mh_parser/vol_split/35 - Habakkuk/Chapter 2.xml

<div2 id="Hab.iii" n="iii" next="Hab.iv" prev="Hab.ii" progress="90.12%" title="Chapter II">
<h2 id="Hab.iii-p0.1">H A B A K K U K.</h2>
<h3 id="Hab.iii-p0.2">CHAP. II.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Hab.iii-p1" shownumber="no">In this chapter we have an answer expected by the
prophet (<scripRef id="Hab.iii-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Hab.2.1" parsed="|Hab|2|1|0|0" passage="Hab 2:1">ver. 1</scripRef>), and
returned by the Spirit of God, to the complaints which the prophet
made of the violences and victories of the Chaldeans in the close
of the foregoing chapter. The answer is, I. That after God has
served his own purposes by the prevailing power of the Chaldeans,
has tried the faith and patience of his people, and distinguished
between the hypocrites and the sincere among them, he will reckon
with the Chaldeans, will humble and bring down, not only that proud
monarch Nebuchadnezzar, but that proud monarchy, for their
boundless and insatiable thirst after dominion and wealth, for
which they themselves should at length be made a prey, <scripRef id="Hab.iii-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Hab.2.2-Hab.2.8" parsed="|Hab|2|2|2|8" passage="Hab 2:2-8">ver. 2-8</scripRef>. II. That not they only,
but all other sinners like them, should perish under a divine woe.
1. Those that are covetous, are greedy of wealth and honours,
<scripRef id="Hab.iii-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Hab.2.9 Bible:Hab.2.11" parsed="|Hab|2|9|0|0;|Hab|2|11|0|0" passage="Hab 2:9,11">ver. 9, 11</scripRef>. 2. Those that
are injurious and oppressive, and raise estates by wrong and
rapine, <scripRef id="Hab.iii-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Hab.2.12-Hab.2.14" parsed="|Hab|2|12|2|14" passage="Hab 2:12-14">ver. 12-14</scripRef>. 3.
Those that promote drunkenness that they may expose their
neighbours to shame, <scripRef id="Hab.iii-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Hab.2.15-Hab.2.17" parsed="|Hab|2|15|2|17" passage="Hab 2:15-17">ver.
15-17</scripRef>. 4. Those that worship idols, <scripRef id="Hab.iii-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Hab.2.18-Hab.2.20" parsed="|Hab|2|18|2|20" passage="Hab 2:18-20">ver. 18-20</scripRef>.</p>
<scripCom id="Hab.iii-p1.7" osisRef="Bible:Hab.2" parsed="|Hab|2|0|0|0" passage="Hab 2" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Hab.iii-p1.8" osisRef="Bible:Hab.2.1-Hab.2.4" parsed="|Hab|2|1|2|4" passage="Hab 2:1-4" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Hab.iii-p1.9">
<h4 id="Hab.iii-p1.10">Waiting upon God; The People
Directed. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Hab.iii-p1.11">b. c.</span> 600.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Hab.iii-p2" shownumber="no">1 I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon
the tower, and will watch to see what he will say unto me, and what
I shall answer when I am reproved.   2 And the <span class="smallcaps" id="Hab.iii-p2.1">Lord</span> answered me, and said, Write the vision,
and make <i>it</i> plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth
it.   3 For the vision <i>is</i> yet for an appointed time,
but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait
for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.   4
Behold, his soul <i>which</i> is lifted up is not upright in him:
but the just shall live by his faith.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Hab.iii-p3" shownumber="no">Here, I. The prophet humbly gives his
attendance upon God (<scripRef id="Hab.iii-p3.1" osisRef="Bible:Hab.2.1" parsed="|Hab|2|1|0|0" passage="Hab 2:1"><i>v.</i>
1</scripRef>): "<i>I will stand upon my watch,</i> as a sentinel on
the walls of a besieged city, or on the borders of an invaded
country, that is very solicitous to gain intelligence. I will look
up, will look round, will look within, <i>and watch to see what he
will say unto me,</i> will listen attentively to the words of his
mouth and carefully observe the steps of his providence, that I may
not lose the least hint of instruction or direction. <i>I will
watch to see what he will say in me</i>" (so it may be read), "what
the Spirit of prophecy in me will dictate to me, by way of answer
to my complaints." Even in a ordinary way, God not only speaks to
us by his word, but speaks in us by our own consciences, whispering
to us, <i>This is the way, walk in it;</i> and we must attend to
the voice of God in both. The prophet's standing upon his
<i>tower,</i> or high place, intimates his prudence, in making use
of the helps and means he had within his reach to know the mind of
God, and to be instructed concerning it. Those that expect to hear
from God must withdraw from the world, and get above it, must raise
their attention, fix their thought, study the scriptures, consult
experiences and the experienced, continue instant in prayer, and
thus set themselves <i>upon the tower.</i> His standing upon his
watch intimates his patience, his constancy and resolution; he will
wait the time, and weather the point, as a watchman does, but he
will have an answer; he will know what God will <i>say to him,</i>
not only for his own satisfaction, but to enable him as a prophet
to give satisfaction to others, and answer their exceptions, when
he is reproved or argued with. Herein the prophet is an example to
us. 1. When we are tossed and perplexed with doubts concerning the
methods of Providence, are tempted to think that it is fate, or
fortune, and not a wise God, that governs the world, or that the
church is abandoned, and God's covenant with his people cancelled
and laid aside, then we must take pains to furnish ourselves with
considerations proper to clear this matter; we must stand upon our
watch against the temptation, that it may not get ground upon us,
must set ourselves upon the tower, to see if we can discover that
which will silence the temptation and solve the objected
difficulties, must do as the psalmist, <i>consider the days of
old</i> and make <i>a diligent search</i> (<scripRef id="Hab.iii-p3.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.77.6" parsed="|Ps|77|6|0|0" passage="Ps 77:6">Ps. lxxvii. 6</scripRef>), must go into the sanctuary of
God, and there labour to understand the end of these things
(<scripRef id="Hab.iii-p3.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.73.17" parsed="|Ps|73|17|0|0" passage="Ps 73:17">Ps. lxxiii. 17</scripRef>); we must
not give way to our doubts, but struggle to make the best of our
way out of them. 2. When we have been at prayer, pouring out our
complaints and requests before God, we must carefully observe what
answers God gives by his word, his Spirit, and his providences, to
our humble representations; when David says, <i>I will direct my
prayer unto thee,</i> as an arrow to the mark, he adds, <i>I will
look up,</i> will look after my prayer, as a man does after the
arrow he has shot, <scripRef id="Hab.iii-p3.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.5.3" parsed="|Ps|5|3|0|0" passage="Ps 5:3">Ps. v. 3</scripRef>.
