You went forth for the salvation of Your people, to save Your anointed. You crushed the head of the house of the wicked and stripped him from head to toe. Selah You went forthThis phrase indicates a divine action, suggesting God's proactive involvement in the affairs of humanity. The Hebrew root here is "yatsa," which means to go out or come forth. This verb is often used in the context of God intervening in history, emphasizing His sovereignty and willingness to act on behalf of His people. Historically, this reflects the numerous instances in the Old Testament where God steps into human history to deliver or judge, reinforcing His role as an active and present deity. for the salvation
The term "salvation" is derived from the Hebrew word "yeshuah," which means deliverance or rescue. In the context of the Old Testament, salvation often refers to physical deliverance from enemies or peril. This reflects the broader biblical narrative of God as a savior, not only in spiritual terms but also in tangible, real-world situations. Theologically, this points to the ultimate salvation through Jesus Christ, foreshadowed in the Old Testament. of Your people
"Your people" refers specifically to the Israelites, God's chosen people. This phrase underscores the covenant relationship between God and Israel, a central theme throughout the Bible. The historical context here is crucial, as it reflects the unique identity and mission of Israel as a nation set apart to demonstrate God's character to the world. This covenant relationship is foundational to understanding the narrative of the Old Testament and God's redemptive plan. to save Your anointed
The "anointed" refers to those set apart by God for a special purpose, often kings or priests. The Hebrew word "mashiach" is used here, which is the root for "Messiah." This term carries significant messianic implications, pointing to the ultimate Anointed One, Jesus Christ. In the historical context, it could refer to the Davidic king or the nation of Israel as a whole, but prophetically, it looks forward to the coming of Christ, the ultimate fulfillment of God's promise to save His anointed. You crushed the head
This vivid imagery of crushing the head signifies a decisive victory over an enemy. The phrase echoes the promise in Genesis 3:15, where God declares that the seed of the woman will crush the serpent's head, symbolizing the ultimate defeat of evil. Theologically, this points to God's power and authority over all adversaries, both physical and spiritual, and His commitment to justice and righteousness. of the house of the wicked
The "house of the wicked" represents the collective forces of evil and opposition against God and His people. In the historical context, this could refer to specific nations or leaders who opposed Israel. Theologically, it symbolizes the broader spiritual battle between good and evil. God's action against the wicked demonstrates His justice and the eventual triumph of His kingdom. and stripped him from head to toe
This phrase indicates a total and humiliating defeat. The imagery of stripping suggests not only a physical defeat but also a loss of dignity and power. In the ancient Near Eastern context, stripping an enemy was a common practice to signify complete victory. Spiritually, this underscores the comprehensive nature of God's victory over evil, leaving no part of the enemy's power intact. It serves as a powerful reminder of God's ultimate authority and the assurance of His final victory over all forms of wickedness. Persons / Places / Events 1. HabakkukA prophet in the Old Testament who dialogues with God about the justice and faithfulness of God amidst the wickedness of Judah and the impending Babylonian invasion. 2. GodThe central figure in this passage, depicted as a divine warrior who acts for the salvation of His people. 3. Your PeopleRefers to the Israelites, God's chosen people, whom He is committed to saving. 4. Your AnointedThis term can refer to the king of Israel, the nation itself, or prophetically to the Messiah, who is anointed by God for a special purpose. 5. The House of the WickedRepresents the enemies of God and His people, often interpreted as the Babylonians in the context of Habakkuk, but also symbolically as any force opposing God's will. Teaching Points God as a Divine WarriorGod actively intervenes in history to protect and save His people. This assures believers of His power and commitment to their salvation. The Anointed OneThe term "anointed" can be seen as a foreshadowing of Christ, the ultimate Anointed One, who brings salvation to all who believe. Victory Over EvilThe imagery of crushing the head of the wicked assures us of God's ultimate victory over evil. Believers can live with confidence in God's justice and sovereignty. God's FaithfulnessDespite circumstances, God remains faithful to His promises. This encourages believers to trust in God's timing and methods. Spiritual WarfareThe passage reminds us of the spiritual battle believers face and the assurance of victory through God's power. Bible Study Questions 1. How does the imagery of God as a warrior in Habakkuk 3:13 provide comfort and assurance in your current life situation? 