Habakkuk/Chapter 2/Commentary

Habakkuk Chapter 2

Outline I. II. III. IV.

Habakkuk Waits for an Answer: 2:1 God Responds: Write Plainly: The Promise is Certain: 2:2-3 The Righteous and the Wicked: Living by Faith or Human Pride: 2:4-5 Woes upon the Chaldeans: 2:6-20 A. Woe upon lust of conquest and plunder: 2:6-8 B. Woe upon effort to build a permanent empire through cruelty and godless gain: 2:9-11 C. Woe upon building cities with blood: 2:12-14 D. Woe upon cruelty in the treatment of conquered kings and nations: 2:1517 E. Woe upon idolatry: 2: 18-20

This chapter contains many tremendous truths: 1. The concept of patiently waiting for God to answer (2:1). 2. The real fundamental difference between a righteous person and a wicked person (2:4). 3. God holds nations accountable for how they behave themselves towards subject nations and how they behave themselves in a time of war.

Superpowers are accountable to God just like any other nation and God holds nations accountable for how they treat the civilians of conquered nations. 4. True faith will realize and joyfully accept the fact that God is right and true faith will sit silently and accept God's plan of action (2:20). "Consequently, instead of Habakkuk's finding fault with the Lord, both he and 'all the earth' should 'keep silence before him' (2:20). Any human being, prophet or otherwise, is out of place to question the judgments of God" (Spiritual Sword p. 30).

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2:1 "I will stand on my guard post and station myself on the rampart; and I will keep watch to see what He will speak to me, and how I may reply when I am reproved".

"I will stand on my guard post": The prophets were the watchmen for God's people (Ezek. 3:17). "Like a sentinel standing in a watchtower to detect the first signs of an approaching enemy...he resolved to position himself so he might obtain the earliest and clearest information and then, like a watchman inform his waiting brethren. It is likely that the 'guard post' (observation station), and the 'rampart' (watchtower or fortress) refer to the prophet's attitude of expectation rather than his physical location" (Bible Knowledge Comm. p. 1512). "When I am reproved": Some translate this phrase, "concerning my complaint" (Ber). The NASV and KJV translators took the Hebrew word tokahat to mean "correction, rebuke or argument", that is, a rebuke that was against the prophet rather than the complaint issued by the prophet. "Whether or not Habakkuk anticipated reproof in God's response one thing is certain: the prophet anxiously anticipated God's answer" (Bible Knowledge Comm. p. 1512).

"We are typically impatient. We want things to happen, we want solutions yesterday.

We feel we have the right to an answer to every sickness....Our big problem is that we want to get His thinking in line with ours. What Habakkuk is saying is this: 'I'm going to take all the time necessary to get my thinking in line with God's'" (Briscoe pp. 123124). Here we find a wonderful attitude, the attitude of being willing to listen to God's answer, God's point of view, and God's view of reality. The willingness to let God rebuke and correct us, if that is what we need. Habakkuk is trying his best to be in a proper frame of mind and meekly receive the word (James 1:21). Too often, people throw out questions to God---but what they really want isn't a answer, rather, it is an argument. Habakkuk was not trying to prove God wrong---rather he simply wanted to understand. Patiently waiting for answers to our prayers, patiently allowing ourselves to grow to spiritual maturity, patiently waiting for our bible questions to be answered is an essential character trait in those who want to serve God (Colossians 4:2; Psalm 130:5; Hebrews 6:12).

2:2 "Then the Lord answered me and said, 'Record the vision and inscribe it on tablets, that the one who reads it may run"' "Record the vision": This vision is a revelation from God and it was not merely for Habakkuk but for all the faithful in Judah. This revelation is to be written down on tablets. "The tablet were plates or plaques such as those used in public places where the passing populace could read and be informed ... The reader's running does not imply that the tablet was of modern billboard size that one could read while running, but that the message was such that one would hasten to another with it, or hasten in preparation for what it pointed to" (Hailey p. 282).

