(Calvin. Commentaries on the Prophet Habakkuk. Part 9)
... Continued from Part 8
Lecture One Hundred and Fourteenth.
We said yesterday, that the Prophet speaks now of idols, that
he might deprive the king of Babylon of his vain confidence: for
though heathens claim everything to themselves and to their own
powers, yet their superstition in some measure dementates them.
Hence the Prophet shows, that that tyrant in vain trusted in his
idols, since they were things of nought. But the reasons by which he
refutes idolatry ought to be noticed: he says, that the artifices,
who formed gods, were not able to change the nature of the material,
for the wood remained wood, and stone continued to be stone, and
that the workmen and artifices in forming it did nothing more than
make a molten image. The material then remained still the same. As
to the image itself, the Prophet says, that it was mere falsehood
and deception; yea, that gods made of wood or of silver, or of any
other material, were instructors and teachers of falsehood, for they
allured simple souls: and Satan spread his snares before men, when
he set before their eyes these visible figures, and persuaded them
that they contained something divine. Then this reasoning of the
Prophet ought to be carefully observed; for he reminds us, that
fictitious gods are made of lifeless and perishable materials, and
that images are only the juggleries of Satan.
That saying of Gregory is common among the Papists, that images
are the books of the ignorant; for such was his answer to Serenus,
bishop of Marseilles, who turned out images from all the churches
(Lib. 9, Epist. 9.) He said that he approved of his object, in
wishing to correct the superstition which prevailed among the
people, but that he had done what was not right in wholly taking
away images, the books of the ignorant. But let us consider whether
more faith is due to Gregory, a man imbued with many errors, (as
that age was very corrupt), or to the Prophet Habakkuk, and also to
Jeremiah, who announces nearly the same sentiment. Though, then,
there is some speciousness in idols, yet the Prophet here reminds us
that they are nothing but the impostures of Satan; for they teach
falsehood. The reason also that is given is deserving of notice -
that the workmen put their hope in what they themselves have formed.
And it is indeed a thing most preposterous, that a mortal man should
form his own god, and then imagine that something divine is enclosed
in the very form, for deity is not in the material. The material is
disregarded when unformed; but not so when it attains a beautiful
shape. While the tree grows, while it produces flowers and fruit, it
is deemed, as it really is, a dead thing; but when a piece of it is
formed in the figure of a man, it is believed to be a god! But it is
extremely absurd to suppose that the hand of the artifices gives
deity to a dead material; for the wood is dead, and nothing is
perceived but the shape given to it by man. Since, then, the
artifices trusts in what he has formed, it is what seems beyond
anything strange. It is hence quite evident, that men are wholly
demented by the devil, when they worship their own workmanship.
But now, in order to press the matter more fully on idolaters,
the Prophet upbraids them for calling on the wood and on the stone
to awake. It is certain, that when idolaters bow the knee before
what they have themselves formed, they still imagine that there are
celestial gods; but when before a figure of wood or stone they call
upon God, it is the same thing as though they expected help from the
wood and stone; for the question is not here what idolaters imagine,
but the thing itself is to be regarded; and this is what the Prophet
most fully and plainly condemns. Since, then, the superstitious are
wont to address their prayers to wood and stone, he says, that they
make to themselves gods, to whom they sacrifice. And the Prophet
rightly refers in express terms to this kind of service; for the
chief sacrifice which God bids to be offered to him, and demands
from us, is to call on him; for we thus testify that life and all
things belonging to salvation are found alone in him. Since, then,
the majesty of God appears especially from having this testimony
borne to him, that he is the fountain of life and of all blessings,
every one who prostrates himself before a stone or wood, and
implores the aid of a visible god, transfers, no doubt, the glory of
the eternal God to a dead piece of wood or to a stone. If, then, we
wish to be free from every superstition, let us remember this truth,
that then only we have the only true God, when we direct our prayers
and supplications to him alone, or, in a word, when we call on him
alone. When we have recourse to dead idols, God is deprived of his
own right. We may call him God a hundred times, but we give him an
empty title, and one of no value, except we pray to him alone.
The Prophet, in the last place, derides the madness of men, by
saying that the very idols teach: for, as it was said yesterday, the
clause is not to be read as a question, as some do; but in order
more sharply to reprove the stupidity of men, the Prophet says,
"Doubtless the very figures themselves, except ye are wholly
senseless, will teach you." He had before said, it is true, that
they were the teachers of falsehood and vanity; but he speaks now of
another kind of teaching, that if men wisely attended to the thing
itself, they might soon learn from a mere view of their gods, that
they were most palpably the deceits of Satan; for if any one looked
on the idols with a clear eye, he would see that they were a dead
material, and would see that great wrong is done to God by
transforming him into a likeness of what is dead.
