Habakkuk 3:16
When I heard, my belly trembled; my lips quivered at the voice: rottenness entered into my bones, and I trembled in myself, that I might rest in the day of trouble: when he cometh up unto the people, he will invade them with his troops.
Habakkuk's closing prayer is a majestic psalm, and in it the prophet is shaken in body at what he hears, with trembling inward parts and quivering lips and weakness as of decay in his bones while he waits for the day of calamity. Its first setting is the coming invasion of the Chaldeans to destroy Jerusalem and carry God's people into captivity for the oppression and evil among them. It describes the final time of trouble just before the Lord comes, when the wicked suffer the seven last plagues and the righteous witness them unharmed, a terror over worship of the beast and its image that is beyond language to grasp. God's people then wrestle in anguish with trembling and paleness, crying day and night for deliverance, yet they are preserved by Him who numbers their hairs and will intervene to save them, so fearful trembling is joined to quiet waiting and trust in God as refuge when kingdoms fall. Though deeply shaken the prophet turns from fear to joyful praise, and the rest he waits for is also given to the faithful who die before that time, who sleep in hope in the grave through it and are spared its hardships.
Words and Historical Setting
Habakkuk chapter 3 is the prophet's closing prayer, a majestic and sublimely beautiful lyric poem or psalm that ranks among the sublimest passages of inspired literature. It is wonderfully eloquent, expressing God's glory and the prophet's trust in His power, and it sets the prophet in a scene of desolation. Its Selah marks a holy pause after great truth or fresh discovery, an inward assent like Amen when the voice rests, perhaps while instruments repeat the melody. The final chapter that contains verse 16 closes the whole prophecy.
The verse portrays bodily terror at what is heard, with trembling belly, quivering lips at the voice, rottenness entering the bones so they feel weak and rotten, and inward trembling while waiting quietly for the day of trouble when the invading force comes against the prophet's own people. Its immediate setting is the renewed threat of calamity announced earlier, that Jerusalem was to be destroyed by the Chaldeans through Babylonian invasion with the troubles of captivity in the prophet's own days. The trembling belongs to that anticipation of disaster, yet it stands within a prayer that concludes by affirming confidence in God amid coming trouble and shows trust bringing inward steadiness amid calamity.
Habakkuk lived in the time of Jeremiah and reproved the oppressive and wealthy in Israel, warning them of the coming of the Chaldeans. The prophecy was written about 625 or 626 and points out evil among God's people, especially the strong oppressing the weak. The chapter lifts the curtain to show God overturning mountains and nations, turning rivers from their course, and causing the sun and moon to stand still to make way for His chariots of salvation to reach souls and accomplish their work. Those chariots are living angels sent on errands of mercy, and their work is to save and not to destroy.
The verse has also been taken as describing an invasion identified as Louis Napoleon's invasion of the United States at an appointed time. The prediction attached to that interpretation was not verified by any known event.
Prophecy of Final Trouble
The trembling at what is heard looks toward the day of trouble just before the Lord's coming, a future time of unprecedented trouble and trial for God's people. It belongs to the solemn time in which people are now living, in view of which the third angel's warning of Revelation 14 is given. In that coming crisis the wicked suffer the plagues while the righteous witness them but remain unharmed, yet even then their confidence and joy rest in God amid hardship. It is an example of prophets trembling with dread at the sound of coming judgment and praying to be hidden during that terrible time of the seven last plagues. Those who long to live through that time have little sense of its severity.
In that fearful time, especially under the fourth plague when power is given to the sun to scorch men with fire and the harvest of the field has perished and joy is withered away from the sons of men, God's people show anguish and internal struggle with trembling belly, quivering lips, rottenness in the bones, trembling in self, and paleness on every face. They wrestle with God like Jacob in earnest intercession, crying day and night for deliverance. They are not wholly free from suffering, yet they are preserved by God who numbers the hairs of their heads, that they might rest in the day of trouble when wrath is poured out unmixed with mercy after the close of probation, when the wicked would be wholly cut off if the plagues were universal. That trembling reflects the saints' terror during the final conflict over worship of the beast and its image, when their enemies seek to destroy them. It is a time of terror beyond what human language or imagination can grasp, but God will intervene to save them and they will triumph, and the only safety in that day is to hide in God and be prepared to meet Him.
Placed with Habakkuk 3:13-16, the trembling at the voice and the day of trouble belongs to the future destruction of the nations, when God comes against them in battle and utter destruction at Christ's second appearing. Habakkuk's times are a type of the present time, for he lived in the time of Jeremiah and reproved the oppressive and wealthy in Israel while warning of the coming of the Chaldeans. Because human nature is always the same and oppression is always the same, his warning about evil among God's people, especially the strong oppressing the weak, applies now and forms a striking picture of the last days.
Trust Rest and Deliverance
Though deeply shaken at the announcement of the coming Babylonian invasion and the troubles of captivity, the prophet waits quietly for the day of trouble, and his trembling shows that trust in God can bring inward steadiness amid calamity. He trembled inwardly in view of the coming day of trouble, yet sought rest amid it, so that fearful trembling and the hope of rest stand together as responses to the approaching time of judgment. He trembles at the thought of the coming day of trouble, yet seeks to be at rest when it arrives, and this fear is a response to coming judgment, not a denial of the hope of deliverance.
The fear comes at the sight of divine majesty and power as God comes to judge the wicked, and it is joined to the hope of rest when the day of trouble comes and God advances against His enemies. The coming crisis is a time of trial for God's people just before the Lord's coming, yet their confidence and joy rest in God even amid hardship. The coming trouble and invasion bring trembling, yet God remains the refuge of those who call to Him, hearing the righteous and saving His own when kingdoms fall and defiant nations are judged.
The trembling belongs to anticipation of disaster, resuming the threat of calamity that Jerusalem is to be destroyed by the Chaldeans in the prophet's own days, yet it stands within a prayer that concludes by affirming confidence in God amid the coming trouble. From trembling with fear at what is heard, the prophet turns to joyful praise before he finishes, with lips ready for holy songs and hands nimble on the harp.
Physical distress with trembling at the voice expresses the terror of the conflict ahead, while the trembling is also joined to the prospect of resting during that trouble. The prophet trembles at the coming day of trouble while seeking rest through it, and this is applied to faithful people who die before that time, who rest in hope and are spared hardships that the living must endure. Some who might otherwise fall may be humbled and prepared for the kingdom through sickness, then rest in the grave through that period.