1
The Righteous Judgment
Part I
by Gustavo Barros
Text: Habakkuk 2:5-8 5 Indeed, wine betrays him; he is arrogant and never at rest. 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. 6“Will not all of them taunt him with ridicule and scorn, saying, “ ‘Woe to him who
piles up stolen goods and makes himself wealthy by extortion! How long must this go on?’ 7 Will not your
creditors suddenly arise? Will they not wake up and make you tremble? Then you will become their prey.
8 Because you have plundered many nations, the peoples who are left will plunder you. For you have
shed human blood; you have destroyed lands and cities and everyone in them.
F.F. Bruce’s translation1: v.5 “Truly, wealth is treacherous. An arrogant man will not endure; he enlarges
his appetite like Sheol, and like Death he will never be sated.” v.6 “Surely all these will take up a proverb
against him, and satirize in taunt songs, as follows:”
Introduction:
Wealth and material possession are the gods of our society. More and more people are
drowning in the ocean of debt. One website says, “The modern-day credit card — which
entered the scene in the late 1950s — has meant financial disaster for many individuals
and families. Consider these statistics about personal debt in America: More than 160
million Americans have credit cards; The average credit card holder has at least three
cards; On average, each household with a credit card carries more than $15,000 in
credit card debt; Total U.S. consumer debt is at $11.4 trillion. That includes mortgages,
auto loans, credit cards and student loans.2” I want to make it clear that I am not
against credit card. A credit card is not an evil thing in itself, but it can be an evil tool in
the hands of people who worship wealth.
The huge amount of people owing banks, stores, and people reflect something much
deeper than lack of self-control. It shows that “self-worship” is the religion of our day.
People want more and more in order to satisfy the sinful greed that is in their hearts.
The words of the apostle Paul in I Timothy 6, “godliness with contentment is great gain,
for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world.
But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content,” are rejected and
ignored in the Christian community.
The lust for more and more is leading more and more people to destruction. Greed is
never ending! The Babylonian system wants people to trust in wealth and goods instead
of in Christ. The Babylonian system despises simplicity and exalts pride, so people think
that they always deserve more and more.
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2
Thomas E. McCosmikey, The Minor Prophets – Na Exegetical and Expository Commentary (Baker), p.862.
http://www.debt.org/faqs/americans-in-debt/
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So, what should we, Christians, do? We must grasp with our hearts the severe warnings
given by God to those who greedily worship themselves by acquiring more and more.
And we must see Christ as our greatest treasure.
Self-worship is the opposite of trusting God. Trusting God brings justification. Not
trusting in God brings condemnation and judgment. And it is this judgment that Lord
proclaims will come upon all those who refuse to trust in God and instead trust in
wealth.
Outline of the Sermon:
I – Introduction to the Song of Condemnation (2:5-6a).
II – The First Condemnation (2:6b-8).
Context:
The dialogue between God and the prophet Habakkuk continues. In 2:2-20 the Lord
answers the prophet’s prayer with gracious and powerful words of hope - the ones who
believe in God’s promise will live, while the proud ones, those who reject God, will
perish under God’s righteous judgment. From verse 5 to 20 we see that the proud
(those who were not justified by God) will be judged instead of having life. God’s
promise of His righteous judgment comforts Habakkuk during the time of sufferings.
I – Introduction to the Song of Condemnation (2:5-6a)
vv.5-6 – 5 Indeed, wine betrays him; he is arrogant and never at rest. 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.
“Furthermore, wine betrays the haughty man (NASB)” --- O. Palmer Robertson
sees a literal mention of wine, deceiving the proud person. He says, “He lives in a
deluded condition intensified by wine.3” The wine could, also, represent the state of
intoxication in which these people live. They are intoxicated and have no sense of
reality. They are intoxicated by all sorts of sinful behaviors.
This sentence is hard to be translated and different scholars have different opinions.
F.F. Bruce says, “The textual evidence is fairly evenly balanced between ‘wealth’ and
‘wine,’ but ‘wealth’ seems more suited to the present context.4” Others believe original
writing was “indeed, pride/presumption betrays the haughty man.”
Bruce’s translation says, “Truly, wealth is treacherous. An arrogant man will not endure;
he enlarges his appetite like Sheol, and like Death he will never be sated.” “Wealth”
makes sense, because the proud person doesn’t trust in the Lord, but in his material
possession (wealth). He keeps moving forward with aggression and violence in order to
3
4
O. Palmer Robertson, TNICOT – The Books of Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah (Eerdmans), p. 184.
McCosmikey, p.863. The Brazilian-Portuguese version of the NIV also says “wealth.”
