Review
and Overview
1
Segway
Habakkuk
2
Background
A. Title - “an oracle” that was “a
burden” (1:1)
B. Timing Manassah, Josiah, or
Jehoiakim
Clues
(1:2, 5, 6 & 3:19)
1.5 a work, which you
will not believe…utterly astounding...
1.6 Chaleans, which
marches through the breadth of the earth
3.19 To the chief
Musician.
Geography
and History of Habakkuk’s Time
620 BC—Babylon (Chaldeans) becomes
independent
612 BC—Babylonians and Medes
destroy Nineveh
609 BC—Babylonians defeat
the Assyrians at Haran
605 BC—Babylonians defeat
Necho II of Egypt at Carchemish
605 BC—Jerusalem defeated and exile begins (Daniel)
597 BC—Jerusalem defeated (Ezekiel probably taken Ez
1.2)
588-86 BC—Jerusalem burned & temple
2. Early in the
Babylonian rise to power (625-612 BC)
C. Overview of Habakkuk series
1.1-11 “The Prophet’s Plea” -
1st prayer & God’s response
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.12-2.4 “The Prophet’s Puzzle” -
2nd prayer & God’s response
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2.5-20 “Prophet’s Pronouncement” -
The five “woes”
pronounced
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.1-16 “The Prophet’s Prayer” -
Prayer in response to God
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.16-19 “The Prophet’s Praise” -
The chorus or closing hymn
D. Review
1.1-11 “The Prophet’s Plea”
1st prayer and God’s response
Habakkuk: Why don’t You do
something about Judah’s
wickedness? (2-4)
God: I am going to use the
Chaldeans to punish Judah.
(5-11)
Application: Acts 13.40-41“Beware therefore”
Paul uses Habakkuk to warn
against presumption and complacency.
1.12-2.4 “The Prophet’s Puzzle”
2nd prayer and response
Habakkuk: Why do You look and hold
Your tongue?
God: The appointed time is
coming. The Just shall live by faith.
Application: “The just shall live by faith.”
Romans 1:17; Galatians 3:11;
Hebrews 10:38
3.
Overview
“The ‘woes of judgment’
are not a particularly common theme in evangelical preaching today…”
——Jonathan Lamb in From Why to Worship:
A Journey Through the Prophecy of Habakkuk
Big Idea:
God
will certainly punish the sins of unbelief and
pride.
2.5-20
“Prophet’s Pronouncement” The five “woes” pronounced
Introduction
Woe #1 - Ambition
Woe #2 - Greed
Woe #3 - Violence
Woe #4 - Contempt for
others
Woe #5 – Idolatry/Self
trust
4.
Stand, Read text, and Pray
Habakkuk 2:2-20 (nkjv)
4 “ Behold the proud,
His soul is not upright in him;
But the just shall live by his faith.
5 “ Indeed, because he
transgresses by wine,
He is a proud man,
And he does not stay at home.
Because he enlarges his desire as hell,
And he is like death, and cannot be satisfied,
He gathers to himself all nations
And heaps up for himself all peoples.
6 Will not all these take up a proverb against him,
And a taunting riddle against him, and say,
————————————————————————- .
1.
Woe to him who increases
What is not his—how long?
And to him who loads himself with many pledges’?
7 Will not your creditors rise up suddenly?
Will they not awaken who oppress you?
And you will become their booty.
8 Because you have plundered many nations,
All the remnant of the people shall plunder you,
Because of men’s blood
And the violence of the land and the city,
And of all who dwell in it.
————————————————————————- .
2.
9 Woe to him who
covets evil gain for his house,
That he may set his nest on high,
That he may be delivered from the power of disaster!
10 You give shameful counsel to your house,
Cutting off many peoples,
And sin against your soul.
11 For the stone will cry out from the wall,
and the beam from the timbers will answer it.
————————————————————————- .
3.
12 Woe to him who
builds a town with bloodshed,
Who establishes a city by iniquity!
13 Behold, is it not of the LORD of hosts
That the peoples labor to feed the fire,
And nations weary themselves in vain?
14 For the earth will be filled
With the knowledge of the glory of the LORD,
As the waters cover the sea.
————————————————————————- .
4.
15 Woe to him who
gives drink to his neighbor,
Pressing him to your bottle,
Even to make him drunk,
That you may look on his nakedness!
