The Deceit of Idolatry

Read Habakkuk 2:4-20.

The Proud vs the Faithful

vs 4 If the righteous live by faith, what does the proud man live by?

Proverbs 21:4 “Haughty eyes and a proud heart, The lamp of the wicked, is sin.”

Psalm 119:105 “Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.”

The foolish man builds his house upon the sand, and the guide of the proud man is his sin.

Story (probably made up) of an american aircraft carrier whose captain believes he is on a collision course with a Canadian ship.

Americans: Please divert your course 15 degrees to the North to avoid a collision.

Canadians: Recommend you divert YOUR course 15 degrees to the South to avoid a collision.

Americans: This is the Captain of a US Navy ship. I say again, divert YOUR course.

Canadians: No. I say again, you divert YOUR course.

Americans: This is the aircraft carrier USS Lincoln, the second largest ship in the United States' Atlantic fleet. We are accompanied by three destroyers, three cruisers and numerous support vessels. I demand that YOU change your course 15 degrees north, that's one five degrees north, or countermeasures will be undertaken to ensure the safety of this ship.

Canadians: This is a lighthouse. Your call.

I think that story really illustrates the prideful heart of man defying the creator of the universe.

Four Woes for The Proud

The Lord then gives us 4 examples of foundations that the proud man builds his house upon. We see that this man is “never satisfied”. (his heart is not right) Compares them to the drunk who is open to anything show no moderation. These vices or evils are directed towards Babylon, but are very relevant to America today and reveal deeper heart issues. As in the verse, “his heart is not right within him”: the Lord judges the heart.

Excess

vs 6 “Woe to him who increases what is not his—”

We see the sin of excess condemned all over the bible, for example, the Israelites were told to only take what they needed from the manna and not any more.

But this idea of increasing what is not his reflects a deeper arrogance.

Not the fear of not having enough, but the arrogance of wanting to appear to have more than you do, vanity

Fraud

vs 9 “Woe to him who gets evil gain for his house”

HCSB: “who makes dishonest wealth”

Specifically gain achieved through dishonest means for the purpose of safety and/or survival

Lying at work for a promotion so you can feed your family; The ends don’t justify the means

Violence

vs 12 “Woe to him who builds a city with bloodshed”

Again the idea of putting down others for personal gain

We see this everywhere in the world; people cutting each other’s throats just for designer clothes and nice cars only to be left just as empty as before“toil for fire and grow weary for nothing”

We’re given a break from all of the evil and woe with the statement:

Habakkuk 2:14 ““For the earth will be filled With the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, As the waters cover the sea.”

God one day will right every wrong, and we can trust in His sovereignty

After all, His Kingdom, the body of Christ is a kingdom built on blood as well, the perfect sacrifice of Christ

Indignity

vs 15 “Woe to him who gives his neighbors drink”

Complete corruption, depravity, flagrant disregard for morality

Without the regenerating work of the spirit to give us new hearts, sin will poison and corrupt us until we have no conscience at all.

The proud man can not be satisfied by his own sin, and eventually will desire for others to take pleasure in the same level of corruption as himself.

The picture is of the men of Sodom who would break down Lot’s door to have sex with the men who were visiting him.

The Emptiness of Idols

This final woe speaks specifically of worshipping physical idols, but it also seems to summarize the emptiness of pursuing anything other than the Lord.