“Woe to him who gets evil gain for his house, to set his nest on high, to be safe from the reach of harm! You have devised shame for your house by cutting off many peoples; you have forfeited your life. For the stone will cry out from the wall, and the beam from the woodwork respond.” (Habakkuk 2:9-11 ESV)
Means matter. How one arrives at a destination is as important as the destination itself. This principle becomes especially apparent when considering how one achieves material gain. Gain, in and of itself, is neither morally good nor morally bad. Riches can provide security and multiply opportunities for service to others, but they can also have inherent consequences (Matthew 19:24). Of more importance than any gain itself is how a person accumulates it, responds to it, and stewards it.
Habukkuk’s pronouncement of woe on Babylon, then, is not simply prompted by the size of its proverbial bank account. Babylon’s judgment was not a result of its gain, but the manner by which its gain was procured. It was “evil gain” that was an offense to the holiness and justice of God. It was not legitimately earned wealth that was used for the provision or protection of those under its rule or for the blessing of other nations. The goal of Babylon’s rulers was to increase their own status and supremacy.
They were guilty of evil gain “for [their] house.”. They collected nations and people (2:5), motivated by a desire to build up immeasurable wealth for future generations. They cared not for the generations of other nations but only saw such resources as available for the taking, hoping that their increased riches would keep them “safe from the reach of harm.” How foolishly man thinks that riches will be a stronghold in the day of trouble. Babylon ravaged other nations for the express purpose of protecting themselves from harm, yet it was precisely because of its “evil gain” that the Lord would destroy them.
In addition, Babylon fancied that, through its conquest, it would be respected—or, at the very least, feared by the whole world. Yet, the Lord says to Babylon, “you have devised shame for your house.” Sinful mankind often seeks gain, safety, security, and standing, yet the devious and wicked means by which he goes about that render to him judgment, shame, and death. Rather than these things protecting his life, God says, “you have forfeited your life.” The very thing by which Babylon attempted to gain generational riches and set itself above potential harm was the thing by which Babylon was made destitute and shameful.
To go even further, the inanimate materials stolen by Babylon bore witness of its injustice. The stones and beams which marked the grandeur of its conquest stood as heralds proclaiming the evils for which Babylon was guilty.
The book of Habakkuk is filled with such ironies. At virtually every turn, what Habakkuk expects—and what we as the readers expect—leads to an unexpected result. These ironies are a testament to the wisdom and transcendence of Yahweh as the only true God.
Babylon’s judgment also reminds us that the heart is exposed to God, and all must give account to him (Hebrews 4:13). Much of the basis for the pronouncement of woe in these verses is rooted in the motivations of the heart. While the cause for the previous pronouncement of judgment was more visible to the eye—the violent plundering of people and the destruction of lands and cities—the evil desires and misplaced motivations in this passage could be more easily hidden from their fellow man. But God is not deceived. As Jesus exposed the hearts of the Pharisees, so God here exposed the hearts of the Babylonians. No matter how much we may try to contrive good motives for our actions, we cannot escape the gaze of him who sees and knows all.
Our sin, like that of Babylon, leaves us equally liable to the fires of judgment. We may be tempted to read passages like this and say, like the Pharisee, “God, I thank you that I am not like other men” (Luke 18:11). We should not come away from this simply feeling better about ourselves because we are not like Babylon. We should come away feeling our own sin more keenly and also seeing the sufficiency of Christ’s atonement more clearly. Were we not covered by the blood of the Lamb, our lot would be no different than that which awaited those in this passage.
Babylon was an evil nation which would soon experience the weight of God’s wrath. Apart from the regenerating work of the Spirit in us, we are citizens of spiritual Babylon, which is doomed for destruction.As J. C. Ryle said, “Let us never measure our religion by that of others, and think we are doing enough if we have gone beyond our neighbors.” We have not done enough simply because we have “gone beyond” Babylon. We have only done enough if we, like Habakkuk, have gone to God. There alone do we find eternal gain, lasting safety, and true honor.
Prayer:
Heavenly Father,
You see even the deepest recesses of our hearts. You know our desires and motivations more fully than we ourselves even know. Teach us to seek not the evil gain and fleeting safety we can find in this world but rather to cling only to Christ.
In his name, amen.
Prayer Requests:
- Tuesday: Pray for the ministry of the Evangelical Church of Bermuda.
- Wednesday: Pray for missionaries using Brilla Café to build redemptive relationships in Spain.
- Thursday: Pray for missionaries engaged in orphan and widow ministry in Japan.
- Friday: Pray for missionaries serving at Litha Daycare Center in South Africa.
- Saturday: Pray for the ongoing education at the Balkans S.T.E.A.M. School.
- Sunday: Pray for missionaries serving in prison ministry.
- Monday: Pray for missionaries providing Bibles and resources to indigenous populations in Mexico.