2. In what ways does the concept of "Your Anointed" in this verse point to Jesus Christ, and how does this deepen your understanding of His role in salvation? 3. How can the promise of God crushing the head of the wicked influence your perspective on justice and evil in the world today? 4. Reflect on a time when you experienced God's faithfulness in a challenging situation. How does this passage reinforce your trust in His promises? 5. Considering the spiritual warfare theme, what practical steps can you take to stand firm in your faith, knowing that God fights for you? Connections to Other Scriptures Genesis 3:15The crushing of the head of the wicked echoes the promise of the seed of the woman crushing the serpent's head, indicating God's ultimate victory over evil. Psalm 2This psalm speaks of God's anointed king and His victory over the nations, paralleling the theme of divine intervention for the anointed. Isaiah 61:1The anointing of the Messiah to bring salvation, connecting to the idea of God's anointed being saved and empowered. Colossians 2:15Describes Christ's victory over principalities and powers, similar to the imagery of God defeating the wicked. People Habakkuk, TemanPlaces Cushan, Lebanon, Midian, Mount Paran, TemanTopics Anointed, Bare, Base, Crush, Crushed, Deliverance, Discovering, Evil, Evil-doer, Family, Foot, Forth, Foundation, Hast, Holy, Lay, Laying, Leader, Neck, Oil, Open, Pause, Salvation, Save, Selah, Smite, Smitten, Stripped, Struck, Thigh, Uncovering, Wentest, Wicked, Wickedness, Woundedst, Woundest, WoundingDictionary of Bible Themes Habakkuk 3:13 5157 head
8666 praise, manner and methods Library September 7. "I Will Joy in the God of My Salvation" (Hab. Iii. 18).
"I will joy in the God of my salvation" (Hab. iii. 18). The secret of joy is not to wait until you feel happy, but to rise, by an act of faith, out of the depression which is dragging you down, and begin to praise God as an act of choice. This is the meaning of such passages as these: "Rejoice in the Lord alway, and again I say, rejoice"; "I do rejoice; yes, and I will rejoice." "Count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations." In all these cases there is an evident struggle with sadness and …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth Spiritual Revival, the Want of the Church
NOTE: This edition of this sermon is taken from an earlier published edition of Spurgeon's 1856 message. The sermon that appears in The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, vol. 44, was edited and abbreviated somewhat. For edition we have restored the fuller text of the earlier published edition, while retaining a few of the editorial refinements of the Met Tab edition. "O Lord, revive thy work."--Habakkuk 3:2. All true religion is the work of God: it is pre-eminently so. If he should select out of his …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 44: 1898 What a Revival of Religion Is
Text.--O Lord, revive thy work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known; in wrath remember mercy.--Hab. iii. 2. IT is supposed that the prophet Habakkuk was contemporary with Jeremiah, and that this prophecy was uttered in anticipation of the Babylonish captivity. Looking at the judgments which were speedily to come upon his nation, the soul of the prophet was wrought up to an agony, and he cries out in his distress, "O Lord, revive thy work." As if he had said, "O Lord, grant …
Charles Grandison Finney—Lectures on Revivals of Religion The Highway
"The Lord God is my strength, and He will make my feet like hinds' feet, and He will make me to walk upon mine high places."--Hab. iii. 19. Mechthild of Hellfde, 1277. tr., Emma Frances Bevan, 1899 It is a wondrous and a lofty road Wherein the faithful soul must tread, And by the seeing there the blind are led, The senses by the soul acquaint with God. On that high path the soul is free, She knows no care nor ill, For all God wills desireth she, And blessed is His will. …
Frances Bevan—Hymns of Ter Steegen and Others (Second Series) The Believer's Sure Trust. --Hab. Iii. 17, 18
The Believer's sure Trust.--Hab. iii. 17, 18. Though the fig-tree's blossom fail, And the vines should bring no fruit; Though the olive, smit with hail, Cast its foliage round the root; Though the fields should yield no meat, And the herds forsake the stall, In the folds no flocks should bleat At the shepherd's well-known call:-- Yet will I in God rejoice, In Jehovah I will trust, And extol, with heart and voice, His salvation from the dust; He can raise my fallen head, He can all my sickness cure; …
James Montgomery—Sacred Poems and Hymns The Holy Spirit in Relation to the Father and the Son. ...
The Holy Spirit in relation to the Father and the Son. Under this heading we began by considering Justin's remarkable words, in which he declares that "we worship and adore the Father, and the Son who came from Him and taught us these things, and the host of the other good angels that attend Him and are made like unto Him, and the prophetic Spirit." Hardly less remarkable, though in a very different way, is the following passage from the Demonstration (c. 10); and it has a special interest from the …
Irenæus—The Demonstration of the Apostolic Preaching Life of Jerome.
