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Commentary on Habakkuk 1 verses 12–17
The prophet, having received of the Lord that which he was to deliver to the people, now turns to God, and again addresses himself to him for the ease of his own mind under the burden which he saw. And still he is full of complaints. If he look about him, he sees nothing but violence done by Israel; if he look before him, he sees nothing but violence done against Israel; and it is hard to say which is the more melancholy sight. His thoughts of both he pours out before the Lord. It is our duty to be affected both with the iniquities and with the calamities of the church of God and of the times and places wherein we live; but we must take heed lest we grow peevish in our resentments, and carry them too far, so as to entertain any hard thoughts of God, or lose the comfort of our communion with him. The world is bad, and always was so, and will be so; it is out of our power to mend it; but we are sure that God governs the world, and will bring glory to himself out of all, and therefore we must resolve to make the best of it, must be ourselves better, and long for the better world. The prospect of the prevalence of the Chaldeans drives the prophet to his knees, and he takes the liberty to plead with God concerning it. In his plea we may observe,
I. The truths which he lays down, which he resolves to abide by, and with which he endeavours to comfort himself and his friends, under the growing threatening power of the Chaldeans; and they will furnish us with pleasing considerations for our support in the like case.
1.However it be, yet God is the Lord our God, and our Holy One. The victorious Chaldeans impute their power to their idols, but we are taught to tell them that the God of Israel is the true God, the living God, Jer 10:10, Jer 10:11. (1.) He is Jehovah, the fountain of all being, power, and perfection. Our rock is not as theirs. (2.) "He is my God." He speaks in the people's name; every Israelite may say, "He is mine. Though we are thus sore broken, and all this has come upon us, yet have we not forgotten the name of our God, nor quitted our relation to him, yet have we not disowned him, nor hath he disowned us, Psa 44:17. We are an offending people; he is an offended God; yet he is ours, and we will not entertain any hard thoughts of him, nor of his service, for all this." (3.) "He is my Holy One." This intimates that the prophet loved God as a holy God, loved him for the sake of his holiness. "He is mine because he is a Holy One; and therefore he will be my sanctifier and my Saviour, because he is my Holy One. Men are unholy, but my God is holy."
2.Our God is from everlasting. This he pleads with him: Art thou not from everlasting, O Lord my God? It is matter of great and continual comfort to God's people, under the troubles of this present life, that their God is from everlasting. This intimates, (1.) The eternity of his nature; if he is from everlasting, he will be to everlasting, and we must have recourse to this first principle, when things seen, which are temporal, are discouraging, that we have hope and help sufficient in a god that is not seen, that is eternal. "Art thou not from everlasting, and then wilt thou not make bare thy everlasting arm, in pursuance of thy everlasting counsels, to make unto thyself an everlasting name?" (2.) The antiquity of his covenant: "Art thou not from of old, a God in covenant with thy people" (so some understand it), "and hast thou not done great things for them in the days of old, which we have heard with our ears, and which our fathers have told us of; and art thou not the same God still that thou ever wast? Thou art God, and changest not."
3.While the world stands God will have a church in it. Thou art from everlasting, and then we shall not die. The Israel of God shall not be extirpated, nor the name of Israel blotted out, though it may sometimes seem to be very near it; like the apostles (Co2 6:9), chastened, and not killed; chastened sorely, but not delivered over to death, Psa 118:18. See how the prophet infers the perpetuity of the church from the eternity of God; for Christ has said, Because I live, and therefore as long as I live, you shall live also, Joh 14:19. He is the rock on which the church is so firmly built that the gates of hell shall not, cannot, prevail against it. We shall not die.
4.Whatever the enemies of the church may do against her, it is according to the counsel of God, and is designed and directed for wise and holy ends: Thou hast ordained them; thou hast established them. It was God that gave the Chaldeans their power, made them a formidable people, and in his counsel determined what they should do, nor had they any power against his Israel but what was given them from above. He gave them their commission to take the spoil and to take the prey, Isa 10:6. Herein God appears a mighty God, that the power of mighty men is derived from him, depends upon him, and is under his check; he says concerning it, Hitherto shall it come, and no further. Those whom God ordains shall do no more than what God has ordained, which is a great comfort to God's suffering people. Men are God's hand, the rod in his hand, Psa 17:14. And he has ordained them for judgment, and for correction. God's people need correction, and deserve it; they must expect it; they shall have it; when wicked men are let loose against them, it is not for their destruction, that they may be ruined, but for their correction, that they may be reformed; they are not intended for a sword, to cut them off, but for a rod, to drive out the foolishness that is found in their hearts, though they mean not so, neither does their heart think so, Isa 10:7. Note, It is matter of great comfort to us, in reference to the troubles and afflictions of the church, that, whatever mischief men design to them, God designs to bring good out of them, and we are sure that his counsel shall stand.
