Russia In Habakkuk?

Should we be giving more attention to the third chapter of Habakkuk? There can be no doubt that chapter 3 deals with events immediately connected with the Second Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The world is now awaiting the fulfilment of verse 3: “God came from Teman, and the Holy One from mount Paran . . . His glory covered the heavens, and the earth was full of His praise”. There appears to be abundant evidence in the Scriptures that the following sequence of events takes place:

  1. On resurrection day our Lord descends to the earth ( not to the Mount of Olives but to Mount Sinai), where those who are accountable, dead and living, will be gathered. This phase of the Second Advent will be “as a thief’, secret and unknown to the world’s media except that the mysterious disappearance of a few common folk might be briefly noticed. No doubt the prying eyes of satellites and other detecting devices will be holden during this period of tryst involving Jesus and his bride (1 Thess. 4:16).
  1. At Mount Sinai the assize of the judgement seat of Christ will take place. The righteous will be clothed with the Divine nature; the marriage supper of the Lamb will be eaten; the Kingdom of God, in its incipient organisa­tional form, will be set up (Ps. 68:8,17; 2 Cor. 5:10; Rev. 19:7-9; Dan 2:44).
  1. The multitudinous Christ then proceeds to march (Heb. tsaad) from Sinai to Jerusalem (Deut. 33:2; Ps. 68:7; Hab. 3:12).
  2. En route northwards, Christ, in company with the immortalised saints, passes through the following places, probably in geographical order from south to north:

( a) Paran (Deut 33:2);

  • Midian (Hab. 3:7);
  • Teman (Deut 33:2; Hab. 3:3);
  • Sela, which is Petra (Isa. 16:1);
  • The wilderness ( of Zin) (Isa. 16:1; 40:3);
  • Edom, which is Idumea (Isa. 63:1; Ezek. 25:12-14; Obad. vv. 8,9; Isa. 34:5,6; Ezek. 35:15);
  • Bozrah (Isa. 63:1; 34:6);
  • Mount Seir (Ezek. 35:2,3,15);
  • Moab, which is modern Jordan (Isa. 16:2­4,6-8).

The day of God’s vengeance

That Sinai is the starting point of the northerly march seems to be given adequate support from the Divine record. Deuteronomy 33:2, which is Messianic in character and which has not been fulfilled hitherto, is very specific on this point: “The Lord came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir unto them; He shined forth from mount Paran, and He came with ten thousands of saints: from His right hand went a fiery law for them”.

The psalmist, in describing the same events, says: “The earth shook, the heavens also dropped at the presence of God: even Sinai itself was moved at the presence of God, the God of Israel” (Ps. 68:8). And again: “The chariots of God are tens of thousands and thousands of thousands (AV angels, or mighty ones): the Lord has come from Sinai into His sanctuary” (v. 17, NIV— The Scriptures frequently equate Jerusalem with the sanctuary of God).

But at what juncture in the world’s history is this awesome event to occur? Let Scripture supply the answer: “when Thou wentest forth before Thy people, when Thou didst march (Heb. tsaad) through the wilderness . . . “(Ps. 68:7).

There is a further interesting point in connec­tion with Sinai being the site of judgement.* Hosea 11:1 states: “I … called My son out of Egypt”. One of the terms of the Camp David agreement between Israel and Egypt was that the Sinai peninsula should be returned to Egypt. In the absence of Divine Providence one would be hard pressed to ascertain what would persuade Israel to give up the strategic Sinai peninsula, including the producing oil wells, for a husk Yet unless Egypt were to own Mount Sinai at the time of the judgement, it would be impossible for God to call His (multitudinous) son out of Egypt.

An examination of the location of the geo­graphical places in the line of the northerly march discloses that they are all presently occupied by Arab powers: Egypt, Jordan and possibly Saudi Arabia. Virtually all of the prophecies cited indicate that the multitudinous Christ meets resistance at the hands of the armies in posses­sion of the places named. This resistance is met by terrifying Divine vengeance and slaughter being wrought upon the Arabic peoples. Isaiah 63 gives a graphic description of the results of the opposition met at Edom and Bozrah. Phrases like “I will tread them in Mine anger” and “I will . . . trample them in My fury” are descriptive of the destruction that will occur when “the day of (God’s) vengeance” has arrived. And let it be noted that all this is to take place at the time when “the year of My redeemed is come”.

Habakkuk 3

We are given the time frame of this prophecy in verse 3. It is at the time when the Holy One comes from Teman and Mount Paran. We have seen that this ‘coming’ is during the march northward on the way to Jerusalem after the judgement has been accomplished.

