CRITICAL NOTES.]
Habakkuk 2:18.] Exposure of the folly of Babylon’s idolatry. What] use? none whatever. Lies] Lying oracles connected with idol worship. Dumb] Nonentity (1 Corinthians 12:1).
Habakkuk 2:19. Awake] to help. Teach] Ironical, it teach! Breath] Not at all breath, the spirit of life (Jeremiah 10:14).
Habakkuk 2:20. But] Sublime contrast between Jehovah and utter vanity of idols. Temple] Enthroned in heaven ready to protect his people and destroy their enemies (Psalms 11:4). He is not encased in gold and silver. All] i.e. the people must submit in reverence before him, and wait for his judgment (cf. Zephaniah 1:7; Zechariah 2:1-7). It becomes all to adore such a God who will speak to the soul bushed in silence.
HOMILETICS
THE UNPROFITABLENESS OF IDOLATRY.—Habakkuk 2:18-19
This fifth strophe does not utter woe at first, but makes prominent the cause that leads to it. Like the rest of heathen nations, the Chaldæans trusted to their gods, but all hope from this quarter is cut off. Idols profit nothing; it is folly therefore to carve and honour them.
I. Idolatry is a system of lies. “A teacher of lies.”
1. The idol itself is a lie. It represents God as visible, finite, and dependent, whereas he is Infinite and Invisible. It contradicts the word of God and the nature of man; and represents carnal conceptions of truth and worship.
2. The teaching of the idol is a lie. In itself and by its priests it sustains delusions. Its oracle is the doctrine of vanities; it is a falsehood and a work of errors (Jeremiah 10:8), leading men to trust in dumb idols, the work of their own hands (1 Corinthians 12:2). “We have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves.”
“God’s omnipresence seems not sensuous;
Unless he be in us, we are not in him” [Bailey].
II. Idolatry is a system of impotence. Idols may be adorned and beautified, commended and honoured, but they are only dumb nothings.
1. They are fashioned by man. Carved and encased with gold and silver, and yet neither breath, feeling, nor understanding. They are inferior to their maker, how then can they impart life and help to those who trust them? “They that make a graven image are all of them vanity” (Isaiah 44:9-10).
2. They respond not to the requests of man. Men cry “to the wood,” Awake, for our relief; “to the dumb stone,” Arise, deliver me, for thou art my God (Isaiah 44:17): but there is no answer. A god that cannot speak is nothing. The cries of man must be heard, the wants of man must be satisfied. Without a true response to the entreaties of man there is no religion. We cannot animate stocks and stones. Art and science may create and beautify gods; but this is labour in vain—will deceive, and nourish superstition. “They have mouths, but they speak not; eyes have they, but they see not; they have ears, but they hear not; neither is there any breath in their mouths.”
III. Idolatry is a system of vanity. When men have done all they can, displayed their skill and carved their image, God ridicules the result. Only wood and stone, base and inferior matter. That teach! Yes, though dumb it speaks of impotence, vanity, and folly.
1. What vanity to trust in a god of your own creation! If images are made by man, how can they have the being and authority of God? Why spend your energy in the service of that which will not profit? “’Tis mad idolatry,” says Shakspeare, “to make the service greater than the God.” “What profiteth the graven image?”
2. What folly to rely upon that which brings a curse! “Woe unto him that said to the wood, Awake.” Whatever is accounted a god, which is only a creature or a feigned thing, is a curse to man. It curses human nature by degrading it, and making men like brutes. It curses the world by bringing down the judgments of God. When men are determined not to retain God in their thoughts, but to exalt that which is below themselves to be in the place of God, they become brutish in their knowledge, vain in their imaginations, and alienated in their hearts. “For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections.”
THE DIVINE COURT.—Habakkuk 2:20
In sublime contrast to idols, Jehovah is set forth in his dwelling-place and authority. None should dispute with him, but stand in awe before him. In the court-house of God “let all the earth keep silence.”
I. God resides in this court. “The Lord is in his holy temple.” The world is not empty space. A true and personal God exists; not like idols dwelling in temples made with hands, but revealing himself in the visible universe. In heaven by glory and honour, in earth by grace and goodness. “The Being whose centre is everywhere, but whose circumference is nowhere.” In every state and condition God is ever near. “The Lord is in his holy temple.”
II. God governs in this court. He dwells in his temple, and has not left the world to chance, inflexible law, or abstract powers. His throne is on high, and has neither been overturned nor vacated. He judges the world in righteousness, delivers his people in distress. and punishes the insolence of the wicked. He is not enshrined in gold and silver; “but our God is in the heavens,” reigning supreme over all the nations of the earth. He is the world’s great King, discerning and rewarding the works and ways of men. “The Lord’s throne is in heaven; his eyes behold, his eyelids try the children of men.”
III. God demands silence in his court. “Let all the earth keep silence.” If we are silent in courts of law, if all are reverent and solemn before an earthly judge, how should we stand before Almighty God!
1. Let sinners tremble at his judgments. He will strike idolaters dumb, convince the wicked of folly, and cover them with shame.
