“Woe to him who builds a town with blood
Habakkuk 2:12-14
and founds a city on iniquity!
Behold, is it not from the LORD of hosts
that peoples labor merely for fire,
and nations weary themselves for nothing?
For the earth will be filled
with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD
as the waters cover the sea.
Have you ever worked really hard for something to only realize later that it was a waste of time? Verse 13 of Habakkuk’s third woe condemns Babylon for building itself unjustly. All that work will only lead to its destruction. The bigger the city, the bigger the fire that will consume it.
Exhausting Labor
Habakkuk uses two words to describe what they are doing. They labor (yaga) and weary themselves (ya’af). Yaga refers to working hard or becoming weary. Ya’af describes becoming exhausted or faint, often from lack of food or water.
These words are often paired together. For instance, Isaiah uses them in this well-known passage:
Have you not known? Have you not heard?
Isaiah 40:28-31
The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint (ya’af) or grow weary (yaga);
his understanding is unsearchable.
He gives power to the faint (ya’ef),
and to him who has no might he increases strength.
Even youths shall faint (ya’af) and be weary (yaga),
and young men shall fall exhausted;
but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary (yaga);
they shall walk and not faint (ya’af).
We work hard and tire ourselves out. While I typically imagine that God cannot become tired, the Lord says the people of Israel have wearied him: “You have wearied (yaga) the LORD with your words. But you say, ‘How have we wearied (yaga) him?’ By saying, ‘Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the LORD, and he delights in them.’ Or by asking, ‘Where is the God of justice?'” (Malachi 2:17). Similarly, he says he hasn’t wearied the people with sacrifices, but they have wearied him with their iniquities (Isaiah 43:23-24). Imagine God tiring out when he sees what we do and how we turn against what he has commanded us.
Empty Work
Habakkuk says they labor for nothing, which is the Hebrew word riq. Riq describes emptiness. It comes from a verb meaning to pour out or empty. Jeremiah makes a very similar statement to Habakkuk about Babylon: “The peoples labor (yaga) for nothing (riq), / and the nations weary themselves (ya’af) only for fire” (Jeremiah 51:58). Relying on anyone but the Lord for security is ultimately futile. “Egypt’s help is worthless and empty (riq)” (Isaiah 30:7).
Isaiah’s Servant of the Lord remarks, “I have labored (yaga) in vain (riq)” (Isaiah 49:4) but with the hope that the Lord will make it good.
Fruitful Labor
What does meaningful labor look like? When is it worthwhile to be exhausted? Paul describes how he toils to spread the Gospel (1 Corinthians 4:11-13). He encourages believers to keep pressing on, trusting their labor for the Lord is not in vain: “Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:58).
Toilsome, empty labor is not our final destiny. Isaiah describes new heavens and a new earth: “They shall not labor (yaga) in vain (riq)” (Isaiah 65:23). It is an end to racing on the hamster wheel as fast as we can. Like in Eden, we will have fulfilling, meaningful work.
To Ponder
What are you laboring for? Are you building something that will last? Are you working for the Lord or for yourself?
Have you exhausted yourself to serve the Lord and asked whether it’s worth it? Could it be that the fruit of our efforts is invisible to us? Are you willing to obey and serve the Lord even when the labor is hard and you are exhausted and you can’t see the outcome?