Borrowing, Without Imitating
“The burden which Habakkuk the prophet did see. O Jehovah, how long shall I cry, and Thou dost not hear! even cry out unto Thee of violence, and Thou dost not save! Why dost Thou show me iniquity, and beholdest grievance? for spoiling and violence are before me: and there are that raise up strife and contention. Therefore the law is slacked, and judgment doth never go forth; for the wicked doth compass about the righteous; therefore wrong judgment proceedeth” (vss. 1-4). Hence there is a goodly measure of spiritual resemblance between the short prophecy of Habakkuk and the longer one of Jeremiah. At the same time Habakkuk is no mere imitator. He alludes to the previous prophets as he does to facts in the early history of Israel: so all the prophets did. There was no avoidance sometimes of direct quotation; nay, we have seen that the Spirit led them to adopt and reiterate that which other prophets had said before them. If the consciousness of originality and affluence of thought sometimes enable men to rise superior to the charge of borrowing from a compeer, much more did divine guidance make prophets less careful and sensitive on this head. Vain souls who yearn after and affect original power are too feeble to act candidly and with freedom, and are apt to show extreme jealousy lest they might be thought to make use of another; if they do not, it is to their own loss and that of their readers; for “non omnia possumus omnes.”
The Differences of Great Value for Interpretation
Hence in scripture we see the contrary of this weak narrowness. Daniel for instance, who is stamped with a characteristic style of his own from beginning to end, was a diligent student of Jeremiah, and, certainly from no lack of power to express himself, prefers to take up the language of Moses where it suited the Spirit’s purpose. So we saw Micah and Isaiah furnishing important portions not only in thought analogous, but in many respects identical in expression, yet each having its own proper object. Consequently, the use which they serve remains characteristic for each, so that the very points of resemblance only strengthen the real difference in the object before the Spirit of God. In fact this is so true of scripture, that whether it be the same writer or a different one (most probably the same), we find in the book of Psalms that two of these compositions are almost word for word alike; and yet I am persuaded that neither could be spared without positive loss, and that the few words which differ between Psalm 14 and 53 are of the greatest moment to take into consideration if we would rightly divide the word of truth and understand their scope. Consequently, while there is instruction in the sameness, there is also the most important key to interpretation by the difference. But almost all this is and must be lost save to those who look carefully into their words separately and as compared with each other, but every word is full of instruction when once clearly seen.
In this way then, although there is a certain spirit of complaint observable at first in Habakkuk as well as in Jeremiah, a burdened sorrowful-stricken spirit, nevertheless we may say of him, as Paul said of himself, “Cast down, but not destroyed” (2 Cor. 4:9). He shows us not sin indeed but infirmity, the infirmity of the earthen vessel; but there is a brilliant testimony in both to the treasure that divine grace put in it.
Trial of Faith
Here then the prophet groans, but he does what the Jews did not in Hosea—he groans to God. “O Jehovah, how long shall I cry, and Thou hearest not? even cry out unto Thee of violence, and Thou savest not?” (vs. 2). Jehovah had other purposes; and if He appears not to hear, and if He does not put forth His arm to save—for salvation, we must remember, here means by external power, or deliverances shown on the earth—if such be not exerted it is always for the accomplishment of better things. We may always count on the perfect goodness of God and the resources of His grace wherever there is faith; for all good for failing man is of faith that it might be by grace; and Habakkuk particularly is the prophet who is charged with the mission of giving its due place to faith. But invariably, wherever there is real faith, it must be tried. We find accordingly the trial even before the faith is distinctly in evidence; yet had there not been real faith underneath, we may be perfectly assured there would have been no such putting to the proof.
Hence the very severity of a trial ought to comfort the believer; for the Lord never puts a heavier burden than He gives grace to bear; and therefore, it is always an honor to have a trial as far as it goes. It is no honor to slip aside from what God has given us to do or bear. To be unfaithful as a steward is a disgrace in the eyes both of God and man. But Habakkuk’s distress was that there should be such a state of things in the people of God, that He should delay His answer, and that He should not be able morally to put forth salvation in the way of external deliverance I have just now described. “Why dost thou show me iniquity” (vs. 3), if it is so exceedingly distressing?—iniquity even in the very place where righteousness might have been looked for. It was among the people of God. This the more harassed him. That the Gentiles should be iniquitous was no wonder; that the Jews should be so was a deep trouble to his soul.