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acquire more and more wealth. Wealth is his god. And he will be destroyed just like his
wealth!
“So that he does not stay at home” (NASB) / “he is arrogant and never at rest”
(NIV) / “an arrogant man who is never at rest” (ESV) --- The king of Babylon, just
like every sinner, is always looking for something else, because God’s grace is not
enough. Nebuchadnezzar was always moving his troops in order to conquer more and
more.
-- It is interesting to notice that people who are not satisfied with what God has given
them are “never at rest.” They always have a “new idea” to get more things.
” He enlarges his appetite like Sheol, And he is like death, never satisfied. He
also gathers to himself all nations. And collects to himself all peoples” --- The
picture here is of a person who is never satisfied. His lust for possessions is always
increasing.
The Babylonians are compared to the grave and death. “They are as greedy as the
grave and can never be satisfied as they bring subject nations under control, together
with their material resources.5”
The Babylonians didn’t care who the people were or where they came from, they were
concerned only with what they could gain! Similar to so many people around us, who
do whatever they can and to whomever they meet to acquire more.
Sheol is paralleled to death, what we have here is a Hebrew parallelism. Some people
think that sheol is the same as hell, but according to the Old Testament sheol is the
place where both the righteous and unrighteous go, therefore it is better translated as
“grave.6”
The grave is never satisfied, there is always place for more and more people. Death is
never satisfied, she is always consuming more and more people. Proverbs 30:15-16 “The
leech has two daughters. ‘Give! Give!’ they cry. “There are three things that are never satisfied, four that
never say, ‘Enough!’: 16the grave, the barren womb, land, which is never satisfied with water, and fire,
which never says, ‘Enough!’
** It is interesting to see how pride/arrogance and greed walk together. The proud
person also believes he deserves more, therefore he is always trying to get more for
himself. Pride and greed walk hand in hand because it is self-worship! Greed causes
restlessness, not peace. A person consumed with greed is usually so arrogant that he
assumes his unending appetite is commendable and even righteous.
Proverbs 27:20 Death and Destruction are never satisfied, and neither are human eyes.
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6
McCosmikey, p. 863.
For a good explanation see Harris, Archer, Waltke, Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (Moody Press).
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“Because of our insatiable appetite driven by pride and greed, we work jobs we don’t
like to buy junk we don’t need with money we don’t have to impress people we don’t
even like. It is a vicious and hollow cycle of despair.7”
Are your eyes satisfied with what God has given you? Do you see yourself as a humble
slave of Christ?
“He also gathers to himself all nations. And collects to himself all peoples”--In the midst of God’s promise that the “justified will live” God reminds Habakkuk that
the suffering and tribulation are as real as His promise of life. The promise and reality
of adoption and justification don’t eradicate and minimize the reality and promise of
sufferings in this life.
God’s Judgment Will Come (v.6a):
Now the Lord reminds Habakkuk that judgment will come upon all those who refuse to
trust in God. The life-style of the arrogant will be condemned!
– “Will not all of them taunt him with ridicule and scorn, saying (NIV)” /
“Will not all of these ridicule him with mocking scorn?”(ISV) --- There are three
important words in this passage:
v.6a
‫לָ שָ מ‬
“Taunt” --- (Heb.
) This word is used frequently to refer to a proverbial saying, a
figurative discourse, and even a mocking byword (parody).
“Ridicule/Mockery” --- (Heb.
to scorn or mock.
‫[ ָלמי ִלָ מ‬mĕliytsah]) It derives from the root lis, meaning
‫הי ִיָ מ‬
“Scorn” --- (Heb.
) It connotes the idea of a riddle, or a difficult question, a
parable, enigmatic saying or question, perplexing saying or question.
What we have here is a song to ridicule and mock the Babylonians. It is a taunting song
(a lampoon) to the enemies of God. Taunt/Mock Songs --- were songs that oppressed
people sang about their oppressors. We see many mocking songs in football/soccer
games.
Structure of 2:6-20:
Habakkuk 2:6-20 is a poem divided in five stanzas. Each stanza starts with the word
“Woe” (vv. 6b, 9, 12, 15, 19). Each stanza speaks about a type of sin and the
condemnation to come.