5.Though the wickedness of the wicked may prosper for a while, yet God is a holy God, and does not approve of that wickedness (Hab 1:13): Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil. The prophet, observing how very vicious and impious the Chaldeans were, and yet what great success they had against God's Israel, found a temptation arising from it to say that it was vain to serve God, and that it was indifferent to him what men were. But he soon suppresses the thought, by having recourse to his first principle, That God is not, that he cannot be, the author or patron of sin; as he cannot do iniquity himself, so he is of purer eyes than to behold it with any allowance or approbation; no, it is that abominable thing which the Lord hates. He sees all the sin that is committed in the world, and it is an offence to him, it is odious in his eyes, and those that commit it are thereby made obnoxious to his justice. There is in the nature of God an antipathy to those dispositions and practices that are contrary to his holy law; and, though an expedient is happily found out for his being reconciled to sinners, yet he never will, nor can, be reconciled to sin. And this principle we must resolve to abide by, though the dispensations of his providence may for a time, and in some instances, seem to be inconsistent with it. Note, God's connivance at sin must never be interpreted into a giving countenance to it; for he is not a God that has pleasure in wickedness, Psa 5:4, Psa 5:5. The iniquity which, it is here said, God does not look upon, may be meant especially of the mischief done to God's people by their persecutors; though God sees cause to permit it, yet he does not approve of it; so it agrees with that of Balaam (Num 23:21), He has not beheld iniquity against Jacob, nor seen, with allowance, perverseness against Israel, which is very comfortable to the people of God, in their afflictions by the rage of men, that they cannot infer God's anger from it; though the instruments of their trouble hate them, it does not therefore follow that God does; nay, he loves them, and it is in love that he corrects them.
II. The grievances he complains of, and finds hard to reconcile with these truths: "Since we are sure that thou art a holy God, why have atheists temptation given them to question whether thou art so or no? Wherefore lookest thou upon the Chaldeans that deal treacherously with thy people, and givest them success in their attempts upon us? Why dost thou suffer thy sworn enemies, who blaspheme thy name, to deal thus cruelly, thus perfidiously, with thy sworn subjects, who desire to fear thy name? What shall we say to this?" This was a temptation to Job (Job 21:7; Job 24:1), to David (Psa 73:2, Psa 73:3), to Jeremiah, Jer 12:1, Jer 12:2. 1. That God permitted sin, and was patient with the sinners. He looked upon them; he saw all their wicked doings and designs, and did not restrain nor punish them, but suffered them to speed in their purposes, to go on and prosper, and to carry all before them. Nay, his looking upon them intimates that he not only gave them no check or rebuke, but that he gave them encouragement and assistance, as if he smiled upon them and favoured them. He held his tongue when they went on in their wicked courses, said nothing against them, gave no orders to stop them. These things thou hast done, and I kept silence. 2. That his patience was abused, and, because sentence against these evil works and workers was not executed speedily, therefore their hearts were the more fully set in them to do evil. (1.) They were false and deceitful, and there was no credit to be given them, nor any confidence to be put in them. They deal treacherously; under colour of peace and friendship, they prosecute and execute the most mischievous designs, and make no conscience of their word in any thing. (2.) They hated and persecuted men because they were better than themselves, as Cain hated Abel because his own works were evil and his brother's righteous. The wicked devours the man that is more righteous than he, for that very reason, because he shames him; they have an ill will to the image of God, and therefore devour good men, because they bear that image. Though many of the Jews were as bad as the Chaldeans themselves, and worse, yet there were those among them that were much more righteous, and yet were devoured by them. (3.) They made no more of killing men that of catching fish. The prophet complains that, Providence having delivered up the weaker to be prey to the stronger, they were, in effect, made as the fishes of the sea, Hab 1:14. So they had been among themselves, preying upon one another as the greater fishes do upon the less (Hab 1:3), and they were made so to the common enemy. They were as the creeping things, or swimming things (for the word is used for fish, Gen 1:20), that have no ruler over them, either to restrain them from devouring one another or to protect them from being devoured by their enemies. They are given up to the Chaldeans as fish to the fishermen. Those proud oppressors make no conscience of killing them, any more than men do of pulling fish out of the water, so small account do they make of human lives. They make no difficulty of killing them, but do it with as much ease as men catch fish, that make no resistance, but are unguarded and unarmed, and it is rather a pastime than any pains to take them. They make no distinction among them, but all is fish that comes to their net; and they reckon every thing their own that they can lay their hands on. They have various ways of spoiling and destroying, as men have of taking fish. Some they take up with the angle (Hab 1:15), one by one; others they catch in shoals, and by wholesale, in their net, and gather them in their drag, their enclosing net. Such variety of methods have they to destroy those by whom they hope to enrich themselves. (4.) They gloried in what they got, and pleased themselves with it, though it was got dishonestly: Their portion is fat, and their meat plenteous; they prosper in their oppression and fraud; they have a great deal, and it is of the best; their land is good, and they have abundance of it. And therefore, [1.] They have great complacency in