Habakkuk 2
2:1 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.
What we see here is Habakkuk firmly standing and waiting upon the Lord for an answer. That for me is one of the hardest things I have had to learn and still learning to do, waiting upon the Lord. His timing is not our own. No matter how much I would love to see things move faster or even slow down; the Lord’s timing is always on time. There are many verses that help us understand the importance on waiting upon the Lord.
Psalm 27:14 Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.
Psalm 40:1 To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry.
Psalm 62:5 My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him.
Psalm 130:5 I wait for the LORD, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope.
Proverbs 20:22 Say not thou, I will recompense evil; but wait on the LORD, and he shall save thee.
Isaiah 25:9 And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the LORD; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation.
Isaiah 30:18 And therefore will the LORD wait, that he may be gracious unto you, and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for the LORD is a God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for him.
There are so many more scriptures telling us, instructing us, and giving us examples of waiting upon the Lord. The bottom line is The Lord knows what is best for us, for His ways are so much better than ours.
Isaiah 55:8-9 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
Which I then think of a Proverb that is particularly important and impactful.
Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
Hab 2:2 And the LORD answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it.
Habakkuk was told to write the vision that the Lord was giving him onto tables and make it simple (plainly) so that the one that reads it will understand and will be able to run with it.
Readeth in the Strong’s is H7121 meaning to call out, mention. Preach, (make) proclaim, pronounce, publish, read.
So, it needed to be super simple for someone to read and proclaim. Reminds me of the simplicity of the Gospel.
1Cointhians 15:1-4
1 Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;
2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.
3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;
4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:
Which then reminds me of the Father sending Jesus and the gift of salvation through Him.
John 3:16-17
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
With that in mind Jesus gave us but two commandments:
Mark 12:30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.
Mark 12:31 And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.
Which again brings us back to the beginning of Habakkuk 2, where we find Habakkuk waiting upon the Lord. Mark 12:30 is a great explanation for why He waits upon the Lord. The Lord is the beginning of everything.
Habakkuk 2:3 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.
Honestly, this verse reminds me of a few different places in the bible. From Joseph to Daniel from Isaiah to John there are many references to things that would happen at an appointed time. Things that would come but not yet, things that many waited for. Jesus coming to save that which was lost being one of the several appointed times. As mentioned above the Lord’s timing is not our own. When the Father says something will happen, rest assure it will happen, but again in His timing.
Habakkuk 2:4 Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith.
When a soul is lifted up, it is full of pride. Pride will cause many things to happen. Pride was the first sin. Pride will keep you in your sin. Pride will keep you from accepting the free gift of salvation brought to us through Jesus Christ. Here a few scriptures on how the Father feels about those who have Pride in their hearts.
James 4:6 But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.
Proverbs 15:25 The LORD will destroy the house of the proud: but he will establish the border of the widow.
Isaiah 2:12 For the day of the LORD of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low:
Proverbs 16:18 Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.
The saying “What goes up must come down” is oddly enough a perfect analogy. The Lord does not share his glory with no man. He will bring low those who esteem themselves high.
When writing this, a story from the book of 1 Samuel came to mind. The Philistines had just taken the ark of the covenant.
1Samuel 5:2-5
2 When the Philistines took the ark of God, they brought it into the house of Dagon, and set it by Dagon.
3 And when they of Ashdod arose early on the morrow, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the earth before the ark of the LORD. And they took Dagon, and set him in his place again.
4 And when they arose early on the morrow morning, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the ground before the ark of the LORD; and the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands were cut off upon the threshold; only the stump of Dagon was left to him.
5 Therefore neither the priests of Dagon, nor any that come into Dagon’s house, tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod unto this day.
Being full of pride will make you not upright. Those who are just (righteous) will live by faith. Those are the ones that abide in the Lord. That have written his statues on the tables of their hearts.
Proverbs 14:2 He that walketh in his uprightness feareth the LORD: but he that is perverse in his ways despiseth him.
Psalm 11:7 For the righteous LORD loveth righteousness; his countenance doth behold the upright.
Psalm 15:2 He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart.
Psalm 7:10 My defence is of God, which saveth the upright in heart.
Psalm 37:39-40
39 But the salvation of the righteous is of the LORD: he is their strength in the time of trouble.
40 And the LORD shall help them, and deliver them: he shall deliver them from the wicked, and save them, because they trust in him.
Psalm 37:25 I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.
These are just a few scriptures, showing how the Lord is a shield, provider, a lover of the upright. Those who are just and live by faith. By faith, we believe the Lord will be our defense, by faith we believe the Lord will help us in our times of need, by faith we know the Lord hears our prayers, cries, pleas.
It is reiterated three more times in the new testament about the just shall live by faith.
Romans 1:17 For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.
Hebrews 10:38 Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.
Galatians 3:11 But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith.
We are sons and daughters and the Father takes care of us as a father takes care of his children. The Holy Spirit has now been sent to us to help teach, lead, and guide us. When we are learning and growing from glory to glory, we will also receive chastening from our heavenly Father as He sees fit; as we need it. As we read the next scriptures the Lord clearly points out the things that are going on that are not pleasing to him but are bad.
Habakkuk 2:5 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:
Here is a man that is proud, and he is transgressed by wine, overtaken. He is restless and his appetite (desires) is growing just as hell is growing (expanding). He cannot be satisfied. He gathers nations unto himself and he captures people too.
Never being satisfied in pleasures but having to always add too them… examples of this is you start off drinking beer which increases to hard liquor.
You start off with a couple of hits of a joint a day to a 1/4 a day. You start chasing that first high off of heroin, increasing more and more, trying to replicate that first high.
You start off being addicted to sex which increases to porn, even to the point you cannot even be satisfied with sex the way God intended it to be, unto the point you can not only be satisfied as an observer, but now a perverse doer.