16 You are filled with shame instead of glory.
You also—drink!
And be exposed as uncircumcised!
The cup of the LORD’s right hand will be turned against you,
And utter shame will be on your glory.
17 For the violence done to Lebanon will cover you,
And the plunder of beasts which made them afraid,
Because of
men’s blood
And the violence of the land and the city,
And of all who dwell in it.
————————————————————————- .
5.
18 “ What profit is the
image, that its maker should carve it,
The molded image, a teacher of
lies,
That the maker of its mold should
trust in it,
To make mute idols?
19 Woe to him who says to wood, ‘Awake!’
To silent stone, ‘Arise! It shall
teach!’
Behold, it is overlaid with gold
and silver,
Yet in it there is no breath at
all.
20 “ But the LORD is in His holy temple.
Let all the earth keep silence before Him.”
Introduction to Song
4 “ Behold the proud,
His soul is not upright in him;
But the just shall live by his faith.
5 Indeed, because he
transgresses by wine,
He is a proud man, And he does
not stay at home.
Because he enlarges his desire as hell,
And he is like death, and cannot be satisfied,
He gathers to himself all nations
And heaps up for himself all peoples.
6 Will not all these take up a proverb against him,
And a taunting riddle against him, and say,
A. Background of Daniel five
5.
Wine
The dominant metaphor, however, relates to the
treachery of an addiction to wine, that knows no limit of fulfillment and to
which all other interests are sacrificed.
Daniel 5 The fall
of Babylon
described
Drunkeness
and idolatry
1 Belshazzar
the king made a great feast for a thousand of his lords, and drank wine in
the presence of the thousand. 2 While he tasted the wine, Belshazzar
gave the command to bring the gold and silver vessels which his father
Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple which had been in Jerusalem, that the
king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines might drink from them. 3
Then they brought the gold vessels that had been taken from the temple of the
house of God which had been in Jerusalem;
and the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines drank from them. 4
They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold and silver, bronze and iron, wood
and stone.
Pride
and idolatry
22 “But you his son,
Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, although you knew all this. 23
And you have lifted yourself up against the Lord of heaven. They have brought
the vessels of His house before you, and you and your lords, your wives and
your concubines, have drunk wine from them. And you have praised the gods of
silver and gold, bronze and iron, wood and stone, which do not see or hear or
know; and the God who holds your breath in His hand and owns all your ways,
you have not glorified. 24 Then the fingers[c]
of the hand were sent from Him, and this writing was written.
The
End
MENE: God has numbered your
kingdom, and finished it;
27 TEKEK: You have been
weighed in the balances, and found wanting;
28 PERES: Your kingdom has
been divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.”
30 That very night
Belshazzar, king of the Chaldeans, was slain. 31 And Darius the Mede
received the kingdom, being about sixty-two years old.
————————————————————
B.
unquenchable desires of Babylon
Because he enlarges his desire as
hell,
And he is like death, and cannot be satisfied,
He gathers to himself all nations
And heaps up for himself all peoples.
We have jokes
about the undertaker never having a slow time, that humor relates loosely to
the picture painted here of the Babylonian’s unquenchable desire..
Sheol is
sometimes personified as a hungry beast (Proverbs 27:20;
Isaiah 5:14; Habakkuk 2:5) with
an open mouth and an insatiable appetite.
—-Chris Church .. " ——-Entry for 'SHEOL'". Holman Bible
Dictionary.
Ecclesiasties5:10
He who loves silver will
not be satisfied with silver; Nor he who loves abundance, with increase. This
also is vanity.
C. Sheol—a word study /
doctrinal note
Quick
doctrinal note about Sheol, sometimes translated “Hell”
Sheol lwaX 07585 Sh@'owl- sheh-ole' —sheol, underworld, grave,
hell, pit; the underworld; Sheol - the OT designation for the abode of the
dead (65 times)
KJV translates it as “grave” 31 times, “hell” 31
times, and “pit” 3 times.
ylt, nasb, esv—sheol; kjv, nkjv—hell; niv, nlt—grave
The word
“Hell” is commonly used in English to refer to where the wicked go after they
die.
NET
Glossary: in biblical usage, the place where the dead go, but "Sheol" can
have different categories of meaning:
(1) death in
general, (2) the grave, or (3) the realm of the departed spirits, generally the
wicked (in the Bible when the righteous go to Sheol, the meaning is usually
death or the grave)
“... in the
Old Testament the term “hell” was a poor choice of words with which to render
the Hebrew term Sheol.