“For spoiling and violence are before me” (vs. 3), he says further; “and there are that raise up strife and contention. Therefore the law is slacked” (vss. 3-4). He is speaking of those who had the law and were formally under it. “And judgment doth never go forth” (vs. 4). There was no proper answer to it. “For the wicked doth compass about the righteous; therefore wrong judgment proceedeth” (vs. 4).
But if man and His people fail, Jehovah answers; He at least heard. Therefore, so far there is an immediate appearance of the Lord, though not in the way in which the prophet had looked and yearned for it; but Jehovah must always be above the thoughts of the heart. The foolishness of God, as it is said, is wiser than man, let him put forth his best wisdom.
The Fall of the Assyrian a Solemn Warning
Jehovah then is here represented as calling on His people to see what He was going to do. Great changes were in progress; greater still in store. The fall of the Assyrian kingdom was a grave and alarming event: so should Egypt and all others who proudly resisted Jehovah’s will and word—the more strikingly shown when His own people were going to be put down among the rest. So much the worse for the Jew if he believed not what God made known to him beyond all the world. “Behold ye among the heathen, and regard, and wonder marvelously: for I will work a work in your days, which ye will not believe, though it be told you” (vs. 5). We see that every chapter throughout the prophecy has for its kernel the folly of unbelief and value of faith. This was quoted by the Apostle Paul, and that too among the Jews, when they were in danger of letting slip the blessing because of its very magnitude: so perfectly does the Spirit of God always apply the word even in circumstances which might seem to be unlike.
Acts 13:38-39, How Applied?
In Acts 13:38-39, the apostle applies the passage to the assembled Jews: “Be it known unto you, therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins; and by Him all that believe are justified from all things” (Acts 13:38-39). This was the great emphatic point; first the Man that has brought in by His work that blessing, the forgiveness of sins, the boon of divine mercy to the needy sinner when awakened. “By Him all that believe are justified from all things” (Acts 13:39)—a precise and full expression though in the simplest elements of the gospel. It is not only the forgiveness of sins, but “justified,” which, of course, includes it, but goes farther. “By Him all that believe” (Acts 13:39). Therefore, there is the grace that imparts this rich blessing to the feeblest faith, for it is not a question of depth or power but of reality. God is real, and by His grace He gives unlimited blessing to those that are simple and true. This is proved by faith, which honors Him in spite of appearances. It is for “all that believe” (Mark 9:23), says Paul, though all the virtue be “by Him.” The whole value of redemption stands in Christ, and turns on His work— “By Him, all that believe” (Acts 13:39). Yet it is inseparable from the believer. Although faith may have in itself no such quality as could be a meritorious ground for the blessing, nevertheless “without faith it is impossible to please God” (Heb. 11:6). Grace and righteousness are not at issue but in harmony through the cross of Christ. How else could man righteously be blessed, being a sinner before God? Faith takes him out of himself and brings in all the blessing that comes through another, even through Christ our Lord. “By Him all that believe are justified from all things” (Acts 13:39). Everything here is, as it should be, in fullness— “justified from all things from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses” (Acts 13:39).
Prophecy Looks to Christ and His Kingdom
The state of Israel was clearly one of unrighteousness; law could only condemn. Grace could save through the faith of the Messiah, and save in a deeper way than Habakkuk was permitted to see; for the prophet undoubtedly, as is usual in the Old Testament, looked on salvation largely, though certainly not exclusively, as a deliverance from outward misery and danger by the gracious intervention of God, and not so much to that still more wondrous deliverance which has come in already to faith in a dead and risen Christ. All things around us remain unchanged; the power of evil still goes on. Fraud and oppression are not judged and gone from the world; but there is One who has broken right through the power of evil and made a way into heaven itself for those who believe on Him. This is Christianity, and of this the Apostle is full, though he does not scruple, as we shall see, to apply the prophecy to it on the principle of faith, and according to the divine depth of the written word. “Beware, therefore,” (Acts 13:40) says he, turning to those who refuse the testimony, “lest that come upon you which is spoken of in the prophets; Behold, ye despisers, and wonder and perish; for I work a work in your days, a work which ye shall in nowise believe, though a man declare it unto you.” Now it is very evident that this has a reference to Habakkuk, though I should think not to Habakkuk only. We can easily see the exactness of it. “That which is spoken of in the prophets” (Acts 13:40). It would seem that Isaiah is referred to as well as Habakkuk, though one need not dwell upon the reasons for the thought just now.
