Vers. 3-5.-.&n ideal theophany: 1. The onward march of tl1e Deity. I. His PERSOK DESIGNATED. 1. God, or Ewalt, the Sfn-vng or Powei:ful One. A name for the Supreme used fo" the :first time by Moses (Deut. :xxxii. 15) to portray God as the Creator of Israel, and employed by Habakku.k "to designate God as the Lord and Governor of the whole world" {Keil). Omnipotence an essential attribute of Divinity (Gen. :xvii. l; Josh. iv. 24; 1 Chron. xxix. 12; Job u:xvi.•5; xiii. 2; Ps. lxii.11)· the impotence of heathen idols was the best proof that they were·no gods (Isa. :r:lv, 20; Jer. ii. 28). 2. The Holy One. An appellation given to God at least three times in the Psalter (Ps. lx:r:i. 2 ; lxxviii. 41; lxxxix. 18), twice in Jeremiah (I, 29 ; li. 5), once in Ezekiel (m.i:x. 7), once in Hosea(:xi. 9), twice in Habakkuk (L 12; iii. 3), and occurring frequently in Isaiah. Equally with strength is purity an indispensable quality in the Supreme; and this no less than that in an infinite .measure and degree. An unholy God could not be all-powerful. all-wise, all-just, or all-good. Holiness the guarantee and guardian of the other attributes of his nature. Least of all could an unholy God be either a Saviour or a Judge of men, ·, II. His GLORY DEPICTED. 1. Its e.xt-ent. • All-pervading, irradiating the entire universe, covering the bea\"ens and spreading over the -earth (Ezek. xliii, 2). What is here declared of the material or symbolic presence of Deity is true of his real, though unseen, presence (P6. viiL 1; xix. 1; Isa..vi. 3). 2. Its brightness. Resembling the li!?ht, i.e. the sun, to which Scripture likens God himself (Ps. lx:r:xiv. 11), and Christ (Mal. iv. 2; John ix. 5), who is God's Image· (2 Cor. iv. 4), the Brightness of bis Father's glory, and the express Image of his Person (Heb. i. 3). In exact accordance with the prophet's thought, God is represented as covering himself with light as with a garment (Ps. civ. 2), and as dwelling in the :light which no .man can approach unto (1 Tim. vi. 16); while Christ is ever set .forth as the highest expression of the uncreated glory of the Supreme (John i. 14). 3. Its ma,nifestation. Emitting ray1:1 or shooting forth beams on all sides, like the rising sun (Keil, Delitzscb), an emhlem suggestive of the partial and gradual, though universal, manner in which the Divine glory unveils itself to intelligent spectators on earth (Job xxvi. 14). 4. Its power. F,maoating from his band, like .rays darting forth from the sun's disc, or like horns shooting out from the bead of a gazelle (Pusey, Fausset). The allusion may have been to the lightnings which flashed forth from the cloud upon Mount Sinai (Exod. xix. 16); but the underlying thought is that one principal aspect of God's glory is the exhibition of po\\'er which he fornishes to men in the material cre~tion (Isa. xl. 26, 28), in the phenomena of nature (Job xxxvi 22, etc.), and in the saheme of grace (1 Cor. i. 24). 5. Its essence. Hidden, unsearchable, unfathomable, the above-mentioned coruscations of his glory being not so muchunveilments as concealments of his ineffable Personality, not so much exhibitions as hidings of his power. That which may be known of God from the ouuihiui ogs of his glory is the fact, not the fuluess, of his power and Godhead. The grand truth ~ywbolized by the cloudy pillar infolding-brightness, viz. that Israel's God was a God that, while discovering, yet hid himself (Isa. xiv. 15), was in the lDcaroaLion exemplified aud emphasized (cf. John i. 14 with vii. 27), and is receiving co[lfirmation by every advance the human mind makes in knowledge (Job xi. 7-9; :x:xvi. 9; xx.xvii. 23; Ps. cxlv. 3; cx.lvii. 5; Isa. xl. 28; Rom. xi. 33), Ac;nosticism a wiiue;s to the truth here stated. 011, III, 1-10.] 'fHE BOOK OF HABAKKUK, 5!)
IH. lIIB ADVAN0E DESCRIBED, 1. The quarter whence he comes. Teman and Pamn, i.e. the country south of Judah or Idumea, and Paran the de~ert recrion lyincr between Juda.h and Sinai (see Exposition). Separated only by the Wady-;1-Arabah~ the two localities wero intended to indicate the Sinaitic region a.s the spot whence this sublime theophany of the future should proceed. In so definincr its startincr-point, the prophet probably wished to suggest a variety of thoughts, ~ e.g. that the future 0