Have we ever known anyone
who seems to get away with anything they do no matter how wicked it
is? It seems like there is no punishment at hand and that no one even
cares or bothers to alter their behavior in any manner at all. They
seem to be “getting away with it”, and even when it looks like
they will be caught, they manage somehow to escape. This often
results in a “ten feet tall and bullet proof” attitude that makes
the one escaping feel impervious to anyone's judgment. Such was the
case with the Chaldeans. Because they were used by God as instruments
of judgment against Israel's wickedness, they now thought themselves
beyond the hand of retribution. They were wrong, and Habakkuk wrote
about how things will quickly change for them in chapter two and
verse seven of his book. He wrote:
Shall they not rise up
suddenly that shall bite you, and awake that shall vex you, and you
shall be for booties unto them?
A sudden
change of plans, a quick alteration to one's path, an “out of
nowhere” development was awaiting the Chaldeans. The charge and
question of God was, “Shall they not rise up suddenly that shall
bite you.” The Chaldeans were proud, egotistical, and thought
of themselves to be beyond the correction of any. However, they
forgot about God. The Heavenly Father who has used them for judgment
now easily uses another against them. The “bite” of another group
will be severe, and the execution of it will be expeditious.
In
addition to being bit suddenly, God asks, “and awake that shall
vex you.” The opponent is asleep for the moment, and no one
knows that his awakening is on the horizon. Soon the sleeping giant
will arise, and when he does, judgment will come upon those who once
judged. The Chaldeans were a strong people, but these people will be
stronger. There is no binding of the strong man until the stronger
man comes along. Like weapons of warfare that progressively
outperform each other, this waking giant will bring vexation of
spirit, body and soul to the prideful Chaldeans.
Finally
God says through Habakkuk, “you shall be for booties unto them?”
In other words, the Chaldeans would be looted when they are
conquered. All the accumulations during the Chaldeans conquest will
be the property of another nation. The temporal holding and using of
the material possessions gained will suddenly be lost. As Proverbs
chapter twenty-three and verse four and five say:
Labor not to be rich:
cease from your own wisdom. Will you set your eyes upon that which is
not? for [riches] certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as
an eagle toward heaven.
As
quickly as the riches and wealth of others was gathered, they fled
away from the Chaldeans. The treasures gained by the Chaldeans were
soon to vanish as Habakkuk writes of God's retaliation toward them.
But what
about us? Have we ever experienced sudden alteration in our paths? Do
we have confidence in the temporal as the Chaldeans did? Are their
confidences within us of Earthly and Worldly things that can vanish
much more quickly than they came? In light of the sudden alteration
that can appear in our lives, what should we be investing our time,
efforts and resources in? As a meditation on these verses today
perhaps the words of Paul the apostle in the book of Colossians in
chapter three and verse two are appropriate. He wrote:
Set
your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.
Where
does our “affection” lie?
Next
time we will consider more of what God has to say about the
Chaldeans, 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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