We must <i>hear what God the Lord will speak,</i> <scripRef id="Hab.iii-p3.5" osisRef="Bible:Ps.85.8" parsed="|Ps|85|8|0|0" passage="Ps 85:8">Ps. lxxxv. 8</scripRef>. 3. When we go to read
and hear the word of God, and so to consult the lively oracles, we
must set ourselves to observe what God will thereby <i>say unto
us,</i> to suit our case, what word of conviction, caution,
counsel, and comfort, he will bring to our souls, that we may
receive it, and submit to the power of it, and may consider what we
shall answer, what returns we shall make to the word of God, when
we are reproved by it. 4. When we are attacked by such as quarrel
with God and his providence as the prophet here seems to have
been—beset, besieged, as in a tower, by hosts of objectors—we
should consider how to answer them, fetch our instructions from
God, hear what he says to us for our satisfaction, and have that
ready to say to others, <i>when we are reproved,</i> to satisfy
them, as a <i>reason of the hope that is in us</i> (<scripRef id="Hab.iii-p3.6" osisRef="Bible:1Pet.3.15" parsed="|1Pet|3|15|0|0" passage="1Pe 3:15">1 Pet. iii. 15</scripRef>), and beg of God <i>a
mouth and wisdom,</i> and that it may be <i>given us in that same
hour what we shall speak.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Hab.iii-p4" shownumber="no">II. God graciously gives him the meeting;
for he will not disappoint the believing expectations of his people
that wait to hear what he will say unto them, but will <i>speak
peace,</i> will <i>answer them with good words and comfortable
words,</i> <scripRef id="Hab.iii-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:Zech.1.13" parsed="|Zech|1|13|0|0" passage="Zec 1:13">Zech. i. 13</scripRef>. The
prophet had complained of the prevalence of the Chaldeans, which
God had given him a prospect of; now, to pacify him concerning it,
he here gives him a further prospect of their fall and ruin, as
Isaiah, before this, when he had foretold the captivity in Babylon,
foretold also the destruction of Babylon. Now, this great and
important event being made known to him by a vision, care is taken
to publish the vision, and transmit it to the generations to come,
who should see the accomplishment of it.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Hab.iii-p5" shownumber="no">1. The prophet must <i>write the
vision,</i> <scripRef id="Hab.iii-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Hab.2.2" parsed="|Hab|2|2|0|0" passage="Hab 2:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>.
Thus, when St. John had a vision of the New Jerusalem, he was
ordered to <i>write,</i> <scripRef id="Hab.iii-p5.2" osisRef="Bible:Rev.21.5" parsed="|Rev|21|5|0|0" passage="Re 21:5">Rev. xxi.
5</scripRef>. He must write it, that he might imprint it on his own
mind, and make it more clear to himself, but especially that it
might be notified to those in distant places and transmitted to
those in future ages. What is handed down by tradition is easily
mistaken and liable to corruption; but what is written is reduced
to a certainty, and preserved safe and pure. We have reason to
bless God for written visions, that God has written to us the great
things of his prophets as well as of his law. He must <i>write the
vision,</i> and <i>make it plain upon tables,</i> must write it
legibly, in large characters, so that <i>he who runs may read
it,</i> that those who will not allow themselves leisure to read it
deliberately may not avoid a <i>cursory</i> view of it. Probably,
the prophets were wont to write some of the most remarkable of
their predictions in tables, and to hang them up in the temple,
<scripRef id="Hab.iii-p5.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.8.1" parsed="|Isa|8|1|0|0" passage="Isa 8:1">Isa. viii. 1</scripRef>. Now the
prophet is told to <i>write this</i> very <i>plain.</i> Note, Those
who are employed in preaching the word of God should study
plainness as much as may be, so as to make themselves intelligible
to the meanest capacities. The things of our everlasting peace,
which God has written to us, are made plain, <i>they are all plain
to him that understands</i> (<scripRef id="Hab.iii-p5.4" osisRef="Bible:Prov.8.9" parsed="|Prov|8|9|0|0" passage="Pr 8:9">Prov. viii.
9</scripRef>), and they are published with authority; God himself
has prefixed his <i>imprimatur</i> to them; he has said, <i>Make
them plain.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Hab.iii-p6" shownumber="no">2. The people must wait for the
accomplishment of the <i>vision</i> (<scripRef id="Hab.iii-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Hab.2.3" parsed="|Hab|2|3|0|0" passage="Hab 2:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>): "<i>The vision is yet for an
appointed time</i> to come. You shall now be told of your
deliverance by the breaking of the Chaldeans' power, and that the
time of it is fixed in the counsel and decree of God. <i>There is
an appointed time,</i> but it is not near; it is yet to be deferred
a great while;" and that comes in here as a reason why it must be
written, that it may be reviewed afterwards and the event compared
with it. Note, God has an appointed time for his appointed work,
and will be sure to do the work when the time comes; it is not for
us to anticipate his appointments, but to wait his time. And it is
a great encouragement to wait with patience, that, though the
promised favour be deferred long, it will come at last, and be an
abundant recompence to us for our waiting: <i>At the end it shall
speak and not lie.</i> We shall not be disappointed of it, for it
will come at the time appointed; nor shall we be disappointed in
it, for it will fully answer our believing expectations. The
promise may seem silent a great while, but at the end it shall
speak; and therefore, <i>though it tarry</i> longer than we
expected, yet we must continue <i>waiting for it,</i> being assured
it will come, and willing to tarry until it does come. The day that
God has set for the deliverance of his people, and the destruction
of his and their enemies, is a day, (1.) That will surely come at
last; it is never adjourned <i>sine die—without fixing another
day,</i> but it will without fail come at the fixed time and the
fittest time. (2.) It <i>will not tarry,</i> for God <i>is not
slack, as some count slackness</i> (<scripRef id="Hab.iii-p6.2" osisRef="Bible:2Pet.3.9" parsed="|2Pet|3|9|0|0" passage="2Pe 3:9">2
Pet. iii. 9</scripRef>); <i>though it tarry</i> past our time, yet
<i>it does not tarry</i> past God's time, which is always the best
time.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Hab.iii-p7" shownumber="no">3. This vision, the accomplishment of which
is so long waited for, will be such an exercise of faith and
patience as will try and discover men what they are, <scripRef id="Hab.iii-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Hab.2.4" parsed="|Hab|2|4|0|0" passage="Hab 2:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>. (1.) There are some who
will proudly disdain this vision, whose hearts are so lifted up
that they scorn to take notice of it; if God will work for them
immediately, they will thank him, but they will not give him
credit; their hearts are lifted up towards vanity, and, since God
puts them off, they will shift for themselves and not be beholden
to him; they think <i>their own hands sufficient for them,</i> and
God's promise is to them an insignificant thing. That man's soul
that is thus <i>lifted up is not upright in him;</i> it is not
right with God, is not as it should be. Those that either distrust
or despise God's all-sufficiency will not walk uprightly with him,
<scripRef id="Hab.iii-p7.2" osisRef="Bible:Gen.17.1" parsed="|Gen|17|1|0|0" passage="Ge 17:1">Gen. xvii. 1</scripRef>. But, (2.)
