Habakkuk Chapter 1 continued
VERSE 12 “Are you not from everlasting, O Lord my God, my Holy One? We shall not die. O Lord, You have appointed them for judgment; O Rock, You have marked them for correction.”
Verse 12, a paragraph break, starts to express thoughts of the Great Company, a righteous class who will be puzzled over the events transpiring. These thoughts continue through Verse 17. In seeing the Lord’s Great Army, an irreligious and powerful force, tear down government and religious institutions (the old order), the Great Company will have mixed experiences: disappointment and chagrin followed by strengthening, then questioning, again strengthening, questioning, etc.
“We shall not die [as new creatures].” Both the Great Company from a present-truth background, as well as the Great Company from Babylon, will feel that there is still hope— that they can get life as spirit beings and not go into extinction (Second Death). The words “we shall not die” thus indicate a strengthening experience.
“O LORD, thou hast ordained them [the Lord’s Great Army] for judgment [to do a destroying work, to bring down the kingdoms of this world].” The Great Company will then understand that the trouble is a part of God’s plan.
“Come near, ye nations, to hear; and hearken, ye people: let the earth hear, and all that is therein; the world, and all things that come forth of it. For the indignation of the Lord is upon all nations, and his fury upon all their armies to deliver them to the slaughter.” (Isa 34:1, 2)
“O mighty God, thou hast appointed them to correct nations.” The King James margin has “O Rock.” A rock is a symbol of stability. Accordingly, the Great Company will realize that God’s omnipotence is not at all threatened by the Time of Trouble, that the lawlessness has been providentially overruled for correction and judgment.” [This is the confidence of the saints, as here expressed by the prophet.]
VERSE 13 “You are of purer eyes than to (continue to) behold evil, and cannot look on wickedness. Why do you look on those who deal treacherously, and hold your tongue when the wicked devours a person more righteous than he?”
“Verse 13 expresses questions asked all down the age, but conditions will be exacerbated and intensified in the future. It is one thing to see the Lord’s Great Army pull down that which is old and effete and unjust and corrupt, but it is another matter to see this lawless element encroach upon a “righteous” class.”
VERSE 14 “Why do you make men like fish of the sea, like creeping things that have no ruler over them?”
“The Great Company class continues to question. Unsuspecting fish (people) are taken suddenly in the net by the Lord’s Great Army. When the Great Company sees noble people and items being taken from them, they will ask, “Why doesn’t God stop the trouble?” (Eventually, the Great Company will get the oil of understanding and zeal, as shown in the Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins in Matt 25.)
“That have no ruler over them.” In the anarchy the people will crave leadership and order and instruction and help, but there will be no one. These conditions will eventually help the Great Company to wash their robes (Rev. 7:14). Instead of inspecting others, they will begin to be introspective. They will have to search their own hearts.”
VERSE 15 “They take up all of them with a hook, they catch them in their net, and gather them in their dragnet. Therefore they rejoice and are glad.”
“The Lord’s Great Army, the ones casting in the net, will rejoice and be glad. They will have no moral restraints and will go after all, good and bad, and will be happy with their seeming success in exploiting others and with force, (might) being their god.”
VERSE 16 “Therefore they sacrifice to their net, and burn incense to their dragnet; because by them their share is sumptuous and their food plentiful.”
“The Lord’s Great Army will worship “their net,” their weapons, their own powers, as the reason for their success. As anarchy interrupts the food supplies, the Lord’s Great Army will enrich themselves with the spoils of others—worldwide. They will march through the lands, taking what they want. Before them is the Garden of Eden; behind them is a desolate wilderness of looting, burning, and extinction. Remember, there will be no police or fire departments at this time.”
Like locusts they shall move across the land devouring everything in sight leaving nothing behind, nothing for those not of their ranks thus there will be a great famine (a literally famine) across the world with many dying of starvation who at one time never suffered for want.
“The land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled: for the Lord hath spoken this word.” (Isa. 24:3)
VERSE 17 “Shall they therefore empty their net, and continue to slay nations without pity?”
“Verse 17 is a rhetorical question. The answer is obvious: NO! The Lord’s Great Army will be insatiable; they will know no end. As soon as they empty the net, they will cast it in again and again and again for more and more spoil. This element has existed all down the age, taking advantage of situations until they are stopped, but here the condition is so prevalent that only divine power will be able to stop them.”
And so it will.
“The nations (the unrestrained anarchist masses, the sea class) raged, the kingdoms (world governments) were moved (out of place, i.e. over-turned, then); He uttered His voice [“BE STILL, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations I will be exalted in the earth!”], the earth melted (the present social order of things was dissolved).” Psa 46:6, 10; Compare 2 Pet 3:10
And so it was that the beast "THAT WAS", and "IS NOT", and had "COME AGAIN" went to destruction, never to arise again. (Rev 17:8)
Broken, battered, humbled, the old order of things having come to an end mankind will finally be ready for the kingdom of righteousness, the new heavens (spiritual ruler-ship) and new earth (a new society) wherein dwells righteousness.
