Song of Judgement Pt. IV | Habakkuk 2:15-19

March 30th, 2025

This week at Southside, we continued our study of the book of Habakkuk. This section of the book is a continuation of the taunt song. This week’s sermon brought us to the final of three woes in this section of Habakkuk. Previously, God had brought an indictment against the greedy, the self-exulting, and the violent. In this portion of Habakkuk 2, God declares an indictment against the sin of idolatry.

Habakkuk 2:15-19  is a judgement proclaimed against the Chaldeans. God chose to use Habakkuk to be the mouthpiece of his judgement against those who chose to prostrate their hearts before someone other than God.

We are confronted with the true weight of idolatry in this section of the book of Habakkuk. Our minds often go towards little statues when we think about worshipping things other than God. While statue worship is a part of idolatry, we hold a very narrow view when we think that is all idolatry is. This view causes us to miss the deadliness of idolatry in our spiritual lives. The reality of idol worship is that it is an assault on the holiness of God. 

When Moses spoke with God in the burning bush and God said “Tell them ‘I AM’ has sent you”, that was not just a simple statement but a full declaration of who God is. The eternal, uncreated One. God is utterly set apart and Holy. This is His aseity. In this great “I AM” statement God also declares that He is trustworthy because He was before them! As Israel followed God through the wilderness to Mt. Sinai, He proved to them His trustworthiness in the way that He gave them the Law. Rather than providing arbitrary rules, He gives them a revelation of who He is through the Laws. He lays a rightful claim to their worship through the beginning of the law. “Worship me alone because I AM”. 

As humans, we were created to worship God. We are created to reflect His glory through worship. As fallen humans, we so easily slip into worshiping the created rather than the creator. So when our hearts slip from the worship of God, it is a deeper problem than saying a prayer to a statue. It is the bowing down of our hearts to something other than the Holy One. Idolatry is seeking outside of God, what only God can provide. Identity, belonging, something in which to place your hope. In the New Testament, when Paul is preaching at Lystra he calls on the people to turn from lifeless idols of wood and stone and turn to the God who gives and IS life!

The only thing that can change the heart from idol worship to a posture of worship before God is the Gospel! It is the only thing that break the heart from its chains of idolatry. 

The Fruit of Idolatry: Shame v.15

When worship goes wrong, everything else follows suit. In Romans 1, Paul reveals this in the life of the believer. As the Gospel reveals God’s righteousness, it also reveals the ways that we have replaced that righteousness in our hearts with shame and disgrace. The people in Paul’s day had abandoned the gospel and given themselves over to idolatry because they chose to worship the created vs creator. Idolatry always exposes shame because it strips away glory and replaces it with corruption. Those who choose idolatry over God worship not only tolerate shame in their lives but they revel in it. 

Shame begins with sowing seeds of corruption. Idolatry loves to lead others with it, misery loves company. A person living in shame seeks to bring others down with them and alongside them. Thus normalizing their sin and attempting to mitigate their shame. The example in Habakkuk is the picture of the vineyard. The idol worshipper is manipulating others into being drunk with them. 

In Genesis 3, we see emotions and desires being used to manipulate Adam and Eve into sinning. Emotions and desires are not wrong as long as they are rooted in the truth of God. But idolatry corrupts the emotions. It can be seen in the account of Eve and the snake, the exact moment when her desire turned from God and towards  the wisdom offered by satan. Rather than speaking the truth of what God had told her, she chose to follow her own desire. Satan saw what Eve’s heart wanted, he could not read her mind, but he could see from proximity what she wanted and he seduced her with her own desires and emotions.

The Chaldeans are presented in Habakkuk 2:15 as seducers. They offer worldly experiences and wisdom to those around them. They lured people into their corruption. But idolatry is worship in motion, it cannot be kept hidden or private. It will always become public. It will naturally invite others in. Idolatry seeks to make those around it comfortable with their sin.

Idolatry corrupts not only the emotions but also the mind. Satan redirected Eve’s mind with thoughts that subtly attacked God. He slowly poisoned her mind. Idolatry is like a drink laced with poison. The drinker can’t taste that they are slowly being poisoned but slowly and surely their body and mind will succumb if they do not stop drinking. Habakkuk says the Chaldeans mix in their venom with the wine they serve to the nations. Their venom is their wrath and rage. They drew people in emotionally and then corrupted them morally. When Daniel and his comrades were brought into Babylon to see if they could be reoriented towards Babylonian ideology and away from God. Idolatry reprograms and reorients our hearts by numbing our consciences.

Idolatry uses people instead of loving them. It manipulates others into meeting  needs, rather than truly caring for those around us. It uses people for personal gain and sets the stage for shame. When your needs supersede others, you take on the role of God. You put others to shame for your pleasure and you affix or remove value from their lives. Satan did this, the Chaldeans did this, and we do this when we chose idol worship over Godly worship.

Adam and Eve stood before a Holy God in shame because they had lost their covering.They realized their sin and their shame. Too often, we do not mourn over our shame before the Lord. In fact, we revel in it! The Babylonians exalted shame and God said “Woe to you!” Idolatry lies to the heart. Eventually, you will be filled with disgrace and not glory. You will eventually be filled. Will you be filled with the glory of the Lord or will you be filled with disgrace?

As image bearers of God, we have been given a front row seat to the way that God’s glory is manifested in creation. When the creator is replaced by something created, the sacred things given by God are turned into tools and assets to be thrown away. If you turn from the God of “I Am” to the god of “I want”, you will eventually find yourself in total disgrace before God. “I Am” gives life. If you are living the life of an idolater you will be consumed by your desires.

The Foundation of Idolatry

Idolatry is built on a foundation of mistrust. Habakkuk asks, “what profit is an idol if it was engraved by its maker”? What good is an idol if you know it was made by human hands? Habakkuk mocks idol worshipers. Isaiah and Jeremiah also both make jabs against idol worshipers. Idolatry always begins as a trust issue. When you do not trust that God will give you life, meet your needs, and ultimately provide you with salvation, you will inevitably turn from Him.

You do not need to have a golden idol in your house to be idolatrous. Whatever sin you are committing, there is an idol at the center of it. You don’t need a physical person or thing to be an idol worshiper, you just need to have lost your trust in God. When you trust in yourself, you worship yourself and make yourself the arbiter of truth. Habakkuk 2:19 says woe to him who submits to a false teacher. Who is the false teacher in your life? You are! Whenever you place your trust in your own power rather than God’s, you are feeding your own heart bad information! Habakkuk mocks the person who tries to find truth outside of God! Psalm 19 is a wonderful contrast to the Chaldeans. The fear of God is clean and gives life. Self-reliance and self-worship gives shame and disgrace.

Idolatry is first built on a foundation of mistrust in God. The fruit mistrust bears is never anything but rotten. The fruit is shame and ultimately disgrace before the God of life. Examine your life this week to make sure that your worship and heart posture are directed towards the truth of God and not towards your own desires.