God’s Response To Habakkuk And Israel

Verses 5-11:

Verse 5 begins God’s call for His prophet and people to take their time, pause, and behold what He was about to do to their enemies, the heathen; Who oppressed them for so long, among the nations, for a full 70 years in Babylon, according to the prophecy of Jer 25:11-12, as fulfilled, recognized, and explained, Dan 9:1-2. God asserts that He would work a work, or do a deed among them, in their days, while dispersed among the Gentiles, or nations, that they would not believe, though it was told to them. This seems to allude to the coming of Jesus Christ and their rejection of Him as the Redeemer, Deu 28:64-67; Act 13:37-41.

Verse 6 asserts that God would (raise up), use as servants of His. judgment against Israel, the Chaldeans who would be a bitter and hasty, fast moving, rapacious nation to sweep through all their land, seizing their houses, lands, and valuables as possessions of prey, booty for the warriors and leaders of Chaldea, as recounted 2 Kings chs. 24, 25. The invasion was to be cruel, rash, and impetuous, without mercy, a bitter chastisement to endure, Jdg 18:25; 2Sa 17:8; 2Ch 26:6; Isa 23:13.

Verse 7 describes the Chaldeans as terrible and dreadful in judgment, and seeking no council in executing judgment. They framed a form of government that provided their own standard of dignity for themselves and servitude toward the captives of Israel. The rights of individuals were ignored by the covetous Chaldeans, who fattened themselves on the misery of the Israelites, as they made them become peons or slaves, Pro 28:20-22.

Verse 8 compares the movement of the Chaldean horses in battle against Israel as being swifter than leopards that leap 17 to 18 feet at a jump, and more fierce, vicious, or voracious than starving wolves that hastily ravage the flocks, as early night fall comes, Gen 49:27; Jer 5:6. Like the flight of an eagle, with no seeming exhaustion, their armies would sweep over all Israel, plundering, pillaging, and ravishing the land and people, as further described, Jer 4:13; Jer 48:40; Lam 4:19; Zep 3:3.

Verse 9 warns that the Chaldeans would come against Israel for violent purposes, not to show mercy or administer justice; For Israel’s leaders had been ignoring these virtues, required in the law, even to her own people. The people of Israel were to be sucked up, herded together, and whisked away into the land of Babylon, like an east wind, or tornado sucks up or swallows the sand in a desert. Israel had sown to the wind, and was to reap from the whirlwind or tornado of Divine retribution, for her sins, Job 39:24; Isa 27:8.

Verse 10 prophesies that with scoffing and scorn, the Chaldeans would inflict humiliation upon the kings, princes, and leaders of Israel, deriding them at every fortification, mound or stronghold, as they overcame and destroyed them, one by one, taking these leaders of Israel into bondage, heaping the dust of humiliation upon them; As they laughed at them in their calamity and fall, much as God does and will laugh at those who willfully reject Him, His Son, and His calls to salvation and holy service, Pro 1:22-32; 2Sa 20:15; 2Ki 19:32.

Verse 11 suggests that he (the king of Chaldea) shall then, having swept over all Israel, captured her chief leaders, seized their residences and wealth, plundered the land, and taken many of the Israelites slaves to march back to Babylon, will pass over, return with his armies’ booty, to Babylon and offend the true God in two ways: First, by his cruel, inhumane treatment of Israel, and Second by his attributing his success in battle to his Babylonian god, Bel or Murdock, Pro 16:18; Dan 5:4; Job 12:6; Mic 2:1.

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

The Prophet turns his discourse to the Jews, after having related the private colloquy, in which he expostulated with God for having so patiently borne with the obstinate wickedness of the nation. Being now as it were furnished with God’s command, (as the case really was,) he performs the office of a herald, and proclaims an approaching destruction. He indeed adopts a preface, which ought to have awakened drowsy and careless minds. He says— look, see, be astonished, be astonished; these repetitions do not a little increase the alarm; he twice bids them to see, and he twice exhorts them to be astonished, or to wonder. He then briefly proclaims the judgement of God, which he afterwards more fully describes. We now, then, perceive the object of the Prophet, and the manner in which he proceeds with his subject.

And he bids those among the nations to behold, as though he had said, that they were unworthy to be taught in the school of God; he therefore appointed other masters for them, even the Chaldeans, as we shall presently see. He might have said—look to God; but as the Prophet had so long spent his labor in vail and without profit while teaching them, he sets over them the Chaldeans as teachers. Behold, he says, ye teachers among the Gentiles. There is here indeed an implied contrast, as thought he said—“God has hitherto often recalled you to himself, and has offered himself to you, but ye have refused to look to him; now then, as he is wearied with exercising patience so long, he appoints for you other teachers; learn now from the Gentiles what ye leave hitherto refused to learn from the holy mouth of God himself”.

The Greek translators no doubt read בגורים, for their version is—“Behold, ye despisers.” (10) But in Hebrew there is no ambiguity as to the word.

He afterwards adds— And wonder ye, wonder (11) By these words the prophets express how dreadful God’s judgement would be, which would astonish the Jews themselves. Had they not been extremely refractory they might have quietly received instruction, for God would have addressed them by his prophets, as though they had been his own children. They might thus, with composed minds, have listened to God speaking to them; but the time was now come when they were to be filled with astonishment. We hence see that the Prophet meant this in a few words—that there would be a new mode of teaching, which would overwhelm the unwilling with astonishment, because they would not endure to be ruled in a gentle manner, when the Lord required nothing from them but to render themselves teachable.

After having said that God’s judgement would be dreadful, he adds that it was nigh at hand— a work, he says, will he work in your days, etc. They had already been often warned of that vengeance, but as they had for a long time disregarded it, they did ever remain sunk in their own self-delusions, like men who are wont to protract time and hunt on every side for some excuse for indulging themselves. So then when the people became hardened against all threatening, they thought that God would ever bear with them; hence the Prophet expressly declares, that the execution of that which they regarded as a fable was near at hand— He will work, he says, this work in your days

He then subjoins— ye will not believe when it shall be told you; that is, God will execute such a punishment as will be incredible and exceed all belief. The Prophet no doubt alludes to the want of faith in the people, and indirectly reproves them, as though he said—“Ye have hitherto denied faith to God’s word, but ye shall at length find that he has told the truth; and this ye shall find to your astonishment; for as his word has been counted by you incredible, so also incredible shall be his judgement.” In short, the Prophet intimates this—that though the Prophets had been derided by the Jews, and despised as inventors of fables, yet nothing had been said by them which would not be fully accomplished. This reward then was to be paid to all the unbelieving; for God would in the most dreadful manner avenge their impiety, so that they should themselves be astonished and become an astonishment to others. We now perceive what the Prophet meant by saying that the Jews would not believe the work of God when told them, that is, the vengeance which he will presently describe.