But there is also wisdom in omission; for the prophecy says, “Behold ye among the heathen” (Hab. 1:5). This might have appeared ambiguous, and capable of being turned aside by the Jew, who would say, “This is exactly our conviction: we all know the heathen to be in a dangerous state; but why overlook the favor of the people of God?” Therefore in the application the direct reference to the heathen is dropped, and all is made pointed and personal to the people themselves; for undoubtedly, if God resent despite to His truth and righteousness among the heathen, much more will He judge it among His own people. No prescriptive place given to the Jew can justly be pleaded to preserve them from the consequences of slighting and blaspheming God and His grace. On the contrary, nowhere is judgment so insupportably severe as among those who take the place of the people of God and yet set Jesus at naught. If bad in Israel, it is incomparably worse in Christendom: what is it in this land of Bibles and free preaching?
I do not, it will be seen, contend that the death and resurrection of Christ is explicitly named in our prophet; but that a principle is laid down which covers the work of the Savior. The particular application is left entirely open. We know what the work is which alone could meet the need of guilty man before God. On the surface it is rather the work of judgment which Jehovah had then in hand in raising up the Chaldeans to supreme power, and thereby both destroying Assyria and chastising the Jew sorely. That testimony put the Jew to the test then. Now what is such an object of witness as redemption? Despising it, our Lord teaches (Matt. 22:7), would bring a worse judgment from the Romans. But I am inclined to think that the Apostle applies the principle to what God was doing then in grace, in view of a judgment which the Lord will execute at His coming. For no prophecy of scripture is of any private interpretation. We must not limit it to the past. All is part of an organic whole with Christ and His kingdom for its center. If this be so, it was God who had wrought in Christ, and by the Spirit was still carrying on and out His work, grounded, as we know, on the mighty work of redemption.
As to the latter clause of verse 41, it refers to the opposition of their will. “A work which ye shall in nowise believe.” It is no question of a decree on God’s part, but of the people’s will against Him, of which He gives them ample notice. I should doubt its being the judicial sentence, but a prophecy used for a solemn warning of what unbelief would render imperative. The judicial aspect in the book of Acts is reserved till chapter 28. There and then it is pronounced. That is, we have the full testimony going out persistently and most patiently; and the more patient God may be with His testimony, the more unsparing the judgment when it comes. But He is slow to anger, as we know, and a strange work to Him is judgment; yet, when it comes, it must surely take its course according to His holy nature and majesty. But it seems to me only pronounced judicially in the last chapter of the Acts. Here it was in progress, as the Jews were being put to the final proof. There was a highly significant act done and recorded there at the end of this very chapter—the shaking off the dust from the disciples’ feet; which shows that, although sentence might not formally be pronounced, there was nevertheless a loud testimony to it, and an intimation that they had better beware, for their danger was as extreme as their unbelief.
