Habakkuk 2:6 Shall not all these take up a parable against him, and a taunting proverb against him, and say, Woe to him that increaseth that which is not his! how long? and to him that ladeth himself with thick clay!
7 Shall they not rise up suddenly that shall bite thee, and awake that shall vex thee, and thou shalt be for booties unto them?
8 Because thou hast spoiled many nations, all the remnant of the people shall spoil thee; because of men’s blood, and for the violence of the land, of the city, and of all that dwell therein.
God shows us what happens to bullies. What happens when a person or a nation chooses to push against another person or nation in an unjust manner. Now we need to keep in mind that God brought Babylon to attack Judah. He opened the gates to Jerusalem and He withdrew His presence from the temple and allowed the Babylonians to plunder and destroy the temple. He also allowed them to kill many people and take others as captives. This was not a good time for Judah. It was a time that was a just response to Judah’s long rebellion against the LORD.
The warning here was that nations around Babylon would soon begin to speak out against her. God gave the nations their boundaries. He did not protect those boundaries of all nations in the same way He protected the boundaries of Israel. God promised Abraham a certain parcel of ground. Abraham was told to walk throughout that land. Abraham’s descendants would not remain in that land right away. God would take them out of that land for 430 years before bringing them back to that land. God also warned Israel that if they would not submit to Him, He would eventually drive them out of their land.
Fast forward to the Babylonian empire. Habakkuk was a prophet of God. He was told to write about current events and also of future events. Babylon was at Judah’s doorstep during the time of our text. We can learn more about Babylon in looking at the book of Daniel. Daniel was taken captive during the time of Habakkuk and Jeremiah. He was directed to write about the events of his time in captivity.
God gave Nebuchadnezzar a dream that scared him so that he could not even remember it. His wise men could not help him. How would they be able to know what another person was dreaming? Nebuchadnezzar was so troubled by the dream and the fact that his wise men could not tell him the dream, that he wanted to kill them all.
God had already brought Daniel and his three friends into captivity in Babylon by this time. These men had already proved that their God was superior to the gods of Babylon. Now Daniel asked for some time to be able to give the king the dream and its interpretation. Daniel and his friends held a prayer meeting and God gave Daniel the dream and its interpretation. He took that to the king and told him the dream and its meaning. Four world empires were coming, of which the Babylonian empire was the first.
Nebuchadnezzar already had plans to expand his empire and he would continue to do so for a time. However, empire building is not without its opposition. Those who are conquered are not always happy with being taken over by another people. Thus in our text, God is talking about the trouble that would come due to Babylon’s expansion of its empire. They increased their territory and their wealth with things that did not belong to them. Even though they fought for it and overpowered others, it was not originally theirs. There would be unrest among the captives and also among other nations around them.
In the coming verses God would pronounce a total of five “woes” on Babylon. The first is found in verse 6.
The phrase “thick clay” is an interesting phrase. We know that clay is sticky. If you walk through clay it sticks to your boots and they become heavier. If you work with clay it will stick to your hands and to everything else that contacts it. It makes the thing that contacts it heavier. It becomes more tiring to walk through an area of thick clay than to walk through an area of sand. The point that God is making here is that the resentment of the conquered people would be like a thick clay to the Babylonians. It would eventually take them down. This was true in that the Medes and the Persians eventually became strong enough to take down the Babylonian empire.
We know that the Babylonian empire was doing quite well and lived rather carelessly. Daniel chapter 5 records the drunken party that Belshazzar threw in his kingdom. He took the vessels that were designed to be used in the temple in Jerusalem, and he used them in his drunken party. During that party, God used the image of a hand and wrote some particular words on the wall for Belshazzar and all in his presence to see. They could not read them, but Belshazzar became very frightened by what he saw. Daniel was called in to interpret the words for him. The message was not good. Belshazzar’s days were numbered and they were at their end. He would be destroyed and his empire would fall. That very night the Medes and the Persians invaded the land and took over the Babylonian empire. It was finished.
The reason for this is given in verse 8. Babylon had been very aggressive and they had spoiled many nations. They had been very violent in their expansionist actions. They had shed much blood and they had caused the survivors to resent them. They were just waiting for an opportunity to rise up against them and destroy them. God warned them that this was coming.
Habakkuk had wondered why God was using the Babylonians to punish Judah. He did not think that was the right thing to do. God was showing him that He knew what He was doing. Babylon was given the opportunity to punish Judah, but they were also given the opportunity to learn to fear the true God. They did not take that opportunity and their time was up. God did not make any mistakes with His actions. He knew what He was doing. He would take Babylon out of the picture in His time. Habakkuk needed patience and as we noted in verse 4, he needed to have his faith in alignment with God. He needed to trust God to do what was right.
The same is true for those who are truly saved today. We are living in interesting times. Canada is currently in a big mess. We are on the verge of collapse. Our government has sold themselves to the WEF. Klaus Schwab is running our country. Canada is currently on a path to globalism. The frontrunner for the leadership of the Liberal party has stated that he is a globalist. He does not want to protect Canada. He wants to bring Canada further into alignment with the ‘one world governmental system’. We do not know yet if he will be the next leader or how far he will be allowed to take his plan, but that is his plan.
The U.S. has been dragged so far into debt with the last government that it is not likely that Mr. Trump will be able to turn that ship around. He is trying to do so, but the world is a powder keg right now with Islam having expanded greatly over the past four years. They do not care about human life. They have accepted a lie regarding dying through violence and they are living with that in mind.
As mentioned, we do not know what the next step will be. We know that the world is moving toward the time of the Antichrist. He will come at God’s appointed time. Just prior to his appearance, the New Testament saints will be removed from this earth. His seven year reign will be a shocking time for those left on this earth.
Those who are saved prior to the coming of the Antichrist will not be here during his vile reign. However, we are commanded to be faithful witnesses unto the Lord Jesus Christ until that time. We need to be saved and we need to live by true Biblical faith. We need to reject the ecumenical push that is getting stronger and louder all the time. Discernment is a rare commodity. Those who are truly born again will have it, but we can see that that is a very small number of people. Ask God to examine your heart and be sure you are on His side today. Don’t be deceived by smooth talkers. Don’t trust your feelings. God’s Word is the only sure anchor to look to and build upon. Be sure you are building on the Truth.
Pastor Bartel
