LAUGHTER OF PROUD POWER

LAUGHTER OF PROUD POWER
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
Habakkuk 1:10 10They mock kings and scoff at
rulers. They laugh at all fortified cities; by
building earthen ramps they capture them.
BIBLEHUB RESOURCES
Pulpit Commentary Homiletics
The Divine Working Against Evil And Its Doers
Habakkuk 1:5-11
S.D. Hillman
We have expressed here God's response to the impassioned appeal
addressed to him by his servant. There is much that is suggestive in
these words as bearing upon the Divine working against those who
practise sin and who persist in its commission. Note -
I. THAT GOD IS NOT INDIFFERENT WITH RESPECT TO
PREVAILING UNGODLINESS. The seer had asked, "How long?" (ver.
2). He was impatient of delay. But whilst there is this lingering on the
part of God, so that "judgment against an evil work is not executed
speedily" (Ecclesiastes 8:11), this is owing to the Divine long suffering
and patience, and does not arise from indifference and unconcern being
cherished by the Most High in reference to iniquity. Wrong doing is ever
before him, is closely observed by him. It is the source of displeasure to
him who is perfect in purity, and the requital of it will assuredly be
experienced by transgressors. Though it may tarry, it will surely come.

"I will work a work," etc. (ver. 5).
II. THAT GOD, IN THE ORDER OF HIS PROVIDENCE, IN
EXECUTING HIS JUDGMENTS, OVERRULES THE ACTIONS OF
EVIL MEN, AND CAUSES THESE TO FULFIL HIS
RIGHTEOUSNESS. The verses contain a wonderfully graphic account
of the Chaldeans who were to be the instruments of the Divine
chastisement of Judah (compare with them Isaiah 14:6, 16, 17), and
whilst in reading them, so vivid is the portrayal, that we seem to see the
Chaldean horsemen sweeping through the land like the simoom, causing
death and desolation to follow in their track, we also have presented to
us certain traits most clearly indicative of their gross wickedness.
(1) Their proud ambition to possess the dwelling places that were not
theirs (ver. 6);
(2) their fierceness and cruelty (ver. 7);
(3) their self-sufficiency (ver. 7);
(4) their scorn and contemnt. (ver. 10) and their blasphemy (ver. 11); -
all pass in review before us. And these were chosen to be the executors
of the Divine judgments! "For, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans" (ver. 6).
The meaning is that God, in his providence, would permit "that bitter
and hasty nation" to be a scourge to his
III. THAT GOD, IN OPERATING AGAINST EVILAND ITS DOERS,
SOMETIMES EMPLOYS UNEXPECTED AGENTS. "The Hebrew
state was at this time in close alliance with the Chaldean state, an
alliance so close and friendly that the Hebrew politicians had no fear of
its rupture. Yet it was in this wholly unexpected form that the Divine
judgment was to come upon them. The Chaldeans in whom they trusted,
on whom they leaned, were to give the death blow to the dynasty of
David." All the material and moral forces of the universe are under the
Divine control, and in ways and by means little anticipated his
retributions often overtake his adversaries.
IV. THAT THIS DIVINE WORKING AGAINST EVILAND ITS

DOERS RECEIVES BUT TARDY RECOGNITION AND
ACKNOWLEDGMENT FROM MAN. (Ver. 5.) The retributions have
to light upon them ere they will believe. "They cry, Peace and safety: till
sudden destruction comes upon them" (1 Thessalonians 5:3). So has it
been in the past, and so, upon the authority of Christ, will it be in the
future (Matthew 24:27-29). Still, amidst this unconcern and unbelief,
the duty of the messenger of God is clear. He must "cry aloud." He must
bid men "behold," "regard," and "wonder," and then, "whether they
hear or forbear;" "he has delivered his soul." - S.D.H.
Biblical Illustrator
The burden which Habakkuk the prophet did see.
Habakkuk 1:1-4
Responsibilities
S. Baring-Gould.
: — We can see how appropriate is the word "burden" used by the
prophets to describe their gift and duty. The obligation laid on them
often involved strain and danger. And yet it was a glorious privilege to
be commissioned by God, to act for Him, to be His mouthpiece to the
people. Habakkuk's burden was the sight of the general evil and
corruption prevalent in the Holy Land, among the chosen people. What
burden can be heavier than this, to see evil prevail among God's people,
and to be unable to remedy it? Two lessons —
1. Every privilege entails suffering.
2. Do not lose heart.The burden is laid on you by the Lord who gave you
your glorious privilege. Look at the vocation, not at the burden.
(S. Baring-Gould.)

The burden of enlightenment
Joseph Willcox
The light of Divine favour bestowed upon Habakkuk was the source of
much perplexity of mind and distress of soul to him. This paradox is
common in Christian experience. The prophet's mission of mercy was a
burden to himself.
I. A BURDEN OF ENLIGHTENMENT. He was —
1. A spectator of evil; looking upon the great and terrible disorders that
devastated his country.
2. An inspired spectator of evil. "God showed him iniquity," etc. To see,
in the light of heaven. the fearful ramifications of evil in society is an
essential condition of Christian service.
3. A troubled spectator of evil. His heart strings vibrated with jarring
discords at the touch of the workers of iniquity.
II. A BURDEN OF PRAYER. With a vivid consciousness of God's
almighty power the prophet called upon Him to interpose and save His
people. But days rolled on and lengthened into months, and still evil
abounded. Oh, the burden of prayers unheard! Oh, the burden of
unanswered prayers l Oh, the burden of delay! The heart grows sick
with hope deferred.
III. A BURDEN OF DISCIPLINE. Designed —
1. As a test to see if they will continue to work and witness for God.
2. Still trust in the Lord, even in the presence of the great mystery of
iniquity. The burden is —
3. For training, that God's servants may become strong in faith, giving
glory to God.
(Joseph Willcox)

The Doom of a Nation of Conventional Religionists
Homilist
Habakkuk 1:5-10
Behold you among the heathen, and regard, and wonder marvelously:
for I will work a work in your days which you will not believe…
The Jews were such a nation. They prided themselves in the orthodoxy
of their faith, in the ceremonials of their worship, in the polity of their
Church. The doom threatened was terrible in many respects.
I. IT WAS TO BE WROUGHT BY THE INSTRUMENTALITY OF A
WICKED NATION. "I will work a work in your days, which ye will not
believe, though it be told you. For, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, that
bitter and hasty nation, which shall march through the breadth of the
land, to possess the dwelling-places that are not theirs." "Nabopolassar
had already destroyed the mighty empire of Assyria, and founded the
Chaldeo-Babylonian rule. He had made himself so formidable that
Necho found it necessary to march an army against him, in order to
check his progress; and though defeated at Megiddo, he had, in
conjunction with his son Nebuchadnezzar, gained a complete victory
over the Egyptians at Carchemish. These events were calculated to
alarm the Jews, whose country lay between the dominions of the two
contending powers; but, accustomed as they were to confide in Egypt
and in the sacred localities of their own capital (Isaiah 31:1; Jeremiah
7:4), and being in alliance with the Chaldeans, they were indisposed to
listen to, and treated with the utmost incredulity, any predictions which
described their overthrow by that people" (Henderson). God employs
wicked nations as His instruments. "I will work a work." He says, but

how? By the Chaldeans. How does He raise up wicked nations to do His
work?
1. Not instigatingly. He does not inspire them with wicked passions
necessary to qualify them for the infernal work of violence, war, rapine,
bloodshed. God could not do this.
2. Not coercively. He does not force them to it, in no way does He
interfere with them. They are the responsible party. How then does He
"raise" them up? He permits them. He could prevent them; but He
allows them. He gives them life, capacity, and opportunities. Now, would
not the fact that their destruction would come upon them from a
heathen nation, a nation which they despised, make it all the more
terrible?
II. IT WAS TO BE WROUGHT WITH RESISTLESS VIOLENCE.
1. The violence would be uncontrolled. "Their judgment and their
dignity shall proceed of themselves." They recognise no authority, and
proudly spurn the dictates of others. "They recognise no judge save
themselves, and they get for themselves in their own dignity, without
needing others' help."
2. The violence would be rapid and fierce. "Swifter than the leopard."
"Evening wolves."
III. IT WAS TO BE WROUGHT WITH IMMENSE HAVOC. In the
east wind, or simoom; spreading destruction everywhere.

(Homilist.)
STUDYLIGHT RESOURCES
Adam Clarke Commentary
They shall scoff at the kings - No power shall be able to stand before
them. It will be only as pastime to them to take the strongest places.
They will have no need to build formidable ramparts: by sweeping the
dust together they shall make mounts sufficient to pass over the walls
and take the city.
Copyright Statement
These files are public domain.
Bibliography
Clarke, Adam. "Commentary on Habakkuk 1:10". "The Adam Clarke
Commentary".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/acc/habakkuk-1.html.
1832.
return to 'Jump List'
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible
And they - literally, “he,” the word stands emphatically, he, alone
against all the kings of the earth
Shall scoff at the kings - and all their might taking them away or setting
them up at his pleasure and caprice, subduing them as though in sport
And princes - literally, grave and majestic

Shall be a scorn unto them - i. e. him. Compare Job 41:29. So
Nebuchadnezzar bound Jehoiakim 2 Chronicles 36:6; Daniel 1:2 “in
fetters to carry him to Babylon;” then, on his submission made him for
three years a tributary king 2 Kings 24:1, then on his rebellion sent
bands of Chaldees and other tributaries against him 2 Kings 24:2; and
then, or when Nebuchadnezzar took Jehoiachin, Jeremiah‘s prophecy
was fulfilled, that he should “be buried with the burial of an ass,
dragged and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem Jeremiah 22:19,
his dead body cast out in the day to the heat and in the night to the
frost” Jeremiah 36:30. On the one hand, the expression “slept with his
fathers” does not necessarily imply that Jehoiakim died a peaceful
death, since it is used of Ahab 1 Kings 22:40 and Amaziah 2 Kings
14:20, 2 Kings 14:22 (in the other, Jeremiah‘s prophecy was equally
fulfilled, if the insult to his corpse took place when Nebuchadnezzar
took away Jehoiachin three months after his father‘s death. See Daniel.
Josephus attributes both the death and disgrace to Nebuchadnezzar:
Ant. x. 6. 3), then Nebuchadnezzar took away Jehoiachin; then
Zedekiah. He had also many kings captive with him in Babylon. For on
his decease Evil-Merodach brought Jehoiachin out of his prison after 27
years of imprisonment, “and set his throne above the throne of the kings
that were with him in Babylon” 2 Kings 25:27-28. Daniel says also to
Nebuchadnezzar Daniel 2:37-38; Daniel 4:22, “Thou, O king, art a king
of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power and
strength and glory. And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the
beasts of the field and the fowls of heaven hath He given into thine hand
and hath made thee ruler over all.”
They (he) shall deride every strong hold - as, aforetime, when God
helped her, Jerusalem laughed the Assyrian to scorn Isaiah 38:22.
For they (he) shall heap dust, and take it - as Nebuchadnezzar did Tyre,
whose very name (Rock) betokened its strength. Jerome: “He shall come
to Tyre, and, casting a mound in the sea, shall make an island a
peninsula, and, amid the waves of the sea, land shall give an entrance to
the city.”