Sheol spoke of the abode of the
dead with only a vague reference to the pain or pleasure experienced in this
existence. There was a hope of life after death, but this was greatly clarified
after the coming of our Lord.
The New Testament term
most often used to render the Hebrew word Sheol was the Greek word, Hades.
As is seen by
its usage in the New Testament, Hades has the same general reference to
the abode of the dead, whether righteous or wicked. See Luke 16.19-31 ——Bob Deffinbaugh in Fundamentals of the Faith, “A Hell to Shun”
Bible.org
death twm 04194 Maveth maw'-veth death, dying, Death (personified), realm of
the dead (155)
D. The character of the song
6c. Will not all these take up a
proverb against him,
And a taunting riddle against him, and say,
proverb lXm 04912 Mashal maw-shawl'--proverb, parable; proverb,
proverbial saying, aphorism ; byword (39)
The song (māšāl) is any form of poetical composition in which parallelism
is the principle of construction. It may denote a parable, proverb, ode, or a
dirge such as the doleful lamentation recorded here. ——Ron Blue in the Bible Knowledge
Commentary
Taunting riddle
hcylm
04426
M@liytsah mel-ee-tsaw' —satire, mocking
poem, mocking song, taunting, figure, enigma (2) Pr 1:6 To understand a proverb,
and the interpretation; the words of the wise, and their dark sayings.
hdyx 02420 Chiydah khee-daw'riddle,
difficult question, parable, enigmatic saying or question, perplexing saying or
question; riddle (dark obscure utterance); riddle, enigma (to be
guessed) (17)
ylt—A moral of acute sayings; kjv—taunting proverb; nasb—taunt-song; nkjv—taunting
riddle; esv—scoffing and riddles; niv—ridicule and scorn; nlt—mock
Proverbs 1.6 uses all three words
without the negative connotation
6 To understand a proverb
and an enigma,
The words of the
wise and their riddles.
“...6a
introduces an oration exposing the Babylonians as an object lesson (masal) by
means of compressed and allusive speech (melîsāh hîdôt).”
——Carl Armerding in Expositor’s Bible
Commentary
E. Structure
of the song
Five
Strophees
A refrain
after the 1st and 4th .
A promise
that explains the threat ends the 3rd and 5th.
Each woe
contains three verses that contain...
A pronouncement
of the sin in the first verse
An exposition
of the sin in a taunting manner
A Promise of
Retribution
stro⋅phe[stroh-fee]
4. (in modern poetry) any separate section or
extended movement in a poem, distinguished from a stanza in that it does not
follow a regularly repeated pattern.
Dictionary.com Unabridged - Based on the Random House Dictionary,
© Random House, Inc. 2009.
#1
Woe—Greed (6-8)
Woe 6 Woe to him who increases what is not
his—how long?
And to him who loads himself with
many pledges’?
—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
Taunt 7 Will not your creditors
rise up suddenly?
Will they not awaken who oppress
you?
And you will become their booty.
—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
Retribution 8 Because you have
plundered many nations,
All the remnant of the people
shall plunder you,
—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
Because of men’s blood
And the violence of the
land and the city,
And of all who dwell in
it.
1-A. Pronouncement of Woe
(greed)
6—Woe to him who increases
what is not his—how long?
And to him who loads himself with
many pledges’?
—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
Woe
ywh 01945 Howy hoh'ee ah!, alas!, ha!, ho!, O!, woe! (48)
(Isaiah 21x’s )
“Woe,”
meaning “clamity,” and denoting the disastrous punishment that was to come upon
the wicked foe. ——Merrill Unger
increases what is not his niv, nlt—weathly/rich by
extortion
loads himself with many pledges
loads dbk 03513 Kabad kaw-bad' --(Hiphil) to
make heavy; to make heavy, make dull, make unresponsive; to cause to be
honoured (109)
pledges tytb[ 05671`abtiyt ab-teet' —weight
of pledges, heavy debts (1)
Ykt—multiplying to himself
heavy pledges; nkjv, esv—loads himself with pledges;
kjv—ladeth himself with thick
clay; nasb—makes himself
rich with loans; niv—makes
himself wealthy by extortion; nlt—become
rich by extortion
Even though
the Babylonians had stolen the wealth by force, the picture here is that their
victims were really viewed at creditors.
