For the vision awaits an appointed time; it testifies of the end and does not lie. Though it lingers, wait for it, since it will surely come and will not delay. For the visionThe term "vision" in Hebrew is "chazon," which refers to a divine revelation or prophecy. In the context of Habakkuk, this vision is a message from God concerning the future. It is not merely a dream or a human prediction but a communication from the Almighty. This highlights the importance of divine revelation in guiding the faithful, reminding us that God's plans are sovereign and trustworthy. awaits an appointed time
The phrase "appointed time" comes from the Hebrew "moed," which signifies a fixed or set time determined by God. This suggests that God's plans unfold according to His divine schedule, not human timelines. It reassures believers that God's timing is perfect, even when it seems delayed from a human perspective. This calls for patience and trust in God's sovereign control over history. it testifies of the end
The word "testifies" implies a witness or confirmation. The vision serves as a testimony to the ultimate fulfillment of God's purposes. "The end" refers to the culmination of God's plan, possibly pointing to the eschatological future when God's justice and righteousness will be fully realized. This encourages believers to hold fast to their faith, knowing that God's promises will be fulfilled. and will not lie
This phrase underscores the truthfulness and reliability of God's word. In a world where human promises often fail, God's declarations are unfailingly true. The assurance that the vision "will not lie" provides comfort and confidence to believers, affirming that God's word is a firm foundation upon which to build one's life. Though it lingers, wait for it
"Lingers" suggests a delay, but the instruction to "wait for it" emphasizes the necessity of patience and perseverance. The Hebrew root "mahah" conveys the idea of tarrying or delaying. This teaches that while God's promises may seem slow in coming, they are worth waiting for. It encourages believers to remain steadfast in faith, trusting that God's timing is always perfect. since it will surely come
The certainty of the vision's fulfillment is emphasized by the phrase "will surely come." The Hebrew construction here is emphatic, reinforcing the inevitability of God's promises. This assurance strengthens the believer's hope and trust in God's faithfulness, reminding us that what God has promised, He will accomplish. and will not delay
The final phrase "will not delay" seems paradoxical given the earlier mention of lingering. However, it highlights the divine perspective on time. From God's viewpoint, there is no delay; everything occurs precisely when it should. This reassures believers that God's plans are unfolding exactly as intended, encouraging them to trust in His perfect timing and wisdom. Persons / Places / Events 1. HabakkukA prophet in the Old Testament who dialogues with God about the justice and righteousness of His actions, particularly concerning the impending Babylonian invasion. 2. BabylonThe empire that God uses as an instrument of judgment against Judah, which is central to the context of Habakkuk's prophecies. 3. JudahThe southern kingdom of Israel, facing judgment due to its disobedience and idolatry, prompting Habakkuk's lament and God's response. 4. The VisionRefers to the revelation given to Habakkuk concerning the future, including the eventual downfall of Babylon and the restoration of God's people. 5. The Appointed TimeA divinely determined moment when God's plans will be fulfilled, emphasizing God's sovereignty over history. Teaching Points God's Timing is PerfectTrust in God's timing, even when it seems delayed. His plans are always fulfilled at the right moment. Faith in God's PromisesHold fast to the promises of God, knowing that they are true and will come to pass, despite current circumstances. Patience in WaitingDevelop patience as a virtue, understanding that waiting on God is an active process of faith and trust. God's Sovereignty Over HistoryRecognize that God is in control of all events, and His purposes will be accomplished, providing comfort and assurance. Hope in Future FulfillmentMaintain hope in the ultimate fulfillment of God's vision, which includes justice, restoration, and redemption. Bible Study Questions 1. How does understanding the historical context of Habakkuk's prophecy enhance our comprehension of Habakkuk 2:3? 2. In what ways can we apply the principle of waiting for God's appointed time in our personal lives today? 3. How does the assurance of God's promises in Habakkuk 2:3 encourage us in times of uncertainty or delay? 4. What are some practical steps we can take to cultivate patience and trust in God's timing? 5. How do other scriptures, such as Hebrews 10:37 and Isaiah 55:11, reinforce the message of Habakkuk 2:3, and how can they be applied to our faith journey? Connections to Other Scriptures Daniel 8:19This verse also speaks of an appointed time, highlighting God's control over future events and His ultimate plan for justice. Hebrews 10:37Echoes the theme of waiting for God's promise, reinforcing the idea that God's timing is perfect and His promises are sure. Isaiah 55:11Relates to the certainty of God's word and its fulfillment, similar to the assurance given in Habakkuk 2:3. People HabakkukPlaces Chaldea, LebanonTopics Appointed, Awaits, Breatheth, Certainly, Declareth, Delay, Fail, Fixed, Goal, Hastens, Hasteth, Hurries, Kept, Late, Lie, Linger, Moving, Prove, Quickly, Season, Seem, Slow, Speak, Speaks, Surely, Takes, Tarries, Tarry, Though, Vision, Wait, Waiting, Won't, YetDictionary of Bible Themes Habakkuk 2:3 1035 God, faithfulness
1095 God, patience of
4903 time
4925 delay, divine
4971 seasons, of life
5883 impatience
5977 waiting Habakkuk 2:3-4 8743 faithlessness, nature of Library September 15. "Though it Tarry, Wait for It, for it Will Surely Come, and Will not Tarry" (Hab. Ii. 3).
