THE PROPHECY OF HABAKKUK
Installment 2


Habakkuk's Second Complaint

As seen in the first installment of this series of studies, Habakkuk the Prophet complains to the Lord of the evils current in his days. He could not understand why a holy God could countenance base corruption and vice in His Chosen People (Hab. 1:1-4). The Lord replied to the Prophet, showing him that He was cognizant of what the prophet had seen and that He was prepared to deal with the situation at the proper time (Hab. 1:5-11). As a matter of fact, He had already raised up the Chaldeans and was preparing that cruel nation to be His battle-ax, as Jeremiah stated. God is never late; He is always on time in dealing with every situation.

To this explanation of the Lord, Habakkuk made a second complaint, which is found in the following quotation:

"Art not thou from everlasting, O Jehovah my God, my Holy One? We shall not die. O Jehovah, thou hast ordained him for judgment; and thou, O Rock, hast established him for correction. 13 Thou that art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and that canst not look on perverseness, wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, and holdest thy peace when the wicked swalloweth up the man that is more righteous than he; 14 and makest men as the fishes of the sea, as the creeping things, that have no ruler over them? 15 He taketh up all of them with the angle, he catcheth them in his net, and gathereth them in his drag: therefore he rejoiceth and is glad. 16 Therefore he sacrificeth unto his net, and burneth incense unto his drag; because by them his portion is fat, and his food plenteous. 17 Shall he therefore empty his net, and spare not to slay the nations continually?" (Hab. 1:12-17)

Jehovah, the Everlasting God

Habakkuk began his second complaint by asking the Lord, "Art not thou from everlasting, O Jehovah my God, my Holy One?'' The Prophet was not asking for information; but by the use of a rhetorical question, he affirmed his conviction relative to the everlasting nature of God. The Scriptures nowhere attempt to prove the existence of God: They assume His existence as a self-evident proposition.

Hence the writer of Genesis declared, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth" (Gen. 1:1). "The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth his handiwork" (Ps. 19:1). Moses said in addressing the tribes of Israel:

 1 "There is none like unto God, O Jeshurun,
     Who rideth upon the heavens for thy help,
     And in his excellency on the skies.
27 The eternal God is thy dwelling-place,
     And underneath are the everlasting arms:
     And he thrust out the enemy from before thee,
     And said, Destroy" (Deut. 33:26,27).

God inhabits eternity: "For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy: I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite'' (Isa. 57:15). Universal space and time are thought of as a residence in which God lives—"For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity."

Habakkuk, addressing the Lord, said, "O Jehovah my God, my Holy One." The word Jehovah comes from the verb which, in the simple stem form (qal.), means primarily "to become" or "to come to pass." The noun Jehovah, comes from the hiphil verb stem form—which adds the idea of causation to the inherent meaning—third person, singular number, masculine gender—and means "he who causes to become." This form, being a transitive verb, takes an object. In discussing the Lord's relationship to the material universe, the Hebrew Prophet would say that the Lord caused the material universe to come into existence: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth" (Gen. 1:1). Expressed in current philosophical terms, the word Jehovah means "the uncaused cause of everything" in the universe.

Jehovah God, the Holy One

Frequently in the Scriptures the term Holy One occurs. This name in the Hebrew text, as a rule, is in the singular number—Holy One. Thus Jehovah is the Holy One. In Proverbs 9:10, we have this statement, "The fear of Jehovah is the beginning of wisdom; And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding." The word in the original translated "Holy One" is in the plural number—"Holy Ones." Who are referred to by the use of this word in the plural number? Can it be that this term includes God and the celestial beings? God never puts Himself on an equality with any of His creatures, regardless of the dignity bestowed upon them:

5 "And the heavens shall praise thy wonders, O Jehovah;
    Thy faithfulness also in the assembly of the holy ones.
6  For who in the skies can be compared unto Jehovah?
    Who among the sons of the mighty is like unto Jehovah,
7  A God very terrible in the council of the holy ones,
   And to be feared above all them that are round about him?" (Ps. 89:5,6,7)

