The indictment against the
Chaldeans is in, and God is making his case. They have been used as
His instrument against the Israelites, and now their pride and greed
has been their downfall. Habakkuk is writing as our Heavenly Father
shares His retribution and reasons against the Chaldeans, and His
charges against them are great. We have the benefit of peering into
the allegations raised against the Chaldeans so we can examine our
own lives in light of them. Habakkuk continues his recording in
Habakkuk chapter two and verse nine where he wrote:
Woe to him that covets
an evil covetousness to his house, that he may set his nest on high,
that he may be delivered from the power of evil!
Most who
read this verse will think of the tenth commandment, “You shall
not covet” which is often the basis by which many of the other
commandments are broken. God makes the case against the Chaldeans
once again as He declares their drive for wealth and honor. He says,
“Woe to him that covets an evil covetousness to his house”.
Notice it is done for his family. The idea is that he desires to
advance the status of his family, give them a higher name, change
their station, “that he may set his nest on high.” In
other words they are not content with such things as they have, but
they desire to have more to position themselves above others. In this
case the coveting Chaldeans had no problem whatsoever putting down
others so that they themselves might advance. The end justified the
means in their case, and if other people were put to disadvantage
because of it, so be it. This behavior brings a “woe” from God
through Habakkuk. Warning is posted, and God is alert to their
actions.
God
continues through Habakkuk, “that he may be delivered from the
power of evil!” One of the reasons people are covetous is
because they believe that should they advance they will be out of the
reach of danger. They believe that if they somehow gain a certain
status or station that evil will not prevail against them. They will
have protected themselves from those who would do them harm, and
their lives will be out of reach from those who mean them wrong. How
many times have we seen examples of those who thought themselves to
be safe brought to the very endangerment they hoped to avoid.
Security was their goal, but there really is no other security other
than God, and to this we need nothing to add. The Chaldeans
disregarded God, and the result was their own personal pursuits
through covetousness.
We may
learn a lot from this verse. First, God gives “woe” or warning
against covetousness. Second, God does not take lightly those who
seek to advance their station by destroying others, and finally that
God is our only security and the idea of obtaining more of this
world's goods only provides an illusion of safety. We do ourselves
more good to “covet earnestly the best gifts” as Paul the
apostle wrote in the book of First Corinthians chapter twelve and
verse thirty one. All other material goods and stations provide a
false hope that pales in light of the safety provided for those who
are in a relationship with God.
Next
time we will look more into what God has to say about the end result
to covetousness, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until
tomorrow...there is more...
Look
for the new devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From
Generation to Generation” in all major bookstore sites,
www.amazon.com
; www.barnesandnobles.com
; download
to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore
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