2. Let saints trust in his word. If perplexed, “hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord God; for the day of the Lord is at hand” (Zephaniah 1:7). If afflicted, “be still, and know that I am God” (Psalms 46:10). If weakened in faith, and disappointed in prayer, “Keep silence before me, O islands; and let the people renew their strength: let them come near: let them speak” (Isaiah 41:1). “In speaking of God our best eloquence is silence,” says Hooker. “Be silent, O all flesh, before the Lord: for he is raised up out of his holy habitation.”
HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES
Habakkuk 2:18-19. The destruction of idols. Created by man—deaf and dumb, impotent and false. Dumb idols: Lit. dumb nothings. “And what else are man’s idols of wealth, honour, fame, which he makes to himself, the creatures of his own hands or mind—their greatness existing chiefly in his own imagination—before which he bows down himself, who is the image of God?” [Pusey]. The folly of idol worshippers. Trusting their own creation—calling upon it as God, and exposing their own souls. “Here is a double woe:
1. Loss of labour;
2. Want of help. In the first they bewray their folly; the god of this world hath made fools of them for turning the glory of the invisible God into the image of creatures; but in the second we find the misery, for we cannot subsist without help, and they trust to idols where there is no help” [Marbury].
Behold. Though the vanity of worshipping idols be palpably gross, so that seriously to consider it is sufficient to refute it, yet such is man’s stupidity that he needs stirring up to notice the error of his way—to caution him of his danger, and to wean him from his sins [cf. Hutcheson].
Habakkuk 2:4; Habakkuk 2:14; Habakkuk 2:20. Three bright stars. As the prophet stood on his eminence and saw nothing but darkness, God revealed three great principles which infused light and life into the gloom—principles which stand out to this day to all perplexed, fearful, and sceptical souls, as stars in a dark sky.
1. The just shall live by faith. A truth so important that it is quoted thrice in the New Testament (Romans 1:17; Galatians 3:11; Hebrews 10:38).
2. The earth shall be filled,” &c.
3. The Lord is in his holy temple. The first of these three lights reveals the secret of our religion. It is faith. Faith in God’s word, and faith in God’s work. The second opens up to the faith supposed to exist; a glorious promise that all sin, misery, and confusion which now disgrace and oppress the earth, shall disappear, and make room for the glory of the Lord to take their place. The third sets forth—the stay, the confidence, the breathless silence of the children of God, while the promise is fulfilling, and especially when the ways of God are dark and mysterious. Think of the circumstances and prospects of the prophet, and learn that God, in dispensing his blessings, takes seasons of despondency and thick gloom—that in selecting such times for predicting splendid futures he draws from the opposition of men and the infidelity of the Church an illustration of his irresistible majesty and unchangeable truth [Anon.].
Habakkuk 2:5-20. Of shameful and hurtful avarice.
1. Avarice is contrary to the order prescribed by God; therefore God must bring it back to order by chastisement (Habakkuk 2:1; Habakkuk 2:6 b, Habakkuk 2:7).
2. It is contrary to love, therefore it produces a harvest of hatred (Habakkuk 2:6 a).
3. It confounds the ideas of right, therefore wrong must befall it (Habakkuk 2:8 a).
4. It makes the mind timid; but where fear is there is no stability (Habakkuk 2:9).
5. It accumulates (riches) with sin, therefore for nothing (Habakkuk 2:12; Habakkuk 2:11; Habakkuk 2:13; Habakkuk 2:17).
6. It seeks false honour, therefore it acquires shame (Habakkuk 2:15-16).
7. It sets its heart upon gold and silver and lifeless things, therefore it must perish with its lifeless gods (Habakkuk 2:18-19).
8. On the whole it provokes the judgment of God (Habakkuk 2:8 b, Habakkuk 2:14, Habakkuk 2:20) [Lange].
Habakkuk 2:20. Notice—
1. The privilege of the godly. “The Lord is in his holy temple,” to guide them by his wisdom, defend them by his power, and save them by his grace.
2. The duty of the godly. “Let all the earth be silent;” but they should acquiesce in his word and work. “Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.”
“Wait, O my soul, thy Maker’s will;
Tumultuous passions, all be still!
Nor let a murmuring thought arise;
His ways are just, his counsels wise.”
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 2
Habakkuk 2:16-18. Shame. There is none of you that ever entered this house of pleasure but he left the skirts of his garment in the hands of shame, and had his name rolled in the chambers of death. What fruit had ye then? This is the question [Bp. Taylor]. The man wakes from his dream, and finds that he possesses not an atom of the rich possessions he had dreamed of [Lorin].
Habakkuk 2:18-19. Idolatry. Any opinion which tends to keep out of sight the living and loving God, whether it be to substitute for him an idol, or any occult agency, or a formal creed, can be nothing better than the portentous shadow projected from the slavish darkness of an ignorant heart [Hallam]. While earthly objects are exhausted by familiarity, the thought of God becomes to the devout man continually brighter, richer, vaster, derives fresh lustre from all that he observes of nature and providence; and attracts to itself all the glories of the universe [Channing].
Habakkuk 2:20. A heathen philosopher once asked a Christian, “Where is God?” The Christian answered, “Let me first ask you, ‘Where is he not’?” [Arrow-smith.]. The Will of God is our pole-star, and, with our eye constantly on it, we shall be carried safely through every storm and tempest of this mortal life [Anon.]. What I do, thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter, is the unvaried language of God in his providence. He will have credit every step. He will not assign reasons, because he will exercise faith [Wilson].