The mount, or heaped-up earth, by which the besiegers fought on a level
with the besieged, or planted their engines at advantage, was an old and
simple form of siege, especially adapted to the great masses of the
Eastern armies. It was used in David‘s time 2 Samuel 20:15; and by the
Assyrians 2 Kings 19:32, Egyptians Jeremiah 6:6; Jeremiah 32:24;
Jeremiah 33:4; Ezekiel 4:2; Ezekiel 21:22 (Ezekiel 21:27 in Hebrew),
Ezekiel 26:8), and afterward, the Persians (Herodotus i. 162). Here he
describes the rapidity of the siege. To heap up dust and to capture were
one and the same thing.
It needed no great means; things slight as the dust sufficed in the hands
of those employed by God. Portion by portion 2 Kings 24:7, “the King
of Babylon took; all that pertained to the king of Egypt, from the river
of Egypt unto the river Euphrates.”
Copyright Statement
Bibliography
Barnes, Albert. "Commentary on Habakkuk 1:10". "Barnes' Notes on
the New Testament".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/bnb/habakkuk-1.html.
1870.
Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible
"Yea, he scoffeth at kings, and princes are a derision unto him; for he
derideth every stronghold; for he heapeth up dust and taketh it."
This is a continuation of the thought of the previous two or three verses.
The inherent arrogance and conceit of great world-powers was a single
quality in all of them. Such dignities as kings, princes, judges and nobles

were all marked for the utmost humiliation, punishment, and death.
The great fortresses, or strongholds, would all be besieged; mounds of
earth would be erected against them; and the invaders would capture
them. The sub-thought in all of this is that there would be no refuge or
place of escape for the people of God. They had rejected God, and in
that rejection was their choice of the Sea-Beast; just as, centuries later,
their rejection of Christ was again their choice of the Sea-Beast (Rome,
the Sixth head). "We have no king but Caesar," they cried.
"Heapeth up dust and taketh it ..." On Assyrian monuments, one sees
"representations of these mounds, or inclined planes, to facilitate the
approach of the battering-ram."[22]
"He scoffeth at kings ..." Jehoikim and Jehoikin, both kings of Israel,
suffered the greatest indignities at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar (2
Chronicles 36:6; 2King 24:14,15; and Jeremiah 22:19).
Copyright Statement
James Burton Coffman Commentaries reproduced by permission of
Abilene Christian University Press, Abilene, Texas, USA. All other
rights reserved.
Bibliography
Coffman, James Burton. "Commentary on Habakkuk 1:10". "Coffman
Commentaries on the Old and New Testament".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/bcc/habakkuk-1.html.
Abilene Christian University Press, Abilene, Texas, USA. 1983-1999.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible
And they shall scoff at the kings,.... Or, "he shall"F21, Nebuchadnezzar
king of the Chaldeans, and the army with him; who would make a jest
of kings and their armies that should oppose them, as being not at all a

match for them; as the kings of Judah, Jehoiakim and Zedekiah, they
carried captive, and all others confederate with them, in whom they
trusted, as the king of Egypt particularly; and which is observed to
show the vanity of trusting in princes for safety; though it may also
include all other kings the Chaldeans fought against, and the kingdoms
they invaded and subdued:
and the princes shall be a scorn unto them; the nobles, counsellors, and
ministers of state; or leaders and commanders of armies, and general
officers, in whom great confidence is often put; but these the king of
Babylon and his forces would mock and laugh at, as being nothing in
their hands, and who would fall an easy prey to them:
they shall deride every strong hold; in Jerusalem, in the whole land of
Judea, and in every other country they invade, or pass through, none
being able to stand out against them:
for they shall heap dust, and take it; easily, as it were in sport, only by
raising a dust heap, or a heap of dirt; by which is meant a mount raised
up to give them a little rise, to throw in their darts or stones, or use their
engines and battering rams to more advantage, and to scale the walls,
and get possession. There are two other senses mentioned by Kimchi; as
that they shall gather a great number of people as dust, and take it; or
they shall gather dust to till up the trenches and ditches about the wall,
that so they may come at it, and take it.
Copyright Statement
The New John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible Modernised and
adapted for the computer by Larry Pierce of Online Bible. All Rightes
Reserved, Larry Pierce, Winterbourne, Ontario.
A printed copy of this work can be ordered from: The Baptist Standard
Bearer, 1 Iron Oaks Dr, Paris, AR, 72855
Bibliography

Gill, John. "Commentary on Habakkuk 1:10". "The New John Gill
Exposition of the Entire Bible".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/geb/habakkuk-1.html.
1999.
Geneva Study Bible
And they shall scoff at the kings, and the princes shall be a scorn to
them: they shall deride every strong hold; for they shall heap h dust,
and take it.
(h) They will cast up mounds against it.
Copyright Statement
Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com. Used by Permission.
Bibliography
Beza, Theodore. "Commentary on Habakkuk 1:10". "The 1599 Geneva
Study Bible".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/gsb/habakkuk-1.html.
1599-1645.
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
kings — as unable to resist them.
they shall heap dust, and take it — “they shall heap” earth mounds
outside, and so “take every stronghold” (compare 2 Samuel 20:15; 2

Kings 19:32) [Grotius].
Copyright Statement
These files are a derivative of an electronic edition prepared from text
scanned by Woodside Bible Fellowship.
This expanded edition of the Jameison-Faussett-Brown Commentary is
in the public domain and may be freely used and distributed.
Bibliography
Jamieson, Robert, D.D.; Fausset, A. R.; Brown, David. "Commentary
on Habakkuk 1:10". "Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the
Whole Bible".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/jfb/habakkuk-1.html.
1871-8.
Wesley's Explanatory Notes
And they shall scoff at the kings, and the princes shall be a scorn unto
them: they shall deride every strong hold; for they shall heap dust, and
take it.
At the kings — Which opposed their designs.
And take it — By mighty mounts cast up.
Copyright Statement
These files are public domain and are a derivative of an electronic
edition that is available on the Christian Classics Ethereal Library
Website.

Bibliography
Wesley, John. "Commentary on Habakkuk 1:10". "John Wesley's
Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/wen/habakkuk-1.html.
1765.
Calvin's Commentary on the Bible
The Prophet concludes the subject which he has been hitherto pursuing.
He says that the Chaldeans would not come to engage in a doubtful war,
but only to triumph over conquered nations. We indeed know that the
Jews, though not excelling either in number or in riches, were yet so
proud, that they looked down, as it were, with contempt on other
nations, and we also know, that they vainly trusted in vain helps; for as
they were in confederacy with the Egyptians, they thought themselves to
be beyond the reach of danger. Hence the Prophet says, that kings and
princes would be only a sport to the Chaldeans, and their fortresses
would be only a derision to them. How so? For they will gather dust, he
says; that is, will make a mound of the dust of the earth, and will thus
penetrate into all fortified cities.
In short the Prophet intended to cut off every hope from the Jews, that
they might humble themselves before God; or he intended to take away
every excuse if they repented not, as it indeed happened; for we know
that they did not repent notwithstanding these warnings, until
vengeance at length fully overtook them. He then adds—
Copyright Statement
Bibliography

Calvin, John. "Commentary on Habakkuk 1:10". "Calvin's
Commentary on the Bible".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/cal/habakkuk-1.html.
1840-57.
John Trapp Complete Commentary
Habakkuk 1:10 And they shall scoff at the kings, and the princes shall
be a scorn unto them: they shall deride every strong hold; for they shall
heap dust, and take it.
Ver. 10. And they shall scoff at the kings] Heb. He shall scoff, i.e.
Nebuchadnezzar shall, and that not once only, but often; shall make a
practice of it, as the Hebrew word signifieth. Hithpael notat assiduam
illusionem. Thus Adonibezek dealt by the kings he took, the Philistines
by Saul, 1 Samuel 31:8-10, Nebuchadnezzar by Zedekiah, Jeremiah
25:1-38, Jeremiah 29:1-32, 2 Kings 25:1-30; as also by the kings of
Egypt, Tyre, Arabia, and others whom he had taken, and used them,
haply, as Tamerlane did Bajazet, or those other captive kings whom he
caused as horses to draw his chariot. How much better Evilmerodach,
who (mindful of the instability of all human affairs) lifted up the head
and spoke to the heart of his prisoner, Jehoiachin, King of Judah,
Jeremiah 52:31; Cyrus, who honoured his captive Croesus, and made
him of his council (neither was he less enriched by the good counsel
Croesus gave him, than by all the wealth he had from him); our Edward
III, who having the King of Scotland and the French king his prisoners
here in England both together at one time, gave them stately
entertainment, and made them princely pastime, by holding royal jousts
in Smithfield for their delight!
And the princes shall be a scorn unto them] Through the just judgment
of God, "who scorneth the scorners," Proverbs 3:34, that is, saith Rabbi
Levi, facit ut aliis sint ludibrio, he maketh others mock them in their
misery who in prosperity scoffed at those that were better than they.

"Now therefore be ye not mockers, lest your bands be made strong,"
&c., Isaiah 28:22.
They shall deride every stronghold] As that which cannot long hold out
against their assault. How should they, when God breaketh the bars and
setteth open the gates to them? Amos 1:5; Amos 9:3, Proverbs 21:30.
For they shall heap dust, and take it] i.e. By casting up mounts and
ramparts, take it with as much ease as if they were in sport. The Turks
have their Asapi, or common soldiers, of whom they make no great
reckoning, but to blunt the swords of their enemies and to fill up ditches
with their dead bodies, that they may the better come at the town or fort
which they would take.
Copyright Statement
Bibliography
Trapp, John. "Commentary on Habakkuk 1:10". John Trapp Complete
Commentary.
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/jtc/habakkuk-1.html.
1865-1868.
Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible
Habakkuk 1:10. And they shall scoff, &c.— And he shall scoff at kings,
and princes will be a jest with him; he will but laugh at every strong
hold; for he will heap up the dust, (or raise a mound) and take it.

