I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what He will say unto me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved.
The above is Habakkuk 2:1 and is Habakkuk waiting and watching, in silence, for the LORD to speak. This is connected to the last verse of the chapter, which says, “But the LORD is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him.” Just before this last verse, we are told of those who are dumb idols, who others are watching and waiting for, expecting them to rise and teach. We are told there is no breath in these men or their idols, who are as dumb stones and dead wood, in which there is no life.
(The LORD is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.)
Habakkuk, meaning to grasp or take hold of with the hand (the work of the hand), is speaking of the vision of when God takes hold of His people, and in realizing His presence the wise are silent and listening to Him teach. Habakkuk is a contemporary of Jeremiah, and Zephaniah, each telling of the same silence as the word of God is found and heard. These prophets are speaking to Judah in the time of king Josiah and describing the desolation of Judah and Jerusalem, and the delay, under Josiah, of their eventual end, which is spoken of and ends Jeremiah’s book. This end comes at the hands of Babylon (confusion) and lasts until our time and the end of the LORD’s silence when He silences the idols of confusion.
Jeremiah 8
1 At that time, says the LORD, they shall bring out the bones of the kings of Judah, and the bones of his princes, and the bones of the priests, and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, out of their graves:2 And they shall spread them before the sun, and the moon, and all the host of heaven, whom they have loved, and whom they have served, and after whom they have walked, and whom they have sought, and whom they have worshipped: they shall not be gathered, nor be buried; they shall be for dung upon the face of the earth.3 And death shall be chosen rather than life by all the residue of them that remain of this evil family, which remain in all the places whither I have driven them, says the LORD of hosts.4 Moreover you shall say unto them, Thus says the LORD; Shall they fall, and not arise? shall he turn away, and not return?5 Why then isthis people of Jerusalem slid back by a perpetual backsliding? they hold fast deceit, they refuse to return.6 I hearkened and heard, but they spoke not aright: no man repented him of his wickedness, saying, What have I done? every one turned to his course, as the horse rushes into the battle.7 Yea, the stork in the heaven knows her appointed times; and the turtle and the crane and the swallow observe the time of their coming; but my people know not the judgment of the LORD.8 How do you say, We are wise, and the law of the LORD is with us? Lo, certainly in vain made he it; the pen of the scribes is in vain.9 The wise men are ashamed, they are dismayed and taken: lo, they have rejected the word of the LORD; and what wisdom is in them?10 Therefore will I give their wives unto others, and their fields to them that shall inherit them: for every one from the least even unto the greatest is given to covetousness, from the prophet even unto the priest every onedeals falsely.11 For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.12 Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore shall they fall among them that fall: in the time of their visitation they shall be cast down, says the LORD.13 I will surely consume them, says the LORD: there shall be no grapes on the vine, nor figs on the fig tree, and the leaf shall fade; and the things that I have given them shall pass away from them.14 Why do we sit still? assemble yourselves, and let us enter into the defensed cities, and let us be silent there: for the LORD our God has put us to silence, and given us water of gall to drink, because we have sinned against the LORD.15 We looked for peace, but no good came; and for a time of health, and behold trouble!16 The snorting of his horses was heard from Dan: the whole land trembled at the sound of the neighing of his strong ones; for they are come, and have devoured the land, and all that is in it; the city, and those that dwell therein.17 For, behold, I will send serpents, cockatrices, among you, which will not be charmed, and they shall bite you, says the LORD.18 When I would comfort myself against sorrow, my heart is faint in me.19 Behold the voice of the cry of the daughter of my people because of them that dwell in a far country: Is not the LORD in Zion? is not her king in her? Why have they provoked me to anger with their graven images, and with strange vanities?20 The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.21 For the hurt of the daughter of my people am I hurt; I am black; astonishment has taken hold on me.22 Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there? why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?
Jeremiah begins by telling us, in Jeremiah 1:2, it is in the thirteenth year of king Josiah, who at the time would have only been twenty-one years old. (See 2 Kings 22:1 and do the math.) We know from many prior studies, Jeremiah, in Jeremiah 4:23, uses the exact words of Genesis 1:2 to tell of the state of Judah and Jerusalem, as without form and void. This is the total desolation that had come, as in the Genesis pattern, when darkness covers the world, meaning the word of God was silenced and there was no understanding. We know the meaning from the only other time these Genesis words (towhubohuw) are used, in Isaiah 34:11, there descriptively rendered instead as “confusion” and “emptiness.” It tells of the foundation becoming confusion, and the stones built upon it are emptiness (void of value).
