Habakkuk 2 Commentary
By punishing wickedness with wickedness, the LORD hasn’t exactly solved the wickedness problem. It is still there. Yes, perpetrators have changed positions but wickedness is still in existence. Sponsors of evil often change but not the game itself.
Then the LORD has words concerning this sad state of affairs. Let the reader take note. Babylon, the tool in God’s hand, will also be punished because of her own wickedness. There is no escape!
Small-sinner Judah will be punished immediately. Big-sinner Babylon would have her own day in court! But it’s a future event. Has the scripture highlighted the time of Mary’s son, when he comes to separate the sheep from the goats? Yes, Isaiah’s Servant, Immanuel, or the Son born to us with the government on His shoulders.
Unlike Habakkuk’s time, the Son’s time would be marked with peace – the Prince of Peace would bring injustice and violence to an end. Habakkuk’s quest for peace and righteousness would have been fully satisfied!
In the meantime, Habakkuk addresses the required posture for the saint: faith. It is faith that the LORD will eventually rid the earth of wickedness. Let the saint wait. Though it linger, wait. It will surely happen – Hence the most famous statement of the reformist Martin Luther, “The just shall live by faith”.
On the other hand is Babylon and the type. He is puffed up. All is well; no need to fear. The LORD won’t do anything. Nothing happens. Take it easy. But the saint knows the Creator God comes and establishes justice for eternity. The scripture points to a time when the knowledge of the LORD fills the earth. It won’t be an isolated idea!
“I will climb my watchtower and wait to see what the LORD will tell me to say and what answer he will give to my complaint.” Verse 1. The answer to this universal question must be trumpeted! Let everyone know!
From this chapter, we can see a number of things. Perfect justice is a function at the end of the time. But the fall of Babylon is a well-documented story. It means the LORD isn’t completely out of the picture in the intervening period. Wealth is deceitful. Verse 5. We don’t have to wait until the end to make this conclusion!
It is a chase after wind! This too can be seen in real time. “But before you know it, you that have conquered others will be in debt yourselves and be forced to pay interest.”
The comparison to death means the chase after wealth, power, and influence isn’t satisfied. It is a real chase after the wind! Empire builders are armed with extreme ambitions but it all comes to nothing – the emptiness of life. Let this message headline every publication. Let the herald run with it!
The reference to idols can be interesting! Idols may be man-made articles as in the last section of this chapter. Idols may, therefore, refer to elements of life that man has defined as ‘success’ paths or ways to completeness. But there is no truth nor life in them. They are all empty – nothingness! They may be covered in gold but there is no life in them!
Life is in the temple of the LORD. It is a call to the worship system and the revelation of the Creator God at the temple in Jerusalem. Check it out for yourself! Examine the truth and see the light.
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