PUNISHING THE CHALDEANS Having asked the Lord about his position toward the Chaldeans, whom He used as a rod of chastisement against his people; Then they counted themselves as though they are conquering the nations by their own power and might, and that was all within their right, God gave the prophet Habakkuk a comforting answer. 1- The prophet watches for the Lord’s response 1 2- God takes great interest in the prophet’s question 2 – 3 3- Punishing the Chaldeans a- The pride of heart and the inner void 4 – 8 b- The ugly gain 9 – 11 c- The violence 12 – 14 d- Getting drunk, and giving drink to others 15 – 17 e- Idolatry 18 – 20 1- THE PROPHET WATCHES FOR THE LORD’S RESPONSE: “I will stand at my watchpost and station myself on the rampart; I will keep watch to see what He will say to me, and what He will answer concerning my complaint” (Habakkuk 2: 1) We often have on our mind questions that are not only befitting of us to direct to the Lord, But to stand as though at a watchpost waiting for His response to them; To station ourselves as though on a rampart; And to have complete faith and sure trust that God, the Lover of mankind, would not hide His secrets from us, and would never do except what is for our edification. That what the prophet Habakkuk did after raising his question at his watchpost, He waited to hear the Lord’s voice inside him; And took refuge in the rampart, lest the questioning would shake his faith. That watchpost and that rampart are nothing but the Person of our Lord Jesus, by whom we understand the exalted divine secrets, as though through an exalted Watchpost. In Him we take refuge, being the true Rock, on whom the church was established. He is the Watchpost, without which we would not be able to know the Father, according to His own words: “No one knows the Son except the Father, Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and he to whom the Son wills to reveal Him” (Matthew 11: 27). And He is the Rock in which the church takes refuge as a dove, He calls: “O my dove in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the cliff, Let Me see your countenance, Let Me hear your voice” (Songs 2: 14). St. Jerome1 believes that Habakkuk, standing as though at a watchpost to watch, and stationing himself as though on a rampart, is executing his role as a spiritual soldier, persistently wrestling against the devil, and meditating in the works of God and His secrets, particularly those concerning the cross, to get filled with strength for his spiritual war against evil. 2- GOD TAKES GREAT INTEREST IN THE QUESTION: As long as the soul seeks and watches for the words and the response of the Lord, takes refuge in Him as her Rampart, stands ready for the spiritual strife through the divine knowledge; The Lord, on His part, would not forsake her; As according to the prophet: “Then the Lord answered me and said: ‘Write the vision and make it plain on tablets, 1 Ep. 53: 8. 24 so that a runner may read it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time; But at the end it will speak and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; because it will surely come. It will not delay” (Habakkuk 2: 2, 3) It is as though the Lord demands from him, not to bring over paper and pen to write down what he sees and hears, but the need is for tablets to inscribe on them the words of God, so clearly, that even a runner can read them1. …In the book of Isaiah, it is said: “Now go, write it before them on a tablet, and note it on a scroll, that it may be for time to come, forever and ever” (Isaiah 30: 8). As this vision may not be promptly realized, but at the appointed time, it would be befitting of the prophet to wait with complete trust that it would surely come, It will not tarry. This vision is nothing but that concerning the secret of the cross, that would be realized at the fullness of time, when the Word of God will incarnate; He who wrote down the divine love, not on paper and by ink, but, by his bloodshed, drew it on the two boards of the cross, the horizontal and the vertical, drawing all toward Him. Let us therefore run by the Holy Spirit to the cross to read what the only begotten Son has inscribed, to proclaim to us the exalted divine secrets! There, we shall see the utter collapse, not of the wicked Chaldeans, but of the devil Himself, together with all his hosts; To see their perdition with everything they have confiscated. 