“Woe to him who gets evil gain for his house,
Habakkuk 2:9-11
to set his nest on high,
to be safe from the reach of harm!
You have devised shame for your house
by cutting off many peoples;
you have forfeited your life.
For the stone will cry out from the wall,
and the beam from the woodwork respond.
Habakkuk has condemned those who are in it only for themselves – piling up wealth at the expense of others in the hopes of building up their own security. He goes on to describe the result: his plan will only lead to his downfall.
Best Laid Plans
The word translated “devised” is the Hebrew word יָעַץ (ya’atz), which means to plan, counsel, or advise. Various noun forms include “counselor” (yo’etz) or “advice” (etza).
Each of us needs counsel for direction at times. Leaders typically have advisors. Various kings’ advisors are mentioned throughout the Biblical narrative. King Rehoboam, after taking over the kingdom from his father Solomon, “took counsel (ya’atz) from the old men”, but he rejected “the counsel (etza) that the old men gave him and took counsel (ya’atz) with the young men” (1 Kings 12:6-8). It’s important to seek advice from the right people!
The best source of advice/counsel is from God. “I bless the LORD who gives me counsel (ya’atz)” (Psalm 16:7). However, God does not need our advice, as much as we like to give it. “Who has measured the Spirit of the LORD, / or what man shows him his counsel (etza)?” (Isaiah 40:13).
We all have plans. However, God frustrates human plans but brings about his own plans.
The LORD brings the counsel (etza) of the nations to nothing;
Psalm 33:10-11
he frustrates the plans of the peoples.
The counsel (etza) of the LORD stands forever,
the plans of his heart to all generations.
God will bring about his purpose. Nothing can stop him. Jesus’s death wasn’t an accident that God was able to adapt. Rather, it was God’s plan. Peter described in his speech at Pentecost that Jesus was “delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God” (Acts 2:23).
Wonderful Counselor
Another well-known passage in Isaiah calls the promised messianic ruler “Wonderful Counselor” (Isaiah 9:6, some translations with a comma). The Hebrew pele yo’etz could also be translated “one who is planning something wonderful”. God doesn’t simply have plans – his amazing plans will blow your mind!
We get a taste of this idea after Job and his friends have their discussion. God shows up and starts by asking, “Who is this that darkens counsel (etza) by words without knowledge?” (Job 38:2). Job repeats God’s question at the end, admitting, “Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, / things too wonderful (pele) for me, which I did not know” (Job 42:3). From this context, we see God isn’t talking about counsel as advice, but rather as his sovereign plan. God’s plans are wonderful, beyond our comprehension.
Shameful Planning
While godly counsel is a source of life, where do plans without God lead? “You have devised shame for your house” (Habakkuk 2:10). Plans apart from God will ultimately lead to shame, not to success.
The Hebrew noun shame (בֹּ֫שֶׁת, boshet) used here stems from a verb (בושׁ, bosh), meaning to be ashamed or to shame. This is a rather foreign concept in Western cultures. While a Westerner derives guilt from an internal feeling, an Easterner derives shame from failing to live up to external expectations. Our honor/shame video explains this concept in further detail.
Probably the greatest source of shame called out by the prophets was over the nation’s idolatry. Hosea proclaims that the idol calf at Bethel will go into exile. As a result, “Ephraim shall be put (literally ‘take’) to shame (boshna), / and Israel shall be ashamed (bosh) of his idol (literally ‘plan’, etza)” (Hosea 10:6). “All worshipers of images are put to shame (bosh)” (Psalm 97:7).
Sometimes the name of the god Baal is paralleled with boshet: “For your gods have become as many as your cities, O Judah, and as many as the streets of Jerusalem are the altars you have set up to shame (boshet), altars to make offerings to Baal” (Jeremiah 11:13).
The prophet Isaiah condemned Israel for depending on Egypt instead of God for their protection. They “carry out a plan (etza) but not mine” (Isaiah 30:1). “Therefore shall the protection of Pharaoh turn to your shame (boshet)” (Isaiah 30:3). Only God’s plans would prevail.
An End to Shame
Their story does not end in their shame, however. After God restores them, he will also remove their shame:
Fear not, for you will not be ashamed (bosh);
Isaiah 54:4
be not confounded, for you will not be disgraced;
for you will forget the shame (boshet) of your youth,
and the reproach of your widowhood you will remember no more.
Ideally, those who trust and obey the Lord and derived their protection from him should not be put to shame (Psalm 25:20, 31:1, 71:1). Rather, shame is reserved for the wicked (Psalm 35:26).
O LORD, let me not be put to shame (bush),
Psalm 31:17
for I call upon you;
let the wicked be put to shame (bush);
let them go silently to Sheol.
To Ponder…
Where do you seek advice? Do you seek it from the Lord and godly, wise people? What sort of plans are you making?
Do you ever try to advise God on what he should do?
Do you believe God’s plans will come to fruition? Are they good, wonderful plans?
Pray for those who advise our leaders, that they may give wise, godly advice.