The prophecy is clearly Messianic: “he had horns coming out of his hand”. Power and brightness are his attributes. Pestilence and burning coals are his weapons. The earth is measured and nations are driven asunder. The ruling powers are displaced: the sun and the moon stand still (reminiscent of Joshua), the mountains are scattered and the hills brought low. The heathen are threshed in anger when “Thou didst march (Heb. tsaad) through the land in indignation”.

Verse 13 is very pregnant with meaning. Salvation, in its fullest sense, is not really ac­complished until the inheritance promised under the terms of the Abrahamic-Davidic Covenant is realised. This involves Jesus sitting on the throne of David in Jerusalem and the saints inheriting their portion of the land of Israel in perpetuity. The march north, involving the destruction of all opposing armies en route, is for the very purpose of bringing into force the covenanted inheritance. The RV text is specific that this final act of salvation is to be accomplished for (a) “Thine anointed” = Messiah = Jesus, and (b) “Thy people” = the immortalised saints.

In this same verse (13) we have another significant word. That word is “head”. The Hebrew for “head” is rosh—the same word that the AV translates “chief” in Ezekiel 38:2, but which virtually all students of prophecy now agree should be left untranslated as a proper noun, the title of one of the powers mentioned.

If the same procedure is followed in Habakkuk 3:13,14, that is, to leave the Hebrew word untranslated, then we have it stated that Messiah ( anointed) wounds Rosh in the process of bringing in the covenanted salvation of the saints.

Similarly, in verse 14, Rosh is described as coming against those riding on “chariots of salvation” ( v. 8) as a whirlwind with the object of “scattering” and “devouring” them.

Most students of prophecy are agreed that the Soviet Union is the latter-day power signified by the Hebrew word Rosh. This Russian power, then, is the power referred to in Habakkuk 3:13,14. Rotherham comes close to this concept in his translation, which is: “Thou hast come forth to the salvation of Thy people, to salvation with Thine Anointed One,—Thou hast crushed the Head . . . “. While Rotherham translates the Hebrew Rosh by the word “Head”, he capitalises it, which has the effect of converting the word into a proper noun.

The prophet then speaks with confidence respecting the outcome of the contest between God’s Anointed (Messiah) and Rosh (Russia):

“I will quietly wait for the day of trouble to come upon people who invade us” (v. 16, RSV). “Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation”.

Psalm 68

A similar concept is used by the psalmist in 68:21. Here the AV translators have translated rosh by our word “head”. It is of great interest that Psalm 68 is Messianic in content and is descriptive of the terminal events pertaining to the Second Coming of our Lord. Here are a few of them:

( a) The manifestation of God’s Holy One (vv. 1-6) ;

  • The presence of God’s manifestation at Sinai (v. 8);
  • The march through the wilderness (v. 7);
  • The proclamation of the everlasting gospel (v. 11);
  • Jerusalem, the city of the great king (v. 16);
  • The multitudinous Christ coming from Sinai (v. 17);
  • The Messianic reference to verse 18 by Paul in Ephesians 4:8;
  • The resurrection of the dead ( v. 20);
  • The wounding of Rosh (v. 21);
  • The restoration of Israel ( v. 22);
  • The subjugation of the Lord’s enemies (v. 30);

(1) The final establishment of the Kingdom (vv. 29,32).

From the information given in Habakkuk 3 and Psalm 68 it would appear that the terminal events will assume the following order:

  1. Christ descends secretly to the earth on Resurrection Day; those accountable to judge­ment, living and dead, will be gathered to Sinai.
  2. Those who are accounted worthy will be clothed with the Divine nature; they will partake of the marriage supper of the Lamb; the Kingdom of God will be constituted in its organisational form.
  1. The multitudinous Christ marches north on its way to Jerusalem.
  2. Arab resistance is met at various points en route, with consequent destruction upon the armies of opposition.
  3. Christ and the saints enter Jerusalem publicly. His feet stand upon the Mount of Olives.
  4. Subsequent to this, Gog, the prince of Rosh, comes against the new government of Israel like a whirlwind and is destroyed.
  5. A final confederacy of the world’s political­ecclesiastical-economic forces comes with a singleness of mind to overthrow the newly-established power in Jerusalem. The plans of this coalition will be terminated by Jesus Christ and the saints.
  1. The Kingdom of God is fully established. The references to Rosh in Habakkuk 3 and Psalm 68 possibly help to clarify another Biblical puzzle. In Ezekiel 38:17 the question is asked of Gog: “Art thou he of whom I have spoken in old time by My servants the prophets of Israel. . . ?”. This statement has always presented a difficulty. Perhaps these references to Rosh help to explain it.

Reference

I am indebted to Sister Lenore Welshman, London, Ontario, for drawing this to my attention.