The Prophet Habakkuk had a problem with God’s plan
Habakkuk had a problem with God’s way of doing things. Does that sound familiar? The prophet, as far as we can tell, was a humble, godly man, with a high moral character. But he didn’t like the direction things were going in his local city or the country for that matter.
He took those issues to the Lord in prayer.
The first problem:
“How long, O Lord? How long are you going to let this sinful insanity continue to take over the country?”
It’s a remarkable thing to read God’s response to the questions from the troubled prophet.
Habakkuk has long been one of my favorite prophecy books. It’s a very short book and like eleven other similar works, it is part of what is known as ‘the minor prophets.’ These often-neglected prophetic books contain outstanding insight from the Lord. If you are a Bible student who dabbles in prophecy you absolutely must dig deep into the minor prophets.
Habakkuk was the first minor prophet book I studied in detail. It has since led to other great discoveries in these simple, but deep, little books.
https://thewritelife.tech/2017/11/08/psalm-four-hear-prayer-o-god-now-let-me-rest-in-sleep/
Habakkuk 1:1 The prophet’s burden.
“The burden which Habakkuk the prophet did see.”
This ‘burden’ or prophecy was focused on the soon-to-come Babylonian invasion. The invading forces were destined to kill, capture, or destroy what little was left of the Israeli nation. The southern tribes of Benjamin and Judah still held onto Jerusalem and much of the historically significant areas to the south of the tiny nation. Many scholars believe Habakkuk served the Lord and his nation during the reign of King Jehoiakim, sometime around the year 607 B.C.
Babylon Rising
In this short book, he makes mention of God raising up the Babylonians (Habakkuk 1:6). That allows us to guess that they were still coming into their position as a great power. In the context of the book we see, there was a passing of time. The prophet had time to see the developing problems in his country and then become aware of the danger that Babylon presented. It’s a logical guess that he wrote in the period between two important events. Babylon conquered Nineveh and the Assyrian Empire in approximately 612 B.C. They conquered Jerusalem in 587 B.C.
He saw the good and the bad
We don’t know how old Habakkuk was when he gave this prophecy, but it is likely that he lived during the time of godly king Josiah (640 to 609 B.C.) and then gave this prophecy during the reign of one of Josiah’s successors. Habakkuk knew what it was like to live during a time of revival, and then to see God’s people and the nation slip into lethargy and sin. “Habakkuk had a problem. He had lived through a period of national revival followed by a period of spiritual decline.” Boice and Guzik
Habakkuk had a burden.
The prophet was weighed down by the things he saw happening around him. He was troubled by the apparent inaction of the Lord. There was a concern when he saw that others didn’t seem to be as troubled as he was. He brought his troubling thoughts, his burden, to God. This book has a remarkable message about this troubled prophet’s exchange of ideas with the Lord.
Habakkuk 1:2 The prophet asks God the big question–why?
“O Lord, how long shall I cry, and you will not hear! Even cry out unto you of violence, and you will not save!”
An Open Conversation
I love this opening passage. The prophet beautifully models the relationship we should have with the Lord. The prophet has come to understand that his thoughts, feelings, and even complaints are welcome in his conversations with God. He brings his thoughts and complaints to him in a respectful way. It’s inspiring to see that, especially knowing that God is not a respecter of persons. You and I can come to the Lord in the same way.
Crying out to God about the “Violence.”
In reading this passage we can almost feel the frustration in the words of Habakkuk. He undoubtedly had spent days that led to years of looking at the violence and injustice around him. He wondered, as many good people often do, “Where is God in this?” It happened in Habakkuk’s days and it happens today. He looked around as we often do, wondering how much worse can it get.
This is something that I catch myself spending too much time thinking about. The cruel brutality and utter coldness that humanity shows towards each other are astonishing to me. We have always had violence among us, but it’s still hard to understand what turns people toward that dark ugliness to which many more are turning. I will resist the temptation to add links to show you what I mean. We all know about the shocking news stories that make all reasonable people cry out just as the prophet did.
“Why God, why does this continue to happen?”
