Habakkuk 1-3
Does the world seem upside-down? Does it seem like the good guys are losing — and losing badly? Do you feel like God is not answering your prayers to your satisfaction? Do you wonder where God has gone? Does it seem like injustice generally prevails? Are you at a loss to explain your impossibly difficult circumstances?
If you answered “Yes” to any of those questions, then you are in good company! Say “Hello!” to Habakkuk, who expresses many of the same frustrations.
As a faithful member of God’s people, Habakkuk is confused. He sees the wickedness within Judah. He sees violence and destruction among his people. He sees the wicked rising up against the righteous. He sees justice perverted. And so he wonders where the LORD is. He wonders why God seems to sit idly by. (Hab. 1:2-4)
But the LORD is not on the sidelines. He is actively engaged. He is, in fact, raising up the Chaldeans (that is, the Babylonians) who will be more violent still! (Hab. 1:5-11)
Say what?! Now Habakkuk is even more confused. He understands that the Babylonians are an instrument of judgment, but it still seems upside-down. How can his own people, the people of Judah, who at least have some semblance of a relationship with the LORD, face destruction at the hands of these wicked Babylonians? Is the LORD going to let the “bad guys” mercilessly kill the “good guys” forever? (Hab. 1:12-17)
In such bewilderment, Habakkuk registers his complaint to the LORD and waits for an answer. (Hab. 2:1)
And the LORD responds with a great big, “Trust Me!” He says that the righteous shall live by his faith (Hab. 2:4), that the “bad guys” will not go unpunished but will most certainly receive their due (Hab. 2:6-20), and that the LORD will be glorified in the end. (Hab. 2:14,20) (We might note that the message here for Babylon is all very much in line with the message for Assyria in Isaiah 10:5-27 and Nahum 1-3. God raises up these nations as instruments of judgment upon His people, but then turns and punishes those nations for acting with evil intent. The LORD is sovereign over all.)
In the end, Habakkuk responds with one of the brightest beacons of faith in all of Scripture:
Though the fig tree should not blossom,
Habakkuk 3:17-19
nor fruit be on the vines,
the produce of the olive fail
and the fields yield no food,
the flock be cut off from the fold
and there be no herd in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the LORD;
I will take joy in the God of my salvation.
GOD, the Lord, is my strength;
He makes my feet like the deer’s;
He makes me tread on my high places.
No matter how dark the night, no matter how bleak the outlook, no matter how difficult the circumstances, the LORD remains faithful and worthy of our trust. Meditate on these verses today. Return to them often. Let the LORD speak to your heart and grant you His peace.
One more thing…
Righteousness should subsist by faith. In it was life, as predicted in Habakkuk: “Now the just shall live by faith.” Hence Abraham, the father of the nations, believed. In Genesis “Abraham believed in God and it was counted to him for righteousness.” In like manner Paul wrote to the Galatians: “Abraham believed God and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.” So you see, those of faith are descendants of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” So then, those who are people of faith are blessed with Abraham who had faith.
Cyprian on Habakkuk 2:6, from Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews [an unfortunate title…]; the vast majority of the above is just quoting Galatians 3:6-9