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2:3 "For the vision is yet for the appointed time; it hastens toward the goal, and it will not fail. Though it tarries, wait for it; for it will certainly come; it will not delay" "Yet for the appointed time": This is the reason why the vision is to be put into writing, to warn people and also to demonstrate that when it happens that God had predicted such. "Because it is not to be fulfilled immediately it must be written; when fulfilled, men will know that God spoke it" (Hailey p. 282). "What the Lord is saying in effect is this: ‘I have a declaration to make, and this declaration is not just for you, Habakkuk. It is a declaration that has to be widely broadcast. I want you to recognize that the outcome is absolutely certain. There will be a delay, but wait for it. When I am ready I will act and not a minute before'. God is always right on time" (Briscoe p. 124).

"It hastens toward the goal": '''Lit., pants toward the end', like a runner toward the finish line" (Bible Knowledge Comm. p. 1512). God understands how people tend to view Him as delaying. Though from a human perspective the judgment seems delayed, or seems to tarry, it will come! Just like the Second Coming which seems to have delayed for so long, it will also come (2 Peter 3:4-10). The statement, "it will certainly come" is true of anything that God has predicted.

The Righteous and the Wicked 2:4 "Behold, as for the proud one, his soul is not right within him; but the righteous will live by his faith" "Behold, as for the proud one: In the context, this refers to the Chaldeans. "His soul is puffed up, it is not upright in him. His life is distorted by pride; it is bloated out of proportion to its real worth" (Hailey p. 283). This is God's summary of the conceited character of the Chaldeans. "One who is proud, presumptuous, thinks much of himself, despising others, and is not straightforward and upright before God" (P.P. Comm. p. 23).

The Scriptures often note that arrogance contains in itself the seeds for its own destruction (Psalm 10:2; 12:3; 52:7; 73:6,8; 101 :5; 119:69; Proverbs 6:17; 8:13; 11:2 "When pride comes, then comes dishonor"; 13:10; 16:18 "Pride goes before destruction"; 18:12; 29:23; 30:13; James 4:6). Consider how pride and faith are contrasted. Pride is trust in self, faith is trust in God. Pride can color and twist one's perspective of reality. The Chaldeans, puffed up by trust in their own strength, thought that whatever they were doing was the right thing to do. Pride is a problem of the heart, "his soul is not right within him".

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"But the righteous will live by his faith�: Everyone lives by something and everyone follows a certain view or rule of life. The proud individual lives eachday thinking they have within themselves all the answers or that they will never be held accountable for their actions. A righteous man does not trust in himself (Proverbs 3:4), his own resources or his own wisdom. The faith that results in a right standing with God is a faith by which one lives. It is far more than mere mental assent or the type of faith that a person might put on once a week or now and then. This type of faith is described in this book. A faith that patiently waits for God (3:16), accepts whatever God says and refuses to argue (2:20), rejoices in God even though life is unbearable at the moment (3: 16-19). This same verse is quoted in Romans 1:17; Galatians 3:11; Hebrews 10:38). In the New Testament living by faith includes accepting the gospel message (Romans 1:16), living by the gospel, not by the Law of Moses (Galatians 3:11), and remaining faithful to God in spite of the external circumstances (Heb. 10:38). This isn't anything new. Abel, Enoch, Noah and Abraham also lived by faith (Hebrews 11 :1ff). In other words, the unrighteous individual depends upon self, and righteous individual depends upon God. "In their thought the ancient writers realized something that we have tended to overlook: If you have genuine faith, it will be in a faithful God, others will know it by the way that I live. The God in whom I claim to have faith will be so real to me that I will make him real to you....One of the tragedies of the church of Jesus Christ in the western word today is that we have made it so easy to 'believe' that we have put a great chasm between coming to faith and living faithful lives. Accordingly, it is not uncommon to find people who make loud protests of faith in Jesus Christ. Nevertheless, they live in direct disobedience to Christ. ...The righteous shall live by faithfulness! How can we protest to be new creatures, to be made alive in Christ, and show no evidence of this life? " (Briscoe pp. 125-126).

2:5 "Furthermore, wine betrays the haughty man, so that he does not stay at home.

