Was your wrath against the rivers, O LORD?
Habakkuk 3:8
Was your anger against the rivers,
or your indignation against the sea,
when you rode on your horses,
on your chariot of salvation?
Habakkuk depicts God as a great warrior, riding a chariot into battle and striking the earth to bring forth salvation.
The Anger of the Lord
Verse 8 uses three different words to describe God’s anger.
The first (translated “wrath”) is the verb חָרָה (charah), which means to be/become hot. We use similar words to describe anger in English. Have you ever had a “heated” discussion? An angry person is a hothead. Sometimes a cartoon character gets angry, and their head erupts into flames.
The second (translated “anger”) is the word אַף (af), which is literally nose or nostrils. However, it usually carries the connotation of anger. When we become angry, our nostrils flare. When Moses made excuses why the Lord shouldn’t send him to Egypt, “the anger of the LORD was kindled against Moses” (Exodus 4:14). Literally, the nostrils of the Lord became hot against Moses.
The third and last word (translated “indignation”) is עֶבְרָה (ebrah; ev-rah), which describes an angry outburst or a feeling that cannot be contained. Ebrah has the idea of overflowing anger. Amos condemned Edom for casting off pity for anger: “his anger (af) tore perpetually, / and he kept his wrath (ebrah) forever” (Amos 1:11).
These words often appear near one another. Hebrew poetry often repeats a phrase with different words, as we see in this verse. Isaiah describes the day of the Lord as having “wrath and fierce anger” (Isaiah 13:9), literally “ebrah and charon (a noun from charah) of af” – i.e. “indignation and heat of nostrils”.
Rivers and Seas
Was God’s anger directed against the rivers and seas? This hints back at the splitting of the Red Sea as the Israelites left Egypt and the dividing of the Jordan River as they entered the land of Canaan. In both cases, the people of Israel crossed on dry ground. We can also think of when he struck the Nile in the first plague, turning it into blood. On the other hand, rivers and seas were essential to ancient civilizations. Rivers provided water and transportation.
The book of Revelation depicts pouring out bowls of God’s wrath on the earth (Revelation 16). The second bowl was on the sea, which became blood. The third turned the rivers and springs into blood, hinting back at the first plague of Egypt. The sixth bowl was poured on the Euphrates River, drying it up, like the Red Sea or Jordan River.
Why Does God Get Angry?
We don’t like to think about God’s anger. We would rather talk about his love and mercy. Sometimes people speak of the angry God of the Old Testament as opposed to the mercy and love of Jesus. Such people forget the times Jesus got angry or how much mercy God showed to the people of Israel. We need to remember he is both (in our limited understanding attributing human emotions to God).
God describes himself as being “slow to anger” (e.g. Numbers 14:18), which is literally “long of af“. God has a long nose. We might say he has a long fuse. It takes a lot to get him worked up, but there is a limit to his mercy. For example, God gets worked up with the violence and injustice in this world, as Habakkuk noticed at the beginning of his short book.
A parent who never disciplines their child would be a bad parent. God’s punishment is for our discipline (Hebrews 12:5-11). If a husband or wife is not bothered if their spouse is unfaithful, their relationship is greatly suspect. God describes himself as a husband, distraught over the unfaithfulness of his bride.
To Ponder…
What makes God angry? How can we live to please him better?
What makes you angry? How in line is that with what makes God angry?
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth
Romans 1:18