In The Word
Read: Habakkuk 2:6-2:20
“Will all of these not take up a song of ridicule against him,
Even a saying and insinuations against him
And say, ‘Woe to him who increases what is not his—
For how long—
And makes himself rich with debts!’
7 Will your creditors not rise up suddenly,
And those who collect from you awaken?
Indeed, you will become plunder for them.
8 Since you have looted many nations,
All the rest of the peoples will loot you—
Because of human bloodshed and violencedone to the land,
To the town and all its inhabitants.
9 “Woe to him who makes evil profit for his household,
To put his nest on high,
To be saved from the hand of catastrophe!
10 You have planned a shameful thing for your house
By bringing many peoples to an end;
So you are sinning against yourself.
11 For the stone will cry out from the wall,
And the rafter will answer it from theframework.
12 “Woe to him who builds a city with bloodshed,
And founds a town with violence!
13 Is it not indeed from the Lord of armies
That peoples labor merely for fire,
And nations become weary for nothing?
14 For the earth will be filled
With the knowledge of the glory of the Lord,
As the waters cover the sea.
15 “Woe to him who makes his neighbor drink;
To you who mix in your venom even to makeyour neighbors drunk,
So as to look at their genitalia!
16 You will be filled with disgrace rather than honor.
Drink, you yourself, and expose your ownforeskin!
The cup in the Lord’s right hand will come around to you,
And utter disgrace will come upon your glory.
17 For the violence done to Lebanon willoverwhelm you,
And the devastation of its animals by which you terrified them,
Because of human bloodshed and violencedone to the land,
To the town and all its inhabitants.
18 “What benefit is a carved image when its maker has carved it,
Or a cast metal image, a teacher of falsehood?
For its maker trusts in his own handiwork
When he fashions speechless idols.
19 Woe to him who says to a piece of wood, ‘Awake!’
To a mute stone, ‘Arise!’
That is your teacher?
Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver,
Yet there is no breath at all inside it.
20 But the Lord is in His holy temple.
Let all the earth be silent before Him.”
New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation
Walking In The Word
The Lord continued to show the prophet what is to come of those He will use for His tools of discipline. Sorrow, distress, and trouble await those who take what is not theirs and try to use it for their own gain; those that they have taken things from will turn on them. Violence and evil will be returned to them. They think they are getting away with sin, but really, they are hurting themselves. Those who put their trust in speechless idols, pieces of wood, stones overlaid with gold or silver with no breath in them, things that they have made with their own hands, have misplaced their trust. Those things will not save them.
Where is your trust today? Do you trust your own strength or the strength of money? Do you trust your judgment and what you think is good or acceptable? If you are, you have actually become your own god. We may not have idols made of wood or stone, but we can make ourselves to be our own god. “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life” (Galatians 6:7-8). Put away anything that has kept you from trusting and following Him fully. Make sure your trust is in Him today; He will save you.