He enlarges his appetite like Sheol, and he is like death, never satisfied. He also gathers to himself all nations and collects to himself all peoples" "Wine betrays the haughty man": "The Babylonians were said to be very addicted to wine. For example, Babylon was conquered while Belshazzar and his leaders were feasting at a riotous banquet (Daniel 5)" (Bible Knowledge Comm. p. 1513). See also Proverbs 23:31-32. "It is said that the Chaldeans were fond of drinking and excess, but here the Chaldean's wine is his pride; he is intoxicated on power and conquest, which are equally treacherous" (Hailey p. 283). Compare with Isaiah 29:9; 51 :21.

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"He does not stay at home": "Instead of keeping at home and building a noble government that would stand, he strives to extend his power throughout the world" (Hailey p. 283). "His pride is always impelling him to new raids and conquests....as wine raises the spirits and excites men to great efforts which in the end deceive them, so pride rouses these men to go on their insatiate course of conquest, which shall one day prove their ruin" (P.P. Comm. p.24).

"He enlarges his appetite like Sheol": "Just as death and the grave are not satisfied till all come into their grasp, so the Babylonians sought to take captive all the peoples" (Bible Knowledge Comm. p. 1513). Compare with Proverbs 27:20; 30:16; Isaiah 5:14. God is not condemning Babylon for being a superpower, rather He is condemning their abuses, and their lust for greed and power. God holds nations accountable for how they treat subject nations, and God holds nations accountable for how they treat the captives and civilian population of nations which deserved to be punished.

Five woes against Babylon 2:6 "Will not all of these take up a taunt-song against him, even mockery and insinuations against him, and say, 'Woe to him who increases what is not his---for how long----and makes himself rich with loans?"

"Will not all of these": "The expression ‘all of these’ refers to the conquered nations and peoples which had been taken captive (2:5). "All those nations conquered and plundered by the Babylonians would in due time witness the fall of their conqueror and join in a song of derision and denunciation. Habakkuk recorded a satirical outburst or taunt-song" (Bible Knowledge Comm. p. 1513). The expression "taunt-song", means "a terse and energetic song, and in this case, pithy and derogatory" (Hailey p.

284).

"Mockery and insinuations": "In scoffing derision" (Amp). Eventually, everyone, even powerful nations with tremendous resources will reap what they have sown. Shame, disgrace and humiliation are the natural consequences that every unrepentant sinner will face-eventually, if not in this life, the life to come (Romans 2:8-9). This is part of the price of unfaithfulness. Every unfaithful Christian knows that one day it is going to be pay back time, one day all their sins will catch up to them, "And be sure your sin will find you out" (Numbers 32:23).

"Who increases what is not his": "The first woe compares the Babylonians to an unscrupulous pawnbroker who lends on extortionate terms. As spoil for their own gain they had been merciless in heaping up the wealth of the nations. It was, of course, 5

sheer theft" (Bible Knowledge Comm. p. 1514). This woe is not only upon nations which take lands to which they have no moral right, but it also should remind nations that the wealth of conquered nations is not theirs to loot. It is one thing to punish an evil nation, it is another thing to plunder it.

"For how long": God's answer is, "not forever". Their rule, supremacy, and tyranny are going to have a definite end. Unfortunately, often we think that unrepentant sinners are getting away with it. Not so, (Psalm 73). "And makes himself rich with loans": The idea seems to be that the plunder the Chaldeans have taken from other nations was a huge debt, a loan that one day they would have to repay!

2:7 "Will not your creditors rise up suddenly, and those who collect from you awaken? Indeed, you will become plunder for them."

"Rise up suddenly": God can very easily cause the roles to be reversed, and this role reversal can happen suddenly and in an unexpected manner. The creditors who were rising suddenly were the Persians who destroyed the Babylonian power as quickly and as unexpectedly as it had arisen. "They should not only get their bite of stolen goods but also give their aggressors a good shakedown" (Bible Knowledge Comm. p. 1514).

2:8 "Because you have looted many nations, all the remainder of the peoples will loot you---because of human bloodshed and violence done to the land, to the town and all its inhabitants."

