Habakkuk 2:13
Is it not indeed from the LORD of Hosts that the labor of the people only feeds the fire, and the nations weary themselves in vain?
Is it not indeed
This phrase introduces a rhetorical question, a common device in Hebrew literature, which implies an obvious truth. The prophet Habakkuk is emphasizing the certainty of the statement that follows. In the Hebrew text, the use of rhetorical questions often serves to provoke reflection and self-examination among the listeners or readers. It invites the audience to consider the divine origin of the events being described, underscoring the sovereignty and omniscience of God.

from the LORD of Hosts
The title "LORD of Hosts" (Yahweh Sabaoth) is a powerful designation for God, emphasizing His supreme authority over all heavenly and earthly armies. This title is used frequently in the Old Testament to convey God's might and His role as a divine warrior. In the context of Habakkuk, it serves to remind the reader that God is in control of the nations and their destinies. Historically, this title reassured the Israelites of God's protection and His ability to execute judgment against their enemies.

that the labor of the peoples
The "labor of the peoples" refers to the efforts and toil of nations, particularly those who are not aligned with God's purposes. In the ancient Near Eastern context, nations often engaged in extensive building projects, military campaigns, and economic endeavors to establish their power and legacy. However, Habakkuk points out the futility of these efforts when they are not rooted in God's will. The Hebrew word for "labor" (עָמָל, amal) can also imply toil or trouble, suggesting that such efforts are burdensome and ultimately unproductive.

is only fuel for the fire
This vivid imagery conveys the idea that the achievements of the nations, when not aligned with God's purposes, are destined for destruction. The metaphor of "fuel for the fire" suggests that all human endeavors, no matter how grand, are temporary and will be consumed if they are not in accordance with God's eternal plan. In a broader biblical context, fire often symbolizes judgment and purification, indicating that God will ultimately refine and judge the works of humanity.

and the nations exhaust themselves in vain
The phrase highlights the futility and emptiness of the nations' efforts apart from God. The Hebrew word for "vain" (הֶבֶל, hebel) is often translated as "meaningless" or "breath," emphasizing the transient and insubstantial nature of human endeavors without divine purpose. Historically, this reflects the cyclical rise and fall of empires, which, despite their might and ambition, ultimately fail to achieve lasting significance without God's blessing. This serves as a reminder of the importance of aligning one's efforts with God's will to achieve true and lasting impact.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Habakkuk
A prophet in the Old Testament who dialogues with God about the justice and sovereignty of divine actions.

2. The LORD of Hosts
A title for God emphasizing His supreme authority and command over the heavenly armies.

3. The Peoples
Refers to the nations and groups of people who labor and toil.

4. The Nations
Represents the collective groups of people outside of Israel, often seen as pursuing their own agendas apart from God.

5. The Fire
Symbolic of destruction or futility, representing the ultimate end of human efforts apart from God.
Teaching Points
The Sovereignty of God
Recognize that God is in control of all nations and their efforts. Human endeavors are ultimately subject to His will.

The Futility of Human Effort Without God
Understand that labor and achievements apart from God’s purpose are ultimately in vain.

Divine Judgment and Purpose
Acknowledge that God uses the efforts of nations to fulfill His divine purposes, even when they seem futile.

The Importance of Aligning with God’s Will
Encourage believers to seek God’s guidance in their work and efforts to ensure they are not laboring in vain.

Eternal Perspective
Cultivate an eternal perspective that values spiritual accomplishments over temporal achievements.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does understanding the sovereignty of God in Habakkuk 2:13 affect your view of current world events?

2. In what ways can you ensure that your personal and professional efforts align with God’s purposes?

3. Reflect on a time when you felt your efforts were in vain. How does this verse provide perspective or comfort?

4. How can the message of Habakkuk 2:13 encourage you to prioritize spiritual over material achievements?

5. What other scriptures can you find that discuss the futility of human efforts without God, and how do they reinforce the message of Habakkuk 2:13?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Ecclesiastes 1:2-3
This passage echoes the theme of vanity and the futility of human labor without God.

Isaiah 40:15-17
Highlights the insignificance of nations before God, reinforcing the idea that human efforts are ultimately in vain without divine purpose.

Psalm 127:1
Emphasizes that without the LORD's involvement, human labor is futile, aligning with Habakkuk's message.

Jeremiah 51:58
Speaks of the labor of the nations being for nothing, similar to the imagery in Habakkuk.