We know in Isaiah 34:4 we are told of the heavens being rolled together as a scroll, meaning the place where the word of God is rightly divided (per Genesis 1:6 thru 8 and the second day) and the word of God was closed and unknown. We also told, later in verse 8, of all the streams turned into pitch, meaning the words and ideas flowing to the people had become darkened (nothing but ignorance).
Much later, 70 years after the end of Isaiah, in the eighteenth year of Josiah, recorded in Jeremiah 15:16, we are told of the word of God being found. We are also told of Jeremiah eating them, of them becoming his joy and rejoicing, and saying, “I am called by Your name, O LORD God of hosts.” We know Jeremiah’s name means Jehovah will rise, and tells of the LORD rising in him, and raising up the His people through him.
This event, the book, the word of God, being found, is recorded in both 2 Kings 22:8 and 2 Chronicles 34:15. In the latter, in its earlier verses, we are told of the same events Jeremiah speaks of beginning in chapter 8 above, happening in the eighth year of king Josiah. These are telling of the pattern, spiritually speaking, of this time and the condition from which we will rise. The name Josiah translates into telling of him being the restorer of the foundation of Jehovah.
2 Chronicles 34
1 Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem one and thirty years.2 And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the ways of David his father, and declined neither to the right hand, nor to the left.3 For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young, he began to seek after the God of David his father: and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images.4 And they brake down the altars of Baalim in his presence; and the images, that were on high above them, he cut down; and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images, he brake in pieces, and made dust of them, and strowed it upon the graves of them that had sacrificed unto them.5 And he burnt the bones of the priests upon their altars, and cleansed Judah and Jerusalem.6 And so did he in the cities of Manasseh, and Ephraim, and Simeon, even unto Naphtali, with their mattocks round about.7 And when he had broken down the altars and the groves, and had beaten the graven images into powder, and cut down all the idols throughout all the land of Israel, he returned to Jerusalem.8 Now in the eighteenth year of his reign, when he had purged the land, and the house, he sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah [names meaning concealed treasure Jehovah has set apart – reserved unto this time, as Peter speaks of in 2 Peter 3:4 thru 7], and Maaseiah [those doing the work of Jehovah] the governor of the city, and Joah [Jehovah is {has become} our brother] the son of Joahaz [Jehovah has grasped – taken us by and into His hand] the recorder, to repair the house of the LORD his God.9 And when they came to Hilkiah [whose portion, inheritance, is Jehovah] the high priest, they delivered the money that was brought into the house of God [see Malachi 3:10], which the Levites that kept the doors had gathered of the hand of Manasseh and Ephraim, and of all the remnant of Israel, and of all Judah and Benjamin; and they returned to Jerusalem.10 And they put it in the hand of the workmen that had the oversight of the house of the LORD, and they gave it to the workmen that wrought in the house of the LORD, to repair and amend the house:11 Even to the artificers and builders gave they it, to buy hewn stone, and timber for couplings, and to floor the houses which the kings of Judah had destroyed.12 And the men did the work faithfully: and the overseers of them were Jahath [He will snatch up – unite us into one] and Obadiah [those who are serving Jehovah – see Malachi 3:18], the Levites, of the sons of Merari [and heal the bitter waters]; and Zechariah [because Jehovah has remembered] and Meshullam [His friends and allies], of the sons of the Kohathites [those He has gathered to Him], to set it forward; and other of the Levites, all that could skill of instruments of music.13 Also they were over the bearers of burdens, and were overseers of all that wrought the work in any manner of service: and of the Levites there were scribes, and officers, and porters.14 And when they brought out the money that was brought into the house of the LORD, Hilkiah the priest found a book of the law of the LORD given by Moses.15 And Hilkiah answered and said to Shaphan the scribe, I have found the book of the law in the house of the LORD. And Hilkiah delivered the book to Shaphan.16 And Shaphan carried the book to the king, and brought the king word back again, saying, All that was committed to your servants, they do it.17 And they have gathered together the money that was found in the house of the LORD, and have delivered it into the hand of the overseers, and to the hand of the workmen.18 Then Shaphan the scribe told the king, saying, Hilkiah the priest has given me a