Habakkuk 1:9
‘They come all of them for violence; the set of their faces is forwards; and they gather captives as the sand.’ ASV.
The objective of the Chaldeans was to get all that they could through violence. A major area of Judah’s sin was that of “violence” (Habakkuk 1:3-4), and violence would be her punishment.
It is easy to detect when someone is fiercely angry, their faces show it. The faces of the attacking Chaldeans would appear so stern and fierce, that their very looks will frighten and cause their opponent’s courage to wilt in terror, as plants shrivel up and wither away, when blasted by a desert wind.
The picture created in this verse is of just how easily the Chaldeans would take vast numbers of prisoners, as easy as one might stoop down and scoop up a handful of sand.
The New International Version includes the phrase ‘their hordes advance like a desert wind.” Mention of the “desert wind” is reference to an ill wind – an unpleasant wind. We have a saying, “it’s an ill wind that blows nobody any good.” The Chaldeans were an ill wind that would do Judah no good.
We all know someone whom we could label an ill wind. Just to see them coming prompts one to turn and go in the opposite direction. to cross over to the other side of the street or take refuge in the nearest building. They are gossipers and trouble makers. Yet perhaps like the Chaldeans they are God’s means of teaching us a much needed lesson.
- What would the Lord have you do to befriend such an ‘ill wind’, such an unlikable person?
“Friends, if you have anything to say that will help the people, please say it.” (Acts 13:15 – CEV)
