Re-entering His Rest

Now, as we move to the next verse, another door opens, and we are brought right to the time and place of the Second Coming. Let’s see the words vs.3 opens with, God comes from Teman, And the Holy One from Mount Paran.

Why mention Teman and Mount Paran? What do these two places have to do with the Second Coming? Here again there is something truly beautiful. We are going to learn that the Second Coming is also a Second Exodus for Israel and for us as well. Let me situate these places for you. Let’s begin with Paran. This wilderness region extends from Sinai to the doors of the Promised Land. While this covers a large territory, Teman is more precise. It is another name for Edom where the city of Bozrah(Hebrew) or Petra (Greek) is located.

Most rabbis interpreting this verse in Habakkuk have understood this as the path that the Lord took on His way to Sinai when giving the Law to Israel. They understand the rest of the chapter from this perspective.

But we can see the trajectory in a different way when considering the Second Coming. Habakkuk says that the Lord comes from Paran and Teman, and Zechariah adds to this in 14:5 that He is coming with His army and with the Remnant of Israel. He then goes right to Jerusalem, on the Mount of Olives, to stand there and rescue Jerusalem from the hands of the nations who have invaded it.

See then how Yeshua is taking the same route the Israelites took when they came out of Egypt and into the Promised Land – and Yeshua is here seen bringing them back again into the land. This is the Second Exodus.

When the Israelites first entered the land, they did not succeed in finding the milk and honey they were promised, for while they did enter it physically, they rarely had times of peace (then and today) to the point that the land is now a very small fraction of what the Lord had first promised them. And so, the Bible speaks of another re-entry into the Land that will be led by Yeshua. This is what we are seeing here.

This is what the Book of Hebrews tells us, speaking of the Exodus and the entrance into the land. It says, For if Joshua had given them rest, He would not have spoken of another day after that. So there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. Hebrews 4:8-9

Joshua brought Israel into the land, but he could not clean their hearts or give them eternal peace. It is precisely this kind of rest that the Messiah has come to give those who believe in Him.

We see from Habakkuk a second Exodus into the Land. This time it is the Lord Who takes it at His Second Coming, bringing the remnant from Bozrah with Him. Yeshua is here seen as the “last” Moses, the greatest prophet and teacher of all, regathering His people and leading them to the land forever. It is as if Israel were brought back to another starting point, one that is now both physical and spiritual, this time being led by the Messiah.

And the message is further enhanced when one returns to the Torah and sees the importance of this place called Paran.

In the Exodus, after Israel was at Sinai for over a year, they proceeded to the wilderness of Paran with blowing of trumpets and great joy. However, the journey that should have taken 11 days to get into the land, took them 38 years instead.

They reached the area called Kadesh Barnea (Deut.1:2) and then spent the next 38 years there. Kadesh, meaning sanctuary, or holy place, was the site of preparation, of encouragement and excitement. It was right at the door of the land of promise and their lives were on the verge of changing for the very best. There would be no more wilderness, no more difficult traveling. However, sin came in quickly and Kadesh fast became a place of decision, of struggle, of trials and of endless waiting.

Within a short period of time in the book of Numbers, the name of the place changed from Kadesh to Kadesh Barnea, its new name meaning the sanctuary of open wandering for it turned out to be their base, their central point for the next 38 years. It became a center of infinite wandering and endless lingering. By the way, no one really knows where this place is.

In many ways these 38 years lasted thousands of years up to today. For they and the world are, in many ways, still in Kadesh Barnea. And what a waste it was for these 38 years. While the land must have been visible, right in front of them, they could touch it and even taste its fruits, which they did when the spies brought them, they could not get in, because they simply did not trust the Lord. But two of them did live by their faith; Joshua and Calev, one Jew and one Gentile, they entered the land.

Furthermore, it was within these times of the Sinai Exodus, the first one, where the Lord showed His children some of the greatest miracles recorded in the Bible. So will the Messiah demonstrate His powers as we read on the text of Habakkuk.

We read in Numbers 10:12 that as “the Israelites set out on their journeys from the wilderness of Sinai, the Cloud, the Shekinah Glory came to rest in the wilderness of Paran” (Num. 10:12).

The Shekinah Glory is the Holy Spirit who today is working in every heart to save many souls – there He rested right in the wilderness of Paran.

To use the words of a medieval rabbi Nachmanides, who said concerning this verse, At that point, the Lord turned the light of His countenance upon them to see what they needed in the great and terrible wilderness, but this is what the Spirit does today as we read in John 16:8: He convicts the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment.

We are still in the wilderness of Paran, but we have the light of God who is His Spirit in us to guide us toward the Promised Land.

One last point. This journey that the Israelites undertook is very much like the one the believer undertakes through his own journey in the wilderness. And the reason they did not attain this rest is because of a lack of faith and obedience.

In the next verse of Hebrews, we are given the means to stay close to the Spirit. There we read, that it is in the Word of God where we find the right Jesus, the right Spirit, the right Gospel. For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Hebrews 4:12

This is our link to God. Our companion in the wilderness of Paran. People ask, how can we avoid tribulation in our lives? The answer is in Yeshua. Find Him in the Word and stay close to Him and we will reach that rest, that Sabbath. We will see at the end of this chapter that Habakkuk does reach it, even with the knowledge that the Chaldeans were coming to invade and destroy Jerusalem.

Click here for the complete teaching: The Prophet Habakkuk Sermon 6 : ““There in the Midst”