"Though it tarry, wait for it, for it will surely come, and will not tarry" (Hab. ii. 3). Some things have their cycle in an hour and some in a century; but His plans shall complete their cycle whether long or short. The tender annual which blossoms for a season and dies, and the Columbian aloe, which develops in a century, each is true to its normal principle. Many of us desire to pluck our fruit in June rather than wait until October, and so, of course, it is sour and immature; but God's purposes …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth The Crowned Christ Reigning
(Revelation, Chapters xx: 4-xxii.) "On this side of the river and on that was the tree of life, bearing twelve fruits." "A garden is a lovesome thing, God wot! Rose plot, Fringed pool, Ferned grot-- The veriest school Of peace; and yet the fool Contends that God is not-- Not God! in gardens! when the eve is cool? Nay, but I have a sign; 'Tis very sure God walks in mine." Day Is Coming. It's a long lane that has no turning. Every valley leads up a hillside to a hilltop. Every storm ends in sunshine …
by S. D. Gordon—Quiet Talks on the Crowned Christ of Revelation Of Inward Silence
Of Inward Silence "The Lord is in His Holy Temple, let all the earth keep silence before him" (Hab. ii. 20). Inward silence is absolutely indispensable, because the Word is essential and eternal, and necessarily requires dispositions in the soul in some degree correspondent to His nature, as a capacity for the reception of Himself. Hearing is a sense formed to receive sounds, and is rather passive than active, admitting, but not communicating sensation; and if we would hear, we must lend the ear …
Madame Guyon—A Short and Easy Method of Prayer Of Rest in the Presence of God --Its Fruits --Inward Silence --God Commands it --Outward Silence.
The soul, being brought to this place, needs no other preparation than that of repose: for the presence of God during the day, which is the great result of prayer, or rather prayer itself, begins to be intuitive and almost continual. The soul is conscious of a deep inward happiness, and feels that God is in it more truly than it is in itself. It has only one thing to do in order to find God, which is to retire within itself. As soon as the eyes are closed, it finds itself in prayer. It is astonished …
Jeanne Marie Bouvières—A Short Method Of Prayer And Spiritual Torrents A Sermon on a Text not Found in the Bible.
MR. JUSTICE GROVES.--"Men go into the Public-house respectable, and come out felons." My text, as you see, my dear readers, is not taken from the Bible. It does not, however, contradict the Scriptures, but is in harmony with some, such as "WOE UNTO HIM THAT GIVETH HIS NEIGHBOUR DRINK." Habakkuk ii. 15; "WOE UNTO THEM THAT RISE UP EARLY IN THE MORNING, THAT THEY MAY FOLLOW STRONG DRINK."--Isaiah v. 11. "TAKE HEED TO YOURSELVES LEST AT ANY TIME YOUR HEARTS BE OVERCHARGED WITH SURFEITING AND …
Thomas Champness—Broken Bread The Season of Epiphany.
"This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth His glory; and His disciples believed on Him."--John ii. 11. The Epiphany is a season especially set apart for adoring the glory of Christ. The word may be taken to mean the manifestation of His glory, and leads us to the contemplation of Him as a King upon His throne in the midst of His court, with His servants around Him, and His guards in attendance. At Christmas we commemorate His grace; and in Lent His temptation; …
John Henry Newman—Parochial and Plain Sermons, Vol. VII The Sum and Substance of all Theology
Note: On Tuesday, June 25th, 1861, the beloved C. H. Spurgeon visited Swansea. The day was wet, so the services could not be held in the open-air; and, as no building in the town was large enough to hold the vast concourses of people who had come from all parts to hear the renowned preacher, he consented to deliver two discourses in the morning; first at Bethesda, and then at Trinity Chapel. At each place he preached for an hour and a quarter. The weather cleared up during the day; so, in the evening, …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 62: 1916 Habakkuk-On his Watch-Tower
"Lord, teach us to pray."--Luke xi. i. "I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower."--Hab. ii. i. HABAKKUK'S tower was not built of stone and lime. Hiram's Tyrian workmen, with all their skill in hewn stone, and in timber, and in iron, and in brass, had no hand in building Habakkuk's tower. "The Name of the Lord" was Habakkuk's high tower. The truth and the faithfulness and the power of God--these things were the deep and broad foundations of Habakkuk's high tower, into which he continually …
Alexander Whyte—Lord Teach Us To Pray Meditations Before Dinner and Supper.
