Habakkuk chapters 1-3 Star Chart: From when "I will raise up the Chaldeans" (1:5) in 604 B.C. and "They take up all of them with the (red radius fishing line) angle, they catch them in their (red radius) net, and gather them in their (red radius) drag: therefore they (lunar white smile) rejoice and are (lunar white smile) glad" (1:15) till "thou woundedst the (Sagittarius and Pisces) head out of the house of the wicked" (3:13). "Because thou hast spoiled many nations, all the remnant of the people shall spoil thee" (2:8) in 539 B.C. which is 65° years. Notice the hook ion the Pisces' fish jaw. We date this prophecy around 605 B.C., when the Battle of Carchemish occurred in which the Chaldean Nebuchadrezzar wrested from Egypt the Empire of Western Asia. This date makes sense on the grounds that the prophet shows some experience with Chaldean methods of warfare, and the account of the internal disorder in Judah does not suit Josiah’s reign. Further, the description of the Chaldeans is scarcely conceivable before the battle, and yet after the battle it corresponds precisely to "Lo, I am ABOUT TO raise up the Chaldeans" (1:5) against Judah in 604 B.C. Habakkuk therefore most likely prophesied in the reign of Jehoiakim, 608-598. It must be immediately after, and before Judah became alarmed at the consequences to herself. Judah could not have suffered even the first Chaldean raid yet since Habakkuk 1:5 says, "Lo, I am ABOUT TO raise up the Chaldeans." (2Ki 24:1; 2Ch 36:6; Jer 46:2; 36:9).

Earth Shall Be Filled With Knowledge of the Lord's Glory, As Waters Cover The Sea

1:1 The burden which Habakkuk the prophet did see.

2 O Lord, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear! even cry out unto thee of violence, and thou wilt not save!

3 Why dost thou shew me iniquity, and cause me to behold grievance? for spoiling and violence are before me: and there are that raise up strife and contention.

4 Therefore the law is slacked, and judgment doth never go forth: for the wicked doth compass about the righteous; therefore wrong judgment proceedeth.

5 Behold ye among the heathen, and regard, and wonder marvelously: for I will work a work in your days which ye will not believe, though it be told you.

They still supposed that God would not give them up into the hands of their enemies, though they continued in their abominations!

6 For, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, which shall march through the breadth of the land (604 B.C.), to possess the dwellingplaces that are not their's.

This is spoken of as a matter of great wonder and astonishment, because the Chaldeans, in the times of Hezekiah, Manasseh, and Josiah, were allies of the Jewish nation, and seemed linked to them in the greatest friendship; so that they had no fear on that side, but all their fear was from the Egyptians. Therefore the coming of the Chaldeans into the country is spoken of here as a thing entirely new,

7 They are terrible and dreadful: their judgment and their dignity shall proceed of themselves.

8 Their (Pegasus and Sagittarius) horses also are swifter than the (Ursa Minor) leopards, and are more fierce than the (Ursa Minor) evening wolves: and their (Pegasus and Sagittarius) horsemen shall spread themselves, and their horsemen shall come from far; they shall fly (Pegasus) as the eagle (Lyra, Aquila) that hasteth to eat.

9 They shall come all for violence: their (solar and lunar) faces shall sup up as the (red radius line) east wind, and they shall gather the (Pisces and Cetus) captivity as the sand.

10 And they shall scoff at the (Cepheus) kings, and the princes shall be a scorn unto them: they shall deride every (red radius) strong hold; for they shall heap dust, and take it.

The phrase refers to the dykes or “mounts” which the besiegers cast up in order to be on a level with the walls of the besieged fortress and command them, 2 Samuel 20:15; Jeremiah 32:24.

11 Then shall his mind change, and he shall pass over, and offend, imputing this his power unto his god.

Then shall his mind change - This is thought to relate to the change which took place in Nebuchadnezzar, when "a beast's heart was given to him," and he was "driven from the dwellings of men." And this was because of his offending - his pride and arrogance; and his attributing all his success, etc., to his idols.

12 Art thou not from everlasting, O Lord my God, mine Holy One? we shall not die. O Lord, thou hast ordained them for judgment; and, O mighty God, thou hast established them for correction.

13 Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not (solar and lunar eye) look on iniquity: wherefore (red radius line) lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, and holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous than he?

All such questions are easily solved by a consideration of God's ineffable mercy, which leads him to suffer long and be kind. He has no pleasure in the death of a sinner.

The anomaly is that the righteous God, whose nature cannot endure wrong, looks on and is silent over this wrong which is as large as the human race.

for permitting a nation much more wicked than themselves, as they supposed, to oppress and devour them, as fishers and foulers do their prey, Habakkuk 1:12-17.

