The answer received by Habakkuk can be applied not only to the events of his own days, but also to all those times when people will try to repeat the same thing. Then it was the Chaldeans, expanding the borders of their possessions by arms, but a little later the same thing happened to them...
The answer received by Habakkuk can be applied not only to the events of his own days, but also to all those times when people will try to repeat the same thing. Then it was the Chaldeans, expanding the borders of their possessions by arms, but a little later the same thing happened to them that they had brought to others; and afterward, one after another, empires founded on violence and conquest changed and collapsed. So it has been until now, and so it will be until attempts to create and expand such empires cease.
But does not the evil rooted in the heart of the "peaceful" ordinary person continue in the deeds of conquerors? How different is the desire to conquer one more country from, say, the desire to grab one more room from a neighbor? Arguments of the sort "we are little people, this is not about us" should not calm us. For sin remains sin, however much we may want to divide it into "big" and "not so big."
And now, amid the triumph of lawlessness, when the law loses its force, the Lord reveals new depths of His Revelation. The words "the righteous shall live by his faith," proclaiming the primacy of faith over law, open to humanity the possibility of qualitatively new steps on the spiritual path. If we compare how many times the word "faith" is mentioned in the Old and New Testaments, we will see that the New speaks of faith much more. But the two Testaments are interconnected, and it is important to understand that the gospel proclamation did not sound in a vacuum: it was prepared even in Old Testament times.
Among the denunciations of lawlessness, a prophecy of retribution unexpectedly sounds "for the destruction of frightened animals." When after the flood the Lord gave the animal world to human beings for food (Gen 9:2-4), He proclaimed that every living thing should fear the human being placed over nature. But it was not enough for the crown of creation to inspire fear; he began to destroy all living things in quantities immeasurably beyond what was necessary to sustain his life. In Habakkuk's time, not everyone could easily have understood the meaning of this prophecy. For us, however, contemporaries of the ecological crisis and witnesses to the destruction of whole species, this prophecy sounds especially threatening.
2 God answers, that the Chaldeans themselves shall at length be a prey, Hab 2:1-8.
A woe denounced against the covetous, the oppressive, the drunkards, and idolaters, Hab 2:9-12.
2:1 Upon my watch - I will stand as a watchman on my watch - tower.He - The Lord. Reproved - Called to give an account of the mysteriousness of providence; either to satisfy doubters, or to silence quarrellers.
2:2 Upon tables - What was of publick concern, and therefore to be published, was anciently written or engraven upon tables, smooth stones, or wood, and then hung up in a publick place to be read.May run - That none may need to stop, but every one may plainly and clearly discern what is written.
2:3 At the end - When the period appointed of God shall come.Shall speak - Be accomplished, and not disappoint your expectation.
2:4 Which is lifted up - That proudly contests with the justice and wisdom of the Divine Providence, and provides for his own safety by his own wit. The just - The humble and upright one, who adores the depth of divine providence, and is persuaded of the truth of divine promises.Shall live - Supports himself, by a firm expectation of the deliverance of Zion.
2:5 He - The king of Babylon. Wine - Hereby Belshazzar, his city and kingdom of Babylon fell a prey to Darius and Cyrus.At home - Is ever abroad warring upon some or other. Unto him - To his kingdom. All nations - That are round about him.
2:8 Of the land - Of the whole land of Chaldea.The city - Babylon.
2:9 To his house - His family which he would enrich, and raise high.Delivered - Kept secure and out of danger from all below him.
2:10 Thou - Nebuchadnezzar.
2:11 Shall cry out - As if it had a voice, it cries to God for vengeance. Answer it - Confirm the charge against thee.
2:13 Is it not of the Lord - Is it not a judgment from God?Shall labour - That men go thro' the most painful labour.For very vanity - For nothing; without any reward of their labour.
2:16 Thou - O king of Babylon. Shall be turned - They turned the cup of pleasure about, God will carry the cup of indignation about also, and make them drink deep of it. Shameful spewing - Thou shalt be as much loathed as a shameful drunkard is in his vomit.
2:17 The violence - The violence thou hast done to Judea shall overwhelm thee. The spoil of brass - Such spoil as by hunters is made among wild beasts, when they endeavour to destroy the whole kind.
2:20 The Lord - He is Jehovah, the fountain of being, life, power, and salvation to his people. Keep silence - Fear, submit, and depend on him; let his enemies be silent, reverence, hope, pray and wait for him, who will arise and have mercy on them, who will make it to be well with the righteous, and ill with the wicked, who will fully and satisfactorily solve the doubts, and unfold the riddles of his providence.