A Bitter and Hasty Nation
What God wanted Habakkuk to take particular note of when he looked at the nations was the activity of the Babylonians. He was to observe them because God was going to raise them up in answer to the prayer he prayed on behalf of the Israelites.
The words behold I am
emphasized that God was going to act against his people. God’s action was not just a random idea but a well-planned execution of judgment that he was to pronounce upon his people. The Babylonians are described as being a bitter and hasty nation. They were an angry, ruthless, and brutal people. They swept through the breadth of the earth like a war machine conquering all the nations in their pathway. They plundered and destroyed the cities they fought against. Being a hasty nation meant that they moved rapidly with much force showing no care for those whom they fought against. Victory over the nations was their goal, which they achieved with great success.
This nation was to be God’s instrument to inflict punishment upon his people.
6 For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, who march through the breadth of the earth, to seize dwellings not their own.