14 And makest men as the (Pisces) fishes of the sea, as the creeping things (Drago), that have no ruler over them?

15 They take up all of them with the (red radius fishing line) angle, they catch them in their (red radius) net, and gather them in their (red radius) drag: therefore they rejoice and are glad.

16 Therefore they (solar) sacrifice unto their (red radius) net, and burn (red radius stick) incense unto their drag; because by them their portion is (white lunar) fat, and their (solar) meat plenteous.

17 Shall they therefore empty their net, and not spare continually to slay the nations?

2:1 I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the (Milky Way) 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 (Pegasus) that readeth 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 (539 B.C.).

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 transgresseth by wine, he is a proud man, neither keepeth at home, who enlargeth his desire as (Cetus) hell, and is as death, and cannot be satisfied, but gathereth unto him all nations, and heapeth unto him all (Pisces) people:

6 Shall not all these take up a parable against him, and a taunting proverb against him, and say, Woe to him that increaseth that which is not his! how long? and to him that ladeth himself with thick clay!

7 Shall they not rise up suddenly that shall bite thee (Drago), and awake that shall vex thee (Aquila, Lyra), and thou shalt be for booties unto them?

8 Because thou hast spoiled many nations, all the remnant of the people shall spoil thee (539 B.C.); because of men's (red radius) blood, and for the violence of the land, of the city, and of all that dwell therein.

9 Woe to him that coveteth an evil covetousness to his house, that he may set his (Aquila) (solar) nest on high, that he may be delivered from the power of evil!

10 Thou hast consulted (red radius) shame to thy house by cutting off many people, and hast sinned against thy 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 buildeth a town with blood, and stablisheth a city by iniquity!

13 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?

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 giveth his neighbour drink, that puttest thy bottle to him (Sagittarius), and makest him drunken also, that thou mayest look on their nakedness!

16 Thou art filled with shame for glory: drink thou also, and let thy foreskin be uncovered: the cup of the Lord's right hand shall be turned unto thee, and shameful spewing shall be on thy glory.

17 For the violence of Lebanon shall cover thee, 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 profiteth the (lunar) graven image that the maker thereof hath graven it; the (solar) molten image, and a teacher of lies, that the maker of his work trusteth therein, to make dumb idols?

19 Woe unto him that saith to the (solar) wood, Awake; to the dumb (lunar) stone, Arise, it shall teach! Behold, it is laid over with (solar) gold and (lunar) silver, and there is no breath at all in the midst of it.

20 But the Lord is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him.

3 A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet upon Shigionoth.

2 O Lord, I have heard thy speech, and was afraid: O Lord, revive thy work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known; in wrath remember mercy.

3 God came from Teman, and the Holy One from mount Paran. Selah. His glory covered the heavens (Zodiac), and the earth was full of his praise.

4 And his brightness was as the (solar and lunar) light; he had (red radius line) horns coming out of his hand: and there was the hiding of his power.

5 Before him went the pestilence, and burning (solar) coals went forth at his (Cepheus) feet.

6 He stood, and (red radius line) measured the earth: he beheld, and drove asunder the nations; and the everlasting mountains were scattered, the perpetual (red radius) hills did bow: his ways are everlasting.

7 I saw the (red radius) tents of Cushan in affliction: and the (red radius) curtains of the land of Midian did tremble.

8 Was the Lord displeased against the rivers? was thine anger against the rivers? was thy wrath against the sea, that thou didst ride upon thine (Pegasus and Sagittarius) horses and thy (solar and lunar) chariots of salvation?

9 Thy (Sagittarius) bow was made quite naked, according to the oaths of the tribes, even thy word. Selah. Thou didst (red radius) cleave the earth with rivers.

10 The mountains saw thee, and they trembled: the overflowing of the water passed by: the deep uttered his voice, and lifted up his hands on high.

11 The sun and moon stood still in their habitation: at the light of thine (red radius shaft) arrows they went, and at the shining of thy glittering (red radius) spear.

12 Thou didst march through the land in indignation, thou didst (red radius) thresh the heathen in anger.

13 Thou wentest forth for the salvation of thy people, even for salvation with thine anointed; thou woundedst the (Sagittarius and Pisces) head out of the house of the wicked, by discovering the foundation unto the neck. Selah.

14 Thou didst strike through with his (red radius) staves the (Sagittarius and Pisces) head of his villages: they came out as a whirlwind to scatter me: their rejoicing was as to devour the poor secretly.

15 Thou didst walk through the (Aquarius) sea with thine (Pegasus and Sagittarius) horses, through the heap of great waters.

16 When I heard, my belly trembled; my lips quivered at the voice: rottenness entered into my bones, and I trembled in myself, that I might rest in the day of trouble: when he cometh up unto the people, he will invade them with his (Sagittarius and Pegasus) troops.

17 Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls:

18 Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation.

19 The Lord God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds' feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places. To the chief singer on my stringed instruments.