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Habakkuk 2:6-20

INTRODUCTION: Our message series is called “The Journey from Doubt to Faith,” and we are tracing the prophet Habakkuk’s journey from doubt to faith as recorded for us in this book that bears his name. Habakkuk was struggling with the big questions that many of us struggle with when we go through seasons of doubt: “Does God care? Is God fair? Is God there?”

Habakkuk’s first question was prompted by the violence and injustice among the people of Judah. Habakkuk saw this and wondered why God did not do something about it. He began to wonder if God even noticed or cared. God answered Habakkuk by saying, yes he did notice, he did care, and he was going to do something about it. He was going to send the Babylonians to judge the people of Judah for their sin.

That answered Habakkuk’s first question, but it immediately raised a second question. The Babylonians were worse than the people of Judah, so how could God use those who were more wicked to judge those who were less wicked? Was God fair? God answered Habakkuk a second time explaining that Babylon would also be judged for their sin, but all in God’s timing. Meanwhile the righteous will live by faith, trusting God to act justly in his own time.

Last week we saw that God made a general promise that he would judge Babylon. This week’s passage gets more specific as God highlights Babylon’s specific sins and his corresponding judgments for each of those sins. But even more importantly, this passage highlights the various ways in life that people seek to advance themselves to their own ruin. If you ever wanted to know how to lose it all, this is the passage for you! (Read Habakkuk 2:6-8 and pray.)

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If you saw a book with the title, “How to Lose it All,” would you buy it? Well, you might. Not so much because you actually want to lose it all. You know: “I’ve always wanted to lose everything, and here’s the book that’s finally going to show me how!” But you might pick up the book in order to learn what not to do – “How can I avoid losing it all?” That’s what we want to do with our passage from Habakkuk this morning. We want to learn how to lose it all, in order to learn what not to do, so that we will not lose it all.

So, what is going on in this passage? God raised up the Babylonians to bring judgment to the surrounding nations for their sins. However, Babylon was not motivated by concern for God or justice. Babylon was motivated purely by greed. We read last week in Habakkuk 2:5: “Because he is as greedy as the grave and like death is never satisfied, he gathers to himself all the nations and takes captive all the peoples.” (Habakkuk 2:5)

The Babylonians were driven by their greed. They weren’t thinking about God at all. They conquered the surrounding nations in order to build an empire for themselves. The Babylonians thought that they had it all. But they were about to lose it all. God would judge the nation of Babylon for its all-consuming greed.

That coming judgment is described in great detail in our passage this morning. Verse 6 begins: “Will not all of them taunt him with ridicule and scorn, saying. . . .” (Habakkuk 2:6a), and then what follows is called a “taunt song,” that is, a song or a poem designed to mock or scorn another. In this particular song, Babylon is mocked by the very nations it conquered. And although the song is obviously directed against Babylon, Babylon is never even mentioned by name. The words are generalized in such a way that the song could apply to anyone who acts in the way Babylon acted.

I. Man’s way: Gain the world but lose your soul. (Matthew 16:26)

Do you want to know how to lose it all? It’s easy. Just follow man’s way instead of God’s way. Man’s way is summed up by Jesus with these words: “What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world, yet loses his soul?” (Matthew 16:26) Man’s way is very simple: “Gain whatever you can, however you can.” Man’s way is the way of selfishness and greed. Man’s way is to gain the world but lose your soul. We are going to look first at man’s way as described in this passage, and then we will look at God’s way at the end of today’s message.

The taunt song in this chapter is made up of five different woes. Each woe in the song first identifies a specific sin of greed or selfishness, and then pronounces God’s judgment upon that sin. Babylon’s greed manifested itself in five different ways: in theft, injustice, violence, exploitation and idolatry. But to what profit? The irony of the song is that those who practice these things may think that they are gaining wealth, security, power, pleasure and guidance – when in reality they will lose all that they hoped to gain. Let’s take a closer look at each of the five woes in our passage this morning.

   A. Theft (verses 6-8)

      1) The sin: Stealing from others to gain wealth for yourself (6)

The first woe is found in verses 6-8 and deals with the sin of theft. Look at verse 6: “Woe to him who piles up stolen goods and makes himself wealthy by extortion! How long must this go on?” (Habakkuk 2:6)

The sin here is identified as stealing from others in order to gain wealth for yourself. Stealing and theft are as old as the human race. The very first sin involved stealing. Adam and Eve took from the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Stealing is such a serious sin that God made it part of the Ten Commandments: “You shall not steal.” (Exodus 20:15) There are many specific laws in the Old Testament that deal with the problem of stealing and theft.