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David Fairchild - http://www.kaleochurch.com/sermon/habakkuk-25-20/
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Habakkuk’s Five Woes (2:6-20)8
ELEMENT
1st
Invective: v. 6
v. 12
4th
v. 15
5th
v. 19a
Woe to the: Plunderer Plotter
Pillager
Perverter
Polytheist
Threat:
v. 13
v. 16
v. 19b
He will be: Despoiled Denounced Destroyed
Disgraced
Deserted
Criticism:
vv. 18, 20
v. 7
v. 8
Grounded Spoiling
in:
of the
nations
2d
v. 9
v. 11
3d
v. 10
v. 14
v. 17
Scheming
against
peoples
Surety of
the
knowledge
of God
Stripping of Supremacy
man/nature of God
“Woe” is an onomatopoetic word (onomatopoeia - the use of words whose sound
ִ‫מֹו‬
suggests the sense). The Hebrew hoy (
) is a “word designed to express deeply held
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emotions of anger, grief, and fear .” It is common to see this word in the prophetic
oracles of judgment10. The prophets used hoy as a declaration that God’s righteous
judgment was certainly coming. “Woe” is used as a synonym of cursing and judgment.
The word hoy was also used to express mockery and can be translated as “Aha!” or
“Ah!11”
A third way that hoy is used through the Scriptures is to connote a cry of grief at
someone’s death12. I Kings 13:30 Then he laid the body in his own tomb, and they mourned over
him and said, "Alas/Oh [hoy], my brother!"; Amos 5:16 Therefore thus says the LORD God of hosts, the
Lord, "There is wailing in all the plazas, And in all the streets they say, 'Alas [hoy]! Alas [hoy]!' They also
call the farmer to mourning And professional mourners to lamentation.
Donald Gowan argues that what we have in Habakkuk 2:6-20 is “a parody of a Hebrew
funeral song.” He says, “Burial, in Middle East, normally took place on the same day as
death, and was done in the family tomb which usually was a chamber cut into a rock.
The ‘professionals’ at the funeral were the singers, members of the community,
8
https://bible.org/seriespage/habakkuk2
John Walton, Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary (Zondervan), p. 171.
10
Isa. 3:9; 5:8-22; 45:9-10; Jer. 22:13; 23:1; Am. 5:18; 6:1.
11
See O. Palmer Robertson, p. 189.
12
Jer. 22:18; 34:5.
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apparently usually women, who were skilled at singing appropriate songs of morning…
These women are referred to by Jeremiah (9:17-18, 20-21)13.”
This song is similar to the one in Isaiah 14:3-21 that was for the king of Babylon.
Death is always an occasion for mourning, but not this time. The funeral of the enemies
of God is a time to celebrate and mock and ridicule the ones who once mocked and
ridiculed you. “There will be something very wrong with that funeral, and the prophet
tells us this is God’s way of demonstrating that there was something very wrong with
that man’s life.14”
The theme of the song is God’s righteous retribution in His judgments. The song
celebrates the fall of the proud and God’s retribution to the sinner. Instead of mourning
and lament, this song will mock and ridicule the proud, celebrating God’s righteous
judgments.
Who Will Sing This Song? All the righteous people, all those who believed God to
provide true salvation through Jesus Christ will sing this song. We will celebrate the
destruction of the enemies of our Lord. See Revelation 19:1-4.
The principle of retribution is clearly emphasized by God in these verses and it must be
celebrated by God’s people. Obadiah 1:15 As you have done, it will be done to you; your deeds
will return upon your own head.
The spoiler will be spoiled. The robber will be robbed. The violent will suffer violence.
And it will all be done by the God Almighty. May we rest in Him and “Do not take
revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: ‘It is mine to
avenge; I will repay,’ says the Lord” (Rom. 12:19-20).
What the Lord pronounces here is for all nations at all times. The judgments
pronounced over the Babylonians are principles that can be applied to all nations and
individuals. Let us all pay close attention to the sins of the Babylonians and examine our
hearts to see if any of them are taking roots in our lives. “We should listen carefully to
these woes because in them we see what God abhors and what we ourselves are
culpable for or capable of. I pray these woes drive us to repentance and ultimately to
the only answer for these sins, which is Christ who not only deals with evil on a cosmic
scale, but evil in our own hearts and lives. The great problem of evil can only be
understood if we are honest enough to recognize that the evil we are so infuriated with
doesn’t only reside out there somewhere, it resides inside of each and every one of
us.15”
13
Donald E. Gowan, Habakkuk – The Triumph of Faith in Habakkuk (John Know Press), p.59.
Donald Gowan, p. 63.
15
David Fairchild - http://www.kaleochurch.com/sermon/habakkuk-25-20/
14
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II – The First Condemnation - Extortion -- The Looter
Will Be Looted (2:6b-8)
vv. 6-8 - “Will not all of them taunt him with ridicule and scorn, saying, “ ‘Woe to him who piles up stolen
goods and makes himself wealthy by extortion! How long must this go on?’ 7 Will not your creditors
suddenly arise? Will they not wake up and make you tremble? Then you will become their prey. 8
Because you have plundered many nations, the peoples who are left will plunder you. For you have shed
human blood; you have destroyed lands and cities and everyone in them.