We now understand the Prophet's meaning, when he says, That
idols themselves are sufficient, and more than sufficient teachers,
when men are teachable, and lend an attentive ear. He means not, as
it was said yesterday, that idols teach fallaciously to the
destruction of men, while something divine is ascribed to them; but
he says that they teach, if any one of a sane mind, and free from
error, comes to view the idol, and forms a judgement of the thing
itself. But superstition occupies the minds of men; and hence it is
that all become the scholars of Satan, and no one applies his mind
to understand the doctrine he mentions here. In short, idols teach
naturally, and they teach through the artifice and delusion of
Satan. They teach naturally; for by their silence they show that
they are not gods, inasmuch as there is no strength in them. They
teach, also, by the artifice of the devil; for they are made to
claim a kind of divinity, and thus dazzle the minds of men, who are
already corrupted by their own delusions. To the first teaching, of
which the Prophet now speaks, none apply their minds; for almost all
renounce nature wholly: this only lays hold on them - that idols are
gods; for they make an image of the heavenly and eternal God, from
whom we are at a great distance, and who does not otherwise descend
to us, except through visible representations!
The same truth the Prophet confirms when he says, that though
these gods are covered over with gold and silver, there is no breath
in them, or in the midst of them. In short, he means that they are
mere masks; for no divinity can be without life. As then idols are
dead things, it follows that they are the most palpable impostures
of Satan, by which he fascinates the minds of men, when they thus
devote themselves to dead things.
Moreover, whatever is here said against idols, most certainly
applies to the superstitions of popery. They deny that they give
divine honours to their idols; but let us consider what the Prophet
says. They indeed sacrifice to gold and silver, and then bend their
knees before their images, and do not think that God is near them,
except in these figures. Let them show, then, that the Prophet
reasons here foolishly, or let them be held guilty according to the
declaration, as it were, of the Holy Spirit, when they thus present
their prayers before idols. It now follows -
Habakkuk 2:20
But the LORD [is] in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence
before him.
After having taught us that the Babylonians were deceived in
expecting any help from their idols, and were deluded by Satan,
Habakkuk now recalls the attention of the faithful to the only true
God; for it would not have been enough to take away from the
Babylonians the false confidence which they had in their idols,
except the Israelites, on the other hand, trusting in the grace of
the true God, were fully persuaded that God was on their side, as he
had taken them under his protection.
And we ought carefully to observe this order; for we see that
many boldly deride all the superstitions which prevail in the world,
and at the same time daringly and with cyclopic fury despise the
true God. How many are at this day either Epicureans or Lucianians,
who prate jestingly and scoffingly against the superstitions of the
papacy, but in the meantime they are not influenced by any fear of
God? If, however, we are to choose one of two evils, superstition is
more tolerable than that gross impiety which obliterates every
thought of a God. It is indeed true, that the more the superstitious
toil in their delusions, the more they provoke God's wrath against
them; for they transfer his glory to dead things; but yet they
retain this principle - that honour and worship are due to God: but
the profane, in whom there is no religion whatever, not only change
God from what he is, but also strive as far as they can to reduce
him to nothing. Hence I have said, that the order which the Prophet
observes here ought to be maintained. For, after having overturned
the false illusions of the devil, by which he deludes the
superstitious, by setting before them a mere shadow in the place of
the true God, he now sets up the true worship of the only true God.
Then the Prophet has hitherto been endeavouring to subvert
superstitions, but he now builds up: for except God, when idols are
pulled down, ascends his own tribunal, and shines there as supreme
according to his right, it would be better, at least it would be
more tolerable, as I have said, that superstitions should be left
entire.