book. And Shaphan read it before the king.19 And it came to pass, when the king had heard the words of the law, that he rent his clothes.20 And the king commanded Hilkiah, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Abdon the son of Micah, and Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah [our brother has risen] a servant of the king’s, saying,21 Go, enquire of the LORD for me, and for them that are left in Israel and in Judah, concerning the words of the book that is found: for great is the wrath of the LORD that is poured out upon us, because our fathers have not kept the word of the LORD, to do after all that is written in this book.22 And Hilkiah [whose inheritance is Jehovah], and they that the king had appointed, went to Huldah [this world age] the prophetess, the wife of Shallum [upon whom has come the LORD’s vengeance] the son of Tikvath [this expected end – our hope], the son of Hasrah [to a world without hope], keeper of the wardrobe; (now she dwelt in Jerusalem in the college:) and they spoke to her to that effect.23 And she answered them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Tell you the man that sent you to me,24 Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, and upon the inhabitants thereof, even all the curses that are written in the book which they have read before the king of Judah:25 Because they have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands; therefore my wrath shall be poured out upon this place, and shall not be quenched.26 And as for the king of Judah, who sent you to enquire of the LORD, so shall you say unto him, Thus says the LORD God of Israel concerning the words which you have heard;27 Because your heart was tender, and you did humble yourself before God, when you heard his words against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, and humbled yourself before me, and did rend your clothes, and weep before me; I have even heard you also, says the LORD.28 Behold, I will gather you to your fathers, and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace, neither shall your eyes see all the evil that I will bring upon this place, and upon the inhabitants of the same. So they brought the king word again.29 Then the king sent and gathered together all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem.30 And the king went up into the house of the LORD, and all the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the priests, and the Levites, and all the people, great and small: and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant that was found in the house of the LORD.31 And the king stood in his place, and made a covenant before the LORD, to walk after the LORD, and to keep his commandments, and his testimonies, and his statutes, with all his heart, and with all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant which are written in this book.32 And he caused all that were present in Jerusalem and Benjamin to stand to it. And the inhabitants of Jerusalem did according to the covenant of God, the God of their fathers.33 And Josiah took away all the abominations out of all the countries that pertained to the children of Israel, and made all that were present in Israel to serve, even to serve the LORD their God. And all his days they departed not from following the LORD, the God of their fathers.
Finding the book is the pattern of and finding the light, understanding given by the Spirit moving upon the waters (uncovering the deep understanding hidden in progressive and now total ignorance).
Revelation 10
1 And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow [light divided as a sign of correction and not destruction] was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire:2 And he had in his hand a little book open: and he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth,3 And cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roars: and when he had cried, seven thunders uttered their voices.4 And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was about to write: and I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not.5 And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven,6 And swore by him that lives for ever and ever, who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer:7 But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he has declared to his servants the prophets.8 And the voice which I heard from heaven spoke unto me again, and said, Go and take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel which stands upon the sea and upon the earth.9 And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the little book. And he said unto me, Take it, and eat it up; and it shall make your belly bitter, but it shall be in your mouth sweet as honey.10 And I took the little book out of the angel’s hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter.11 And he said unto me, You must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings.
Woe to those who fail to see the reality in our midst.
