The Bible says
in Habakkuk 2:3, For the vision is 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. This is a verse about prophecy. Prophecy is one of the
great blessings and benefits. Of course, God knows the future, and concerning
some of the events of the future, He tells us what will be. The book of
Revelation is one of the great prophetic books in the New Testament and it gives
a promise of blessing. It says in Revelation 1:3, Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words
of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time
is at hand.
When God gave
these visions to the prophets of the Bible, God made it clear that some events
would not be fulfilled until quite a bit of time passed. One thing is for sure:
every single word will come to pass. This is seen clearly in the prophecies
about the life of Christ. There were so many details about Jesus that were
prophesied hundreds of years before they came to pass and every detail was
fulfilled. The virgin birth, the birth in
The Bible says
in Habakkuk 2:4, Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but
the just shall live by his faith. In this verse the
Lord gets on the subject of salvation. In the first part of the verse He tells
us the main thing that will keep people from turning to Jesus and being saved:
pride. It says, his soul which is lifted up
is not upright in him. In order to be
saved through faith in Christ a person must humble himself or herself and bow
before Jesus and acknowledge their need of a Savior. Many people because of
pride just will not do that. When you talk to people about Jesus, you will see
that it is common for them to talk about how good they are. Instead of being
humble, they are proud.
But if someone
will humble himself and turn to Jesus, notice the happy result. The last phrase
of Habakkuk 2:4 says, the just shall live by his faith. This is a very important
phrase if you want to understand salvation, that is, if you want to understand
exactly how salvation works. What causes a person to be saved? When a person is
saved, that person is justified. That means that God declares that person to
be a just person: a person who will not be held guilty. They are sinners like
everyone else, but God now views them as if they had not sinned. Of course, God
is able to do this because of Christ. Jesus paid for sin on the cross of
The just
shall live by his faith. The writers of the New Testament (the Apostle Paul) loved this
verse. It is found in three of his writings: Romans 1:17, Galatians 3:11, and
Hebrews 10:38. It says in Romans 1:16-17, For I am not ashamed of the gospel
of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that
believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.[17] For therein is
the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The
just shall live by faith. It says in Galatians 3:10-11, For as many as are of the works of the law are under the
curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things
which are written in the book of the law to do them.[11] But that no man
is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just
shall live by faith. It says in Hebrews
10:38-39, Now the just shall live by
faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.[39]
But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe
to the saving of the soul. In both Romans and
Galatians the use of the phrase, the just
shall live by faith, is an emphasis on the
fact that salvation is by faith and faith alone, not of works. Works has
nothing to do with bringing salvation or making a person justified. The passage
in Hebrew is stating that even though a person is justified by faith and faith
alone, that is no excuse to stop following and serving the Lord. The Bible does
not give allowance for anyone saying: OK, I am saved by faith alone, and
therefore I will have no works at all. That situation is not even allowed as a
possibility. It says in Second Corinthians 5:17, Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature:
old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. It says in James 2:26, For
as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. In other words, the Bible says that there is no such
thing as faith without works. Faith in Jesus alone is what saves. But if it is
true faith, there will be good works to follow.
The Bible says
in Habakkuk 2:5, Yea also, because he transgresseth by wine, he is a proud man,
neither keepeth at home, who enlargeth his desire as hell, and is as death, and
cannot be satisfied, but gathereth unto him all nations, and heapeth unto him
all people. Notice the phrase he transgresseth by wine. Obviously,
drinking wine is a sin. How can that be when there are other Bible verses that
mention the drinking of wine without calling it a sin? We must realize that the
word wine means the fruit of the vine, and sometimes it is referring to grape
juice and sometimes to the alcoholic beverage. Drinking the alcoholic beverage
is the sin. Drinking the grape juice is not a sin. So when we see the word
wine in the Bible we must know the context to know which is being referred
to. Once again pride is mentioned in Habakkuk chapter 2. Pride was mentioned in
verse 4 as a roadblock to being saved. Now pride is mentioned in verse 5 as one
of the great sins of this person who does not come to Christ. When the Bible
says that this person neither keepeth at home, it is probably both referring to the
fact that this person has no stability, and the fact that he is not satisfied
and is constantly motivated by strong uncontrollable desires. That is why it
says in the next phrase: who enlargeth his desire as hell, and is as
death, and cannot be satisfied. It is this kind of tremendously
strong desire and pride that leads human being to seek power and control and
dominance over as many people as possible. And so it says in the last phrase of
Habakkuk 2:5 that such a lustful person, gathereth
unto him all nations, and heapeth unto him all people. Of course, they will not win in their quest to which they
give all of their heart and soul. Jesus said, The
meek shall inherit the earth.