3- PUNISHING THE CHALDEANS: Raising His prophet Habakkuk up to the vision concerning the cross that will destroy the kingdom of the devil, The Lord again reveals the works of the devil in the life of the wicked Chaldeans, that will be destroyed by the cross; As though He reveals the evil plant, that was not planted by the Father, but by the devil, about which the Lord said, that it should be uprooted (Matthew 15: 13); which are: a- The pride of heart and the inner void: “Behold the proud, His soul is not upright in him, But the righteous shall live by his faith. Indeed, wine betrays him; He is arrogant and never at rest” (Habakkuk 2: 4, 5) If God allowed for his people to be chastised by the heathen Chaldeans. Those later got arrogant, and boasted that the victory and conquest they had, were realized through their own power and might. That is why, after realizing His goal; namely, the chastisement of His children, the Lord will punish the Chaldeans for the pride of their heart. As it was said by the prophet Isaiah, that, Although Assyria was the rod of God’s anger, and the staff in whose hand is His indignation (Isaiah 10: 5); Yet, “It shall come to pass, when the Lord has performed all His work on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem that He will say, ‘I will punish the fruit of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his haughty looks’. For he says: ‘By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom, for I am prudent; Also I have removed the boundaries of the people, and I have robbed their treasuries; So I have put down the inhabitants like a valiant man. My hand has found like a nest the riches of the people, And as one gathers eggs that are left, I have gathered all the earth; and there was no one who moved his wing, nor opened his mouth with even a peep’. Shall the ax boast itself against him who chops with it? Or shall the saw magnify itself against him who saws with it? As if a rod could wield itself against 1 Jerome Biblical Comm, P 297. 25 those who lift it up, or as if a staff could lift up, or as if it were not wood!” (Isaiah 10: 12- 15). That is the work of the devil in the life of man – to put pride in his heart; by which he would assume that by his might and wisdom he could realize his goal; and would not apprehend that every energy or talent in him is from God, even though man has distorted their nature, and deviated them from their goal1 Through pride, Satan fell from his angelic rank, and was cut down to the depths of Sheol (Isaiah 14: 12; Obadiah v. 4); That is why he keeps on striking humanity by the same infirmity, in an attempt to take her down from the life of faith, and to deprive her of the enjoyment of the divine kingdom. St. John Chrysostom says: [Whoever lifts himself up, haughtily above all mankind is actually degrading him to a level lower than the irrational creation1]. If the wicked will perish by the devilish pride, “The just shall live by his faith” (Habakkuk 2: 4). Some scholars believe that this phrase “The just shall live by his faith” is the heart and nerve of the prophecy of the prophet Habakkuk. These famous words which summarize his whole vision2, were quoted by the apostle Paul to confirm that it is not possible to be justified by the works of the law; but by faith in Jesus Christ, hidden in His righteousness. And St. Augustine says: [In Him we are resurrected, and in Him we set forth to the Father to become perfect, and to be justified in an unseen way; As righteousness requires the sound and non-deviated faith3]; And he also says: [where there is no sound faith, there will be no righteousness; as “The just shall live by his faith4]. Pride is planted by the devil in us to deprive us of the life of true faith, and to take us away from the righteousness in Jesus Christ; to find out that this vain pride gives the soul a kind of inner hunger and thirst, through which man seeks satisfaction, not with the righteousness of God, but with what is earthly, through violence and oppression … And the more he gets, the more his inner void grows, to remain unsatisfied all the days of his life. By such a spirit, the Chaldeans attacked the nations, and humiliated mankind without real satisfaction: Because he enlarges his desire as hell, and he is like death, and cannot be satisfied. He gathers to himself all nations, and heaps up for himself all peoples. Shall not all these take up a proverb against him, and a taunting riddle against him, and say, ‘Woe to him who increases what is not his – for how long?’ And to him who loads himself with many pledges? ‘Will not your creditors rise up suddenly?’ Will they not awaken who oppress you? And you will become their booty, because you have plundered many nations, All the remnant of the people shall plunder you. Because of men’s blood, and the violence of the land and the city, and all who dwell in it”(Habakkuk 2: 5-8) If we take it literally, we may say that the Chaldeans have enlarged themselves as a grave, swallowed peoples like dead, and with no satisfaction; In an incessant attempt to take over the nations and the peoples by violence and oppression. But that would eventually come to an end, after which everything will turn around, and the captivated 1 In Philip. Hom 7. 2 Jerome Bibl. Comm, p. 297. 3 Ser. On N.T. 93: 4. 4 SER. ON Mount 1: 5. 26 nations will wake up, be liberated, to gloat at the Chaldeans, and to scoff at them, saying: “Woe to him who increases what is not his – For how long?” They will pour woes on the Chaldeans, who proudly assumed that they have loaded themselves with plenty, which are actually not theirs; and will give back their spoil! “Who loads himself with many pledges “What they have gathered was not real wealth, but rather no more than dense mud; Not gold or silver, but dust that would weigh upon their souls with the love of the earthly world. “Will not your creditors rise up suddenly? Will they not awaken who oppress you?” In a moment not expected by the Chaldeans, those who were as though sleeping, will eventually wake up to turn the Chaldeans who plundered them into their booty; “Because you have plundered many nations, Al the remnant of the people shall plunder you” And the way they shed blood, their blood will be shed; And the way they wasted the lands and the cities, they will be, themselves wasted. It does not stop at losing their satisfaction, But the Chaldeans will also lose what they have assumed to be their profit; They will lose both their wealth and honor … To be ultimately told: “As you have done, it shall be done to you; Your reprisal shall return upon your own head” (Abadiah v. 15). b- The ugly gain: “Woe to him who covets evil gain for his house, That he may set his nest on high, That he may be delivered from the power of disaster! You gave shameful counsel to your house, cutting off many peoples, and sinned against your soul. For the stone will cry out from the wall, and the beam from the timbers will answer it” (Habakkuk 2: 9-11) This is the second woe. The first was because of the sin of pride, that brings no satisfaction to the soul, but only perdition. While the second is because of the ugly gain. The wicked assumes that he is filling his house with goods, Not knowing that, actually, he is gathering evil gain that will bring a curse over his whole household; according to the wise words “He who is greedy for gain, troubles his own house” (Proverb 15: 8). He covets the ugly gain, thinking that it will carry him on its wings to set his nest up high, where no one can approach him; when he actually does himself wrong by building his house with shame. The stones he acquired by oppression to build his house, would cry out testifying to his wickedness; And the wooden beams by which the building is held together, would not keep silent. The building he builds by oppression would turn into a musical choir that sings a sad lamentation on its owner! Ahab the king and his wife Jezabel thought that they have killed Naboth the Jezreelite and inherited his vineyard; and nobody would hold them into account for what they did; When they have actually acquired their own perdition; As the words of the Lord to Ahab through the prophet Elijah were: “In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth the Jezreelite, dogs shall lick your blood” (1 kings 21: 19). c- The violence: “Woe to him who builds a town with bloodshed; Who establishes a city by iniquity! Behold, Is it not of the Lord of hosts that the peoples labor to feed the fire; And nations weary themselves in vain? For the earth will be filled with the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea” (Habakkuk 2: 12-14) This is the third woe that will dwell upon man, who in his love of evil or ugly gain, transformed into a vicious beast, builds his town with bloodshed, and establishes his 27 city by the law of iniquity. St. John Chrysostom says that man became more evil than wild beasts; that would not devour one another of the same kind; Whereas man would devour his brother in humanity; and assumes that he is not able to build a city to dwell and find comfort, except at the expense of his brother’s blood. Anyway, the earth would eventually be filled with the knowledge of the glory of God, when the world sees that the oppressive blood-shedders have labored, not to build towns, nor to establish cities; but to become, themselves, fuel for the fire; They labor in vain until they are overcome by infirmity or exhaustion, and