1 Corinthians 3:12-15
Discusses how works will be tested by fire, relating to the idea of labor being fuel for the fire.
National Wrongs Ending in National Woes. No. 3D. Thomas Habakkuk 2:12-14
The Two Kingdoms: a ContrastS.D. Hillman Habakkuk 2:12-14
People
Habakkuk
Places
Chaldea, Lebanon
Topics
Armies, Behold, Determined, Exhaust, Fatigued, Fire, Fuel, Grow, Hosts, Indeed, Isn't, Labor, Labour, Nations, Nothing, Nought, Peoples, People's, Pleasure, Themselves, Toil, Using, Vain, Vanity, Weary, Working
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Habakkuk 2:13

     5776   achievement
     5864   futility

Habakkuk 2:6-20

     9250   woe

Library
September 15. "Though it Tarry, Wait for It, for it Will Surely Come, and Will not Tarry" (Hab. Ii. 3).
"Though it tarry, wait for it, for it will surely come, and will not tarry" (Hab. ii. 3). Some things have their cycle in an hour and some in a century; but His plans shall complete their cycle whether long or short. The tender annual which blossoms for a season and dies, and the Columbian aloe, which develops in a century, each is true to its normal principle. Many of us desire to pluck our fruit in June rather than wait until October, and so, of course, it is sour and immature; but God's purposes
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

The Crowned Christ Reigning
(Revelation, Chapters xx: 4-xxii.) "On this side of the river and on that was the tree of life, bearing twelve fruits." "A garden is a lovesome thing, God wot! Rose plot, Fringed pool, Ferned grot-- The veriest school Of peace; and yet the fool Contends that God is not-- Not God! in gardens! when the eve is cool? Nay, but I have a sign; 'Tis very sure God walks in mine." Day Is Coming. It's a long lane that has no turning. Every valley leads up a hillside to a hilltop. Every storm ends in sunshine
by S. D. Gordon—Quiet Talks on the Crowned Christ of Revelation

Of Inward Silence
Of Inward Silence "The Lord is in His Holy Temple, let all the earth keep silence before him" (Hab. ii. 20). Inward silence is absolutely indispensable, because the Word is essential and eternal, and necessarily requires dispositions in the soul in some degree correspondent to His nature, as a capacity for the reception of Himself. Hearing is a sense formed to receive sounds, and is rather passive than active, admitting, but not communicating sensation; and if we would hear, we must lend the ear
Madame Guyon—A Short and Easy Method of Prayer

Of Rest in the Presence of God --Its Fruits --Inward Silence --God Commands it --Outward Silence.
The soul, being brought to this place, needs no other preparation than that of repose: for the presence of God during the day, which is the great result of prayer, or rather prayer itself, begins to be intuitive and almost continual. The soul is conscious of a deep inward happiness, and feels that God is in it more truly than it is in itself. It has only one thing to do in order to find God, which is to retire within itself. As soon as the eyes are closed, it finds itself in prayer. It is astonished
Jeanne Marie Bouvières—A Short Method Of Prayer And Spiritual Torrents

A Sermon on a Text not Found in the Bible.
MR. JUSTICE GROVES.--"Men go into the Public-house respectable, and come out felons." My text, as you see, my dear readers, is not taken from the Bible. It does not, however, contradict the Scriptures, but is in harmony with some, such as "WOE UNTO HIM THAT GIVETH HIS NEIGHBOUR DRINK." Habakkuk ii. 15; "WOE UNTO THEM THAT RISE UP EARLY IN THE MORNING, THAT THEY MAY FOLLOW STRONG DRINK."--Isaiah v. 11. "TAKE HEED TO YOURSELVES LEST AT ANY TIME YOUR HEARTS BE OVERCHARGED WITH SURFEITING AND
Thomas Champness—Broken Bread

The Season of Epiphany.
"This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth His glory; and His disciples believed on Him."--John ii. 11. The Epiphany is a season especially set apart for adoring the glory of Christ. The word may be taken to mean the manifestation of His glory, and leads us to the contemplation of Him as a King upon His throne in the midst of His court, with His servants around Him, and His guards in attendance. At Christmas we commemorate His grace; and in Lent His temptation;
John Henry Newman—Parochial and Plain Sermons, Vol. VII

The Sum and Substance of all Theology
Note: On Tuesday, June 25th, 1861, the beloved C. H. Spurgeon visited Swansea. The day was wet, so the services could not be held in the open-air; and, as no building in the town was large enough to hold the vast concourses of people who had come from all parts to hear the renowned preacher, he consented to deliver two discourses in the morning; first at Bethesda, and then at Trinity Chapel. At each place he preached for an hour and a quarter. The weather cleared up during the day; so, in the evening,
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 62: 1916

Habakkuk-On his Watch-Tower
"Lord, teach us to pray."--Luke xi. i. "I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower."--Hab. ii. i. HABAKKUK'S tower was not built of stone and lime. Hiram's Tyrian workmen, with all their skill in hewn stone, and in timber, and in iron, and in brass, had no hand in building Habakkuk's tower. "The Name of the Lord" was Habakkuk's high tower. The truth and the faithfulness and the power of God--these things were the deep and broad foundations of Habakkuk's high tower, into which he continually
Alexander Whyte—Lord Teach Us To Pray