Copyright Statement
Bibliography
Coke, Thomas. "Commentary on Habakkuk 1:10". Thomas Coke
Commentary on the Holy Bible.
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/tcc/habakkuk-1.html.
1801-1803.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible
They, both the king of Babylon and his soldiers, shall scoff, deride and
contemn,
at the kings, which either confederated with the Jews, or else opposed
the designs of the Chaldeans; as the kings of Egypt, of Tyre, &c.; or the
kings of the Jews, as Jehoiachin and Zedekiah.
The princes, governors, counsellors, valiant commanders, and officers,
shall be a scorn unto them, to the whole army of the Chaldeans.
They shall heap dust, and take it; by mighty mounts cast up, or by
filling up the trenches about your cities and fortresses, shall master
them.
Copyright Statement
Bibliography
Poole, Matthew, "Commentary on Habakkuk 1:10". Matthew Poole's

English Annotations on the Holy Bible.
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/mpc/habakkuk-1.html.
1685.
Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable
The kings and rulers of the lands they overran were no threat to them.
They laughed at them and their fortified cities in contempt (cf. 2 Kings
25:7). They heaped up rubble to conquer fortifications; they did not
need special machines but used whatever they found to build siege
ramps to conquer them (cf. 2 Samuel 20:15; 2 Kings 19:32; Ezekiel 4:2;
Ezekiel 21:22; Ezekiel 26:8-9). [Note: See Yigael Yadin, The Art of
Warfare in Biblical Lands, pp17 , 20 , 315.]
Copyright Statement
Bibliography
Constable, Thomas. DD. "Commentary on Habakkuk 1:10".
"Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/dcc/habakkuk-1.html.
2012.
George Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary
Prince, or "it," the nation, ver. 10. Hebrew, "They," &c. ---

Laughingstock, (ridicule.) Nabuchodonosor raised or deposed princes as
in jest. (Haydock) --- Sennacherib's officers were or had been kings,
Isaias x. 8. --- Mount. Thus cities were chiefly taken, Ezechiel iv. 1.
(Calmet)
Copyright Statement
Bibliography
Haydock, George Leo. "Commentary on Habakkuk 1:10". "George
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/hcc/habakkuk-1.html.
1859.
E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes
them = it, as above (Habakkuk 1:6). heap
dust = heap up mounds.
take it = capture it: i.e. every stronghold.
Copyright Statement
Bibliography
Bullinger, Ethelbert William. "Commentary on Habakkuk 1:10". "E.W.
Bullinger's Companion bible Notes".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/bul/habakkuk-1.html.

1909-1922.
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible -
Unabridged
And they shall scoff at the kings, and the princes shall be a scorn unto
them: they shall deride every strong hold; for they shall heap dust, and
take it.
And they shall scoff at the kings - as unable to resist them.
They shall deride every strong hold; for they shall heap dust, and take it
- "they shall heap" earth-mounds outside, and so "take every strong
hold" (cf. 2 Samuel 20:15; 2 Kings 19:32). (Grotius.)
Copyright Statement
Bibliography
Jamieson, Robert, D.D.; Fausset, A. R.; Brown, David. "Commentary
on Habakkuk 1:10". "Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the
Whole Bible - Unabridged".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/jfu/habakkuk-1.html.
1871-8.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
(10) Kings and princes are deposed or enthroned at the invader’s
pleasure. Thus Nebuchadnezzar set Jehoiakim as a tributary sovereign
on the throne of Jerusalem and three years later deposed his son and
successor Jehciaohin and made Zedekiah king.

For they shall heap dust, and take it.—This means that they shall
besiege and carry all strongholds by means of the mounds of earth
commonly used in sieges. These mounds were employed either to place
the besieger on a level with the besieged, and so facilitate the operations
of siege engines, or to form an inclined plane, up which the besieger
might march his men, and so take the place by escalade. We find they
were used by the Egyptians (Ezekiel 17:17) and the Assyrians (2 Kings
19:32), as well as by the Babylonians (Jeremiah 6:6, and passim). They
are mentioned as employed by the Spartan king Archidamus in the
celebrated siege of Platæa in B.C. 429 (Thucydides, lib. 2). In the
present passage the term “dust” is used to indicate these mounds of
earth, as expressing the contemptuous ease with which the invader
effects his capture of strongholds.
PRECEPT AUSTIN
Habakkuk 1:10 "They mock at kings and rulers are a laughing matter
to them. They laugh at every fortress And heap up rubble to capture it.:
Mock: 2Ki 24:12 2Ki 25:6,7 2Ch 36:6,10
Habakkuk 1 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries
They mock (cp same Hebrew word qalac in 2Ki 2:23, Ezek 22:5) -
disparage, ridicule: mock, scoff, scorn.
Rulers are a laughing matter to them - The Babylonians compiled an
imposing list of vanquished kings. In 612 they had defeated
Sinsharishkun at Nineveh, and in 609, his son Ashur-uballit at Haran; at
Carchemish, in 605, it was to be the Egyptian, Neco. They were known
to put captured kings in cages and exhibit like animals!

Heap up rubble to capture it - This describes a common technique used
to besiege ancient walled cities which were made vulnerable by piling up
dirt, etc, to produce mounds which would would serve as long
"earthen" ramps to the city's wall, enabling the enemy to easily scale
the wall and capture the city (Jer 32:34, 33:4 Jer 52:4-7)
Habakkuk 1:11 "Then they will sweep through like the wind and pass
on. But they will be held guilty, They whose strength is their god.":
Da 4:30-34
Held guilty: Da 5:3, 4, 20
NLT - They sweep past like the wind and are gone. But they are deeply
guilty, for their own strength is their god.
They (Babylonians) whose strength is their god - At Belshazzar's last
drinking party in Daniel 5 the party goers "drank the wine and praised
the gods of gold and silver, of bronze, iron, wood, and stone."
Marduk (Jer 50:21, cp which some feel is the deification of the Nimrod
of Ge 10:8-12) was the primary god of Babylon, later called Bel (Baal,
but not to be confused with the earlier Canaanite Baal); the Babylonian
creation epic (Enuma Elish) commemorates Marduk's victory over the
forces of evil and honors him as "king of the gods"
MacArthur - Though the Chaldeans were God’s instruments of
judgment, their self-sufficiency and self-adulation planted the seeds for
their own destruction (described in 2:2–20), as they stood guilty of
idolatry and blasphemy before the sovereign Lord.
Wiersbe - God had warned His people time and time again, but they
wouldn’t listen. Prophet after prophet had declared the Word (2Chr
36:14–21), only to be rejected, and He had sent natural calamities like
droughts and plagues, and various military defeats, but the people
wouldn’t listen. Instead of repenting, the people hardened their hearts
even more and turned for help to the gods of the nations around them.

They had tried God’s long-suffering long enough and it was time for
God to act. (Be Amazed)
Habakkuk 1:12 Are You not from everlasting, O LORD, my God, my
Holy One? We will not die. You, O LORD, have appointed them to
judge; And You, O Rock, have established them to correct.:
Are you not from everlasting: Dt 33:27 Ps 90:2 93:2, Isa 40:28 57:15 La
5:19 Mic 5:2 1Ti 1:17 6:16 Heb 1:10-12 13:8 Rev 1:8,11
My God - Isa 43:15
We will not die - Hab 3:2 Ps 118:17 Isa 27:6-9 Jer 4:27 Jer 5:18 Jer
30:11 Jer 33:24-26 Jer 46:28 Eze 37:11-14 Am 9:8,9
HABAKKUK'S SECOND SET OF QUESTIONS
Habakkuk's questioning of God is a reflection of his doubt which we
should distinguish from overt unbelief. Habakkuk is not exhibiting so
much a weak faith (or lack of faith) but a perplexed faith. Wiersbe
explains it this way…
Keep in mind that there’s a difference between doubt and unbelief. Like
Habakkuk, the doubter questions God and may even debate with God,
but the doubter doesn’t abandon God. But unbelief is rebellion against
God, a refusal to accept what He says and does. Unbelief is an act of the
will, while doubt is born out of a troubled mind and a broken heart.
Habakkuk is confused by the fact that God will use the more evil
Babylonians against His evil people. It's as if Habakkuk is thinking
"two wrongs do not make a right!" And so he was perplexed.
Are You not from everlasting (qedem), O LORD, (God's Covenant
Name) - Why does Habakkuk begin this section with a question? First
note that he is not questioning God but is asking a rhetorical question
which expects an affirmative reply - Yes, God is the Everlasting God
(See in depth study) is the idea. Habakkuk is confused by why God is

going to use the evil Babylonians to discipline His people.
How often we find ourselves in a similar state - confused by events the
sovereign God has allowed into our life - Why me God? Why now?
What did I do to deserve this? etc.
We need to take a "clue" from Habakkuk. When we are perplexed by
the Lord’s "strange dealings" with us, it is essential to begin with the
right approach to God. We need to begin with "right thinking" about
God. And so the prophet begins by thinking of God as the everlasting
One.
My God - God is Elohim which speaks of His supreme might. Note that
Habakkuk uses the personal possessive pronoun "my" which reflects
intimacy.
My Holy One - His essential being is that He is Holy, sinless and set
apart from sinful humanity and righteous in all his dealings -
Anticipating this same Name in Hab 3:3
We will not die - There is some difference of opinion on how this should
be translated. Thus some version ascribe this to God, the idea being
"You shall not die." However the Septuagint is rendered "we shall not
die" and most of the common translations agree (ESV, NIV, KJV). And
so this is Habakkuk's declaration which in context is based on what he
has just said about God, what he knows to be true about "his" Holy
God and his God's everlasting faithfulness to the unconditional
covenant He had made with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (cp Ge 12:1-3,
Ge 17:7, 19). In other words, even though God would bring the
Babylonians to discipline Judah, He would not totally destroy them.
Throughout the OT, we see that God always retains a remnant of
genuine believers.
You, O LORD, have appointed them to judge - God has ordained that
Babylon judge Judah. As alluded to above, we again see God's
sovereignty over the nations. By way of application, in light of this truth,
how much more should we consider Him as sovereign over the lives of

individuals!
And You, O Rock - In 1Cor 10:4 Jesus is the "Rock" (See Scripture
chain on God as our Rock)
Have established them to correct - Habakkuk is not arguing with God,
but recognizes the fact that God had ordained for the Babylonians to be
His agent of punishment. Notice also that it does not say "destroy" but
correct (03198 - yakah) which conveys the idea of chastise or discipline.
Yakah is translated reproves in Pr 3:12 and in the Septuagint (Lxx) with
the verb paideuo which was the Greek verb used to describe training or
disciplining of children, even using correction and punishment if a
necessary part of the training. Here in Hab 1:12, the Septuagint
translates yakah with the related word paideia which also means
discipline, training, chastisement, correction. This conveys the idea that
Judah's exile to Babylon was meant to be "corrective training", so to
speak.
When God seems to be crushing us or bewildering us with life-
threatening providences, how should we respond? Habakkuk teaches us
to go back to the truth we know about God and he began with the truth
that God is everlasting, eternal. Run into the strong tower of the truth
about God, the great doctrines of God, the great Names of God, for they
are the warp and woof of our existence and the foundation of our day to
day survival. As the beautiful old hymn Like a River Glorious rightly
reminds us ("stayed" = secured upright as if with a "stay" a large
strong rope used to support a mast! Apply that picture to your life dear
storm tossed saint!)
Stayed upon Jehovah,
Hearts are fully blessed
Finding as He promised,
Perfect peace and rest
(Like A River Glorious Vocal)

