John Calvin Commentary Habakkuk 2:14

"For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of Jehovah, as the waters cover the sea." — Habakkuk 2:14 (ASV)

The Prophet briefly teaches us here that God’s judgment on the Babylonians would be so remarkable that his name would as a result be celebrated throughout the whole world. But there is an implied contrast in this verse, for God did not appear in his own glory when the Jews were led away into exile, with the temple being demolished and the whole city destroyed, and also when the whole eastern region was exposed to looting and plunder.

Therefore, when the Babylonians, after the Assyrians, were swallowing up all their neighbors, the glory of God did not then shine, nor was it conspicuous in the world. The Jews themselves had become mute, for their miseries had, as it were, stupefied them; their mouths were at least closed, so that they could not from the heart bless God while he was so severely afflicting them.

And then, in that manifold confusion of all things, the profane thought that all things here happen by chance and that there is no divine providence. God was then hidden at that time; therefore the Prophet says, Filled shall be the earth with the knowledge of God; that is, God will again become known when, by stretching out his hand, he will execute vengeance on the Babylonians. Then the Jews, as well as other nations, will acknowledge that the world is governed by God’s providence, as it had once been created by him.

We now understand the Prophet’s meaning and why he says that the earth would be filled with the knowledge of God’s glory. For the glory of God previously disappeared from the world, with regard to the perceptions of men; but it shone forth again when God himself had erected his tribunal by overthrowing Babylon, and thus proved that there is no power among men which he cannot control.

We have the same sentence in Isaiah 11:9. The Prophet there indeed speaks of the kingdom of Christ, for when Christ was openly made known to the world, the knowledge of God’s glory at the same time filled the earth, for God then appeared in his own living image.

Yet our Prophet uses appropriate language when he says that the earth shall then be filled with the knowledge of God’s glory when he would execute vengeance on the Babylonians. Therefore, some have incorrectly applied this to the preaching of the gospel, as though Habakkuk made a transition from the ruin of Babylon to the general judgment; this is a strained exposition.

It is indeed a well-known way of speaking, and often occurs in the Psalms, that the power, grace, and truth of God are made known throughout the world when he delivers his people and restrains the ungodly. The Prophet now adopts the same way of speaking, and he compares this fullness of knowledge to the waters of the sea because the sea, as we know, is so deep that its waters are immeasurable.

So Habakkuk intimates that the glory of God would be so widely known that it would not only fill the world but, in a way, overflow it: as the waters of the sea by their vast quantity cover the deep, so the glory of God would fill heaven and earth, so as to have no limits. If, at the same time, one wishes to extend this sentence to the coming of Christ, I do not object, for we know that the grace of redemption flowed in a perpetual stream until Christ appeared in the world. But the Prophet, I have no doubt, sets forth here the greatness of God’s power in the destruction of Babylon.

Prayer:

Grant, Almighty God, that since we are so inclined to do wrong and everyone is naturally disposed to consider their own private advantage, O grant that we may confine ourselves by that restraint which you lay on us by your Prophets. May we not allow our covetousness to break forth into wrongdoing or iniquity, but instead confine ourselves within the limits of what is just and abstain from what belongs to others. May we also learn to console ourselves in all our distresses, so that even though we may be justly oppressed by the wicked, we may yet rely on your providence and righteous judgment. May we patiently wait until you deliver us and make it manifest that whatever the wicked devise for our ruin clings to them, returning and at length recoiling on their own heads. And may we so fight under the banner of the Cross as to possess our souls in patience, until at length we attain that blessed life which is laid up in heaven for us, through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

[Exposition continues from previous day's lecture]