1. The burden that Havaqquq the prophet beheld [while in an ecstatic state]:

Burden: or oracle.

3. Why do you keep letting me see trouble and making me look at misery, while havoc and violence are in front of me, and quarrels have come about and legal disputes have arisen?

Trouble: the root term means to exert oneself in vain. Misery: or, toil. Havoc: or, oppression. Yaaqov (James) tells us that quarrels originate from our fleshly passions. This brings an inappropriate bias to our interpretations of the Torah, which will tilt the balance toward our personal advantage.

Weakened: enfeebled or made slack. Of course this is done very effectively when men teach that the Torah is no longer in force today! Surround: hem in, entrap. Aramaic, devour. Today it is considered righteous to be tolerant, and judges or juries are punished for having a firm belief in anything. Standing up for the simple truth is considered subversive. If we do not support anything that anyone wants to do, we are oppressive! The wealthy are held up as the standard, and celebrities, no matter how hedonistic, are the role models. Twisted: i.e., they come out perverted (NASB) or distorted; Aramaic, sound judgment does not go forth. This all sounds like what is going on in Yehudah today, but applies anywhere that those who are in the wrong are given any voice once proven guilty. They should have no right to sue in return, but those who make the most noise are treated as right. If someone is able to run right over others, he considers it his duty! What follows is YHWH’s response:

An undercurrent here is the fact that “among the nations”, YHWH is bringing Israel back to life, and Yehudah is not alone as she had feared.

Khasdim: Chaldeans. Hurried: impetuous, hasty, driven. Wide spaces: or possibly, breadth (and length, since the word is plural).

I.e., it makes decisions for itself, not respecting any other accepted standard or authority. Its philosophy is ,“Might makes right.”

Swifter: literally, lighter (i.e., of foot). Cheetahs: or, leopards, from a word meaning “spotted or speckled”, but the cheetah is far more fleet-footed than the leopard. Keener: more alert, sharper. Eagle: The term can mean any bird of prey.

Eagerness: or, gathering, crowding, horde, their looking. Forward: or, in the east, in the ancient place; Aramaic, in the appearance/front of their faces they are like the east wind. Sand: often an idiom for the descendants of Avraham; this is precisely Havaqquq’s fear. The Babylonian system still holds us captive; YHWH cannot bring judgment upon it as long as we remain part of it, and thus we cannot go home.

This sounds very much like democracy, which laughs at the idea of true authorities, and today any military move can be justified in its name, even while actually in reality diminishing people’s democratic “rights”!

Aramaic, Then because their spirit was exalted upon them, they passed from their kingdom and sinned in that they multiplied honor to their idols. NASB: “Then they will sweep in like the wind and pass on, but they will be held guilty, they whose strength is their god. [sic]” If we give credit to YHWH, we have to live within the parameters He sets, and make sure that what we are doing lines up with His instruction. Those who say, “In G-d we trust” do not usually seem to have that sense of accountability.

Mighty Judge: Heb., Elohim, but Havaqquq is emphasizing YHWH’s righteousness and ability to put an end to such travesties. Convict: or prove, reprove, correct. He cannot imagine how YHWH could let the wicked get away with all of this:

14. Are You dealing with humanity like the fish of the sea or the teeming animals [that have] no ruler over them?

Humanity: Heb., Adam. Deal…like: i.e., just letting them be caught en masse as in a net or trap. People have been “burned” and swindled by so many that few want anyone in authority over them anymore, but the restored Adam, embodied in Israel, cannot be like this; we must have order and chain of command before we can return home. Christianity is symbolized by the fish, and the Beast sits on many waters; though there is a figurehead, there is no true authority there; everyone defines his own relationship with “G-d”. (Judges 21:25) They still keep “fishing for men” when it is time for the hunters to come instead. (Yirmeyahu 16:16) Thus these “Chaldeans” in our day represent Christian nations that want everyone else—even Israel, who has higher standards--to live by their rules.

This is the kind of person this Chaldean general is! Such brutality gives him his joy. And YHWH can use them, when all Yehudah is doing is arguing with one another? Yet Yehudah is punished sooner because they have been taught a higher standard.

Perforated trap: Aramaic, weapons.

CHAPTER 2

After asking all the questions in chapter 1, Havaqquq is expecting to be corrected, because he is arguing with YHWH and knows YHWH cannot be wrong, but he cannot figure out by his own logic how YHWH can be just and yet do what He is planning to do. So he determines that he will do the work he has been given, and wait for YHWH’s rebuke. He braces himself for reproof, but cannot live without these questions resolved.

3. “because the vision is yet for the appointed time, and it will blow to the end, but will not disappoint. Though it may delay, wait for it, because it will certainly come, and will not be late.

