three words.

oaths h[wbX H7621 TWOT - 2319a Sh@buw`ah sheb-oo-aw'  oath or (could mean seventh, group of seven) —-C.F. Keil

sworn  httm  H4294 TWOT 1352b matteh mat·teh' —staff (rod/shaft), branch, tribe

arrows  rma H0562 TWOT - 118a  'omer o'-mer utterance, speech, word, saying, promise, command

kjvaccording to the oaths of the tribes
nkjvoaths were sworn over Your arrows
esv, nivcalling for many arrows

If you follow the nkjv that corresponds to Deut 33:39-44,
the meaning would be that
Your bow was taken out of its sheath;
a promise was sworn over Your arrows.
"The idea would be that his militant intervention is perceived as fulfilling the commitment sworn to Moses."
——Carl Armerding in  the Expositor’s Bible Commentary

3.10
10 The mountains saw You and trembled;
The overflowing of the water passed by.
The deep uttered its voice,
And lifted its hands on high.

trembled lwx 02342 TWOT - 623 Chuwl khool  (Qal)  1. to dance  2. to twist, writhe  3. to whirl, whirl about
ylt—pained; jkv, nkjv, nlt—trembled; nasb—quaked;
esv, niv—writhed; m—twisted
"writhed" depicts a person twisting or turning while seized with pangs  ——Ronald Blue in The Bible Knowledge Commentary

The last three lines here seem to picture the Red Sea

Lifted up its hands in mighty waves     ——Merrill Unger in Unger’s Commentary on the OT

B. Demonstration of God's Wrath 
3. God's control over nature remembered
3.11
11 The sun and moon stood still in their habitation;
At the light of Your arrows they went,
At the shining of Your glittering spear
.

The sun and moon stood still  compare with Joshua 10 (esp 13-14) when the sun stood still when Israel fought with the kings of the Amorites at Gibeon and on to Azekah and Makkedah.

Joshua 10
8 And the LORD said to Joshua, “Do not fear them, for I have delivered them into your hand; not a man of them shall stand before you.” 9 Joshua therefore came upon them suddenly, having marched all night from Gilgal. 10 So the LORD routed them before Israel, killed them with a great slaughter at Gibeon, chased them along the road that goes to Beth Horon, and struck them down as far as Azekah and Makkedah. 11 And it happened, as they fled before Israel and were on the descent of Beth Horon, that the LORD cast down large hailstones from heaven on them as far as Azekah, and they died. There were more who died from the hailstones than the children of Israel killed with the sword.
12 Then Joshua spoke to the LORD in the day when the LORD delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel:
      “Sun, stand still over Gibeon;
      And Moon, in the Valley of Aijalon.”
 13 So the sun stood still,
      And the moon stopped,

      Till the people had revenge
      Upon their enemies.
   Is this not written in the Book of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and did not hasten to go down for about a whole day. 14 And there has been no day like that, before it or after it, that the LORD heeded the voice of a man; for the LORD fought for Israel.
15 Then Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, to the camp at Gilgal.

At the light of Your arrows they went,
At the shining of Your glittering spear.
Apparently poetical references to the fierce lightning and the deadly hail stones that accompanied the storm that the Lord sent to defeat the Canaanites.  ——Merrill Unger in Unger’s Commentary on the OT

3-B  APPLICATION: Demonstration of God's Wrath 
Jeremiah 32
26 Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying, 27 “Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh. Is there anything too hard for Me?
44 Men will buy fields for money, sign deeds and seal them, and take witnesses, in the land of Benjamin, in the places around Jerusalem, in the cities of Judah, in the cities of the mountains, in the cities of the lowland, and in the cities of the South; for I will cause their captives to return,’ says the LORD.”

Genesis 18:13-15 

13 And the LORD said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Shall I surely bear a child, since I am old?’ 14 Is anything too hard for the LORD? At the appointed time I will return to you, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.”
15 But Sarah denied it, saying, “I did not laugh,” for she was
afraid.
And He said, “No, but you did laugh!”

Hebrews 11

11 By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised. 12 Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born as many as the stars of the sky in multitude—innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore.

  —————————————————————->>
Count Him able.
Count Him faithful.
Act in faith and receive strength.

Jeremiah 32:27
Gen. 18:14 & Heb. 11:11


3. Theophany
A. Display of God's Glory   1-7    B. Demonstration of God's Wrath   8-11
C. Deliverance of God's People  12-15
12 You marched through the land in indignation;
You trampled the nations in anger.
13 You went forth for the salvation of Your people,
For salvation with Your Anointed.
You struck the head from the house of the wicked,
By laying bare from foundation to neck.  Selah  
14 You thrust through with his own arrows
The head of his villages.
They came out like a whirlwind to scatter me;
Their rejoicing was like feasting on the poor in secret.

15 You walked through the sea with Your horses,
Through the heap of great waters.


1. God the conqueror

3.12
12 You marched through the land in indignation;
You trampled the nations in anger.
Indignation ~[z   Strong's 02195 TWOT - 568a Za`am zah'-am 
Ylt, kjv, nasb, nkjv—indignation; esv—fury; niv—wrath; nlt—anger

Trampled  Xwd 01758 TWOT - 419 Duwsh doosh  
—(Qal) to tread on, trample on, thresh  /
1. to beat, to pound, especially by trading, hence to trample on, especially enemies 2. to thresh corn, which is done by oxen treading it out with their feet.   ——Gesenius’s Lexicon, blueletterbible.org
nasb, nkjv, nlttrampled; ylt, kjv, esv, nivthresh(ed);

2. God the savior
3.13
13 You went forth for the salvation of Your people,
For salvation with Your Anointed.
You struck the head from the house of the wicked,
By laying bare from foundation to neck.  Selah  
salvation  of  Your Anointed  
In light of the parallelism with “your people” in the preceding line this could refer to Israel, but elsewhere the Lord’s anointed one is always an individual. 
The Davidic king is the more likely referent here. 
——NET Bible note for Hab 3.13
with your anointed
anointed would refer to a leader and ultimately to Christ
head from the house of the wicked
A general reference that can encompass Pharaoh from the exodus allusions,
Babylon from the larger context of the book,
and looks forward to the end times Day of the Lord and the anti-Christ.


3. God the Rescuer


3.14
14 You thrust through with his own arrows
The head of his villages.
They came out like a whirlwind to scatter me;
Their rejoicing was like feasting on the poor in secret.

me (lit., "me," denoting the prophet as the representative of the godly remnant; Dan. 11:40; Zech. 9:14)
——Merrill Unger in Unger’s Commentary on the OT
ylt, kjv, nkjv, esvme; nasb, nivus; yltIsrael;

15 You walked through the sea with Your horses,
Through the heap of great waters.


 3-C  APPLICATION:
Look back to the victory of the cross.
Look forward to the fulfillment in Christ’s return.
Live confident of the ending.
 
Hebrews 10:35-38

Heb 10
35 Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward. 36 For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise:
       37 “ For yet a little while,
      And He who is coming will come and will not tarry.
       38 Now the just shall live by faith;
      But if anyone draws back,
      My soul has no pleasure in him.”




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