Habakkuk on performing work without God

Habakkuk 2:12-14 ESV

“Woe to him who builds a town with blood

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.

O. Palmer Robertson comments on verse 14

The certitude of the vanity, the pointlessness of people's oppressive ways that build seemingly stable and worthwhile communities rests on the unchanging word of God that Habakkuk now quotes. Their consumption in the fire of God's judgment is not guaranteed simply by the rise and fall of many previous civiliaztions. Instead, it is the oath of Yahweh himself that the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of Yahweh that quarantees the vanity and futility of all efforts to the contrary. Beauty in song, in dance, in architecture--all to the glory of God--shall fill the earth as the waters covers the sea.

Rest in Hebrews 4

In his commentary on Hebrews called The Epistle to the Hebrews: A Commentary, Homer A. Kent, jr. defines rest as used in Hebrews 4:

What is this rest of God? Certainly it did not connote the cessation of all activity, for that is contradicted by the Biblical teaching of miracles and providence, as well as by the statement of Jesus cited above (John 5:17). Inasmuch as the author takes us to God’s rest after creation, the prominent thought would seem to lie in the concept of the rest which comes with accomplishment, completion, and satisfaction. At the conclusion of creation, God “rested” from His project because it was accomplished; and because His work was good, His rest was also one of satisfaction and enjoyment. This rest of eternal blessedness and fulfillment is what God wants to share with His children.

(p. 82)

The highest proof of George Washington's Virtue

I've been reading a biography of George Washington. One of the most amazing things about Washington was that he stepped down after he won the revolutionary war. His troops adored him and the whole country idolized him. He could have easily became king of the United States. This stepping down from power, caused more admiration from Europe than his conduct of the war. Chernow writes:

When John Trumbull later painted a series of portraits for the U. S. Capitol, he chose Washington's resignation at Annapolis as one of the crowning moments of the founding era and the highest proof of Washington's virtue. At the time of the resignation, Trumbull was in London and recorded European wonderment at the news, saying that it "excites the astonishment and admiration of this part of the world." (p. 457, "Washington: A Life" by Ron Chernow)