You brandished Your bow; You called for many arrows. Selah You split the earth with rivers. Your bow was uncoveredIn this phrase, the imagery of a bow being uncovered suggests preparation for battle or action. In the Hebrew context, the bow is often a symbol of God's power and readiness to execute judgment or deliverance. The uncovering signifies a revelation of divine strength and intent. Historically, bows were essential weapons in ancient warfare, and their mention here underscores God's might and readiness to intervene on behalf of His people. The rods of discipline were sworn
The term "rods of discipline" can be understood as instruments of correction or judgment. In Hebrew, the word for "rod" often symbolizes authority and correction, as seen in Proverbs 13:24, where discipline is associated with love and guidance. The swearing of these rods indicates a divine promise or covenant, emphasizing God's commitment to uphold justice and righteousness. This reflects the historical context of God's covenant relationship with Israel, where discipline was a means of guiding His people back to faithfulness. Selah
This term, often found in the Psalms, is a pause or interlude, inviting the reader to reflect on the preceding words. In the context of Habakkuk, "Selah" serves as a moment to meditate on the profound truths of God's power and justice. It encourages believers to pause and consider the weight of God's actions and promises, fostering a deeper understanding and appreciation of His divine nature. You split the earth with rivers
This phrase highlights God's sovereign control over creation. The imagery of splitting the earth with rivers evokes the power of God to shape and transform the natural world. In the Hebrew tradition, water is often a symbol of life and blessing, but also of chaos and judgment, as seen in the Flood narrative. This duality underscores God's ability to bring both life and judgment, reflecting His ultimate authority over all creation. Historically, rivers were vital for sustaining life in ancient cultures, and their mention here reinforces the idea of God's provision and dominion. Persons / Places / Events 1. HabakkukA prophet in the Old Testament who dialogues with God about the justice and sovereignty of God amidst the suffering of His people. 2. GodThe central figure in this passage, depicted as a divine warrior preparing for battle. 3. Bow and ArrowsSymbolic of God's power and readiness to execute judgment and deliverance. 4. Earth and RiversRepresent the natural world, which responds to God's mighty acts. Teaching Points God's Sovereignty in Judgment and DeliveranceThe imagery of God brandishing a bow signifies His control over history and His ability to bring about justice and deliverance for His people. The Power of God's WordJust as arrows are sent forth with purpose, God's word accomplishes His will, reminding us of the power and effectiveness of Scripture in our lives. Nature's Response to God's AuthorityThe splitting of the earth with rivers illustrates the natural world's submission to God's command, encouraging us to recognize His authority in all creation. Selah - A Call to ReflectThe term "Selah" invites us to pause and reflect on the majesty and power of God, encouraging deeper meditation on His works and character. Trust in God's Ultimate PlanDespite current circumstances, we can trust in God's ultimate plan for justice and redemption, as He is actively working in the world. Bible Study Questions 1. How does the imagery of God as a warrior in Habakkuk 3:9 enhance your understanding of His character and actions? 2. In what ways can you see God's sovereignty and power at work in your own life, similar to the imagery of the bow and arrows? 3. How does the concept of "Selah" encourage you to pause and reflect on God's work in your life and the world around you? 4. What parallels can you draw between the natural world's response to God in Habakkuk 3:9 and other biblical accounts of creation responding to God's commands? 5. How can the themes of judgment and deliverance in Habakkuk 3:9 inspire you to trust in God's ultimate plan for justice in today's world? Connections to Other Scriptures Psalm 7:12-13This passage also depicts God as a warrior with a bow, emphasizing His readiness to execute judgment. Isaiah 41:2Describes God raising up a deliverer, using imagery of a warrior, which parallels the divine warrior theme in Habakkuk. Exodus 15:3Refers to God as a warrior, reinforcing the theme of divine intervention and deliverance. Revelation 6:2The imagery of a rider with a bow can be seen as a continuation of the theme of divine judgment and victory. People Habakkuk, TemanPlaces Cushan, Lebanon, Midian, Mount Paran, TemanTopics Arrows, Bare, Bow, Chastisement, Cleave, Cleaved, Cut, Discipline, Naked, Oaths, Pause, Quite, Rivers, Rods, Saying, Selah, Sheath, Split, String, Strip, Sure, Sworn, Tribes, Uncovered, UtterlyDictionary of Bible Themes Habakkuk 3:9 5236 bow and arrow 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 3:9 NIVHabakkuk 3:9 NLTHabakkuk 3:9 ESVHabakkuk 3:9 NASBHabakkuk 3:9 KJV
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