Habakkuk 1:15-16

Habakkuk 1:15-16

[15] They take up  all of them with the angle,  they catch  them in their net,  and gather  them in their drag:  therefore they rejoice  and are glad.  [16] Therefore they sacrifice  unto their net,  and burn incense  unto their drag;  because by them  their portion  is fat,  and their meat  plenteous. 

What does Habakkuk 1:15-16 Mean?

Contextual Meaning

Babylon was like a fisherman who took other nations captive with hook and net and rejoiced over his good catch. Earlier the prophet compared the Babylonians to hunters ( Habakkuk 1:8). Babylonian monuments depict the Chaldeans as having driven a hook through the lower lip of their captives and stringing them single file, like fish on a line. [1] This was an Assyrian practice that the Babylonians continued. In another Babylonian relief, the Chaldeans pictured their major gods dragging a net in which their captured enemies squirmed. [2] The Babylonians even gave credit to the tools they used to make their impressive conquests rather than to Yahweh (cf. Habakkuk 1:11). They had as little regard for human life as fishermen have for fish. That God would allow this to continue seemed blatantly unjust to Habakkuk.
"Idolatry is not limited to those who bring sacrifices or burn incense to inanimate objects. People of position, power, and prosperity often pay homage to the business or agency that provided them their coveted status. It becomes their constant obsession, even their "god."" [3]