Day 701: Habakkuk 1- Fallen World. Faithful God.

The oracle that Habakkuk the prophet saw.
Habakkuk's Complaint
2 O Lord, how long shall I cry for help,
    and you will not hear?
Or cry to you “Violence!”
    and you will not save?
3 Why do you make me see iniquity,
    and why do you idly look at wrong?
Destruction and violence are before me;
    strife and contention arise.
4 So the law is paralyzed,
    and justice never goes forth.
For the wicked surround the righteous;
    so justice goes forth perverted.
The Lord's Answer
5 “Look among the nations, and see;
    wonder and be astounded.
For I am doing a work in your days
    that you would not believe if told.
6 For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans,
    that bitter and hasty nation,
who march through the breadth of the earth,
    to seize dwellings not their own.
7 They are dreaded and fearsome;
    their justice and dignity go forth from themselves.
8 Their horses are swifter than leopards,
    more fierce than the evening wolves;
    their horsemen press proudly on.
Their horsemen come from afar;
    they fly like an eagle swift to devour.
9 They all come for violence,
    all their faces forward.
    They gather captives like sand.
10 At kings they scoff,
    and at rulers they laugh.
They laugh at every fortress,
    for they pile up earth and take it.
11 Then they sweep by like the wind and go on,
    guilty men, whose own might is their god!”
Habakkuk's Second Complaint
12 Are you not from everlasting,
    O Lord my God, my Holy One?
    We shall not die.
O Lord, you have ordained them as a judgment,
    and you, O Rock, have established them for reproof.
13 You who are of purer eyes than to see evil
    and cannot look at wrong,
why do you idly look at traitors
    and remain silent when the wicked swallows up
    the man more righteous than he?
14 You make mankind like the fish of the sea,
    like crawling things that have no ruler.
15 He[a] brings all of them up with a hook;
    he drags them out with his net;
he gathers them in his dragnet;
    so he rejoices and is glad.
16 Therefore he sacrifices to his net
    and makes offerings to his dragnet;
for by them he lives in luxury,
    and his food is rich.
17 Is he then to keep on emptying his net
    and mercilessly killing nations forever?
 
Meditation
God’s sovereign grace both comforts us in the present and controls the future. God calls us to put our faith in Him, to “trust in the Lord with all our hearts, leaning not on our own understanding” (Proverbs 3:5-6). Bold faith fully trusts a faithful God in a fallen world.
 
Habakkuk was a prophet to the Southern Kingdom after the fall of Nineveh (605 BC) and before Babylon turned their sights to Jerusalem. Chaos reigned on the international stage and problems within his home country amplified the anxiety (sound familiar!?!). The question of God’s justice and faith of God’s people dominate the book. Palmer Robertson summarizes the general message saying, “A mature faith trusts humbly but persistently in God’s design for establishing righteousness on the earth.” Faith trusts God’s faithfulness in a fallen world.
 
A dialogue with God is the prophet’s proclamation to his nation, potently commencing with a question: “How long!?” will God’s people need help and God not act (2), violence perpetrated without justice, and the wicked win (1-4)? God responds, “I am doing a work you will not understand…” raising up their enemy for His purposes (5-11). Habakkuk responds: Does God’s use of evil for His purposes mean He approves of injustice (12-17)?  No. Faith waits for God’s timing, trusting God’s sovereign grace.
 
Habakkuk uses a lament (See Psalm 13) to launch his questions into God’s steadfast love. God engages Habakkuk! God’s sovereignty orders the chaos of this fallen world for His purposes. God is faithful! And bold faith trusts God’s unchanging character.
 
Richly Dwelling
-What stands out to you in Habakkuk’s Divine dialog, his first two complaints sandwiching God’s first response?
 
-Why is it difficult to trust in the Lord with all our heart and lean not on our own understanding when chaos seems to reign in our world?
 
-How does the cross of Christ demonstrate God’s sovereignty over what seemed dark and despairing in the moment? How does this fuel both security and hope for you at such a time as this?
 
Key verses
2 O Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not hear? Or cry to you “Violence!” and you will not save?