The figures in parentheses, when not otherwise indicated, refer to the pages in this volume. For a full account of the Life, the translator must refer to an article (Hieronymus) written by him in Smith and Wace's Dictionary of Christian Biography. A shorter statement may suffice here, since the chief sources of information are contained in this volume, and to these reference will be continually made. Childhood and Youth. A.D. 345. Jerome was born at Stridon, near Aquileia, but in Pannonia, a place …
St. Jerome—The Principal Works of St. Jerome The Coming Revival
"Wilt Thou not revive us again: that Thy people may rejoice in Thee?"--PS. lxxxv. 6. "O Lord, revive Thy work in the midst of the years."--HAB. iii. 2. "Though I walk in the midst of trouble, Thou wilt revive me: Thy right hand shall save me."--PS. cxxxviii. 7. "I dwell with him that is of a humble and contrite heart, to revive the heart of the contrite ones."--ISA. lvii. 15. "Come, and let us return to the Lord: for He hath torn, and He will heal us. He will revive us."--HOS. vi. 1, 2. The Coming …
Andrew Murray—The Ministry of Intercession A Prayer when one Begins to be Sick.
O most righteous Judge, yet in Jesus Christ my gracious Father! I, wretched sinner, do here return unto thee, though driven with pain and sickness, like the prodigal child with want and hunger. I acknowledge that this sickness and pain comes not by blind chance or fortune, but by thy divine providence and special appointment. It is the stroke of thy heavy hand, which my sins have justly deserved; and the things that I feared are now fallen upon me (Job iii. 25.) Yet do I well perceive that in wrath …
Lewis Bayly—The Practice of Piety How to Make Use of Christ as the Life when the Soul is Dead as to Duty.
Sometimes the believer will be under such a distemper, as that he will be as unfit and unable for discharging of any commanded duty, as dead men, or one in a swoon, is to work or go a journey. And it were good to know how Christ should be made use of as the Life, to the end the diseased soul may be delivered from this. For this cause we shall consider those four things: 1. See what are the several steps and degrees of this distemper. 2. Consider whence it cometh, or what are the causes or occasions …
John Brown (of Wamphray)—Christ The Way, The Truth, and The Life Messiah's Entrance into Jerusalem
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: He is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass. -- And He shall speak peace unto the heathen. T he narrowness and littleness of the mind of fallen man are sufficiently conspicuous in the idea he forms of magnificence and grandeur. The pageantry and parade of a Roman triumph, or of an eastern monarch, as described in history, exhibit him to us …
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 1 The Unchangeableness of God
The next attribute is God's unchangeableness. I am Jehovah, I change not.' Mal 3:3. I. God is unchangeable in his nature. II. In his decree. I. Unchangeable in his nature. 1. There is no eclipse of his brightness. 2. No period put to his being. [1] No eclipse of his brightness. His essence shines with a fixed lustre. With whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.' James 1:17. Thou art the same.' Psa 102:27. All created things are full of vicissitudes. Princes and emperors are subject to …
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity The Lord of Glory.
1 Cor. ii:8. OUR ever blessed Lord, who died for us, to whom we belong, with whom we shall be forever, is the Lord of Glory. Thus He is called in 1 Cor. ii:8, "for had they known they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory." Eternally He is this because He is "the express image of God, the brightness of His Glory" (Heb. i:3). He possessed Glory with the Father before the world was (John xvii:5). This Glory was beheld by the prophets, for we read that Isaiah "saw His Glory and spake of Him" …
Arno Gaebelein—The Lord of Glory Habakkuk
The precise interpretation of the book of Habakkuk presents unusual difficulties; but, brief and difficult as it is, it is clear that Habakkuk was a great prophet, of earnest, candid soul, and he has left us one of the noblest and most penetrating words in the history of religion, ii. 4b. The prophecy may be placed about the year 600 B.C. The Assyrian empire had fallen, and by the battle of Carchemish in 605 B.C., Babylonian supremacy was practically established over Western Asia. Josiah's reformation, …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament Links Habakkuk 3:13 NIVHabakkuk 3:13 NLTHabakkuk 3:13 ESVHabakkuk 3:13 NASBHabakkuk 3:13 KJV
Habakkuk 3:13 Commentaries
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