The Bible says
in Habakkuk 2:6-12, Shall not all these take up a parable against him, and a
taunting proverb against him, and say, Woe to him that increaseth that which is
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 for 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 against 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!
This passage lists many of the sins of the Israelites that they needed to
repent of. They needed to seek the Lord and seek forgiveness from the Lord
because the Lord sees all sin. What sins were they guilty of, and do we see any
parallels to our society today? If our people are committing the same sins
without repenting, then the people of our day will suffer the same
consequences. One of the sins of the Israelites had to do with materialism, and
we know that the love of money is the root of all evil. In verse 6 it speaks of
him that increaseth that which is not his. This wickedness causes these people to do whatever they
can to get their hands on your money and on anyones money. We are not just talking
about thieves. We are talking about people who will lie and deceive and do
anything it takes to get your money that is in your bank account into their
bank account. Why is it that less than 100 people in the world today have more
wealth than the 3.6 billion poorest people? (I read this in a recent news
article.) How did much of the money flow into the hands of the richest people
in the world? It did not happen by accident. The central banks and the whole
banking system changed the rules over and over again in order to guide the
wealth of the world into the accounts of these richest people. They would have
been rich even without the generational theft that has been taking place, but
the degree to which they pulled this off is staggering. Why would those who
control the banking system and the monetary policy of the world do such a thing
to everyone else in the world? Lets look for an answer based upon what the
Israelites did 2600 years ago. The Israelites also spoiled many nations,
according to Habakkuk 2:8. It says in verse 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! The problem is covetousness. What do they covet:
everything. They want it all. They are not satisfied with millions, and they
are not satisfied with billions. They want absolutely every penny, and they are
out to get it. It is no wonder that God calls it an evil covetousness.
There is an interesting
phrase in the last part of Habakkuk 2:6. It says, Woe to him that increaseth that which is
not his! how long? and to him that ladeth himself with thick clay! When I read this phrase this week, I
said to myself, Most phrases inj the Bible I have a pretty good idea what they
mean when I first read them, but I have to admit I have no idea what is the
thick clay that is being talked about here. Therefore, I looked up in Strongs
Concordance the phrase ladeth
himself with thick clay,
and it says that it means, ladeth himself with a load of debt. Now I
understand how this passage fits into this context of describing the great sins
of materialism and covetousness. Having a load of debt is considered sinful.
Why would that be? In the history of the human race at least until about a
hundred years ago, people who could not pay their debts were considered
criminals and were punished as criminals. They saw borrowing without paying
back as a form of theft. Believers are supposed to live within their means and
learn to be content with what they have. Why would anyone pile debt after debt
after debt when they do not have to: greed and covetousness for material
things. Wait just a minute. The entire economic and financial systems are based
upon debt, at least they have been since the modern banking system came into
being several hundred years ago. Creating debt, re-selling the debt, making a
profit on the debt has become the core of the modern financial system. The
central banks and economic planners keep instituting policies to encourage even
more dept and risk taking because they now thing that the only thing that can
rescue the economy is more of the same. Of course, if you are an individual
trying to live within your means and trying to prepare for the future, you
understand that less debt is always better. Any economic planners that you might
go to would tell you that the sooner you can get out of debt, the better off
you will be. Why do the economic planners of the nations of the world do the
opposite and continue to pile on debt? Someone is wrong. The Bible is right and
it says in Habbakuk 2:6 that a sinful person, ladeth himself with a load of
debt. It says in First Timothy 6:10, For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some
coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through
with many sorrows. It also
says in Hebrews 13:5, Let
your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as
ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, not forsake thee.
___________________________________________________
Copyright; 2015 by Charles
F. (Rick) Creech
All Rights Reserved