with no profit altogether! If our bodies through bloodshed or iniquity has become earth; Through receiving the sanctification of the Holy Spirit, they will become filled with the glory of God, to bear the Spirit of our meek Savior. And if our life has become a saline sea, The sweet water of the Holy Spirit will transform its nature. And finally, if the oppression would reach its maximum horror, when man turns into a blood-shedder, St. Jerome believes that the heretics are the worst blood-shedders; As they do not kill the body, but the soul, by deviation from the living faith; Namely from the truth; saying: [The heretic, by his deception, kills many souls; he is both deceptive and a blood-shedder! 1]. 4- GETTING DRUNK, AND GIVING DRINK TO HIS NEIGHBOR: “Woe to him who gives drink to his neighbor. Pressing him to your bottle, Even to make him drunk, that you may look on his nakedness! You will be filled with shame instead of glory. You also – drink! And be exposed as uncircumcised! The cup of the Lord’s right hand will be turned against you, And utter shame will cover your glory” (Habakkuk 2: 15, 16) The fourth woe is on the sin of getting drunk, On finding himself loosing his dignity and inner balance, he gives drink to his neighbor, pressing him to his bottle to seduce him by its shape; So that, the way he lost his purity, he desires to look on the nakedness of his neighbor; namely on his inner secrets, to corrupt his depths. Who is he who gives drink to others, but the devil who seduces man, pretending to be his friend, in order to let him lose his true Christ, and to turn him to disgrace. This does not add glory to the enemy, but shame; And If by that, he assumes that he establishes his kingdom and widens its range; he is only filling the cup of God’s wrath on himself, to drink of what he gave us with double bitterness “In the cup which she has mixed, mix for her double” (Revelation 18: 3,6). “And utter shame will cover your glory” (16). When those around him look at him, and see neither true glory nor real riches, they will vomit on his vain glory! … So will be the one who gives drink to others; He prepares for himself those who are going to vomit on him and to cover him with shame! What we say concerning the sin of getting drunk, to which the devil draws us; We also says concerning those who lead a life of looseness and spoilage; the kind of life that carries in itself the death of the soul, and the shame instead of glory. And as said by St. John Chrysostom: [He who leads a life of pleasure; living only for his belly, is dead while living; He who spends his life in banquets and drinking, Is he not dead, and buried in darkness2?!] 5- Idolatry: 1 On Ps. Hom 2. 2 In Tim hom. 13. 28 “Of what value is an idol, since a man has carved it; a cast image that teaches lies? For its maker trustsin what has been made, though the product is only an idol that cannot speak!? Woe to him who says to wood, ‘Come to life’, Or to lifeless stone, ‘Wake up! Can it give guidance?! Behold, It is overlaid with gold and silver. And there is no breath in itl. But the Lord is in His holy temple. Let all the earth be silent before Him” (Habakkuk 2: 18-20) This last woe is addressed to the Chaldeans who boast their gods, the product of their own hands. Although they reveal that they were clever and elaborate in handicraft; and have spent a fortune to cover them with gold and silver, yet they are no more than lifeless and spiritless stone or wood. What benefit would such idols bring them?! They ask the wooden Baal to come to life to save them; and the stone Ashtoreth, his wife to wake up to see what has dwelt upon them, and show compassion on them. But neither one is able to save them. They are indeed beautiful, but utterly helpless; whereas, before the true God in His holy temple, the whole earth would keep silent. How ridiculous for man to forsake His true God, set in his heart, as though in a heavenly temple; And resort to his own thoughts, that, although they may look beautiful and like shining gods, yet they are lifeless and helpless to provide him with salvation. How miserable he would be, he who rejects the Grantor of salvation, who would turn his heart into heaven; and worship the human deceptive thoughts and philosophies, which would turn him into earth! Helpless to oppose God, he would hearken the voice saying: “Let all the earth be silent before Him” (20). We hope not to be a soundless and wordless land in front of God but to be like a spiritual heaven carries the Words of God, joyful voices and persistent angel praising
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