When we think about stealing, we often think of somebody breaking into someone’s house or perhaps robbing a bank, but those are only two ways that we can steal. Most of us have probably never broken into a home or a bank, but we have stolen in other ways. We can steal from our employers by padding our expense reports, by taking things home from the office that do not belong to us, by loafing on the job, by leaving early or arriving late, or by calling in sick when we are well. We can steal by short-changing our customers, by overpricing goods or services, or by price gouging in a crisis. People steal from insurance companies by making fraudulent or misleading statements; people steal from the government by cheating on their taxes; students steal in school by cheating on tests or plagiarizing papers. Stealing is a much bigger problem than breaking into houses or robbing banks. We are guilty of stealing anytime we take something that is not rightfully ours.

So, why do we do it? Why do we steal? We steal because we believe we will gain an advantage by stealing. We steal from others in order to gain wealth for ourselves. But stealing is wrong because we do harm to our neighbor whenever we take something that does not belong to us.

      2) God’s judgment: You will lose all that you have taken (7-8)
         – Proverbs 10:2; Jeremiah 17:11

What is God’s judgment when you steal? Appropriately, you will lose all that you have taken. You will lose rather than gain. Look at verses 7-8. God says, “Will not your debtors suddenly arise? Will they not wake up and make you tremble? Then you will become their victim. Because you have plundered many nations, the peoples who are left will plunder you. For you have shed man’s blood; you have destroyed lands and cities and everyone in them.” (Habakkuk 2:7-8) Babylon had plundered many nations. Now the nations would plunder Babylon in return. The Babylonians would lose everything because they had stolen from others.

Jeremiah 17:11 says: “Like a partridge that hatches eggs it did not lay is the man who gains riches by unjust means. When his life is half gone, they will desert him, and in the end he will prove to be a fool.” (Jeremiah 17:11) We may think that we gain some type of advantage when we steal, but we never do. Adam and Eve thought they would become like God by eating from the tree. Instead, they fell into sin and judgment.

We need to realize that you never gain any advantage by stealing. Proverbs 10:2 says, “Ill-gotten treasures are of no value, but righteousness delivers from death.” (Proverbs 10:2) When you steal from others to gain wealth for yourself, God says you will lose all that you have taken.

   B. Injustice (verses 9-11)

      1) The sin: Treating others unjustly to gain security for yourself (9)

The second woe is found in verses 9-11 and deals with the sin of injustice. Look at verse 9: “Woe to him who builds his realm by unjust gain to set his nest on high, to escape the clutches of ruin!” (Habakkuk 2:9)

The sin here is identified as treating others unjustly in order to gain security for yourself. The phrase “to set his nest on high” is a picture of an eagle making its nest high and secure in the cliffs, safe from trouble and harm. Babylon committed gross injustices in order “to set their nest on high.” They conquered cities, they exiled the people to foreign lands, they subjected them to forced labor, they plundered their wealth – all in order to build their own walls high and to make their own cities secure.

This is a temptation for all of us. We all long to be secure, and we are often tempted to treat others unfairly in order to strengthen our own position. But we must remember that God is just, and he pronounces a woe upon all who would act unjustly.

      2) God’s judgment: You will forfeit your life (10-11)
         – Jeremiah 22:13-17

So, what is God’s judgment when you practice injustice? You will forfeit your life. You will lose the security you thought you would gain. Look at verses 10-11. God says: “You have plotted the ruin of many peoples, shaming your own house and forfeiting your life. The stones of the wall will cry out, and the beams of the woodwork will echo it.” (Habakkuk 2:10-11)

The picture here is of the person who has built his house by treating others unjustly. Everything he has was gained through unjust means. This brings shame upon his house. The whole house cries out in testimony against him. He had hoped to gain safety and security in life, but instead God tells him his life is forfeit.

Jeremiah 22 says: “Woe to him who builds his palace by unrighteousness, his upper rooms by injustice, making his countrymen work for nothing, not paying them for their labor … your eyes and your heart are set only on dishonest gain, on shedding innocent blood and on oppression and extortion.” (Jeremiah 22:13-17) It is a lie and a deception to think that you can obtain any type of security by means of injustice. When you treat others unjustly to gain security for yourself, God says you forfeit your life. You lose the very security you had hoped to gain.

