Habakkuk 1:5–10

In Habakkuk's day the people of God had fallen, and the nations were marked by violence and corruption. In the middle of these evils God calls the prophet to look at His solemn work of judgment. Behind all that was taking place among men, God was working. The man of God is to look beyond the works of men to see the work of God.

Here we find the answer to the prophet's question. It is not aimed at him, but at the wicked ones he had complained about. They had better "see among the nations" and observe with amazement how the Lord would repay their deeds. … At the same time, the prophet received an answer to his cry: "I cry to You, 'Violence!' and You will not save." By this the Lord showed His servant that if He did not deliver the righteous from the violence of the wicked, it is because they will soon be chastised by Him.

The Lord speaks and answers the complaint of His servant. He is going to raise up the Chaldeans to chastise His wayward people. The meaning is that they — the faithless ones among the Jews — should look around among the nations. They would see how the storm would gather and finally break over the head of the house of Judah. He would work a judgment work, which they would not believe. It would be an event without parallel, amazing and terrible.

He challenges His people as "heathen." That is what they would prove themselves to be, by refusing to believe the work He Himself planned to do among them. He counts their circumcision as uncircumcision. The apostle, quoting this word from our prophet, calls them "despisers" (Acts 13:41). So the Lord first follows the story of Israel's sins, which the prophet had been listing. Then He looks ahead to their great crowning, closing sin — the rejection of His word and work through unbelief.

So much the worse for the Jew if he did not believe what God made known to him beyond all the world. … We see that every chapter throughout the prophecy has for its kernel the folly of unbelief and the value of faith. The apostle Paul quoted this among the Jews, when they were in danger of letting the blessing slip because of its very greatness.

God's people were in such a low state that they would not believe God's testimony to His own work. They refused to see God's hand behind the enemies He was using to chastise them. We know that the apostle quotes this passage when preaching the gospel at Antioch. There he announced the grace of God that proclaims forgiveness through Christ, and that all who believe are justified from all things. Then at once he quotes Habakkuk. He warns them not to despise this work of grace through unbelief, as their forefathers had despised God's work of judgment through unbelief.

God did the work, and it was not judgment. The apostle announced the great salvation first to the Jews. If they despised it, and so proved to be despisers, he would turn to the Gentiles.

Paul's use of it shows that God had more in mind when He spoke these words than His dealings in judgment through the Chaldean. It is in Christ that these words find their real fulfilment. He is the One that God always has in view, whatever the work to which He puts His hand may be.

The prophet hears from the LORD that He was going to raise up the Chaldeans. Everyone knew this was the judgment then close at hand. But it is far from all that awaits the Jew in this way… They were plunderers whom God used in His providence to break down Judah's turning away from Him, and also to chastise the pride of other nations… God allowed the Chaldean scourge to prevail for a certain time. But they forgot that He was using them to deal with those who had offended His name and glory. They credited their power to their own god instead of to God's sovereign will. Then the true God would take them in hand.

The Lord took care that the prophet would learn another lesson. When He raised up the Chaldeans it was not because He had discovered any spiritual or moral good in them. Rather the contrary; they were a cruel nation. How could God ever appreciate this? They were hasty, striking first in attack. They advanced over the breadth of the earth and conquered the countries of the world. They took possession of inhabited regions that were not theirs.

This nation of the Chaldeans is described as a bitter and hasty nation, marked by cruelty and violence. With aggressive energy they marched through the earth to seize dwellings not their own. Their acts of terror spread fear and dread. In them they were a law to themselves, with no respect for the customs of the nations. They had sunk below the level of natural men. So wild and fierce animals picture the inhuman cruelty with which they would prey upon the nations.

Habakkuk complains of the sin of God's people. He then develops the chastening that will fall on them. Those still more wicked than they will carry it out — the Chaldeans. Because they give free rein to their violence, they become in their turn objects of the judgment of the LORD. But God will show His glory and His righteousness in both the one and the other, pictures of the Jewish people and of the world.

At that moment the Assyrian power had not yet fallen. The Lord would, however, raise up the Chaldean. He would put the other nations under this power, and His own people first of all… There was a still more terrible judgment. The Lord would take the kingdom from Israel and give it to Babylon, to "the golden head" of the Gentile empire.

Here, as in the explanation of every prophecy, it is important to see that the near judgment by the Chaldeans foreshadowed a future judgment.

So, in his day, God tells the prophet that He has raised up the Babylonians to carry out His work of government. The Babylonians never imagined that God had lifted them to the height of power only to be a tool in His hand — a tool to discipline His people and to hold back the evils of the nations. Yet that is how it was in the prophet's day. And so it has been again and again in world history, when cruel tyrants have been allowed for a time to attack the nations around them.

"Their judgment and their dignity proceed from themselves." His own will decided what the Chaldean called his right. It was the same with his dignity. He paid no attention to anyone else's dignity. He felt that his own dignity raised him above everyone else. High-handedness and endless pride drove him. Don't we know cases like this in our own day? The believer might want God to put this pride down. But God says to him: Don't you see that these judgments come from Me? They begin with the nations around you, but they are meant for you.

