Last night I used a beauty product under my eyes, which caused an allergic reaction and caused me to see a basset hound in the mirror this morning. To make matters worse, I had a nightmare in the wee hours, a dream that one of my loved ones had turned to Satanic worship.
So, even the morning coffee is not "gettin' it" today. There are times when the promises of God are all we have left. The prophet Habakkuk felt this way. Let's devour an entire book of the Bible this morning; I need it.
The prophet Habakkuk lived in the latter half of the 7th century B.C. His book is dated somewhere between 625-605 B.C. The Assyrians had already overrun and conquered the northern kingdom of Israel. But, the southern kingdom of Judah was still "whuppin' it up", unrepentant. Habukkuk describes it like this in 1:3-4 ...
"Justice is a joke. The wicked have the righteous hamstrung and stand justice on its head."
Habakkuk was describing his own people, not some enemy nation. And, he was complaining to God, because He would not change the situation. in 1:1, he laments,
"God, how long do I have to cry out for help before you listen?!"
In 1:5-11 God tells Habakkuk that Judah will soon be judged by the Babylonians, the adjacent empire. (Ezekiel also received this prophecy, and it is described in greater detail in the latter half of Ezekiel 17. God brought this prophecy to fulfillment in the mid-500s B.C., when Nebuchadnezzar hauled Judah away to Babylon.)
Habakkuk is completely bamboozled by this response from God. What he wanted was for God to use some other method to straighten out the Jews, some "more righteous" method. He was incredulous that God would use the heathen Babylonians for this purpose. Look at 1:13 and following....
"God, you chose Babylonians for your judgment work? Rock-Solid God, you gave them the job of discipline? But you can't be serious?!
In our modern-day vernacular, we would exclaim, "God, really...REALLY?" Habakkuk goes on and on with his incredulity and then says in 2:1... "I'm gonna climb up here in my tower and sit and wait to see how He answers my complaint."
LOL, well, okay, Buddy, you've got some nerve, but okay...
The bulk of chapter 2 contains God's answer to Habukkuk's complaint. On the face of it, God seems to be elaborating on His condemnation of Judah with the repeated question, "Who do you think you are?" (verses 6, 9, 12, 15) But, he is also asking that question of Habakkuk, who has the audacity to question God's plans. What God wants from Habukkuk is given at the beginning of His answer, in verse 4:
"But the person in right standing before God through loyal and steady believing is fully alive, really alive!"
God ends His answer by contrasting His Living, Eternal "I AM" with the dead, false gods of wood and stone. "The LORD is in His holy temple. Let all the earth be silent before Him!" (NIV)
That includes you, Habukkuk. :)
What is Habakkuk's response then, in chapter 3? Remember, we last saw him sitting in a tower, waiting on God's response. In 3:1 he says, "I'm stopped in my tracks, down on my knees."
Habakkuk goes on to affirm God's message from chapter 2, and then, as he closes his book, he prays these beautiful words of trust:
17 Though the fig tree does not bud
and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen
and no cattle in the stalls,
18 Yet ...
I will rejoice in the Lord,
I will be joyful in God my Savior.
19 The Sovereign Lord is my strength;
he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
he enables me to tread on the heights.
Oh! So beautiful! Brings tears to my eyes.
Can we trust Him like that? DARE we trust Him like that? Do we truly believe He has our best interests at heart? Are His promises really true? Do we know that what we believe is REALLY real?
Habukkuk had this assurance. By the grace of God, we, His Beloved, His children, can too.
Dear Father, my sovereign and almighty God, YET I will rejoice in You, because You are my strength and song. In Jesus' name, amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment