In their classic book, Overcoming the Dark Side of Leadership, authors Samuel Rima and Gary McIntosh teach, “Pride seems to be one of the constant components of every human personality that irresistibly begins early in life to drive us.”[1] I think we all understand how pride can become part of our lives if we are not careful. The Babylonians, without reverence for God, had become prideful and God humbled them due to their pride.
In Habakkuk 1:12—2:1 the prophet Habakkuk is sharing his concerns with God. God has told Habakkuk that God is sending the Babylonians to punish the evil and wicked people of Judah (Hab 1:5–11). Thus far we have read about Habakkuk’s declaration about God (1:12–13), now we will read Habakkuk’s description of the Babylonians (1:14–17).
Habakkuk tells us about the helplessness of humanity by using the analogy of fishing, “Why have You made men like the fish of the sea, like creeping things without a ruler over them?” (Hab 1:14).[2] This is an analogy because fish have no leader and they’re easy to catch. These fish represent human society to the Babylonians. In other words, Judah is as helpless as fish and they will be easy to catch without a leader.
Habakkuk tells us about the catch of the sea for the Babylonians, “The Chaldeans[3] bring all of them up with a hook, drag them away with their net, and gather them together in their fishing net. Therefore they rejoice and are glad” (Hab 1:15). The Babylonians had a tradition of driving a hook through the lower lip of their captives, stringing them together, and then walking them together in a single-file line as their captives.[4]
The haughtiness of the Babylonians is seen in how they believe in themselves, “Therefore they offer a sacrifice to their net and burn incense to their fishing net; because through these things their catch is large, and their food is plentiful” (Hab 1:16). The Babylonians attributed their success to their own military might, worshipped what brought them success, loved their livelihood, enjoyed their luxury, and they lived by the plunder of the people that they conquered. Those helpless fish they gathered up indiscriminately and caught in their net were their life.
The haughtiness of the Babylonians is also seen in how they battle anyone they want, “Will they therefore empty their net and continually slay nations without sparing?” (Hab 1:17). They fill the net, empty it, then fill it again.
As we read about the arrogance and self-reliance of the Babylonians it reminds us as Christians about an important principle we follow: We have confidence that we achieve nothing without God. The pride of the Babylonians we read here matches what we read earlier in this chapter, “Then they will sweep through like the wind and pass on. But they will be held guilty, they whose strength is their god” (Hab 1:11). The Babylonians believed everything they achieved was because of their might. Their strength was their god. They believed that what they achieved was because of their effort. As a result they did not acknowledge God in heaven that allowed them to do what they did. And that’s why God will eventually bring them down.
That same attitude can creep into our lives as believers if we’re not careful. If we’re not careful we might start to depend on our connections, creativity, experience, education, family, or innovativeness.
Chip Ingram and Chris Tiegreen accurately describe this tendency: “The Bible and history are filled with people who started out in humility and trust and, after doing great things or becoming great leaders, ended up proud and independent. The more gifts, talents, power, and blessings we have, the greater the temptation hubris becomes. And the more our drive for affirmation has to be fed.”[5] We as Christians must remind ourselves that God is provider and sustainer of everything that we achieve and have. Everything we have is God’s blessing to us.
All of our success is God’s provision for us. A parent might hear from a teacher that her kids are doing excellent in school. Give God the credit! Someone working in food service might receive grateful compliments from the people she is serving food. Praise God for the honor of doing the work! A mechanic on a car might receive good reviews online for his work. Let the glory go to God!
I started working at Lakeview Missionary Church in July of 2021 during COVID. Many people were not attending church in person at that time, but within two years church attendance had doubled. I had no other choice than to attribute the growth to God. When I started people were not attending church in person because of fear of COVID, but two years later the COVID pandemic was almost over and people were worshipping God in person again. It was good for me to remind myself that the increase in attendance was only because of the change of COVID fears, not because of anything I had done.
It’s important to praise God when things go well because it’s our human nature to attribute our success to our work instead of to God. The Swiss reformer John Calvin once wrote it was “necessary that God should empty us by his special grace, that we may not be filled with this satanic pride, which is innate, and which cannot by any means be shaken off by us, until the Lord regenerates us by his Spirit.”[6] Let’s remind ourselves that we have confidence we achieve nothing without God.
[1] Samuel Rima and Gary McIntosh, Overcoming the Dark Side of Leadership: How to Become an Effective Leader by Confronting Potential Failures (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2007), 60.
[2] Scripture taken from the New American Standard Bible, Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995. Used by permission.
[3] The “Chaldeans” were a tribe within the Assyrian Empire that rose up and overtook the Assyrian Empire. Nabopolassar rose up into power in 625 BC and Nebuchadnezzar inherited the powerful kingdom in 605 BC. The Chaldeans were the original tribe name of the nation known as the Babylonians.
[4] Numerous commentaries cite this. O. Palmer Robertson, The Books of Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah. The New International Commentary on the Old Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1990), 163 and Thomas Constable, Notes on Habakkuk, 2023 edition, p. 23. Accessed May 27, 2024, https://planobiblechapel.org/tcon/notes/pdf/habakkuk.pdf. Both Constable and Robertson cite the W. Rudolph, Micha-Nahum-Habakuk-Zephanja (sic), KAT 13/3, second edition (Gütersloh: Gerd Mohn, 1975), 211. Also see the “Stele of victory from Susa” which depicts enemies caught in a net from 2371-2316 BC (Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible, [Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2019], 1551).
[5] Chip Ingram with Chris Tiegreen, Spiritual Simplicity: Doing Less, Loving More (Brentwood, TN: Howard Books, 2020), 70.
[6] John Calvin and John Owen. Commentaries on the Twelve Minor Prophets (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2010), 52.