Those who are truly good, and whose hearts are upright with God,
will value the promise, and venture their all upon it; and, in
confidence of the truth of it, will keep close to God and duty in
the most difficult trying times, and will then live comfortably in
communion with God, dependence on him, and expectation of him.
<i>The just shall live by faith;</i> during the captivity good
people shall support themselves, and live comfortably, by faith in
these precious promises, while the performance of them is deferred.
<i>The just shall live by his faith,</i> by that faith which he
acts upon the word of God. This is quoted in the New Testament
(<scripRef id="Hab.iii-p7.3" osisRef="Bible:Rom.1.17 Bible:Gal.3.11 Bible:Heb.10.38" parsed="|Rom|1|17|0|0;|Gal|3|11|0|0;|Heb|10|38|0|0" passage="Ro 1:17,Ga 3:11,Heb 10:38">Rom. i. 17; Gal.
iii. 11; Heb. x. 38</scripRef>), for the proof of the great
doctrine of justification by faith only and of the influence which
the grace of faith has upon the Christian life. Those that are made
<i>just by faith shall live,</i> shall be happy here and for ever;
while they are here, they live by it; when they come to heaven
faith shall be swallowed up in vision.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Hab.iii-p7.4" osisRef="Bible:Hab.2.5-Hab.2.14" parsed="|Hab|2|5|2|14" passage="Hab 2:5-14" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Hab.iii-p7.5">
<h4 id="Hab.iii-p7.6">Judgment Predicted; Judgment of the King of
Babylon. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Hab.iii-p7.7">b. c.</span> 600.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Hab.iii-p8" shownumber="no">5 Yea also, because he transgresseth by wine,
<i>he is</i> a proud man, neither keepeth at home, who enlargeth
his desire as hell, and <i>is</i> as death, and cannot be
satisfied, but gathereth unto him all nations, and heapeth unto him
all people:   6 Shall not all these take up a parable against
him, and a taunting proverb against him, and say, Woe to him that
increaseth <i>that which is</i> not his! how long? and to him that
ladeth himself with thick clay!   7 Shall they not rise up
suddenly that shall bite thee, and awake that shall vex thee, and
thou shalt be for booties unto them?   8 Because thou hast
spoiled many nations, all the remnant of the people shall spoil
thee; because of men's blood, and <i>for</i> the violence of the
land, of the city, and of all that dwell therein.   9 Woe to
him that coveteth an evil covetousness to his house, that he may
set his nest on high, that he may be delivered from the power of
evil!   10 Thou hast consulted shame to thy house by cutting
off many people, and hast sinned <i>against</i> thy soul.   11
For the stone shall cry out of the wall, and the beam out of the
timber shall answer it.   12 Woe to him that buildeth a town
with blood, and stablisheth a city by iniquity!   13 Behold,
<i>is it</i> not of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Hab.iii-p8.1">Lord</span> of
hosts that the people shall labour in the very fire, and the people
shall weary themselves for very vanity?   14 For the earth
shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Hab.iii-p8.2">Lord</span>, as the waters cover the sea.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Hab.iii-p9" shownumber="no">The prophet having had orders to <i>write
the vision,</i> and the people to wait for the accomplishment of
it, the vision itself follows; and it is, as divers other
prophecies we have met with, the burden of Babylon and Babylon's
king, the same that was said to <i>pass over</i> and <i>offend,</i>
<scripRef id="Hab.iii-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:Hab.1.11" parsed="|Hab|1|11|0|0" passage="Hab 1:11"><i>ch.</i> i. 11</scripRef>. It reads
the doom, some think, of Nebuchadnezzar, who was principally active
in the destruction of Jerusalem, or of that monarchy, or of the
whole kingdom of the Chaldeans, or of all such proud and oppressive
powers as bear hard upon any people, especially upon God's people.
Observe,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Hab.iii-p10" shownumber="no">I. The charge laid down against this enemy,
upon which the sentence is grounded, <scripRef id="Hab.iii-p10.1" osisRef="Bible:Hab.2.5" parsed="|Hab|2|5|0|0" passage="Hab 2:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>. The <i>lusts of the flesh, the
lusts of the eye,</i> and <i>the pride of life,</i> are the
entangling snares of men, and great men especially; and we find him
that led Israel captive himself led captive by each of these. For,
1. He is sensual and voluptuous, and given to his pleasures: <i>He
transgresses by wine.</i> Drunkenness is itself a transgression,
and is the cause of abundance of transgression. We read of those
that <i>err through wine,</i> <scripRef id="Hab.iii-p10.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.28.7" parsed="|Isa|28|7|0|0" passage="Isa 28:7">Isa.
