Habakkuk – Background
Habakkuk is one of my favorite minor prophets. Habakkuk’s primary question is how God can
use an ungodly nation like the Babylonians as a tool of His righteous
judgment. This is one of the reasons why
I love Habakkuk. It is a book that not
only talks truth about God but also truth about character and real life
problems. How many times have I wondered
how it is that so much ungodliness can exist in the world and why God doesn’t
do something about it!
The book of Habakkuk is a book that was likely in the closing
years of the 7th century, perhaps even between 610-600 BC. This would mean that Habakkuk wrote this book
either at the end of Josiah’s reign or during the years of Jehoiakim in
Judah. In either case, it is a book that
is written as the Hebrew people come out of a time of reformation and head back
into a time of lawlessness.
The First Exchange
Habakkuk comes before God and questions Him. This is an important point. Here in the example of Habakkuk we see that
it is possible to come before God with complaints – even in one’s anger – and
not sin. However, we need to learn
something about this example. What we
don’t see Habakkuk do is to lift up a complaint against God. Rather, what we see Habakkuk do is lift up
his experience and declare to God that he doesn’t understand God’s
presence. Habakkuk sees injustice all
around him, he sees the Law being paralyzed, and he can’t help but wonder where
God is in all of this. Habakkuk isn’t
attacking God’s character; he is confessing his own inability to understand.
God’s response is forthcoming.
God tells Habakkuk that He is doing something about it. The reality is that God’s timeline doesn’t
match up with the timeline of the world.
Habakkuk wants justice now because he sees injustice now. God is bringing justice on a grand scale and
allowing the people to work themselves into a position of letting their
behavior truly deserve what is coming their way.
In the answer, though, we get a very honest declaration of truth
from God’s behalf. Do you what God says
in addition to the fact that God is bringing the Babylonians? God tells Habakkuk that He is doing something
that even Habakkuk wouldn’t believe it even if God did tell him. Here is a truth as to why we have such
difficulty seeing God at work in the world.
We wouldn’t be able to comprehend much of what God is doing even if we
did have a clear sign of God’s hand at work!
Habakkuk’s Second Complaint
Habakkuk hears what God is saying, but God’s words don’t make a
ton of sense to him. After all, he knows
the Babylonians. He knows that they
aren’t exactly God-fearers themselves.
He can’t quite understand how it is that a pure God would even want to
work with the Babylonians. How is it
that God can choose a vile people to come against God’s holy ones?
Here is Habakkuk’s main set of issues against the
Babylonians. They are slavers – hence
the line about dragging people around with hooks. They are so successful that they praise the
things of their own making rather than giving glory to God. The Babylonians seem to be a people who think
they are bigger than life.
This is a huge issue for Habakkuk.
Habakkuk sees all around him that success often brings about less praise
for God. Rather than pausing to give
praise to God, the successful begin to see their success as the fruit of their
own labor. Habakkuk cannot understand
how it is that God can take a people who refuse to give Him any glory and still
continue to work through them.
Isn’t this just like a human way of thinking? We think we are better than other people and
we wonder how it is that God can work through those who are less than us. The reality is that we are all fallen and
none of us should know what it feels like to have God work through us. However, God is gracious and merciful. He works through us in spite of our
sinfulness and our rebellion.
Finally, Habakkuk asks God when it is that the Babylonian
domination will end. Habakkuk is unsure
that God will be able to stop the Babylonians once He lets them loose upon the
world. Perhaps he wants to make sure
that the Babylonians won’t receive too much power since they are so resistant
to give glory to God.
Whatever the reason, we see Habakkuk struggling to keep up with
what God is doing in the world. Haven’t
we all been there before? Isn’t the
reality that we all struggle to keep up with God? When we don’t understand God, don’t we lean
on our own understanding?
I can’t fault Habakkuk too much here. Well, I can.
He’s in the wrong in that he’s leaning on his own understanding. But I guess I should say that I can
understand him. And I can’t convict him
from doing anything I haven’t likewise done myself. When I am unclear about what God is doing,
rather than wait upon the Lord so often I strive forward on my own
understanding. Things usually go poorly
from that point on.
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