Habakkuk 3 · The Lantern

A PRAYER OF Habakkuk THE PROPHET FOR IGNORANCES.

O Lord, I have heard thy hearing, and was afraid. O Lord, thy work, in the midst of the years bring it to life: In the midst of the years thou shalt make it known: when thou art angry, thou wilt remember mercy.

With Him is nothing incomplete or out of due season, just as with the Father there is nothing incongruous. For all these things were foreknown by the Father; but the Son works them out at the proper time in perfect order and sequence.

When the sacred lesson was read just now, we heard that at the time when the twelve spies were sent to view the land of promise, two of them brought back on a lever to the children of Israel a bunch of grapes of wonderful size.

The third origin of the fear of the Lord is from the consideration of the severity of divine vengeance. Whence in Habakkuk: "Lord, I have heard your report and was afraid." He says: "I have heard your report and was afraid," namely, that report when it shall be said: "Depart, you cursed, into eternal fire." Not only in the day of tribulation or severity of the last judgment, bu…

God will come from the south, and the holy one from mount Pharan: His glory covered the heavens, and the earth is full of his praise.

And there are also some of them who say, "The Lord hath spoken in Zion, and uttered His voice from Jerusalem;" and, "In Judah is God known;" -these indicated His advent which took place in Judea. Those, again, who declare that "God comes from the south, and from a mountain thick with foliage," announced His advent at Bethlehem, as I have pointed out in the preceding book.

(Verse 3) God will come from the South, and the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah. LXX: God will come from Teman, and the Holy One from the dark and thickly wooded mountain. Diapsalma.

His majesty covered the heavens, and the earth is full of his praise. The dispensation of the Lord's incarnation having been described, he immediately added the mystery of the ascension by which the same humanity was to be glorified, according to the saying of the Psalmist: His going forth is from the end of heaven, and his circuit reaches to the end thereof (Ps. 18:7).

His brightness shall be as the light: horns are in his hands: There is his strength hid:

(Verse 4.) He covered the heavens with his glory, and the earth is full of his praise. His splendor is like light: horns are in his hands. There his strength is hidden. LXX: His power covered the heavens, and the earth is full of his praise, and his splendor shall be like light: horns are in his hands, and he set strong love of his strength.

Horns are in His hands. There the power of His glory was confirmed. He calls the transverse wood of the cross horns, which He held fixed by the hands, so that by overcoming all death in this manner of death, He might thus confirm the power of His glory in the hearts of the chosen, so that they are not retarded from His love by any terrors or blandishments; also promising them t…

This fortitude is from God redeeming through the incarnation of the divine Word. By what is the soul redeemed? It is said in Habakkuk: "His splendor shall be as the light; horns are in his hands; there his fortitude is hidden." For "the weakness of God is stronger than men." The Son of God was made weak for our sake.

Death shall go before his face. And the devil shall go forth before his feet.

He stood and measured the earth. He beheld, and melted the nations: and the ancient mountains were crushed to pieces. The hills of the world were bowed down by the journeys of his eternity.

(Verse 6.) He stood and measured the earth: he beheld, and scattered the nations, and the everlasting mountains were scattered, the perpetual hills did bow: his ways are everlasting.

In all of what he said he conveyed to us the ineffable power of God: action follows his will, and by merely wishing it (the sense of "he took his position and looked down") he moves the earth, undoes human nature, splits open the mountains and melts the hills like wax. In fact, he has not ceased doing such things for people's benefit (by "passing" referring to his doings).

He looked, and the nations melted away. Which is to say openly: The Lord had mercy, and the nations repented; by which gaze he looked at Peter when he denied; and he, pricked by the memory of his sin, immediately melted into tears.

I saw the tents of Ethiopia for their iniquity, the curtains of the land of Madian shall be troubled.

Wast thou angry, O Lord, with the rivers? or was thy wrath upon the rivers? or thy indignation in the sea? Who will ride upon thy horses: and thy chariots are salvation.

"He cast forth horse and rider into the sea; he became my helper and protector in salvation." The men who pursue us are horses, and, so to speak, all who have been born in the flesh are figuratively horses. But these have their own riders.

(Verse 8, 9.) Are you angry, Lord, with the rivers? Or is your anger against the rivers, or your wrath against the sea? For you have ascended upon your horses, and your chariots are salvation. You will surely bring forth your bow, fulfilling the oaths you have spoken to the tribes. Selah. (Septuagint: Are you angry, Lord, with the rivers?