xxviii. 7</scripRef>. Belshazzar (in whom particularly this
prophecy had its accomplishment) was in the height of his
transgression by wine when the hand-writing upon the wall signed
the warrant for his immediate execution, pursuant to this sentence,
<scripRef id="Hab.iii-p10.3" osisRef="Bible:Dan.5.1" parsed="|Dan|5|1|0|0" passage="Da 5:1">Dan. v. 1</scripRef>. 2. He is haughty
and imperious: <i>He is a proud man,</i> and his pride is a certain
presage of his fall coming on. If great men be proud men, the great
God will make them know he is above them. His transgressing by wine
is made the cause of his arrogance and insolence: therefore <i>he
is a proud man.</i> When a man is drunk, though he makes himself as
mean as a beast, yet he thinks himself as great as a king, and
prides himself in that by which he shames himself. We find <i>the
crown of pride</i> upon the head of the <i>drunkards of
Ephraim,</i> and a <i>woe</i> to both, <scripRef id="Hab.iii-p10.4" osisRef="Bible:Isa.28.1" parsed="|Isa|28|1|0|0" passage="Isa 28:1">Isa. xxviii. 1</scripRef>. 3. He is covetous and greedy
of wealth, and this is the effect of his pride; he thinks himself
worthy to enjoy all, and therefore makes it his business to engross
all. The Chaldean monarchy aimed to be a universal one. He <i>keeps
not at home,</i> is not content with his own, which he has an
incontestable title to, but thinks it too little, and so enjoys it
not, nor takes the comfort he might in his own palace, in his own
dominion. His sin is his punishment, his ambition is his perpetual
uneasiness. Though the home be a palace, yet to a discontented mind
it is a prison. He <i>enlarges his desire as hell,</i> or <i>the
grave,</i> which daily receives the body of the dead, and yet still
cries, <i>Give, give;</i> he is <i>as death,</i> which continues to
devour, and <i>cannot be satisfied.</i> Note, It is the sin and
folly of many who have a great deal of the wealth of this world
that they do not know when they have enough, but the more they have
the more they would have, and the more eager they are for it. And
it is just with God that the desires which are insatiable should
still be unsatisfied; it is the doom passed on those that <i>love
silver</i> that they shall never be <i>satisfied with it,</i>
<scripRef id="Hab.iii-p10.5" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.5.10" parsed="|Eccl|5|10|0|0" passage="Ec 5:10">Eccl. v. 10</scripRef>. Those that will
not be content with their allotments shall not have the comfort of
their achievements. This proud prince is still <i>gathering to him
all nations, and heaping to him all people,</i> invading their
rights, seizing their properties, and they must not be unless they
will be his, and under his command. One nation will not satisfy him
unless he has another, and then another, and all at last; as those
in a lower sphere, to gratify the same inordinate desire, lay
<i>house to house, and field to field, that they may be placed
alone in the earth,</i> <scripRef id="Hab.iii-p10.6" osisRef="Bible:Isa.5.8" parsed="|Isa|5|8|0|0" passage="Isa 5:8">Isa. v.
8</scripRef>. And it is hard to say which is more to be pitied, the
folly of such ambitious princes as place their honour in enlarging
their dominions, and not in ruling them well, or the misery of
those nations that are harassed and pulled to pieces by them.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Hab.iii-p11" shownumber="no">II. The sentence passed upon him (<scripRef id="Hab.iii-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:Hab.2.6" parsed="|Hab|2|6|0|0" passage="Hab 2:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>): <i>Shall not all these
take up a parable against him?</i> His doom is,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Hab.iii-p12" shownumber="no">1. That, since pride has been his sin,
disgrace and dishonour shall be his punishment, and he shall be
loaded with contempt, shall be laughed at and despised by all about
him, as those that look big, and aim high, deserve to be, and
commonly are, when they are brought down and baffled.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Hab.iii-p13" shownumber="no">2. That, since he has been abusive to his
neighbours, those very persons whom he has abused shall be the
instruments of his disgrace: <i>All those shall take up a taunting
proverb against him.</i> They shall have the pleasure of insulting
over him and he the shame of being trampled upon by them. Those
that shall triumph in the fall of this great tyrant are here
furnished with a <i>parable,</i> and a <i>taunting proverb,</i> to
take up against him. <i>He shall say</i> (he that draws up the
insulting ditty shall say thus), <i>Ho, he that increases that
which is not his! Aha!</i> what has become of him now? So it may be
read in a taunting way. Or, <i>He shall say,</i> that is, <i>the
just,</i> who <i>lives by his faith,</i> he to whom the vision is
written and made plain, with the help of that shall say this, shall
foretel the enemy's fall, even when he sees him flourishing, and
<i>suddenly curse his habitation,</i> even when he is <i>taking
root,</i> <scripRef id="Hab.iii-p13.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.5.3" parsed="|Job|5|3|0|0" passage="Job 5:3">Job v. 3</scripRef>. He shall
indeed denounce woes against him.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Hab.iii-p14" shownumber="no">(1.) Here is a woe against him for
increasing his own possessions by invading his neighbour's rights,
<scripRef id="Hab.iii-p14.1" osisRef="Bible:Hab.2.6-Hab.2.8" parsed="|Hab|2|6|2|8" passage="Hab 2:6-8"><i>v.</i> 6-8</scripRef>. He
<i>increases that which is not his,</i> but other people's. Note,
No more of what we have is to be reckoned ours than what we came
honestly by; nor will it long be ours, for <i>wealth gotten by
vanity will be diminished.</i> Let not those that thrive in the
world be too forward to bless themselves in it, for, if they do not
thrive lawfully, they are under a woe. See here, [1.] What this
prosperous prince is doing; he is <i>lading himself with thick
clay.</i> Riches are but clay, thick clay; what are gold and silver
but white and yellow earth? Those that travel through thick clay
are both retarded and dirtied in their journey; so are those that
go through the world in the midst of an abundance of the wealth of
it; but, as if that were not enough, what fools are those that
<i>load themselves with it,</i> as if this trash would be their
treasure! They burden themselves with continual care about it, with
a great deal of guilt in getting, saving, and spending it, and with
a heavy account which they must give of it another day. They
overload their ship with this thick clay, and so sink it and
themselves <i>into destruction and perdition.</i> [2.] See what
people say of him, while he is thus increasing his wealth; they
cry, "<i>How long?</i> How long will it be ere he has enough?" They
cry to God, "How long wilt thou suffer this proud oppressor to
trouble the nations?" Or they say to one another, "See how long it
will last, how long he will be able to keep what he gets thus
dishonestly." They dare not speak out, but we know what they mean
when they say, <i>How long?</i> [3.] See what will be in the end
hereof. What he has got by violence from others, others shall take
by violence from him. The Medes and Persians shall make a prey of
the Chaldeans, as they have done of other nations, <scripRef id="Hab.iii-p14.2" osisRef="Bible:Hab.2.7-Hab.2.8" parsed="|Hab|2|7|2|8" passage="Hab 2:7,8"><i>v.</i> 7, 8</scripRef>. "There shall be
those that will <i>bite thee</i> and <i>vex thee;</i> those from
whom thou didst not fear any danger, that seemed <i>asleep,</i>
shall <i>rise up</i> and <i>awake</i> to be a plague to thee. They
shall rise up <i>suddenly</i> when thou are most secure, and least
prepared to receive the shock and ward off the blow. <i>Shall they
not rise up suddenly?</i> No doubt they shall, and thou thyself
hast reason to expect it, to be dealt with as thou hast dealt with
others, that <i>thou shalt be for booties unto them,</i> as others
have been unto thee, that, according to the law of retaliation, as
<i>thou hast spoiled many nations</i> so thou shalt thyself be
<i>spoiled</i> (<scripRef id="Hab.iii-p14.3" osisRef="Bible:Hab.2.8" parsed="|Hab|2|8|0|0" passage="Hab 2:8"><i>v.</i>
8</scripRef>); <i>all the remnant of the people shall spoil
thee.</i>" The king of Babylon thought he had brought all the
nations round about him so low that none of them would be able to
make reprisals upon him; but though they were but a remnant of
people, a very few left, yet these shall be sufficient to spoil
him, when God has such a controversy with him, <i>First,</i> For
<i>men's blood,</i> and the thousands of lives that have been
sacrificed to his ambition and revenge, especially for the blood of
Israelites, which is in a special manner precious to God.