The more the Babylonians stole, the more they became like someone
hopelessly in debt. This had a much
worse connotation, because people were put into slavery or imprisoned because
they owed money.
Mark 10:24 ...But Jesus answered again and said to them, “Children, how
hard it is for those who trust in riches to enter the kingdom of God!
1-B. Painful taunt song (greed)
7—Will not your creditors rise up
suddenly?
Will they not awaken who oppress
you?
And you will become their booty.
—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
Creditors rise up suddenly
Creditors $Xn S-05391/TWOT-1430,1430b Nashak
naw-shak'--(Qal) to bite; to give interest
...a verbal form derived from a noun signifying
monetary interest. These “creditors” are defined as “the peoples who are left:
(v. 8)
——Carl
Armerding in Expositor’s Bible Commentary
Ylt—usurers; kjv—that shall bite thee;
nasb—creditors; esv, niv, nlt—debtors
Oppress
[wz S-02111/TWOT - 540 Zuwa` zoo'-ah
--(Pilpel) to shake violently; to cause to tremble
ylt—those shaking thee; kjv—vex; nasb—collect; nkjv—opress esv, niv—make your tremble; nlt—take
all you have
It is
instructive to see how the Bible calls those who are victimized and stolen from
creditors.
1-C. Promise of Retribution
(Greed)
8 Because you have plundered many
nations,
All the remnant of the people
shall plunder you,
—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
the remnant of the people
Speaks of the people in all those countries that
were not killed or dragged off into captivity.
Be sure your
sins will find you out.
1-D.
Application: (greed)
The desire
for riches and trust in riches are a trap.
1 Timothy 6:9 & 17
1
Timothy 6.9-10
9 But those who desire
to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful
lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. 10 For the
love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from
the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many
sorrows.
6.17
17 Command those who are
rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches
but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy. 18 Let them do good, that
they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share, 19
storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that they may
lay hold on eternal life.
#2 Woe—(ambition/false
security) v. 9-11
9 Woe to him who covets
evil gain for his house,
That he may set his nest
on high,
That he may be delivered
from the power of disaster!
—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
10 You give shameful
counsel to your house, cutting off many peoples, And sin against your soul.
—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
11 For the stone
will cry out from the wall,
and the beam from the timbers
will answer it.
2-A. Pronouncement of Woe
(ambition/ false security) v. 9
9 Woe to him who covets
evil gain for his house,
That he may set his nest
on high,
That he may be delivered
from the power of disaster!
covets [cb 01214/twot-267 Batsa`
bä·tsah' --(Qal) to cut off; to stop; to gain wrongfully or by violence
evil gain
[r 07451/twot-2191a,2191c Ra` rah
--bad, evil (631)
[cb S-01215/twot-267a Betsa`
beh'·tsah --profit, unjust gain, gain (profit) acquired by violence
House ...apparently used here in
the sense of dynasty (cf. 2 Sam. 7.11,
6) ——Merrill Unger
Nest on
high
“Here the Babylonians are compared to a bird,
perhaps an eagle, that builds its next in an inaccessible high place where
predators cannot reach it. ——NET
Bible notes
Job 39.27
Nebuchadnezzar
and the Neo-Babylonian builders erected high towers like the Babel founders (Gen. 11.4), seeking to every
means to perpetuate their name and power against destruction.
—-Merrill Unger
2-B. Painful taunt song
(ambition/ false security) v. 10
10 You give shameful
counsel to your house, cutting off many peoples, And sin against your soul.
Shameful tXb S-01322/twot-222b Bosheth
bo'·sheth --shame; shameful thing
Counsel #[y S-03289/twot-887 Ya`ats
yä·ats' --(Qal) to advise, counsel, give counsel, consult ; counsellor
(participle)
ylt—counselled a shameful
thing to; kjv—consulted shame to; nasb—devised a shameful thing
for; nkjv—give shameful counsel to; esv—have devised shame for; niv—have plotted the ruin
of; nlt—shamed your name
Sin against your soul
ylt—sinful is thy soul; kjv—hast sinned against thy
soul; nasb—sinning against yourself; nkjv—sin against your soul; esv,
niv, nlt—have
forfeited your life (lives)
Proverbs 8.36
But he who sins against me [wisdom] wrongs his
own soul;
All those who hate me [wisdom] love
death.
