Will not all of these take up a taunt against him, speaking with mockery and derision: 'Woe to him who amasses what is not his and makes himself rich with many loans! How long will this go on?' Will not all of these take up a taunt against him, speaking with mockery and derision:This phrase introduces a collective response from those who have been wronged. The "all of these" refers to the nations and peoples who have suffered under the oppressive rule of the Babylonians. In the biblical context, a "taunt" is a form of poetic justice, where the oppressed are given a voice to speak against their oppressors. This reflects the biblical theme of divine retribution, where God allows the victims to express their grievances. The use of "mockery and derision" indicates a reversal of fortunes, where the once powerful are now subject to scorn, reminiscent of Proverbs 3:34, which states that God mocks the proud but gives grace to the humble. ‘Woe to him who amasses what is not his
The "woe" is a prophetic declaration of judgment, common in the Old Testament, particularly in the books of the prophets. It signifies impending doom and divine displeasure. The phrase "amasses what is not his" highlights the sin of greed and theft, a violation of the Eighth Commandment (Exodus 20:15). This is a direct critique of the Babylonian empire, known for its conquests and plundering of other nations. The accumulation of wealth through unjust means is condemned throughout Scripture, as seen in James 5:1-6, where the rich are warned of the miseries that will come upon them for exploiting others. and makes himself rich with many loans!
This part of the verse addresses the practice of exploiting others through financial means. In ancient times, loans often came with exorbitant interest rates, leading to the debtor's enslavement or loss of property. The Babylonians are depicted as creditors who enrich themselves at the expense of others, a practice condemned in the Mosaic Law (Leviticus 25:36-37). This exploitation is a form of economic oppression, and the Bible consistently advocates for justice and fairness in financial dealings, as seen in Proverbs 22:7, which warns that the borrower is servant to the lender. How long will this go on?’
This rhetorical question expresses the frustration and impatience of those suffering under injustice. It echoes the cries of the oppressed throughout Scripture, such as in Psalm 13:1, where David asks, "How long, O LORD? Will You forget me forever?" It reflects a deep yearning for God's intervention and justice. The question also implies that the current state of affairs is unsustainable and that divine judgment is inevitable. This anticipation of God's righteous action is a recurring theme in the prophetic books, where the ultimate hope is in God's deliverance and the establishment of His kingdom. Persons / Places / Events 1. HabakkukA prophet in the Old Testament who dialogues with God about the justice and righteousness of His actions, particularly concerning the Babylonian empire. 2. The Chaldeans/BabyloniansThe empire that God uses as an instrument of judgment against Judah, known for their greed and oppression. 3. The Oppressed NationsThe various nations and peoples who suffer under the Babylonian conquest and exploitation. 4. GodThe sovereign Lord who responds to Habakkuk's concerns and reveals His plans for justice. 5. The TauntA prophetic declaration against the oppressor, highlighting the moral and spiritual consequences of their actions. Teaching Points The Consequences of GreedGreed leads to moral and spiritual decay. The Babylonians' accumulation of wealth through unjust means ultimately leads to their downfall. Divine JusticeGod's justice may seem delayed, but it is certain. The oppressed can trust that God will address wrongs in His perfect timing. The Power of Prophetic VoiceSpeaking truth to power is a biblical mandate. Like Habakkuk, believers are called to confront injustice with courage and faith. The Futility of Unjust GainWealth amassed through exploitation is temporary and ultimately leads to ruin. True security is found in righteousness and integrity. Trust in God's SovereigntyEven when circumstances seem unjust, believers are encouraged to trust in God's overarching plan and His ability to bring about justice. Bible Study Questions 1. How does the taunt in Habakkuk 2:6 reflect the broader theme of justice in the book of Habakkuk? 2. In what ways can we see the consequences of greed and exploitation in today's world, and how should Christians respond? 3. How does the concept of divine justice in Habakkuk 2:6 provide comfort to those who feel oppressed or wronged? 4. What are some practical ways we can ensure that our pursuit of wealth and success aligns with biblical principles of justice and integrity? 5. How can the prophetic courage of Habakkuk inspire us to address injustices in our own communities and spheres of influence? Connections to Other Scriptures Proverbs 22:16This verse warns against oppressing the poor to increase wealth, connecting to the theme of unjust gain in Habakkuk 2:6. Isaiah 10:1-3These verses speak against those who enact unjust laws and oppress others, similar to the Babylonians' actions. James 5:1-6This New Testament passage warns the rich about the consequences of hoarding wealth and exploiting others, echoing the woes pronounced in Habakkuk. People HabakkukPlaces Chaldea, LebanonTopics Acute, Bitter, Clay, Curse, Debtors, Derision, Enriches, Extortion, Goes, Goods, Heaps, Heavy, Increases, Increaseth, Insinuations, Ladeth, Loadeth, Loads, Loans, Makes, Mockery, Moral, Multiplying, Parable, Piles, Pledges, Property, Proverb, Rich, Riddle, Ridicule, Saying, Sayings, Scoffing, Scorn, Shame, Simile, Stolen, Taking, Taunt, Taunting, Taunt-song, Thick, Till, Wealthy, Weighted, Wo, Woe, Won'tDictionary of Bible Themes Habakkuk 2:6 5311 extortion
5318 fraud
5436 pain
8711 covenant breakers
8816 ridicule, nature of Habakkuk 2:5-6 5870 greed, condemnation Habakkuk 2:6-9 5476 property
8716 dishonesty, examples Habakkuk 2:6-11 8812 riches, ungodly use Habakkuk 2:6-20 9250 woe Library September 15. "Though it Tarry, Wait for It, for it Will Surely Come, and Will not Tarry" (Hab. Ii. 3).