He now says that God is in his own temple or palace: this word
is often taken for heaven, but is applied to the sanctuary. Many
consider that the reference is made to heaven; as though the Prophet
had said, that the true God, who is the artificer and creator of
heaven and earth, is not to be seen in a visible form, nor covered
over with gold and silver, nor represented by wood or stone; but
that he rules in heaven, and fills heaven with his infinite glory
and this view is by no means unsuitable. But as he here specially
addresses the Jews, it seems to me more probable that he speaks of
the temple, where God then designed to be worshipped, and sacrifices
to be offered to him for it would not have been sufficient to set
God, the creator of heaven and earth, in opposition to the
superstitions of all the nations; but it was also necessary to
introduce the contrast between the God of Israel and all those gods
who then had obtained a name and reputation in the world, as they
had been formed by the will of men. The God of Israel was indeed the
creator of heaven and earth; but he had made himself known by his
law, he had revealed himself to men, so that his majesty was not
hidden; for when we speak of God, we are lost except he comes to us,
and in a manner exhibits himself to us; for the capacity of our
understanding is not so great that it can penetrate above all
heavens. Hence the majesty of God is in itself incomprehensible to
us; but he makes himself known by his works and by his word. Now as
the Israelites worshipped, and surely knew that they worshipped the
only true God, the Prophet here rightly confirms them in the hope
they derived from the teaching of the law - that God was their
Father, inasmuch as he had adopted them. If any prefer to take the
word for heaven, I do not object; and that meaning, as I have said,
is not unsuitable. But as the Prophet seems to me to have a special
vies to his own people, to whom he was appointed a teacher; it is
more probable that the word, temple or palace, is here to be
understood of the sanctuary.
If any raises the objection that there is then no difference
between the God of Israel and the gods of the Gentiles, for he also
dwells in an earthly habitation, the answer is obviously this - that
though God is said to dwell between the cherubim, he has not been
represented by an image, as though he had anything like to wood or
stone, or possessed any likeness to human bodies. All these
delusions were banished from the Temple; for he commanded his
worshipers to look up to heaven. There was an intervening veil, that
the people might understand that they could not otherwise come to
God than through that celestial model, the anti types of which they
saw in the altar of incense, in the altar on which they sacrificed,
in the table of the shewbread, in short, in all other services of
the Temple. And there is another difference to be noticed; for
though there was there the golden altar, though there was there the
ark of the covenant, and the altar on which the victims were
immolated, yet inscribed on all these typical representations was
the word of God, by which alone true religion was to be
distinguished from all false inventions. For whatever specious
appearance of reason may therefore be in fictitious modes of
worship, men have no authority to render them lawful; but so much
reverence is due to the only true word of God, that it ought to
overrule all other reasons. And besides, this word, as I have hinted
already, did not retain the Jews in these delusions, but elevated
their minds to heaven. We now then see that there was a wide
difference between the Temple which was at Jerusalem, and the
temples which the superstitious had then built for themselves
throughout the world; for God ruled over the Jews, so that they
could not have been deluded. And at this day, where the word of God
shines among us, we can follow it with safety. And, further, God did
spiritually draw to himself his own servants, though he employed, on
account of their ignorance, certain outward elements. Hence the
Prophet justly says, that God was in his palace or his Temple; for
the Israelites knew of a certainty that they did not worship a
fictitious God, since in his law he had revealed himself to them,
and had chosen the sanctuary, where he intended to be worshipped in
a typical, and yet in a spiritual manner.
He then adds, Let all the earth be silent before him. Habakkuk,
no doubt, commends the power of God, that the Israelites might
proceed with alacrity in their religious course, knowing it to be a
sufficient security to be under the protection of the only true God,
and that they might not seek after the superstitions of the nations,
nor be carried here and there, as it often happens, by vain desires.
Keep silence, then, he says, let all the earth. He shows that though
the Israelites might be far inferior to the Babylonians and other
nations, and be far unequal to them in strength, military art,
forces, and, in short, in all things of this kind, yet they would be
always safe under the guardianship of God; for the Lord was able to
control whatever power there might be in the world.
We now see what the Prophet had in view: for he does not here
simply exhort all people to worship God, but shows, that thought men
may grow mad against him, he yet can easily by his hand subjugate
them; for after all the tumults made by kings and their people, the
Lord can, by one breath of his mouth, dissipate all their attempts,
however furious they may be. This, then, is the silence of which the
Prophet now speaks. But there is another kind of silence, and that
is, when we willingly submit to God; for silence in this respect is
nothing else but submission: and we submit to God, when we bring not
our own inventions and imaginations, but suffer ourselves to be
taught by his word. We also submit to him, when we murmur not
against his power or his judgements, when we humble ourselves under
his powerful hand, and do not fiercely resist him, as those do who
indulge their own lusts. This is indeed, as I have said, a voluntary
submission: but the Prophet here shows that there is power in God to
lay prostrate the whole world, and to tread it under his feet,
whenever it may please him; so that the faithful have nothing to
fear, for they know that their salvation is secured; for though the
whole world were leagued against them, it yet cannot resist God. Now
follows a prayer: -
Chapter 3.