Ries describes Habakkuk's response…
Assuring himself of the reality of God, he proclaims boldly, we shall not
die, no matter what may happen.
And in this day of turmoil and gross and blatant wickedness, we, too,
need a fresh view of God. We, too, need to see Him as personal,
sovereign, holy, eternal, all-caring—the covenant-keeping Jehovah.
The early Church, too, faced most trying days, but did exploits because
it had a similar view of and faith in God (cf. Acts 4:24–31). (The
Wesleyan Bible Commentary)
Note that the Hebrew word everlasting in Hab 1:12 is not olam but
qedem, which in this context is essentially synonymous with olam. As
discussed above, Habakkuk's opening question is rhetorical (for effect),
expecting a resounding "Yes!". Though Habakkuk could not see God,
He trusted God, because He knew Him through His Names and
attributes, choosing to recall six of His Names/Attributes in Hab 1:12.
This truth about God enabled the prophet to walk not by sight but by
faith (2Cor 5:7-note, 2Cor 4:18-note, see Ro 10:17-note). Indeed Elohim,
Jehovah (His covenant Name and God does NOT break covenant!), the
Holy One, is from everlasting (olam). Even His Name Rock speaks of
His everlasting nature. He is our Rock (Dt 32:4 = first description of
Rock as a Name of God; cp Dt 32:15, 18, 30-31 - "Jeshurun" is Israel).
As such He is permanent, dependable, secure, stable, steadfast, One
Who can be counted upon, and an immovable, unshakeable Source of
protection in time of trouble! (cp Ex 33:22; Ps 18:2) His attributes and
character are forever (eternally) unchangeable! And so Habakkuk's
conclusion based on the truth he knew about God is "We will not die"
Beloved, we can apply this truth to our life, for Habakkuk's confident
declaration is the same declaration every child of El Olam can
triumphantly proclaim. Because He is El Olam, the everlasting God,
and we are in Him, in the everlasting Christ, we too are now everlasting
and will not die - we may die physically but we will not experience the
second (eternal) death, which results in everlasting separation from the

Everlasting God!
Notice also that Habakkuk twice employed the personal, possessive
pronoun (my) describing the everlasting One as "my God, my Holy
One," a God Who is not impersonal, disinterested, uninvolved, but One
Who in a mysterious sense can be "possessed" by the man or woman
who trusts in Him (ultimately of course trusting in Christ). The
Everlasting God is actively (not passively like "Deism" teaches)
involved in our lives. He is not just "up there" and disinterested. The
Everlasting God has been interested in and intimately involved with His
creation from everlasting to everlasting (Amen!). There is not a day that
goes by that God is not interested and involved in the life of His
children, including your life, dear follower of Christ! In other words, the
ancient prophet clearly had faith in God's character as revealed in and
through His glorious Names, and based on that truth, he was able to
confidently testify that Judah would not be completely destroyed. Yes,
God would discipline His disobedient chosen people, but He would not
annihilate them, for He had cut an everlasting covenant with their
fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and He would not break the
covenant promises!
The Everlasting God has also cut an Everlasting New Covenant (Heb
13:20-note) with all who by grace believe in the Eternal One, Christ
Jesus. The upshot is that El Olam will keep us safe forever! The eternal
God assures us eternal security based on His eternal covenant. And He
is not a man that He should lie. Beloved, do you wrestle with the
doctrine of eternal security, believing as some teach that you can lose
your salvation? If so, may the truth about His great Name, El Olam,
give you an unshakeable hold on the great truth that El Olam's hold on
you is eternally unbreakable!
As a corollary: Habakkuk was wrestling with a difficult question - Why
would God use an evil nation to punish His chosen people? Notice that
in the process, the prophet appeals to God's names (and/or attributes) -
Everlasting, Jehovah, Elohim, Holy One, Jehovah (second time) and
Rock. This is a good pattern to practice when you are confused and

cannot understand your circumstances, which may (often do) include
trials and afflictions. Make the conscious choice (enabled by the Holy
Spirit) to focus on God's character as revealed in His glorious Names.
John Gill comments on everlasting in Habakkuk 1:12: (Based on the
truth he knows about God, Habakkuk declares)
"we shall not die" meaning not a corporeal death, for all men die, good
and bad; and even the Jews did die, and no doubt good men among
them too, at the siege and taking of Jerusalem by the Chaldean army,
either by famine or pestilence or sword. ("We shall not die") a death of
affliction, which the people of God are subject to, as well as others;
(affliction, testing)… is for their good, and in love and not wrath. (On
the other hand) spiritual death, which none who are quickened by the
Spirit and the grace of God can ever die. Though (their) grace may be
"low," it is never lost. Though saints may be in dead and lifeless frames,
and need quickening afresh, yet they are not without the principle of
spiritual life. Grace in them is a well of living water, springing up to
everlasting life. Their spiritual life can never fail them, since it is
secured in Christ: and much less shall they die the second or an eternal
death. They are ordained to eternal life. Christ is come and given His
flesh for it, that they might have everlasting life. It is in His hands for
them. They are united (Ed: by the oneness of covenant) to Him, and
have both the promise and pledge of it: and this may be argued, as by
the prophet here, from the eternity of God, art "Thou not from
everlasting?"
F B Meyer - Our Daily Homily -
Art not Thou from everlasting, O Lord my God? Thou diest not.
Habakkuk 1:12
Note the attributes of God, which are enumerated in these words. His
eternity—He is from everlasting; He is the Holy One—of purer eyes
than to behold evil; the Almighty—the Rock. Is it not wonderful that
mortals should be permitted to put the possessive pronoun before these
wonderful words, and claim this glorious God for themselves! My God;

mine Holy One.
But the most remarkable is the reading suggested above by the words,
“Thou diest not”; “He only hath immortality.” Time cannot lay its hand
upon his nature, or death dissolve it. His hair is white, but not with the
whiteness of decay, but of unutterable purity. He need not tremble at the
summons of man’s great last foe. Unchangeable! The same yesterday,
today, and for ever! The death of death! The destruction of the grave!
He dies not.
All this is true; but it is true also that in the person of his Eternal Son
He died. He laid down his life, though none took it from Him. He bowed
his glorious nature beneath the yoke of death. Because the children were
partakers of flesh and blood, He took part in the same, that through
death He might destroy death. Though He ever liveth, yet He became
obedient unto death, even the death of the Cross.
There are many mysteries like those at which the prophet hints. He
holds his peace whilst the wicked swallows up the man that is more
righteous than himself. It is the problem of all ages why God should
permit it; but whatever be the explanation, it cannot be because He has
vacated the throne of the universe, or that his arm is weakened by
disease. From everlasting to everlasting He is God. (Habakkuk
Commentaries)
Our Daily Bread devotional on Habakkuk 1:12-2:4 - Waiting For God:
They soon forgot His works; they did not wait for His counsel (Psalm
106:13).
A friend found it difficult to be patient during a long hospital stay. She
was a Christian, but she feared that some sins from her past were too
bad to be forgiven. I assured her that when she confessed them to God
He forgave her. And her doctors reassured her that her depression
would lift and she would get better. Still she found it difficult to wait for
the light to break through.
Habakkuk was perplexed and impatient too. First he complained to

God about the evils of the Israelites (Hab 1:2, 3, 4). The Lord responded
by saying that He would use the Babylonians to scourge them (Hab 1:5-
11). Then the prophet raised a new problem—Babylon was more wicked
than Israel (Hab 1:12-17). Though frustrated, Habakkuk didn't act
rashly. Instead, he showed reverence for God by declaring that he would
wait for Him to make things clear. When God spoke to Habakkuk again,
He assured the prophet that He would give him the answer. He com-
manded him to write it clearly so that he could proclaim it speedily. But
He also told Habakkuk that he would have to wait awhile before seeing
all the wrongs made right. This delay was a trying experience for
Habakkuk, but the answer eventually came, and at just the right time.
When waiting for God to work, we must exercise patience and steadfast
faith, leaving matters in His hands. God will reward us for our patience
—but not too soon nor too late. —H. V. Lugt (Our Daily Bread,
Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by
permission. All rights reserved)
Patience is a virtue
that carries a lot of wait.
Habakkuk 1:13 Your eyes are too pure to approve evil, and You can not
look on wickedness with favor. Why do You look with favor on those
who deal treacherously? Why are You silent when the wicked swallow
up those more righteous than they?:
Your eyes are too pure: Job 15:15 Ps 5:4,5 Ps 11:4-7 Ps 34:15,16 1Pe
1:15,16
Why do You look with favor: Ps 10:1,2,15 Ps 73:3 Jer 12:1,2
Deal: Isa 21:2 33:1
Why are You silent: Es 4:14 Ps 35:22 Ps 50:3,21 Ps 83:1 Pr 31:8,9 Isa
64:12
The wicked: Hab 1:3,4 2Sa 4:11 1Ki 2:32 Ps 37:12-15, Ps 37:32,33 Ps
56:1,2 Acts 2:23 3:13-15