This was fulfilled when Cyrus, ruler of the Medes and Persians, who entered Babylon, October, 539 B.C., twenty-three years after the death of Nebuchadnezzar (562 B.C.).

Observe the fairness and long-suffering of God. Babylon had looted many nations, not just one. They had killed many innocent people, and had used excessive force and cruelty upon the non-military population of many lands. They were ripe for judgment.

When God judges He is not overreacting.

The Second Woe 2:9 "Woe to him who gets evil gain for his house to put his nest on high to be delivered from the hand of calamity!"

"To put his nest on high": Like nations before and after, the Chaldeans thought that they had established an empire which could not be shaken. The above expression is a figurative expression denoting overconfidence, a feeling of total security and pride (Obadiah 4). The Babylonians thought they were so powerful and their cities so 6

fortified that calamity could not touch them. "Like an eagle setting his nest inaccessible to all predators by building it high ....the Babylonians sought to make their empire free from harm" (Bible Knowledge Comm. p. 1514). The city of Babylon itself was protected by a huge wall more than eleven miles long and eighty-five feet thick. . And all these fortifications had been achieved through the use of dishonest means or evil gain.

Adam and Eve in the garden sought to hide from God (Genesis 3:8) following their sin.

Since then, sinners have used various methods in trying to hide from God. Some think that wealth will protect them from divine judgment. Others try to hide in philosophy or pseudo-science, such as the theory of Evolution. One lesson that we learn from the Bible is that divine judgment can penetrate any humanly devised fortress. The only place of true refuge is a relationship with God through His Son Jesus Christ (1 Thess. 1: 10; Romans 5:9).

2:10 "You have devised a shameful thing for your house by cutting off many peoples; so you are sinning against yourself."

"Devised a shameful thing": The word "devised" would suggest that the Babylonian's cruelty against others was purposeful and planned. They had deliberately planned to destroy others in order to elevate themselves or make themselves feel secure. But this empire built on the bodies of vanquished nations could not bring security, but only shame and judgment. "Sinning against yourself": "Put your own life in jeopardy" (NEB); "worked your own ruin" (Jerus). The real loser when we sin--is ourselves. Every sin we commit is truly against our own best personal interest and well-being. Don't let others convince you that sin or a particular sin is a way of rewarding yourself. Rather, sin is a way of punishing yourself.

2:11 "Surely the stone will cry out from the wall, and the rafter will answer it from the framework."

"Even if every single enemy were exterminated, the very stones and lumber would testify against the rapacious and cruel hands of the Babylonians that had fashioned these building materials to show off their empire's strength and glory. The stones and timber with which the houses and places were built had been obtained through plunder and injustice" (Bible Knowledge Comm. p. 1514). We find the same principle in the case of Abel's blood which cried out for justice (Genesis 4: 10), and hoarded the unjust gain crying out for justice in James chapter 5. Such a concept is saying that God knows everything, God knows every act of injustice and God knows the location of every stolen item and every item purchased or acquired with unjust gain, and such items cry out to Him for vengeance! Don't envy the wheelerdealer, or the shady businessman or sales person. You don’t want to be in their shoes on judgment day. In a 7

world filled with crime in which many stolen possessions are never found or recovered, we need to take comfort in the fact that all such items are testifying against those who stole them. That stolen bike, car, stereo system, etc... , is crying out for divine retribution.

The Third Woe 2:12 "Woe to him who builds a city with bloodshed and founds a town with violence!"

"To build a town with blood and a city by iniquity is to build by the labor of conquered and subjugated peoples. It is to hold life cheap and employ it in building and beautifying one's own palace, city, and nation. The prophet sees the slaves dying under the blows of cruel taskmasters or falling from weariness and hunger as they are mercilessly driven on in their tasks" (Hailey p. 286). "The cities of the Babylonian Empire were built by the blood and sweat of enslaved peoples. Murder, bloodshed, oppression, and tyranny were the tools employed in this building project" (Bible Knowledge Comm. pp. 1514-1515).

We need to take note that getting ahead never justifies trampling over others. In like manner, woe to him or her who destroys the reputations of others to bolster their own.