The first stanza of the funeral mock song emphasizes the greed of God’s enemies.
"Will not all of them taunt him with ridicule and scorn, saying [it is a rhetorical
question – the answer is “yes”], 'Woe to him who piles up stolen goods and makes
himself wealthy by extortion!” --- “Woe” = God’s judgment is certain! The
Babylonians became wealthy through this life-style of extortion. They obtained wealth
by illegal ways. They threatened their enemies in order to acquire more and more. They
required heavy taxation of conquered nations, making the poor even more poor.
They were demanding payment for protection, stealing what was not rightfully theirs,
and placing their faith in what they piled up.
The problem is not in “making wealth” in itself, but how and why you are making it! We
see many lazy people acquiring more and more from those who work hard. To be lazy
and acquire goods from those who work hard is a sinful way of acquiring wealth. The
government system, in so many countries, has been encouraging this sinful way of
pilling up goods!
Brazil, Nigeria, Bolivia, Ukraine, Venezuela and Congo – countries that have heavy
taxation. The leaders of these countries live in luxury while most people starve and
have no money. These leaders are pilling up good and making themselves wealthy by
extortion, they will be punished!
“How long must this go on?'” How long shall people gain wealth by extortion and by
other illegal methods?
v.7 – Will not your creditors suddenly arise? Will they not wake up and make you tremble? Then you will
become their prey. ---
“Will not your creditors suddenly arise?” --- The answer for the “how long” is
suddenly! It will happen when they are not expecting it16!
Prov. 6:14-15 with perverted heart devises evil, continually sowing discord; therefore calamity will
come upon him suddenly; in a moment he will be broken beyond healing.
16
See Luke 12:15-21, the parable of the rich fool!
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“Will they not wake up and make you tremble?” --- It is God who awakens His
own instruments of justice. He awakened the Babylonians to judge the Assyrians and
He awakened the Persians to judge the Babylonians.
Daniel 5 tells us when the Persians conquered Babylon, and it says that it happened
when they were not expecting it. All throughout history and in our own lives we can see
how God’s judgment comes when people are not expecting it (e.g. Stalin died
unexpectedly; King Jong II in North Korea; Mao Zedong in China; John F. Kennedy;
Saddam Hussein; Bin Laden…).
‫ָל יששָ מ‬
“Then you will become their prey” --- The word “prey” or “plunder” (
)
means loot or booty (objects and/or people) taken in war by the conquerors. The
Babylonians will become what they did and worshiped.
“Will not your creditors suddenly arise?” --- In the Babylonians’ eyes the nations
were not the creditors. They thought that they were the creditors, but not in God’s
economy. The Babylonians thought they were taking from them, but in God’s economy
they were borrowing from them. In God’s economy the Babylonians owe everything to
God, because it is all His.
The picture is of all sorts of people coming and requesting everything back from the
powerful Babylonians. Even small and weak people will come as the creditor and with
authority and power to ridicule the “mighty” Babylonians.
In Our Days: In our society and culture we see so many people piling up stolen goods
and making wealth by illegal methods, what a frightening and fearful reality is
proclaimed in these verses. Everyone will stand before God and God will ask about all
the things that these people acquired. What a terrible judgment these people will face!
Therefore do not envy those who are rich and are piling up goods!
v.8 - Because you have plundered many nations, the peoples who are left will plunder you. For you have
shed human blood; you have destroyed lands and cities and everyone in them.
“Because you have plundered many nations, the peoples who are left will
plunder you” --- God’s judgment will come by His of reciprocal judgment. As they
plundered many nations, so they will be plundered.
Jeremiah 50:29 Summon archers against Babylon, all those who bend the bow. Encamp around her; let
no one escape. Repay her according to her deeds; do to her according to all that she has done. For she
has proudly defied the Lord, the Holy One of Israel.
Obadiah 1:15 As you have done, it will be done to you; your deeds will return upon your own head.
The image is of a righteous judge giving the person what he/she deserves. In Romans
1 we see this shocking truth of God’s righteous retribution. People perverted God’s
righteous ways, therefore He gives them over to their sinful desires in an even more
serious and disastrous way.
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The retribution principle is not an Old Testament non-applicable principle, it is clearly
seen in the New Testament: Matthew 18:21-35; II Thessalonians 1:3-7.
