Habakkuk 2 - ESV - Bible Reading / Study Notes

Habakkuk 2

2:1   I will take my stand at my watchpost
    and station myself on the tower,
  and look out to see what he will say to me,
    and what I will answer concerning my complaint.

The Righteous Shall Live by His Faith

2 And the LORD answered me:

  “Write the vision;
    make it plain on tablets,
    so he may run who reads it.
3   For still the vision awaits its appointed time;
    it hastens to the end—it will not lie.
  If it seems slow, wait for it;
    it will surely come; it will not delay.
4   “Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him,
    but the righteous shall live by his faith.¹
5   “Moreover, wine² is a traitor,
    an arrogant man who is never at rest.³
  His greed is as wide as Sheol;
    like death he has never enough.
  He gathers for himself all nations
    and collects as his own all peoples.”

Woe to the Chaldeans

6 Shall not all these take up their taunt against him, with scoffing and riddles for him, and say,

  “Woe to him who heaps up what is not his own—
    for how long?—
    and loads himself with pledges!”
7   Will not your debtors suddenly arise,
    and those awake who will make you tremble?
    Then you will be spoil for them.
8   Because you have plundered many nations,
    all the remnant of the peoples shall plunder you,
  for the blood of man and violence to the earth,
    to cities and all who dwell in them.
9   “Woe to him who gets evil gain for his house,
    to set his nest on high,
    to be safe from the reach of harm!
10   You have devised shame for your house
    by cutting off many peoples;
    you have forfeited your life.
11   For the stone will cry out from the wall,
    and the beam from the woodwork respond.
12   “Woe to him who builds a town with blood
    and founds a city on iniquity!
13   Behold, is it not from the LORD of hosts
    that peoples labor merely for fire,
    and nations weary themselves for nothing?
14   For the earth will be filled
    with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD
    as the waters cover the sea.
15   “Woe to him who makes his neighbors drink—
    you pour out your wrath and make them drunk,
    in order to gaze at their nakedness!
16   You will have your fill of shame instead of glory.
    Drink, yourself, and show your uncircumcision!
  The cup in the LORD’s right hand
    will come around to you,
    and utter shame will come upon your glory!
17   The violence done to Lebanon will overwhelm you,
    as will the destruction of the beasts that terrified them,
  for the blood of man and violence to the earth,
    to cities and all who dwell in them.
18   “What profit is an idol
    when its maker has shaped it,
    a metal image, a teacher of lies?
  For its maker trusts in his own creation
    when he makes speechless idols!
19   Woe to him who says to a wooden thing, Awake;
    to a silent stone, Arise!
  Can this teach?
  Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver,
    and there is no breath at all in it.
20   But the LORD is in his holy temple;
    let all the earth keep silence before him.”

Footnotes

[1] 2:4 Or faithfulness
[2] 2:5 Masoretic Text; Dead Sea Scroll wealth
[3] 2:5 The meaning of the Hebrew of these two lines is uncertain

Commentary

v1: Habakkuk has shared his heart, and his concern;

he has brought it to the Lord;
he awaits His response, and is ready to listen and learn;
he is willing to receive reproof (NIV margin).

This form of prayer is known as 'tephillah,' and is found in several Psalms (17, 86, 90, 102, 142) and in Zechariah's prayer (Luke 2) and in the Lord's prayer (Matthew 6). It mixes prophetic elements with an experience of suffering.

v2: The Lord answers, for He honours true faith, even when we struggle with what we see. His message is not just for the prophet, but has to be declared, so that others might hear God's word.

v3: The word of God will not prove false, and will surely be fulfilled. We know that God is utterly faithful; his word is true; He will bring it about in His time, Rom 9.14-24.

v4: The proud man;

rebellious and disobedient;
rejecting God's ways;
has desires for things different from God and His truth.

The promise of life is to the man of faith, who lives a life of righteous acts, having been made righteous by God; this verse is quoted in Rom 1.17, and Heb 10.38;

the emphasis in Romans is on imputed righteousness;
the emphasis in Hebrews is on a challenge to persevere.
Here, the prophet promotes faith, which sees the unknown, and understands God's ways.

v5: The Chaldeans are proud, not upright, they are greedy for others' land. Like death itself (Prov 30.15-16) they are never satisfied. So, the Chaldeans are ripe for judgment, fulfilling the first part of v4. Whilst God uses this people to bring judgment, He by no means condones their awful sins.

v6-19: The proverb against Babylon;

woe to him who piles up stolen goods; greed, v6-8;
woe to him who builds his realm by unjust gain; dishonesty, v9-11;
woe to him who builds a city with bloodshed; injustice, v12-13;

parenthesis;

woe to him who gives drink to his neighbour; deceit, v15-17;
woe to him who says to wood, 'Come to life;' idolatry, v18-19.

Here then is the rottenness of Babylon, and the inevitability of judgment. Here too is man's accountability before God; although they live in ignorance of Him, they are still accountable. Notice (v6) that Babylon's shame will be public, as "all of them," those mistreated, will rise up to taunt her.

v6-8: Babylon's greed, but the time of reckoning is drawing near; the debts are called in, the victims become the powerful, and the powerful become victims; as Babylon has plundered many nations, so many who are left will plunder her.

v9-11: Covetousness and dishonesty can go together, bringing rottenness to the heart. Such is the damage caused by these attitudes that the very stones of their houses cry out against them.

v12-13: The city that is built by iniquity will face certain judgment. All that they build will be destroyed.

v14: The parenthesis, bringing an eternal perspective; all that the prophet sees will one day be gone, the fearful armies of Babylon, the suffering of the people; the knowledge of the glory of the Lord will fill all the earth, Is 11.9. God's ultimate victory is an encouragement to us to pursue those things that really matter.

v15-17: Babylon used deceit to bring her neighbour to shame; yet this too will be turned upon her, "Drink and be exposed!"

v18-19: Idolatry is at the heart of Babylonian life; and this is exposed as folly.

v20: God is in His holy temple; the first response is the silence of awe and worship.