This passage is quoted by Paul, and is applied to the punishment then awaiting the Jews; for Paul, after having offered Christ to them, and seeing that many of them regarded the preaching of Gospel with scorn, added these words—“see,” he said, “and be astonished, for God will work a work in your days which ye shall not believe.” Paul at the same time made a suitable application of the Prophet’s words; for as God had once threatened his people by his Prophet Habakkuk, so he was still like himself; and since had so severely vindicated the contempt of his law as to his ancient people, he could not surely bear with the impiety of that people whom he found to have acted so malignantly and so ungratefully, yea so wantonly and perversely, as to reject his grace; for this was the last remedy for the Jews. No wonder then that Paul set before them this vengeance, when the Jews of his time persisted through their unbelief to reject Christ. Now follows the explanation –

(10) This may perhaps be considered one of the very few instances in which the Septuagint seems to have retained the true reading without the countenance of a single MS.; for the word “despisers” is more suitable to the context. The very same word is found in the 13th verse of this chapter. The omission is very trifling, only of the letter [ ד ], and Paul in quoting this passage, in Act 13:41, retains this word, while in the other clauses he departs from the Septuagint, and comes nearer to the Hebrew text. Pocock thought that [ בגוים ] is a noun from the Arabic [ בגא ], which means to be unjust or injurious; and thus the Hebrew is made the same with the Septuagint, and St. Paul, καταφρονηται, despisers—the insolent; but the former supposition seems the more probable—that the letter [ ד ] has been omitted. Dathius renders the word “ perfidi —perfidious,” and Newcome “transgressors.”— Ed.

(11) This is the proper rendering, and not as in our version. It is not the usual mode in Hebrew to enhance the meaning by connecting two verbs together; but the two other verbs here are in the imperative mood, only the first is in Niphal and the other in Kal. Parkhurst very properly renders them, and be ye astonished, wonder, etc. The repetition, says Drusius, is for the sake of emphasis.— Ed.

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

CRITICAL NOTES.]

Hab. 1:5-11]. Gods answer to the complaint. Behold] prophet and people. God is about to act, and they will be terrified at its results (cf. Act. 13:41).

Hab. 1:6. Raise] To make incursions and at length conquer Judea (cf. 2 Kings 24, 25). Bitter] i.e. cruel (Jer. 50:42; cf. marg. Jdg. 18:25; 2Sa. 17:8). Hasty] Rash and impetuous.

Hab. 1:7. Their] As they had raised themselves to this dignity so they would permit none to share in their counsels and determinations, but would act in the most arbitrary manner [Henderson].

Hab. 1:8. Leopards] which leap seventeen or eighteen feet at a spring. Evening wolves] fasting all day, are keen in hunger and commit ravages on the flocks at night (Gen. 49:27; Jer. 5:6). The eagerness of cavalry to plunder would be so great that fatigue in the march would be nothing. Like the flight of an eagle] would they rush along (cf. Jer. 4:13; Jer. 48:40, and Lam. 4:19).

Hab. 1:9. Violence] Not to administer justice. Faces] Presence. Sup] Swallow all before them. They pass along like a tempestuous wind. Sand] Prisoners gathered like dust by the simoom in the desert.

Hab. 1:10. Scoff] Resistance impossible and laughed at. Heap] Heap mounds of earth, according to the usual method of taking a fortress.

HOMILETICS

THE WONDERFUL WORK.Hab. 1:5

We have in these words an answer to the prophets question. God is not an unconcerned spectator. He will vindicate his glory, and unexpected vengeance will fall upon the transgressors.

I. The Work is Divine. I will work a work. God hears the complaints of his servants and remembers the taunt of the wicked, who cry, Where is now their God? God is the agent, though the heathen execute his judgments. He intends and he carries out; work a work in solemnity and power. This is the Lords doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes.

II. The Work is nigh at hand. In your days. That generation would not pass before its accomplishment. Already the clouds blacken: the judgments may be suspended, but will break forth in startling thunder. This evil day cannot be put off. It is nigh at hand, and not afar off.

III. The Work is wonderful. Wonder marvellously. In its nature it was not common, and in its effects it would be alarming. It would be strange and unparalleled among other nations and in their own history; spectators among the heathen would be surprised. Even all nations shall say, Wherefore hath the Lord done thus unto this land? what meaneth the heat of this great anger? (Deu. 29:24; Deu. 28:37).

IV. The Work is incredible. You will not believe, though it be told you. The Jews did not credit the prediction of such alarming events; accustomed to confide in their cities (Isa. 31:1; Jer. 7:4), and in Egyptian strength, they believed they were too powerful to be overcome. Men now will not believe in the judgments of God, though they loom in the threatenings. They are stupefied by sin, despise the Word of God, and go on until the curse falls upon them. Fearful is the punishment of those who presume upon security in evil. Behold, ye despisers, and wonder and perish; for I work a work in your days, a work which ye shall in no wise believe, though a man declare it unto you.

V. The Work demands attention. Behold ye. The call is solemn and Divine. Behold, since language, the ministry of the prophet, and the complaints of the oppressed, will not do. God will try something else which shall be heard. I will work, be patient and silent no longer. Behold, the heathen spectators of their sins will be instruments of their sorrows. This beholding must be attentive; regard, not mere gazing. The matter demands serious and earnest consideration. The overthrow of the Jews is a warning to all, a proof that sin will be fearfully punished if persisted in and the way of escape rejected. Is not destruction to the wicked? and a strange punishment to workers of iniquity?

THE WONDERFUL WORK ACCOMPLISHED.Hab. 1:5-10

We have now a particular description of the calamities to be inflicted. The Chaldeans, in their preparations and dispositions, in their victories and devastations, are exactly set forth, to confirm the truth and display the justice of God. The Jews are repaid in their own coin, and the dreadful judgments are inflicted.

I. In raising up a mighty nation. For lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, &c. God never lacks instruments to prosecute his design. He can fetch them from afar and dispose them to his will, though already elated with victory and power.

1. A nation naturally fierce. That bitter and hasty nation. They are cruel and impetuous, unmerciful, and resolute in their course. They spare no pains and show no pity. Hopeless is the condition of those who fall into their hands. They hold the bow and the lance to brandish before the foe; they are cruel and will not show mercy.

2. A nation terribly strong. They are terrible and dreadful. They are great in numbers, armed with Divine vengeance, and emboldened by former conquests. By the force of terror and the dread of death they gain submission.

3. A nation blindly covetous. They will not only overcome, but rob the land and possess the dwellings that are not theirs. It is not merely to overturn others, they also take their possessions. But the dwellings are not theirs by right, only held while God pleases, and then lost again. The rights of society and the interests of others are nothing to the covetous. They fatten on the miseries of men, and consider not that poverty will come upon themselves (Pro. 18:20-22).

4. A nation proudly ambitious. They roam through the land, violently subdue everything before them, and deport themselves in pride and insolence. They pass over in quest of glory to fresh booty and new wars. The mightiest empires have been crushed by the weight of their own greatness. In their own ambitious ends they have gone beyond bounds, and brought their own ruin. When our energies are directed to personal aggrandisement and despotic rule we may expect a fall. Pride, says Gurnall, takes for its motto great I and little you. Think not thy own shadow longer than that of others, says Sir Thomas Browne, nor delight to take the altitude of thyself. Ambition and pride are often the precursors of ruin. Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.

II. In giving them an easy victory. In the figures mentioned, we notice

1. That the conquest is irresistible. Their horses are swifter than the leopards, the lightest, swiftest, and most bloodthirsty of beasts of prey. They shall fly as the eagle, hastening to devour what it has secured. Our persecutors are swifter than eagles of the heavens (Lam. 4:19; Eze. 17:3).

