CRITICAL NOTES.]
Habakkuk 3:3.] These descriptions rest upon earlier revelations of God. Teman, Edom; Paran] (Deuteronomy 33:2). God appeared from Sinai in splendour, which like the morning covered the heavens with light, and filled the earth with glory.
Habakkuk 3:4. Horns] i.e. rays (Exodus 34:29); side (hand). There] In the light was power veiled (Psalms 104:2). The splendour was the covering of Divine Majesty.
Habakkuk 3:5.] He comes to judge. Feet] Behind him. Burning] Lit. burning heat of the pestilence (Deuteronomy 32:24).
Habakkuk 3:6. Stood] as a warrior. Measured] As a judge (parcel out land, Micah 2:4), some; he sets the earth reeling, springing up as one in fear. Scattered] Broken asunder. Perpetual] Which never moved, now trembled, bowed, and resolved into dust. Ways] As formerly, so now: i.e. He follows them (Job 22:16).
HOMILETICS
GOD’S GLORY IN DAYS OF OLD.—Habakkuk 3:3-6
God’s former interpositions are remembered and celebrated to encourage hope. Past favours are the ground and prediction of future deliverance. There is no reason for despondency in our own case or that of the Church, if we think of the displays of God in days of old (Psalms 77:5). Mercy to Israel and severity to enemies have been resplendent as light. In the manifestations described we have—
I. Glory in the wilderness. “God came from Teman,” &c. Paran is the desert region extending from the south of Judah to Sinai. Seir, Sinai, and Paran are near each other, associated together in the giving of the law (Deuteronomy 33:2). The glory of Sinai is a type of the law which shall go forth from Zion to distant nations of the earth (Isaiah 2:3; Micah 4:2). The moral desert shall shine with the majesty of another Lawgiver. Nations shall be enlightened and blessed. The glories of the Red Sea and the river Jordan, in Canaan and the wilderness, shall be eclipsed by the triumph of the cross. Songs of victory shall be resounded from future triumphs. “The blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors, unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills.”
II. Glory in holiness. He who came was “the Holy One,” God and the Holy One are parallel phrases indicating the absolute purity of the Divine Being (Job 6:10; Isaiah 40:25). In the giving of the law, and the injunctions to the people of old, we discover the purity of God. The outward splendours set forth the unsullied perfections of God. Holiness in God is not a quality, but his essence. The most glorious creatures in heaven and earth are only holy by participation. “There is none holy as the Lord.” He is eminently, essentially, and constantly holy. “Holiness,” says Hodge, “is God’s infinite moral perfection crowning his infinite intelligence and power. There is a glory of each attribute viewed abstractedly, and a glory of the whole together. The intellectual nature is the essential basis of the moral: infinite moral perfection is the crown of the Godhead. Holiness is the total glory thus crowned.” “Who is like unto thee, glorious in holiness?”
III. Glory in light. “And his brightness was as the light.” God dwells in light inaccessible, yet shone forth in rays more brilliant than the sun.
1. Light which illuminated heaven. “His glory covered the heavens.” Not only the top of Sinai, but the broad expanse above.
2. Light which filled the earth. “The earth was full of his praise.” The wonders of his power and glory called forth universal praise. “O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth, who hast set thy glory above the heavens.”
3. Light linked with power. “He had horns coming out of his hand.” Horns are emblems of strength. The rays of light were rays of might, radiant as the face of Moses. The fiery law went from his right hand (Deuteronomy 33:2); by its majesty and mission administered death (2 Corinthians 3:7); and yet was a type of the glory which remains in the gospel (2 Corinthians 3:11). The horn of salvation has been raised up in Christ to destroy the wicked and save the righteous (Luke 1:61).
IV. Glory in judgment. “Before him went the pestilence, and burning coals went forth at his feet.” Death and destruction of all kinds are a great army, marshalled and directed by him in their mission. Pestilence and plague often go before him as heralds of his approach. Judgments attend him ready to obey his bid. Burning coals lie beneath his feet, to fling upon the foe. “If the law were thus given, how shall it be required?” says one. “If such were the proclamation of God’s statutes, what shall the sessions be?” If outward manifestations are so awful, what horrible tempests will be rained upon the wicked (Psalms 11:6).
