The Pulpit Commentary — Habakkuk — Section 51

Incleecl, all these things a.re both legitimate and desirable. But it is stated that these llabylunia.ns <lid it: 1. By violence. "With blood." Men's lives were sacrificed for the purpose. "By iniquity." Justice was outraged in the effort. 2. By cruelty. "Labour in the very fire." These wrongs we have already explained in tho preceding sections. (But see a different explanation of "labour in the fire" in the Exposition.) II. 'l'm: NATIONAL WOES INDIOATED IN THESE WORDS. What is the woe? Disap- probation of God. 1. These wrongs are contrary to his natwre. " Is it not of the Lord of hosts?" or, as Keil renders it," Is it not beheld from Jehovah of hosts that the people weary themselves for fire, and nations exhaust themselves from vanity?" He does not desire it. Nay, it is hostile to his will, it is displeasing to his nature. The benevolent Creator is against all social injustice and cruelty. His will is that men should "do unto others as they would that men should do unto them." 2. These wrongs arc contrary to his purpose for the world. His purpose is that the " earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord." To this end the kingdom of the world which is hostile to him must be destroyed. "This promise," says Keil, "involves a threat directed against the Chaldean, whose usurped glory must be destroyed in order that the glory of the universe may fill the whole earth." What a glorious prospect! (1) This world, in the future, is to enjoy the greatest blessing. What is that? The knowledge of the glory of God. Knowledge in itself is a ble.%ing. The soul without it is not good (Prov. xix. 2). It is not the mere knowledge of the works of God. This is of unspeakable value. Not merely the knowledge of some of the attributes of God. This is of greater value still. But the knowledge of the glory of God, which means the knowledge of God himself," whom to know is life eternal.~ (2) This world, in the future, is to enjoy the greatest blessing in the greatest abundance. ".As the waters cover the sea." He sha.11 B.ood all souls with its celestial and transporting radiance.-D. T. Vers. 15-17,-National wrongs ending in national woes. No. 4. "Woe unto him that giveth his neighbour drink, that puttest thy bottle to him, and makest him drunken also, that thou mayest look on their nakedness! Thou art filled with ,hame for glory: drink thou also, a.nd let thy foreskin be uncovered: the cup of the Lord's right hand shall be turned unto thee, and shameful spewing shall be on thy glory," etc. "This," says Henderson, "is the commencement of the fourth stanza. Though the idea of the shameless conduct of drunkards here depicted may have been borrowed from the profligate manners of the Babylonian court, yet the language is not to be taken literally, as if the prophet were describing such manaers, but, as the sequel shows, is applied allegorically to the state of stupefaction, prostration, and exposure to which the conquered nations were reduced by the Chaldeans (see Isa.. Ii. 17-20; and comp. Ps. lx.xv. 8; Jer. xxv. 15-28; xli.x. 12; Ii. 7; Ezek. :x.xiii. 31, 32; Rev. xiv. 10; xvi. 19; xviii. 6). Notice- !. THE NATIONAL WRONGS. What are the wrongs referred to in this passage ? 1. The promotion of drunkenness. "Woe unto him that giveth his neighbour drink!" '£he Babylonians were not only drunkards, but the promoters of druakenness. The very night on which this prophecy was fulfilled, Belshazzar drank wine with a thousand of his lords. More than once in these homilies we have had to characterize and denounce this sin. Who are the promoters of drunkenness ? Brewers, distillers, tavern-keepers, and, I am sorry to add, doctors, all of whom, with e. few exceptions, recommend intoxicating drinks. In doing so these men inflict a thousand times as much evil upon mankind as they can accomplish good. 2. The promotion of drunken- ness involves indecency. "'l'hat thou maycst look ou their nakedness." It is tho tendency of drunkenness to destroy all sense of decency. .A drunkard, whether mu.lo or female, loses all sense of shame. II. 'l'HE NATIONAL WOES, •• Woe unto him that giveth strong drink! " What will come to thoso people? 1. Contempt. "Thou art filled with shame for glory. . . . The cup of tho Lord's right ho.nd shall be turaed unto thee." .As the Chalde11,ns had treated the nations they had conquered in a most disgusting manner, so they in their turn should be similarly treated. " With what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to ;you again." 2. Violenco. "For the violence of Lebanon shall cover thee." Stripped  THE BOOK OF HABAKKUK. [oH. n. 1-20.