Habakkuk 2:15

"Woe unto him that giveth his neighbor drink, to thee that addest thy venom, and makest him drunken also, that thou mayest look on their nakedness."

WOE IV

"Sensual lust is here a figure of the barbarous lust for power; this usage implies, of course, a strong condemnation of the actions that supply the figures."[37]

Against treachery and inhumanity. This woe is directed not so much against the overwhelming violence of the predator Babylon, but is against the false, treacherous, deceitful and cunning ways they used to seduce and destroy their neighbor nations.

The figure in this verse actually has reference to the promises, alliances, benefits, honors, etc. proffered to weaker nations and their rules, having only one purpose, their destruction. The "poison" in the pleasant "drink" offered by rapacious Babylon refers to the trap by which the target state is deceived and delivered into the hands of Babylon. It should be remembered in all this that Babylon is a type of all mankind organized against God, as man appears throughout history. All the wicked cities of earth are called Babylon the Great in Revelation. Her name is also given to Mystery Babylon, the Great Whore of Revelation, which is apostate Christianity.

The use of the drink metaphor here is quite significant, for it is continued throughout the word of God, even to the very end of it. Thus the Mystic Babylon is said to make the nations drink of her cup (Revelation 14:8; 17:2; 18:3); but God will at last compel wicked Babylon itself to drink of the cup of his wrath. "Double unto her double!" is the way the sentence runs.