Habakkuk 1:11

"Then shall he sweep by as a wind, and shall pass over, and be guilty, even he whose might is his god."

This prophecy, by extension, was applicable to the great Sea-Beast, and to all of its seven heads, and to each of the powers in the phase of the ten horns that came after the heads. It must ever be a part of the eternal will of God that godless states of this world, arrayed in arrogance against the God of heaven and earth, shall one by one fill up the cup of wrath and suffer the fate of all their predecessors.

"Sweep by as a wind, and shall pass over..." This is the destiny of every godless state. No matter how long and terrible may be their sway upon earth, no matter what powers and fortification sustain them, no matter how many millions of their fellow-human beings are subjugated and exploited by them, they shall eventually be "Gone with the Wind." They shall pass over the earth, all right but they shall have no permanence. Like a bad dream, they will eventually "pass over."

"Shall pass over and be guilty ..." According to Jamieson, there is indicated in this passage a "change of mind" on the part of the new world-power.

"The language here is very similar to that describing Nebuchadnezzar's `change' from man's heart to the heart of a beast, because of pride (Daniel 4:16,30-34). This was an undesigned coincidence between the two sacred books written independently."[23]

Thus, the enigmatical element in all genuine prophecy appears in this most remarkable intimation of what would befall Babylon and Nebuchadnezzar. All true prophecy, upon its fulfillment, exhibits such intimations which would have been understood, prior to fulfillment, in a secondary or subordinate sense, but which, after fulfillment, are understood more fully as the most remarkable pre-knowledge of some of the world's most astounding and significant events. This enigmatical reference to what happened to Nebuchadnezzar is an example.

"Whose might is his god ..." This was the culmination of guilt on the part of Babylon, which would, in turn bring the wrath and destruction of God upon them, no less than upon Assyria and Egypt, their predecessors, and upon all their successors who would become enemies of the Lord. (See more on this thought under Habakkuk 1:16, below.)