Habakkuk 2:14

"For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of Jehovah, as the waters cover the sea."

Without any doubt, "Habakkuk here prophesies the inauguration of the universal kingdom of Yahweh upon the earth."[33] This, of course, means the Church of Jesus Christ and the initiation of the reign of Our Lord on Pentecost, he having received shortly before that time, "All authority in heaven and upon earth" (Matthew 28:18-20).

"Knowledge of the glory of Jehovah ..." There is no assertion here to the effect that all men will become servants of God and that a new age will appear in which there will be "a world which is free from fear and want."[34] No indeed! This text accurately declares that "the knowledge" of God's glory shall cover the whole world, a fact already demonstrated for millenniums.

The one thing that prevents the appearance of just such a golden age as some would like to find in this passage, is the freedom of the human will. As long as men have THAT; and there is no indication that God ever intends to take it away from us, then, just that long the world will be full of violence, cruelty and deceit. "The new heaven and the new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness" will indeed come to pass, but 2Peter makes it clear enough that a precondition of the emergence of that utopian state of affairs is the "burning up" of the present earth and all that is in it, language which we believe is a reference to the Final Judgment.

Christian students need not be disturbed by allegations of O.T. enemies to the effect that this promise of the future kingdom "does not belong here," or that "it was added by a redactor," or that "it was not written by Habakkuk." All such criticisms betray a gross ignorance of the nature of prophecy. A careful study of the prophets from Moses to Revelation requires that one should expect in all true prophecy just such a reference as this.

The allegation that Habakkuk was here quoting another prophet is precarious. In fact, we reject it outright. Long years of study of the sacred Scriptures have fully convinced us that when one inspired writer quoted another, he said so, often named the prophet quoted, and left no doubt whatever of what he was doing. Mere similarity of passages, or even verbatim correspondence, is no proof whatever that one prophet was quoting another. Could not the God of heaven and earth have said the same thing to Habakkuk that he said to Isaiah, or Amos, or Jonah?

As for the prejudice that prophecies of glory and of doom cannot appear in the same prophet, such a proposition is actually ridiculous. In ALL of the prophecies, this juxtaposition of doom and glory is ever present, notably in the book of Revelation, where the proleptic visions of heavenly glory are the features of the whole book. This is so much an established characteristic of the holy prophetic writings, that any significant absence of such things would be incredible.

The purpose of this verse, therefore, is that of showing that no matter how strong and terrible the force of evil may prevail upon earth; there is most surely coming a time when the righteous shall prevail. God will at last triumph over all evil. Even now, the evil that perplexes men is permitted in the purpose of God for reasons ample and sufficient; and such evil will continue not one second longer than it pleases God for it to do so.

Kerr pointed out the significant difference in what Habakkuk wrote here from that which was written in Isaiah 11:9.

"There, Isaiah foretells a time when men shall know God, being brought into intimate fellowship with him. This verse says there shall be a manifestation of the glory of God, that is, as it will be displayed in judgment against ungodliness and the foes of God's people."[35]

"As the waters cover the sea ..." The great prophecies of the holy Scriptures, which even today are in the process of being fulfilled all over the world, prove absolutely that the God of the Bible is the ruler of the universe who knows the end from the beginning. Hailey said, "This knowledge is accessible to all men everywhere; its voice covers the earth as waters cover the sea, for there is no place where God's fulfilled prophecies are not to be found."[36]