If you walk into a major bookstore, like Barnes and Noble,
you will find the books conveniently arranged by category. If you are looking
for a book on business management, there’s a section for that. If you are
looking for a book on financial planning, there’s a section for that. If you
want a book on foreign policy, they have a section for that too. But what if
you want a book that covers all those subjects? Well, you have to go to an
entirely different section of the store and find one book that deals with all
those topics. It’s called the Bible. Now, I don’t mean to suggest that the
Bible was written to be a textbook on those subjects. The Bible is the Word of
God, written by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to reveal the nature and
will of God to humanity. But God’s nature and will come to bear on how we
handle money, how we handle our business affairs, and how leaders should lead.
And when it comes to what the Bible says about these matters, there are promises,
examples, and warnings.
We have been studying the little book of Habakkuk for a
couple of months now. It is a little book, but it has a lot to say. I think
many of you have discovered how surprisingly relevant to our day and time this
2,600 year old writing is through our study. I remind you yet again that
Habakkuk was burdened about the immorality, idolatry, and injustice that was
rampant in Judah .
These were God’s chosen people, but the nation was filled with corruption. He
cried out to God about it, and God’s answer was surprising and even more
troubling. God declared that He was raising up the Babylonians (called here the
Chaldeans) to be His agents of judgment upon Judah . God would discipline His
people by bringing a foreign nation in to overtake them, just as He had
repeatedly promised them that He would do. It burdened Habakkuk to consider
that God would use violent pagans to do His work, and that the chosen people
would suffer at their hands. The righteous would suffer alongside the wicked as
this judgment came upon the whole nation. Habakkuk cried out in 1:13, “Why do
You look with favor on those who deal treacherously? Why are you silent when
the wicked swallow up those more righteous than they?” Whereas the book began
with the prophet asking “how long” God would allow corruption to run rampant in
Judah ,
it soon turned to Habakkuk asking God “how long” He would allow the Babylonians
to dominate the world.
The section of the book that we are entering into today
contains the answer to that question. God’s message to the prophet is that a
day of reckoning is coming for Babylon
as well, and it was coming soon. Though they shot to prominence rather
suddenly, their position as a global power would be short lived – less than a
century. And here in verses 6-20 of Habakkuk 2, their downfall is vividly
described in five statements of “Woe.” Earlier in verse 6, the Lord said that
the nations which Babylon
had subjected in its wave of terror and cruelty would eventually take up a
taunt-song against them, even mockery and insinuations about them. And these
five woes are those taunt-songs by which the nations who fell victim to Babylon ’s tyranny would
ridicule them in their demise. The words are an altogether certain promise of
God’s judgment, but sung in such a way by the nations as to make sport of Babylon , adding to their
shame. The word “Woe” translates a Hebrew exclamation that some have translated
as “Ha!,” “Ahah!”, or even “Ah!” So, woe is most definitely pronounced upon the
Babylonians, but almost with tongue in cheek, as the nations laugh at the
downfall of their oppressors.
The first of these “Woe” statements concerns God’s judgment
upon Babylon
for its dishonest gain. Babylon
amassed matchless wealth and land through their militant expansionism, but here
we find the dangers of such dishonest gain spelled out. And the warning is not
for ancient Babylon
alone. In a society in which one’s worth is measured in dollars and cents, and
in which the allure of leisure causes people to abandon the course of hard work
and wise stewardship, there is no shortage of those who lust after dishonest
gain. God forbid that any of us would be guilty of such transgressions! When
the temptation arises, we must heed Scripture’s warnings of the dangers of
dishonest gain! And when we fall prey to the schemes of others who seek
dishonest gain, we must rest ourselves in the promises of God’s Word about what
the future holds for those who abuse others for personal profit. With that in
mind, let us look at these few verses to discover the dangers of dishonest
gain.
I. Dishonest gain has diverse expressions. (v6b)
G. Campbell Morgan said, “Goodness is always simple. It is
evil which is complex. … A straight stick is a straight stick; but a crooked
stick may be crooked in a hundred different ways.”[1]
Back in verse 4, the Lord said concerning the proud Babylonians that “his soul
is not right within him.” It could also be translated, “his soul is not
straight (that is, it is crooked) within him.” Now, as Morgan said, people can
be crooked in many different ways, and Babylon
was crooked in many ways. One of the manifestations of their crookedness was
their dishonest gain. But even here, one can amass dishonest gain in a
multitude of ways. And Babylon
did.
Verse 6 says that he “increases what is not his.” Quite
simply, we are talking about theft, robbery, or perhaps unlawful seizure of
property and possessions. The Babylonians wrongly took things that did not
belong to them, simply because they could. They were strong and powerful and no
one could stop them. Thus, the NIV renders this phrase, “piles up stolen
goods.” In their invasion of Jerusalem ,
which would happen soon after Habakkuk’s book was written, they plundered even
the temple and seized all the valuables within it before setting it on fire.