2. That the conquest is violent. They shall come all for violence. The enemy would sweep over them like the east wind, blasting and bearing down everything before it. Gathering the people as the sand, and burying them like caravans in heaps of destruction.

3. That the conquest is easy. No opposition will hinder them from performing their work. (a) The power of kings was laughed at. Princes and confederates would be exposed to greatest contempt and most ignominious treatment. Kings will be put down and set up in pleasure and in sport. They shall scoff at the kings. (b) The strength of fortifications was derided. Forts and strongholds in which men trust will prove matters of derision to the agents of Gods vengeance. They shall deride every stronghold. The mightiest fort will be captured and levelled in the dust. For they shall heap dust and take it.

4. That the conquest is complete. Which shall march through the breadth of the land. Far and wide they spread terror and death. Unhindered and irresistible they swept over the earth. Kings fled in fear, palaces were plundered with violence, and lands were taken by force. They did as they liked. Their own lust was their law. No power of God or man seemed to limit them in the infliction of judgment upon the Jews, or in getting honour for themselves. God sometimes puts the stubborn and rebellious into the hands of those who measure justice by their own judgment and honour by their own dignity. Their judgment and their dignity shall come of themselves

The good old rule

Sufficeth them, the simple plan,

That they should take who have the power,

And they should keep who can [Wordsworth].

EVENING WOLVES.Hab. 1:8

Wolves are very fierce when urged to rabidness by a whole days hunger. They prowl forth in that darkness in which all the beasts of the forests creep forth (Psa. 104:20). Such is the disposition of some men towards their fellow-creatures. These evening wolves typify

I. False teachers. False prophets are compared to ravening wolves, rapacious, mischievous, and injurious to the flock of God (Mat. 7:15). We are warned against heretics, and false guides, such as Hymenus, Alexander, and Philetus. After my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock (Act. 20:29).

II. Cruel persecutors. With relentless spite some men pursue others. Christians are wilfully misrepresented in character and conduct; reviled, insulted, and spitefully used (Mat. 5:11). Evil men, as lions seeking whom they may devour, pursue them in envy. With keen scent and eager feet they are swift to shed innocent blood. The assemblies of violent men have sought after my soul.

III. Anxious cares. The cares of this world devour the good in the heart. Domestic life and business impair the growth of Christian character. Excessive care destroys peace, induces loss of temper, hinders prayer, and hurries into dangerous conduct. Be careful for nothing.

IV. Distracting doubts. Doubts and fears distress the mind, hide the light of Gods countenance, and pursue us like evening wolves.

To doubt

Is worse than to have lost: and to despair,
Is but to antedate those miseries
That must fall on us [Massinger].

HOMILETIC HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS

Hab. 1:6. He is said to raise up those whom he allows to be stirred up against his people, since the events which his providence permits favours their designs, and it rests with him to withhold them. They lift themselves up for some end of covetousness or pride. But there is a higher order of things in which God orders their actions to fulfil by their iniquities his righteousness [Pusey].

Hab. 1:8.

1. Gods hand is seen in furnishing the enemies of his people with all necessary qualifications for carrying on their enterprise. Boldness, swiftness, number, &c.
2. The fierceness of the Divine anger may be read in the celerity and activity with which they execute their designs.
3. It is vain for impenitent sinners to lean upon any apparent ground of security or confidence when God arises to plead with them. Distance of places, extent of country, and strength of buildings will not avail [cf. Hutcheson].

Hab. 1:9. Violence. Learn,

1. That God often repays violence with violence.
2. Yet those employed by God to punish others may sin themselves by lust and self-aggrandizement.

East Wind. The East Wind, it seemeth, was the most unwholesome breath of heaven upon that land; within short time withered and destroyed the fruits of the earth, and the hopes of the spring. The Lord saith that the faces of the Chaldeans, the very sight of them, shall be as baneful and as irresistible as the East Wind. The cruelties of men, the calamities which attend wars and conquests, ought to invite sinners not to provoke God to give them up to such punishmentto terrify such as fear not the threatenings of the Word, and to point out to those suffering such a lot, the bitterness of departing from God [Hutcheson].

Hab. 1:2-11. How utterly incomprehensible are the Judgments of God!

1. Incomprehensible in their delay, to the view of those who have no patience, and think that God ought to act as speedily as their anger prompts them (vers.2, 3).

2. Incomprehensible in their threatening, to those upon whom they will fall, and who nevertheless continue to sin in security (Hab. 1:4).

3. Incomprehensible to every human mind in their realization. For(a) They are greater than any human thought would anticipate (Hab. 1:5-6). (b) They take place in ways and by means of which no man would dream (Hab. 1:6). (c) They are often brought about by men and events that, at first sight, have nothing in common with God.

4. Incomprehensible in their grandeur and universality, to those by whom they are accomplished (Hab. 1:11) [Lange].

Gods deeds are always Niphlaoth, and have on them something to excite wonder and astonishment. Incredible as they seem, we know that they will be performed, from past history, present signs, and the light of Gods Word. How they are to happen is a mystery. It is ours to fear, believe, and obey. Regard the threatening, and escape the danger.

ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 1

Hab. 1:5. Wonder. Others only look and wonder, the Christian only looks and loves [Hurrion].

Hab. 1:6-11. Bitter. An envious man waxeth lean with the fatness of his neighbours. Envy is the daughter of pride, the beginner of secret sedition, and the perpetual torment of virtue [Socrates].

Hab. 1:7. Dignity. Self-assumed superiority of the Chaldeans. Every man has just as much vanity as he wants understanding [Pope].

They whose wit

Values itself so highly, that to that
All matters else seem weak, can hardly love,
Or take a shape or feeling of affection,
Being so self-endeared [Shakespeare].

Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell

JEHOVAHS ANSWER . . . Hab. 1:5-11

RV . . . Behold ye among the nations, and look, and wonder marvellously; for I am working 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, that march through the breadth of the earth, to possess dwellingplaces that are not theirs. They are terrible and dreadful; their judgement and their dignity proceed from themselves. Their horses also are swifter than leopards, and are more fierce than the evening wolves; and their horsemen press proudly on: yea, their horsemen come from far; they fly as an eagle that hasteth to devour. They come all of them for violence; the set of their faces is forwards; and they gather captives as the sand. Yea, he scoffeth at kings, and princes are a derision unto him; he derideth every stronghold; for he heapeth up dust, and taketh it. Then shall he sweep by as a wind, and shall pass over, and be guilty, even he whose might is his god.
LXX . . . Behold, ye despisers, and look, and wonder marvellously, and vanish: for I work a work in your days, which ye will in no wise believe, though a man declare it to you. Wherefore, behold, I stir up the Chaldeans, the bitter and hasty nation, that walks upon the breadth of the earth, to inherit tabernacles not his own. He is terrible and famous; his judgement shall proceed of himself, and his dignity shall come out of himself. And his horses shall bound more swiftly than leopards, and they are fiercer than the wolves of Atabia: and his horsemen shall ride forth, and shall rush from far; and they shall fly as an eagle hasting to eat. Destruction shall come upon ungodly men, resisting with their adverse front, and he shall gather the captivity as the sand. And he shall be at his ease with kings, and princes are his toys, and he shall mock at every strong-hold, and shall cast a mound, and take possession of it. Then shall he change his spirit, and he shall pass through, and make an atonement, saying. This strength belongs to my god.

