Teman was the son of Eliphaz, Esau’s son (Genesis 36:11). The Hebrew name means “on the right”. Teman settled on the southern part of Idumea. It was in the starting point of mount Paran and in our text the Holy One moved in a northerly direction.
Notice that God is called the “Holy One”. There is only one Holy One. The true God is the Holy One. He is to be revered and obeyed. He provides blessings to those who walk before Him. His glory covered the heavens. That is a fact. All people can know the true God. The Hebrews could have known the true God in the days of Habakkuk. They did not need to follow the false prophets. They could have known His peace rather than face His wrath. In our text God was going to take the nation back to the time of Moses.
The earth is full of His praise. The birds sing God’s praises. The flowers reveal His greatness. The crops that grew and blessed the people were cause for praise. Judah deliberately chose to dismiss the true God. He had made Himself well known to all who would simply take the time to look around.
In verse 4 we see that God’s brightness is also noticeable. His brightness outshines all that is around Him. He also demonstrated His power. His power and His light were clearly visible during the time of the giving of the Law on mount Paran (see Deuteronomy 32:3). Aaron chose to ignore that light and led the people into idolatry. There was no reason to stoop to that level. God showed Himself to be real during the entire time that Moses was up in the mount with the Lord. He also showed Himself strong after Moses came down from the mount. Aaron could have known that God did not take Moses up into the mount to kill him.
In verse 5 God seems to look back to the time He presented His power and glory to Pharaoh. There was the plague of pestilence and also the plague of fire and hail. God showed forth His holiness and His power.
Early Sunday morning we had quite the thunder and lightning display in our town. The lightning was better than any fireworks display. The thunder was loud and impressive as well. God continues to remind us that He is in charge. Most people ignore this fact, but those that are saved can remind others that God is alive and He is still demonstrating His power.
Judah had no reason to forsake the Lord. Babylon would come to see His power in a very real way. Today as well we need to stop and pay attention to what God is doing. He still wants man to know Him.
He verse 6 God stopped and measured the earth. The word translated as “measured” means “to shake”. In the context, it could be a reference to the earthquake that happened while Moses was on mount Sinai. God showed His greatness in several ways at that time. Judah needed to be reminded of the long history of God’s revelation to them. Why would they forsake Him for false gods?
God also protected the nation of Israel as they travelled through the wilderness. They were a large number of people. There were elderly and young ones. They did not travel fast and they were vulnerable to anyone who would have wanted to attack. However, God protected them. He did the same for them when they entered the land of Canaan. He was always there to protect them. When Israel followed God, they were undefeatable. When they rebelled against Him, they were in a very vulnerable state.
When Israel entered the land of Canaan, the inhabitants of Jericho were defenceless. They could not do anything against Israel. Israel marched around the city once a day for six days and on the seventh day they marched around it seven times and the priests blew the trumpets and the people shouted and the walls came down. The nation of Israel entered the city and took it. Rahab and her family were spared because she trusted in the Lord.
When Israel cleaned up the sin in the camp, Ai could not stand before them. Israel gained a powerful reputation in the land of Canaan. The Gibeonites risked their lives in pretending to be from a far country. They did not know the Lord but they had heard of the successes that Israel was having in the land of Canaan. They were willing to concoct a lie in the hope that they could deceive Joshua and the people into believing their lie. They did not want to be destroyed as other nations were. They wanted peace with Israel.
Peace is not found in deception. There may be a delay in attacks, but it will not be peace. King Saul attacked the Gibeonites and King David had to address this issue in his day. Joshua failed to consult with God and he made a league with these people. Thus they could not be driven out of the land. This would not turn out to be a blessing for them nor for Israel. Generally, Israel conquered the land of Canaan with relative ease. The time they suffered was when they rejected God’s way. He heard their cry time and time again. He delivered them from trouble and yet they continued to doubt His power and holiness.
His ways are everlasting. He made a promise to Abraham and He would keep His promise. Israel would suffer much due to their sin, but they would never be destroyed. Four empires have come and fallen, but Israel is back in their homeland. They do not know the true God but they certainly could know Him. They should be able to see His power and glory but they are blinded by their hardheartedness.
Apparently Ukraine has been seeking to get the Iron Dome as a tool to protect them from Russian missiles. Israel decided it would be too dangerous to give them this technology. Israel understands that Ukraine is far too weak to be able to defend themselves. If Israel were to give them this technology it could well fall into the hands of a greater enemy. We know that Israel will become very vulnerable in the future. We are not told the details of that but they will be under a real threat of being destroyed. At just the right moment God will step in and defend them and greatly humble the enemies of Israel. Israel should be trusting God today, but instead they are trusting in their technologies. They do not want to recognize that God is blessing them with the ability to make defensive equipment.
God’s ways are from everlasting. A person would need to be from before everlasting to defeat God. Of course that is an impossibility. Habakkuk was being reminded of the importance of trusting in the true God. Israel was also being reminded of this need. Today Israel still needs to be reminded of this truth. The Gentile nations also need to be reminded of this fact.
We continue to hear of world meetings being held to gain control of humanity. The “climate change hoax” is all about gaining control of humanity. The fifteen minute cities are on this same line. The hot air coming from people like the current premier of Alberta are just empty words. That province is attacking the freedoms of its people as much as any other province. Our hope should not be in people. It must be in God. We are going to face more difficult times yet. More and more people are demonstrating a hatred for the Word of God. Professing Christians are also rejecting the Word of God. They want a softer message. They want something more palatable.
We have the book of Habakkuk for our benefit. We are told these things were written for our learning. Let us learn the lessons God has in store for us. Let those who are saved speak boldly of the goodness and greatness of the true God. We can help others to know His peace and blessing in these last days.
Pastor Bartel