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Expanded Comments |
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| 1 The oracle of which Habakkuk the prophet, had vision: |
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| 2 How long, O Yahweh, have I called out, and thou wouldst not hear me? Have I kept crying unto thee of violence, and thou wouldst not save? |
O LORD, how long – Habakkuk, representative of all who love righteousness, asks how long it will be until the present evil world will give place to the world to come "wherein dwelleth righteousness." (2 Pet. 3:13) R622:2
Shall I cry – Have I entreated. R622:1
Of violence – Because of violence. R622:1
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| 3 Wherefore shouldst thou let me see iniquity, and, wrong, shouldst let me behold, and, force and violence, be straight before me,–and there should have ever been someone who, contention and strife, would uphold? |
Spoiling – Robbery. R622:1
And there are – And there is a judgment, but oppression is more powerful. R622:1
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| 4 For which cause, benumbed is the law, and there is never any going forth of justice,–for, the lawless, doth circumvent the righteous, for which cause, justice doth go forth perverted? |
Slacked – Powerless. R622:1
Judgment doth never – Justice cometh not forth victorious. R622:1
Wrong judgment proceedeth – Therefore doth justice come forth perverted. R622:1
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| 5 Behold ye, among the nations, and look around, Yea stand stock still–stare,–for, a work, is being wrought in your days, ye will not believe, when it is recounted. |
Behold ye – Look ye about. R622:2
The Lord answers the complaint. R622:2
Wonder marvellously – Be astonished and astounded. R622:2
Work a work – The harvest work, and a change in dispensation. R1487:3
Referred to by Paul (Acts 13:40, 41) as applicable to the R1487:3
First, gathering his saints and separating them as wheat from tares; second, the binding of the tares; third, the heavens rolling together as a scroll; fourth, the elements of earth getting ready for the final conflagration. R1488:2
"His work, his strange work." (Isa. 28:21) R1487:3
Fulfill a work. R622:2
In preparation for Christ's glorious reign. R1487:6
Ye will not believe – Conservative Pharisees of today shake the cautious head, saying that we cannot be on the eve of a new dispensation, for " lo, all things continue as they were from the beginning." (2 Pet. 3:4) R1488:5
Though it be told you – If you did not see some evidences you would consider the things impossibilities. R622:2
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| 6 For, behold me! raising up the Chaldeans, the bitter and headlong nation,–that marcheth to the breadths of the earth, to take possession of habitations, not his. |
The Chaldeans – Communists, Socialists, Nihilists, etc. R622:2
Babylon was the capital of Chaldea, so symbolic Babylon reigns over the civilized world, and the masses are fitly termed the Chaldeans. R622:2
Nation – People. R622:2
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| 7 Awful and fearful, is he,–from himself, his decision and his uprising, proceed. |
Their dignity – Their burden, or restraint. R622:2
Proceed of themselves – From them shall proceed the judgment. R622:3
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| 8 Then, swifter than leopards, are his horses, and, more sharply they attack, than evening wolves, and forward have leapt his chargers,–Yea, his chargers, from afar, will come in, they will fly as an eagle hath hastened to devour. |
Their horses – Doctrines. R622:3
Are swifter – Indicating their rapid spread. R622:3
More fierce – Showing the ferocity of the doctrines. R622:3
Their horsemen – Teachers of these doctrines, the leaders. R622:3
Shall come from far – Will be foreigners. R622:3
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| 9 Solely for violence, will he come, the intent of their faces, is–To the east! And he hath gathered, as the sand, a captive host; |
All for violence – Their mission is violence. R622:3
As the east wind – Be set in opposition to the east--the direction of the sunrising, representing the dawn of the Millennial day. R622:3
The captivity – The bounden ones. R622:3
These shall cause a measure of judgment to come upon the evil institutions, yet they will be in opposition to the true light. R622:3
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| 10 And, he, over kings, will make merry, and, nobles, will be a scorn to him: he, at any fortress, will laugh, once he hath heaped up dust, he hath captured it! |
Heap dust – Cast up earth mounds. R622:3
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| 11 Then, hath he become arrogant in spirit, and hath committed excess, and so is guilty,–this his violence, is due to his god. |
Then – By reason of their successes. R622:3
His mind change – Not realizing that they have been used to overthrow oppression. R622:3
He shall pass over – Become surpassingly proud. R622:3
Unto his god – Boasting themselves of the victory of Liberalism. R622:3
Not realizing that they have been used as the Lord's great army to overthrow oppression and bring down the proud. R622:3
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| 12 Art not, thou, from of old, O Yahweh, my God, my Holy One? Thou diest not! O Yahweh, to judgment, hast thou appointed him, and, O Rock, to correction, hast thou devoted him: |
Art thou not – The prophet represents the true saints as addressing Jehovah. R622:4
O mighty God – O Protector. R622:4
For correction – Thou hast appointed them to correct nations. This is the confidence of the saints. R622:4
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| 13 [Thou] whose eyes are too pure to look with approval on wrong, to respect oppression, canst not endure,–Wherefore, shouldst thou respect the treacherous? Be silent, when the lawless, swalloweth up, one more righteous than he? |
Of purer eyes – Nothing short of perfection can find favor in God's eyes. R1610:2
Than to behold evil – With approval. R5901:6*, R1351:5*
God detects the smallest deflection in our hearts, and his character is so holy that he cannot but hate it. R5902:1*
We must be purified from all iniquity before we can have the approval of God. R5901:6*
Hence ultimately all who are in any way imperfect will be destroyed. R1610:2
He will not permit evil to all eternity, for this condition would not be pleasing to him. R5211:4
Canst not look on – Recognize with any degree of allowance; countenance. F120; R870:3, R386:6, R5901:6*
Denoting his abhorrence. R1351:5*, R5901:6*
According to the principles of divine government and law, he has no degree of allowance; he cannot condone sin nor admit its necessity in any degree. E418
This does not signify a perfection in the flesh, but a perfection of heart, of intention, of will, of endeavor. R5902:1
In eastern countries long ago, to show the face was a mark of favor; to turn the back, a mark of disfavor. B188
To have pardoned Adam, God would have made himself a liar. The absolute unchangeableness of God is the firm foundation upon which all his loving promises rest. R386:6
Since the ransom has been laid down, Jehovah, in due time, will no more disregard and treat men as sinners, turning his back upon them, but will send refreshment from his face, his favor, through Jesus, his agent in the restitution of all things. (Acts 3:19-21) B188
Iniquity – Thus the destruction of the wicked in the Second Death is the essence of wisdom. Ultimately all evil shall be destroyed. R5211:4
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| 14 So wouldst thou have made Men, like the fishes of the sea,–like the creeping thing that hath no ruler over it:
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| 15 All of which, with a hook, one bringeth up, raketh together with his drag, and hath gathered with his net,– |
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| 16 On which account, he is glad and exulteth: on which account, he sacrificeth to his Net, and burneth incense to his Drag; because, thereby, rich, is his portion, and his food–fatness! |
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| 17 Shall he, on this account, empty his net? And, the continual slaying of nations, deem to be no pity? |
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