CRITICAL NOTES.] Watch] As those ascending high places to look into the distance (2 Kings 9:17; 2 Samuel 18:24). Set] Plant myself firmly. To see] what God will say. Unto] Lit. in me; outwardly to the ear, inwardly to the heart; fixed in purpose and earnest in mind he waits for God’s revelation. Reproved] when reasoned with, for my expostulation with God.
Habakkuk 2:2. Vision] Outwardly seen and inwardly perceived. Write] The revelation important and immutable. Plain Clearly, that it may easily be read (cf. Deuteronomy 27:8; Deuteronomy 1:5).
Habakkuk 2:3. For] The reason for writing. Appointed] i.e. future time fixed by God (Daniel 10:14; Daniel 11:27). Speak] Lit. breathe out (then speak), hasten to the end. Tarry] Linger, delay a little. Come] It is certain, though future. Not tarry] Be behindhand or go beyond the appointed time.
HOMILETICS
THE WAITING SERVANT.—Habakkuk 2:1-2
Habakkuk had two great difficulties in justifying the Divine government. First, the wickedness of the Jews and their oppression of the righteous few among them. God removed this difficulty by predicting that he would visit the corruption with captivity, and that the Chaldeans would punish them. But a second objection presented itself that the Chaldeans were worse than the Jews, the avengers more demoralized than the people. Hence the aspect appeared dark indeed to the prophet. The destruction of the temple, cessation of national worship, and universal depravity. Anxious for further light, he determines to take a stand and discern in the light of God’s presence the solution of his difficulties.
I. The fixed purpose of the prophet. “I will stand and set me (firmly) upon the tower.” The prophet made use of the means which God put within his reach to solve his doubts. All temptations and perplexities should lead us to the sanctuary of God. We should direct our prayer to him and look up beyond human vision. Habakkuk desired—
1. To be Divinely enlightened. “To see what he will say to me.” More truth and more light could be had. God could give these, and he would wait upon him in singleness of aim. The voice, the vision from God would clear away the mists and satisfy the heart. Men are ignorant, and reason is dumb in such circumstances. “I will hear what God the Lord will speak.”
2. To be Divinely corrected. “What I shall answer when I am reproved.” He had been pleading with others and they had beset him with objections. He desires to be instructed and guided in his reply. Or he might have cherished wrong thoughts and uttered wrong words concerning God in his darkness. The psalmist stumbled and was hasty in his words, when he saw good men suffer and bad men prosper. “Let us be silent, that we may hear the whisper of the gods,” says Emerson.
II. The appropriate attitude of the prophet “I will stand upon my watch.” This position was most appropriate and safe. It includes—
1. Outward retirement. He ascended the tower, excluded himself from the noise of the city and the excitement of society. Alone like Moses in the rock, he sought intercourse with God. “Apart from the world, and under the tuition of heaven, he was instructed in the principles of Divine wisdom.” “All weighty things,” says Richter, “are done in solitude, that is, without society.” “Arise, go forth into the plain, and I will there talk with thee.”
2. Inward meditation. The prophet was a man of reflection and prayer. He searched his own heart and examined his own ways. He gave his whole attention to his work. “Little can be done well to which the whole mind is not applied,” says Johnson. In our great work there must be withdrawal from the world and concentration in self. “Commune with thine own heart.”
3. Earnest expectation. The prophet waited in patience and perseverance. He did not think that his prayer was done with when offered. He did not find relief in his attitude but in God’s answer. “I will watch to see.” Ministers must acquit themselves like watchmen in an army or in a city, be awake when others sleep, and patiently seek to be filled with light and truth to give to others in times of darkness and danger.
III. The gracious answer to the prophet. “And the Lord answered me.” Expectation was not disappointed. God is sometimes found of them that seek him not. But he pledges himself to hear those who sincerely call upon him. “He said not, Seek ye me in vain.” The answer was an assurance of ruin to the Chaldeans when the chastisement of Israel was accomplished. It was far distant, would try the faith of God’s people, but the event was certain and would come to pass. The answer was to be written in a conspicuous place, recorded for the help of the people in the suspension of the fulfilment, and known as a proof of Divine power and faithfulness when accomplished. Both Israel and Chaldea must own. “And the thing was true, but the appointed time was long.”
THE APPOINTED VISION.—Habakkuk 2:2-3
The prophet must not only hear but record the Word of God. What the seer beholds he must write. “Write the vision.”
