Habakkuk 2:14
For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. (NIV)
Today’s Reading: Habakkuk 2:12-14 and 2 Peter 3:3-18
We don’t know much about Habakkuk. We can place him prior to the Babylonian invasion because he mentions the existence of the temple but that’s about it. Most scholars place his ministry well after Isaiah and likely right before or at the beginning of Jeremiah’s ministry.
His message in chapter 2 is largely directed towards the powers surrounding Israel that are bearing down on them. They seek to capture Israel and Habakkuk’s message is a warning to them that destruction will come to them just as they seek to destroy Israel. He delivers a message of five “woes” and in the midst of the third “woe” we are given a familiar prophecy:
“For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea” (Hab 2:14).
Isaiah delivered a similar prophecy as he describes what life will be like after Jesus returns a second time:
“The wolf will live with the lamb,
the leopard will lie down with the goat,
the calf and the lion and the yearling together;
and a little child will lead them.
The cow will feed with the bear,
their young will lie down together,
and the lion will eat straw like the ox.
The infant will play near the cobra’s den,
and the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest.
They will neither harm nor destroy
on all my holy mountain,
for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea” (Isa 11:6-9).
As you can see, Isaiah 11:9 is virtually word for word the same prophecy that Habakkuk delivers in 2:14. Interestingly enough, this third woe that Habakkuk delivers speaks of a fire:
“Woe to him who builds a city with bloodshed
and establishes a town by injustice!
Has not the Lord Almighty determined
that the people’s labor is only fuel for the fire,
that the nations exhaust themselves for nothing?” (Hab 2:12-13).
Recall from yesterday, there is a fire coming when Jesus returns to judge the world:
“As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. They will throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matt 13:40-42).
Habakkuk says that the people’s labor is fuel for this fire. Everything we accomplish here on earth is destined for destruction:
“But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare” (2 Pet 3:10).
So we are to store up our treasure in heaven. Our focus should be on the things above where our accomplishments survive the fire. When Jesus comes again, he will separate the wheat from the weeds:
“As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. They will throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears, let them hear” (Matt 13:40-43).
At that time, all the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord. Jesus will return in glory and all the world will be witness to it:
“For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done” (Matt 16:27).
The new heaven and new earth that is established after Jesus returns will be illuminated by the glory of God. All the nations will see it:
“The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it. Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.” (Rev 21:23-27).
We are to set our sights on Jesus so we can have this day with him. The message of Habakkuk is simple: don’t labor in vain. Use your time here on earth to build your treasures in heaven. All of our worldly accomplishments will perish. Only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life will survive the fire. Our mission is to make this list as big as we possibly can.
“His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire” (Matt 3:12).
Christ in the Old Testament 
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