National wrongs ending in national woes. No. 1.
"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! Shall they not rise up suddenly that shall bite thee, and awake that shall vex thee, and thou shalt be for booties unto them?" etc. In these verses, up to the nineteenth inclusive, the prophet denounces upon the Chaldeans and Babylonians five different woes. One for their pride and insatiableness (Habakkuk 2:6-8); another for their covetousness, etc; which would become the cause of their corruption (Habakkuk 2:9-11); another for the bloody and cruel means which they had employed for gratifying their thirst for acquiring possessions not their own (Habakkuk 2:12-14); and fourth, for their wickedness, etc; which would be recompensed to them (Habakkuk 2:15-17); and the fifth, for their trust in idols, which would redound to their shame (Habakkuk 2:18, Habakkuk 2:19). We shall take each of the five sections separately under the title, National wrongs ending in national woes. Notice—
I. THE NATIONAL WRONGS.
1. Dishonest accumulation. "Woe to him that increaseth that which is not his!" Babylon grew wealthy. Its treasures were varied and all but inexhaustible. But whence came they? Came they by honest industry? Were they the home produce of diligent and righteous labour? No; from other lands. They were wrested from other countries by violence and fraud. Even the golden and silver vessels used at the royal feast were taken out of the temple which was at Jerusalem. "No more," says an old writer, "of what we have is to be reckoned ours than what we came honestly by. Nor will it long be ours, for wealth gotten by vanity will soon diminish." Take away the ill-gotten wealth of the nations of Europe—wealth gotten by fraud and violence—and how greatly will they be pauperized! How much of our national wealth has come to us honestly? A question this worth the impartial investigation of every man, and which must be gone into sooner or later.
2. Dominant materialism. "And to him that ladeth himself with thick clay." Although some render this "ladeth himself with many pledges," our version, which gives the word "clay," will cover all. The burning and insatiable desire of Babylon was for material wealth; and the men or the nation who succeed in this, only lade themselves with "thick clay" It is a bad thing for moral spirits to be laden with "thick clay." See the individual man who so pampers his animal appetites until he becomes a Falstaff. His spirit is laden with "thick clay." See the nation whose inspiration is that of avaricious merchandise, and whose god is mammon; its spirit is laden with "thick clay." Ah me! what millions are to be found in all civilized countries who are buried in "thick clay"! Clay is everything to them.
3. Extensive plunder. "Thou hast spoiled many nations." The first monarchy we read of in Holy Scripture is that of the Assyrians, begun by Ninus, of whom Nineveh took name, and by Nimrod, whom histories call Belus, and after him succeeded Semiramis his wife. This monarchy grew, by continual wars and violences on their neighbours, to an exceeding height and strength; so that the exaltation of that monarchy was the ruin of many nations, and this monarchy lasted, as some write, annos 1300.
4. Ruthless violence. "Because of men's blood, and for the violence of the land, of the city, and of all that dwell therein." "The terms 'men,' 'land,' 'earth,' 'city,'" says Henderson, "are to be understood generally, not restricted to the Jews, their country and its metropolis." What oceans of the blood of all countries were shed by these ruthless tyrants of Babylon!
II. THE NATIONAL WOES. All these wrongs, as all other wrongs, run into woes. Crimes lead to calamities. What are the woes connected with these wrongs, as given in these verses?
1. The contempt of the injured. "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!" The woe comes out in a derisive song, which continues to the end of the chapter. Dishonesty and low animalism must ever sink the people amongst whom they prevail into bitter contempt. Scarcely can there be anything more painful than the contempt of others when it is felt to be deserved. To be sneered at, laughed at, ridiculed, scorned,—is not this bitterly affictive? Jeremiah predicted that one part of the punishment should be that he should be laughed to scorn.
2. The avenging of the spoiled. "Because thou hast spoiled many nations, all the remnant of the people shall spoil thee." Here is retaliation—plunder for plunder, blood for blood. Divine retribution often pays man back in his own coin. "With what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again."
CONCLUSION. Ever under the righteous administration of Heaven woes tread closely on the heel of wrongs. More certainly than the waves of the ocean follow the moon must suffering follow sin. To every crime there is linked a curse, to every sin a suffering, to every wrong a woe. Be sure that "your sins will find you out."—D.T.