Summary

A Violent Nation

The Babylonians were a nation of violent people. God informed Habakkuk that they would attack the Israelites with much aggression. They would mercilessly stamp and trample them into the ground until they were destroyed.

The words all their faces forward described their steadfast focus upon accomplishing their plan of destruction. They would set their attention on what lay before them. Nothing would distract or detract them from their goal which was to violently overthrow their enemies.

Although their purpose was to completely level the Israelites to the ground, they would also take many of them captive which is emphasized in the words they gather captives like sand. They would capture them to use them to work as slaves in their kingdom.

This threat hung over the heads of the Israelites and there was no way for them to escape the venom of the Babylonians. God’s word to Habakkuk probably disturbed him as he realized that God was going to act against his people.