Meditations Before Dinner and Supper.
Meditate that hunger is like the sickness called a wolf; which, if thou dost not feed, will devour thee, and eat thee up; and that meat and drink are but as physic, or means which God hath ordained, to relieve and cure this natural infirmity and necessity of man. Use, therefore, to eat and to drink, rather to sustain and refresh the weakness of nature, than to satisfy the sensuality and delights of the flesh. Eat, therefore, to live, but live not to eat. There is no service so base, as for a man
Lewis Bayly—The Practice of Piety

"Hear the Word of the Lord, Ye Rulers of Sodom, Give Ear unto the Law of Our God, Ye People of Gomorrah,"
Isaiah i. 10, 11, &c.--"Hear the word of the Lord, ye rulers of Sodom, give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah," &c. It is strange to think what mercy is mixed with the most wrath like strokes and threatenings. There is no prophet whose office and commission is only for judgment, nay, to speak the truth, it is mercy that premises threatenings. The entering of the law, both in the commands and curses, is to make sin abound, that grace may superabound, so that both rods and threatenings
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

Letter vi (Circa A. D. 1127) to the Same
To the Same He protests against the reputation for holiness which is attributed to him, and promises to communicate the treatises which he has written. I. Even if I should give myself to you entirely that would be too little a thing still in my eyes, to have recompensed towards you even the half of the kindly feeling which you express towards my humility. I congratulate myself, indeed, on the honour which you have done me; but my joy, I confess, is tempered by the thought that it is not anything
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux—Some Letters of Saint Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux

Faith
What does God require of us, that we may escape his wrath and curse due to us for our sin? Faith in Jesus Christ, repentance unto life, with the diligent use of all the outward means, whereby Christ communicateth to us the benefits of redemption. I begin with the first, faith in Jesus Christ. Whom God has set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood.' Rom 3: 25. The great privilege in the text is, to have Christ for a propitiation; which is not only to free us from God's wrath, but to
Thomas Watson—The Ten Commandments

How to be Admonished are those who Give Away what is their Own, and those who Seize what Belongs to Others.
(Admonition 21.) Differently to be admonished are those who already give compassionately of their own, and those who still would fain seize even what belongs to others. For those who already give compassionately of their own are to be admonished not to lift themselves up in swelling thought above those to whom they impart earthly things; not to esteem themselves better than others because they see others to be supported by them. For the Lord of an earthly household, in distributing the ranks and
Leo the Great—Writings of Leo the Great

Humility is the Root of Charity, and Meekness the Fruit of Both. ...
Humility is the root of charity, and meekness the fruit of both. There is no solid and pure ground of love to others, except the rubbish of self-love be first cast out of the soul; and when that superfluity of naughtiness is cast out, then charity hath a solid and deep foundation: "The end of the command is charity out of a pure heart," 1 Tim. i. 5. It is only such a purified heart, cleansed from that poison and contagion of pride and self-estimation, that can send out such a sweet and wholesome
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

Question of the Contemplative Life
I. Is the Contemplative Life wholly confined to the Intellect, or does the Will enter into it? S. Thomas, On the Beatific Vision, I., xii. 7 ad 3m II. Do the Moral Virtues pertain to the Contemplative Life? S. Augustine, Of the City of God, xix. 19 III. Does the Contemplative Life comprise many Acts? S. Augustine, Of the Perfection of Human Righteousness, viii. 18 " Ep., cxxx. ad probam IV. Does the Contemplative Life consist solely in the Contemplation of God, or in the Consideration
St. Thomas Aquinas—On Prayer and The Contemplative Life

The Second Commandment
Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am o jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of then that hate me; and shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments.' Exod 20: 4-6. I. Thou shalt not
Thomas Watson—The Ten Commandments

The Right Understanding of the Law
Thou shalt have no other Gods before me.' Exod 20: 3. Before I come to the commandments, I shall answer questions, and lay down rules respecting the moral law. What is the difference between the moral laud and the gospel? (1) The law requires that we worship God as our Creator; the gospel, that we worship him in and through Christ. God in Christ is propitious; out of him we may see God's power, justice, and holiness: in him we see his mercy displayed. (2) The moral law requires obedience, but gives
Thomas Watson—The Ten Commandments

Habakkuk
The precise interpretation of the book of Habakkuk presents unusual difficulties; but, brief and difficult as it is, it is clear that Habakkuk was a great prophet, of earnest, candid soul, and he has left us one of the noblest and most penetrating words in the history of religion, ii. 4b. The prophecy may be placed about the year 600 B.C. The Assyrian empire had fallen, and by the battle of Carchemish in 605 B.C., Babylonian supremacy was practically established over Western Asia. Josiah's reformation,
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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