Habakkuk 3:12

12 You marched across the earth in anger; in fury you trampled the nations.

Habakkuk 3:12 Meaning and Commentary

Habakkuk 3:12

Thou didst march through the land with indignation
Not the land of Canaan, fighting against the inhabitants of it, dispossessing them to make room for the Israelites, whatever allusion may be to it; but the antichristian land, the whole Romish jurisdiction, and all the states of it, through which the Lord will march in wrath and fury, when he pours out the vials of it upon them; or this is desired, and prayed for; for it may be rendered, "do thou march through the land" F18; foreseeing and believing that he would: thou didst thresh the heathen in anger;
or, "do thou thresh" F19, &c.; these are the Papists, called heathens and Gentiles in Scripture, because of the heathenish customs and practices they have introduced into the Christian religion, ( Psalms 10:16 ) ( Revelation 11:2 ) these are the nations that will be gathered together like sheaves of grain on a floor to be threshed; and when Zion the church of Christ, and Christian princes, will be called upon to arise, and thresh them; and the Lord by them will do it, namely, separate his own people from them, which are like wheat, and utterly destroy them, as chaff and stubble, ( Micah 4:12 Micah 4:13 ) .


FOOTNOTES:

F18 (deut) "progredlaris", Van Till.
F19 (vwdt) "tritures", Van Till.

Habakkuk 3:12 In-Context

10 When the mountains saw you, they trembled; water poured down from the skies. The waters under the earth roared, and their waves rose high.
11 At the flash of your speeding arrows and the gleam of your shining spear, the sun and the moon stood still.
12 You marched across the earth in anger; in fury you trampled the nations.
13 You went out to save your people, to save your chosen king. You struck down the leader of the wicked and completely destroyed his followers.
14 Your arrows pierced the commander of his army when it came like a storm to scatter us, gloating like those who secretly oppress the poor.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.