You start off with food in your belly, but due to emotional stress begin to overeat. When we do this, we stretch out our stomach lining creating a need for more intake.
When we partake at the table of Satan we are never satisfied and always wanting more.
The Lord will sustain us, his grace and mercy will keep us. We find rest and strength in Him. We will have everlasting life. Those that are not His will face restlessness, wantonness, never satisfied, and ultimately find eternity in the lake of fire. Jesus tells us in;
John 4:14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.
Habakkuk 2:6-8 The First Woe Theft and Extortion
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!
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?
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.
We see here that there is a woe to him that increased that which is not his. Gain from theft. In the end the thief will fall victim himself to theft from those that were left from his pillaging. It is like that old saying about doing unto others as you would have them do unto you. Or you will reap what you sow. There is a proverb that tells us that being poor and righteous is better than being rich and crooked.
Proverbs 28:6 Better is the poor that walketh in his uprightness, than he that is perverse in his ways, though he be rich.
Habakkuk 2:9-11 The Second Woe Greed & Unjust Gain
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.
This woe is for him whose greed causes him to obtain unjust gain to establish his house and place it where he will escape any troubles. Because he has cut off many peoples to obtain this gain, he has brought shame to his household, insomuch that the stones cry out of the walls and the beams (rafters) also from the timber. He also sinned against his soul.
Luke 8:17 For nothing is secret, that shall not be made manifest; neither any thing hid, that shall not be known and come abroad.
Luke 12:3 Therefore whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness shall be heard in the light; and that which ye have spoken in the ear in closets shall be proclaimed upon the housetops.
Ecclesiastes 12:14 For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.
Roman 2:16 In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.
So regardless of what deeds you do or do not do in secret they will be known. Just as the rocks and the beam cried out and answered. There will be a day that all deeds will be manifested and known and more importantly judge by the word of God.
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Habakkuk 2:12-14 The Third Woe Violence and A Small Glimmer of Hope
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 labour 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.
This woe is for the one that builds a town with bloodshed and death and establish a city with sin and wickedness. The people labour in the fire and the nations shall weary themselves in vanity. Vanity here, meaning something that people do simply out of pride but that ultimately is inconsequential. This profited them nothing, but The Glory of the Lord will be shared and proclaimed throughout the earth. That is the blessed Great News. The News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Ecclesiastes 2:21 For there is a man whose labour is in wisdom, and in knowledge, and in equity; yet to a man that hath not laboured therein shall he leave it for his portion. This also is vanity and a great evil.
Psalm 127:1 A Song of degrees for Solomon. Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.
Mark 16:15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
Mark 1:15 And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.
Habakkuk 2:15-17 The Fourth Woe Drunkenness, Corrupting Others & Lust
15 Woe unto him that giveth his neighbour drink, that puttest thy bottle to him, and makest him drunken also, that thou mayest look on their nakedness!
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.
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.
This woe is for him that corrupted his neighbor with drink, so he can see their nakedness. He is filled with shame rather than glory. He drinks and carries on, The Lord’s right hand shall be turned against him. The violence done to Lebanon will overtake him, and the destruction of the beasts will terrorize him—because he shed human blood and did violence to the land, to the city, and to all who live in it.
Matthew 22:39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
Ephesians 4:29 Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.
1 Corinthians 6:9-10
9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,
10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.
We should be loving our neighbor as ourselves. We are to be of a sober mind and not be corrupting others but edifying and ministering grace. The unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
Psalm 34:14 Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.
Habakkuk 2:18-19 The Fifth Woe Idols & Idolatry
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.
The Lord has given many scriptures about idols and idolatry. There shall be no other gods before God.
Deuteronomy 13:4 Ye shall walk after the Lord your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him.
Exodus 20:23 Ye shall not make with me gods of silver, neither shall ye make unto you gods of gold.
1 John 5:21 Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.
Psalm 115:4-7
4 Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands.
5 They have mouths, but they speak not: eyes have they, but they see not:
6 They have ears, but they hear not: noses have they, but they smell not:
7 They have hands, but they handle not: feet have they, but they walk not: neither speak they through their throat.
Deuteronomy 4:39 Know therefore this day, and consider it in thine heart, that the Lord he is God in heaven above, and upon the earth beneath: there is none else.
Leviticus 19:4 Turn ye not unto idols, nor make to yourselves molten gods: I am the LORD your God.
Psalm 46:10 Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.
There is but one God. He will be second to none. The Lord commands us to have no idols. The Lord will be exalted above all. Making idols is something done in vain because they do nothing. The Word of God is living and brings life.
Habakkuk 2:20 But the LORD is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him.
The Holy Spirit resides in us. We are the temple not formed by hands.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20
19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.
1 Corinthians 3:16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
This last verse is one that I am praying for confirmation. See we know that our bodies are the temple that the spirit lives in. When it says the Lord is in his holy temple, I think of just that. That the Lord thru the Holy Spirit is residing within me. The part about; let all the earth keep silence before him; makes me think of praying, but it also makes me think that the people of earth shall literally be silent.
This also reminds me of a couple of other spots where the bible speaks on silence.
Psalms 46:10 Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.
Psalm 62:1 To the choirmaster: according to Jeduthun. A Psalm of David. For God alone my soul waits in silence; from him comes my salvation.
In Revelation 8:1 When the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.
It too speaks of a silence, but it is in heaven. Is this silence a reverence silence? Because the scriptures leading up to Habakkuk 2: 20 speak of things that were displeasing to God and were sinful and brought consequences. Just as in Revelation after the silence brought some serious judgement.
Either way there has been much learned and opened up through this study and I am thankful for that. I look forward to revisiting Habakkuk 2 again in the future and seeing if more opens up or there might be even more further understanding.
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