COMMENTS

. . . LO, I RAISE UP THE CHALDEANS . . . Hab. 1:5

Jehovahs answer is not what the prophet expected. The answer to such prayers seldom is! Rather than magically producing Utopia for the nation by miraculously wiping out all the sin and injustice, God challenges Habakkuk to take a good look at the world situation . . . to consider the nations that lay beyond the border of Judah. The answer to the prophets question lies beyond his narrow horizons. Just as the question is larger than one man or a single nation so is the answer.

It is easy to overlook a very basic principle which is apparent again and again in Scripture. The principle is simply that God is the God of the whole world. He is not an absentee creator who has gone away and left us after having set certain forces and laws in operation. Nor is He the local God of Judah alone. Centuries after Habakkuk, Paul will tell the wisest men of his day, . . . He made of one every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed seasons (times) and the bond (boundaries) of their habitation . . . (Act. 17:26)

This Jehovah of Judah is the God of all nations. He is Lord, not just of a single nation, but of all human history. Therefore, the answer to questions that plague all men are to be found in the larger arena of international and world activity, rather than in the confines of local self-concerns. If we believed this, we would have missionaries in every corner of the globe.
So wide in scope and so universal in application is Gods answer to injustice and social exploitation, that He tells the prophet, I am working a work in your days, which you will not believe though it be told you For lo, I raise up the Chaldeans . . .

The Chaldeans were a Semitic tribe from the south of Babylonia. Galling under the yoke of Assyria, they revolted in 625 B.C against seemingly insuperable odds, and freed themselves from Assyrian domination. In alliance with the Medes and Scythians, they demolished the Assyrian capital of Nineveh in 612 B.C. (See Nahum) As rulers of the Neo-Babylonian empire, the Chaldeans soon broke off the alliance with the Medes.

In 609 B.C. the Baylonian army defeated Pharaoh Necho at Megiddo and broke the back of the Assyrian-Egyptian alliance. King Josiah died in this battle in a vain attempt to aid the declining Assyrian empire. (Cf. 2Ki. 23:29-30) Three years later the final defeat of Assyria came at Carchemish when Nebuchadnezzar led the Babylonians in a decisive encounter with Assyria and Egypt. Cf. Jer. 46:2)

Having cast her lot with the Assyrian-Egyptian alliance, Judah soon fell prey to Babylonian domination. In 597 B.C Nebuchadnezzar dismembered Judah. He destroyed Jerusalem and the temple in 586 B.C.
It is this that Jehovah foretells in answer to Habakkuks first question. Significantly, the Chaldean dominated Neo-Babylonian empire virtually began with the subjugation of Judah and ended when Cyrus, the Persian, in 539 B.C overthrew the capital and decreed freedom for the Jews. God had prepared the Chaldeans (whose empire Babylon was) to redress His grievances with His people. This done, God raised up Cyrus to wipe out Babylon. We shall see latter how this came about in answer to Habakkuks second question.

THEY ARE TERRIBLE AND DREADFUL . . . Hab. 1:7

Here begins Jehovahs description to Habakkuk of the empire He is raising up to punish Judah. We need to read these verses not so much for the details, although they are vividly accurate, but for the overall impression the description made upon Habakkuk. Keeping the prophets question in mind, we must agree with Jehovahs statement that He is working a work Habakkuk will not believe. (Hab. 1:5) Modern man also refuses to believe a just God of love will do such things!

The Chaldeans are described as irresistible in power and military methods. Wherever they went there was havoc. They were famous for swift cavalry. Their bent for conquest would become the scourge of the earth. Kings and castles, to whom others looked for defense, were to them a laughing stock. They captured cities as easily as throwing up a mound of earth and advancing over it. Ominously, one of their chief characteristics was the taking of numberless slaves.
The Neo-Babylonians were essentially a commercial people, and one of their chief commodities was human chattel. Prices ranged from $20 to $65 for a woman and from $5 to $100 for a man, and the traffic was strictly controlled by law.
Babylonian slavery is of particular interest to us, for it was into this that Nebuchadnezzar led Judah. Female slaves belonged to their masters completely and most of them bore many children for their masters.
All of a slaves belongings were his masters. He could himself be sold at any moment or pledged for a debt. He could be put to death if it seemed good business to his owner. A reward for his capture was set by law, should he try to escape. He was subject to military conscription and for forced labor on roads. Most of the exquisite cities, especially Babylon herself, were erected by slave labor.
A slave might marry a free woman, and their childrens freedom was guaranteed by law. He might be set up in business by his master, as indeed many of the Jews did, and liberated as a reward for faithful service.
The religion of Babylon has already been described in the introductory chapter on Baal worship. This despicable idolatry which earned for Babylon the name Mother of Harlots, finds its roots in the earliest history of the land of Nimrod. It flourished in the age of Babylons great lawyer, Hammurabi (2123-2081 B.C.) and spread like a cancer round the fertile crescent, to Asia Minor, Greece and finally Rome. It seeped into northern Europe, and after the fall of Rome, when the Roman Catholic religio-political monolith ruled over the European dark ages . . . the saints and idols and even the lord to whom Europe prayed was not the covenant God of the Bible or His Son, but the reincarnation of Babylonian deities. As Will Durant so clearly states in his Story of Civilization, Ishtar (the mother of Babylons gods) interests us not only as analogue of the Egyptian Isis and protoype of the Grecian Aphrodite and the Roman Venus, but as formal beneficiary of one of the strongest Babylonian customs . . . and though her worshippers repeatedly addressed her as The Virgin, The Holy Virgin and The Virgin Mother, this merely meant that her amours were free from all taint of wedlock. Note with what fervor the Babylonians could lift up to her throne litanies of laudation only less splendid than those which a tender piety once raised to the Mother of God. (Italics mine)

Such was the religion and such were its worshippers whom God raised up to punish His people for their failure to keep His covenant and for the social immorality which existed among them because they because they turned to the same gods.

Habakkuks first question is answered! Jehovah will not long tolerate the evils that repel the prophet. He will raise up one of the most wicked nations in history to punish them.

Chapter XVIQuestions

How Can God Allow Injustice to Go Unpunished?

1.

Habakkuks opening words are calculated to established what?

2.

What is the significance of Habakkuks use of the name Jehovah?

3.

What caused Habakkuk to ask the first of his two questions?

4.

What is Gods answer? Summarize.

5.

Who were the Chaldeans?

6.

Why were the Chaldeans named here when it was Babylon who would chastise Judah?

7.

What king of Judah died in the vain attempt to preserve Assyria against Babylon?

8.

How does Jehovah describe the Chaldeans? (Hab. 1:7-11)

9.

What do you know of the religion of the Babylonian empire of Habakkuks concern?

Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

(5) Among the heathen.These words are emphatic. They implyJehovah will no longer manifest Himself among His chosen people, but among the Gentiles. Let them look abroad, and they shall see Him using the Chaldans as His instrument for their own chastisement. They are to wonder, not at Gods choice of an agent, but at the consequences of the visitation, which resulted in the sack of the Temple, and the deportation of 10,000 captives; a work which the Jews might well not have credited, though it were told them. The words among the heathen (bag-gyim) were, probably, misread by the LXX. translators bgdm. Hence the translation, , ye despisers. In Act. 13:41 St. Paul is represented as citing the verse in its LXX. form, as a warning to his Jewish hearers at Antioch. This citation, of course, gives no authority whatever to the variant. Nor is it certain that St. Paul did not actually quote the Hebrew form of the verse, which would seem more appropriate to the circumstances than the other. (Comp. Act. 13:42; Act. 13:46 seq.). That St. Luke should substitute the Greek variant is intelligible enough.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

(5-11) Jehovahs answer to Habakkuks complaint. These disorders are to be punished by an invasion of Chaldaus. The appearance, character, and operations of these invaders are described.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

JEHOVAH’S REPLY TO THE PROPHET’S PERPLEXED CRY, Hab 1:5-11.

Jehovah meets the perplexity of his servant by declaring that he is not indifferent, and that punishment is about to be meted out by his agents, the Chaldeans, a terrible and dreadful nation, before which nothing can stand.

Behold ye among the heathen R.V., “nations.” If this is the correct reading the prophet and the people are addressed; they are to look about among the nations to see the wonderful things Jehovah is about to accomplish. LXX. and Peshitto read “ye despisers” for “among the nations.” If this is original, as is not impossible, the “wicked” of Hab 1:4 are addressed.

Wonder marvelously LXX. adds “and perish.” Why are they to look and wonder?

I will work R.V., “I am working”; margin, which produces the Hebrew more accurately, “one worketh.” However, the ordinary translation is not impossible, and the context (Hab 1:6) makes the translation “I” almost certain. The rendering “I am about to work” would express more clearly the idea of imminence.

Which ye will not believe, though it be told you Better, which ye would not believe though ( if) it were told you; that is, as having occurred in another place and at some other time. The event will be so extraordinary that only eyewitnesses can believe it (compare Act 13:41).

The awful thing Jehovah is about to do is stated in Hab 1:6 ff.

I raise up the Chaldeans Better, I am about to raise up (G.-K., 116p). On Chaldeans see Introduction, pp. 468ff, and Nahum, p. 431. The reference is not to the first appearance of the Chaldeans in history or as a world power, for the following verses indicate that they were already well known as cruel, bloodthirsty conquerors, but to their first advance against Judah; they will be summoned by Jehovah to execute judgment upon the wicked (Hab 1:4). Some manuscripts of LXX. add “against you.”

Bitter Rough, or fierce (Jdg 18:25; 2Sa 17:8).

Hasty Violent; “driven headlong by violent impulse” (Isa 32:4). As world conquerors they march through the whole extent of the earth and take possession of territories not their own (Hab 2:6; Deu 6:10-11).

Hab 1:7 depicts further the fierce disposition of the Chaldeans. The nation is personified as a hero, hence the Hebrew has the singular pronoun (see margin).

Terrible Exciting terror (Son 6:4; Son 6:10).

Dreadful Creating alarm. This is the word ordinarily translated “terrible” in the Old Testament.

Their judgment The decisions determining their conduct (Psa 17:2).

Dignity Or, eminence; the sovereignty which they assume over the nations of the world (Gen 49:3; Hos 13:1).

Proceed of themselves They acknowledge no superior, not even Jehovah, to determine their course for them. According to their own pleasure they map out their plans and through the power of their own arms they overthrow the nations.

Hab 1:8 describes the irresistible advance of their armies (compare Jer 4:13; Jer 5:6).

Their horses also are swifter than the leopards Tristram describes the leopard as “agile, swift, and when irritated the most terrible and cruel of beasts.” In Jer 4:13, the expression is “swifter than eagles”; Habakkuk mentions the eagle later in the verse.

More fierce Literally, more sharp. The war horses share their masters’ ferocity. Wildly they dash against the foe.

Evening wolves The wolves that, after fasting all day, go out in the evening to seek prey; prompted by intense hunger they are especially fierce. LXX., with a slight change of vowels, reads “wolves of Arabia,” which is less suitable (compare Zep 3:3).

Spread themselves R.V., “press proudly on.” The verb is connected with an Arabic root meaning “to strut proudly”; when used of horsemen it means “to spring along,” “to gallop.” Nothing can stop the onslaught of their horsemen.

Their horsemen shall come from far The horsemen of the Chaldeans came from the far east. Several commentators are inclined to omit this clause as a marginal gloss to the preceding, because (1) LXX. omits “horsemen”; (2) the repetition of “horsemen” in two successive clauses seems peculiar; (3) the presence of this clause gives an unequal number of clauses, and thus injures the parallelism. Others consider this the original clause and the preceding the gloss. Nowack and others make more thoroughgoing changes and read Hab 1:8, “And swifter than leopards are their (literally, his) horses, and swifter on foot than the evening wolves their horsemen; (and their horsemen come from afar;) they fly as an eagle that hasteth to devour.” As an eagle or vulture (see on Mic 1:16) swoops upon a carcass, so the Chaldean horsemen swoop upon their human prey.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

God’s Reply. He Is Bringing the Babylonians As His Chasteners ( Hab 1:5-11 ).

Hab 1:5-6

‘Behold among the nations and regard, and wonder marvellously (‘wonder with wonder’). For I work a work in your days which you will not believe though it be told to you. For, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, who march through the breadth of the earth, to possess dwelling places that are not theirs.’

God points out to Habakkuk and his followers (plural verb) that what He is doing is something that will be mysterious and inexplicable to them. Or possibly he is pointing it out through Habakkuk to the evildoers who will be punished as a result of their activity. Either way it will seem unbelievable to them. It will make them marvel. God’s ways are ever so. His ways are not our ways, and His thoughts are not our thoughts. But in the end they achieve what our way would never have achieved.

‘Which you will not believe though it be told to you.’ This indeed was their problem, lack of belief in what God says. This is in contrast with the righteous in Hab 2:4, stressing that there it is faith that is the prominent idea. These do not believe, while those in Hab 2:4 believe what God says and find strength from it and ‘live’.

And what was this amazing thing? In order to see it they must look among the nations, and consider carefully. They must consider what they saw around them. It was that He would use the Chaldeans (the Babylonians) as His instruments. Ezekiel had said the same thing, even seeing Nebuchadnezzar as someone whom God paid wages to for his services (Eze 29:18-20), and as the one who bore the sword that YHWH had given to Him, YHWH’s own sword (Eze 30:24-25).

The Neo-Babylonian empire began its rise to ‘world’ domination with the accession of Nabopolassar to the throne of Babylon in 626 BC, whose first task was to finally free Babylon from being tributary to Assyria. Like Israel and Judah they had every now and again sought to free themselves from the Assyrian yoke, and they had suffered under their transportation policy. Thus their rise resulted from a sense of bitterness at the way they had been treated, and they were out to make up for it.

And they seemed to be in a hurry, for within a short time of destroying Assyria with the aid of the Medes and the Scythians, and defeating Egypt, who sought to aid Assyria against them, they were out to take over their empire. Thus are they here described as ‘bitter and hasty’, and that ‘bitterness’ was seen as continuing in the way in which they treated the conquered nations who would not submit to them. By 605 BC they were at the gates of Jerusalem, and the first of a number of transportations began, which included Daniel. For their attacks on Egypt see Eze 28:7; Eze 30:11; Eze 31:12; Eze 32:12.