And this is what they did in every territory they entered. They looted the
property and belongings of the land and its citizens.
We are also told here that Babylon “makes himself rich with loans.” This
statement and the one following are notoriously difficult to translate and
interpret, but the general idea seems clear enough. The KJV renders the
expression here quite literally, saying that Babylon “ladeth himself with thick clay.” It
was a common practice in antiquity that when someone borrowed money or property
from another, a clay tablet served as a “receipt” of the transaction.[2] Babylon was loaded down
with these clay tablets, having “loaned” people the right to retain their
belongings or their property, with a back-breaking interest charge attached.
The property or belongings served as a security, so that if the “loan”
defaulted, Babylon
would seize it. But the terms were so restrictive, that seldom could one ever
satisfy them. Thus Babylon ’s
wealth increased with the money that was given in an attempt to repay the loan,
plus the seizure of the security and the enslavement of the “borrower” to boot.
So, here the NIV has “makes himself wealthy by extortion,” which is obtaining
wealth or possessions through coercion.
Theft and extortion are common enough even in our own day. But
just as these were not the only means by which the Babylonians acquired
dishonest gain, so today dishonest gain has a multitude of diverse expressions.
Ruthless corporate greed, predatory lending, fraud and embezzlement, dishonest
get-rich-quick schemes, state-sponsored gambling which plunders the poor with
false hopes, unjust litigation: these just scratch the surface of the many
expressions of dishonest gain that fill our society. And this is why the Bible speaks
so often about its dangers. The leaders of Christ’s church are required to be
not greedy of filthy lucre.[3]
That does not mean that money is bad, but that it must not be acquired in
dishonest ways. For it is not money itself, but the love of money, that the
Bible says is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have
wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs (1 Tim
6:10). The evils that are produced by the love of money are evident in the
diverse expressions of dishonest gain. But also, we see it in the destructive
effects of dishonest gain.
II. Dishonest gain has destructive effects (v8b).
Almost 20 years ago, I was on a Kenya Airways plane en route
to Kenya
for my first international mission trip. The in-flight entertainment was a
movie entitled The Ghost and the Darkness.
It is a somewhat fictionalized retelling of the true story of the Tsavo
Man-Eaters – two lions who devoured dozens of people in a nine month span of
1898 … IN KENYA
I tell that story to illustrate how destructive a lion can
be when it is trying to satisfy its hunger. And the official symbol of the
Babylonian king was a lion. One hundred and twenty of them are emblazoned on
the famous Ishtar gate which was built under the rule of Nebuchadnezzar – the
king who was in power at this time in Babylonian history. And the lion was
hungry – hungry for more land, more people, more wealth, more control in the
world. And because of his lust for dishonest gain, he knew no bounds when it
came to achieving it.
To what lengths did he go? Verse 8 explains it: human
bloodshed, violence done to the land, to the town, and all its inhabitants. The
entire created order fell prey to Babylon ’s
terror. Notice the concentric circles of damage done. They destroyed the land,
sweeping across farms and forests alike. Then they destroyed the towns,
toppling great buildings and staking claim of homes and public buildings. Then
they destroyed the inhabitants, enslaving some and killing others in cold
blood.
This is the thing with dishonest gain. There is always a
cost that someone has to pay. A thriving industry may be built on the backs of
unfairly paid workers, or unpaid victims of labor trafficking. A company may do
irreparable harm to the environment in order to avoid the expense of more
safety measures. A CEO may lay off those who live paycheck to paycheck in order
to have more funds available for company executives who already live in luxury.
The bank’s lending practices might make the investors happy at the earnings
call, but the borrower loses his home because his mortgage is upside down. The
corrupt politician, who is already taking money from an interest group, votes
himself a pay raise, while voting against funding for those defending the
nation, or the nation’s most vulnerable populations. Or, a man is shot in an
alley for the money in his wallet.
There’s always a victim when one pursues dishonest gain, and
a price that someone has to pay – usually the one who can least afford it. No
one stops to think about that, or if they do, they steel their conscience
against the pricks of it so that they grow numb to the destructive effects of
their dishonest gain. Habakkuk’s words remain a stern warning to those who
pursue dishonest gain, calling them to repentance and restitution. But these
words also serve to remind those who have fallen victim to the ruthless pursuit
of dishonest gain. A day will come, in God’s perfect timing, when those wrongs
(and all others) will be made right in His perfect justice. And that brings us
to the final danger of dishonest gain.