Habakkuk 3:1
A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet upon Shigionoth.
There is no doubt but that the Prophet dictated this form of
prayer for his people, before they were led into exile, that they
might always exercise themselves in the study of religion. We indeed
know that God cannot be rightly and from the heart worshipped but in
faith. Hence, in order to confine the dispersed Israelites within
due limits, so that they might not fall away from true religion, the
Prophet here sets before them the materials of faith, and stimulates
them to prayer: and we know, that our faith cannot be supported in a
better way than by the exercise of prayer.
Let us then bear in mind, that the way of fostering true
religion, prescribed here to the miserable Israelites while
dispersed in their exile, was to look up to God daily, that they
might strengthen their faith; for they could not have otherwise
continued in their obedience to God. They would, indeed, have wholly
fallen away into the superstitions of the Gentiles, had not the
memory of the covenant, which the Lord had made with them, remained
firm in their hearts: and we shall presently see that the Prophet
lays much stress upon this circumstance.
He calls it his own prayer, not because he used it himself
privately, or composed it for himself, but that the prayer might
have some authority among the people; for they knew that a form of
prayer dictated for them by the mouth of a Prophet, was the same as
though the Spirit itself was to show them how they were to pray to
God. The name, then, of Habakkuk is added to it, not because he used
it himself, but that the people might be more encouraged to pray,
when they knew that the Holy Spirit, through the Prophet, had become
their guide and teacher.
There is some difficulty connected with the word "shigyonot".
The verb "shagag" or "shagah" means, to act inconsiderately; and
from "shagah" is derived to "shigyon". Many render it, ignorance;
some, delight. Some think it to be the beginning of a song; others
suppose it to be a common melody; and others, a musical instrument.
Thus interpreters differ. In the seventh Psalm David, no doubt,
calls either a song or some musical instrument by the word
"shigyon". Yet some think that David bears testimony there to his
own innocency; and that, as he was not conscious of having done
wrong, his own innocency is alone signified by the title: but this
is a strained view. The word is taken in this place, almost by
common consent, for ignorances: and we know that the Hebrews
denominate by ignorances all errors or falls which are not grievous,
and such things as happen through inadvertence; and by this word
they do not extenuate their faults, but acknowledge themselves to be
inconsiderate when they offend. Then "shigyon" is no excusable
ignorance, which men lay hold on as a pretext; but an error of folly
and presumptions, when men are not sufficiently attentive to the
word of God. But perhaps the word "shigyonot", being here in the
plural number, ought to be taken for musical instruments. Yet as I
would not willingly depart from a received opinion, and as there is
no necessity in this case to constrain us to depart from it, let us
follows what had been already said, - that the Prophet dictates here
for his people a form of prayer for ignorances, that is, that they
could not otherwise hope for God's forgiveness than by seeking his
favour. And how can we be reconciled to God, except by his not
imputing to us our sins?
But the Prophet, by asking for the pardons of ignorances, does
not omit more grievous sins; but intimates that though their
conscience does not reprove men, they are yet not on that account
innocent and without guilt; for they often inconsiderately fall, and
their faults are not to be excused for inadvertence. It is, then,
the same thing as though the Prophet reminded his own people, that
there was no remedy for them in adversity but by fleeing to God, and
fleeing as suppliants, in order to solicit his forgiveness; and that
they were not only to acknowledge their more grievous sins, but also
to confess that they were in many respects guilty; for they might
have fallen through error a thousand times, as we are inconsiderate
almost through the whole course of our life. We now, then, perceive
what this word means, and why the Prophet spoke rather of ignorances
than of other sins. But I shall not proceed farther now, as there is
some other business.
Prayer.
Grant, Almighty God, that as thou hast deigned to make thyself known
to us by thy word, and as thou elevates us to thyself in a way
suitable to the ignorance of our minds, - O grant, that we may not
continue fixed in our stupidity, but that we may put off all
superstitions, and also renounce all the thoughts of our flesh, and
seek thee in the right way; and may we suffer ourselves to be so
ruled by thy word, that we may purely and from the heart call upon
thee, and so rely on thine infinite power, that we may not fear to
despise the whole world, and every adversity on the earth, until,
having finished our warfare, we shall at length be gathered into
that blessed rest, which thine only-begotten Son has procured for us
by his own blood - Amen.
(Calvin... on Habakkuk)
Continued in Part 10...
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