So the fact that God uses them is no recommendation of the Chaldeans. He describes them as a ‘bitter and hasty’ nation, who go everywhere taking dwellingplaces that are not theirs. They are as bad as the Assyrians, but He nevertheless uses them to punish the Assyrians, and also finally to punish the wicked and violent in Judah and Jerusalem, as Ezekiel makes clear.

This is a clear statement that YHWH is the Lord of history and makes history fulfil His will. Out of evil He produces good. He can use as His instruments even the most unworthy. This is not to make Him responsible for how they do it. Man acts as he is, freely, and often cruelly and reveals his true nature. As Daniel shows us he is like a wild beast. But over all YHWH is sovereign, bending all things to His will.

Hab 1:7-9

‘They are terrible and fearsome.

Their judgment and their dignity proceed from themselves.

Their horses also are swifter than leopards,

And are more fierce than the evening wolves.

And their horsemen spread themselves.

Yes, their horsemen come from far.

They fly as an eagle which hastens to devour.

They come all of them for violence,

The eagerness of their faces is as the east wind,

and they gather captives as the sand.’

A fuller description of Babylon is now given. God does not want Habakkuk and his hearers to be under any illusions. These are a terrible foe who cannot be thwarted or turned aside. Jeremiah later tells the people that they must submit to them because it is God’s will. Not only do they seize what is not theirs, but in doing so they appear terrible and fearsome. They are proud and self-sufficient. They behave as they wish to behave and have their own way of doing things, which is not always very pleasant to say the least. They make their own decisions and pass their own judgments. They are not to be thwarted. There is irony here for we will soon learn that YHWH can thwart them.

They are also powerful warriors. Swift as the leopard, fierce as hungry wolves in the evening (compare Jer 5:6; Zep 3:3), eager to satisfy their hunger. Moreover they spread themselves, they reach out further and further, and come great distances. They swoop like the eagle hastening on its prey (Deu 28:49; Job 9:26; Lam 4:19). And their aim is violence, in which they are eager and determined like the scorching east wind. The picture of faces eager to scorch up the earth is a vivid one.

The east wind is a dry wind from the wilderness (Job 1:19; Jer 4:11; Jer 13:24), strong and gusty (Exo 14:21; Job 27:21; Job 38:24; Jer 18:17) and of scorching heat (Amo 4:9; Hos 13:15). Its attentions are therefore very unwelcome and unpleasant.

‘They gather captives as the sand.’ Both in subjugating nations and transporting people into exile they deal with huge numbers. Their captives are numberless like the sand by the seashore.

So while they are being used as God’s chastening instruments, in a similar way to the Assyrians, ‘the rod of God’s anger’ (Isa 10:5), this does not recommend them as worthy. Rather God is to be seen as turning the beastliness of man to fulfil His own purposes.

Israel were constantly confident, in their few times of independence, that God would not again allow the Gentiles to overrun their nation or destroy their temple (see Jer 5:12; Jer 6:14; Jer 7:1-34; Jer 8:11; Lam 4:12; Amo 6:1-14). Yet their law and their prophets warned them again and again that it would happen, because of their sinfulness (see Deu 28:49-50; 1Ki 11:14; 1Ki 11:23; Jer 4:1-31; Jer 5:14-17; Jer 6:22-30; Amo 6:14). But that was a message that they did not want to hear. So God stresses through Habakkuk the powerful nature of the forces that are coming. They are irresistible. And He stresses that though they may be seen as far away they will come swiftly and unstoppably.

Hab 1:10-11

‘Yes, he scoffs at kings,

And princes are a derision to him.

He derides every stronghold,

For he heaps up soil and takes it.

Then will he sweep by as the wind,

And will pass over, and be guilty.

Even he whose might is his god.’

The king of Babylon is so mighty that he sweeps minor royalty aside in derision, he mocks at fortresses and strong defences, for he puts up his siege mounds and takes them. Thus let not the king of Judah think that he can stand against him. He comes like the wind, the east wind (Hab 1:9), and then he passes on like the wind, and he leaves behind the devastation and barrenness that has increased his guilt. For even kings like the king of Babylon have their sins counted against them. But for the time being at least, he sees might and power as his god. He looks to them to be the foundation of his life, a foundation that one day will crumble (and all too soon, for within seventy years the Babylonian empire was no more).

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

Hab 1:5. Behold ye, &c.though it be told you See and behold, ye despisers, and wonder and perish; for, &c.when it is told. Houbigant. So also the LXX, and Act 13:41.

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

I would desire to read this verse by itself; because I humbly conceive it is not connected with what follows. Though this verse, and the six that follow, are spoken by the Lord, yet the subjects differ. And I ground my opinion from the Apostle Paul having quoted this verse in his Sermon. Act 13:15-41 . and directly applied it to the subject of the gospel. I beg the Reader to turn to Paul’s discourse and read it; which will at once convince him that what follows in Habakkuk’s prophecy concerning the Chaldeans had nothing to do with this marvellous work, the Lord said he would do in the days to which he referred. It was indeed a marvellous work, that the gospel should be preached to the Gentiles. And it was, and still is a marvelous work, that many reject the truth of God, and equally marvellous that any should receive it, and indeed without grace cannot. All is marvellous! But I beg the Reader, after he hath diligently read the sermon of Paul, if he thinks with me, that this verse wholly refers to the times of the gospel; that he will join me in praising God for this sweet testimony to the truth, as it is in Jesus, and from such a scriptural record of our adorable Lord by the way, be forever on the lookout for similar testimonies in the Prophets, who all with one voice preach wholly of Jesus.

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

Hab 1:5 Behold ye among the heathen, and regard, and wonder marvellously: for [I] will work a work in your days, [which] ye will not believe, though it be told [you].

Ver. 5. Behold ye among the heathen, and regard, and wonder marvellously ] Heb. Wonder, wonder. This is God’s answer to the former expostulation, which he disliketh not, but encourageth the rest of his people to the like holy boldness. It containeth a promise to the prophet and the rest that were like affected, that he would shortly vindicate his glory and be avenged of the wicked, though he bore long with them. This that he may the better assure, he proceedeth by an elegant climax, wherein his speech getteth ground and ariseth higher and higher, that the despisers might be the more affected. “Behold, ye despisers,” so St Paul after the Septuagint (whose translation he here followeth as most received, and most making for his purpose), Act 13:41 , the sense being one and the same.

For I will work a work in your days ] This phrase noteth the strong intention of God upon it; as Jer 18:18 , to devise devices, noteth strong plotting to mischief the prophet. So Christ is said to work a work, Joh 5:36 . Many do rather play their works than work them. This is not God-like. He is serious and thorough in his works.

Which ye will not believe, though it be told you ] But put off all, as those in the Gospel did, with a God forbid; and so go on in sin, till wrath come upon you to the utmost. To this day we cannot get men to believe the truth of God’s judgments, while they hang in the threatenings; but one put-off or another they get, through self-delusion, or obstinace of heart, Lam 3:65 , next unto which followeth, Thy curse upon them.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

Behold = Look ye. For emphasis, introducing the change to Jehovah’s answer. Quoted in Act 13:41. Compare Isa 29:14.