Proverbs 20.2
The wrath of a king is like the
roaring of a lion;
Whoever provokes him to anger
sins against his own life.
When we
sin, we are just hurting ourselves.
C. Promise of Retribution (ambition/false
security) v. 11
11 For the stone
will cry out from the wall,
and the beam from the timbers
will answer it.
“The stones and timber with which the houses and
palaces were built had been obtained through plunder and injustice.”
—Ron Blue, Bible Knowledge Commentary
Even if there was nobody else, the very presence
of the building materials would be evidence against the Babylonians.
D.
Applications: (ambition/false security)
Watch out
for the “Grab all you can,” “Look out for number one,” attitude.
Luke
20.17-21 Parable of the Rich Fool
18 So he said, ‘I will do
this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all
my crops and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have
many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.”’ 20
But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then
whose will those things be which you have provided?’
21 “So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich
toward God.”
#3 Woe—(violence)
12 Woe to him who
builds a town with bloodshed,
Who establishes a city by
iniquity!
—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
13 Behold, is it not of the
LORD of hosts
That the peoples labor to
feed the fire,
And nations weary
themselves in vain?
—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
14 For the earth
will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD,
As the waters cover the sea.
3-A.Pronouncement of Woe (violence) v.12
12 Woe to him who
builds a town with bloodshed,
Who establishes a city by
iniquity!
12.
Iniquity mx S-0255/twot-678a Chamac
khä·mäse'--violence, wrong, cruelty, injustice; a violent man (59)
Might does not
make right.
3-B. Painful taunt song (violence) v.13
13 Behold, is it not of the
LORD of hosts
That the peoples labor to
feed the fire,
And nations weary
themselves in vain?
13.
Lord of hosts
Literally “Lord of armies” It expresses the Lord’s sovereign rule as
king and commander...associated with militant judgment…
(284) Isa 1-39—56;
Jre—82; Zech—53; Mal—24
——Carl
Armerding in Expositor’s Bible Commentary
YAHWEH-SABAOTH: "The Lord of Hosts"
(Isaiah 1:24; Psalm 46:7) – “Hosts” means hordes, both of angels and of men. He
is Lord of the host of heaven, and of the inhabitants of the earth, of Jews
and Gentiles, of rich and poor, master and slave. The name is expressive of the
majesty, power, and authority of God and shows that he is able to accomplish what
he determines to do.
——http://www.gotquestions.org/names-of-God.html
Isaiah 13:4
The noise of a multitude in the
mountains,
Like that of many people!
A tumultuous noise of the
kingdoms of nations gathered together! The Lord of hosts musters The army
for battle.
Labor to feed the fire
ylt—are fatigued by fire; kjv—labour in the very fire; nasb—toil fo rfire; nkjv—labor to feed the fire; esv—labor merely for fire; niv—labor
is fufel for the fire; nlt—will turn to ashes
weary themselves in vain (for nothing)
Jeremiah 51.58
prophesying the destruction of Babylon
58 Thus says the LORD of
hosts:
“ The broad walls of Babylon shall be
utterly broken,
And her high gates shall be burned with
fire;
The people will labor in vain,
And the nations, because of the fire;
And they shall be weary.”
Those who
build with wood, hay, and stubble are wasting their time, regardless of
how permanent and invincible they seem at the time.
The Lord
of Hosts will see to it that nothing comes of it.
“Although sin
inevitable produces its own destructive consequences, the book of Habakkuk
reminds us that God’s active judgment is also at work—if not immediately, most
certainly in the future.” —Jonathan Lamb, in From
Why to Worship
3-C. Promise of Retribution (violence)
v. 14
The glory of Babylon will be replaced by the glory of the
LORD
14 For the earth shall be
full of the knowledge of the LORD
As the waters cover the sea.
This is a
phrase that was also used a number of times in the OT, especially by the
prophet Isaiah.
Numbers 14 (After Moses plead with God to spare the
Israelites)
20 Then the LORD said: “I
have pardoned, according to your word; 21 but truly, as I live,
all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD— 22
because all these men who have seen My glory and the signs which I did in Egypt
and in the wilderness, and have put Me to the test now these ten times, and have
not heeded My voice, 23 they certainly shall not see the land of
which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who rejected Me see it.
