Sunday, February 21, 2016

God Came in Splendor (Hab. 3:3-5)


SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 2/21/2016 9:43 PM

My Worship Time                                                                           Focus:  God Came in Splendor

Bible Reading & Mediation                                                              Reference:  Habakkuk 3:3-5

Message of the verses:  “3 God comes from Teman, And the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah. His splendor covers the heavens, And the earth is full of His praise. 4 His radiance is like the sunlight; He has rays flashing from His hand, And there is the hiding of His power. 5 Before Him goes pestilence, And plague comes after Him.”

Dr. Wiersbe states that according to some scholars Mount Paran is another name for the entire Sinai Peninsula, or it could be just for Mt. Sinai itself:  “2 He said, "The LORD came from Sinai, And dawned on them from Seir; He shone forth from Mount Paran, And He came from the midst of ten thousand holy ones; At His right hand there was flashing lightning for them (Deut. 33:2).”  He also states that Teman is usually identified with Edom and Edom were the descendents of Esau the twin brother of Jacob.  Now it is possible that Habakkuk is retracing the march of Israel to Mt. Sinai and then to the Promised Land.

We have a stanza in this Psalm, or Hymn and all of it reveals the glory of God.  Just follow the highlighted areas of the verses from above as see that they do reflect the glory of God.  The phrase “the Holy One” is seen some thirty times in the book of Isaiah, so this phrase is not just seen in Habakkuk.  Dr. Wiersbe writes “God’s appearance was like the lightening that plays across the heavens before the storm breaks.  All of creation joined in praising God’s brightness was like the sunrise only to a greater degree (Matt. 17:2).  ‘Horns’ means ‘rays’: ‘rays flash from His hand (Hab. 3:4, NIV) where His power was hidden.” 

When we look at verse five we see what the Lord did to Egypt in the ten plagues that He gave to them before Pharaoh decided to let Israel leave Egypt. 

Dr. Wiersbe concludes:  “In Old Testament times, God often revealed His glory through such judgments, but in this present dispensation, He reveals His glory through Jesus Christ.  ‘And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth’ (John 1:14 NKJV). Pharaoh wouldn’t ackinwledge the truth, so he couldn’t experience that grace.  The first plague of Moses in Egypt was the turning of water into blood (Ex. 7:14-25), while our Lord’s first recorded miracle was turning water into wine.”

2/21/2016 10:07 PM

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