Since I’ve spent time digging deeper into the Bible than most are willing to go, I find that I have been able to grasp a small sense of the reason why for that question. I’ve learned to be patient with God’s ways in regard to big-picture issues. (Still stumble often on the small things of course.) I think some of the reasons for that is the time I’ve spent reading and studying this little book that most people know very little about. Habakkuk dared to ask God what so many of us just get mad at him about. The prophet’s honest but humble question resulted in an answer that can satisfy those who sincerely seek answers about life’s challenging issues.
Habakkuk 1:3 There is no end to the violence!
“Why do you show me iniquity, and cause me to behold grievance? For spoiling and violence are before me, and there are that raise up strife and contention.”
Why do You show me iniquity?
Habakkuk wasn’t some prude who couldn’t bear to watch people smoke or drink. He wasn’t gasping and holding his hand over his mouth when he heard a swear word uttered in his presence. He had experienced a real spiritual revival during his younger years. That revival started with the retreat of the Assyrian army after Jerusalem was nearly conquered. A new king took control in Judah, spiritual renewal swept the nation and peace took hold. But, as is the case every single time in the annals of human history, spiritual revival only lasts so long. Then human nature kicks in.
Habakkuk saw that the people were losing their spiritual zeal. When a society loses its love for God, they replace it with a love of self. It’s only bad news from there.
Habakkuk 1:4 The law is abused, justice is no longer blind.
“Therefore the law is slacked, and judgment does never go forth; for the wicked does compass about the righteous; therefore wrong judgment proceeds.”
If you’re looking for a verse that applies to our world today, you don’t need to look any further than right here. When corrupt people are in power, everything they touch becomes corrupt. The prophet complained of the unjust justice system that rewarded corruption and penalized those who were “the righteous.” The Bible tells us there is nothing new under the sun. This corruption of the legal system is not new, but in the United States and throughout the world we see rampant corruption. People sit and die in prisons for attempting to speak out against such injustice. But when the judges, lawyers, and politicians are all corrupt, where do the righteous turn? In this context, the word righteous is implying those attempting to follow the law by its written standards, not the ever-changing standards set by corrupted minds.
This was frustrating in the days of Habakkuk, and it is equally so today.
People see through the corruption, but the common man rarely has a loud enough voice to end it. Speak too loud, and you might disappear. Corruption among bad leaders is so predictable but hard to defeat.
Habakkuk 1:5 God’s stunning answer to the problems.
“Behold you among the heathen, and regard, and wonder marvelously; for I will work a work in your days, which you will not believe, though it is told you.”
Look and Be utterly astounded
God tells the troubled prophet, “I have an answer for you but you’re not going to like it.” What transpires between the Lord and his prophet is almost comical but I’m sure Habakkuk didn’t see any humor in it at all.
I love this story because it’s so real.
He begs God to fix these problems that are growing worse. His answer stuns Habakkuk. God tells him to look out to a heathen nation. The answer to fixing the problems within the Israeli nation is in the growing power of Babylon. The problems were like cancer in the body. Drastic measures were required, and the Lord was bringing the surgeon who would eradicate the disease from Israel. Babylon was rising.
Habakkuk 1:6 God will raise up the destroyers
“For, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, which shall march through the breadth of the land, to possess the dwelling places that are not theirs.”
The Chaldeans were the ethnic group that rose up to become the proud and infamous conquerors of the entire Middle East and beyond.
The Lord calls them bitter and hasty. They would march through the land of Israel. We’re familiar with the phrase, ‘They would take no prisoners.’ In this case, they were fast, brutal, and deadly but they had a use for prisoners so they took tens of thousands of them back to their country. On their way through the country, they entered every dwelling place, the home of every Jew, and took who they wanted and killed who they didn’t. Only a few escaped.
At this stage in the prophet’s writing, he was just hearing about God’s alarming plans for the Jewish people. The invading army wasn’t approaching yet. They were still many years away.
Habakkuk 1:7 An evil nation will decide what is just
“They are terrible and dreadful. Their judgment and their dignity shall proceed of themselves.”
This verse couples nicely with the condition of justice that had transpired within Israel. Corruption in the court system had caused the rule of law and order to favor the rich and influential. Justice was determined by the size of one’s wallet and the connections of one’s friends.
The nation would learn what it was like to receive an equally unfair judgment at the hands of the unjust Babylonians. This verse tells us that Babylon would make their own determination about what was just or dignified.
Ravaging homes, capturing children, and killing older family members seemed like fair judgment to the invaders.
