The Christ Quarter

What We Hold Can Hold Us: Turning From Clay Idols To Lasting Hope

• Boris Kirk • Season 6 • Episode 78

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A single word from an ancient prophet can unmask the stories we tell ourselves about success.

We open Habakkuk 2:6–14 and confront three devastating “woes” that speak to our age; wealth taken at the expense of others, security propped up by pride, and cities built on injustice. The imagery is unforgettable; possessions are thick clay, clinging to our lives, burdening our minds, and isolating us from God and neighbor. When comfort becomes a god, the upkeep never ends, and the conscience never rests.

We trace how consequences return to the doorstep of the wrongdoer—not as superstition, but as moral symmetry in a world watched by a just God. Even the beams and stones, Habakkuk says, testify against empires built by blood. That line pushes us past private choices into public ethics; wages, labor, exploitation, and the systems that look sturdy until truth shakes their foundations. Along the way, we wrestle with practical questions; how do we keep resources from becoming idols? What habits move us away from those idols? Generosity? Confession?  Service?  Where can we improve and choose integrity over advantage?

The final movement lifts our eyes. While vanity burns out, a better future rises; the earth filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as waters cover the sea. That promise does not dull responsibility; it energizes it.

We choose to build what lasts; honest work, merciful leadership, and communities anchored in justice and humility.

Join us as we pray, reflect, and make space for God to realign our loves, lighten our load, and turn our clay into tools for His good.

If this speaks to you, subscribe, share the episode with a friend, and leave a review to help others find the message.

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Habakkuk 2:6-14

King James Version

6 Shall not all these take up a parable against him, and a taunting proverb against him, and say, Woe to him that increaseth that which is not his! how long? and to him that ladeth himself with thick clay!

7 Shall they not rise up suddenly that shall bite thee, and awake that shall vex thee, and thou shalt be for booties unto them?

8 Because thou hast spoiled many nations, all the remnant of the people shall spoil thee; because of men's blood, and for the violence of the land, of the city, and of all that dwell therein.

9 Woe to him that coveteth an evil covetousness to his house, that he may set his nest on high, that he may be delivered from the power of evil!

10 Thou hast consulted shame to thy house by cutting off many people, and hast sinned against thy soul.

11 For the stone shall cry out of the wall, and the beam out of the timber shall answer it.

12 Woe to him that buildeth a town with blood, and stablisheth a city by iniquity!

13 Behold, is it not of the Lord of hosts that the people shall labour in the very fire, and the people shall weary themselves for very vanity?

14 For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.

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SPEAKER_00:

