Here, Habakkuk says he will be the watchman and wait for the answer.
Keil, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The figure is taken from the custom of ascending high places for the purpose of looking into the distance and simply expresses the prophet’s spiritual preparation of the prophet’s soul for hearing the word of God.’
Maybe by now Habakkuk has learned to be patient, as he awaits God’s response to his question regarding God’s using an unholy nation like Babylon to discipline His own people, Habakkuk 1:17. We have to admire Habakkuk’s honesty with God; he simply couldn’t understand why God allowed His own people to suffer.
God answers Habakkuk in the form of a vision, He says, ‘write the revelation down’ Habakkuk 2:2, which means the revelation will have its time. The whole revelation needed to be written down, not just for Habakkuk’s sake but for the sake of the nation.
The nation needed to understand that God was working in and through this unholy nation, and so, when they eventually returned from captivity, they could read what God was doing in and through His own people.
God also tells him to write it down and make it ‘plain on tablets’, Habakkuk 2:2 / Exodus 31:18 / Exodus 32:15-16 / Deuteronomy 9:10 / Deuteronomy 27:8, which is a reference to writing in capital letters, so that’s it’s easy to read, advertise it like a notice board, the whole nation needs to read this, so that they too would understand what God was going.
Hodge, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The tablets mentioned here were the usual plates upon which writing was done. These were usually of clay in Babylonia, and in some instances were of wood or ivory.’
The vision was related to things in the future and had its ‘appointed time’, Habakkuk 2:3, but its fulfilment was coming without delay, Habakkuk 2:3.
Constable, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The writer of the Book of Hebrews quoted this verse, Hebrews 10:37. He used it to encourage his readers to persevere in their commitment to Jesus Christ since what God has predicted will eventually come to pass, which in the context of Hebrews is the Lord’s return.’
There’s a sense of urgency about proclaiming the message of the vision because it concerned not only the Babylonians but also God’s people. The time for Israel being a nation is coming to an end, and the time for the Babylonians to come and take God’s people into captivity is about to begin. The good news is that this captivity would only last seventy years, Jeremiah 25:11.
Judgement may not be as immediate as Habakkuk wants it to be, but it’s coming, 2 Peter 2:7 / 2 Peter 3:8-12. God says that all the unrighteous, those who are puffed up and those whose desires are not upright, Habakkuk 2:4, will be punished regardless of who they are.
He will dish it out on His own scale because God knows when the time is right, but the righteous will live by his faith, Habakkuk 2:4 / Romans 1:17 / Galatians 3:11 / Hebrews 10:38 / Revelation 2:10.
God’s people would certainly need faith to be able to walk by faith when they get captured and taken into captivity. It’s time to trust God like never before, Romans 8:28.
The Hebrew word for faith, Habakkuk 2:4, is ‘emuwnah’, which means stability. The idea of stability is spoken of in John 15:5, where Jesus speaks about remaining in Him and bearing much fruit. James speaks of faith as more than just mental knowledge that God exists, James 2:14-16.
Notice how God personifies the Babylonians’ drunken behaviour, He uses the words ‘him’ and ‘he’. This is used to describe how they went about conquering other nations. God isn’t speaking about how evil wine is; He’s speaking about the evil effects of wine on the Babylonians themselves.
Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, in their commentary, say the following.
‘The reason for the choice of such a metaphor probably derived from the fact of, ‘drunkenness being a besetting sin of Babylon. It was, in the case of Belshazzar, the immediate cause of the fall of Babylon, Daniel 5:2-5 / Daniel 5:30.’
They are arrogant and never at rest, and everyone knows that people with alcohol problems rarely stay in one place; they never take responsibility for their own actions.
The Babylonians were always on the move, conquering nation after nation, never happy with their lot, Habakkuk 2:5. Just like an alcoholic, they can never have enough wine; they are never satisfied, Proverbs 23:31-32.
As death is never satisfied with enough dead, Habakkuk 2:5, so the Babylonians are never satisfied with enough conquests. Here we find the first woe, Habakkuk 2:6, which is in relation to never being satisfied. In the text, we find the first of five woes to ‘him’.
This is in reference to the Babylonians, who wanted to expand their kingdom by going about conquering other nations and taking everything they could along the way. They didn’t care what they did, and they certainly didn’t show any mercy towards their enemies.
They are like bankers who give out loans but charge extortionate amounts of interest, Habakkuk 2:6 / Deuteronomy 23:20; they abuse those they have conquered by demanding a heavy tribute.
