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| Photo by Jim Tracy |
1 I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what he will say unto me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved.
Habakkuk couldn’t wait for God to answer him.
2 And the LORD answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it.
“Write this down…”
3 For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.
God promises that this prophecy WILL come to pass.
Sometimes it seems like God will never act to punish the wicked. He is a merciful God and will give everyone every opportunity to repent. But since He is also a God of justice, we can depend on there being a time when He will punish evil.
4 Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith.
The person who exalts himself is not upright. Godly people live not by their own power but by faith in God’s care and provision.
5 Yea also, because he transgresseth by wine, he is a proud man, neither keepeth at home, who enlargeth his desire as hell, and is as death, and cannot be satisfied, but gathereth unto him all nations, and heapeth unto him all people:
6 Shall not all these take up a parable against him, and a taunting proverb against him, and say, Woe to him that increaseth that which is not his! How long? And to him that ladeth himself with thick clay!
This is a description of the ungodly. They get drunk and gad about the town. They prefer socializing with those who are not of God. They steal. They just aren’t nice people. They need to watch out and change their ways because God is fixing to punish them.
7 Shall they not rise up suddenly that shall bite thee, and awake that shall vex thee, and thou shalt be for booties unto them?
This punishment will come quickly and unexpectedly.
8 Because thou hast spoiled many nations, all the remnant of the people shall spoil thee; because of men’s blood, and for the violence of the land, of the city, and of all that dwell therein.
All the victims of Assyria will get even for her cruelty.
9 Woe to him that coveteth an evil covetousness to his house, that he may set his nest on high, that he may be delivered from the power of evil!
10 Thou hast consulted shame to thy house by cutting off many people, and hast sinned against thy soul.
11 For the stone shall cry out of the wall, and the beam out of the timber shall answer it.
Assyria had doomed herself by her cruelty. Had she punished Israel as God wanted her to but been humane about it, He wouldn’t have been mad at her. He wouldn’t have wiped her out.
12 Woe to him that buildeth a town with blood, and stablisheth a city by iniquity!
13 Behold, is it not of the LORD of hosts that the people shall labor in the very fire, and the people shall weary themselves for very vanity?
14 For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.
“How dare you make a success of evil! God will be known and praised all over the planet.”
And Nineveh (capital of Assyria) knew better. They had converted under Jonah just a hundred years or so ago. There is no excuse now for their cruelty.
15 Woe unto him that giveth his neighbor drink, that puttest thy bottle to him, and makest him drunken also, that thou mayest look on their nakedness!
Those who cause others to sin are in even bigger danger than those who sin.
16 Thou art filled with shame for glory: drink thou also, and let thy foreskin be uncovered: the cup of the LORD’s right hand shall be turned unto thee, and shameful spewing shall be on thy glory.
God will shame the Assyrians just like they shamed their victims.
17 For the violence of Lebanon shall cover thee, and the spoil of beasts, which made them afraid, because of men’s blood, and for the violence of the land, of the city, and of all that dwell therein.
Because of the violence done to others, they will be destroyed.
18 What profiteth the graven image that the maker thereof hath graven it; the molten image, and a teacher of lies, that the maker of his work trusteth therein, to make dumb idols?
19 Woe unto him that saith to the wood, “Awake;” to the dumb stone, “Arise, it shall teach!” Behold, it is laid over with gold and silver, and there is no breath at all in the midst of it.
20 But the LORD is in His holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before Him.
“Why would people worship idols? They are nothing more than wood and stone but the real God is very much alive and awe inspiring.”