"Though it tarry, wait for it, for it will surely come, and will not tarry" (Hab. ii. 3). Some things have their cycle in an hour and some in a century; but His plans shall complete their cycle whether long or short. The tender annual which blossoms for a season and dies, and the Columbian aloe, which develops in a century, each is true to its normal principle. Many of us desire to pluck our fruit in June rather than wait until October, and so, of course, it is sour and immature; but God's purposes …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth The Crowned Christ Reigning
(Revelation, Chapters xx: 4-xxii.) "On this side of the river and on that was the tree of life, bearing twelve fruits." "A garden is a lovesome thing, God wot! Rose plot, Fringed pool, Ferned grot-- The veriest school Of peace; and yet the fool Contends that God is not-- Not God! in gardens! when the eve is cool? Nay, but I have a sign; 'Tis very sure God walks in mine." Day Is Coming. It's a long lane that has no turning. Every valley leads up a hillside to a hilltop. Every storm ends in sunshine …
by S. D. Gordon—Quiet Talks on the Crowned Christ of Revelation Of Inward Silence
Of Inward Silence "The Lord is in His Holy Temple, let all the earth keep silence before him" (Hab. ii. 20). Inward silence is absolutely indispensable, because the Word is essential and eternal, and necessarily requires dispositions in the soul in some degree correspondent to His nature, as a capacity for the reception of Himself. Hearing is a sense formed to receive sounds, and is rather passive than active, admitting, but not communicating sensation; and if we would hear, we must lend the ear …
Madame Guyon—A Short and Easy Method of Prayer Of Rest in the Presence of God --Its Fruits --Inward Silence --God Commands it --Outward Silence.
The soul, being brought to this place, needs no other preparation than that of repose: for the presence of God during the day, which is the great result of prayer, or rather prayer itself, begins to be intuitive and almost continual. The soul is conscious of a deep inward happiness, and feels that God is in it more truly than it is in itself. It has only one thing to do in order to find God, which is to retire within itself. As soon as the eyes are closed, it finds itself in prayer. It is astonished …
Jeanne Marie Bouvières—A Short Method Of Prayer And Spiritual Torrents A Sermon on a Text not Found in the Bible.
MR. JUSTICE GROVES.--"Men go into the Public-house respectable, and come out felons." My text, as you see, my dear readers, is not taken from the Bible. It does not, however, contradict the Scriptures, but is in harmony with some, such as "WOE UNTO HIM THAT GIVETH HIS NEIGHBOUR DRINK." Habakkuk ii. 15; "WOE UNTO THEM THAT RISE UP EARLY IN THE MORNING, THAT THEY MAY FOLLOW STRONG DRINK."--Isaiah v. 11. "TAKE HEED TO YOURSELVES LEST AT ANY TIME YOUR HEARTS BE OVERCHARGED WITH SURFEITING AND …
Thomas Champness—Broken Bread The Season of Epiphany.
"This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth His glory; and His disciples believed on Him."--John ii. 11. The Epiphany is a season especially set apart for adoring the glory of Christ. The word may be taken to mean the manifestation of His glory, and leads us to the contemplation of Him as a King upon His throne in the midst of His court, with His servants around Him, and His guards in attendance. At Christmas we commemorate His grace; and in Lent His temptation; …
John Henry Newman—Parochial and Plain Sermons, Vol. VII The Sum and Substance of all Theology
Note: On Tuesday, June 25th, 1861, the beloved C. H. Spurgeon visited Swansea. The day was wet, so the services could not be held in the open-air; and, as no building in the town was large enough to hold the vast concourses of people who had come from all parts to hear the renowned preacher, he consented to deliver two discourses in the morning; first at Bethesda, and then at Trinity Chapel. At each place he preached for an hour and a quarter. The weather cleared up during the day; so, in the evening, …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 62: 1916 Habakkuk-On his Watch-Tower
"Lord, teach us to pray."--Luke xi. i. "I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower."--Hab. ii. i. HABAKKUK'S tower was not built of stone and lime. Hiram's Tyrian workmen, with all their skill in hewn stone, and in timber, and in iron, and in brass, had no hand in building Habakkuk's tower. "The Name of the Lord" was Habakkuk's high tower. The truth and the faithfulness and the power of God--these things were the deep and broad foundations of Habakkuk's high tower, into which he continually …
Alexander Whyte—Lord Teach Us To Pray Meditations Before Dinner and Supper.
