Having prepared the prophet for His answer, the Lord now gave it. What follows must be that revelation.
2:4 Proud Babylon was not right in doing what she did but was puffed up with pride and evil passions. In contrast, the righteous one will live by his faith (cf. Gen. 15:6). By implication, Babylon, the unrighteous one, would not live because she did not live by faith (trust in God) but by sight and might. She sought to gratify her ambitions by running over other people rather than by submitting to God's sovereignty.
This verse appears three times in the New Testament. Paul quoted it in Romans 1:17 and emphasized "righteous."Faith in God results in righteousness. He used it again in Galatians 3:11 but to stress "live."Rather than obtaining new life by obeying the Mosaic Law, the righteous person does so by faith. The writer of Hebrews also quoted this verse in Hebrews 10:38, but his emphasis was on "faith."It is faith that God will reward in the righteous. In all three cases "live"has the broader reference to eternal life, but here it is mainly physical life that is in view. Thus this verse is clearly an important revelation in the Bible, even its essential message. It is the key verse in Habakkuk because it summarizes the difference between the proud Babylonians and their destruction with the humble faith of the Israelites and their deliverance. The issue is trust in God.
"The underlying theme of the book may be summarized as follows: A matured faith trusts humbly put persistently in God's design for establishing righteousness in the earth."25
The word "faith"(Heb. emunah) can mean "faithful"or "steadfast."Did the Lord mean that the righteous will live by his trust in God or by being faithful to God? Scripture elsewhere reveals that both are true. However in this context "faith"seems to be the meaning since the Babylonians did not trust God whereas the Israelites did. Both the Babylonians and the Israelites had been unfaithful to God.
"The discrepancy between faith' and faithfulness' is more apparent than real, however. For man to be faithful in righteousness entails dependent trust in relation to God (e.g., 1 Sam 26:23-24); such an attitude is clearly demanded in the present context of waiting for deliverance (2:3; 3:16-19)."26
2:5 The Lord advanced the thought of verse 4 further. When a person drinks too much wine it leads him to reveal his pride publicly. The Babylonians were known for their consumption of wine (e.g., Dan. 5). Wine makes a person dissatisfied with his present situation and possessions, and he often leaves his home to find more elsewhere (cf. Prov. 23:31-32). The proud person is never satisfied, like death that consumes people every day and never stops. Babylon was similar, opening wide its jaws to consume all peoples. The proud person also seeks to dominate others, and this too marked Babylon. These were the evidences of Babylon's pride and the basis of Yahweh's indictment of this nation (cf. 1:17).
