07/26/08: Habakkuk 2-3
Habakkuk 2 speaks of the time of the end (of the age), as can be seen in verse 2. The remainder of the chapter evidently is referring to the Antichrist, who will plunder many nations and shed man's blood (2:8).
At the end of the age (sometime during the final 3½ years of the 7 years), the second beast (False Prophet) will set up an image in honor of the first beast (Antichrist), causing the image to speak (Revelation 13:14,15). This image very well may be a fulfillment of Habakkuk 2:18,19.
When the image of the beast in Revelation speaks, those who refuse to worship it will be killed; furthermore, people will be forced to take the mark of the beast, which is linked to the number 666 (Revelation 13:15-18). Interestingly, King Nebuchadnezzar made a image which was sixty cubits high and six cubits wide (and, presumably, six cubits deep), and anyone who did not worship it was killed (Daniel 3:1,5,6). (Later, King Nebuchadnezzar lived like an animal or "beast" for seven years--4:15,16,25,33.)
Daniel and his friends did not worship the image, and as such they were thrown into the fiery furnace (Daniel 3:12-21). However, God protected them from being killed in the furnace (3:25-29). Therefore, it is very plausible to assume that many of those in the future (during the Great Tribulation), who do not worship the image of the beast and who refuse to take the mark of the beast, will be supernaturally protected by God during that time, until the Rapture occurs after the opening of the sixth seal.
There are allusions to God's punishing the people of the earth at the end of the age, even including shaking the entire earth (Habakkuk 3:6). John recorded this as taking place in the future as well (Revelation 6:12,14, 16:18-20). Also, the ancient prophet asked if God was "angry with the rivers," took out His "wrath against the streams," and "rage[d] against the sea" (Habakkuk 3:8). Interestingly, John also seems to have written about these things in the second and third trumpet judgments (Revelation 8:8-10).
At the end of the age (sometime during the final 3½ years of the 7 years), the second beast (False Prophet) will set up an image in honor of the first beast (Antichrist), causing the image to speak (Revelation 13:14,15). This image very well may be a fulfillment of Habakkuk 2:18,19.
When the image of the beast in Revelation speaks, those who refuse to worship it will be killed; furthermore, people will be forced to take the mark of the beast, which is linked to the number 666 (Revelation 13:15-18). Interestingly, King Nebuchadnezzar made a image which was sixty cubits high and six cubits wide (and, presumably, six cubits deep), and anyone who did not worship it was killed (Daniel 3:1,5,6). (Later, King Nebuchadnezzar lived like an animal or "beast" for seven years--4:15,16,25,33.)
Daniel and his friends did not worship the image, and as such they were thrown into the fiery furnace (Daniel 3:12-21). However, God protected them from being killed in the furnace (3:25-29). Therefore, it is very plausible to assume that many of those in the future (during the Great Tribulation), who do not worship the image of the beast and who refuse to take the mark of the beast, will be supernaturally protected by God during that time, until the Rapture occurs after the opening of the sixth seal.
There are allusions to God's punishing the people of the earth at the end of the age, even including shaking the entire earth (Habakkuk 3:6). John recorded this as taking place in the future as well (Revelation 6:12,14, 16:18-20). Also, the ancient prophet asked if God was "angry with the rivers," took out His "wrath against the streams," and "rage[d] against the sea" (Habakkuk 3:8). Interestingly, John also seems to have written about these things in the second and third trumpet judgments (Revelation 8:8-10).