Blow to the end: or, pant for the end, whisper. Disappoint: or, tell a lie. Wait: with longing. Be late: hesitate, hold back, remain behind. A well-loved Jewish song about confidence that Messiah is still coming despite what it seems (taken from the 13 principles of Jewish faith) is based on to this verse. It may look like the master will never return, but be assured that he will. (Luqa 12:45) YHWH tells Havaqquq that he is essentially right, but he just does not understand YHWH’s seasons. His questions are valid, but he needs to see a larger context. He is only wrong on timing. This is one prophecy that was NOT also applicable in the prophet’s own day, unlike most, which usually have a two-pronged fulfillment. Compare Daniel 10:14.

Swollen appetite: or, presumptuous self-life. The one who is about himself is both leavened and unstable. The righteous, on the other hand, is firmly grounded. Faithfulness: or, firm confidence. This verse is quoted in Romans 1:17, Galatians 3:11, and Hebrews 10:38, but as seen here this “faith” must be seen as confidence in something YHWH has actually promised, if it applies to us. He is speaking directly to Havaqquq’s doubts here.

This is not alcoholic wine, but the power that makes one giddy enough to attack those whom he assumes could never be his equals and could never beat him. (Compare Rev. 18:3.) Babylon honored those who would become part of their system when conquered, and ended any enmity; Democracy does the same today, paying those it conquers to believe the same way rather than standing firmly for what they have believed.

Babylon made promises to many nations that they plundered which they would turn out to be unable to keep. It is getting deeper and deeper in debt for its robberies and most of all its bloodshed. The Church is heir to Babylon’s power through Rome, and it cannot deliver on its promise of Heaven!

8. “Because you have taken spoils from [so] many nations, all the peoples that are left will take spoils from you because of the human blood and violence of land, town, and all those who dwell in it!

Human blood: literally, bloods of Adam. YHWH required the blood of Hevel from the hand of Qayin. As more accurate interpretations of the Word of YHWH are revealed to us, the “creditors” will call in the debts, and Church will have to more and more often close its mouth in shame for the blood it has shed in calling people heretics when they were more in tune with Scripture than it. Truth is available through the internet even in countries very restricted politically, and as we hold their feet to the fire with the challenge: “Let us see you live out the truth, not human doctrines”, they will have to release Israel’s sheep, which they now hold captive.

10. “You have given shameful advice to your household by cutting off [so] many peoples, and are missing the point of your life.

Life: your emotions, passions, soul-life, self.

12. “‘Woe to the one who builds a city on blood, and establishes a town through injustice!’

Compare Yirm. 22:13. No matter how impressive it is, this city cannot endure. The blood used as mortar to build the city will cry out like Hevel’s, and overturn the stones it has been used to hold together. Therefore, all their accomplishments are futile:

This sounds very much like Qoheleth (Ecclesiastes). Havaqquq is a very learned man; a prophet can only bring forth what raw materials of YHWH’s word he has hidden in his heart. Aramaic, “Behold, great and virulent plagues are coming from the Master of hosts, and fire will consume the labor of the nations, and the kingdoms shall weary themselves in vain.”

Yeshayahu 11:9 also includes the latter phrase here. Havaqquq may have been alluding to that prophecy, which is in the larger context of the return of Israel from all nations in the latter days. Satisfied: or filled up. Overwhelm: or, form a covering [that hides]. This may be a reference to the return of the vapor canopy that was once above the expanse of the atmosphere. Sea: or, the west.

One spills his secrets when drunk, and reveals his weaknesses, whether physical or psychological.

YHWH will force the Chaldeans to become drunk as well, so their own bluff will be called. Christians are the ones spreading democracy to the greatest extent today, and they consider themselves to have the high moral ground against terrorists who live what they believe, whether right or wrong. The system will finally prove to involve much idolatry. Those who thought they were in covenant with YHWH, but did not see themselves as part of either the House of Yedhuah or the House of Efrayim (with which alone the Renewed Covenant of Yirmeyahu 31 is made) will find that they are not circumcised after all!

18. “What is the benefit of a carved image? Because the one who forms it has carved it into shape—the molten metal image and a teacher of falsehood—because the one who forms [it] trusts in his frame on [which] he produces worthless things that cannot speak!

Yirmeyahu 47 tells us more about those who worship the work of their own hands. The idols are suffocated with the molten metal that covers them:

20. “But YHWH is in a sanctuary dedicated to Him [alone]; let the whole earth hush due to His presence!”

It will take this whole long process—thousands of years, it turns out—to justly prove YHWH is in the right, but He is in control. It only looks as if His enemies know what they are doing. But no matter how many secrets they have elicited from those they torture, YHWH is firmly established in the right place. So as He told Moshe, He tells Havaqquq, “Don’t ask Me that question again!”

CHAPTER 3

1. A prayer for Havaqquq concerning those who go astray:

Concerning those who go astray: Heb., Al Shigyonoth, possibly to the tune of a commonly-known song by this title. (Also used in Psalm 7.) It may mean “unconventional”, like “fusion” music today. The epilogue to verse 19 adds credence to this. Aramaic, “…when it was revealed to him concerning the extension of time which He gives to the wicked, that if they return to the Torah with a perfect heart they shall be forgiven and all their sins which they have committed before Him shall be as sins of ignorance.”

