Habakkuk 2:17

17 The harm they have done to Lebanon will bring them down. Because they have killed so many animals, animals will terrify them. They have spilled man's blood. They have destroyed lands and cities and everyone in them.

Habakkuk 2:17 Meaning and Commentary

Habakkuk 2:17

For the violence of Lebanon shall cover thee
Lebanon was a mountain on the borders of the land of Israel, from whence cedar wood was brought, of which the temple was built, and for that reason is sometimes so called, as in ( Zechariah 11:1 ) and so the Targum and Jarchi interpret it,

``the violence of the house of the sanctuary shall cover thee;''

and this was a type of the church of Christ, the violence of which is that which is offered to it, and which it suffers; and designs all the injuries, oppressions, and persecutions of it by the Papists; who shall be surrounded with the judgments of God, and covered with his wrath and vengeance for the violence done to his people, as a man is covered with a garment: or else the sense is, that the same, or a like judgment, should come upon them, as did on Lebanon, or the material temple of Jerusalem, which with great force and violence destroyed it; as that was consumed by fire for the sins of the Jews in rejecting Christ and persecuting his people, so shall Rome be burnt with fire for the opposition of the inhabitants of it to Christ, and the injuries they have done to his church and people: and the spoil of beasts, [which] made them afraid;
or, "the spoil of the beasts" shall cover thee, which "made them afraid"; we read of two beasts, one rising out of the sea, and the other out of the earth; and both design the pope of Rome in different capacities, as considered in his secular and ecclesiastical power; and the spoil he has made of those that oppose him, the calamities of fire and sword he has brought upon them, are what have greatly terrified the sheep of Christ; but for all the spoil and havoc he has made, the judgments of God shall come upon him on all sides, and utterly destroy him; the beast and false prophet shall be cast into the lake of fire and brimstone; see ( Revelation 13:1 Revelation 13:11 ) ( 17:8 ) ( 19:20 ) : because of men's blood, and for the violence of the land, of the
city, and of all that dwell therein;
the same that is said in ( Habakkuk 2:8 ) and here repeated, as respecting another body of men, guilty of the same or like crimes: there Rome Pagan, concerned in the crucifixion of Christ, the desolation of the land of Judea, and city of Jerusalem, and their inhabitants, as well as in persecuting the saints, the citizens of the church of God; here Rome Papal, where our Lord has been crucified again, and his blood, and the efficacy of it, set at nought; the blood of the saints and martyrs of Jesus shed in great abundance, and violent persecutions of the churches of Christ, and the members of them; for all which the above judgments shall come upon them; see ( Revelation 11:8 ) ( 18:24 ) .

Habakkuk 2:17 In-Context

15 "How terrible it will be for the Babylonians! They give drinks to their neighbors. They pour the drinks from wineskins until their neighbors are drunk. They want to look at their naked bodies.

16 But the Babylonians will be filled with shame instead of glory. So now it is their turn to drink and be stripped of their clothes. The cup of anger in my powerful right hand is going to punish them. They will be covered with shame instead of glory.

17 The harm they have done to Lebanon will bring them down. Because they have killed so many animals, animals will terrify them. They have spilled man's blood. They have destroyed lands and cities and everyone in them.

18 "If someone carves a statue of a god, what is it worth? What value is there in a god that teaches lies? The one who trusts in another god worships his own creation. He makes statues of gods that can't speak.

19 How terrible it will be for the Babylonians! They say to a wooden god, 'Come to life!' They say to a stone god, 'Wake up!' Can those gods give advice? They are covered with gold and silver. They can't even breathe.