Meditate that hunger is like the sickness called a wolf; which, if thou dost not feed, will devour thee, and eat thee up; and that meat and drink are but as physic, or means which God hath ordained, to relieve and cure this natural infirmity and necessity of man. Use, therefore, to eat and to drink, rather to sustain and refresh the weakness of nature, than to satisfy the sensuality and delights of the flesh. Eat, therefore, to live, but live not to eat. There is no service so base, as for a man …
Lewis Bayly—The Practice of Piety "Hear the Word of the Lord, Ye Rulers of Sodom, Give Ear unto the Law of Our God, Ye People of Gomorrah,"
Isaiah i. 10, 11, &c.--"Hear the word of the Lord, ye rulers of Sodom, give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah," &c. It is strange to think what mercy is mixed with the most wrath like strokes and threatenings. There is no prophet whose office and commission is only for judgment, nay, to speak the truth, it is mercy that premises threatenings. The entering of the law, both in the commands and curses, is to make sin abound, that grace may superabound, so that both rods and threatenings …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning Letter vi (Circa A. D. 1127) to the Same
To the Same He protests against the reputation for holiness which is attributed to him, and promises to communicate the treatises which he has written. I. Even if I should give myself to you entirely that would be too little a thing still in my eyes, to have recompensed towards you even the half of the kindly feeling which you express towards my humility. I congratulate myself, indeed, on the honour which you have done me; but my joy, I confess, is tempered by the thought that it is not anything …
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux—Some Letters of Saint Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux Faith
What does God require of us, that we may escape his wrath and curse due to us for our sin? Faith in Jesus Christ, repentance unto life, with the diligent use of all the outward means, whereby Christ communicateth to us the benefits of redemption. I begin with the first, faith in Jesus Christ. Whom God has set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood.' Rom 3: 25. The great privilege in the text is, to have Christ for a propitiation; which is not only to free us from God's wrath, but to …
Thomas Watson—The Ten Commandments How to be Admonished are those who Give Away what is their Own, and those who Seize what Belongs to Others.
(Admonition 21.) Differently to be admonished are those who already give compassionately of their own, and those who still would fain seize even what belongs to others. For those who already give compassionately of their own are to be admonished not to lift themselves up in swelling thought above those to whom they impart earthly things; not to esteem themselves better than others because they see others to be supported by them. For the Lord of an earthly household, in distributing the ranks and …
Leo the Great—Writings of Leo the Great Humility is the Root of Charity, and Meekness the Fruit of Both. ...
Humility is the root of charity, and meekness the fruit of both. There is no solid and pure ground of love to others, except the rubbish of self-love be first cast out of the soul; and when that superfluity of naughtiness is cast out, then charity hath a solid and deep foundation: "The end of the command is charity out of a pure heart," 1 Tim. i. 5. It is only such a purified heart, cleansed from that poison and contagion of pride and self-estimation, that can send out such a sweet and wholesome …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning Question of the Contemplative Life
I. Is the Contemplative Life wholly confined to the Intellect, or does the Will enter into it? S. Thomas, On the Beatific Vision, I., xii. 7 ad 3m II. Do the Moral Virtues pertain to the Contemplative Life? S. Augustine, Of the City of God, xix. 19 III. Does the Contemplative Life comprise many Acts? S. Augustine, Of the Perfection of Human Righteousness, viii. 18 " Ep., cxxx. ad probam IV. Does the Contemplative Life consist solely in the Contemplation of God, or in the Consideration …
St. Thomas Aquinas—On Prayer and The Contemplative Life The Second Commandment
Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am o jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of then that hate me; and shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments.' Exod 20: 4-6. I. Thou shalt not …
Thomas Watson—The Ten Commandments The Right Understanding of the Law
Thou shalt have no other Gods before me.' Exod 20: 3. Before I come to the commandments, I shall answer questions, and lay down rules respecting the moral law. What is the difference between the moral laud and the gospel? (1) The law requires that we worship God as our Creator; the gospel, that we worship him in and through Christ. God in Christ is propitious; out of him we may see God's power, justice, and holiness: in him we see his mercy displayed. (2) The moral law requires obedience, but gives …
Thomas Watson—The Ten Commandments Habakkuk
The precise interpretation of the book of Habakkuk presents unusual difficulties; but, brief and difficult as it is, it is clear that Habakkuk was a great prophet, of earnest, candid soul, and he has left us one of the noblest and most penetrating words in the history of religion, ii. 4b. The prophecy may be placed about the year 600 B.C. The Assyrian empire had fallen, and by the battle of Carchemish in 605 B.C., Babylonian supremacy was practically established over Western Asia. Josiah's reformation, …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament Links Habakkuk 2:3 NIVHabakkuk 2:3 NLTHabakkuk 2:3 ESVHabakkuk 2:3 NASBHabakkuk 2:3 KJV
Habakkuk 2:3 Commentaries
Bible Hub |