As they say, “Karma, it’s a bi_ _ h sometimes.” The Bible doesn’t teach karma but fair justice, it does teach. God is just and holy, and though he is extremely patient, eventually fairness will apply to everyone. If someone has done wrong, he or she will stand before a just God and give an account.
No one escapes the just One who sees everything that goes on down on this planet he created.
Habakkuk 1:8 Leopards, wolves, horses, and eagles. Oh, My!
“Their horses also are swifter than the leopards and are more fierce than the evening wolves, and their horsemen shall spread themselves, and their horsemen shall come from far. They shall fly as the eagle that hasteth to eat.”
Metaphors, analogies, and types are an essential part of God’s Word. You will see them from the first book to the last. From Genesis to Revelation, you will read about these word-pictures intended to sharpen the focus of the reader.
It has been a common thing for many to misread what the Lord is saying.
For example, some argue the battle of Armageddon will involve attacking forces that ride in on horseback. That is not likely to happen. It’s a metaphor. There might be a better chance of the final battle being fought with bows, arrows, and hatchets. God’s Word makes great use of types and allegorical language.
Flying horses?
This verse describes the attacking Babylonians. They rode on horses, but those horses didn’t start snarling and attacking villagers like a pack of wolves. The horses didn’t fly like eagles, the army was fast and terrifying and rode on horses. That’s it.
I remember Hal Lindsey and others have tried to explain allegorical words such as swarming locusts. Those locusts became Russian helicopters. Really?
Understanding the meaning or the type the writer uses will solve a lot of silly conclusions that people often end up with when they read the Bible. Expect a lot of types and make a logical conclusion. We take the Bible literally unless it tells us horses will fly like eagles, attack like wolves, and run like leopards.
Habakkuk 1:9 They come for one thing–VIOLENCE
“They shall come all for violence. Their faces shall sup up as the east wind, and they shall gather the captivity as the sand.”
The Babylonians will come for one thing. Violence. More typology is used. The prophet refers to a commonly understood Eastern wind that would swallow up great amounts of sand as it moved west. Babylon would march forward in the same indiscriminate way the wind moved over the sandy desert.
They destroyed everything in their path that they didn’t deem to be useful to them.
Habakkuk 1:10 No king can resist them
“And they shall scoff at the kings, and the princes shall be a scorn unto them. They shall deride every strong hold; for they shall heap dust, and take it.”
At about the time of this conversation with God and the corresponding visions that were received by Habakkuk, Babylon had vanquished the supreme power in the Middle East. The mighty Assyrian Empire which had destroyed northern Israel was brushed aside by the new power. If the Assyrian king couldn’t stop them, no lesser king could. God made it clear to his prophet, that Israel, the southern part that remained, was in the crosshairs of Babylon.
Destruction was guaranteed, just the date was unknown at the time of the writing of the prophecy.
When they arrived, they would “heap dust” around Jerusalem while they laid siege. This is a reference to a common battle tactic during those times in history when cities depended on massive walls to protect themselves.
The attacking army would mound up rocks, sand, and dirt against the walls until they were able to march their armies right onto the tops of the walls. It took time but the capture and destruction of the city were inevitable.
Habakkuk 1:11 Babylon makes a fatal mistake
“Then shall his mind change, and he shall pass over, and offend, imputing this his power unto his god.”
God has all the time in the world.
As the creator of time, matter, and all the created order, He is never in a hurry to accomplish his goals. While Babylon was a terrifying danger and still years away, the Lord foresaw their eventual destruction. As he is telling Habakkuk what they will do to Israel he also tells them about their downfall. They will make a fatal mistake. God intended to use them as a tool for punishing the rebellious Jewish nation. But Babylon took the credit for it.
Our very breath is granted as a gift from God. Many of us make the mistake of thinking we make our own way and create our own success. We should learn a lesson from mighty Babylon. They thought their own efforts or their imaginary gods gave them victory. Instead, it was the Almighty God who pulled them into conflict with Israel.
Later, the prophet Daniel warned the king of Babylon not to make that foolish mistake. He didn’t listen, as is a problem with all of us.
Habakkuk 1:12 But Lord, how can you allow this?
“Are you not from everlasting, O Lord my God, mine Holy One? We shall not die. O Lord, you have ordained them for judgment; and, O mighty God, you have established them for correction.”