Meditate that hunger is like the sickness called a wolf; which, if thou dost not feed, will devour thee, and eat thee up; and that meat and drink are but as physic, or means which God hath ordained, to relieve and cure this natural infirmity and necessity of man. Use, therefore, to eat and to drink, rather to sustain and refresh the weakness of nature, than to satisfy the sensuality and delights of the flesh. Eat, therefore, to live, but live not to eat. There is no service so base, as for a man …
Lewis Bayly—The Practice of Piety "Hear the Word of the Lord, Ye Rulers of Sodom, Give Ear unto the Law of Our God, Ye People of Gomorrah,"
Isaiah i. 10, 11, &c.--"Hear the word of the Lord, ye rulers of Sodom, give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah," &c. It is strange to think what mercy is mixed with the most wrath like strokes and threatenings. There is no prophet whose office and commission is only for judgment, nay, to speak the truth, it is mercy that premises threatenings. The entering of the law, both in the commands and curses, is to make sin abound, that grace may superabound, so that both rods and threatenings …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning Letter vi (Circa A. D. 1127) to the Same
To the Same He protests against the reputation for holiness which is attributed to him, and promises to communicate the treatises which he has written. I. Even if I should give myself to you entirely that would be too little a thing still in my eyes, to have recompensed towards you even the half of the kindly feeling which you express towards my humility. I congratulate myself, indeed, on the honour which you have done me; but my joy, I confess, is tempered by the thought that it is not anything …
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux—Some Letters of Saint Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux Faith
What does God require of us, that we may escape his wrath and curse due to us for our sin? Faith in Jesus Christ, repentance unto life, with the diligent use of all the outward means, whereby Christ communicateth to us the benefits of redemption. I begin with the first, faith in Jesus Christ. Whom God has set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood.' Rom 3: 25. The great privilege in the text is, to have Christ for a propitiation; which is not only to free us from God's wrath, but to …
Thomas Watson—The Ten Commandments How to be Admonished are those who Give Away what is their Own, and those who Seize what Belongs to Others.
(Admonition 21.) Differently to be admonished are those who already give compassionately of their own, and those who still would fain seize even what belongs to others. For those who already give compassionately of their own are to be admonished not to lift themselves up in swelling thought above those to whom they impart earthly things; not to esteem themselves better than others because they see others to be supported by them. For the Lord of an earthly household, in distributing the ranks and …
Leo the Great—Writings of Leo the Great Humility is the Root of Charity, and Meekness the Fruit of Both. ...
Humility is the root of charity, and meekness the fruit of both. There is no solid and pure ground of love to others, except the rubbish of self-love be first cast out of the soul; and when that superfluity of naughtiness is cast out, then charity hath a solid and deep foundation: "The end of the command is charity out of a pure heart," 1 Tim. i. 5. It is only such a purified heart, cleansed from that poison and contagion of pride and self-estimation, that can send out such a sweet and wholesome …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning Question of the Contemplative Life
I. Is the Contemplative Life wholly confined to the Intellect, or does the Will enter into it? S. Thomas, On the Beatific Vision, I., xii. 7 ad 3m II. Do the Moral Virtues pertain to the Contemplative Life? S. Augustine, Of the City of God, xix. 19 III. Does the Contemplative Life comprise many Acts? S. Augustine, Of the Perfection of Human Righteousness, viii. 18 " Ep., cxxx. ad probam IV. Does the Contemplative Life consist solely in the Contemplation of God, or in the Consideration …
St. Thomas Aquinas—On Prayer and The Contemplative Life The Second Commandment
Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am o jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of then that hate me; and shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments.' Exod 20: 4-6. I. Thou shalt not …
Thomas Watson—The Ten Commandments The Right Understanding of the Law
Thou shalt have no other Gods before me.' Exod 20: 3. Before I come to the commandments, I shall answer questions, and lay down rules respecting the moral law. What is the difference between the moral laud and the gospel? (1) The law requires that we worship God as our Creator; the gospel, that we worship him in and through Christ. God in Christ is propitious; out of him we may see God's power, justice, and holiness: in him we see his mercy displayed. (2) The moral law requires obedience, but gives …
Thomas Watson—The Ten Commandments Habakkuk
The precise interpretation of the book of Habakkuk presents unusual difficulties; but, brief and difficult as it is, it is clear that Habakkuk was a great prophet, of earnest, candid soul, and he has left us one of the noblest and most penetrating words in the history of religion, ii. 4b. The prophecy may be placed about the year 600 B.C. The Assyrian empire had fallen, and by the battle of Carchemish in 605 B.C., Babylonian supremacy was practically established over Western Asia. Josiah's reformation, …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament Links Habakkuk 2:6 NIVHabakkuk 2:6 NLTHabakkuk 2:6 ESVHabakkuk 2:6 NASBHabakkuk 2:6 KJV
Habakkuk 2:6 Commentaries
Bible Hub |