<i>Secondly, For the violence of the land,</i> his laying waste so
many countries, and destroying the fruits of the earth, especially
in the land of Israel. <i>Thirdly,</i> For the violence <i>of the
city,</i> the many cities that he had turned into ruinous heaps,
especially Jerusalem the holy city, and of <i>all that dwelt
therein,</i> who were ruined by him. Note, The violence done by
proud men to advance and enrich themselves will be called over
again (and must be accounted for) another day, by him <i>to whom
vengeance belongs.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Hab.iii-p15" shownumber="no">(2.) Here is a woe against him for coveting
still more, and aiming to be still higher, <scripRef id="Hab.iii-p15.1" osisRef="Bible:Hab.2.9-Hab.2.11" parsed="|Hab|2|9|2|11" passage="Hab 2:9-11"><i>v.</i> 9-11</scripRef>. The crime for which this
woe is denounced is much the same with that in the foregoing
article—an insatiable desire of wealth and honour; it is
<i>coveting an evil covetousness to his house,</i> that is,
grasping at an abundance for his family. Note, Covetousness is a
very evil thing in a family; it brings disquiet and uneasiness into
it (<i>he that is greedy of gain troubles his own house</i>), and,
which is worse, it brings the curse of God upon it and upon all the
affairs of it. <i>Woe to him that gains an evil gain;</i> so the
margin reads it. There is a lawful gain, which by the blessing of
God may be a comfort to a house (<i>a good man leaves an
inheritance to his children's children</i>), but what is got by
fraud and injustice is ill-got, and will be poor gain, will not
only do no good to a family, but will bring poverty and ruin upon
it. Now observe, [1.] What this covetous wretch aims at; it is
<i>to set his nest on high,</i> to raise his family to some greater
dignity than it had before arrived at, or to set it, as he
apprehends, out of the reach of danger, that he may be <i>delivered
from the power of evil,</i> that it may not be in the power of the
worst of his enemies to do him a mischief nor so much as to disturb
his repose. Note, It is common for men to pretend it as an excuse
for their covetousness and ambition that they only consult their
own safety, and aim to secure themselves; and yet they do but
deceive themselves when they think <i>their wealth</i> will be a
<i>strong city</i> to them, <i>and a high wall,</i> for it is so
only <i>in their own conceit,</i> <scripRef id="Hab.iii-p15.2" osisRef="Bible:Prov.18.11" parsed="|Prov|18|11|0|0" passage="Pr 18:11">Prov. xviii. 11</scripRef>. [2.] What he will get by it:
<i>Thou hast consulted,</i> not safety, but <i>shame, to thy house,
by cutting off many people,</i> <scripRef id="Hab.iii-p15.3" osisRef="Bible:Hab.2.10" parsed="|Hab|2|10|0|0" passage="Hab 2:10"><i>v.</i> 10</scripRef>. Note, An estate raised by
iniquity is a scandal to a family. Those that cut off, or
undermine, others, to make room for themselves, that impoverish
others to enrich themselves, do but consult shame to their houses,
and fasten upon them a mark of infamy. Yet that is not the worst of
it: "<i>Thou hast sinned against thy own soul,</i> hast brought
that under guilt and wrath, and endangered that." Note, Those that
do wrong to their neighbour do a much greater wrong to their own
souls. But if the sinner pleads, Not guilty, and thinks he has
managed his frauds and violence with so much art and contrivance
that they cannot be proved upon him, let him know that if there be
no other witnesses against him <i>the stone shall cry out of the
wall</i> against him, and <i>the beam out of the timber</i> in the
roof <i>shall answer it,</i> shall second it, shall witness it,
that the money and materials wherewith he built the house were
unjustly gotten, <scripRef id="Hab.iii-p15.4" osisRef="Bible:Hab.2.11" parsed="|Hab|2|11|0|0" passage="Hab 2:11"><i>v.</i>
11</scripRef>. The stones and timber cry to heaven for vengeance,
as <i>the whole creation groans under</i> the sin of man and waits
to be delivered from that <i>bondage of corruption.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Hab.iii-p16" shownumber="no">(3.) Here is a woe against him for building
a town and a city by blood and extortion (<scripRef id="Hab.iii-p16.1" osisRef="Bible:Hab.2.12" parsed="|Hab|2|12|0|0" passage="Hab 2:12"><i>v.</i> 12</scripRef>): He <i>builds a town,</i> and
is him-self lord of it; he <i>establishes a city,</i> and makes it
his royal seat. So Nebuchadnezzar did (<scripRef id="Hab.iii-p16.2" osisRef="Bible:Dan.4.30" parsed="|Dan|4|30|0|0" passage="Da 4:30">Dan. iv. 30</scripRef>): <i>Is not this great Babylon
that I have built for the house of the kingdom?</i> But it is built
with the blood of his own subjects, whom he has oppressed, and the
blood of his neighbours, whom he has unjustly invaded; it is
<i>established by iniquity,</i> by the unrighteous laws that are
made for the security of it. <i>Woe</i> to him that does so; for
the towns and cities thus built can never be established; they will
fall, and their founders be buried in the ruins of them. Babylon,
which was built by blood and iniquity, did not continue long; its
day soon came to fall; and then this woe took effect, when that
prophecy, which is expressed as a history (<scripRef id="Hab.iii-p16.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.21.9" parsed="|Isa|21|9|0|0" passage="Isa 21:9">Isa. xxi. 9</scripRef>), proved a history indeed:
<i>Babylon has fallen, has fallen!</i> And the destruction of that
city was, [1.] The shame of the Chaldeans, who had taken so much
pains, and were at such a vast expense, to fortify it (<scripRef id="Hab.iii-p16.4" osisRef="Bible:Hab.2.13" parsed="|Hab|2|13|0|0" passage="Hab 2:13"><i>v.</i> 13</scripRef>): <i>Is it not of the
Lord of hosts that the people</i> who have laboured so hard to
defend that city shall <i>labour in the very fire,</i> shall see
the out-works which they confided in the strength of set on fire,
and shall labour in vain to save them? Or they, in their pursuits
of worldly wealth and honour, put themselves to great fatigue, and
ran a great hazard, as those that <i>labour in the fire</i> do. The
worst that can be said of the labourers in God's vineyards is that
<i>they have borne the burden and heat of the day</i> (<scripRef id="Hab.iii-p16.5" osisRef="Bible:Matt.20.12" parsed="|Matt|20|12|0|0" passage="Mt 20:12">Matt. xx. 12</scripRef>); but those that are
eager in their worldly pursuits <i>labour in the very fire,</i>
make themselves perfect slaves to their lusts. There is not a
greater drudge in the world than he that is under the power of
reigning covetousness. And what comes of it? Though they take a
world of pains they are but poorly paid for it; for, after all,
<i>they weary themselves for very vanity;</i> they were told it was
vanity, and when they find themselves disappointed of it, and
disappointed in it, they will own it is worse than vanity, it is
<i>vexation of spirit.</i> [2.] It was the honour of God, as a God
of impartial justice and irresistible power; for by the ruin of the
Chaldean monarchy (which all the world could not but take notice
of) <i>the earth was filled with the knowledge of the glory of the
Lord,</i> <scripRef id="Hab.iii-p16.6" osisRef="Bible:Hab.2.14" parsed="|Hab|2|14|0|0" passage="Hab 2:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>.
