We ask Big Questions and have been given Big Answers. Do we have the same Big Response as this man in the third and final chapter of the Book of HABAKKUK? ◊
The answer to the questions as to why do bad things happen to good people and why do bad people seem to get away with doing bad things, is answered in the Book of HABAKKUK.
These are common questions that imply that God should be aware of both good people and evil people and react to them accordingly. That is, God should reward good people and punish bad people for the bad things they do.
Makes logical sense, right?
Only if you think that God is some type of reward dispenser who hands out goodies like some good fairy.
This is naive thinking and completely disregards the holiness and vastness of God on all levels.
Habakkuk Gets Schooled
Such is the situation of the prophet Habakkuk who lived in Judah around 608 BC prior to the coming invasion of the brutal and violent Babylonian army swooping in from the east. This massive world power had already overcome Assyria to the north, the world’s previous dominant power, and was on its way to conquer Egypt to the southwest as well. Judah and its capital city of Jerusalem were right in the middle of a coming and looming dark storm.
In this short 3 chapter book, we see the documentation of Habakkuk’s questioning of God (see The Big Question in Habakkuk 1), and God’s clear answer back (see The Big Answer in Habakkuk 2). God essentially tells Habakkuk that the Babylonians will be thoroughly punished.
In Chapter 3, we see Habakkuk’s humble response and witness his complete turnaround in thinking and ultimate submission to accept any situation that God is playing out.
The parallel applications for us today are obvious.
Habakkuk’s Response
After God’s big answer previously, Chapter 3 captures Habakkuk’s literal prayerful response:
A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet….Lord, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, Lord. Repeat them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy. (v.1-2)
Habakkuk’s attitude is now one of submission with humble petition to Holy God for mercy in a situation that warrants wrath and judgment. He then acknowledges the past history of God from creation to saving and directing His chosen people in their exodus (Moses) from the desert land of Egypt to the promised land of Canaan. In that history, God was and is and has His way:
God came from Teman, the Holy One from Mount Paran. His glory covered the heavens and his praise filled the earth. His splendor was like the sunrise; rays flashed from his hand, where his power was hidden. Plague went before him; pestilence followed his steps. He stood, and shook the earth; he looked, and made the nations tremble. The ancient mountains crumbled and the age-old hills collapsed—but he marches on forever. (v.3-6)
God has always been in control, and uses His power over creation and all in it to achieve His will and victory objectives.
I saw the tents of Cushan in distress, the dwellings of Midian in anguish. Were you angry with the rivers, Lord? Was your wrath against the streams? Did you rage against the sea when you rode your horses and your chariots to victory?
You uncovered your bow, you called for many arrows. You split the earth with rivers; the mountains saw you and writhed. Torrents of water swept by; the deep roared and lifted its waves on high. Sun and moon stood still in the heavens at the glint of your flying arrows, at the lightning of your flashing spear. (v.7-11)
God always had an objective. His chosen people were not for arbitrary purposes. He picked Abraham and used his descendants of Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, and Moses to develop a nation set aside for the purposes of raising up an “anointed one” (Christ). The entire Old Testament history and New Testament revelation is about the deliverance of Christ, God’s anointed one, for all mankind.
In wrath you strode through the earth and in anger you threshed the nations. You came out to deliver your people, to save your anointed one. You crushed the leader of the land of wickedness, you stripped him from head to foot. With his own spear you pierced his head when his warriors stormed out to scatter us, gloating as though about to devour the wretched who were in hiding. You trampled the sea with your horses, churning the great waters. (v.12-15)
Habukkuk is now left in awestruck wonder to patiently wait for the judgment to play out in his own current history. Yes, evil Babylon would be used by God to destroy disobedient Israel and then rebuild them back to continue his long term play toward delivering the promised One.
I heard and my heart pounded, my lips quivered at the sound; decay crept into my bones, and my legs trembled. Yet I will wait patiently for the day of trouble to come on the people who invade us. (v.16)
Then, in a beautiful poetic conclusion to his prayer, Habakkuk fully acknowledges his faith, joy, and strength in his Sovereign Lord and Savior, even in the midst of the potential depths of coming blight and misery that did come upon Jerusalem over the next 20 years. History records that in a devastating series of invasions and sieges, the city, surrounding walls, and Holy Temple built by Solomon were thoroughly destroyed in 586 BC by Nebachadezzar and the Babylonians.
For prophetic time context, note that Habakkuk, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel were all contemporaries who lived and foretold of this cataclysmic period of time.
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, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior. The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights. (v.17-19)
Like Habakkuk, we too can question God in righteous anger. But God has given us His Word which provides answers about His goodness, holiness, love, power, and purposes beyond our own mundane desires and wishes. Ultimately, as Habakkuk effectively falls on his knees and acquieses to his God and Savior, we too can follow suit and surrender our own will to God, who is operating at a multi-dimensional level beyond our ability to keep up.
In fact, as many actually do pray that His will be done on earth as it is in heaven, why not submit and align with His ways and purposes as He deems perfect and good?
Are you aligned with God or do you resist?
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“Yet I will patiently wait for the day of trouble to come upon the people who invade us.” – Habakkuk 3:16
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