3-C. Promise of Retribution (violence) v. 14
cointinued
Psalm 72 (a psalm of Solomon)
18 Blessed be the
LORD God, the God of Israel,
Who only does wondrous
things!
19 And blessed be His glorious name forever!
And let the whole
earth be filled with His glory.
Amen and Amen.
Isaiah
6 (Isaiah’s vision)
1 In the year
that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up,
and the train of His robe filled the temple. 2 Above it stood
seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he
covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one cried to another
and said:
“ Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts;
The whole earth is full of His glory!”
Isaiah
11 (speaking of the millennial reign
of Christ)
8 The nursing child shall
play by the cobra’s hole,
And the weaned child shall put his hand in the viper’s den.
9 They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain,
For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD
As the waters cover the sea.
Babylon’s
destruction, a type of the destruction of Gentile world power (Dan. 2:36-45; Rev.
17:1-18:24) that will precede the establishment of the Kingdom over Israel (Acts
1:6) and the nations, thus foreshadows Israel’s final restoration and the
millennial reign of the Messiah.
——Merrill Unger
14.
knowledge [dy S-03045/twot-848
Yada` yä·dah' --(coorespnding to Grk oida) to perceive, to acquire knowledge,
to know, to be axquainted
3-D. Applications: (violence)
Ruthless power accomplishes nothing that lasts.
Ecclesiates 2:11 Then I looked on all the works
that my hands had done And on the labor in which I had toiled; And indeed all
was vanity and grasping for the wind. There was no profit under the sun.
#4 Woe: (contempt for others)
15 Woe to him who
gives drink to his neighbor pressing him to your bottle,
Even to make him drunk
that you may look on his nakedness!
16 You are filled with
shame instead of glory. You also—drink! And be exposed as uncircumcised!
The cup of the LORD’s
right hand will be turned against you, And utter shame will be on your glory.
17 For the violence
done to Lebanon will cover you,
And the plunder of beasts
which made them afraid,
Because of men’s blood
And the violence of the
land and the city,
And of all who dwell in
it.
4-A. Pronouncement of Woe (contempt for others)
15—
Woe to him who gives drink
to his neighbor pressing him to your bottle,
Even to make him drunk
that you may look on his nakedness!
pressing him to your
bottle
ylt—pouring out thy bottle; kjv—puttest thy bottle to him; nkjv—pressing him to your bottle;
niv—pouring it from the wineskin; nlt—you
force the cup on them;
nasb—mix in your venom; esv—you pour out your wrath
The sin
described in verse 15 is deplorable in a large part because of the total lack
of respect for another person. It shows
complete disregard and contempt for others.
The
prostrate condition of the drunken man is a figurative representation of the
overthrow of a conquered nation (Nah. iii.11) and the uncovering of the shame a figure
denoting the ignominy that has fallen upon it (Nah. Iii.5; Isa. xlvii.3). ——C.F. Keil in Commentary on the OT in Ten Vol.
(This also
reminds us of one of the many dangers of becoming drunk or high).
4-B. Painful taunt song (contempt for others) v. 16
16 You are filled with
shame instead of glory. You also—drink! And be exposed as uncircumcised!
The cup of the LORD’s
right hand will be turned against you, And utter shame will be on your glory.
shame instead of glory
ylt—shame without honour; kjv—shame for glory;
nasb—disgrace rather than
honor; nkjv, esv, niv—shame instead of glory; nlt—your turn to be
disgraced
exposed as uncircumcised
ylt—be uncircumcised; kjv—let thy foreskin be
uncovered; nasb—expose your own nakedness; nkjv—exposed as
uncircumcised; esv—show your uncircumcision; niv,
nlt—(drink
and) be exposed;
“The
institution of circumcision is detailed in Gen 17 as the [physical] sign of
Yahweh’s covenant with Abraham…”
—TWOT
“Circumcision
was a spiritual act as well. Egypt,
Edom,
Ammon. Moab—and Judah!—all
practiced circumcision of the penis, but not the heart (Jer 9:25–26 [H 24–25],
see Bright, Jeremiah, AB, p. 78). Hence,
Israel
was commanded to circumcise the foreskin of the heart (Deut 10:16; Jer 4:4;cf.
Rom 2:28–29).”