Since the term Holy Ones of Proverbs 9:10 (in the plural number) cannot include created beings associated with God, who are they? The clue to the answer to this question is found by noting that Proverbs 9:10 is an example of Hebrew parallelism. In line one Jehovah is mentioned, and in the second line the Holy Ones are mentioned. Since in Hebrew parallelism the second line is a reproduction of the thought in the first line, or a modification of it, Holy Ones is a repetition of Jehovah in line one. Thus Jehovah, in this instance, is not a single individual but is a plurality of divine personalities. Who are these divine personalities? When this passage is studied in the light of related ones, it is seen that they are Jehovah the Father, Jehovah the Son, and Jehovah the Holy Spirit. This interpretation is in perfect alignment with Deuteronomy 6:4, Israel's great confession of faith: "Hear, O Israel: Jehovah our Gods is Jehovah a unity."

The term Holy Ones appears also in the following Scripture:

1 "The words of Agur the son of Jakeh; the oracle.
    The man saith unto Ithiel, unto Ithiel and Ucal:
2  Surely I am more brutish than any man,
    And have not the understanding of a man;
3  And I have not learned wisdom,
    Neither have I the knowledge of the Holy One.
4  Who hath ascended up into heaven, and descended?
    Who hath gathered the wind in his fists?
    Who hath bound the waters in his garment?
    Who hath established all the ends of the earth?
   What is his name, and what is his son's name, if thou knowest?" (Prov. 30:1-4).

In verse 2, one man says to another, "Surely I am more brutish than any man, and have not the understanding of a man; I have not learned wisdom, neither have I the knowledge of the Holy Ones." The speaker is overwhelmed with his ignorance concerning the Holy Ones. Hence, he says that he is more brutish than any man. He has no understanding; he has not learned wisdom; nor has he any knowledge of the Holy Ones. Having confessed his brutishness and ignorance of the Holy Ones, he proceeds to ask some questions concerning God the Father and God the Son. By the development of the passage, one is logically driven to the conclusion that the Holy Ones are Jehovah the Father and Jehovah the Son, who are mentioned, and Jehovah the Holy Spirit. Without a doubt the Holy Ones of this passage are the Holy Trinity.
 

Israel, as a Nation Shall Not Die

"Art not thou from everlasting, O Jehovah my God, my Holy One? We shall not die" (Hab. 1:12). The people of Israel, as a nation, shall never die. This people is the nation of destiny. When Abraham and Sarah were past the age of parenthood, God performed a biological miracle upon their bodies which made possible the birth of Isaac. Referring to this miracle, Isaiah spoke of it as a miracle of creation (Isa. 43:1). God created His Chosen People and placed them in the center of His plan of blessing the world spiritually, and, eventually, in the Millennium, of bringing all nations to a saving knowledge of Himself.

When Israel was in Egypt, the population of the Hebrews increased very rapidly. Pharaoh tried to prevent this increase, but, he was unsuccessful. During the days of the Judges, various ones of the neighboring nations invaded the territory of Israel. These wars reduced the population and impoverished the country. When Assyria was the dominant nation in the Middle East, she sent her armies against Israel and did irreparable damage to the population and to the country. The same thing was true at the time of the Babylonian captivity. In the days of Rome the country was invaded; thousands of Hebrews perished on the battlefield. The government was overthrown, and those who survived were sold into slavery and were scattered among the nations. During the Christian centuries, attack after attack has been launched against the people of Israel—decreasing the population—especially in eastern and central Europe. All are acquainted with the pogroms in Russia against the Jews. No one can forget the Spanish Inquisition. Hitler launched a campaign of extermination against the Jews on a scale never known before, liquidating, according to reports, six million Jews. There is to be as great a slaughter of the Jews in the future, according to Zechariah, chapter 13. Some of the prophets, in vision, saw the slaughtering of the Jews; yet they declared that Israel should not die, but would live and declare the works of the Lord: "I shall not die, but live, And declare the works of Jehovah" (Ps. 118:17). We believe, therefore, that the remnant of Israel will survive the ordeals of the Tribulation and will declare the works of God.

