The sun and moon stood still in their place
Habakkuk 3:11
at the light of your arrows as they sped,
at the flash of your glittering spear.
Habakkuk depicts God as a warrior, shooting arrows and throwing his spear against his enemies.
Lightning Spear
Habakkuk describes God’s “glittering spear” (Hebrew בָּרָק חֲנִ֔ית, barak chanit). The word barak (glittering) is literally “lightning”. With that imagery in mind, we shouldn’t imagine God’s spear as simply sparkly, but rather as bright as lighting, striking with great intensity. The same two Hebrew words also appear in Nahum 3:3. Similarly, God has a “flashing sword” for judgment (Deuteronomy 32:41), literally of “the lightning of my sword”.
Lightning is an amazingly powerful force in nature. Have you ever watched a thunderstorm roll through with those bright, electrical charges leaping across the sky and striking the ground? What goes through your mind?
When God showed up at Mount Sinai, he showed up with thunder and lightning, both in the plural (Exodus 19:16). In the same way, “flashes of lightning, and rumblings and peals of thunder” come from God’s throne in heaven (Revelation 4:5). The verb form of lightning is found in one place: “Flash forth the lightning and scatter them” (Psalm 144:6).
Ezekiel describes four living creatures around God’s throne, who had coals of fire like lightning (Ezekiel 1:13). Daniel describes a man in a vision who has a “face like the appearance of lightning” (Daniel 10:6). In the same way, when Jesus rose from the dead, an angel appeared at his tomb. “His appearance was like lightning” (Matthew 28:3).
To Ponder…
The next time you experience a storm with lightning flashing across the sky, take some time to reflect on God’s power. Lightning is a powerful force in this world, yet God wields it like a spear. He is a mighty warrior, fighting for his people to bring justice to the world.