III. Dishonest gain has a devastating end (vv7-8a).
“I introduce to you Naboth.” Those are the opening words of
one of the most famous sermons of the 20th Century. Dr. R. G. Lee,
who was pastor of the famous Bellevue Baptist Church
in Memphis from
1927 until 1960, preached this sermon over 1200 times. In it, he recounts the biblical
story from 1 Kings 21 of Naboth, the godly man who owned a vineyard which was
desired by King Ahab. Dr. Lee introduces Ahab as “the vile human toad who
squatted upon the throne of his nation – the worst of Israel ’s
kings.” Ahab and his even more wicked wife
Jezebel conspired to kill the godly man Naboth in order to take possession of
his prized vineyard. As Ahab strolled around in his ill-gotten vineyard, he was
confronted by the prophet Elijah who had a message for him from the Lord. “Thus
says the Lord, ‘In the place where the dogs licked up the blood of Naboth the
dogs will lick up your blood. … Behold, I will bring evil upon you, and will
utterly sweep you away. … The dogs will eat Jezebel.’” Dr. Lee’s sermon is
called “Payday Someday,” for he says as he draws near the end of it, “‘Payday –
Someday’ is written in the constitution of God’s universe. The retributive
providence of God is a reality as certainly as the laws of gravitation are a
reality. … To the individual who goes not the direction God points, a terrible
payday comes.”[4]
And that is the very same message that the Lord has for Babylon . There is a
payday coming, when they will answer for what they have done under God’s just
judgment. As Babylon
pillages and plunders the nations, their victims cry out, “For how long,” in
verse 6. In verse 7, the answer comes. Their end will come suddenly, and notice how surprising and devastating that end will
be.
“Will not your creditors rise up suddenly, and those who
collect from you awaken?” But wait – who are these creditors? I thought the
Babylonians were the creditors who enriched themselves on the debts of others?
So did Babylon .
But in the economy of God, everything that Babylon had taken by dishonest gain was
actually just borrowed, and now the payday was coming soon in which they would
have to repay it all with interest! Just as the Babylonians had plundered other
nations, they would become plunder for them in their downfall. Like gangs of
vigilantes on the streets in a time of lawlessness, the nations will swoop in
on Babylon and loot and pillage just as Babylon had done to them.
Verse 8 says, “Because you have looted many nations, all the
remainder of the peoples will loot you.” The surviving remnant of those
conquered nations would be able to overtake Babylon and bring about its devastation.
Again, this is somewhat surprising. If the entire nation could not withstand
the Babylonians, how would a small percentage of survivors manage to overpower
them? Humanly speaking, it would be impossible, but God has decreed it and
nothing is impossible for Him. Just as He raised up the Chaldeans to bring
judgment upon Judah ,
He would raise up another people to be His agent of justice among the
Chaldeans. Two of the nations that Babylon
had conquered were the Medes and the Persians. Their surviving remnants would
band together under the leadership of Darius the Mede and conquer Babylon swiftly less than
a hundred years after these words were spoken.
The example of Babylon
serves as a strong warning for all who pursue dishonest gain in our own day.
There is a payday someday, coming just as surely as can be. All that has been
taken illicitly will be required at the hand of the one who took it. In God’s
great reversal at the last day, if not before, the debtors will become the
creditors, and the looted will become the looters. It is but one more case of
the inviolable biblical principle established by God that we will reap what we
sow.
And for those who have been oppressed, taken advantage of,
and wronged by the greed and avarice of others, there is the call to wait in
faith and hope for that day when God will right the wrongs. While earth has its
systems of justice, they are all imperfect. Perfect justice is coming, and will
be rendered by God Himself. God has promised that He will “repay with
affliction those who afflict you” (2 Thes 1:6). When? In His perfect time, but
when that day comes, it will come suddenly. Until that time, let us rest in the
contentment that God is faithful and will provide for our needs, care for us
throughout life, and avenge our cause in the end. Rather than seeking dishonest
gain, let us seek the greater gain of godliness, when it is accompanied by
contentment, as the Bible says, “for we have brought nothing into the world, so
we cannot take anything out of it either. If we have food and covering, with
these we shall be content” (1 Tim 6:5-6). Jesus said, “Do not worry then,
saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for
clothing?’” … For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.
But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be
added to you” (Matt 6:31-33). Let us be sure that we have Christ, for He is
enough, and all is ours in Him. “He who did not spare His own Son, but
delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all
things?” (Rom 8:32).
[1] G.
Campbell Morgan, A Bible Survey: Genesis
– Revelation (Chattanooga: AMG, 1993), 331.
[2] Warren
W. Wiersbe, From Worry to Worship (Lincoln , Neb.
[3] 1 Tim
3:3, 8; Titus 1:7, 11; 1 Pet 5:2.
[4] R. G.
Lee, “Payday Someday.” http://www.newsforchristians.com/clser1/lee-rg001.html.
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