Habakkuk 3:11

Sun and moon: See Joshua 10:12–13.

Only God controls the forces of the natural world.

The Lord acts as a divine warrior for his people, using his power to save them. This picture of God as a divine warrior appears in both the Old Testament and the New Testament.

In the Old Testament, it is seen in Israel’s escape from Egypt and their journey to Mount Sinai (Exodus 15:1–18). It also appears as Israel approached the promised land from the south and during their early victories in the land (for example, Judges 5:4–5; Psalms 18:8–16; 77:16–20).

A key New Testament example of this theme appears in Revelation, where Christ comes as a warrior to defeat evil and bring final justice (Revelation 19:11–21).

The prophet praises God's power to save. These two praise sections (Habakkuk 3:3–7 and 3:8–15) poetically reflect on Israel's exodus. Although Habakkuk focuses on God's redemption of his people, his imagery sometimes includes ideas from ancient Near Eastern stories about the gods. For example:

• pestilence and plague (Habakkuk 3:5)

• river and sea (Habakkuk 3:8)

• sun and moon (Habakkuk 3:11)

This imagery reminds Habakkuk's original audience that the Lord alone is the one true God who rules over all these things.

Habakkuk’s prophecy concludes with a prayer that has the style and language of a psalm (a song of prayer).