The very people they were preying on and abusing financially, will turn on the Babylonians, and those same very people will prey on them, Habakkuk 2:7. The very people the Babylonians plundered will go on to plunder them, Habakkuk 2:8. This happened when the Medes and Persians rose up and overthrew Babylon in 539 B.C. Daniel 2:29 / Daniel 5:2-5 / Daniel 5:30.
God says the Babylonians will reap what they sow, Proverbs 22:8 / Galatians 6:7-8, those they mistreated and didn’t show mercy to, Habakkuk 2:8, will one day return the compliment, Isaiah 33:1, what they have done to others, will be done to them, Obadiah 1-21.
Here we find the second woe, which is in relation to covetousness, Habakkuk 2:9. There’s no doubt they felt invincible in their ‘high nest’, Habakkuk 2:9; they felt that their army was so powerful that no one could bring them down.
Jamieson, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The image is from an eagle’s nest, Job 39:27. The royal citadel (of Babylon) is meant. The Chaldean built high towers like the Babel founders, ‘to be delivered from the power of evil’, Genesis 11:4.’
Unlike other nations, Babylon wasn’t an empire that grew because of the hard work of its own people; it grew because of all the things they plundered, Habakkuk 2:10.
Deane, in his commentary, says the following concerning Habakkuk 2:11.
‘This is a proverbial expression to denote the horror with which the savage cruelty of the Babylonians was regarded.’
The Babylonians used the stones, which were taken from previous battles, to build their own houses, Habakkuk 2:11. The very materials, the stone and the beams they plundered from the cities they conquered, would cry out for revenge, Habakkuk 2:11.
One thing they forgot about was that they were absolutely hated by the nations around them, and so, it was only a matter of time before those nations would rise up against them.
We know this was the case because later the Medes and Persians went up against them and totally destroyed the city of Babylon, Daniel 2:29 / Daniel 5:2-5 / Daniel 5:30. We remember that Jesus speaks of the stones crying out, Luke 19:20, and we remember that Peter tells us that Christians are living stones, 1 Peter 2:4-6.
Here we find the third woe which is in relation to cruelty, Habakkuk 2:12. The judgment here is the same as the one Jerusalem received, Micah 3:10, and the same as the one Jehoiakim received, Jeremiah 22:13 / Jeremiah 22:17.
The Babylonians were going to be condemned because they were building their empire on the lives of others, Habakkuk 2:12. Their works would turn out to be fuel for fire that would burn them up, the fire of His judgment, Habakkuk 2:12 / Jeremiah 51:58.
God says that all the effort it took for the Babylonians to build their empire is eventually going to go up in smoke; their efforts were a waste of time and for nothing, Habakkuk 2:13. They will be judged for it, they will be judged for their violence, Habakkuk 2:14 / Genesis 6:5 / Genesis 6:11-13.
Deane, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The mutilations of prisoners, the weary imprisonments, the massacre of non-combatants, the refinement of cruelty shown in the execution of children before the eyes of their fathers (and then blinding the fathers!), these and similar atrocities of the Babylonians are totally without excuse. We cannot be surprised that when the final judgment was denounced against Babylon, it was declared to be sent, in a great measure, because of men’s blood.’
Once again, we’re reminded that God is working on things and His glory shines through it all, Habakkuk 2:14 / Numbers 14:21 / Psalms 72:19 / Isaiah 6:3 / Isaiah 11:9 / Jeremiah 31:34. Some believe that phrase, ‘the earth being filled with knowledge,’ Habakkuk 2:14, possibly has a Messianic meaning, Daniel 2 / Daniel 7 / Matthew 28:18-20.
Hailey, in his commentary, says the following.
‘This knowledge is accessible to all men everywhere; its voice covers the earth as waters cover the sea, for there is no place where God’s fulfilled prophecies are not to be found.’
Here we find the fourth woe, which is in relation to drunkenness, Habakkuk 2:15. Everyone knows that the stronger the alcohol they drink, the faster they get drunk and lose their senses.
If you’ve ever been to a wedding where there’s a lot of alcohol on offer, it doesn’t take long for someone to get drunk and try to become the centre of attention. They think they’re being funny, but people are actually laughing at them, not with them, because of their drunken behaviour.
The effects of wine in the hands of a drunkard are used to describe the craziness of the Babylonians. God is saying, here is a picture of someone giving someone else a drink with the purpose of getting them drunk, Habakkuk 2:15.