—TWOT
Deuteronomy
10.16 Therefore circumcise the
foreskin of your heart, and be stiff-necked no longer.
Rom
2:28–29
28 For he is not a Jew who
is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; 29
but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in
the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God.
Colossians
2.11 In Him [Christ] you were also circumcised with the circumcision
made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by
the circumcision of Christ
They would be
shamed and their true nature would be demonstrated.
utter shame
Lit. “to throw up” Note the word play.
4-B. Painful taunt song (contempt for others) v. 16
cup of the LORD’s right hand
Jer 25
15 For thus says the LORD
God of Israel
to me: “Take this wine cup of fury from My hand, and cause all the nations, to
whom I send you, to drink it. 16 And they will drink and stagger
and go mad because of the sword that I will send among them.”
27 “Therefore you shall say
to them, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: “Drink, be drunk, and
vomit! Fall and rise no more, because of the sword which I will send among
you.”’ 28 And it shall be, if they refuse to take the cup from your
hand to drink, then you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts: “You
shall certainly drink! 29 For behold, I begin to bring calamity on
the city which is called by My name, and should you be utterly unpunished? You
shall not be unpunished, for I will call for a sword on all the inhabitants of
the earth,” says the LORD of hosts.’
Lamentations 4
21 Rejoice
and be glad, O daughter of Edom,
You who dwell in the land of Uz!
The cup shall also pass over to you
And you shall become drunk and make
yourself naked.
22 The punishment of your iniquity
is accomplished,
O daughter of Zion;
He will no longer send you into captivity.
He will punish your iniquity,
O daughter of Edom;
He will uncover your sins!
4-C. Promise of Retribution (contempt for others)
17 For the violence
done to Lebanon will cover you,
And the plunder of beasts
which made them afraid,
Because of men’s blood
And the violence of the
land and the city,
And of all who dwell in
it.
17.
violence done to Lebanon (historical reference?)
“It had suffered
the ruthless removal of timber for Babylonian buildings and the destructive
slaughter of beasts that lived in the forests.”
——Ron Blue in the Bible
Knowledge Commentary
Isaiah 14.7
3 It shall come to pass in
the day the LORD gives you [Judah]
rest from
your sorrow, and from your fear and the hard bondage in which you [Judah] were made to serve, 4
that you [Judah] will take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say:
7 The whole earth is at
rest and quiet;
They break forth into singing.
8 Indeed the cypress trees
rejoice over you,
And the cedars of Lebanon,
Saying, ‘Since you were cut down,
No woodsman has come up against us.’
What they did
in the forests of Lebanon
is mentioned to represent the way they had destroyed many places.
It is
interesting to note the mention of trees and animals. It is a reminder that we
should respect God’s creation and be good stewards.
4-D.
Applications: (contempt for others)
Treat
others with honor and respect.
Proverbs
14:21 He who despises his neighbor
sins;
But he who has mercy on the poor, happy
is he.
1 Corinthians 11.22
21
For in eating, each one takes his own supper ahead of others; and one is hungry
and another is drunk. 22 What! Do you not have houses to eat and
drink in? Or do you despise the church
of God and shame those
who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you in this? I do
not praise you.
Proverbs 19.17; Psalm 41.1; Isaiah 1.17; Luke
14:13-14
#5 Woe—(idolatry/self
trust)
18 What profit is the
image, that its maker should carve it,
The molded image, a teacher of
lies,
That the maker of its mold should
trust in it,
To make mute idols?
19 Woe to him who
says to wood, ‘Awake!’
To silent stone, ‘Arise! It shall
teach!’
Behold, it is overlaid with gold
and silver,
Yet in it there is no breath at
all.
20 “ But the LORD is in His
holy temple.
Let all the earth keep silence
before Him.”
A. Painful taunt
—(idolatry/self trust) v.18
18 What profit is the
image, that its maker should carve it,
The molded image, a teacher of
lies,
That the maker of its mold should
trust in it,
To make mute idols?
18.
Image Exodus 20.4a “You shall not make for yourself a carved image
trust
We would probably
never be so simple and crass as to worship a statue or image. But we often put
our trust in our abilities, society, technology, and medical advances.
Teacher of lies
It is more a
function of spiritual sight than intellect.
When people
stop believing the truth, they don’t believe in nothing, they believe in
anything.”
——G.K. Chesterton, English writer
Isaiah 44.