<i>The Lord is known by</i> these <i>judgments which he
executes,</i> especially when he is pleased to <i>look upon proud
men and abase them,</i> for he thereby proves himself to be <i>God
alone,</i> <scripRef id="Hab.iii-p16.7" osisRef="Bible:Job.40.11-Job.40.12" parsed="|Job|40|11|40|12" passage="Job 40:11,12">Job xl. 11,
12</scripRef>. See what good God brings out of the staining and
sinking of earthly glory; he thereby manifests and magnifies his
own glory, and <i>fills the earth</i> with the knowledge of it as
plentifully as the <i>waters cover the sea,</i> which lie deep,
spread far, and shall not be dried up until time shall be no more.
Such is the <i>knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus
Christ</i> given by the gospel (<scripRef id="Hab.iii-p16.8" osisRef="Bible:2Cor.4.6" parsed="|2Cor|4|6|0|0" passage="2Co 4:6">2 Cor.
iv. 6</scripRef>), and such was the knowledge of his glory by the
miraculous ruin of Babylon. Note, Such as will not be taught the
knowledge of God's glory by the judgments of his mouth shall be
made to know and acknowledge it by the judgments of his hand.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Hab.iii-p16.9" osisRef="Bible:Hab.2.15-Hab.2.20" parsed="|Hab|2|15|2|20" passage="Hab 2:15-20" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Hab.iii-p16.10">
<h4 id="Hab.iii-p16.11">Judgment Predicted. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Hab.iii-p16.12">b. c.</span> 600.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Hab.iii-p17" shownumber="no">15 Woe unto him that giveth his neighbour drink,
that puttest thy bottle to <i>him,</i> and makest <i>him</i>
drunken also, that thou mayest look on their nakedness!   16
Thou art filled with shame for glory: drink thou also, and let thy
foreskin be uncovered: the cup of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Hab.iii-p17.1">Lord</span>'s right hand shall be turned unto thee, and
shameful spewing <i>shall be</i> on thy glory.   17 For the
violence of Lebanon shall cover thee, and the spoil of beasts,
<i>which</i> made them afraid, because of men's blood, and for the
violence of the land, of the city, and of all that dwell therein.
  18 What profiteth the graven image that the maker thereof
hath graven it; the molten image, and a teacher of lies, that the
maker of his work trusteth therein, to make dumb idols?   19
Woe unto him that saith to the wood, Awake; to the dumb stone,
Arise, it shall teach! Behold, it <i>is</i> laid over with gold and
silver, and <i>there is</i> no breath at all in the midst of it.
  20 But the <span class="smallcaps" id="Hab.iii-p17.2">Lord</span> <i>is</i> in
his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Hab.iii-p18" shownumber="no">The three foregoing articles, upon which
the woes here are grounded, are very near akin to each other. The
criminals charged by them are oppressors and extortioners, that
raise estates by rapine and injustice; and it is mentioned here
again (<scripRef id="Hab.iii-p18.1" osisRef="Bible:Hab.2.17" parsed="|Hab|2|17|0|0" passage="Hab 2:17"><i>v.</i> 17</scripRef>), the
very same that was said <scripRef id="Hab.iii-p18.2" osisRef="Bible:Hab.2.8" parsed="|Hab|2|8|0|0" passage="Hab 2:8"><i>v.</i>
8</scripRef>, for that is the crime upon which the greatest stress
is laid; it is <i>because of men's blood,</i> innocent blood,
barbarously and unjustly shed, which is a provoking crying thing;
it is <i>for the violence of the land, of the city, and of all that
dwell therein,</i> which God will certainly reckon for, sooner or
later, as the asserter of right and the avenger of wrong.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Hab.iii-p19" shownumber="no">But here are two articles more, of a
different nature, which carry a <i>woe</i> to all those in general
to whom they belong, and particularly to the Babylonian monarchs,
by whom the people of God were taken and held captives.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Hab.iii-p20" shownumber="no">I. The promoters of drunkenness stand here
impeached and condemned. Belshazzar was one of those; he was so,
remarkably that very night that the prophecy of this chapter was
fulfilled in the period of his life and kingdom, when he <i>drank
wine before a thousand</i> of his lords (<scripRef id="Hab.iii-p20.1" osisRef="Bible:Dan.5.1" parsed="|Dan|5|1|0|0" passage="Da 5:1">Dan. v. 1</scripRef>), began the healths, and forced them
to pledge him. And perhaps it was one reason why the succeeding
monarchs of Persia made it a law of their kingdom that <i>in
drinking none should compel,</i> but <i>they should do according to
every man's pleasure</i> (as we find, <scripRef id="Hab.iii-p20.2" osisRef="Bible:Esth.1.8" parsed="|Esth|1|8|0|0" passage="Es 1:8">Esth. i. 8</scripRef>), because they had seen in the kings
of Babylon the mischievous consequences of forcing healths and
making people drunk. But the woe here stands firm and very fearful
against all those, whoever they are, who are guilty of this sin at
any time, and in any place, from the stately palace (where that