This is what the Babylonians were doing metaphorically, they made the nations around them drunk so that they could expose their nakedness, Habakkuk 2:15, and once they did, they took full advantage of them by conquering them and raiding their cities for their wealth.
The Babylonians were inhumane; they had no respect for other people, and they played with the people they conquered, Habakkuk 2:15, but God says the same thing will happen to them, Habakkuk 2:16. Note that the KJV uses the words ‘let thy foreskin be uncovered’, Habakkuk 2:16.
Jamieson, in his commentary, says the following.
‘This reference to the ‘foreskin’ as it is in the Hebrew, ‘expresses the most utter contempt.’
The Babylonians were violent and idolatrous, but now it’s judgement time for the Babylonians, who did nothing but oppress the nations around them, Habakkuk 2:16.
It’s time for them to face ‘the cup’, Habakkuk 2:16, which is the outpouring of God’s wrath, Jeremiah 25:15 / Isaiah 51:17-23. It’s time to reap what they had sown, Galatians 6:7-8.
Constable, in his commentary, says the following concerning God’s right hand, Habakkuk 2:16.
‘Yahweh’s right hand is a figure for His strong personal retribution, giving back in kind what the person being judged had given, Isaiah 51:17-23 / Jeremiah 25:15-17 / Lamentations 4:21 / Matthew 20:22 / Matthew 26:42 / 1 Corinthians 11:29.’
Lebanon was famous for its mighty trees which stood strong, Habakkuk 2:17. Like everything else around them, the Babylonians cut them down to build their own empire, Isaiah 14:8.
The violence they showed Lebanon will overwhelm them, the destruction they caused the animals will terrify them, Habakkuk 2:17. They had murdered many people and destroyed lands, cities and everyone in them, Habakkuk 2:17.
Bruce, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The Creator of the world has a concern for what is nowadays called ecology; the cultural mandate that he has given to the human race includes the responsible stewardship of plant and animal life.’
Here we find the fifth woe, which is in relation to idolatry, Habakkuk 2:18. There is no value in an idol made by human hands, Habakkuk 2:18. To think that people trust them, even though they can’t hear or speak, Habakkuk 2:18, shows us how depraved the Babylonians were in their religious beliefs.
In effect, when someone speaks to an idol, they imagine the idol is speaking back to them, but the truth is the idol worshippers are only answering themselves, in their own minds. God is basically saying that idol worship is foolishness, it’s stupid, Romans 1:19 / Romans 1:22-25.
This is the way God sees idolatry: dead idols are better than they are, Habakkuk 2:19 / 1 Kings 18:26-29. Jeremiah and Isaiah also speak about this, Jeremiah 10:15 / Jeremiah 51:18 / Isaiah 40:18-20 / Isaiah 41:7 / Isaiah 42:17 / Isaiah 46:5-7. Notice that ‘the Lord is in His holy temple’, Habakkuk 2:20 / Isaiah 26:21 / Psalms 11:4 / Jonah 2:7 / Micah 1:2.
Baker, in his commentary, says the following.
‘This contrasts with the frenetic activity of man to create ’speaking’ gods, and the tumultuous cries of worshippers to make dumb idols respond. Lifeless idols approached in clamour are silent, while the living God, approached in silence and reverence, speaks.’
God is reminding them that, unlike those idols, He exists, and He reminds all those who are faithful that He is in control, and He is working for the good of His people, Romans 8:28 / 1 Corinthians 10:13 / Revelation 21:4.
Remember, His people were about to be taken into captivity, and they needed to know that God was in control; it was part of His plan. When God comes in judgement against a nation, all the other nations should sit back and watch and listen. They need to watch out and make sure they are being faithful to God, so the same won’t happen to them.
We must never fall into the trap of thinking it’s wrong to ask questions of God. If we didn’t ask God questions about what’s happening in our lives or the world around us, there would be something wrong. Surely this tells us that we care about what’s going on, and it helps us realise that most of the time we don’t understand God and His ways, Isaiah 55:8-9.
We live in a world that likes to ‘feel’ and ‘experience’ religion. We live in a world where people want something they can touch and see before they will believe. Sadly, our feelings and experiences can lead us away from God if we rely just on those, Proverbs 14:12.
Even in the religious world today, people have the same mentality; however, God says, ‘the righteous shall live by faith’, Romans 1:17 / Galatians 3:11 / Hebrews 10:38, they will ‘live by faith and not sight’, 2 Corinthians 5:7.