Keep in expectation.
The prophet Habakkuk was commissioned to foretell the destruction of Jerusalem. By the time he arrived on the scene, warnings of that city’s desolation had already been sounded for years. Conditions had reached the point where ‘the wicked surrounded the righteous and justice was perverted.’ So it is not surprising that Habakkuk asked: “How long, O Jehovah, must I cry for help?” Jehovah assured his faithful prophet that the foretold destruction would “not be late.” Suppose Habakkuk had become discouraged and thought: ‘I have been hearing about Jerusalem’s destruction for years. What if it is still a long way off? It does not seem realistic to keep prophesying as if the city might suddenly be destroyed. I will leave that to others.’ If Habakkuk had entertained such ideas, he would have lost his favored position before Jehovah—and possibly his life during the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians!
The vision of Habakkuk, although focused on the ruthlessness of the Chaldean, is actually a vision concerning the future —even as the Watchtower is well aware. The prophet —Habakkuk —expressed his commitment to standing at his post and staying in expectation of Jehovah bringing in the Chaldean to execute his judgments, as long as it takes, to which Jehovah responded in the oft-quoted passage: “For the vision is yet for its appointed time, and it is rushing toward its end, and it will not lie. Even if it should delay, keep in expectation of it! For it will without fail come true. It will not be late!”
What is the meaning of the vision that Habakkuk envisioned? Jehovah’s Witnesses realize that Babylon destroyed Jerusalem five centuries before Christ appeared. But the vision only ostensibly relates to the literal city of Jerusalem that was demolished. Ultimately the vision for the appointed time relates to the appointed time of Christ’s second coming and the judgment of the nations. That is clear from this passage in the third chapter of Habakkuk, which states: “His brightness was like the light. Two rays flashed from his hand, where his strength was hidden. Before him went pestilence, and burning fever followed at his feet. He stood still and shook the earth. With a look, he made nations leap. The eternal mountains were smashed, and the ancient hills bowed down. The paths of long ago are his.”
Seeing that the Chaldean was appointed by Jehovah to serve as his punishing agent, even as the scripture says: “You appointed them to execute judgment; My Rock, you established them for punishment” — the question is, what does the Chaldean represent in the modern fulfillment? Sadly, for all of the research and commentary on Habakkuk, the most recent being a series of articles in the February 1st, 2000, Watchtower, the Governing Body and their helpers apparently have no idea. That is evident from the fact that the modern Chaldean is said to be manifest in dictators, petty swindlers and drug dealers in our modern world. But if that were true, that would mean that Jehovah appointed them to punish the nations with their crimes! And amazingly, the Watchtower’s seers see no contradiction with the fact that they also teach that the vision is yet for the time appointed!
In the introduction to the vision Jehovah states: “Look among the nations and pay attention! Stare in amazement and be astounded; for something will happen in your days that you will not believe even if it is told to you. For here I am raising up the Chaldeans, the ruthless and impetuous nation. They sweep through vast stretches of the earth to seize homes not theirs.”
What is the astounding event that people will not believe even if it is laid out for them in detail? It is not merely the destruction of Christendom, as the Watchtower supposes. It is the complete overturning of the present political and economic system and the imposition of a world government in the form of global communism resulting in the total dispossession of earth’s teeming masses and the liquidation of a large percentage of the population. That is what Habakkuk envisioned.
Empires are all about plundering peoples and nations. Babylon was really good at it. For example, Nebuchadnezzar was so determined to capture the prized city of Tyre that his soldiers reportedly labored for 13 years laying siege to it. The great empires that followed were no less committed to plundering and pillaging.
However, now it is no longer necessary to employ vast armies to steal the wealth of nations. Central banks have the capacity to dispossess individuals, corporations and entire nations, and in fact have already done so in a limited way. As it stands now wealth is being concentrated into fewer and fewer hands, but a sudden crash of the financial system will even wipe out all the millionaires and billionaires whose wealth is stored in mere bytes of digital currency and paper.
Since most homes have mortgages and most businesses have shareholders and bondholders, it is entirely feasible that the holders of tons of gold will impose a new system and everyone else will become serfs. The so-called global elite already own luxury, bomb-proof bunkers and private islands. They fully expect to survive the holocaust they are preparing to unleash. Habakkuk explains it this way: “Woe to the one who makes evil gain for his house, so as to set his nest on the height, to escape the grasp of calamity! You have plotted shame against your house. By wiping out many peoples you sin against yourself.”
The British Empire and their subordinates have already murdered hundreds of millions, dating back to the late Victorian Holocausts and their support of numerous despots and dictators, world wars and regime-change atrocities. The longstanding policy of the empire is that the gravest threat facing humanity is humanity itself; therefore, the intent is for rapid and massive population reduction. Little do the elites realize they will merely be piling up judgment upon themselves, to be plundered by the kings of the incoming Kingdom of Christ. “Will not all of these speak a proverb, an allusion, and riddles against him? They will say: ‘Woe to him who accumulates what is not his —For how long?— And who makes even greater his own debt! Will not your creditors rise up suddenly? They will wake up and violently shake you, and you will become something for them to plunder. Because you plundered many nations, all the rest of the peoples will plunder you, because of your shedding men’s blood and your violence to the earth, to the cities and those living in them.”
Since Christ will require the obedience of all people, the global elites will owe him their obedience too, making Christ and his brothers their creditors. The plunder of the nations will then be given to the meek — “all the rest of the peoples” who survive the end of this wicked world.
For more on the meaning of the prophecy of Habakkuk see Jehovah Himself Has Become King