Habakkuk - Habakkuk 2:18-20 DailyBibleStudy.Org

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Habakkuk 2:18-20

Lesson # Habakkuk 2:18-20
Study Material - Habakkuk 2:18-20

You must be in fellowship prior to your Bible study, so that the spiritual information you receive can become a source, of blessing to your soul and produce spiritual growth.

Habakkuk 2:18-20

18 What profiteth [ya`al] the graven image [pecel] that the maker [yatsar] thereof hath graven [pacal] it; the molten image [maccekah] , and a teacher [yarah] of lies [sheqer] , that the maker [yatsar] of his work [yetser] trusteth [batach] therein, to make [asah] dumb [illem] idols [eliyl] ?
19 Woe [howy] unto him that saith [amar] to the wood [ets] , Awake [quwts] ; to the dumb [duwmam] stone [eben] , Arise [uwr] , it shall teach [yarah] ! Behold, it is laid [taphas] over with gold [zahab] and silver [keceph] , and there is no breath [ruwach] at all in the midst [qereb] of it.
20 But the LORD [Yahovah] is in his holy [qodesh] temple [heykal] : let all the earth [erets] keep silence [hacah] before [paniym] him. KJV-Interlinear

18 'What profit is the idol when its maker has carved it, Or an image, a teacher of falsehood? For its maker trusts in his own handiwork When he fashions speechless idols. 19 'Woe to him who says to a piece of wood, 'Awake!' To a dumb stone, 'Arise!' And that is your teacher? Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver, And there is no breath at all inside it. 20 'But the LORD is in His holy temple. Let all the earth be silent before Him.' NASB

An idol is anything which becomes the object of misdirected attention or worship. A thing or an idea which has no substance.

Here Habakkuk records the paronomasia (a play on words) where God teases those who would be negative toward Him, and, as negative people, when they reject God and Gods truth, will use a substitute of some kind to replace the role of God in life.

Those who do not believe in God substitute the concept of randomness. Everything in the universe happened by chance and mankind is the greatest intelligence that exists. Unless there is another creature out there which also came into being by chance. Or perhaps a third and fourth creature, or more. All of which came into existence by chance, with no designer, no higher power to cause it all.

Then there are those who believe in philosophies. And those philosophies came into being when someone or a sequence of someone's imagined and devised their own philosophy. This could include evolution, or any religion, or cult. All these came about when people made observations and then made conclusions by pure guesswork, or made conclusions because the ideas complimented their selfish desires or fulfilled their devious agenda.

Then there will be those who will take a natural order of some kind, and redefine it into a different natural order of their choosing, and convenient to their chosen life style. Homosexuality is a good example of this. But too, there are folks who will shack up without a formal marriage and that is a subtle distortion of Gods truth. It is rationalized as, 'Ok!' All make their claim to their chosen belief because after all, what does it hurt? And so the compromises, of these kinds and many others, with Gods Word, begin.

Then there are the traditional idols of stone and wood, of animals, or cultures, and such. People will make images of them for their fireplace mantle. Some will be made into necklaces or other jewelry. And they will touch them or look upon them with affection, as though they have some supernatural power or purpose.

Where in the Bible does it say? 'Come, approach the Father by means of your ear rings.' Or, 'This rock will set you free.' Or, 'Guru George is all knowing.'

Elijah had some fun when the priests were having a difficult time in getting a response out of their idol.

1 Kings 18:27
27 And it came about at noon, that Elijah mocked them and said, 'Call out with a loud voice, for he is a god; either he is occupied or gone aside, or is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and needs to be awakened.' NASB

The fifth woe in Habakkuk concerns, and is a warning, regarding the existence of idols in ones life.

There are two opinions in this universe. We have studied this concept before. You can subscribe to Gods opinion, which is the content of the Word of God, or you can subscribe to something else. All of the something else's, are false, lying delusions. And they will lead you to nothing but loss and misery in your life.

Isa. 29:16
16 You turn things around! Shall the potter be considered as equal with the clay, That what is made should say to its maker, 'He did not make me'; Or what is formed say to him who formed it, 'He has no understanding'? NASB

Isa. 44:9
9 Those who fashion a graven image are all of them futile, and their precious things are of no profit; even their own witnesses fail to see or know, so that they will be put to shame. NASB

Remember too that there are three spheres of environment in which we can live. The first is the jungle where anything goes. Then there are the establishment rules which God put in place in order to maintain some semblance of stability in this universe. These rules include things like volition, marriage, nationalism and such things, but it also includes things like gravity, physics, economics, or things which are truths in the physical world which also give rise to stability in the environment around us. How could we add two plus two, if the principles of math did not exist?

Then there is the third and greatest environment in which we should all be living, and that is fellowship, which is the sphere of the spiritual life. There, we place our trust in God and allow Him to bring about all things good (all of the details) which will occur in our life. We study His Word, we come to an understanding of life. We live by faith. A concept which totally escapes the comprehension of spiritually negative people.

Yesterday we studied the appearance of the soul of the negative person. It was beyond disgusting, both in appearance and in function. Now, when the negative person looks beyond his own existence, then he looks not to truth, but to even more delusional objects. Never seeing nor realizing the fallacy and sheer stupidity of his beliefs.

All philosophies, all beliefs, all objects to which one can focus their priorities, to the exclusion of God, all of them have absolutely no basis in truth. None whatsoever. When people set truth aside, then their beliefs drift further and further into the delusional.

Getting back to truth gets more and more difficult if you stay away from Gods Word for a long period of time. Getting back to God is not impossible, because Gods truth can blast through the most obstinate lie. The difficulty is with the person and their desire to get out of their state of delusion.

The big warning here then, is to avoid like the plague, the lies that would lead you astray from Bible doctrine. Maintaining your spiritual advance is very simple. Just read and study the scriptures daily and use them daily in your life. The path to misery and doom for your life, is simple too. Don't read or study the Bible.

Either path you choose, you will have the opportunity to see your life's evaluation, at the end of your life. That is a certainty. Which do you suppose will get you the better report card?

Now is the time to post a prayer.

End Of Lesson

Study to show thyself approved (mature) unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing (studying/discerning), the Word of truth.