Habakkuk 1:12-17
Habakkuk 1:12
(KJB)
Art thou not from everlasting, O LORD my God, mine Holy
One? we shall not die. O LORD, thou hast ordained them for judgment; and, O
mighty God, thou hast established them for correction.
Habakkuk then speaks to God and uses his covenant title,
Jehovah, and speaks of God being the eternal God in comparison to those false
idols of the Babylonians. He also
speaks to God in terms of him being a personal God, saying my God and mine Holy
One. He then makes the statement
that “we shall not die.” This does
not mean that he will live forever in his earthly body but that since he
mentioned God’s covenant name, he was referring to the fact that Israel as a
nation will not cease to exist even though things look bleak right now.
Habakkuk now admits the fact that because Judah was rampant with sin, God
had a right, in his sovereignty, to ordain the Chaldeans to judge Judah and to
use them to correct Judah so they will return unto the Lord.
Proverbs 22:15 (KJV) Foolishness
is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far
from him. As a child which has
to be corrected, so Judah must be corrected in the same manner.
Habakkuk 1:13
(KJB)
Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not
look on iniquity: wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, and
holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous than
he?
Habakkuk still showed some type of reluctance to fully
accept what was happening. He knew
God to be a very holy God as he stated in the previous verse and he knew that
God’s eyes were pure and could not look upon evil nor could he look on iniquity.
Then he wanted to know how God could look upon the evil which the
Chaldeans are committing against Judah and why is God being silent in the face
of this marauding enemy? He claims
that the people of Judah are more righteous than the Chaldeans who have no law
and will devour everything in its path.
Habakkuk forgets a major problem here that Judah was very wicked and they
had basically set aside the law of God so with them doing this, Judah was not
showing any righteousness but the fact that they were in rebellion against God.
Habakkuk 1:14
(KJB)
And makest men as the fishes of the sea, as the creeping
things, that have no ruler over them?
Here Habakkuk uses two metaphors.
First he likens the people of Judah to the fish of the sea who have no
ruler over them like a lead fish yet even they travel in schools.
Secondly, he compares them to creeping things like insects.
The ants have no ruler yet there is order in the ant colony.
Both of these creatures allow themselves to be taken without any defenses
and this is what was happening to Judah at this time.
Nebuchadnezzar was like a fisherman who was drawing the fish out of the
sea or stepping on the insects and killing them.
Judah will be like the fish and insects under the thumb of
Nebuchadnezzar.
Habakkuk 1:15
(KJB)
They take up all of them with the angle, they catch them
in their net, and gather them in their drag: therefore they rejoice and are
glad.
The angle would be a hook which would denote an
individual fish in that not one will escape the coming of the Chaldeans.
The net was used by fishermen to bring in a big haul of fish at one time.
This is what will happen to Judah.
The Chaldeans will swoop down and just like a net, they will be scooped
up and taken to Babylon. They will
be caught in the net and then will be gathered in the drag, that is, they will
haul in the people roughly and forcibly.
Habakkuk 1:16
(KJB)
Therefore they sacrifice unto their net, and burn incense
unto their drag; because by them their portion is fat, and their meat plenteous.
The fishing implements are used figuratively as weapons
of war. To sacrifice unto their net
and burn incense unto their drag was customary in some ancient nations to offer
sacrifices to their weapons. The
Scythians offered sacrifices to a sword which was set up as a symbol of Mars.
In modern times, Hindus make offerings to their fishing tackle, their
weapons, and to tools of various kinds.
The Scythians were a nomadic people who travelled extensively in Europe,
the Mediterranean, and central Asia.
Now that the Chaldeans had gathered up the people of Judah, they were
much fatter, that is, they were made much richer by means of the plunder they
would extract from Judah. The
plenteous meat would refer to their feasts they would have to celebrate their
victories over their enemies.
Habakkuk 1:17
(KJB)
Shall they therefore empty their net, and not spare
continually to slay the nations?