   C. Violence (verses 12-14)

      1) The sin: Hurting others to gain power for yourself (12)

The third woe is found in verses 12-14 and deals with the sin of violence. Look at verse 12: “Woe to him who builds a city with bloodshed and establishes a town by crime!” (Habakkuk 2:12)

The sin here is identified as hurting others in order to gain power for yourself. Once again this is exactly what Babylon did in their conquests. They had a reputation for cruelty and violence. They committed unconscionable crimes against the nations they attacked. And what was the purpose of all this violence? They were greedy for power. They didn’t care who they hurt as long as they built their empire.

You may think, “Well, I’m not a violent person. Surely these verses don’t apply to me?” You may not be a violent person, but we can still be tempted to hurt people in other ways in order to increase our own power. It happens in schools all the time. We may not physically hurt the other person, but perhaps we say something to damage their reputation in order to strengthen our position in the peer group. It can happen at work. We climb our way up to that promotion by stepping on the backs of our co-workers. It can happen at home. The husband who physically or verbally abuses his wife does so in order to gain power for himself. Anytime you hurt another person in order to increase your own power in the relationship, you have committed a sin of violence against that person.

      2) God’s judgment: All your efforts will come to nothing (13-14)

What is God’s judgment when you seek to gain power through violence? All your efforts will come to nothing. Look at verses 13-14. God says, “Has not the LORD Almighty determined that the people’s labor is only fuel for the fire, that the nations exhaust themselves for nothing? For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.” (Habakkuk 2:13-14)

God is the only one with real power in this world. And he has determined that all your efforts at grabbing power for yourself will prove useless in the end. All your labors are only fuel for the fire. Instead of increasing power for yourself, you are only increasing your judgment. Your labors will not only provide fuel for the fire of God’s judgment – they will be burned up and destroyed themselves. You will lose it all.

Verse 13 captures perfectly the futility of the nations in this world as they jostle and scramble for power and command. “All of their labor is just fuel for the fire. The nations exhaust themselves for nothing.” All that effort wasted in the mad dash for supremacy and control. The Babylonians thought they were building a world empire that would last forever. It didn’t last a hundred years. Empires come and empires go, but God remains forever.

You may be just grabbing for a little empire of your own – whether at school, work or home – but it doesn’t matter whether you are grabbing for the whole world or just a part of it. The principle remains the same: God owns it all! And you exhaust yourself for nothing when you grab power for yourself, because the whole earth “will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.”

God is sovereign. God owns it all. The whole earth will be filled with his glory. When you hurt others to gain power for yourself, God says all your efforts will come to nothing.

   D. Exploitation (verses 15-17)

      1) The sin: Taking advantage of others to gain pleasure for yourself (15)

The fourth woe is found in verses 15-17 and deals with the sin of exploitation. Look at verse 15: “Woe to him who gives drink to his neighbors, pouring it from the wineskin till they are drunk, so that he can gaze on their naked bodies.” (Habakkuk 2:15)

The sin here is identified as taking advantage of others in order to gain pleasure for yourself. The specific example given is that of getting someone drunk so that you can take sexual advantage of him or her. Sadly, this still takes place in our day and age, whether through alcohol or other means. People take advantage of others through date-rape drugs such as rohypnol, GHB or ketamine. Other ways of exploiting others for your own pleasure include sexual abuse and pornography.

Of course, exploitation does not have to be sexual. Gambling casinos take advantage of poor people’s hopes in order to line their own pockets. Drug dealers take advantage of people’s addictions in order to benefit themselves.

      2) God’s judgment: You will be filled with shame and disgrace (16-17)

What is God’s judgment when you exploit others in order to increase your own pleasure? You will be filled with shame and disgrace. Look at verses 16-17 where God says: “You will be filled with shame instead of glory. Now it is your turn! Drink and be exposed! The cup from the LORD’s right hand is coming around to you, and disgrace will cover your glory. The violence you have done to Lebanon will overwhelm you, and your destruction of animals will terrify you. For you have shed man’s blood; you have destroyed lands and cities and everyone in them.” (Habakkuk 2:16-17)

God says, “You exposed others for your own pleasure? Now it is your turn. You will be exposed. You used your power to take advantage of others? Now it is your turn. Judgment is coming, and all your glory will be covered with disgrace. You treated others violently? Your violence will return on you and overwhelm you.” When you take advantage of others to gain pleasure for yourself, God says you will be filled with shame and disgrace.