And woe to those who abort a child so that such will not interfere with a career or their finances. We always need to be careful that we aren't buying into the idea that the bottom line or a profit is more important than human beings. God doesn't buy the excuse that such slaves were lucky just to be alive. God is against the exploitation of others, even if the others being exploited are of another race or culture.

2:13 "It is not indeed from the Lord of hosts that peoples toil for fire, and nations grow weary for nothing?"

The idea isn't that God approves of such behavior, rather that God has decreed that nations which oppress others are only laboring for their own destruction. "That their (the Chaldeans, or any oppressive empire) ambitious work had been done in vain...Their carefully hewn stones would serve as the altar and their ornately carved wood as kindling for the giant sacrificial fire that God would leave Babylon in ashes...AII their work---the labor of Babylon or any nation like it----is a waste if it is wrought with bloodshed and crime" (Bible Knowledge Comm. p. 1515). Psalm 127:1 "Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it". The principle is that a life, a family, a company or a nation built on wickedness will not survive. One isn't accomplishing anything by cutting moral corners!

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2:14 "For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea".

The destruction of Babylon, foretold by Habakkuk and other prophets (Isaiah 13; Jeremiah 51) is a great witness to the reality of God's existence. Fulfilled prophecy is a great argument and proof that God is and that God rules in the kingdoms of men. The destruction of Babylon would result in glory for God and the magnification of His name. There is also a great contrast here. "The wearisome toil of a whole generation of boasting Babylonians provided a little fire and ended up as a heap of ashes in one corner of the earth" (Bible Knowledge Comm. p. 1515). By contrast, the knowledge of God's greatness is worldwide. While Babylon would fade into history, the knowledge of the true God, His fame, would only increase. The verse also suggests that the knowledge of God is very accessible, this knowledge is accessible to all everywhere.

The Fourth Woe 2:15 "Woe to you who make your neighbors drink, who mix in your venom even to make them drunk so as to look on their nakedness!"

"The focus here is on the inhumanity and the indignity of the conqueror to his subjects.

He is pictured as a drunkard giving his neighbors wine to intoxicate them so that he may indulge in some evil wantonness" (Bible Knowledge Comm. p. 1515). "The Chaldean power is by no means the last great power that has used his position and prestige to intoxicate, strip, and destroy honor and dignity" (Hailey p. 287). God isn't impressed when individuals, groups or nations use their influence, power and wealth to force people to compromise. Babylon promised wealth, honor, and aid to those who would compromise their morals, integrity and honor. Business have been guilty in the past and present for offering some sort of bribery to employees who would look the other way, engage in sinful activities, lie, cheat and etc...for the company. God's judgment hangs over the heads of those who pressure, intimidate and manipulative others into sinning and degrading themselves. God doesn't buy the idea that a nation, company or any other organization is so important that sinful activities are justified in furthering the power or agenda or such groups. There isn't a human organization on this earth that is more important than your relationship with God. 2:16 "You will be filled with disgrace rather than honor. Now you yourself drink and expose your own nakedness. The cup in the Lord's right hand will come around to you, and utter disgrace will come upon your glory."

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"The cup in the Lord's right hand will come around to you": That is, the cup of God's wrath, which is often used as a figure of Divine retribution (Isaiah 51:17-23; Jeremiah 25:15-17; Lam. 4:21). Disgrace, shame and destruction will come upon this nation that had used all such things against others. She would reap what she had sown (Galatians 6:7). As Babylon had shamed, humiliated, and intimidated others, the inhabitants of this Empire would find themselves being humiliated. "Utter disgrace": Extreme contempt.

This once glorious and proud empire would become like a disgraceful drunk.

2:17 "For the violence done to Lebanon will overwhelm you, and the devastation of its beasts by which you terrified them, because of human bloodshed and violence done to the land, to the town and all its inhabitants."

"Violence done to Lebanon": "Lebanon, a nation north of Israel, was known for its abundance of cedar trees and wild animals. It had suffered the ruthless removal of timber for Babylonian buildings and the destructive slaughter of beasts that lived in the forest" (Bible Knowledge Comm. p. 1516). "The Chaldean had held the whole creation of God in contempt, considering it all his to be used to his own selfish ends" (Hailey p.