themselves, and are very pleasant; they live merrily (Hab 1:15): Therefore they rejoice and are glad, because their wealth is great, and their projects succeed for the increase of it, Job 31:25. Soul, take thy ease, Luk 12:19. [2.] They have a great conceit of themselves, and are great admirers of their own ingenuity and management: They sacrifice to their own net, and burn incense to their own drag; they applaud themselves for having got so much money, though ever so dishonestly. Note, There is a proneness in us to take the glory of our outward prosperity to ourselves, and to say, My might, and the power of my hands, have gotten me this wealth, Deu 8:17. This is idolizing ourselves, sacrificing to the dragnet, because it is our own, which is as absurd a piece of idolatry as sacrificing to Neptune or Dagon. That which makes them adore their net thus is because by it their portion is fat. Those that make a god of their money will make a god of their drag-net, if they can but get money by it.
III. The prophet, in the close, humbly expresses his hope that God will not suffer these destroyers of mankind always to go on and prosper thus, and expostulates with God concerning it (Hab 1:17): "Shall they therefore empty their net? Shall they enrich themselves, and fill their own vessels, with that which they have by violence and oppression taken away from their neighbours? Shall they empty their net of what they have caught, that they may cast it into the sea again, to catch more? And wilt thou suffer them to proceed in this wicked course? Shall they not spare continually to slay the nations? Must the numbers and wealth of nations be sacrificed to their net? As if it were a small thing to rob men of their estates, shall they rob God of his glory? Is not God the king of nations, and will he not assert their injured rights? Is he not jealous for his own honour, and will he not maintain that?" The prophet lodges the matter in God's hand, and leaves it with him, as the psalmist does. Psa 74:22, Arise, O God! Plead thy own cause.
(Verses 15 and following) He lifted the whole thing on his hook, he pulled it into his net, and gathered it into his seine: over this he will rejoice and exult. Therefore he sacrifices to his seine, and offers to his net, for in them his portion has become fat, and his food is choice: because of this he spreads out his seine, and never stops killing nations. LXX: He lifted the completion onto his hook, and drew it into his net, and gathered it into his seines: because of this he will rejoice and be glad: therefore he sacrifices to his seine, and burns incense to his net, for in them he has fattened his portion, and his food is choice: therefore he spreads out his net, and never ceases to kill nations. Because above he had named fish, saying: And you will make men like fish of the sea, and like creeping things, which is more significant in Hebrew, Remes (), that is, moving, everything namely that which can be moved, therefore it preserves the metaphor of fish in the other things, just as a fisherman throws a hook, and a net, and a dragnet, so that what the hook could not catch may be surrounded by the wider nets that the escaping one will enclose: thus also the Babylonian king will lay waste to everything, and will make all people his prey (Dan. III). Furthermore, what he says: he will rejoice and be glad, and will sacrifice to his net and offer incense to his drag, signifies the idol that he made in the field of Dura (also known as Duram) and the statue of Bel, to which he sacrificed the fattest victims like a great drag, coercing all the nations he had conquered to worship it. For in them, that is, in his idols, he believed that he had become enriched, and his share, that is, he considered himself to possess all the riches, as if he had conquered even the great fish, princes and kings, under his own rule, whom he calls select delicacies. And because once he was satiated by the most abundant fishing, and he filled his net, that is, his army, therefore he does not cease to kill nations, that is, to always fight and slaughter. Moreover, according to the Septuagint, the impious devil (who oppresses the just and has men like fishes of the sea, and devastates all things as if they were reptiles without a leader) sent his hook opposite to that hook, by which the fish was first caught through the apostle Peter, in whose mouth a stater was found (Matthew 17). And his hook caught hold of Adam, and he drew him out of paradise with his net: and he covered him with his snares, various and manifold deceits. Therefore, he will rejoice, and he will consider his traps to be more than the command of the Lord. And he will offer sacrifices not with a hook (which is understood as perverse speech and still established in the beginning), but with his net, because it captures very fat sacrificial victims in it. And: Through one man sinners have become many (Rom. 5:19), and in Adam we all died (1 Cor. 15), and all the saints thereafter were cast out of paradise together with him. And where his chosen foods were, as the Psalmist says: 'He seeks from God his food' (Psalm 104:21), desiring to overthrow the prophets and apostles. And because he deceived the first man, he does not cease to destroy the entire human race every day. And it can also be understood as the perverse and manifold doctrine of heretics, that they themselves catch many fish with their hook, net, and snares, and catch many reptiles, and therefore they rejoice, and they use their speech to deceive and persuade, as if they were adoring and worshiping God, and robbing him: they themselves serve with all their skill, by which they know that so many victims have been killed by them, and that so many of the powerful and holy have been deceived, whom Scripture now names as the fat portion and chosen foods. Therefore, in a likeness of animals, which once they taste blood always thirst for it, they spread their net, and their whole endeavor is to kill not a few, as at the beginning, but many. There is no doubt about the slaughter of many peoples, who have seen such a multitude of heresies and perverse doctrines caught by the hook, the net, and the snares of the devil: and yet the end of their capture is destruction.
The entire life of the saints is engaged in this war, for there happens in them what is written: “The flesh lusts against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh.” They, indeed, fight, but they are not overcome. What shall I say about wicked, carnal and dissipated souls who do not struggle but are carried along in subjection? Because they follow willingly, and of their own accord [they] devote themselves to wicked deeds. With such souls the devil does not condescend to fight at all, because they never or only with difficulty oppose his counsels. But with the saints he has daily struggles, because it is written of him, “His food is rich.” This, I repeat, is the life of the saints, and in this war people are always in danger until they die. But what are the saints going to say at the end, that is, in the triumph of victory? “O death, where is your victory?” This will be the word of the triumphant. “O death, where is your sting? The sting of death is sin,” and death arises from its consequences. Sin is like a scorpion: it stings us, and we are dead. But when is it that we may say, “O death, where is your victory?” This is not promised to us in this life but at the resurrection. Then it will be granted to the saints neither to wish to sin nor to be able to do so at all.
Although, in general, this inflation of pride attacks many people, there are none who have to fear it more than those who have reached the perfection of virtues of the spirit or copious riches and highest offices in the flesh. It becomes all the greater in their cases, because the one who shows pride is greater. It is not content to destroy lowly and common people, but it is also present in the wiles of the greatest. The higher their rank, the deeper their fall. Hence Scripture also has this to say about the same spirit of pride: “And his food,” it says, “is rich.” It attacks people who are select and lofty. It suggests to them that they are great, that they need nothing, that whatever they do, think or say is all due to their wisdom and their prudence. If something turns out well for them under God’s direction, they straightaway claim that it was due to their own strength and their own industry, and they shout, “I did this,” “I said it,” “I thought it,” and as if everyone were stunned, they seize the glory of God and offer themselves to be admired in his likeness. By a righteous sentence, God withdraws his protection from them, as the apostle says, “He has given them up to a reprobate sense, so that they do not do or think what is fitting,” because, when they recognize the providence of God in all matters, they do not magnify God or offer thanks, but they boast of themselves and turn aside in their own idle thoughts. Though they claim to be wise, they are foolish; though they boast that they are firm, unconquered, powerful, they are weak, conquered and powerless.
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SUMMARY
Habakkuk 1:16 presents a scathing indictment of the Chaldeans, the ruthless Babylonian empire God is raising up as an instrument of judgment. The prophet, deeply perplexed by God's choice of such a wicked and arrogant nation, exposes their profound self-worship. This verse reveals the core of their sin: they attribute their immense military success, abundant spoils, and prosperous existence not to divine providence or the Lord's hand, but entirely to their own might, cunning strategies, and instruments of war, effectively deifying their own capabilities.
CONTEXT
EXPOSITION AND ANALYSIS
Key Word Analysis
Verse Breakdown
Literary Devices
Habakkuk 1:16 masterfully employs several literary devices to convey its powerful message. Metaphor is central, with the "net" and "drag" serving as vivid representations of the Chaldeans' military might, their strategies of conquest, and their insatiable appetite for power and plunder. These fishing implements, designed to gather and entrap, powerfully symbolize the Babylonians' comprehensive and inescapable methods of subjugating nations. The acts of "sacrificing" and "burning incense" to these tools are examples of Personification and Idolatry, as inanimate objects (or the abstract concepts they represent) are treated as if they are deities worthy of worship. This highlights the profound spiritual blindness and arrogance of the Chaldeans, who attribute divine power to their own creations and capabilities. Furthermore, there is an element of Irony in the prophet's lament: God is using a nation so steeped in self-worship and idolatry to judge His own people, who themselves have struggled with idolatry. This sets up the deeper theological tension that Habakkuk grapples with throughout the book.