“I cannot believe what I am hearing!” I can imagine that kind of reaction from Habakkuk as God began to detail his plans for solving the problems with Israel. “Really? That’s how you plan to solve these problems?” “But God!”
He does seem to be taken by surprise at the Lord’s response but there is no indication he lowers himself by responding in a disrespectful manner like the above false quotes I applied to the prophet.
He’s shocked, yes, but he understands who is he talking to. That should give every one of us a reason to pause before we answer back to God in prayer. We are rarely going to get the answer from the Lord we hope. His ways are not our ways. His ways of dealing with humanity’s sinful tendencies are not the same ways we would choose.
Aren’t you above the fray?
“You are the everlasting God. You are Holy.” The prophet reminds himself of who God is, and he can’t wrap his mind around why the Holy God would use really bad people, as his instruments of judgment. But Habakkuk and the rest of humanity should see clearly regarding this subject. God has always done it this way. God has always corrected his people by using bad actors.
He started with Satan. (See here) That wretched fallen angel thought he was getting something over on God, by ruining the perfect picture in the Garden of Eden. Nope. God used Satan to accomplish his will. A bad dude, Satan, was used to correct some not-as-bad people in the garden. Slowly but surely, as time passes, some people catch on to what God is doing.
The crucifixion of Christ is the perfect example. Satan thought he won, but the trap was set and humanity now has a way toward eternal life.
But sadly, most don’t. The prophet was taught a lesson by the Lord. He had trouble dealing with the facts but he was willing to see it through and hear God’s perspective. Few are willing to do that.
Habakkuk 1:13 God, how can you sit by and watch this?
“Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and can not look on iniquity. Why do you look upon them that deal treacherously, and hold your tongue when the wicked devours the man that is more righteous than he?”
He continues to make his point. You’re pure. Why would you let your eyes even look in their direction? That’s a nice thought from the prophet but it doesn’t take in the whole picture. God sits in heaven, (wherever that is), and sees the entirety of human activity. Not a second goes by without Him seeing gross immorality and human suffering on an unbelievable scale.
If God didn’t look upon these things, what hope would we have of escaping it? We need to thank God that he does see and will bring justice in the end. God’s eyes are pure, but he will look upon all the deeds of man. None of us could escape his judgment if there weren’t an escape plan designed by God to allow us an entrance into eternity with him.
Habakkuk 1:14 Babylon collects their helpless prey
“And makest men as the fish of the sea, as the creeping things, that have no ruler over them?”
Habakkuk waxes poetic with word pictures again. He compares the advancing army to fishing boats. Their nets spread out across the sea behind them scooping up masses of fish. The vast numbers of the army gave Habakkuk the impression they were leaderless and made their own decisions as they marched on. To some degree that is true. They were led by captains and generals, but in the heat of the battles, the individual soldiers acted as judge and jury to those unlucky enough to suffer judgment by the sword of Babylon.
Habakkuk 1:15 They rejoice in the torment they bring
“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.”
The angle, net, and drag are more fishing terms used by the writer. He’s emphasizing how they will march through an area and sweep up everyone in their path. They won’t show even the smallest bit of compassion, in fact, they will “rejoice” and be “glad.”
Habakkuk 1:16 Babylon believes their victories are by their own hand
“Therefore they sacrifice unto their net, and burn incense unto their drag; because by them their portion is fat, and their meat plenteous.”
As he wrote in a prior verse, the Babylonians will attribute their success to themselves. To be honest, there wouldn’t be any reason to expect anything else. They were a heathen nation and weren’t inclined to listen to God’s instructions. It was only later after they captured the prophet, Daniel, that they had direct contact with the Word of God. The leaders grudgingly listened at times but only when forced to.
Habakkuk 1:17 Lord, if you don’t stop them, the carnage will continue
“Shall they, therefore, empty their net, and not spare continually to slay the nations?”
The prophet is correct in his assessment. If God doesn’t stop them no one will. The Assyrians proved incapable of stopping them. There was no other nation or military force on the planet capable of putting up a fight against them. The Bible often uses generalized terms in referring to such nations as ruling the world. The Babylonians never actually ruled over the whole world but they were the most powerful nation at the apex of their reign. So in that sense, they did rule the world.
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