In the midst of the years: He was told the vision was for the end times. (2:3) Havaqquq may also have been asking YHWH to do something about the Chaldeans in his own days as well! Remember to be compassionate: related to the curse “Lo-Ruhamah” in Hoshea 1, which applied to the Northern Kingdom. This may be a veiled reference to YHWH’s not forgetting about us either. Aramaic, “remember the righteous who do Your will.” He now returns to his prophesying:

Theyman: now equated with Yemen, but at that time possibly only as far south as Edom; the name is related to the word for “right hand”, since when properly “oriented” to the east, the south is on the right hand. Pa’aran: An allusion to Deut. 33:2. The name means “especially beautiful”, and denotes an area south of the Land of Israel proper, west of the Aravah, and north of what is now known (incorrectly) as Sinai.

Rays of light: literally, horns; Aramaic, sparks issued from His glorious chariot; there He revealed His sh’kinah, which was hidden from the sons of man in the high fastness.

Destructive word: or, pestilence. The Aramaic targum identifies this as the angel of death.

Measured a land: Aramaic, shook the earth. Travelings: or steps, caravans, traveling companies.

Kushan: the name means “their blackness”. The tents of Qedar were known for being black, and the Bedouins of today still use black tents. Kushan “the doubly wicked” was a Mesopotamian king who oppressed Israel for eight years until Othniel, Kalev’s younger brother, delivered them. (Judges 3:7-11) The Aramaic targum makes a connection between the two passages, and links Midyan here with the story of Gid’on, who delivered Israel from that nation. Curtains: from another term meaning “to quiver”, so there is a play on words here.

9. “Your bow will be exposed—laid bare—oaths of branches of speaking. Think about it.
You will split a land [with] rivers.

Oaths: spelled and pronounced like the festival Shavuoth. Branches: or tribes. The Aramaic sees the oaths as His covenant with the tribes, for whom He cleft rocks and flooded the ground with the water that issued forth.

11. “Sun, moon stood still in her lofty abode; for the light of Your arrows
They went to the shining of your flashing spear-head.

Stood still: the Aramaic targum sees this as a reference to the long day of Y’hoshua at the plain of Giv’on.

Trample: or thresh.

Came out: Aramaic, revealed Yourself. Anointed one: Heb., Messiah. While this can apply to anyone anointed by YHWH, it reminds us that although Yahshua’s name means “YHWH saves”, He needs YHWH to bring Him deliverance from His enemies as well—the last one being death. (Psalm 22 and Luke 23:46, at His death where He quoted it, are one example.)

15. “You marched Your horses into the sea—a swelling of many waters.

The Aramaic targum interprets verses 14-15 as a reference to YHWH’s triumph over Pharaoh at the Reed Sea.

Upset: agitated, perturbed, disturbed, disquieted. The greatest superpower on earth will be brought to its knees—and beyond—for never again after this would the Chaldeans be a people. What will come upon YHWH’s enemies reminds us in a frightening way to stay on His side, because anyone who is not—no matter how insignificant compared to the Chaldeans--is subject to being treated in the same way. Fear of YHWH is more than anything being afraid of His presence being taken away from us. The targum sees this verse as Babylon’s response. Rottenness was entering my bones: Aramaic, fear took hold of my wise men. I will move…: or, so that I might rest in the day of trouble. To come up to the people: Aramaic, at the time of bringing up the exiles of His people. Troops: Though the text speaks of catastrophes of planetary proportions, for YHWH can bring an impregnable city to nothing by the larger forces at His disposal. But this last phrase suggests that these references to natural forces are analogies of the army that will destroy Bavel. Just as YHWH is in control of otherwise-unstoppable rivers, He is also in control of armies.

The targum sees the fig tree as Babylon, the vines as media (Persia), the olive tree as Greece, and the animals as Romans, none of whom will maintain their hold over Israel. But all of these terms are elsewhere used to describe Israel in particular. There are “lost sheep of the House of Israel” (Mat. 15:24), cut off from our Land. With Yehudah as well about to be taken into exile, there is no hope for her except YHWH’s promises in the Torah that one day both Houses would repent and return to Torah and thereafter to the Land.

No matter how dire everything looks, with no security in sight whatsoever, the prophet reminds himself—and us—that YHWH is in control, and he can be confident that what He is doing will ultimately benefit those who love Him. (Rom. 8:28)

(For the chief musician on my stringed instruments.)

Empowering…emplaced my feet: Aramaic, supports me with strength and makes my feet swift. Stringed instruments: or, songs of mockery—probably in the sense that they include repetitive [arts, for that is often how children mock. Aramaic, before Him I am playing my songs of praise.