“For you have shed human blood; you have destroyed lands and cities and
everyone in them” --- All sins are judged. No matter how small or unimportant you
think they are, they must be judged by the Holy God. Some had their sins judged on
the cross of Christ while others hadn’t.
The Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Greeks, the Romans, the Roman Church, the
Germans, the people in the Soviet Union, the Muslims, the Americans with all the blood
that they shed must be judged. The destruction of lands and cities bring God’s
righteous judgments.
What about the human blood that has been shed through abortion?!
“The message of reciprocal judgment should sober up the sentimental outlook of
modern civilizations. If each person exacting excessive interest of debtors would
consider that in the dispensation of God he shall receive precisely the same treatment
he inflicts, he might be led to repentance. If politicians and commanders of military
forces accustomed to functioning in brutal, ruthless fashion would understand that they
and their people shall one day receive the same treatment at the hands of those they
oppress, a genuine crying to God for mercy in a context of repentance might become
more frequent. While the mills of God may grind slowly, they grind exceedingly fine.17”
Conclusion:
Habakkuk 2:5-8 5 Indeed, wine/wealth betrays him; he is arrogant and never at rest. 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. 6“Will not all of them taunt him with ridicule and scorn, saying, “ ‘Woe to him who
piles up stolen goods and makes himself wealthy by extortion! How long must this go on?’ 7 Will not your
creditors suddenly arise? Will they not wake up and make you tremble? Then you will become their prey.
8 Because you have plundered many nations, the peoples who are left will plunder you. For you have
shed human blood; you have destroyed lands and cities and everyone in them.
One of the main sins we can see in this passage is the sin of greed. The Babylonians
were greedy and so is the human race. James Boice says, “Greed is a natural [because
of the sin nature] but destructive characteristic of the one who will not trust God. If a
person trusts God, he does not need to be covetous of more and more material
possessions. The Lord is the portion of the righteous. Besides, the Lord amply supplies
his need… (Mt 6:30,33). If a person trusts God, he does not need to acquire more and
more possessions, since he knows God will provide what he needs. If he does not trust
God, then the need for things becomes a burden. This world is an insecure place, and
the individual is insecure within it. So he works to get more and more in the hope that if
he only has a little more land or stocks or capital, he may get by.18”
17
18
O. Palmer Robertson, p. 191
James M. Boice, The Minor Prophets – Na Expositional Commentary (Baker) Vol. 2, p. 412.
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Greed is all over all society and as a consequence of this sin people have been acquiring
more and more for themselves in sinful ways – e.g. by receiving from the government
when they didn’t need, by loaning with outrageous interest, and by owing all sorts of
banks in order to buy more and more.
The people in our culture and society are more in debt than they have ever been,
because what they have is not enough – they want more and more.
Greed is a trap that traps the greedy himself – Prov. 11:6 The righteousness of the upright
delivers them, but the unfaithful are trapped by his own greed.
Paul says: Ephesians 5:3 But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of
any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people; Colossians 3:5 Put
to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil
desires and greed, which is idolatry.
Are we satisfied with what God has been giving to us?
Are we at rest with what our Lord has provided daily for us?
Have we been placing other things in the place of God (like the Babylonians who
worshiped their goods in greed)?
Why should Christians be far away from greed and extortion? Because Jesus Christ is
the One whom we must follow, we must walk like Christ did and in Him there was no
greed. He left His throne to give Himself for us. He who was King took the form of a
slave.
And through Jesus’ death the reciprocity principle was applied in Him. We deserve the
cross. We deserve the wrath of God. We deserve all the injustice. We stole God’s glory.
We murdered. But Christ received what we deserve.
May we stop trusting in wealth and start trusting in Christ alone!
More resources online:
http://www.preceptaustin.org/Habakkuk_1_commentary.htm#1:5
http://thegospelcoalition.org/resources/scripture-index/a/habakkuk
http://www.monergism.com/directory/search.php?action=search_links_simple&search_kind=and&phrase=habakkuk&B1.x=0&
B1.y=0
http://archive.org/stream/biblicalillustra282exel#page/n42/mode/1up
http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=2180472415
https://bible.org/seriespage/habakkuk2
http://archive.org/stream/biblicalillustra282exel#page/n60/mode/1up
http://throughthebible.ca/tracks/35_Habakkuk/35016%20Habakkuk%202_6-12.mp3
http://archive.org/stream/annotatedbible05gaeb#page/226/mode/1up
http://www.kaleochurch.com/sermon/habakkuk-25-20/
http://archive.org/stream/biblicalillustra282exel#page/n60/mode/1up