The Minor Prophets, Messengers for Today: Habakkuk

The Minor Prophets, Messengers for Today:  Habakkuk

By Rev. Lonnie C. Crowe

Habakkuk lived in a world much like our own.  Violence, encouraged by injustice, permeated all facets of society.  In a vision from the Lord, the prophet learned that God was going to allow the even more violent and more unjust Chaldeans to bring judgment on His people.  Habakkuk cried out, “You are of purer eyes than to behold evil, And cannot look on wickedness. Why do You look on those who deal treacherously, And hold Your tongue when the wicked devours A person more righteous than he? (Habakkuk 1:13 NKJV) 

The Lord comforted Habakkuk by assuring him that God was allowing the Chaldeans to come against Judah for His own purposes and would, in the future, punish the Chaldeans for what they had done.  The Lord directed Habakkuk and all believers to "Behold the proud, his soul is not upright in him; But the just shall live by his faith (Habakkuk 2:4 NKJV).

 

Today Chaldea lies in Iraq near its border with Iran.  God is the same yesterday, today and forever more.  If the current world situation in that area and spilling over globally is part of the judgment of God, it is for the purposes of bringing God’s people, both Jews and Christian, into a deeper relationship with Him through our Savior Jesus Christ.  It is also true that God will not allow any who come against His people to go unpunished.  

Without a doubt, God is using worldly circumstances for His own purposes.  In faith, we must walk closely with the Lord and wait for His timing. Faith requires that we trust God even when we feel He is not responding to our prayers. He said to Habakkuk, “For the vision is yet for an appointed time; But at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; Because it will surely come, It will not tarry (Habakkuk 2:3 NKJV).

We must stop our murmuring and complaining. As with both Job and Habakkuk, it is not necessary for us to question God.  “The LORD is in His holy temple. Let all the earth keep silence before Him" (Habakkuk 2:20 NKJV). A deeper relationship with the Lord is founded in our faith that God is Who He says He is and that He always has our best in mind.

In the end, Habakkuk submitted to the Lord and worshipped Him.  Even when he didn’t understand God’s plans and purposes, he understood the goodness of his Lord.

Habakkuk 3:17-19 (NKJV)

^“Though the fig tree may not blossom, Nor fruit be on the vines; Though the labor of the olive may fail, And the fields yield no food; Though the flock may be cut off from the fold, And there be no herd in the stalls-- Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The LORD God is my strength; He will make my feet like deer's feet, And He will make me walk on my high hills.”

Let us look beyond our circumstances and joy in the God of our salvation. The vision is for an appointed time. Our deliverance is assured. Because of that, we can sing with King David:

Psalm 3:1-8 (NKJV)
¹  A Psalm of David when he fled from Absalom his son.

LORD, how they have increased who trouble me! Many are they who rise up against me.
²  Many are they who say of me, "There is no help for him in God." Selah
³  But You, O LORD, are a shield for me, My glory and the One who lifts up my head.
⁴  I cried to the LORD with my voice, And He heard me from His holy hill. Selah
⁵  I lay down and slept; I awoke, for the LORD sustained me.
⁶  I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people Who have set themselves against me all around.
⁷  Arise, O LORD; Save me, O my God! For You have struck all my enemies on the cheekbone; You have broken the teeth of the ungodly.
⁸  Salvation belongs to the LORD. Your blessing is upon Your people. Selah