   E. Idolatry (verses 18-20)

      1) The sin: Trusting something other than God to direct your life (19)

The fifth and final woe is found in verses 18-20 and deals with the sin of idolatry. The woe in this section comes in verse 19: “Woe to him who says to wood, ‘Come to life!’ Or to lifeless stone, ‘Wake up!’ Can it give guidance? It is covered with gold and silver; there is no breath in it.” (Habakkuk 2:19)

The sin here is identified as trusting something other than God to direct your life. Habakkuk has addressed the issue of idolatry several times in this book. In 1:11 he called the Babylonians “guilty men, whose own strength is their god.” (Habakkuk 1:11) In 1:16 he said that Babylon “sacrifices to his net and burns incense to his dragnet.” (Habakkuk 1:16)

The Babylonians were idolaters who trusted in their own strength and skill rather than trusting God. Idolatry doesn’t have to mean bowing down to a statue. Anytime you trust something other than God to direct your life, you are committing the sin of idolatry.

      2) God’s judgment: You will be deceived and disappointed (18, 20)

What is God’s judgment when you trust something – anything – other than him to guide or direct your life? You will be deceived and disappointed. Look at verse 18: “Of what value is an idol, since a man has carved it? Or an image that teaches lies? For he who makes it trusts in his own creation; he makes idols that cannot speak.” (Habakkuk 2:18) An idol has no value. It cannot speak. It cannot guide you. It is a false god that only teaches lies. Those who trust in idols are deceived and will ultimately be disappointed.

Verse 20 provides the contrast to the lifeless idols: “But the LORD is in his holy temple; let all the earth be silent before him.” (Habakkuk 2:20) It is a beautiful verse that speaks of God’s awesome majesty and holiness as God stands above the clamor of the nations and apart from sinful man. It provides a fitting end to this entire section, as those who rely on theft, injustice, violence, exploitation of others and idolatry are told to hush, to keep silence before the Lord.

God is in his temple. He is holy. Cease all your endless striving for greater wealth, security, power, and pleasure. Be silent before him. Turn away from your worthless idols and bow before the Lord in heaven who alone can fill your deepest longings and satisfy your soul.

II. God’s way: Lose your life for Christ and find it. (Matthew 16:25)

So, that’s man’s way. Man’s way is to gain the whole world and lose your soul. What about God’s way? God’s way is to lose your life for Christ in order that you may find it. Lose your life for him, and God will restore your soul. You lose your life for Christ by serving God instead of serving yourself. So, how do you serve God instead of self? Let’s look at the contrast between God’s way and man’s way.

1. You serve God instead of self by giving rather than stealing. Ephesians 4:28 says: “He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need.” (Ephesians 4:28)
    
2. You serve God instead of self by practicing integrity rather than injustice. Remember, the Babylonians thought that practicing injustice would bring them security. But how do you get security? By practicing integrity! Proverbs 10:9 says: “The man of integrity walks securely, but he who takes crooked paths will be found out.” (Proverbs 10:9)
    
3. You serve God instead of self by acting with compassion rather than violence. Philippians 2 says: “If you have any … tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love…. Do nothing out of selfish ambition … but in humility consider others better than yourselves.” (Philippians 2:1-3)
    
4. You serve God instead of self by serving rather than exploiting. We read Jesus’ words in Matthew 20: “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them … Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant … just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:25-28)
    
5. And then, finally, you serve God instead of self by worshiping the living God rather than idols. We read in 1 Thessalonians 1: “They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God.” (1 Thessalonians 1:9)
    

CONCLUSION: Habakkuk wondered if God would judge the Babylonians for their sin. He wondered, “Is God fair?” Here in chapter 2 God shares with Habakkuk the various judgments that would fall upon the Babylonians for each of their sins. And every judgment lines up exactly with the sin committed. God is completely fair. God is completely just. Babylon would lose it all, because Babylon was seeking to build an empire for itself rather than seeking to serve God.

Jesus said: “Whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matthew 16:25-26)

The people of this world clamor and strive for wealth, security, power, and pleasure. They trust in idols of their own making rather than in God. But God says: “Their labor is only fuel for the fire … they exhaust themselves for nothing.” (Habakkuk 2:13) “The LORD is in his holy temple; let all the earth be silent before him.” (Habakkuk 2:20)

Closing prayer: Dear Lord, this is a difficult passage for us. It is a judgment passage, and we all fall short. We have all sinned and fall short of your glory. Lord Jesus, we thank you that you took the punishment for our sins upon yourself, that you allowed the judgment for sin that should have fallen on each of us to fall upon you at the cross. We are forever grateful. Lord, there is nothing we can or could ever do to earn our salvation. All we can do is come humbly before you, confessing our sin and placing our faith in Jesus Christ who died to be our Savior. We pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

© Ray Fowler

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