was) to the paltry ale-house. Observe,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Hab.iii-p21" shownumber="no">1. Who the sinner is that is here articled
against; it is he that <i>makes his neighbour drunk,</i> <scripRef id="Hab.iii-p21.1" osisRef="Bible:Hab.2.15" parsed="|Hab|2|15|0|0" passage="Hab 2:15"><i>v.</i> 15</scripRef>. To give a neighbour
drink who is in want, who is thirsty and poor, though it be but a
cup of cold water to a disciple, in the name of a disciple, to give
drink to weary traveller, nay, and to give strong drink to him that
is ready to perish, and wine to those that are heavy of heart, is a
piece of charity which is required of us, and shall be recompensed
to us. <i>I was thirsty, and you gave me drink.</i> But to give a
neighbour drink who has enough already, and more than enough, with
design to intoxicate him, that he may expose himself, may talk
foolishly, and make himself ridiculous, may disclose his own secret
concerns, or be drawn in to agree to a bad bargain for
himself—this is abominable wickedness; and those who are guilty of
it, who make a practice of it, and take a pride and pleasure in it,
are rebels against God in heaven, and his sacred laws, factors for
the devil in hell, and his cursed interests, and enemies to men on
earth, and their honour and welfare; they are like the son of
Nebat, who <i>sinned and made Israel to sin.</i> To entice others
to drunkenness, to <i>put the bottle to them,</i> that they may be
allured to it by its charms, by <i>looking on the wine when it is
red and gives its colour in the cup,</i> or to force them to it,
obliging them by the rules of the club (and club-laws indeed they
are) to drink so many glasses, and so filled, is to do what we can,
and perhaps more than we know of, towards the murder both of soul
and body; and those that do so have a great deal to answer for.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Hab.iii-p22" shownumber="no">2. What the sentence is that is here passed
upon him. There is a woe to him (<scripRef id="Hab.iii-p22.1" osisRef="Bible:Hab.2.15" parsed="|Hab|2|15|0|0" passage="Hab 2:15"><i>v.</i> 15</scripRef>), and a punishment (<scripRef id="Hab.iii-p22.2" osisRef="Bible:Hab.2.16" parsed="|Hab|2|16|0|0" passage="Hab 2:16"><i>v.</i> 16</scripRef>) that shall answer to
the sin. (1.) Does he put the cup of drunkenness into the hand of
his neighbour? The cup of fury, the cup of trembling, the <i>cup of
the Lord's right hand,</i> shall be <i>turned unto him;</i> the
power of God shall be armed against him. That cup which had gone
round among the nations, to make them <i>a desolation, an
astonishment, and a hissing,</i> which had made them stumble and
<i>fall,</i> so that they could <i>rise no more,</i> shall at
length be put into the hand of the king of Babylon, as was
foretold, <scripRef id="Hab.iii-p22.3" osisRef="Bible:Jer.25.15-Jer.25.16 Bible:Jer.25.18 Bible:Jer.25.26 Bible:Jer.25.27" parsed="|Jer|25|15|25|16;|Jer|25|18|0|0;|Jer|25|26|0|0;|Jer|25|27|0|0" passage="Jer 25:15,16,18,26,27">Jer. xxv. 15,
16, 18, 26, 27</scripRef>. Thus the New-Testament Babylon, which
had made the nations drunk with the cup of her fornications, shall
<i>have blood given her to drink, for she is worthy,</i> <scripRef id="Hab.iii-p22.4" osisRef="Bible:Rev.18.3 Bible:Rev.18.6" parsed="|Rev|18|3|0|0;|Rev|18|6|0|0" passage="Re 18:3,6">Rev. xviii. 3, 6</scripRef>. (2.) Does he take
a pleasure in putting his neighbour to shame? He shall himself be
loaded with contempt: "<i>Thou art filled with shame for glory,
with shame instead of glory,</i> or art filled now with shame more
than ever thou wast with glory; and the glory thou hast been filled
with shall but serve to make thy shame the more grievous to
thyself, and the more ignominious in the eyes of others. Thou
<i>also shalt drink</i> of the cup of trembling, and shalt expose
thyself by thy fear and cowardice, which shall be as the
<i>uncovering of thy nakedness,</i> to thy shame; and all about
thee shall load thee with disgrace, for <i>shameful spewing shall
be on thy glory,</i> on that which thou hast most prided thyself
in, thy dignity, wealth, and dominion; those whom thou hast made
drunk shall themselves spew upon it. For <i>the violence of Lebanon
shall cover thee, and the spoil of beasts</i> (<scripRef id="Hab.iii-p22.5" osisRef="Bible:Hab.2.17" parsed="|Hab|2|17|0|0" passage="Hab 2:17"><i>v.</i> 17</scripRef>); thou shalt be hunted and run
down with as much violence as ever any wild beasts in Lebanon were,
shall be spoiled as they are, and thy fall made a sport of; for
thou art as one of the beasts that made them afraid, and therefore
they triumph when they have got the mastery of thee." Or, "It is
because of the violence thou hast done to Lebanon, that is, the
land of Israel (<scripRef id="Hab.iii-p22.6" osisRef="Bible:Deut.3.25" parsed="|Deut|3|25|0|0" passage="De 3:25">Deut. iii.
25</scripRef>) and the temple (<scripRef id="Hab.iii-p22.7" osisRef="Bible:Zech.11.1" parsed="|Zech|11|1|0|0" passage="Zec 11:1">Zech.
