Man's Delusion
Notes
Transcript
The Opinion of Others
The Opinion of Others
“Woe to him who gives drink to his neighbors,
pouring it from the wineskin till they are drunk,
so that he can gaze on their naked bodies!
You will be filled with shame instead of glory.
Now it is your turn! Drink and let your nakedness be exposed!
The cup from the Lord’s right hand is coming around to you,
and disgrace will cover your glory.
The violence you have done to Lebanon will overwhelm you,
and your destruction of animals will terrify you.
For you have shed human blood;
you have destroyed lands and cities and everyone in them.
The Lord continues to show the sins of Babylon in such a way that Habakkuk and the nation of Israel would see that truly the Lord is speaking and rebuking their own sins. In this moment, the Lord rebukes the hearer for their willingness to give into their own delusion.
The sin described here is the sin of manipulation. This sin centers around the exaltation of self by means of the manipulating others to join and support our cause. The picture here is of Babylon seducing other nations by getting them drunk and then taking advantage of their vulnerability then using that very vulnerability against them to bring shame that they might continue to support your cause out of shame.
The Opinions of Self
The Opinions of Self
“Of what value is an idol carved by a craftsman?
Or an image that teaches lies?
For the one who makes it trusts in his own creation;
he makes idols that cannot speak.
Woe to him who says to wood, ‘Come to life!’
Or to lifeless stone, ‘Wake up!’
Can it give guidance?
It is covered with gold and silver;
there is no breath in it.”
The Lord continues to rebuke the Babylonians and Israel, this time for their idolatry. They built idols to serve their own purposes. Idols always revolve around our fear and our control. When the day of trouble arises, control is shown for what it is, an illusion, a delusion of our soul. Much of our control is held in theh balance by decision or circumstances that are outside of our sphere of influence.