Jeremiah 15
1 Then said the LORD unto me, Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my mind could not be toward this people: cast them out of my sight, and let them go forth.2 And it shall come to pass, if they say unto you, Whither shall we go forth? then you shall tell them, Thus says the LORD; Such as are for death, to death; and such as are for the sword, to the sword; and such as are for the famine, to the famine; and such as are for the captivity, to the captivity.3 And I will appoint over them four kinds, says the LORD: the sword to slay, and the dogs to tear, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the earth, to devour and destroy.4 And I will cause them to be removed into all kingdoms of the earth, because of Manasseh the son of Hezekiah king of Judah, for that which he did in Jerusalem [see 2 Kings 21:9 thru 15 – this is when the end of Judah and Jerusalem is foretold, and presumably when the book was lost].5 For who shall have pity upon you, O Jerusalem? or who shall bemoan you? or who shall go aside to ask how you do?6 You have forsaken me, says the LORD, you are gone backward: therefore will I stretch out my hand against you, and destroy you; I am weary with repenting.7 And I will fan them with a fan in the gates of the land; I will bereave them of children, I will destroy my people since they return not from their ways.8 Their widows are increased to me above the sand of the seas: I have brought upon them against the mother of the young men a spoiler at noonday: I have caused him to fall upon it suddenly, and terrors upon the city.9 She that has borne seven languishes [these exact word only appear together in 1 Samuel 2:5] she has given up the ghost; her sun is gone down while it was yet day: she has been ashamed and confounded: and the residue of them will I deliver to the sword before their enemies, says the LORD.10 Woe is me, my mother, that you have borne me a man of strife and a man of contention to the whole earth! I have neither lent on usury, nor men have lent to me on usury; yet every one of them does curse me.11 The LORD said, Truly it shall be well with your remnant; truly I will cause the enemy to entreat you well in the time of evil and in the time of affliction.12 Shall iron break the northern iron and the steel?13 Your substance and your treasures will I give to the spoil without price, and that for all your sins, even in all your borders.14 And I will make you to pass with your enemies into a land which you know not: for a fire is kindled in mine anger, which shall burn upon you.15 O LORD, you know: remember me, and visit me, and revenge me of my persecutors; take me not away in your longsuffering: know that for your sake I have suffered rebuke.16 Your words were found, and I did eat them; and your word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by your name, O LORD God of hosts.17 I sat not in the assembly of the mockers, nor rejoiced; I sat alone because of your hand: for you have filled me with indignation.18 Why is my pain perpetual, and my wound incurable, which refuse to be healed? will you be altogether unto me as a liar, and as waters that fail?19 Therefore thus says the LORD, If you return, then will I bring you again, and you shall stand before me: and if you take forth the precious from the vile, you shall be as my mouth: let them return unto you; but return not you unto them.20 And I will make you unto this people a fenced brazen wall: and they shall fight against you, but they shall not prevail against you: for I am with you to save you and to deliver you, says the LORD.21 And I will deliver you out of the hand of the wicked, and I will redeem you out of the hand of the terrible.
1 Samuel 2
1 And Hannah [the LORD’s grace] prayed, and said, My heart rejoices in the LORD, mine horn is exalted in the LORD: my mouth is enlarged over mine enemies; because I rejoice in your salvation.2 There is none holy as the LORD: for there is none beside you: neither is there any rock like our God.3 Talk no more so exceeding proudly; let not arrogance come out of your mouth: for the LORD is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed.4 The bows of the mighty men are broken, and they that stumbled are girded with strength.5 They that were full have hired out themselves for bread; and they that were hungry ceased: so that the barren has born seven; and she that has many children is waxed feeble [languishes].6 The LORD kills, and makes alive: he brings down to the grave, and brings up.7 The LORD makes poor, and makes rich: he brings low, and lifts up.8 He raises up the poor out of the dust, and lifts up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory: for the pillars of the earth are the LORD’s, and he has set the world upon them.9 He will keep the feet of his saints, and the wicked shall be silent in darkness; for by strength shall no man prevail.10 The adversaries of the LORD shall be broken to pieces; out of heaven shall he thunder upon them: the LORD shall judge the ends of the earth; and he shall give strength unto his king, and exalt the horn of his anointed.