Your eyes are too pure to approve evil - In other words, He can only
look on things that are pure. Whereas the previous verse expressed
Habakkuk's faith and trust in his God, he now expresses his confusion
over God's actions. Habakkuk says that the Lord’s character is so pure
that he cannot bear to behold evil. Compare Abraham's question to God
in Ge 18:23-25.
Morris - God had to veil the earth in darkness when His Son was "made
sin" on the cross for us. But it was a problem for Habakkuk, as for
many since, that God would punish sin in His own people by means of
those even more sinful (Matthew 27:45,46).
NET Bible Note - God's "eyes" here signify what He looks at with
approval. His "eyes" are "pure" in that he refuses to tolerate any
wrongdoing in His presence.
David has a similar description of God…
For Thou art not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness. No evil
dwells with Thee. (Ps 5:4, cp Ps 34:15, 16)
You can not look on wickedness with favor - The word look is literally to
gaze or behold but in this context is used figuratively in the sense of
"tolerate." Habakkuk repeats the idea that God could not look on
(tolerate, put up with) wickedness, saying in essence "You cannot stand
the sight of people doing wrong."
Why do You look with favor on those who deal treacherously - "Why do
you put up with such treacherous people?" (NET Bible) The ESV
renders it "Why do you idly look at traitors?" This and the following
question are not rhetorical. Habakkuk is looking for an answer. The
idea is why do you look without taking action against them?
Treacherous (0898)(bagad) describes unfaithfulness in several different
relationships. Bagad is often used of those who are disloyal or who
violate agreements. For example it is used in context of marriage

meaning to commit adultery (Jer 3:9 = "spiritual adultery"). The
English definition of treacherous is close to the Hebrew idea, in
describing one who is likely to betray trust.
Why are You silent when the wicked swallow up those more righteous
than they - In other words, because of the fact that God's eyes are too
pure to behold evil, how can He use wicked men to swallow up those
more righteous? This question has a clear parallel with the crucifixion
of the Righteous One by evil men. Habakkuk wanted God to say
something and do something, but God was silent and seemingly inactive.
Remember however that divine silence does not signify divine
indifference.
Swallow up (01104) (bala') refers to normal swallowing but here is
figurative implying utter destruction (e.g., Pr 1:11-12). Bala' was used to
describe the destruction of the Egyptians (Ex 15:12) and of the rebel
Korah (Nu 16:30, 32, 34) who was swallowed up by the earth! Bala' was
used by Jeremiah to describe the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar.
The Septuagint translates the Hebrew with katapino, the verb used to
describe Satan "drinking down" believers (1Pe 5:8-note).
Constable - The prophet’s first question (Hab 1:2–4) arose out of an
apparent inconsistency between God’s actions and His character. He
was a just God, but He was allowing sin in His people to go unpunished.
His second question arose out of the same apparent inconsistency.
Yahweh was a just God, but He was allowing terrible sinners to succeed
and even permitted them to punish less serious sinners. These questions
evidenced perplexed faith rather than weak faith. Clearly Habakkuk
had strong faith in God, but how God was exercising His sovereignty
baffled him.
Warren Wiersbe notes that Habakkuk needed to remember two
truths…
(1) God had used other tools to chasten His people—war, natural
calamities, the preaching of the prophets—and the people wouldn’t
listen;

(2) the greater the light, the greater the responsibility. Yes, the
Babylonians were wicked sinners, but they were idolaters who didn’t
know the true and living God. This didn’t excuse their sins (Ro 1:18ff),
but it did explain their conduct. The Jews claimed to know the Lord and
yet they were sinning against the very law they claimed to believe!
Sin in the life of a believer is far worse than sin in the life of an
unbeliever. When God’s people deliberately disobey Him, they sin
against a flood of light and an ocean of love.
Hiding My Face - I’m a news junkie. I like knowing what’s going on in
the world. But sometimes the atrocities of life make me feel as if I’m a
kid watching a scary movie. I don’t want to see what happens. I want to
turn away to avoid watching.
God reacts to evil in a similar way. Years ago, He warned the Israelites
that He would turn away from them if they turned toward evil (Dt.
31:18). They did, and He did (Ezek. 39:24).
The prophet Habakkuk had not forsaken God, but he suffered along
with those who had. “Why do You show me iniquity,” he asked the
Lord, “and cause me to see trouble?” (Hab. 1:3).
God’s response to His confused prophet indicates that even when evil
obscures the face of God, our inability to see Him does not mean He is
uninvolved. God said, “Look among the nations and watch—be utterly
astounded! For I will work a work in your days which you would not
believe, though it were told you” (Hab 1:5). God would judge Judah, but
He would also judge the invading Babylonians for their evil (see Hab 2).
And through it all, “The just shall live by his faith” (Hab2:4).
When world events cause you to despair, turn off the news and turn to
Scripture. The end of the story has been written by our holy God. Evil
will not prevail.— Julie Ackerman Link
Lord, we praise You for Your displays of power in the

past and Your promises of victory in the future,
for they replace our fear of the world
with confidence in You. Amen.
Don’t despair because of evil;
God will have the last word.
Forerunner Commentary
What is the Forerunner Commentary?
<< Habakkuk 1:9
Habakkuk 1:11 >>
Habakkuk 1:5-11
God says, "You are not going to believe what I am about to tell you,
Habakkuk, but I am already at work to deliver you and punish the
sinners around you." Then what does He do? He tells the prophet that
He is sending the ferocious, bloody, terrifying Chaldeans to conquer
Judah!
The prophet must have been stunned! This was not the answer he
expected in the least. What kind of deliverance is humiliating defeat at
the hand of these utterly godless people who struck terror into the entire
Middle East? In addition, they were Gentiles, and God was taking their

side and cruelly punishing His own people. It must have shaken his faith
to hear God tell him, "I am coming to spank this nation with the worst
of the heathen."
And just as God said, Habakkuk did not want to believe it. In his eyes,
the deliverance was worse than the original corruption—at least that is
what he thought at first. From what he understood of God, this made no
sense. How could a loving God punish His own special people with a
club like the Chaldeans?
To understand God's answer we have to understand what God's work
is. Psalm 74:12 says, "God is . . . working salvation in the midst of the
earth." Genesis 1:26 says God is creating man in His own image,
building character in us so that we can live eternally as He does. What is
astounding is how He chooses to do it because He does it far differently
than we would. As the old saying goes, "God works in mysterious ways
His wonders to perform." To a man's way of thinking, His works are
truly mysterious; sometimes, we do not have a clue how He works.
Isaiah 55:8-11 explains that God sometimes does things in a very round-
about way, but it has a kind of boomerang effect. At times, it seems God
goes in one direction, off the beaten path, but that is merely our
perspective of it. We find out later—after we have grown in wisdom and
understanding—that He has been following His plan all along. We are
the ones who have not kept up. Habakkuk deals a great deal with
perspective—man's perspective versus God's. God always gets His job
done. When He sends forth His word to accomplish a work, it always
comes back to Him with the result He intends. It may not make much
sense to us at the time, but it surely works because God is behind it. In
the end, it is the best way.
Many have questioned why God has allowed the church to decline and
scatter in recent years. What is happening here? Why has God had to do
this in order to bring us into His Kingdom? Why must He destroy to
make well? We have shaken our heads at the swiftness and brutality of
it all. That is how Habakkuk felt with the Chaldeans breathing down

the Judeans' necks. If God had told us a few decades ago that the
church would lose, say, two-thirds of its members, would we have
believed Him? Would we have even considered that a work of God?
"Look . . . and watch—be utterly astounded! For I will work a work in
your days which you would not believe, though it were told you" (verse
5). Now we can understand how Habakkuk felt. He had prior warning,
and it made him question God's very nature.
Richard T. Ritenbaugh
Habakkuk
Related Topics: Babylonians | Blaming God | Boomerang Effect |
Deliverance | Gentile Nations | God's Judgment | God's Nature | God's
Plan | God's Will | God's Work | Habakkuk | Judah | Punishment
Habakkuk 1:5-17
In the first chapter, the prophet Habakkuk was upset with God because
He had made prophecies regarding where Judah's punishment would
come from—from the Chaldeans. Habakkuk was irritated by this
because he considered the Chaldeans to be worse than the Judeans. His
questions run: "God, why are you doing this? Why don't you at least
punish us by a righteous nation instead of sending upon us a nation far
worse than we are?"
That was the way Habakkuk looked at it. God did not look at it that
way because He would not have sent the Chaldeans if He did not think it
was the right thing for Him to do. Maybe they were worse in an overall
sense, but who was more responsible for what they were—the
Chaldeans or the Jews? Had the Chaldeans had God's way revealed to
them as the Judeans had? Of course not. Maybe the Judeans were not

as bad on paper, maybe statistically, but they were more responsible. To
whom much is given, much is required (Luke 12:48).
God would punish them with a hasty nation, He says, a nation violent
and rapacious in the way it did things. Habakkuk did not like that one
bit, so he appealed to God, and his appeal was hotly delivered.
John W. Ritenbaugh
JOHN MACARTHUR
Tonight we’re going to begin our study of the book of Habakkuk. As I
said this morning, happiness is sitting next to somebody who knows
where Habakkuk is. So I hope you’ll find somebody around you who
knows where Habakkuk is and turn to it in your Bibles. For the next
few Sunday nights we’re going to be dealing with the book of
Habakkuk. The subject for tonight is the strangeness of God’s ways
from the book of Habakkuk.
Now, in case you’re lost, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk,
Zephaniah, Haggai, and so forth. Minor prophets, Old Testament, holy
Bible. That’s all the directions I can give you. And I’ll give you a
moment to find it since it is a small book.
Habakkuk chapter 1 – and this is a very fascinating book. Although
it is very brief, merely three chapters and three very brief chapters, it is
a very, very important book. Now, tonight primarily I want to discuss
chapter 1, verses 1 through 11.
Beginning at verse 1, we read: “The burden which Habakkuk the
prophet did see. O Lord, how long shall I cry and Thou wilt not hear?
Even cry out unto thee a violence and Thou wilt not save? Why dost

Thou show me iniquity and cause me to behold grievance? For spoiling
and violence are before me and there are those who raise up strife and
contention. Therefore the law is slacked and justice doth never go forth,
for the wicked doth compass about the righteous; therefore justice goeth
forth perverted.” Sounds like a description of 20th century, doesn’t it?
Verse 5: “Behold among the nations and regard and wonder
marvelously; for I will work a work in your days which you will not
believe though it be told you.” This is God speaking. “For lo, I raise up
the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, which shall march through
the breadth of the land to possess the dwelling places that are not theirs.
They are terrible and dreadful, their judgment and their dignity shall
proceed from themselves. Their horses also are swifter than the leopards
and are more fierce than the evening wolves and their horsemen shall
spread themselves and their horsemen shall come from far.
“They shall fly like the eagle that hasteth to eat. They shall come all
for violence. The set of their faces is forward and they shall gather the
captives as the sand. And they shall scoff at the kings, and the princes
shall be a scorn unto them for they shall deride every stronghold for
they shall heap dust and take it. Then shall his mind change and he shall
pass over and offend, imputing this his power unto his god.”
A very interesting portion of Scripture. Now, we know that life is
never a bed of roses, and particularly the Christian life is never a bed of
roses. Even though we live the life of faith, even though our faith is very
personally and very explicitly placed in the person of Jesus Christ, and
even though Christ is all and all, and even though He is sufficient to
every need, life – the life of faith – is never just comfortable. There are
always problems. There are always problems in the Christian’s life.
There were always problems in the life of the Israelites. There were
problems in the mind of Habakkuk as he wrote in this prophecy. And
the reason there are always problems is because there is always an
active adversary, Satan, whose desire is to tempt us to sin. And so there
are problems. And various temptations are presented to our minds as