I. To be permanently recorded. The preacher must die, for all flesh is grass. Tradition is uncertain and may be corrupted. Philosophy is insufficient, and human reason is delusive. The testimony of men would continually perplex and mislead. But the Word of God stands for ever, an assurance and guide to all generations. “To the law and to the testimony.”
II. To be universally understood. “And make it plain upon tables.” It must be legibly and correctly written upon accustomed material. Not the impressions, the recollections and surmisings of the mind, not something like the thing, but the thing itself. It must be delivered in simplicity, not hidden in flowers of rhetoric; adapted to the lowest capacity, not merely to the thoughtful few. “It takes all our learning to make things plain,” says Usher. “Write upon the stones all the words of this law very plainly” (Deuteronomy 27:8).
III. To be prominently fixed. “That he may run that readeth it.” It must be so conspicuous that it may catch the eye of the traveller, hinder no duty, but read at once without difficulty. Some think that the reference is to the ancient posts which directed the man-slayer to the city of refuge, and that the reading should be “he that runneth may read.” “Refuge” was a word so legible that one running for life was neither delayed nor puzzled to read. The writing (a) Excites attention. No one passes without noticing it. (b) Directs the steps. “This is the way, walk ye in it.” (c) Encourages speed by well-grounded conviction of its truthfulness. “The words of the Lord are pure and forcible.”
IV. To be a little delayed. “The vision is yet for an appointed time.” God’s promises reach a long distance and comprehend vast agencies. Delay is discipline to us, and God has reasons for it. It tests our faith, cultivates our patience, and excites our hope. We cannot hasten the end and must therefore wait. We must not measure God’s thoughts by our ways, and the purposes of eternity by the hours of time. We must not attribute delay to impotency or forgetfulness. “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise.” “And the thing was true, but the time appointed was long: and he understood the thing, and had understanding of the vision,” &c. (Daniel 10:1; Daniel 10:14).
HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES
1. As the mercies promised to the Church are in the hands of God, so is the timing of them; we are not therefore to expect that the performance of comfortable promises or of threatened vengeance will be always ready at our bid, but we must wait the Lord’s time, who hath his own seasons for afflicting, trying, and delivering.
2. The Lord’s delaying to appear diminisheth nothing of the certainty of performance that he hath promised to the Church. 3. But such is our weakness, that when he delayeth the performance we are ready to think that he denies it to all, which is to contradict the verdict of Scripture here published [Hutcheson]. “God’s time,” says one, “to visit his people with his comforts is when they are most destitute of other comforts, and other comforters.”
Divine slowness.
1. The history of the earth illustrates this principle.
(1) Creation.
(2) The movement of the seasons.
2. The history of all life illustrates this principle.
(1) Individual life in man.
(2) Life in national history.
3. Revealed religion harmonizes with this principle.
(1) The long interval between promise and the coming of Christ.
(2) The manner of his coming, not as the thoughts of men anticipated.
(3) The history of revealed religion since the appearance of Christ.
(4) The spiritual history of individual believers.
(5) So with the events which make up the story of life [Dr. R. Vaughan].
God’s word speaks and lies not.
1. It speaks at the end, therefore wait. It will not tarry beyond, though it may tarry till the very hour.
(1) Impatience leads to idolatry, as in the case of the Israelites waiting for Moses (Exodus 33:2). Impatience leads to self-destruction, as in the case of Saul waiting for Samuel (1 Samuel 13).
2. It speaks and lies not. All failure is a kind of lying.
(1) Failure in truth is a lie in word.
(2) Failure in performance is a lie in act. “Every man is a liar, either by imposture, and so in purpose, or by impotency, and so in the event, deceiving those that rely upon him (Psalms 62:9). But God is faithful and cannot lie, “a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he’ ” [Trapp].
3. Hence wait for the fulfilment. It will not tarry, it will not lie. “Waiting comprises in it
(1) faith;
(2) hope;
(3) patience, or waiting to the end for the time which the Lord has appointed, but which he intends us to wait for” [Lange].
Surely come.
1. Here is the truth of the decree. “The vision is yet for an appointed time.”
2. Here is the truth of the word. “It shall speak and not lie.”
3. Here is the truth of the deed. “It will surely come” [Marbury].
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 2
Habakkuk 2:1. Watch. We should follow providence, and not attempt to force it, for that often proves best for us which was least our own doing [Henry].
Habakkuk 2:2-3. Tarry. For our actions let his word be our guide, and for the events of things and all that concern us, let his good pleasure and wise disposing be our will. Let us give up the rudder of our life into his band to be steered by him [Abp. Leighton]. Prayer is the rest of our care, and the calm of our temper [J. Taylor].