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HabakkukThe Minor Prophets

God Answers Habakkuk

by Esther Griggs
written by Esther Griggs

Habakkuk bared his soul before God. How long would this suffering go on? Why should not the wicked Babylonians suffer for their brutality? Then he waited expectantly for the answer. God answered, told him what was to come and anchored his soul.

The Answer

The Lord answered. Write it down, make it plain to read, “that he may run who reads it.” It won’t happen immediately, but the time will come just as I have spoken. Wait. Be patient. It will not take longer or be delayed. “Behold the proud, his soul is not upright in him, but the just shall live by faith.”

What Was to Come

In the answer, the Lord showed Habakkuk what was to come. Though the greed of the Babylonians drove them on, like death, it was never satisfied. They would soon receive retribution from those they oppressed. Through murder and corruption, they built their expensive homes in mountains, thinking they could protect their families. Yet, they gave shameful counsel to their house and sinned against their own souls. It would come back to haunt them. Their brutality to neighbours, disregard of forests and animals, would soon cause them to experience being cut down and terrorized themselves. In his time or ours, wherever the stench of wickedness hangs in the air, the just live by faith. For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of God.

Anchored His Soul

After the vision, God anchored Habakkuk’s soul. The wicked create their own gods, gods without voices or knowledge, without heart or soul. But the eternal God is in His holy temple. From everlasting to everlasting, He lives, breathes, and reigns. All keep silent before Him. Faith and steadfast hope anchor the soul. God answers, shows us what was is to come and anchors the soul.

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HabakkukprayerThe Minor Prophets

A God Conversation

by Esther Griggs
written by Esther Griggs

(Habakkuk)

After God responded to Habakkuk, you can almost see the wheels of his brain turning. How could he reconcile the information just received with his knowledge of God? First, he clarified what he had heard, then he questioned God on His actions, and finally positioned himself for a reply.

Clarification

First, he repeats what he has understood back to God. “You are the everlasting God. I see it now. We will not die. You have appointed the Chaldeans for judgement. You have established them to chastise and correct your people.”

Further Questions

But somehow it doesn’t sit right, so Habakkuk further questions the Lord. “You are of purer eyes than to behold evil and cannot look upon injustice. How then can you look on this plunderer? How can you watch and not say anything? Why do you make it so men cannot defend themselves? The Chaldeans are like fishermen; they gather and then rejoice over their catch. Then they sacrifice to their net because it allows him to live in luxury. Can this go on forever?”

Positioned For a Reply

Finally, Habakkuk positioned himself to hear from God. He had spoken plainly and considered himself to have been rash. He has, after all, been talking to Almighty God. But he will wait expectantly for His response and consider how to respond when God corrects him.

Like Habakkuk, as children of God, we too have the high privilege of conversation with God, to clarify what we believe He has spoken to us, to further probe Him with the unintelligible aspects of life, and to position ourselves expectantly for His loving response.

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HabakkukThe Minor Prophets

I am Doing Something

by Esther Griggs
written by Esther Griggs

(Habakkuk)

To the prophet Habakkuk, it seemed he was doing a lot of praying while God was doing a bunch of nothing. God helped him to see that he was doing something. The something he was doing would be impossible to believe if he had heard it on the street. In Habakkuk’s day, he was raising an army with horses to take over the peoples, but they would make one big mistake.

An Army

The army God said he was raising up,was the Chaldeans. God told him they were a “nasty and hasty nation.” He further described them as “terrible and dreadful.” Their horses would be swifter than leopards and fiercer than evening wolves.

To Take Over

God further told him, they would come for violence. They would gather captives like sand and scoff at kings and princes. They would ridicule and criticize every stronghold. They would heap mounds of earth against the strongholds to overtake them.

A Big Mistake

But God says his mind would change, and he would sin. He would commit an offence by worshipping his own power, making it his god.

Like Habakkuk, unless the Lord reveals it to us, we carry on, blind to all that He is doing in our world. But when we take the time with Him, through the Holy Spirit He speaks with us. We learn to be confident that He hears and answers.

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HabakkukThe Minor Prophets

Habakkuk

by Esther Griggs
written by Esther Griggs

 (The Questions)

One of the minor prophets, Habakkuk, is only three chapters long. This prophet lived before Israel’s fall, when the Babylonian threat grew. When he cried out to God with his complaints, God responded. The questions he asked could be asked today by Christians living in troubled cities or under persecution. They illustrate the emotion with which Habakkuk approached God and the depths of trouble around him. Habakkuk accused God of not listening. As he poured out his queries about violence, God was listening. Throughout the next few weeks, we will reflect on his questions, God’s response and its effect on Habakkuk. Habakkuk asked about the violence, ineffective laws and the lack of justice.

Violence

Habakkuk felt like he had been crying out to God for help – for a long time. Violence and destruction were everywhere. Before him, there was misery. There were evil deeds. The people loved to argue and fight. He yelled at God.

 “You do not listen.”

“You don’t come to save.”

Ineffective Laws

“The law has become paralyzed,” he said. As this righteous man observed the decline of his society, he couldn’t understand why God wasn’t stepping in. No one was being held accountable for their wrongdoings.

Lack of Justice

The amount of wickedness during this time inverted the legal system. The sheer number of evildoers changed what was wrong to be right while the right became wrong. There was no justice. Like at the end of the Book of Judges, everyone did what was right in their own eyes. Justice had been perverted.

Habakkuk took his concerns to God. He expressed his troubled heart. He asked his questions.

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