Habakkuk 2
1 I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what he will say unto me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved.2 And the LORD answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that reads it.3 For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.4 Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith.5 Yea also, because he transgresses by wine, he is a proud man, neither keeps at home, who enlarges his desire as hell, and is as death, and cannot be satisfied, but gathers unto him all nations, and heaps unto him all people:6 Shall not all these take up a parable against him, and a taunting proverb against him, and say, Woe to him that increases that which is not his! how long? and to him that lades himself with thick clay!7 Shall they not rise up suddenly that shall bite you, and awake that shall vex you, and you shall be for booties unto them?8 Because you have spoiled many nations, all the remnant of the people shall spoil you; because of men’s blood, and for the violence of the land, of the city, and of all that dwell therein.9 Woe to him that covets an evil covetousness to his house, that he may set his nest on high, that he may be delivered from the power of evil!10 You have consulted shame to your house by cutting off many people, and have sinned against your soul.11 For the stone shall cry out of the wall, and the beam out of the timber shall answer it.12 Woe to him that builds a town with blood, and establishes a city by iniquity!13 Behold, is it not of the LORD of hosts that the people shall labor in the very fire, and the people shall weary themselves for very vanity?14 For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.15 Woe unto him that gives his neighbor drink, that puts your bottle to him, and makes him drunken also, that you may look on their nakedness!16 You are filled with shame for glory: drink you also, and let your foreskin be uncovered: the cup of the LORD’s right hand shall be turned unto you, and shameful spewing shall be on your glory.17 For the violence of Lebanon shall cover you, and the spoil of beasts, which made them afraid, because of men’s blood, and for the violence of the land, of the city, and of all that dwell therein.18 What profits the graven image that the maker thereof has graven it; the molten image, and a teacher of lies, that the maker of his work trusts therein, to make dumb idols?19 Woe unto him that says to the wood, Awake; to the dumb stone, Arise, it shall teach! Behold, it is laid over with gold and silver, and there is no breath [life] at all in the midst of it.20 But the LORD is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him.
Zephaniah 3
1 Woe to her that is filthy and polluted, to the oppressing city!2 She obeyed not the voice; she received not correction; she trusted not in the LORD; she drew not near to her God.3 Her princes within her are roaring lions; her judges are evening wolves; they gnaw not the bones till the morrow.4 Her prophets are light and treacherous persons: her priests have polluted the sanctuary, they have done violence to the law.5 The just LORD is in the midst thereof; he will not do iniquity: every morning does he bring his judgment to light, he fails not; but the unjust know no shame.6 I have cut off the nations: their towers are desolate; I made their streets waste, that none passes by: their cities are destroyed, so that there is no man, that there is none inhabitant.7 I said, Surely you will fear me, you will receive instruction; so their dwelling should not be cut off, howsoever I punished them: but they rose early, and corrupted all their doings.8 Therefore wait you upon me, says the LORD, until the day that I rise up to the prey: for my determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them mine indignation, even all my fierce anger: for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy.9 For then will I turn to the people a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of the LORD, to serve him with one consent.10 From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia [rivers of darkness] my suppliants, even the daughter of my dispersed, shall bring mine offering.11 In that day shall you not be ashamed for all your doings, wherein you have transgressed against me: for then I will take away out of the midst of you them that rejoice in your pride, and you shall no more be haughty because of my holy mountain.12 I will also leave in the midst of you an afflicted and poor people, and they shall trust in the name of the LORD.13 The remnant of Israel shall not do iniquity, nor speak lies; neither shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth: for they shall feed and lie down, and none shall make them afraid.14 Sing, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel; be glad and rejoice with all the heart, O daughter of Jerusalem.15 The LORD has taken away your judgments, he has cast out your enemy: the king of Israel, even the LORD, is in the midst of you: you shall not see evil any more.16 In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem, Fear you not: and to Zion, Let not your hands be slack.17 The LORD your God in the midst of you is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over you with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over you with singing.18 I will gather them that are sorrowful for the solemn assembly, who are of you, to whom the reproach of it was a burden.19 Behold, at that time I will undo all that afflict you: and I will save her that halts, and gather her that was driven out; and I will get them praise and fame in every land where they have been put to shame.20 At that time will I bring you again, even in the time that I gather you: for I will make you a name and a praise among all people of the earth, when I turn back your captivity before your eyes, says the LORD.
Psalms 28
1 Unto you will I cry, O LORD my rock; be not silent to me: lest, if you be silent to me, I become like them that go down into the pit.2 Hear the voice of my supplications, when I cry unto you, when I lift up my hands toward your holy oracle.3 Draw me not away with the wicked, and with the workers of iniquity, which speak peace to their neighbors, but mischief is in their hearts.4 Give them according to their deeds, and according to the wickedness of their endeavors: give them after the work of their hands; render to them their desert.5 Because they regard not the works of the LORD, nor the operation of his hands, he shall destroy them, and not build them up.6 Blessed be the LORD, because he has heard the voice of my supplications.7 The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoices; and with my song will I praise him.8 The LORD is their strength, and he is the saving strength of his anointed.9 Save your people, and bless your inheritance: feed them also, and lift them up for ever.