287). Babylon, like other nations, powerful companies or individuals had no concept of stewardship. They just felt that everything here was for their primary use, without any thought for others or future generations.

The Fifth Woe 2:18 "What profit is the idol when its maker has carved it, or an image, a teacher of falsehood? For its maker trusts in his own handiwork when he fashions speechless idols."

"What profit is the idol": The answer to this question should be obvious, the idol is completely useless. Why, it can't even do what little children can do, that is, speak. An infant has more power and ability than any idol, your cat or dog has more life and intelligence than any graven image. "Like the nations of the time, Chaldea was given over to idolatry (Jeremiah 50:38). What now, is this going to profit the nation? The idol is a teacher of lies; it promises what it can never produce" (Hailey p. 288).

"A teacher of falsehood": Not that the idol personally taught anything, but rather, people place their trust in such things, people are deceived and eternally destroyed because they thought that the idol would deliver and protect them. "For its maker trusts in his own handiwork": Which is crazy if you really think about. "The prophet derides the folly which supposes that the idol has powers denied to the man who made it" (P.P. Comm. p. 28).

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Something that we see over and over again in the Biblical record is the fact that nations which were extremely advanced concerning secular learning and technology, were often at the same time morally and spiritually ignorant. Technology and learning often went hand in hand with superstition. From the descendants of Cain to the men of Athens (Genesis 4:16ff; Acts 17:21-23), we find that the world's wisdom completely fails in finding spiritual truth (1 Cor. 1:21). Many have assumed that advancements in technology prove that we have evolved beyond our need for God. Babylon had accomplished much and was the center of secular learning in the ancient world---but it was also a nation that attributed divine powers to blocks of wood and stone. In like manner today, look at our advances in science, technology, computers, medicine, and yet people in those fields often believe in very silly things, such as reincarnation or evolution.

2:19 "Woe to him who says to a piece of wood, 'Awake!' To a dumb stone, 'Arise!'

And that is your teacher?" Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver, and there is no breath at all inside it�

God is trying to make us see how ridiculous idolatry looks. He does the same thing in Isaiah 44:9-20. People were actually praying to such things, depending upon them for deliverance! God is astonished that someone would make an idol, and then consider that creation to be their teacher! "How absurd it is to stand before a piece of wood or some cold stone and cry out, "Arise! Awake!". Here is one of those places where God is trying to use parody, cutting humor to help people see how silly all of this looks (compare with 1 Kings 18:26-29; Isaiah 41:7; 45:16,20; 46:1-2,6-7; Jeremiah 10:8-16). “There is no breath at all inside it": There isn't even a little power or life in the idol. The idol is purely what it is made out of, i.e. all wood or all stone. We stand in amazement at how intelligent people could ever think that a block of wood was a god. Yet, at times we react just as silly. We somehow think that a material object will give us power, i.e. like a new car or home, that somehow such possessions make us more valuable. In addition, how many Christians are still holding on to various superstitions like reading the horoscope, or thinking that there might be some power in a certain occult object? How many of us are intimidated by chain-letters, fearful that something might just happen to us if we don't do what the letter says?

2:20 "But the Lord is in His holy temple. Let all the earth be silent before Him." The holy temple is not necessarily the temple at Jerusalem, but heaven itself. "From dumb, man-carved idols, attention shifts to the living Lord, the selfexistent, 11

eternal....Sovereign who rules the universe from His holy temple, that is, heaven (Psalm 11 :4; 18:6,9; Micah 1:2-3). Instead of shouting, 'Arise! Awake', the whole earth must stand in silent awe and worship before Him" (Bible Knowledge Comm. p. 1516). “Be silent": That is hush or be still. Instead of complaining, murmuring, boasting of our own wisdom, arguing for our rights, insisting upon immediate relief---let the whole earth stand in awe of God, His power and wisdom, and let us close our mouths and open our ears. Jeremiah said, "Let him put his mouth in the dust" (Lamentations 3:29).

And this is what is really means to live by faith, when we humbly and silently accept His teachings.

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