Habakkuk 2:12-20: a reflection

12Woe to him who builds a town with blood, and establishes a city by iniquity! 13Behold, isn’t it from the LORD of Armies that the peoples labor for the fire, and the nations weary themselves for vanity? 14For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the LORD’s glory, as the waters cover the sea. 15“Woe to him who gives his neighbor drink, pouring your inflaming wine until they are drunk, so that you may gaze at their naked bodies! 16You are filled with shame, and not glory. You will also drink and be exposed! The cup of the LORD’s right hand will come around to you, and disgrace will cover your glory. 17For the violence done to Lebanon will overwhelm you, and the destruction of the animals will terrify you, because of men’s blood and for the violence done to the land, to every city and to those who dwell in them. 18“What value does the engraved image have, that its maker has engraved it; the molten image, even the teacher of lies, that he who fashions its form trusts in it, to make mute idols? 19Woe to him who says to the wood, ‘Awake!’ or to the mute stone, ‘Arise!’ Shall this teach? Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver, and there is no breath at all within it. 20But the LORD is in his holy temple. Let all the earth be silent before him!”

In the midst of woes pronounced on violence and greed and lifeless idols, the prophet Habakkuk sets a shining promise of what is certain to come: For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the LORD's glory, as the waters cover the sea. However much violence and injustice and idolatry seem to fill the world now, the day is coming, as sure as anything can be, when the earth will be filled with the knowledge of God's glory, as full and complete as the waters that cover the sea. This is not a mere hope but a certainty: the knowledge of God's glory will fill the whole earth. The present darkness is not the final state of things; God's glory will be known everywhere, filling the earth as fully as water fills the sea. What now seems to be filled with violence and vanity will one day be filled with the knowledge of the Lord's glory. This is the certain future toward which all things move.

Notice the certainty of the promise: the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the LORD's glory, as the waters cover the sea. It is not said that the earth may be filled, or might be; it will be. As surely as the waters cover the sea, so surely will the knowledge of God's glory fill the earth. This is set against a backdrop of present darkness, violence, greed, lifeless idols; but the darkness is not the last word. The last word is the earth filled with the knowledge of God's glory. This gives a sure hope amid present evil: however things look now, they are moving toward a certain end, the whole earth filled with the knowledge of God's glory. The present state of the world, however dark, is not its destiny; its destiny is to be filled with the knowledge of God's glory, and that is certain. The waters will cover the sea; the glory of God will fill the earth.

That is worth resting in, for it is certain that the earth will be filled with the knowledge of God's glory, as the waters cover the sea. We can be discouraged by how much the world now seems filled with violence, injustice, and emptiness, as though this were the final state of things; but the prophet gives a certain promise: the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord's glory, as sure as the waters cover the sea. The present darkness is not the destiny of the world; its destiny is to be filled with God's glory. When the world's darkness discourages you, rest in the certainty that the earth will be filled with the knowledge of God's glory. Rest in the certain hope that the earth will be filled with the knowledge of God's glory, as the waters cover the sea, as the prophet promised amid the world's violence and vanity; for however much the world now seems filled with darkness and evil, that is not its final state, and its certain destiny is to be filled with the knowledge of the Lord's glory, as sure as the waters that cover the sea, so that the present darkness is not the last word but is moving toward a glory that will fill the whole earth.

Lord, in the midst of woes pronounced on violence and greed and lifeless idols, the prophet Habakkuk sets a shining promise of what is certain to come: for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the LORD's glory, as the waters cover the sea. However much violence and injustice and idolatry seem to fill the world now, the day is coming, as sure as anything can be, when the earth will be filled with the knowledge of your glory, as full and complete as the waters that cover the sea. This is not a mere hope but a certainty. The present darkness is not the final state of things; your glory will be known everywhere. Show me the certainty of the promise: the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the LORD's glory, as the waters cover the sea. It is not said that the earth may be filled; it will be. As surely as the waters cover the sea, so surely will the knowledge of your glory fill the earth. This is set against a backdrop of present darkness; but the darkness is not the last word. The last word is the earth filled with the knowledge of your glory. This gives a sure hope amid present evil: however things look now, they are moving toward a certain end. Let me rest in that, for it is certain that the earth will be filled with the knowledge of your glory. I can be discouraged by how much the world now seems filled with violence, injustice, and emptiness, as though this were the final state of things; but the prophet gives a certain promise. The present darkness is not the destiny of the world; its destiny is to be filled with your glory. When the world's darkness discourages me, help me rest in the certainty that the earth will be filled with the knowledge of your glory, Lord, as the waters cover the sea.