Behold . . . regard . . . wonder. Note the Figure of speech Anabasis (App-6).

heathen = nations.

which ye -will not believe. Some codices read “yet ye will not believe”.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

Hab 1:5-11

JEHOVAHS ANSWER . . . Hab 1:5-11

LO, I RAISE UP THE CHALDEANS . . . Hab 1:5-6

Jehovahs answer is not what the prophet expected. The answer to such prayers seldom is! Rather than magically producing Utopia for the nation by miraculously wiping out all the sin and injustice, God challenges Habakkuk to take a good look at the world situation . . . to consider the nations that lay beyond the border of Judah. The answer to the prophets question lies beyond his narrow horizons. Just as the question is larger than one man or a single nation so is the answer.

It is easy to overlook a very basic principle which is apparent again and again in Scripture. The principle is simply that God is the God of the whole world. He is not an absentee creator who has gone away and left us after having set certain forces and laws in operation. Nor is He the local God of Judah alone. Centuries after Habakkuk, Paul will tell the wisest men of his day, . . . He made of one every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed seasons (times) and the bond (boundaries) of their habitation . . . (Act 17:26) This Jehovah of Judah is the God of all nations. He is Lord, not just of a single nation, but of all human history. Therefore, the answer to questions that plague all men are to be found in the larger arena of international and world activity, rather than in the confines of local self-concerns. If we believed this, we would have missionaries in every corner of the globe.

So wide in scope and so universal in application is Gods answer to injustice and social exploitation, that He tells the prophet, I am working a work in your days, which you will not believe though it be told you For lo, I raise up the Chaldeans . . . The Chaldeans were a Semitic tribe from the south of Babylonia. Galling under the yoke of Assyria, they revolted in 625 B.C against seemingly insuperable odds, and freed themselves from Assyrian domination. In alliance with the Medes and Scythians, they demolished the Assyrian capital of Nineveh in 612 B.C. (See Nahum) As rulers of the Neo-Babylonian empire, the Chaldeans soon broke off the alliance with the Medes.

In 609 B.C. the Baylonian army defeated Pharaoh Necho at Megiddo and broke the back of the Assyrian-Egyptian alliance. King Josiah died in this battle in a vain attempt to aid the declining Assyrian empire. (Cf. 2Ki 23:29-30) Three years later the final defeat of Assyria came at Carchemish when Nebuchadnezzar led the Babylonians in a decisive encounter with Assyria and Egypt. Cf. Jer 46:2) Having cast her lot with the Assyrian-Egyptian alliance, Judah soon fell prey to Babylonian domination. In 597 B.C Nebuchadnezzar dismembered Judah. He destroyed Jerusalem and the temple in 586 B.C.

It is this that Jehovah foretells in answer to Habakkuks first question. Significantly, the Chaldean dominated Neo-Babylonian empire virtually began with the subjugation of Judah and ended when Cyrus, the Persian, in 539 B.C overthrew the capital and decreed freedom for the Jews. God had prepared the Chaldeans (whose empire Babylon was) to redress His grievances with His people. This done, God raised up Cyrus to wipe out Babylon. We shall see latter how this came about in answer to Habakkuks second question.

Zerr: Some prophecIes in the Bible had a twofold bearing, or were destined to be fulfilled twice, and Hab 1:5 is one of them. It first refers to the marvelous work of the Lord in which the heathen were to behold the judgment of God against his nation. Not believe, though told. They would rush heedlessly on in their evil course although they had been plainly and authoritatively told about it. The same kind of experience was threatening in Paul’s day as he cites it in Act 13:41. The Chaldeans were a special race of people who got in the lead in the land or Babylon (Hab 1:6), hence the terms Chaldeans and Babylonians are used in the same sense. From Hab 1:6-11 is a prediction of the great captivity that God was going to bring upon Judah. Hasty is from a word that is defined “prompt” in the lexicon. The Chaldeans were prompt in their movemenls, especially when they were induced thereto by bitterness as they were against Judah. They were to come through the land of God’s people and take possession of the whole country.

THEY ARE TERRIBLE AND DREADFUL . . . Hab 1:7-11

Here begins Jehovahs description to Habakkuk of the empire He is raising up to punish Judah. We need to read these verses not so much for the details, although they are vividly accurate, but for the overall impression the description made upon Habakkuk. Keeping the prophets question in mind, we must agree with Jehovahs statement that He is working a work Habakkuk will not believe. (Hab 1:5) Modern man also refuses to believe a just God of love will do such things!

The Chaldeans are described as irresistible in power and military methods. Wherever they went there was havoc. They were famous for swift cavalry. Their bent for conquest would become the scourge of the earth. Kings and castles, to whom others looked for defense, were to them a laughing stock. They captured cities as easily as throwing up a mound of earth and advancing over it. Ominously, one of their chief characteristics was the taking of numberless slaves. The Neo-Babylonians were essentially a commercial people, and one of their chief commodities was human chattel. Prices ranged from $20 to $65 for a woman and from $5 to $100 for a man, and the traffic was strictly controlled by law.

Zerr: Dreadful (Hab 1:7) is from the same original word as “reverend” in Psa 111:9 where it is applied to the name of God. It shows us therefore that many words in the Bible are to be interpreted according to the connection In which they are used. Shall proceed of themselves means the Chaldeans were independent in disposition and followed their own inclination regardless of all others. The horse was a prominent means ot warfare in ancient times (Hab 1:8), both for the drawing ot chariots and carrying of cavalrymen. The Chaldeans possessed some of the finest specimens of that noble creature. Evening wolves is a figure denoting the viciousness with which they would lunge into battle. A wolf that had been fasting through the day would be hungry and ravenous by evening. The fact is used to illustrate the activities of the Chaldeans when their cavalry operated in the battle. Fly as the eagle is another figure of speech that means the same as the above comments. The pronouns “they” and “their” stand for the Chaldeans (or Babylonians) who will be using the horses in the action. Shall come for violence (Hab 1:9) means that when these forces come against Judah it will be with the intention of getting what they want even if they have to use violence in getting it. Sup up is from one word and it is explained in the lexicon to mean “to accumulate by impulse.” Gather as the sand indicates that the Chaldean army will sweep all before it as the east wind would drive the sand ahead of it and pile it up in great heaps. The gist of Hab 1:10 is that the Chaldean army will have no fear of kings or other men in official position. They will be treated as if they were only a heap of sand that had been drifted by the east wind. Change (Hab 1:11) means to be active and move promptly toward the objective. Offend is from ASHAM and defined by Strong, “To be guilty,” The thought is that, though the Chaldean army was to be the instrument in God’s hand in this great event, yet they will make a serious mistake in giving the credit for their achievement to their god.

Babylonian slavery is of particular interest to us, for it was into this that Nebuchadnezzar led Judah. Female slaves belonged to their masters completely and most of them bore many children for their masters. All of a slaves belongings were his masters. He could himself be sold at any moment or pledged for a debt. He could be put to death if it seemed good business to his owner. A reward for his capture was set by law, should he try to escape. He was subject to military conscription and for forced labor on roads. Most of the exquisite cities, especially Babylon herself, were erected by slave labor. A slave might marry a free woman, and their childrens freedom was guaranteed by law. He might be set up in business by his master, as indeed many of the Jews did, and liberated as a reward for faithful service.