Christians, and Satan’s desire in presenting these temptations is to
undermine our faith, is to cause us to doubt God or to doubt God’s love
or to doubt that God cares. Surprisingly enough, this is true of
Christians.
Many of us find coming into our lives problems that we cannot
understand, sorrows that we cannot cope with, various temptations that
tend to make us doubt God and wonder if we’re really saved, wonder if
God really cares at all, wonder if the faith that we hold to so strongly
could really have a failing or a weak link in it. And so Satan tempts us to
doubt God to undermine our faith, and then Satan tempts the unsaved
by making Christianity look ridiculous. It’s an old, old tactic of Satan to
present a ridiculous Christianity to the world, to try to make
Christianity look like stupidity, and he’s done it all through history.
Today, one of the main anxieties pushed off on the world by Satan is
the problem of history. That’s what we want to talk about for the next
few Sunday nights in this prophecy, the problem of history. You see,
today people are perplexed with the historical situation. You look
around you and you wonder why it’s like it is. Now, up until about 1914
or 1915, we had a different problem. It wasn’t the problem of history
that was bugging everybody, it was the problem of science. For in the
19th century and in centuries previous to that, the biggest problem was
that science was purported to be a threat to Christianity.
And you had, during those centuries, critics who said that the Bible
was scientifically wrong and in great error, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.
They would point to things like the Bible statement that the sun stood
still and various things like that and say the Bible is scientifically
impossible. And so Christianity was always wrangling with science. And
if you ever see a book on Christianity and science, the great books, the
great traditional books, were books written at the very beginning of this
century and at the latter part of the last century because that was the
day in which science was the problem.
But today that’s not the problem. Today the problem is the problem

of history. It goes like this: How can a God like the one you claim in the
Bible let the world get in the mess that it’s in? Or for that matter, how
can the God that you claim is the God of the Bible let the church get in
the mess that the church is in? And so we have the problem of history.
And if you look around the world, the world is in a mess. War, famine,
disease, suffering, sorrow, death, constant problems all around the
world.
And I’ll tell you, if you look at the church, you’re going to find the
church in the main is in a mess. Apostasy, liberalism, a denial of the
authenticity of Scripture, a denial of verbal plenary inspiration, a denial
of the deity of Jesus Christ, a substitution of every inane type of
philosophy imaginable. There’s no question about the fact that the
world is in a mess. There’s no question about the fact that the church is
in a mess. And so the issue today is: If God is really God, why is all this
mess such a problem today? Why is God allowing it and why are we
having to cope with it? This is the issue today.
This is the great problem that’s thrown up in the face of Christianity
today, the problem of history. And this is what we want to deal with
because in this century, the century in which we live, primarily right
today in this particular decade, many Christians find their faith shaken.
Many find them sort of rattling at the roots because of the course of
events in the world. And other people who are not Christians who have
no faith find it very difficult – very difficult – to accept the God of the
Bible in view of the history that’s going on in our world today.
Devastating world problems become very difficult to reconcile with a
loving, caring, kind God as He’s presented in the Bible. But, really,
there’s no excuse for this perplexity on the part of a Christian and
there’s absolutely no excuse for rejection on the part of a non-Christian
because the plain teaching of the Bible sets it straight. There is really no
reason to be perplexed about the relationship of the Bible and science.
That’s a dead issue.
James Dwight Dana said there is nothing more true in all the

universe than the statements of the Bible that touch on science, and he
was a head geologist at Yale University. That’s a dead issue. The Bible
hasn’t made scientific error – doesn’t make any scientific error. And
now the history problem is the issue. But there really shouldn’t be any
perplexity about that, either, because the Bible deals just as explicitly
with that as it does with the problem of science.
Now, I know that some people think that the Bible is a textbook on
salvation and that’s the beginning and the end of it, but that’s not really
so. Salvation is really just one thread that runs through the theme of the
Bible. The Bible’s purpose, the Word of God’s purpose, is the entire
destiny of the world. If all the Bible cared about was salvation, it
wouldn’t deal with the fall of man, necessarily, it wouldn’t deal with
hell, it wouldn’t deal with all of the things that have to do with a godless
world.
The Bible is infinitely more than a textbook on salvation. It is that, to
be sure it is that, but it is more than that. The Word of God in total
revelation is concerned with the entire world, its condition and its
destiny. The Bible, if you please, has a very profound philosophy of
history and a distinctive worldview. Careful reading and study of the
Word of God will show this to you.
If you just peruse your favorite Psalm or reread over and over again
the Sermon on the Mount, or flip around in your favorite gospel, you
might not get it. But if you carefully study the Word of God, you will
find that everything that occurs in history has a place in God’s divine
plan. The Word of God, then, is concerned with the whole spectrum of
the world and its destiny.
Now, I say all that to say this: Habakkuk is an illustration of this
problem because the prophet treats the problem of history in his book
and he treats it in a fascinating way. He doesn’t treat it from an
academic standpoint. He doesn’t treat it from a theoretic standpoint. He
doesn’t treat it from a philosophical standpoint. He treats it from the
personal perplexity of his own life. He says, in essence, “God, I can’t

figure out why it’s going like it is if You’re who You are.” That is
Habakkuk’s problem. And so I want us to join him in his experience.
He was troubled by what he saw in the world. Now, what was the
situation? Well, the situation in Habakkuk’s day was that Israel was
back-slidden, which is nothing new for Israel. Israel had turned from
God, Israel had forgotten God. Israel was completely given over to
idolatry. And so he begins in verse 2, the real cry of his heart, as he
examines Israel and he says this: “O Lord, how long shall I cry and
Thou wilt not hear? Even cry out unto Thee of violence and Thou wilt
not save. Why dost thou show me iniquity and cause me to behold
grievance for spoiling and violence are before me and there are those
who raise up strife and contention? Therefore the law is slacked and
justice doth not go forth for the wicked doth compass about the
righteous, therefore justice goeth forth perverted.”
What a horrible picture of Israel. And the prayer that Habakkuk is
praying is, “God, they’re in a mess. I’ve been asking You and asking
You and crying out for You to change it. Why don’t You do something
about it? How long shall I cry and You will not hear?” What a situation.
Sin, immorality, vice were rampant. Those in government were slack
and indolent. And those who applied the law applied it dishonestly and
justice was nowhere to be found. And Habakkuk, a man of God, has had
his heart just bleeding before God as to why God allows this.
Such were the condition of Israel. There was lawlessness, there was
sin, immorality and so forth. Same thing is true today. As we look about
our world, we see the same characteristics exactly as in Habakkuk’s
day. In verse 2, he says, “There is violence.” Certainly that’s a
watchword of our day. In verse 3 he says, “There is iniquity, there is
violence,” again, “there are those who raise up strife and contention.”
There are revolutionaries stirring up trouble.
Verse 4: “Therefore the law is slack and there’s no justice fairly and
honestly.” Law and authority are not dealing fairly and honestly. It’s
difficult to find justice in this world, just as it was in the day of

Habakkuk. And so he’s perplexed by the situation and he cries out to
God and says, “God, if You’re who You are, why are You letting it
happen?” We stand today in the 20th century and we can look at God
with almost the same quizzical expression in our brain and say, “God,
why is it like it is? Why is it that we constantly cry out about these
things and nothing ever happens? They only get worse.”
So the situation wasn’t very good. Well, if you think the situation was
bad, wait until you get a hold of the solution. In verse 5 to 11, Habakkuk
gets probably the most unusual answer to prayer that anybody ever got.
If you think God’s inactivity was perplexing, just notice his activity. And
Habakkuk was perplexed in verses 2 and 4, but it must have been
nothing compared to what’s going on in his brain after he heard God’s
answer.
Verse 5, God says, “Behold among the nations in regard.” God
doesn’t say, “I’m going to answer your prayer, everything’s going to be
roses,” He says, “And wonder marvelously for I’ll work a work in your
days, first of all, which you will not believe, though it be told you.” And
here’s the answer to Habakkuk’s prayer. Verse 6, “For lo, I raise up the
Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, which shall march through the
breadth of the land to possess the dwelling places that are not there.
They are terrible and dreadful, their judgment, their dignity shall
proceed from themselves,” and he describes their horses, their swiftness.
The horsemen are going to cover the land, they’re going to come
swiftly like an eagle. Verse 9, they’re going to come for violence. “The
set of their faces is forward.” That means that they’re not going to be
distracted, they’ve got a goal in mind, they’re going to go at it. “They
shall gather the captives as the sand.” They’re going to pick up the
whole nation, Israel. “They’ll scoff and laugh at the kings and princes.
They’ll deride every stronghold. They’re going to heap dust and take
it.” And then in verse 11, they’re going to glory and think that they did
it because of the power of their own god.
Now listen to this. God answered Habakkuk by saying, “You think

it’s bad now? You haven’t seen anything yet.” Now, that’s an unusual
answer. He’s been crying out, “Oh, God, deliver us, deliver us, deliver
us, deliver us,” and God says, “Not only will I not deliver you, it’s going
to get worse than it is now.” God intends to raise up an utterly pagan,
godless people to come in and destroy Israel.
Now, this is the problem of Habakkuk. Number one, why is God
inactive? Why does God not hear his cry? Secondly, when He does, why
does He answer that way? And through these eleven verses, we learn
three great truths about the way God acts. God’s ways, first of all, are
mysterious; secondly, they are misunderstood; but thirdly, they are
moral. God’s ways are mysterious, misunderstood, yet they are moral.
That’s our basic outline.
First of all, let’s notice that God’s ways are mysterious. Now, we’ve
hinted at it already. First of all, let’s notice His mysterious in action. It is
strange how that God is silent in very serious circumstances. And we
stand there and we ask ourselves why, why did God let Israel get this far
gone? Why didn’t God smash those idols right when they were put up?
Why did God allow false prophets? Why didn’t He strike them down on
the spot? Why did God allow Israel to deteriorate at all? Why didn’t
God maintain the purity of Israel?
We can ask ourselves the same question in reference to the church.
Why has God let liberalism come into the church? Why has He allowed
it? Why doesn’t He strike those false teachers? Why doesn’t He strike
them dead on the spot when they utter their blasphemy and their denial
of the faith? Why does God allow so many wrong things to be done?
And why, in the context of the church, does God allow people – under
the name of Jesus Christ – to commit the atrocities that have been
committed?
So many churches in our world that name the name of Jesus Christ
and in the name of Jesus Christ are doing things unbelievable. Why
does God allow it? If God is really God, why doesn’t He keep the church
pure? Why does He let this happen? And not only that, why hasn’t God