For you will ascend riding on your horses, and your cavalry is salvation. That is, you will ascend into the hearts of your chosen ones through the illumination of grace, through which, under your guidance, they will tread the path of virtues, and by preaching you across the whole world, carrying the life of eternal salvation, they will proclaim it to the world.

Thou wilt surely take up thy bow: according to the oaths which thou hast spoken to the tribes. Thou wilt divide the rivers of the earth.

The mountains saw thee, and were grieved: the great body of waters passed away. The deep put forth its voice: the deep lifted up its hands.

The sun and the moon stood still in their habitation, in the light of thy arrows, they shall go in the brightness of thy glittering spear.

LXX: The sun was lifted up, and the moon stood in its place. If we follow a simple interpretation, the progress of the sun and moon is shown by the words at hand: that, according to Isaiah, in the future age the sun will shine sevenfold in light, and the moon will shine with the brightness of the sun (Isaiah XXX, 26).

Concerning this glory of His Ascension, Habakkuk also says, "The sun was lifted up, and the moon stood in its order." For who is designated by the name of sun except the Lord, and who by the name of moon except the Church?

As indeed a cloud rises aloft in order that it may rain down, so does Christ ascend in order that He may grant His gifts. The sun has been lifted up, and the moon remained in its shelter.

In thy anger thou wilt tread the earth under foot: in thy wrath thou wilt astonish the nations.

Thou wentest forth for the salvation of thy people: for salvation with thy Christ. Thou struckest the head of the house of the wicked: thou hast laid bare his foundation even to the neck.

LXX: You have lifted up the chains until the neck, to the end. The Lord has lifted up the chains of love, so that with the previous burden set aside, and the heavy yoke by which we were oppressed thrown off, we may take up the light yoke of Christ; and, placed in his chariot, we may carry the excellent charioteer.

And yet, someone may say, we shall find the name Christ applied not to Emmanuel alone, but also applied to others. For God said somewhere about those chosen and sanctified by the Spirit, "Do not touch my anointed ones, and to my prophets do no harm." The divinely inspired David calls Saul, who had been anointed as king by God through the hand of Samuel: the "Lord's anointed." A…

Concerning [his] companions in the anointing, the apostle says, "To each of us grace is given according to the measure of Christ's bestowal." Both the priests and kings are called "christs" in the law, undoubtedly as figures of this king and high priest, our Lord and Savior, and as a type of him they were also anointed with the earthly oil.

Thou hast cursed his sceptres, the head of his warriors, them that came out as a whirlwind to scatter me. Their joy was like that of him that devoureth the poor man in secret.

Thou madest a way in the sea for thy horses, in the mud of many waters.

For a soul that is at peace quickly turns and corrects itself, even if it has sinned before, and Christ ascends to it more fully and deigns to rule it, to which it is said: "Mount your horses, your chariot of health." And elsewhere: "I have sent forth your horses to Tharsis." Behold the horses of Christ. Thus, Christ ascends his horses, the Word of God ascends to holy souls.

70: And you led your horses into the sea, disturbing the many waters. After God sent death upon the heads of the unjust, and the heads of the mighty were brought down in astonishment, and you broke them in the sea (for it is written in the Psalms: You have broken the heads of the dragons (Psalm 73:4)), with the princes slain, or broken, and the strong one overcome, they came to…

You sent your horses into the sea, stirring up many waters. For the sea, indeed, means the world; the horses of God, the holy preachers; the many waters, the peoples of the nations.

I have heard and my bowels were troubled: my lips trembled at the voice. Let rottenness enter into my bones, and swarm under me. That I may rest in the day of tribulation: that I may go up to our people that are girded.

He who is cautious and wary can avoid sins for a while, but he who is secure in his own justice opposes God, and deprived of his help, he is subject to the snares of the enemy.

I guarded and my stomach was terrified at the voice of the prayer of my lips. He calls his mind his stomach in the manner customary to prophets, because just as the stomach receives food by which the strength and life of the body are replenished; so are holy thoughts received in the mind, by which the life of the inner man is sustained and maintained, lest it should fail.

The third origin of the fear of the Lord is from the consideration of the severity of divine vengeance. Whence in Habakkuk: "Lord, I have heard your report and was afraid. I heard, and my belly was troubled; at the voice my lips trembled.

For the fig tree shall not blossom: and there shall be no spring in the vines. The labour of the olive tree shall fail: and the fields shall yield no food: the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls.

But I will rejoice in the Lord: and I will joy in God my Jesus.

The Lord God is my strength: and he will make my feet like the feet of harts: and he the conqueror will lead me upon my high places singing psalms.

Habakkuk3