The religion of Babylon has already been described in the introductory chapter on Baal worship. This despicable idolatry which earned for Babylon the name Mother of Harlots, finds its roots in the earliest history of the land of Nimrod. It flourished in the age of Babylons great lawyer, Hammurabi (2123-2081 B.C.) and spread like a cancer round the fertile crescent, to Asia Minor, Greece and finally Rome. It seeped into northern Europe, and after the fall of Rome, when the Roman Catholic religio-political monolith ruled over the European dark ages . . . the saints and idols and even the lord to whom Europe prayed was not the covenant God of the Bible or His Son, but the reincarnation of Babylonian deities. As Will Durant so clearly states in his Story of Civilization, Ishtar (the mother of Babylons gods) interests us not only as analogue of the Egyptian Isis and protoype of the Grecian Aphrodite and the Roman Venus, but as formal beneficiary of one of the strongest Babylonian customs . . . and though her worshippers repeatedly addressed her as The Virgin, The Holy Virgin and The Virgin Mother, this merely meant that her amours were free from all taint of wedlock. Note with what fervor the Babylonians could lift up to her throne litanies of laudation only less splendid than those which a tender piety once raised to the Mother of God. (Italics mine)

Such was the religion and such were its worshippers whom God raised up to punish His people for their failure to keep His covenant and for the social immorality which existed among them because they because they turned to the same gods.

Habakkuks first question is answered! Jehovah will not long tolerate the evils that repel the prophet. He will raise up one of the most wicked nations in history to punish them.

Questions

How Can God Allow Injustice to Go Unpunished?

1. Habakkuks opening words are calculated to established what?

2. What is the significance of Habakkuks use of the name Jehovah?

3. What caused Habakkuk to ask the first of his two questions?

4. What is Gods answer? Summarize.

5. Who were the Chaldeans?

6. Why were the Chaldeans named here when it was Babylon who would chastise Judah?

7. What king of Judah died in the vain attempt to preserve Assyria against Babylon?

8. How does Jehovah describe the Chaldeans? (Hab 1:7-11)

9. What do you know of the religion of the Babylonian empire of Habakkuks concern?

Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary

for I will work

Hab 1:5 anticipates the dispersion “among the nations” (cf) Deu 28:64-67. While Israel as a nation is thus dispersed, Jehovah will “work a work” which Israel “will not believe.” Act 13:37-41, interprets this prediction of the redemptive work of Christ. It is significant that Paul quotes this to Jews of the dispersion in the synagogue at Antioch.

Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes

ye among: Deu 4:27, Jer 9:25, Jer 9:26, Jer 25:14-29

and regard: Isa 29:14, Lam 4:12, Dan 9:12, Act 13:40, Act 13:41

for: Isa 28:21, Isa 28:22, Jer 5:12, Jer 5:13, Jer 18:18, Eze 12:22-28, Zep 1:2, Act 6:13, Act 6:14

Reciprocal: Exo 7:23 – neither 1Sa 3:11 – I will do 2Ch 36:6 – came up Isa 29:9 – and wonder Jer 5:15 – a mighty Jer 15:12 – Shall iron Eze 12:25 – in your Hab 3:2 – I have Hab 3:16 – I heard Mat 21:42 – and it is Mar 12:11 – General Act 8:13 – and wondered

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

Hab 1:5. Some prophecIes in the Bible had a twofold bearing, or were destined to be fulfilled twice, and the present verse is one of them. It first refers to the marvelous work of the Lord in which the heathen were to behold the judgment of God against his nation. Not believe, though told. They would rush heedlessly on in their evil course although they had been plainly and authoritatively told about it. The same kind of experience was threatening in Paul’s day as he cites it in Act 13:41.

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary

Hab 1:5. Behold, &c. For a punishment of such exorbitant practices, behold, God is about to make the heathen the instruments of his vengeance. Ye among the heathen, and regard Consider and weigh it well, in its nature and consequences; for it is intended as a warning to you, and assures you that judgment will overtake you also. And wonder marvellously As astonished at judgments too great to be described, and so strange that they will appear to many, even of Gods professing people, to be incredible. For I will work a work, &c., which ye will not believe The judgment shall be such, as you despisers of Gods word will not believe to be coming upon you. These words are referred to, and indeed quoted, by St. Paul, Act 13:41; not, however, according to the Hebrew text, but the translation of the LXX., who, instead of , begoim, among the heathen, seem to have read , begadim, despisers, or perfidious persons. This reading of the LXX. is preferred by Grotius, because, he observes, God addresses the Jews who were despisers of his deity.

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Hab 1:5-11. The Chaldeans as Ministers of Divine Justice.In His answer Yahweh directly addresses the evil-doers, warning them that He is about to work a work in their days they would never have believed: He is raising against them the fierce and dreaded power of the Chaldeans, who are already carrying destruction to the ends of the earth, swooping from afar like eagles on the prey, gathering captives like the sand, scoffing at kings and princes, carrying fortresses with a rush, and making their strength a god.

Hab 1:5. For baggoyim, among the nations, read bog dim, ye evil-doers (LXX).I work (ptcp.): i.e. I am just about to work.

Hab 1:6. bitter and hasty: rather, fierce and impetuous (vehement).

Hab 1:7. Omitting mishpao (their judgment) as explanatory gloss, and reading sheth, destruction, for seetho, his dignity, translate out of him (them) goeth destruction.

Hab 1:8. evening wolves: with their hunger whetted to its keenest edge.

Hab 1:8 b. Render perhaps, Onward their horsemen bound; they come from afar (cf. Jer 50:11).

Hab 1:9. The middle clause is untranslateable, and its sense wholly uncertain.

Hab 1:10. heapeth up dust: for a siege-mound.

Hab 1:11. With a slight change in the verb read, Then he sweepeth along like the wind, and maketh his strength a god.The prophet here seems to combine features drawn from current report of the Chaldeans with others suggested by the Scythian invaders of Josiahs reign (cf. Jeremiahs Scythian songs).

Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible

1:5 Behold ye among the nations, and regard, and wonder marvellously: for [I] will work a work in your days, [which] {d} ye will not believe, though it be told [you].

(d) As in times past you would not believe God’s word, so you will not now believe the strange plagues which are at hand.

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes

B. Yahweh’s answer about Judah 1:5-11

Though God had not responded to the prophet’s questions previously, He did eventually, and Habakkuk recorded His answer. The form of this revelation is an oracle.

"The hoped-for response to a lament (cf. Hab 1:2-4) would be an oracle of salvation, but here the response is an oracle of judgment." [Note: David W. Baker, Nahum, Habakkuk and Zephaniah, p. 52.]

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

The Lord told Habakkuk and his people (plural "you" in Hebrew) to direct their attention away from what was happening in Judah to what was happening in the larger arena of ancient Near Eastern activity. They were to observe something there that would astonish them and make them marvel. They would see that God was doing something in their days that they would not believe if someone just told them about it.

"The Apostle Paul, quoting from the LXX on this verse, applies the principle of God’s dealings in Habakkuk’s day to the situation in the church in his own day (Act 13:41). No doubt God’s work of calling the Gentiles into his church would be just as astonishing as his work of using the Babylonian armies to punish Judah." [Note: David W. Kerr, "Habakkuk," in The Wycliffe Bible Commentary, p. 873.]

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)