16 He burns half of it in the fire;
With this half he eats meat;
He roasts a roast, and is satisfied.
He even warms himself and says,
“ Ah! I am warm,
I have seen the fire.”
17 And the rest of it he makes into a god,
His carved image.
He falls down before it and worships it,
Prays to it and says,
“ Deliver me, for you are my god!”
18 They do not know nor understand;
For He has shut their eyes, so that they
cannot see,
And their hearts, so that they cannot
understand.
19 And no one considers in
his heart,
Nor is there knowledge nor understanding to
say,
B. Pronouncement of Woe (trusting dead images) v. 19
19 Woe to him who
says to wood, ‘Awake!’
To silent stone, ‘Arise! It shall
teach!’
Behold, it is overlaid with gold
and silver,
Yet in it there is no breath at
all.
The ritual of
“opening the mouth” was employed in Babylon
to transform a wooden image,
decorated with gold and precious jewels, into the physical embodiment of the
god. The incantations of the priests
proclaimed to the god, “From this time forth you shall go before your father
Ea.” Ceremonial processions then take
place, the mouth of the image is washed repeatedly (fourteen times in all), and
food and drink are presented. After an
evening of sacrifices the priest opens the eyes of the image with a wand of
tamarisk, and then the “god” is enthroned within the temple and dressed with
the insignia of office.
—— The IVP Bible Background Commentary:
Old Testament
mute idols il-lame' el-eel'
...in the phrase “idols that cannot speak”:
phonetically it evokes a nonsensical babble (elîlîm illemîm; cf. Isa 28:10, NIV mg.)
no breath at all The OT makes an issue of this fact in several
places. Psa. 135.17; Jeremiah 10.14,17;
Jeremiah 10
8 But they are altogether
dull-hearted and foolish;
A wooden idol is a worthless doctrine.
9 Silver is beaten into plates;
It is brought from Tarshish,
And gold from Uphaz,
The work of the craftsman
And of the hands of the metalsmith;
Blue and purple are their clothing;
They are all the work of skillful men.
10 But the LORD is the true God;
He is the living God and the everlasting
King.
At His wrath the earth will tremble,
And the nations will not be able to endure
His indignation.
C. Promise of Retribution
(silenced before the living Lord) v. 20
20 “ But the LORD is in His
holy temple.
Let all the earth keep silence
before Him.”
But
#1 v. 8 in
all seven—Because
#2 v. 11 ylt, kjv, nkjv, esv—for
#3 v. 14 in
all seven—for
#4 v. 17 ylt, knv, nasb, nkjv—for
#5 v. 20
except for ylt—but
“The last
stanza is unique. In the other four “woe” stanzas each concluding verse starts
in the Hebrew with “for” (ki, vv. 8,11,14,17). However, verse 20 ovens with
“but.” The contrast is marked and the climax is marvelous.”
——Ron Blue in the Bible Knowledge Commentary
the LORD is in His holy temple
This phrase
envisions the Yahweh of Hosts appearing as the Judge of the Nations.
They sit
silent before him awaiting his judgment.
Psalm 11
4 The LORD is in His holy
temple,
The LORD’s throne is in
heaven;
His eyes behold,
His eyelids test the sons
of men.
5 The LORD tests the righteous,
But the wicked and the
one who loves violence His soul hates.
keep silence hoh S-02013/twot-511 Hacah hä·sä' —(Piel) command to hush, keep
silence, be silent, hold peace, hold tongue, still
jkv, nkjv, esv—keep silence; ylt, nasb, niv, nlt—be silent
5-D.
Applications:
We must
always strive to remember God’s
eternal
power, preservation,
and
providence in history.
Romans 1.20-21
20 For since the creation
of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the
things that are made, even His eternal
power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, 21 because,
although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but
became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.
2 Peter 3
1 Beloved, I now
write to you this second epistle (in both of which I stir up your pure minds by
way of reminder), 2 that you may be mindful of the words which were
spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Savior, 3
knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according
to their own lusts, 4 and saying, “Where is the promise of His
coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were
from the beginning of creation.” 5 For this they willfully forget:
that by the word of God the heavens
were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, 6
by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. 7
But the heavens and the earth which are
now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of
judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
Conclusion:
Now therefore, thus says
the Lord of hosts:
"Consider your ways!”
Micah 1:5 & 7 (KJV)