Welcome to the Christ Quarter. I'm so glad you're here with me to take 15 minutes of this day to enjoy the presence of Christ and the words of Christ. Today we will read a brief section of Scripture and discuss what it means and how it applies to our lives. It is my hope that God will speak to you through these words and bring you closer to Him. I am blessed to have this opportunity to speak with you, and I thank you so much for being with me here today. Today's scripture selection is Habakkuk chapter two, verses six through fourteen. The King James Version reads as follows Shall not all these take up a parable against him and a taunting proverb against him, and say, Woe to him that increaseth that which is not his? How long? And to him that ladeth himself with thick clay? Shall they not rise up suddenly that shall bite thee, and awake that shall vex thee, and thou shalt be for booties unto them? Because thou hast spoiled many nations, all the remnant of the people shall spoil thee, because of men's blood and for the violence of the land, of the city, and of all that dwell therein. Woe to him that coveteth an evil covetousness to his house, that he may set his nest on high, that he may be delivered from the power of evil. Thou hast consulted shame to thy house by cutting off many people, and hast sinned against thy soul. For the stone shall cry out of the wall, and the beam out of the timber shall answer it. Woe to him that buildeth a town with blood, established a city by iniquity. Behold, it is not of the Lord of hosts that the people shall labor in the very fire, and the people shall weary themselves for very vanity. For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. Let us pray. Lord, we thank you for this day. We thank you for the freedom and the ability to discuss your word and to enjoy your presence. Help us to understand your word and your will for our daily lives more fully. We ask that you bless this discussion of your word, that it will speak to someone who needs to hear from you. We ask that you will use these words to bring someone closer to you. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen. The verses for today are a warning for us, as well as a great hope. The Chaldeans here are described as a lawless people who do not care about the weak nor the poor. They are probably happy in their day to day lives, taking care of themselves and their families, working and living their lives with no concern for those around them, on whom their ease heavily sits. Can this be said of us? Are we enjoying our lives while intentionally ignoring those who make our lives possible? Do we intentionally look away from them so as not to be reminded of their existence? Let us look inwardly at our own hearts, and be sure we're not exhibiting some of the same characteristics that the Chaldeans are forever known for. Happily we do have the examples given here today, and we know how that worked out for them, which leaves us no excuse for not changing course, moving closer to God, getting more in line with what God has for us, and improving our lives. Let's get right to it. The first section of today's text, verse six reads Shall not all those take up a parable against him and a taunting proverb against him, and say, Woe to him that increaseth that which is not his. How long? And to him that ladeth himself with thick clay. This verludes the ominous word woe. Woe to him that increases his own material wealth by stealing from others. This is a clear violation of God's law, but the Chaldeans do not care. They see no wrong taking from those that are weaker than them, and who cannot defend themselves. They put their faith in might makes right. Habakkuk asks how long will they persist in this, and how long will they burden themselves with their stolen possessions? Asking how long will you burden yourself with money and the things money can buy would have no doubt been confusing to the Chaldeans, as it may well be confusing to us today. How can my new house, my new car, my new clothes, etc be a burden to me? I worked hard to gain all those things. Well, if you cheated someone to get them, all those possessions will weigh on your conscience. If you lied to get them, you will also have to remember your lies and make an effort to keep them all straight. Even if you have your possessions through honest effort, they still require work. You have to take your car to get maintenance, you have to keep your clothes clean and store them or pay someone to do it for you. You have to pay property taxes on your house, and so on. Habakkuk describes an overabundance of possessions as thick clay. This image is very tangible. Imagine some small amount of clay, maybe it's in a container in your pocket, and that's fine, it's no problem. But an overabundance of clay covering you, weighing you down, getting on everything, and separating you from people just sounds like a nightmare. You're constantly worrying about your clay. How much have you lost? How to replace what you lost, and how to get even more. Your clay separates you from society, it distracts you, and it eats away at your mind. I have heard of more than one or two wealthy people who became distraught at the thought of losing some or all of their wealth and possessions. They have been covered with clay for so long that they began to think of the clay as a part of them. There are those who, when approaching the end of their life, begin to worry more about their amassed wealth and what to do about it than about their families or about God. They were distraught even to the point of tears. It's sad, it's so sad to cry over having to leave possessions behind at death rather than being at peace with your life and your future. As Christians, of course, we don't have such worries approaching the end of our lives, no. No, we have to worry about what to do with our possessions also. Some concern is normal, appropriate, and healthy. So do we have a clay problem? Some of us do. When we take the clay that we have accumulated and turn it into idols, then we have a problem. Idols such as washing our car on nice days instead of going to church, cutting our grass or cleaning our house at the cost of spending time with God, even myself spending more time studying for this broadcast than studying to learn what God wants me to do in my own life. We all have to be careful not to let our little bits of clay become idols. The verse here states, woe to him that increases that which is not his. I believe we could also say, Woe to him that places his clay idols ahead of God. The second section of today's text, verses seven through eleven, reads Shall they not rise up suddenly that shall bite thee, and awake that shall vex thee, and thou shalt be for booties unto them? Because thou hast spoiled many nations, all the remnant of the people shall spoil thee, because of men's blood and for the violence of the land, of the city, and of all that dwell therein. Woe to him that coveteth an evil covetousness to his house, that he may set his nest on high, that he may be delivered from the power of evil. Thou hast consulted shame to thy house by cutting off many people, and hast sinned against thy soul. For the stone shall cry out of the wall, and the beam out of the timber shall answer it. These verses describe what we often refer to today as karma. What you do to others will return to you. I like to add that it picks up speed on the way back and hits you even harder. Of course, there is no such thing as karma, but the concept is very close to what is being described here. The Chaldeans have long lived off the backs of those they enslave, torture, and kill. But the descendants of those people will rise up against the Chaldeans and suddenly reverse the situation. The Chaldeans will become the ones who will have their stolen and ill gotten possessions taken away from them. Habakkuk stresses the situation even more by pointing out that despite the Chaldeans having set themselves above others, they will be brought down all the harder for it. The Chaldeans feel safe in their homes with their possessions, but they are not safe from the results of their own selfish actions. The evil they have done will come back to them. Habakkuk ends verse 10 with a statement that is also a warning to us. The Chaldeans have not only set themselves up for a great fall, but they have sinned against their own souls, which is the greater problem. If we manage to take from others and keep it unto death, we still have to give an account of it to God. What good will it be to us when the sight of it is a reminder of the coming judgment of God? As Habakkuk is saying here in the very possessions themselves, witness against us. The last section of today's text, verses twelve through fourteen, reads, Woe to him that buildeth a town with blood, establish a city by iniquity. Behold, it is not of the Lord of hosts that the people shall labor in the very fire, and the people shall weary themselves for very vanity, for the earth shall be filled with the knowledge and the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. Habakkuk is now moving his focus from the individual Chaldeans to all Chaldeans. The Chaldeans are destroying themselves while they build their cities on the back in the blood of those they are abusing. It is interesting that the Chaldeans are themselves willing to work hard to weary themselves because they are so proud of what they are building and expect that their work will last far into the future. They have a great deal of pride and vanity invested in what they are building. This great vanity and pride makes the fact that they are willing to sacrifice others to achieve it an even greater offense. Habakkuk is pointing out the fact that the Lord God has said that their work will come to nothing. The verse ends with the knowledge that the earth will be covered with the knowledge of God. Everyone will know that God is God and will acknowledge Him. This concludes our scripture discussion for today. Thank you for spending this time with me talking about, learning about, and enjoying Christ. It is my hope that God has used my words to touch you today and has brought you closer to Him. Please contact me if you wish to have further information about Christ. Let us pray. Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, in earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. The Christ Quarter is available on Amazon Music. Just ask your smart speaker or app to play the Christ Quarter Podcast. I'm also available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcast. If you would like to learn about podcasting or have your own podcast, please share your name and your questions with me. If you find value in the message you've heard from today, you may support me via my cash app. It has been a privilege to talk with you today, and I look forward to talking with you again soon. This is Kirk. Meet me again here, as soon as you can on the Christ.