THEOLOGICAL AND THEMATIC CONNECTIONS
Habakkuk 1:16 serves as a profound theological statement on the nature of idolatry, particularly the subtle yet pervasive sin of worshipping one's own means, achievements, and capabilities. The Chaldeans' sin was not merely abstract; it was a practical deification of their military prowess and the material abundance it yielded. This form of idolatry, where human effort and success become the ultimate source of security and identity, is a timeless spiritual danger. It underscores the biblical truth that true worship belongs to God alone, the ultimate source of all blessing and power. When humanity attributes its "fat portion" and "plenteous meat" to anything other than the Creator, it fundamentally distorts reality and invites divine judgment. This verse sets the stage for the book's larger theological argument concerning God's sovereignty over all nations, even those who defy Him, and His ultimate vindication of justice.
REFLECTION AND APPLICATION
Habakkuk 1:16 offers a timeless and piercing challenge to examine the true objects of our trust and worship. While we may not literally burn incense to our fishing nets, the spiritual danger of attributing our success, security, or satisfaction to anything other than God remains profoundly relevant. In a world that often celebrates self-made success and material prosperity, this verse warns against the subtle idolatry of worshipping our careers, financial portfolios, intellectual prowess, or even our meticulously crafted plans and strategies. When our "portion is fat" and our "meat plenteous," do we acknowledge God as the ultimate provider, or do we subtly, or overtly, credit our own ingenuity, hard work, or fortunate circumstances as the sole source? True spiritual health requires a constant reorientation of our hearts, recognizing that every good and perfect gift comes from above (James 1:17). This verse calls us to cultivate a posture of humility and gratitude, ensuring that our ultimate trust and worship are directed solely towards the sovereign God who orchestrates all things, even through unexpected instruments.
Questions for Reflection
FAQ
What does "net" and "drag" specifically symbolize in this verse?
Answer: In Habakkuk 1:16, "net" (Hebrew: chêrem) and "drag" (Hebrew: mikmereth) are powerful metaphors drawn from the world of fishing or hunting. They symbolize the Chaldeans' military might, their cunning strategies, and their comprehensive methods of conquest. Just as a net or dragnet sweeps up fish indiscriminately, the Babylonian army would sweep through nations, capturing people, plundering resources, and bringing entire societies under their control. By "sacrificing" and "burning incense" to these instruments, the Chaldeans are depicted as worshipping their own military prowess and the means by which they achieve their overwhelming success and abundance, rather than acknowledging any divine power or justice beyond themselves.
Is it wrong to be successful or to enjoy abundance, according to this verse?
Answer: No, the verse does not condemn success or abundance in themselves. The problem highlighted in Habakkuk 1:16 is the source of attribution and worship for that success and abundance. The Chaldeans' sin was not that their "portion was fat" or their "meat plenteous," but that they attributed this prosperity solely to their own "net" and "drag"—their own power and methods—and then worshipped those means. This is a form of idolatry and self-worship. The Bible teaches that all good gifts come from God (James 1:17), and while human effort and skill are valuable, they are ultimately empowered and blessed by Him. The danger lies in allowing success or material blessings to become idols, leading us to forget or deny God's sovereignty and provision, as the Chaldeans did.
CHRIST-CENTERED FULFILLMENT
Habakkuk 1:16, with its stark portrayal of the Chaldeans' self-worship and idolatry of their own power, finds its ultimate contrast and fulfillment in the person and work of Jesus Christ. The Chaldeans sought a "fat portion" and "plenteous meat" through their own violent means, worshipping the instruments of their conquest. In stark opposition, Christ came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many (Mark 10:45). The self-reliance and pride exemplified by the Chaldeans represent the fallen human condition, which consistently seeks to establish its own righteousness and secure its own blessings apart from God. Yet, in Christ, we see the perfect humility and dependence on the Father, even to the point of death on a cross (Philippians 2:5-8). He is the true source of all spiritual "portion" and "meat," offering living water and the bread of life that truly satisfies (John 4:10; John 6:35). The Chaldeans' worship of their "net" and "drag" foreshadows humanity's tendency to worship the created rather than the Creator (Romans 1:25), a sin from which Christ delivers us by drawing us into true worship of God. Ultimately, Christ's victory over sin and death, achieved through self-sacrifice rather than self-exaltation, provides the only true and lasting "plenteous" life, a spiritual abundance found in communion with God, rather than in the fleeting spoils of human conquest (John 10:10).