“Sinai’s gray top shall tremble” [Milton].
THE HIDINGS OF DIVINE POWER.—Habakkuk 3:4
Great as this “splendour and retinue” was, it was only the veil or hiding of his power. The excessive brightness concealed the Divine glory. “And there was the hiding of his power.”
I. Divine power is hidden in the splendour of Divine revelation. As the rays of light hide the sun in their brilliance, so Divine manifestations veil the power of God. The garment of light covers his real essence and attributes. The works of God display his power,—the heavens his glory, and the earth his goodness; but one half is not seen. The secrets of his wisdom and power are double to that which is (Job 11:6). He is omnipresent, yet incomprehensible. In his person and procedure there are unfathomable “depths” of wisdom and knowledge. His ways are past finding out. Notwithstanding nature and Scripture, reason and religion, he will still remain an “unknown God.” “Canst thou by searching find out God? Canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection?”
II. Divine power is hidden as a discipline to human souls. Darkness and light always meet in God. This invisibility of God—
1. Is essential to our free agency. If God were visible to the human eye, and constrained us by his Almighty power, we could not be free. Like a parent God sees our ways, but leaves us to act as responsible agents. Too much light might overpower us, and throw us, like Paul, prostrate on the ground.
2. Is essential to our moral discipline. God’s light will be darkness to those who wish to gaze into it. It will veil his love and mercy. His darkness will be light to those who wish to trust and obey. The hiding of his power may be for shelter or for judgment. We know enough of God in his goodness, and can never comprehend him in his glory. “The phenomena of matter and force lie within our intellectual range. But behind, and above, and around all, the real mystery of the universe remains unsolved” [Tyndall]. Angels veil their faces. Let us adore and submit to his will. “Lo, these are parts of his ways: but how little a portion is heard of him? but the thunder of his power who can understand?”
HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES
Habakkuk 3:3. God came. Ancient wonders pledges of future deliverance. Prayer will gather arguments for hope and duty from the storehouse of experience concerning the past.
Selah indicates—
1. The weight of the matter, not a mere transient glory.
2. The solemnity with which we should consider it. We must pause and dwell upon it until our hearts are duly affected. “There is no doubt as to the general purport of the word—that it is a musical direction, that there should be a pause, the music probably continuing alone, while the mind rested on the thought which had just been presented to it; our ‘interlude’ ” [Pusey].
“I sing the warrior and his mighty deeds” [Lauderdale].
Notice—
1. Who comes. God, Jehovah. The Holy One.
2. How he comes.
3. What he comes for. (a) To deliver his people. (b) To punish their enemies.
1. There is much more to be known of God in his works and ways that we can possibly know in our present state.
2. His perfections and operations are veiled, (a) to train the Church in faith, prayer, and humble dependence; (b) to permit the wicked to display their malice, and finish their iniquity.
3. Yet there will be greater displays of Divine power, and a glorious increase of knowledge far beyond what has been witnessed in the past. “O God, we have heard with our ears, and our fathers have declared unto us, the noble works that thou didst in their days, and in the old time before them. O Lord, arise: help us, and deliver us, for thine honour” [Litany of Church of England].
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 3
Habakkuk 3:4-7. Hiding. Man’s knowledge is confined to parts only of God’s ways. The extremities or forthgoings of his administration are visible on earth only. The springs, principles, and anterior steps are above and out of man’s sight [Dr. Chalmers].
Habakkuk 3:6. Measured the earth.
“Then stay’d the fervid wheels, and in his hand
He took the golden compasses, prepared
In God’s eternal store, to circumscribe
This universe, and all created things.
One foot he centred, and the other turn’d
Round through the vast profundity obscure;
And said, Thus far extend, thus far thy bounds,
This be thy just circumference, O world!” [Milton].
Habakkuk 3:9. Bow naked. The drawing of the bow was a mark of great skill and slaughter.
“So the great master drew the mighty bow,
And drew with ease. One hand aloft display’d
The bending horns, and one the string essay’d.” [Pope’s Homer.]