Habakkuk 3:5
Before him went pestilence, and plague followed at his heels.
English Standard Version (ESV)
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Habakkuk 3:5
Before him went pestilence, and plague followed at his heels.
English Standard Version (ESV)
This page isn't yet indexed by search engines.
The verse vividly portrays God's unstoppable advance, not just with obvious judgments like lightning, but with the insidious spread of disease and scorching heat that directly follow His "feet." This highlights that God’s presence brings both immediate, visible power and a creeping, pervasive consequence for His enemies.
Habakkuk is praying, reflecting on God's powerful and terrifying past acts of judgment and deliverance, particularly the Exodus from Egypt and the conquest of Canaan. He uses imagery of God's majestic, awe-inspiring appearance to inspire confidence that God will again intervene for His people amidst present troubles. The context builds towards Habakkuk's declaration of trust in God despite potential devastation.
When God shows up, it’s not always a gentle breeze. Sometimes, His arrival is announced by terrifying forces.
Habakkuk describes a fearsome procession accompanying God. "Before him went pestilence, and plague followed at his heels." This isn't just about sickness; it speaks to the overwhelming, unstoppable power that accompanies God's presence, especially when He's bringing judgment or asserting His sovereignty. Think of the plagues in Egypt or the devastating plagues that struck Israel in the wilderness. These weren't random outbreaks; they were divine pronouncements, a terrifying display of God's might against His enemies or His disobedient people. This imagery shows that God's power is absolute and can manifest in ways that bring destruction to those who stand against Him.
What exactly are these 'burning coals' that follow God's footsteps?
The phrase 'burning coals went forth at his feet' points to intense, destructive judgment. This imagery can evoke ideas of scorching heat, fiery destruction, or even severe, burning diseases. Commentators connect this to hailstones mingled with fire, burning fevers, or even the fiery destruction that consumed those who rebelled against God. It represents the immediate and inescapable nature of God's judgment when He moves. It's not just a distant threat; it's right there, following His path, ready to consume those in its way. This emphasizes that God's justice is powerful and has a terrifying efficacy.
Understand the original words
deber · Hebrew Noun
An infectious disease or deadly calamity, often used in Scripture as a sign of judgment or a herald of God’s arrival in a way that humbles human pride.
resheph · Hebrew Noun
A stinging, burning, or lethal affliction; it represents a sharp, destructive force that accompanies divine intervention when God addresses human rebellion.
Habakkuk's vision of pestilence and plague preceding God's arrival draws on a long history of divine judgment, most vividly recalling the miraculous destruction of Sennacherib's army outside Jerusalem. This imagery highlights God's power to bring swift and terrible destruction upon His enemies.
c. 1446 BC
The Exodus from Egypt
God leads the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt, performing mighty acts and judgments against their oppressors.
c. 1446-1406 BC
Wilderness Wanderings
As the Israelites journey through the desert, God's judgment, sometimes in the form of pestilence, falls upon those who disobey.
c. 1200 BC
Conquest of Canaan
God drives out the inhabitants of Canaan to make way for His people, using various forms of divine judgment.
701 BC— this verse
Assyrian Invasion
The Assyrian army under Sennacherib threatens Jerusalem, but a devastating plague suddenly wipes out much of the invading force.
This verse promises that God will send His fear before the Israelites to drive out their enemies, paralleling Habakkuk's vision of destructive forces preceding God's arrival.
Psalm 18:12The imagery of God's presence being heralded by darkness, fire, and pestilence in this Psalm resonates strongly with Habakkuk's description of God's powerful and terrifying manifestation.
2 Kings 19:35This passage describes the miraculous destruction of the Assyrian army by an 'angel of the Lord' with pestilence, directly linking divine judgment and plague, much like Habakkuk's vision.
Isaiah 10:5This verse speaks of Assyria being used as the 'rod of my anger' and God wielding it, reflecting the theme of God using destructive forces, including pestilence, as instruments of His judgment.
Revelation 6:8The description of the fourth horseman, whose name is Death, and Hades following him, with power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine, pestilence, and wild beasts, echoes Habakkuk's imagery of destructive forces accompanying God's coming.
clarkeHabakkuk 3:5: "Before him went the pestilence, and burning coals went forth at his feet."
Before him went the pestilence - This plague was several times inflicted on the disobedient Israelites in the wilderness; see Numbers 11:33 ; Numbers 14:37 ; Numbers 16:46 ; and was always the proof that the just God was then manifesting his power among them. Burning coals event forth at his feet - Newcome translates, "And flashes of fire went forth after him." The disobedient Israelites were consumed by a…
gillHabakkuk 3:5: "Before him went the pestilence, and burning coals went forth at his feet."
Before him went the pestilence,.... Either in the land of Egypt, when he marched through that, and slew all their firstborn, Psalm 78:50 or rather which he sent before him, and Israel his people among the nations of the land of Canaan, with other diseases and judgments, and destroyed them to make way for his people, which may be here alluded to, Exodus 23:27 and may point at the judgments of God, and those…
The verse vividly portrays God's unstoppable advance, not just with obvious judgments like lightning, but with the insidious spread of disease and scorching heat that directly follow His "feet." This highlights that God’s presence brings both immediate, visible power and a creeping, pervasive consequence for His enemies.
Habakkuk is praying, reflecting on God's powerful and terrifying past acts of judgment and deliverance, particularly the Exodus from Egypt and the conquest of Canaan. He uses imagery of God's majestic, awe-inspiring appearance to inspire confidence that God will again intervene for His people amidst present troubles. The context builds towards Habakkuk's declaration of trust in God despite potential devastation.
Habakkuk is praying, reflecting on God's powerful and terrifying past acts of judgment and deliverance, particularly the Exodus from Egypt and the conquest of Canaan. He uses imagery of God's majestic, awe-inspiring appearance to inspire confidence that God will again intervene for His people amidst present troubles. The context builds towards Habakkuk's declaration of trust in God despite potential devastation.
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586 BC
Fall of Jerusalem
Babylonian armies conquer Judah, destroy Jerusalem and the Temple, and exile the people, fulfilling prophetic warnings of judgment.
c. AD 66-70
Destruction of Jerusalem
Roman legions lay siege to Jerusalem, leading to its destruction and the scattering of its people as judgment for rejecting Christ.
"Before him went pestilence, and plague followed at his heels." — The verse vividly portrays God's unstoppable advance, not just with obvious judgments like lightning, but with the insidious spread of disease and scorching heat that directly follow His "feet." This…