EARTH FILLED WITH GLORY

“Woe to him that buildeth a town with blood, and stablisheth a city by iniquity!  Behold, is it not of the LORD of hosts that the people shall labour in the very fire, and the people shall weary themselves for very vanity?  For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.” Habakkuk 2:12-14 (KJV).

The third woe is here presented. So far the “Woes” have had to do with unjust increase, and increase at the cost of another’s fall, by the profiteer’s own doing. Remember these woes are being pronounced against Babylon. It seems that there are lessons the Christian and the world of today should hear and heed. If these things were evil for Babylon to practice, then they are evil in any society.

This again is a continuation of the charges against them. They have been pillaging, robbing, killing, and taking all the treasures of every land. They were using means which would not meet with God’s approval. There was much injustice in their dealings with the people of God and others.

It is a wicked people who take from the weak to establish their own homes, villages, towns and cities. It is a vile thing in the eyes of our Just God to see those who gain and gain and gain never to return anything to God for His glory. The one’s who have against those who have not. Those who have money can “legally” charge those who cannot afford it 30 percent or more for the credit. That should be illegal in this country. “O, that is capitalism – that’s the way it works”. That is capitalism run amuck. It is foul, it is a stench in the nostrils of holy God. To correct this there should be a fair exchange of money. What you charge the wealthy should be the rate you charge the poor man or woman. Really it would be a delight in the eye of God to charge less to the poor, than to the rich. Laugh if you will, but you laugh at holy God.

The wealthy put people to work, and some do not pay a wage consistent enough to live on. Then, they charge an enormous amount of money for their product, what that same person needs, and take even more. God help the business people of our land to open their eyes and be a benefit to our society rather than dividing the classes even further.

Let me assure you, that all these things for which we labor and toil; these things that we find so dear and important, will one day fade to naught. What will you have left when it is all gone?

There is a prize in these verses. “For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea”. The leaders and rulers of Babylon sought to build a great kingdom by the shedding of blood, and taking what belonged to others, and often at the expense of their lives. There is a Kingdom coming in which there will be no war, but only peace. The peace of God that passes all understanding. Notice the vastness of this “knowledge of the glory”; it is “as the waters cover the sea”. How much do the waters cover the sea? The sea is water, thus this filling with the knowledge of the glory covers the whole realm of the Kingdom. All the bloodshed, and such will have been done away. Jesus Christ will reign supremely. The knowledge of His glory will fill the earth.