answered yes to all of my faithful prayers? How long have we been
praying for revival in America? How long have we been praying for
revival all over the world? Why hasn’t God answered yes? Why no
revival?
We pray for decades and God doesn’t hear. Why? Why doesn’t God
bring America to its knees? Why doesn’t God take these people that are
turned against Him and turn them toward Him? And you’ve probably
asked in your own heart, on an individual level, why does God allow so-
and-so to be ill? Why doesn’t God heal? Or you’ve asked why doesn’t
God save that person that I’ve prayed for month after month after
month? Why? Why is God silent in the midst of the atrocities committed
under His name in the church? Why do they allow it in Israel? Why
does He allow the world to go like it’s going if He’s really God?
See, God’s ways are mysterious, aren’t they? His inaction is
mysterious. Secondly, His unexpected providences are mysterious. The
second thing we discover from Habakkuk is that God sometimes gives
very unexpected answers to our prayer. Now, this really shook
Habakkuk - really shook him. For a long time, God didn’t seem to
answer. And then all of a sudden, God answered – in Habakkuk’s mind.
God was answering all along but He wasn’t answering the way
Habakkuk wanted him to.
Finally, God answered and it was even more mysterious than before
He answered because, you see, Habakkuk thought he knew what Israel
needed. He figured in his mind, “Well, here’s what Israel needs, God.
Number one, God, just do it this way. They need a revival, God. And
secondly, after You’ve kind of punished them a little bit and they’d had
a revival, turn them around and make them turn toward You, God.
That’s exactly what they need. They just need a good whipping, God.
They need to be smashed down and punished a little bit and then they
need a great revival, God, and they’ll turn to You and everything will be
great.”
But, you see, God had other plans for Israel. John Newton said that

he felt that he wanted something better in his spiritual life at one time,
so he cried out to God for a deeper knowledge of God. He cried out for a
deeper understanding of his own spiritual life, and he besought God
that he might have a new dimension in his Christian experience. You
know what happened? He expected some wonderful vision of God or he
expected some dramatic blessing from heaven, but you know what he
got? Instead, he had an experience in which for months God seemed a
million miles away and God seemed to abandon John Newton to Satan
himself.
He was tempted and he was tried beyond his comprehension – exact
opposite of what he’d prayed for. But, you see, God had allowed Newton
to go into the depths of suffering to teach him to depend entirely upon
Him. And then when Newton had learned his lesson, he brought him out
and blessed him.
In the Bible, there’s a basic principle: suffering always precedes
glory. You know that? Suffering always precedes glory. I suppose the
best illustration of that is football practice. Some of you guys know. As I
look back on that, you know, you live for the glory on Saturday but, oh,
the suffering through the week. There’s some basic principles in life that
suffering precede glory. No man ever attained anything in life but what
he suffered through some sacrificial hours to take himself to that glory.
No man ever became effective and astute in any dimension of
education until he had sacrificed hours and hours and hours of careful
study. No man ever becomes a well-trained athlete who performs well at
the big moment unless he is disciplined and sacrificed throughout the
hours and hours that nobody saw. How many of you have ever asked
God to make you suffer? Have you ever gotten down on your knees and
said, “God, make me suffer. God, literally smash me down. God, crush
me”? Have you ever prayed that? I never have – I’m afraid to.
Well, what do we pray? Lord, protect me. Lord, keep me safe as I go
over here. Lord, bless our family. Lord, watch over us. Lord, take care
of us. Lord, do this, do that, you know, keep the little wall around us,

Lord, don’t let anything happen to us. That’s the way we pray, isn’t it?
But there’s a basic biblical principle that says what precedes glory?
Suffering always precedes glory. But we don’t pray for that, do we? All
we want is the glory.
You want to know something? Someday Israel is going to be glorified,
did you know that? Someday they’re going to reign with Christ who is
their Messiah, aren’t they? For a thousand years. They’re going to have
the glory but not without the suffering. And someday the church is
going to be glorified, isn’t it? In the day that we meet Jesus Christ in
our glorified bodies – but not before we go through some suffering in
this world.
We all like to prescribe our own answers to our own prayers, don’t
we? We pray and in the back of our mind we say, “God, in case You’re
stuck for a plan....” But we forget the fact that God sometimes makes
things an awful lot worse before they get any better. Just remember that
God may do the opposite of what you expect, but don’t forget it might
look like the backside of a Persian rug to you but on the other side, the
side that God sees, it’s a beautiful, glorious tapestry. What we’re seeing
today is the backside.
What we’re seeing today in the world is the suffering that the world
is going through to get ready for the glory that’s going to be there. Do
you know that someday this world is going to be in the hands of Jesus
Christ and the lion is going to lie down with the lamb and the little child
is going to play in a snake pit and never be bitten? And do you know
that the nations are going to go in and out and see Jesus Christ reigning
on the throne of David, and Israel is going to be glorified, and the
church is going to be glorified, and Christ is going to be glorified? But
not before suffering.
And God is beating this world down in judgment right now and
beginning right now up until the time that Christ comes in final
judgment – until that day this world is going to be under the judgment
of God to get it ready for the glory.

Why should I deserve anything that Christ never had? It was needful
for Christ to suffer before He could be glorified. And so it is for us. And
things are going to keep getting worse. First Timothy 3, about verse 13,
Paul said to Timothy, “Evil men shall wax” - what? - “worse and worse
in the last days.” We start reading prophetic Scriptures, and we’re going
to get into a series on prophetic themes for today following our study of
Habakkuk, and we read about the fact that in the end time there’s going
to be wars and rumors of wars. We read about in the end time there’s
going to be lawlessness.
Thessalonians, Apostle Paul says that the spirit of lawlessness is going
to run wild in the end time. We read that in the end time there’s going to
be a rise of cults, false religions called by Paul in his letter to Timothy
doctrines of devils. We read that in the last days there are going to be
apostates who go around denying the Lord that bought them, 2 Peter 2.
That things are going to get worse and worse and worse, not better.
And I’ll tell you, if you’re spending your time praying for peace, you
might as well forget it. Pray for peace in the hearts of men, not in the
world, there’ll never be peace in this world until Christ comes. And if
you’re praying to an end – to end all wars, forget it, there’s never going
to be an end to all wars until Christ comes. Things are going to get
worse and worse and worse before they ever get any better. The lines are
being drawn right now for the battle of Armageddon. Russia is ready –
king of the north. Egypt and the Arab states are ready, the king of the
south.
From the east, the great Red Chinese guard – now numbering 200
million, exactly as prophesied in the book of Revelation – is ready. As I
shared with you two years ago, the Russians started a seven-year project
to dam up the Euphrates. The Bible says the Euphrates will be dried up
and the kings of the east will march across. The world is getting ready
and there’s not going to be any respite in war, it’s going to get worse and
worse before it gets any better.
And so sometimes, though we think we know how God ought to

answer, He doesn’t answer the way we think He should. And in verse 6,
He told Habakkuk, “I’m going to raise up the Chaldeans to judge
Israel.” And so God’s ways are mysterious. His unexpected providences
are mysterious. And certainly His instrument is mysterious. When He
talks about the Chaldeans, that must have really been a problem for
Habakkuk because the Chaldeans were very, very despised. They were
absolutely pagan and godless.
There’s a fellow who writes me letters all the time from Canada, and
he’s a writer, and he wrote me a novel. Just personally for me, he wrote
a whole novel. He’s very prolific. His letters are like about twelve pages
long. And he wrote me this hundred-page thing, all typed out, just a
personal novel, was excellent. And he had one line in there that I
thought was classic and it was this – he said this: “God ain’t stuck for
carrier pigeons.” And you say, “What does that mean?” It must means
this: that if God wants to use the Chaldeans, He can do it. That’s what it
means.
I mean God has used all sorts of strange instruments to bring His
purposes to pass, including an ass in Numbers 22 – and perhaps many
other occasions. One perhaps prime example of that, I find in Isaiah 44.
If you have your Bible, you might look at that passage, Isaiah 44, and
here you have the incident of Israel, the prophecy regarding Israel being
released from the Babylonian captivity. In Isaiah 44 – let’s see, I think
it’s verse 28 - yes. Here is the prophecy about Cyrus. And this was many,
many years before Cyrus was ever king.
God says – “who saith of Cyrus, he is My shepherd.” God says that
Cyrus, this pagan king, is His shepherd “and shall perform all My
pleasure, even saying to Jerusalem, ‘Thou shalt be built,’ and to the
temple, ‘Thy foundation shall be laid.’” Now look at the first verse, I
think, of the next chapter, verse 45 - chapter 45, verse 1. Not only does
He call him a shepherd, but He says, “Thus saith the Lord to His” -
what? - “anointed, to Cyrus.”
Now, Cyrus was a pagan king. Go back to Habakkuk. Cyrus was a

pagan king, and yet God said, “I’m going to use Cyrus to free Israel
from bondage.” And He carried it even further by saying, “Cyrus is My
shepherd, Cyrus is My anointed.” And I’ll tell you, God uses some
strange instruments to carry out His judgment, doesn’t He? One
perhaps very strange instrument is antichrist who is definitely, believe it
or not, being used or going to be used by God in the tribulation to do
exactly what God wants him to do.
Not only that, the same is true of the kings of the north. All of the
parts that are involved in prophecy in the tribulation are used by God.
You read Ezekiel 38, there’s one little phrase there that talks about the
kings of the north coming against Israel, and it says that God’s going to
put hooks in their jaws and bring them down. God literally brings down
the kings of the north against Israel. God uses strange instruments to
fulfill His plan.
Today, because of the New Testament, we know how it all ends, don’t
we? Habakkuk didn’t know. He was in a worse dilemma than we are.
We know that God is letting things happen to prepare the world for
judgment because after judgment comes what? Glory, the Kingdom.
The worst judgment this world will ever see will be the tribulation. In
Matthew 24, Jesus says there’s nothing like it since the beginning of
time. Nothing like it. Following that tremendous wrath of God
outpoured on this world, immediately following it, immediately is the
glorification of Christ, of Israel, and of the church.
So God’s ways are mysterious. His inaction is mysterious. His
unexpected providences are mysterious. And certainly His unusual
instruments are mysterious. As a result of that, secondly, God’s ways are
misunderstood. Not only mysterious but misunderstood, and there are
two different groups of people that misunderstand God’s ways. First of
all, careless religious people misunderstand God’s ways. And we saw in
Matthew chapter 7 several weeks ago that there are going to be many
very religious people at the judgment, right? And they’re going to say,
“Lord, Lord, here we are,” and He says, “Depart from Me, I never
knew you.”