xi. 1</scripRef>), that God now reckons with thee; that is the sin
that now covers thee."</p>
<p class="indent" id="Hab.iii-p23" shownumber="no">II. The promoters of idolatry stand here
impeached and condemned; and this also was a sin that Babylon was
notoriously guilty of; it was the <i>mother of harlots.</i>
Belshazzar, in his revels, <i>praised his idols.</i> And for this,
here is a woe against them, and in them against all others that do
likewise, particularly the New-Testament Babylon. Now see here,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Hab.iii-p24" shownumber="no">1. What they do to promote idolatry; they
are <i>mad upon their idols;</i> so the Chaldeans are said to be,
<scripRef id="Hab.iii-p24.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.50.38" parsed="|Jer|50|38|0|0" passage="Jer 50:38">Jer. l. 38</scripRef>. For, (1.) They
have a great variety of idols, their <i>graven images</i> and
<i>molten images,</i> that people may take their choice, which they
like best. (2.) They are very nice and curious in the framing of
them: The <i>maker of the work</i> has performed his part admirably
well, the <i>fashioner of his fashion</i> (so it is in the margin),
that contrived the model in the most significant manner. (3.) They
are at great expense in beautifying and adorning them: <i>They lay
them over with gold and silver;</i> because these are things people
love and dote upon wherever they meet with them, they dress up
their idols in them, the more effectually to court the adoration of
the children of this world. (4.) They have great expectations from
them: <i>The maker of the work trusts therein</i> as his god, puts
a confidence in it, and gives honour to it as his god. The
worshippers of God give honour to him, by offering up their prayers
to him, and waiting to receive instructions and directions from
him; and these honours they give to their idols. [1.] They pray to
them: <i>They say to the wood, Awake</i> for our relief, "awake to
hear our prayers;" and to the dumb stone, "<i>Arise,</i> and save
us," as the church prays to her God, <i>Awake, O Lord! arise,</i>
<scripRef id="Hab.iii-p24.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.44.23" parsed="|Ps|44|23|0|0" passage="Ps 44:23">Ps. xliv. 23</scripRef>. They own
their image to be a god by praying to it. <i>Deliver me, for thou
art my God,</i> <scripRef id="Hab.iii-p24.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.44.17" parsed="|Isa|44|17|0|0" passage="Isa 44:17">Isa. xliv.
17</scripRef>. <i>Deos qui rogat ille facit—That to which a man
addresses petitions is to him a god.</i> [2.] They consult them as
oracles, and expect to be directed and dictated to by them: <i>They
say to the dumb stone,</i> though it cannot speak, <i>yet it shall
teach.</i> What the wicked demon, or no less wicked priest, speaks
to them from the image, they receive with the utmost veneration, as
of divine authority, and are ready to be governed by it. Thus is
idolatry planted and propagated under the specious show of religion
and devotion.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Hab.iii-p25" shownumber="no">2. How the extreme folly of this is
exposed. God, by Isaiah, when he foretold the deliverance of his
people out of Babylon, largely showed the shameful stupidity and
sottishness of idolaters, and so he does here by the prophet, on
the like occasion. (1.) Their images, when they have made them, are
but mere matter, which is the meanest lowest rank of being; and all
the expense they are at upon them cannot advance them one step
above that. They are wholly void both of sense and reason, lifeless
and speechless (the idol is a <i>dumb idol,</i> a <i>dumb
stone,</i> and there is <i>no breath at all in the midst of
it</i>), so that the most minute animal, that has but breath and
motion, is more excellent then they. They have not so much as the
spirit of a beast. (2.) It is not in their power to do their
worshippers any good (<scripRef id="Hab.iii-p25.1" osisRef="Bible:Hab.2.18" parsed="|Hab|2|18|0|0" passage="Hab 2:18"><i>v.</i>
18</scripRef>): <i>What profits the graven image?</i> Though it be
mere matter, if it were cast into some other form it might be
serviceable to some purpose or other of human life; but, as it is
made a god of, it is of no profit at all, nor can do its
worshippers the least kindness. Nay, (3.) It is so far from
profiting them that it puts a cheat upon them, and keeps them under
the power of a strong delusion; they say, <i>It shall teach,</i>
but it is a <i>teacher of lies;</i> for it represents God as having
a body, as being finite, visible, and dependent, whereas he is a
Spirit, infinite, invisible, and independent, and it confirms those
that become vain in their imaginations in the false notions they
have of God, and makes the idea of God to be a precarious thing,
and what every man pleases. If we may say to the <i>works of our
hands, You are our gods,</i> we may say so to any of the creatures
of our own fancy, though the chimera be ever so extravagant. An
image is a <i>doctrine of vanities;</i> it is <i>falsehood,</i> and
a <i>work of errors,</i> <scripRef id="Hab.iii-p25.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.10.8 Bible:Jer.10.14 Bible:Jer.10.15" parsed="|Jer|10|8|0|0;|Jer|10|14|0|0;|Jer|10|15|0|0" passage="Jer 10:8,14,15">Jer. x.
8, 14, 15</scripRef>. It is therefore easy to see what the religion
of those is, and what they aim at, who recommend those teachers of
lies as laymen's books, which they are to study and govern
themselves by, when they have locked up from them the book of the
scriptures in an unknown tongue.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Hab.iii-p26" shownumber="no">3. How the people of God triumph in him,
and therewith support themselves, when the idolaters thus shame
themselves (<scripRef id="Hab.iii-p26.1" osisRef="Bible:Hab.2.20" parsed="|Hab|2|20|0|0" passage="Hab 2:20"><i>v.</i> 20</scripRef>):
<i>But the Lord is in his holy temple.</i> (1.) <i>Our rock is not
as their rock,</i> <scripRef id="Hab.iii-p26.2" osisRef="Bible:Deut.32.31" parsed="|Deut|32|31|0|0" passage="De 32:31">Deut. xxxii.
31</scripRef>. Theirs are dumb idols; ours is Jehovah, a living
God, who is what he is, and not, as theirs, what men please to make
him. He is in his holy temple in heaven, the residence of his
glory, where we have access to him in the way, not which we have
invented, but which he himself has instituted. Compare <scripRef id="Hab.iii-p26.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.115.3" parsed="|Ps|115|3|0|0" passage="Ps 115:3">Ps. cxv. 3</scripRef>, <i>But our God is in the
heavens,</i> and <scripRef id="Hab.iii-p26.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.11.4" parsed="|Ps|11|4|0|0" passage="Ps 11:4">Ps. xi. 4</scripRef>.
(2.) The multitude of their gods which they set up, and take so
much pains to support, cannot thrust out our God; he is, and will
be, in his holy temple still, and glorious in holiness. They have
laid waste his temple at Jerusalem; but he has a temple above that
is out of the reach of their rage and malice, but within the reach
of his people's faith and prayers. (3.) Our God will make all the
world silent before him, will strike the idolaters as dumb as their
idols, convincing them of their folly, and covering them with
shame. He will silence the fury of the oppressors, and check their
rage against his people. (4.) It is the duty of his people to
attend him with silent adorings (<scripRef id="Hab.iii-p26.5" osisRef="Bible:Ps.65.1" parsed="|Ps|65|1|0|0" passage="Ps 65:1">Ps.
lxv. 1</scripRef>), and patiently to wait for his appearing to save
them in his own way and time. <i>Be still, and know that he is
God,</i> <scripRef id="Hab.iii-p26.6" osisRef="Bible:Zech.2.13" parsed="|Zech|2|13|0|0" passage="Zec 2:13">Zech. ii. 13</scripRef>.</p>
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