The Chaldeans are described as a bitter and hasty nation, marked by cruelty and violence. They marched across the earth with fierce energy to take homes that were not theirs. They spread terror and dread by their acts of horror. In these acts they were a law to themselves, with no respect for the customs of other nations. They had sunk below the level of natural men. So wild, savage animals become the picture of the inhuman cruelty with which they would prey on the nations.

God had taken the Assyrians up as the rod of His anger, to discipline many a nation that was far from Him — and Israel among them. Later God used the Chaldeans in the same way. This is what troubled Habakkuk. He protested that, bad as Israel might be, the Chaldeans, whom God was about to use to discipline them, were worse. We see here what we also see in Habakkuk: God may use an evil nation to discipline His faithless people, but only under His strict supervision and control.

He would raise up the Chaldeans against His people. They were the very picture of pride and energy. They succeeded in everything they undertook, and they sought glory only in the opinion they had of themselves. Their leader would turn away from the true God who had given them their strength, and would worship a god of his own.

The Assyrian and the Chaldean had traits in common. But the Assyrian did not conquer and kill in such an organised way. The Chaldeans were as fast and as nimble as a pack of hungry wolves rushing on without a sound. With gleaming eyes glowing in the dark, they were sure to reach their prey. Just at the right moment the horsemen came storming on, swift as eagles.

They spread terror and dread by their acts of horror. In these they were a law to themselves, and they had no respect for the customs of the nations. They had sunk below the level of natural men. So wild and fierce animals picture the inhuman cruelty with which they would prey on the nations.

The Babylonians never thought that God had raised them to the height of power simply to be a tool in His hand. He used them to discipline His people and hold back the evils of the nations. Yet that is how it was in the prophet's day. And so it has been again and again in world history, when ruthless tyrants have been allowed for a time to attack the nations around them.

The prophet was terrified about the state of the people, and he cried out to the Lord: "Violence!" God showed him that this violence would meet its just repayment in the violent behaviour of Babel. History repeats itself, people say with resignation. True — but only because the traits of sinful man repeat themselves, challenging God's holiness and daring Him.

God uses the pride and sin of the wicked to discipline His people. Afterwards He destroys the instrument. The Assyrian was God's rod to strike Israel. But he boasted against God, and God broke the rod.

They completely failed to see that they were only tools in God's hand. Puffed up by their own successes, they would reject the true God. They would set up a god of their own making, and worship their own power.

Scripture describes this well-known animal as "ravening," and it seeks its prey in the evening. Wolves do great damage among sheep, harrying them and killing more than they can eat. That makes the wolf a fitting picture of the wicked, who attack the sheep and lambs of God's flock, and even creep in among them. One sign of how great the change will be in the millennium is that the wolf and the lamb will live together.

It was an attack filled with rage... "They come all of them for violence." The prophet is terrified about the state of the people. He calls to the Lord: "Violence!" God showed him that this violence would find its just punishment in the violent behaviour of Babylon.

They were plunderers whom God used in His providence. Their work was to break down Judah's turning away from Him, and also to punish the pride of other nations.

He lets the prophet know that this evil would not go unpunished. It had been troubling his soul, and he had been crying to God about it. The Chaldean sword would soon enter the land to avenge the quarrel of His holiness.

"Their faces shall sup up as the east wind." The word is met with only here. According to Lee it means "desire"; Fuerst reads it as "direction." So the desire, or the direction, of their faces is eastward. As they come on the land of Canaan, their aim is to move eastward with their spoil.

In Psalm 139 and Habakkuk 1:9 the sea or shore is not added. Here it was the less necessary, as the sand of the desert is no less countless.

But as he wins, the Chaldean becomes proud. He forgets that God only used him as an instrument to deal with those who had done evil. So they credited their power to their own god, and did not give God the honour and the glory. His own might is his god. Then comes the day when the Lord takes the Chaldean in hand for judgment. He deals with him as He dealt with other nations.

They were destroyers whom God used in His providence to break down Judah's turning away from Him, and also to punish the pride of other nations. … So God allowed the Chaldean scourge to prevail for a set time.

With aggressive energy they marched through the earth to take homes that were not theirs. They spread terror and dread by their acts of horror. In these they were a law to themselves, and they had no respect for the customs of other nations. … For a time they would carry all before them. They would set kings and princes aside and overturn "every fortress."

The Chaldeans were as fast and nimble as a pack of hungry wolves rushing on in silence. With gleaming eyes glowing in the dark, they were sure to reach their prey. Just at the right moment the horsemen came storming on, swift as eagles.

He would raise up the Chaldeans against them. They were the very picture of pride and energy. They succeeded in everything they attempted, and they looked for glory only in their own opinion of themselves. Their leader would turn away from the true God who had given them their strength, and would worship a god of his own.

History repeats itself, people say with resignation. True, but only because the traits of sinful man repeat themselves — challenging God's holiness, daring Him. Yet when Babylon's own power begins to fall, its kings and rulers will be the laughingstock of others, just as the kings of the nations were before them.

They are presented fully as a scourge, and that is stated plainly, but God must still take them in hand in the end. All was measured. His mercy always measured the trial when His people had to come under chastening. How blessed that even those self-assertive Chaldeans, with an energy no other man has matched, were still only used by God to correct His own badly failing people!