The Chaldean Scourge
However, the prophet hears from Jehovah that He was going to raise up the Chaldeans; and this all know was the proximate judgment then impending, though far from being all that awaits the Jew in this way. “For, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, which shall march through the breadth of the land, to possess the dwelling-places that are not theirs” (vs. 6). They were spoilers whom God employed in His providence for the purpose of breaking down the apostasy of Judah, and also for chastising the pride of other nations. “They are terrible and dreadful: their judgment and their dignity shall proceed of themselves. Their horses also are swifter than the leopards, and are more fierce than the evening wolves: and their horsemen shall spread themselves, and their horsemen shall come from far; and they shall fly as the eagle that hasteth to eat. They shall come all for violence: their faces shall sup up as the east wind, and they shall gather the captivity as the sand. And they shall scoff at the kings, and the princes shall be a scorn unto them: they shall deride every strong hold; for they shall heap dust, and take it. Then shall his mind change, and he shall pass over, and offend, imputing this his power unto his god” (vss. 7-11). Thus there would be a permitted prevalence of the Chaldean scourge for a certain time; but when they forgot that God was employing them for the purpose of dealing with those who had offended His name and glory, directly they imputed their power not to the sovereign will of God but to the positive influence and agency of their own god, then the true God would take them in hand. Their self-proceeding energy would come to naught just as much as the haughtiness of other nations. This action of the Chaldeans is to be assigned to the moment of their coming up under Nebuchadnezzar down to the overthrow of the Babylonish monarchy. It was then that all should be changed. The culminating point of this outrageous iniquity was the insult that was done to Jehovah by Belshazzar, when they praised their gods in presence of the dishonored vessels of the temple at Jerusalem, as if Jehovah could not preserve His own people before the superior power of their idols, or of Chaldean hands.
Growth in the Knowledge of God
Then comes the answer of the prophet to Jehovah’s word. “Art Thou not from everlasting, O Jehovah, my God?” (vs. 12). This brings out now a measure of rest to the spirit of the prophet. Now, instead of yielding to the plaintive tone in which he began, He is emboldened to speak plainly of the Chaldeans. He bows in a measure to the wisdom and righteousness of the discipline; and if not complete as yet, we shall find it has its perfect work before he closes. It is of deep interest to mark such progress in the soul, and it is always thus where there is reality. Nothing more painful than when believers settle down in a barely dogmatic statement of truth, or in a monotonous experience from day to day, without gathering fresh strength from the Lord, instead of seeking to turn everything, whether of sorrow or of joy, into a means of a better knowledge of Himself. This is all-important. It is one of the grand differences between law and grace. According to law you have demands and directions all definitely out, and it is not in the nature of law to produce increase in acquaintance with the divine mind; whereas as surely as grace takes its way, souls “grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,”—“increasing,” as it is said, “by the knowledge of God” (Acts 2:23).
Though Perplexed, He Begins to See More Clearly
Just so is it with the prophet here. “Art Thou not from everlasting, O Jehovah my God, mine Holy One? we shall not die. O Jehovah, Thou hast ordained them for judgment; and, O mighty God, Thou hast established them for correction” (vs. 12), the Chaldeans. There is but little said about their history. They were brought out fully as a scourge; and this is clearly set forth; but it cannot be without God’s taking them in hand in the end. All was measured. His mercy always measured the trial where His people must needs come under a chastening. How blessed that even those self-assertive Chaldeans with an unexampled energy of man should nevertheless be but employed of God for the correction of His own grievously failing people! This is what comforted the prophet at length as he weighs it all. “Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity” (vs. 13). He evidently refers to language used elsewhere, as early as Job, but still with an entirely new application. “Wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, and holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous than he?” (vs. 13).
The Issue Must Be Waited for
For after all, this is what drew out the prophet’s heart—that the people of God, let their faults be what they might, contained whatever was righteous at that time on the earth, and that these Chaldeans, raised up to humble the Jews, were as merciless in their dealings with them as they were forgetful and contemptuous toward God Himself. “And makest men as the fishes of the sea, as the creeping things, that have no ruler over them? They take up all of them with the angle, they catch them in their net, and gather them in their drag: therefore they rejoice and are glad” (vss. 14-15). But as Jehovah told the prophet that they should offend, imputing this very power to their god, so the prophet tells Jehovah, “Therefore they sacrifice unto their net, and burn incense unto their drag; because by them their portion is fat, and their meat plenteous” (vs. 16). We see how skillfully he turns the little word that Jehovah had given him as a groundwork now to plead reasons why He should not spare these ruthless enemies of Himself and His people. Nothing can be more beautiful than the way in which a single eye—an eye that knows the love God has to His own people and above all to Christ Himself—lays hold of the suitable truth and employs it in the interests of the needy who cleave to His name. “Shall they therefore empty their net, and not spare continually to slay the nations” (vs. 17). Will Jehovah allow them then to go on in this unsparing way? It cannot be. But the issue must be waited for.