There are going to be many people who were religious but very, very
careless. Godless religious people. Look at verse 5. “Behold among the
nations in regard and wonder marvelously for I will work a work in
your days which you will not” - what? - “believe though it be told you.”
These religious Israelites didn’t believe the message that God gave them.
They didn’t believe it. Israel never would believe. No matter what God
did, they never believed the prophets.
In Matthew 21, you have one of the saddest parables in all the Bible.
And I’ll just refer to it. You met the man who had the vineyard, and he
brought servants in, and people would come and kill the servants. And
finally he said, “I’ll put my own son there. Surely they won’t kill my
son,” and what did they do? They killed the son. Graphic illustration of
the fact that no matter who God sent to Israel, they always did the same
thing with them, they never believed God, they never would believe
God. God said judgment, judgment, judgment. The prophets kept
crying judgment, judgment – nobody ever believed them. And yet they
fancied themselves to be very religious people.
There are people like that today. There are people in churches,
liberal churches, sitting around glibly singing little hymns and listening
to little spiritual thoughts dripping off the lips of their preachers who
carelessly sit there thinking that religion is going to protect them and
ignore again and again and again the Scriptures that talk about
judgment. Careless religious people.
Just to show you how they do this, look at 2 Peter chapter 3, and I
want you to see a characteristic of the careless religious people. Second
Peter 3 – let’s see, verse 4 – well, verse 3, really, we should start with.
“Knowing this first that there shall come in the” - what? - “in the last
days scoffers, walking after their own lusts” - and here it comes, verse 4
- “and saying” - what? - “‘Where is the promise of His coming?’”
Now, this is always, always, always the attitude of the apostate. They
deny the deity of Christ and secondly, they always deny the second
coming. They reject every Scripture that talks about judgment. And

they’ll sit in their churches year after year and their schools and
seminaries and all of this and reject all of the Scripture that is so explicit
about judgment.
And you want to hear the brilliance of their argument? This will
shock you. Look at verse 4. Listen to this logic. Here’s what they say:
“For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from
the beginning of the creation.” Isn’t that brilliant? You know what
they’re saying? “Well, He never will come because He never has,” see? I
will never die because I never have. I’ll never be judged because I never
have been judged. Isn’t that brilliant? That’s what they said before
Noah, didn’t they? It never will rain because it never has.
And God said, “My Spirit will not always” - what? - “strive with
man,” and it did rain and judgment came. And it says here in verse 5 -
you say, “Well how can anybody be stupid enough to believe that kind of
logic?” Well, verse 5 explains it: “For this” – they what? - “they are
willingly ignorant.” They want to be stupid on this point. They don’t
want to buy judgment, do they? They don’t want anything to do with it.
All right, go back to Habakkuk. So we see then there are people who
believe a lie. Who’s the father of all lies? Satan. So they believe Satan.
They’re the same, like Sodom and Gomorrah, easygoing, sinful people
who never believe their city will be destroyed, but God’s going to come
and careless, religious people misunderstand the judgment of God.
Let me tell you, if you’re a careless person who is sitting beside
someone day in and day out and living life as if it was very glib, who is
going to the job standing wherever you do with people all around you,
coming to church, sitting beside someone here, going over here, meeting
people, circulating in the world, never a thought for eternity, never a
thought for the judgment of God, let me warn you tonight that God’s
going to judge this world. Judgment is inevitable. It’s time that you
check your own life to be sure you’re prepared. God did judge Israel,
you know. He did. Not many years after Habakkuk’s time, He judged
them. They were taken into captivity and it was a disaster.

Paul picks this same verse, verse 5, and records it for us in the
thirteenth chapter of Acts. And he says in this chapter – and he’s, of
course, in a different context speaking, but he says in Acts 13:41,
“Behold, you despisers, and wonder, and perish, for I work a work in
your days, a work in which you shall in no way believe, though a man
declare it unto you.” He stood there and he talked to those Jews in that
synagogue and he said, “You won’t believe this, but God’s going to
judge you just like He told those Jews in Habakkuk’s day He was going
to judge them, and you’re not going to believe Him now any more than
they believed Him then.
“God’s going to judge you for crucifying Jesus Christ,” he was
saying. “God’s going to judge you for refusing the gospel. But you’re not
going to believe it any more than your fathers believed it in Habakkuk’s
day, but it’s going to come.” And judgment came by way of the
Chaldean army, just as Habakkuk promised. And I’ll tell you something
else, judgment came by way of the Roman army, as Paul promised in
Acts 13, for in 70 A.D., the city of Jerusalem was wiped out. One million
one hundred thousand Jews were killed. One hundred and sixteen
thousand bodies were thrown over the wall just for the sport of it. A
hundred thousand Jews were sold into slavery, so many that the market
was flooded and they didn’t bring as much money as a horse.
It came. Judgment of God always comes on sin. And it will come to
careless religious people. God’s at work in His judgment right now. And
His judgment slumbereth not, it’s near. Don’t you ever let yourself be
lulled into senselessness, you wake up and start reading the signs of the
times. God’s judgment is near.
Not only are God’s ways misunderstood by careless religious people
but, sad to say, they’re also misunderstood by the world and even more
misunderstood. In verse 11: “Then shall his mind change, and he shall
pass over, and offend, imputing this his power unto his God.” Now,
that’s a difficult verse to understand. What it means is this, that after
the Chaldeans conquered Israel, they’re going to think they did it
themselves. They’re going to think that they did it by the power of their

own god.
The Chaldeans, when they did conquer Israel, completely failed to
realize that they were being used by God, and they went around patting
themselves on the back, telling themselves how great they were for
having done this. They thought they owed their military success to their
own ability. Boy, that’s so typical. No matter what a man accomplishes,
he always pats himself on the back.
But God was soon to demonstrate to them that it was not so because
the God who had lifted them up was about to smash them down. Sad to
say, in the world in which we live today, people soon forget that what
they do, they do not do in many ways by their own power but are
permitted by God. Great powers have come and gone and conquered
and become drunk with their own success and God has cast them down,
and still man never learns the significance of history, the real history
that is God’s history never dawns on him.
Yes, the ways of God are mysterious to the careless religious people
and to the world. The world thinks it’s doing it on its own and in reality,
they’re nothing but the pawns of God. So the ways of God are
mysterious and they are misunderstood, but thirdly and most
importantly, though they be mysterious and though they be
misunderstood, they are moral. They are always moral. The ultimate
triumphant of right, the ultimate glorification of God, the ultimate
setting up of God’s Kingdom is the end of all history and God’s ways are
right, they are always right, they are always righteous. God is moral.
God can do no wrong.
God exerts a divine superintending power over the history of this
world. God has divine control of this world. In verse 6, it indicates that
God is going to raise up the Chaldeans. God is the One in control. Every
single nation on this earth is under the power of God. How do you know
that? Romans 13:1, “The powers that be are” - what? - “ordained of
God.” God is the Lord of history. Listen, God was sovereign in creation,
was He not? God was sovereign in the dispersion of man at the Tower of

Babel, was He not? God is sovereign in the historical process, is He not?
And I’ll tell you, God’s just as sovereign in how it all ends as He was
in how it all began. God is going to end history because He began it, and
He’s responsible for everything that happens. So there is a divine
control over history. And may I say, at the same time there’s a divine
plan in history. Things don’t happen by accident, they’re a part of
God’s plan. Because, you see, it’s God who sees the end from the
beginning, because it’s God who knows the times and the seasons. God
knows exactly what He’s doing. The clock of God is never off one split
second.
Every single thing happening in this world today is right on schedule
because God has a divine timetable. In Ecclesiastes chapter 3, you have
that beautiful passage about a time to love and a time to die and a time
to weep and a time to work. And just as there are times and seasons in
the lives of men, so divine history is on time. You look back to Daniel
and you read about the 70 weeks of Daniel, and you know that God
keeps timetables that are infinitely accurate, that are careful. There’s a
divine plan, there’s a divine control, there’s a divine timetable. God is
running history and He’s running it to the end that He sovereignly
desires it to come to.
And what is that end? It’s the glorification of His Kingdom. The key
to the history of the world is one concept, get it and never forget it. The
key to the history of the world – here it comes – is the Kingdom of God.
That is the key. God’s redemptive history. History of the Old Testament
was Israel, history in the New Testament is the church. And in the Old
Testament, the Kingdom was promised. In the New Testament age, it
was promised again and then postponed.
The Kingdom of God runs right through history. God’s desire was to
call out a people holy, set apart unto His name. That’s His plan. The
Kingdom of God is central in history. The only thing that matters in this
whole world, in this whole universe, is the Kingdom of God. Problems of
today are to be understood only in the light of the Kingdom of God. The

problems of yesterday are to be understood only in the Kingdom of God
and so the problems of tomorrow.
What God permits in the church and what God permits in the world
is related to His Kingdom, and it’s going to be established. And the
principle is the same: before the glory, there must always be the
suffering. So don’t stumble at world events. We’ve just scratched the
surface of this book, we’re going to go on further. But don’t stumble at
world events. If you’re a Christian, ask yourself this – whatever is
happening, ask yourself this: How does this relate to the Kingdom of
God? Ask yourself that, if you’re a Christian. Whatever is going on, how
does it fit into God’s plan to establish His Kingdom?
If you can’t figure out why there’s conflict in Israel, how does it fit
into God’s establishing His Kingdom? If you can’t figure out why
there’s problems going on in our country or around the world or in your
own life, how does it fit into God’s Kingdom? If you’re not a Christian,
if you don’t know Jesus Christ and you’re not a part of His Kingdom,
ask yourself this: What is God trying to tell me? What is God saying?
What is there in the world and what is there in me that needs to be
corrected? Why is this judgment coming? What’s wrong with the world
and what’s wrong with me? And having asked yourself that question,
come to the sense of your own sin and then turn to Jesus Christ who can
take you out of the kingdom of this world and put you into the Kingdom
of His dear Son. Let’s pray.
Our Father, tonight we realize we have just scratched the surface of
this tremendous book. But, Father, tonight perhaps somehow we’ve
been able to think about some of the things that are important in this,
Thy precious Word. Oh, we know Thy ways are mysterious. And, oh, we
know how people so easily misunderstand them. But, oh, God, we know
Thy ways are always moral.
GOTQUESTIONS.ORG

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