The Chaldean Ordained for Judgment

"O Jehovah, thou hast ordained him for judgment; and thou, O Rock, hast established him for correction" (Hab. 1:12b). God rules everything throughout the universe. He allows His creatures freedom of choice; yet He overrules their free actions and makes them contribute to His plan of the ages. God is the one "who worketh all things after the counsel of his will ..." (Eph. 1:11). As an illustration of this principle, read Isaiah 10:5-8: "Ho Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, the staff in whose hand is mine indignation! 6 I will send him against a profane nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets. 7 Howbeit he meaneth not so, neither doth his heart think so; but it is in his heart to destroy, and to cut off nations not a few. 8 For he saith, Are not my princes all of them kings?" Sennacherib, an Assyrian king, was the rod of God's anger which He used in punishing Israel. God also spoke of the Babylonians as His battle-ax. God uses men and means in forwarding His plan of the ages.
 

God Does Not Look Favorably Upon Sin

"Thou that art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and that canst not look on perverseness, wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, and holdest thy peace when the wicked swalloweth up the man that is more righteous than he; 14 and makest men as the fishes of the sea, as the creeping things, that have no ruler over them?" (Hab. 1:13,14). The prophet by inspiration states that God does not behold evil and cannot look upon perverseness; nevertheless the writer of Proverbs 15:3 declares: "The eyes of Jehovah are in every place, keeping watch upon the evil and the good." There is no contradiction in these Scriptures. The eyes of Jehovah see and observe even the most minute things—of evil and of good. God is, as the theologians state, omniscient. He knows everything. We must interpret Habakkuk's statement that God does not behold evil in the light of all of the facts. He beholds the evil, but not favorably--not in the sense that He condones evil.

"Thou that art of purer eyes than to behold evil ..." Corrupt, wicked men delight to look upon that which is evil and degrading. In fact, the very imaginations of their thoughts are often evil. They take pleasure and delight in looking upon the obscene. It is not so with God. He is the very embodiment of holiness. His entire being revolts at wickedness in any form or shape.

Since God is holy and does not delight in wickedness and perverseness, Habakkuk could not understand how God could and would use the cruel Chaldean nation to punish His own Chosen People. The prophet, therefore, asked the Lord how He could use a nation of reprobates who had sunk into, the depths of sin in punishing his own people who were living on a much higher spiritual and moral plane. Speaking popularly I would say that God uses a dirty and unprincipled man to do a dirty job. Christ was pure and holy, without sin. He had to be betrayed and crucified--a dastardly crime. He therefore used Judas, a traitor and a reprobate, and some unprincipled and prejudiced Jewish leaders to perpetrate the diabolical act of crucifying the holy Son of God. The Lord works, however, all things together for the good of those who love Him. He is working all things according to the counsel of His will. We cannot see and understand fully the divine actions, but we have sufficient knowledge of the ways of the Lord to know that the God of the universe does all things right.

The Chaldeans Catching Men as Fishes

Just as good and experienced fishermen often make great hauls of fish, so, declares Habakkuk, the Chaldeans are catching men in great numbers in their military operations. They do not know the first meaning of pity and mercy.
 

Heathen Practices of Sacrificing to Nets

"Therefore he sacrificeth unto his net, and burneth incense unto his drag; because of them his portion is fat, and his food plenteous" (Hab. 1:16). Heathen idolaters constantly do absurd and ridiculous things. The prophet calls attention to the fact that in his day fishermen would make sacrifices to their nets when they made especially successful catches. In other words, they rendered worship and thanksgiving to the material net—as if it were a god. Pagan people, though intellectually brilliant, often, as Isaiah states, cultivate trees for the purpose of making gods out of them. They take part of a tree and make a god before which they bow down and worship. With part of the tree they warm themselves, and with the rest of it they bake their bread. Their eyes are blinded by Satan, the god of this world. It is impossible for one who is blinded by Satan to see reality as it is.