Is there any problem too big for God? I know we might answer, “Of course not,” but the way we try to control our lives and how we worry about our problems might suggest otherwise.
Habakkuk is learning about the problems God can tackle as God reveals himself in Habakkuk 3:3–7. These verses contain an appearance of God designed to remind Habakkuk how God led Israel to the promised land, gave light from God’s presence, made a lasting impression, and how God’s presence impacted the land.
The theophany begins, “God comes from Teman, and the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah.[1] His splendor covers the heavens, and the earth is full of His praise” (Hab 3:3).[2] Habakkuk is tracing the steps of the Israelites leaving Egypt.
Two locations are mentioned. “Teman” was one of the chief settlements of Edom (Obad 9; Amos 1:12) and “Paran” was the area between Edom and Judah. These were two sites east of the Israelite people as they left Egypt moving toward the Promised Land.
Habakkuk records God leading Israel toward the promised land as well as the light from God’s presence. “His radiance is like the sunlight; He has rays flashing from his hand, and there is the hiding of His power” (Hab 3:4). Power and light from the hand of God emphasizes his readiness to move into action for his people. Like our sun that is so strong and hot it would consume us if we were too close and damage our eyes if we looked at it directly, so too is the power of God. This means that a part of him must be “hiding.”
The events of Habakkuk 3:3–4 have made a lasting impression which Habakkuk reveals. “Before Him goes pestilence, and plague comes after Him” (Hab 3:5). This again references the Exodus of Israel from Egypt. As God moves throughout the earth personified as light, he burns up what’s in his path and leaves a trail behind him. The vengeance of God’s covenant with his people appears here as God creates plagues that devour the enemies of Israel. God burns up what is in front of him and chars what he leaves behind.
Next we see land described. In Habakkuk 3:3–5 God appears somewhat distant, but here he comes close. “He stood and surveyed the earth; He looked and startled the nations. Yes, the perpetual mountains were shattered, the ancient hills collapsed. His ways are everlasting. I saw the tents of Cushan under distress, the tent curtains of the land of Midian were trembling” (Hab 3:6–7).Here we see the entire cosmos responds in fear. This is the climax. God has reached the place he will execute judgement.[3]
This awesome appearance of God teaches us that the size of the enemies that God overcomes in the past gives us faith for the future. As we read about God’s vengeance, his pestilence, and the plague that follows him, the meaning is clear: God’s not a little old man upstairs who sprinkles people with light or sends wishes for what he wants to occur. He’s all-powerful, all-loving, and his grace and glory are matched with his might and his majesty.
As we read about God’s enemies throughout the Old Testament we are reminded of who he overcomes: Egypt with Moses, Philistia with David, local trouble makers in Judah with Nehemiah.
As we read about the enemies of God we see that the strength of the enemy becomes the very source of the protection for God’s people. Haman was hanged on his own pole he erected (Esth 7:10). Daniel’s enemies were killed in the same lions den in which he was supposed to die (Dan 6:24). Psalm 7:5 says that he who creates a pit to trap the righteous will actually fall into that pit.
God has overcome amazing obstacles in the Old Testament. The meaning for us is that our troubles are nothing compared to the amazing God of heaven. Whether it’s an energy bill we can’t afford, a car that is broken down, a pain in our body, a problem in our marriage, a conflict with our job, or an issue with a friend, those problems feel big to us, but they are not big to God.
The size of the enemies that God overcomes in the Old Testament teach us about the size of the God we worship. If God can overcome the enemies of his people in the Old Testament, we can have faith that he will overcome the issues we face too.
[1] The word, “Selah”(vv. 3, 9, 13), is a word related to music. It’s used seventy-one times in the book of Psalms and three times in Habakkuk. The word is transliterated, not translated, because we don’t know exactly what the word means. The word “Selah” comes from the Hebrew verb meaning “to exalt, to lift up.” It might mean a pause, to elevate to a higher key or to a higher volume, to reflect on what’s been sung and to exalt the Lord in praise, or to lift up certain instruments like a trumpet fanfare. Whatever the meaning, it’s clear there is some type of a break or pause is intended. (J. Ronald Blue, “Habakkuk,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 1 [Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985], 1518).
[2] Scripture taken from the New American Standard Bible, Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995. Used by permission.
[3] In Habakkuk 3:6a we learn about the land that belongs to him. The phrase, “He stood and surveyed the earth” tells us he’s taking inventory of what he created and what he controls. In Habakkuk 3:6b–7 we learn about the land that responds to him. Mountains are symbols of stability yet they shutter when they see what the Lord did when God led Israel from Egypt into the Promised Land. “tents of Cushan” and “land of Midian” could refer to one people group living in the Sinai peninsula region (Exod 2:16-22; 18:1-5; Num 12:1) or could describe two separate groups that each lived on either side of the Red Sea. Whether two groups or one, it was clear that God’s acts of delivering the nation of Israel out of Egypt and miraculously walking them to the Promised Land causes many nations to tremble and fear when they saw what God was doing (Exod 15:14-16; Deut 2:25; Josh 2:9; 5:1).