Woes on Babylon (Habakkuk 2:6-20)

Yahweh’s answer to Habakkuk’s complaint about the unrighteousness of the Babylonians is that He will judge the Babylonians also, after they have been His judgment on Judah. The judgment isn’t specified but is implied by the five woes the nations will taunt Babylon with specifying their crimes.

⁶ “Will not all of them taunt him with ridicule and scorn, saying,

Unjust Acquisition of Wealth

“‘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.

It was customary when making a loan to take some part of the lendee’s property as a pledge or guarantee that he would repay the loan (Exodus 22:25-27). But it is as if Babylon has taken these pledges by force, stolen them, taking the property of each nation they conquered. Their “creditors,” the people they owe this property to, will come and take back what was stolen from them. Indeed, the Medes and Persians did just that when they conquered Babylon (Daniel 5).

 

Arrogant and Violent Gain

⁹ “Woe to him who builds his house by unjust gain,
    setting his nest on high
    to escape the clutches of ruin!
¹⁰ You have plotted the ruin of many peoples,
    shaming your own house and forfeiting your life.
¹¹ The stones of the wall will cry out,
    and the beams of the woodwork will echo it.

Babylon has sought to build its “house” or “nest” in an impregnable way by destroying other nations. But the security they sought will be forfeited, the glory they hoped for will be brought to shame, the very stones they have built with crying out for justice.

 

Ruthless Self-Aggrandizement

¹² “Woe to him who builds a city with bloodshed
    and establishes a town by injustice!
¹³ Has not Yahweh Almighty determined
    that the people’s labor is only fuel for the fire,
    that the nations exhaust themselves for nothing?
¹⁴ For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of Yahweh
    as the waters cover the sea.

Babylon’s building of its own cities with forced labor of conquered peoples and the bloodshed they perpetrated to accomplish this will only serve as fuel for the fire Yahweh is bringing against them. Much like the United States violently took land from native Americans, so Babylon was brutal with the nations they conquered, punishing “by the beheading or impalement of hundreds or thousands, but sometimes wholesale deportation of the inhabitants” (Pulpit Commentary). But Yahweh will, with this judgment, fill the earth with His knowledge and glory. There will be a future Babylon that will reap this judgment as well (Revelation 17&18).

 

Despoiling and Shaming

¹⁵ “Woe to him who gives drink to his neighbors,
    pouring it from the wineskin till they are drunk,
    so that he can gaze on their naked bodies!
¹⁶ You will be filled with shame instead of glory.
    Now it is your turn! Drink and let your nakedness be exposed!
The cup from Yahweh’s right hand is coming around to you,
    and disgrace will cover your glory.
¹⁷ The violence you have done to Lebanon will overwhelm you,
    and your destruction of animals will terrify you.
For you have shed human blood;
    you have destroyed lands and cities and everyone in them.

Babylon’s shaming of her neighbors and despoiling of their natural resources will result in their own shaming and disgrace at the hands of Yahweh.

 

Fruitless Idolatry

¹⁸ “Of what value is an idol carved by a craftsman?
    Or an image that teaches lies?
For the one who makes it trusts in his own creation;
    he makes idols that cannot speak.
¹⁹ Woe to him who says to wood, ‘Come to life!’
    Or to lifeless stone, ‘Wake up!’
Can it give guidance?
    It is covered with gold and silver;
    there is no breath in it.”

²⁰ Yahweh is in his holy temple;
    let all the earth be silent before him.

Babylon’s pointless appeal to idols, statues of their gods, Marduk being the principle one, will meet its own folly. Yahweh is in His holy temple and none can defeat Him. He will show Babylon the futility of trusting in what it created, a false god. All the false things we trust in as gods will come to ruin, as well.