The Bible says
in Habakkuk 1:1-4, “The burden which Habakkuk the prophet did see.[2]
O LORD, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear! even
cry out unto thee of violence, and thou wilt not save![3] Why dost thou
shew me iniquity, and cause me to behold grievance? for
spoiling and violence are before me: and there are that raise up strife and
contention.[4] Therefore the law is slacked, and judgment doth never go
forth: for the wicked doth compass about the righteous; therefore wrong
judgment proceedeth.” In these statements from the prophet Habakkuk we see once
again great parallels to what is happening in our world today. Habakkuk sees
“violence” going on around him, and he also sees that God has not come swiftly
to bring justice upon the evil-doers who seem to be every where. Habakkuk asks
a question of God in verse 3, “Why dost thou
shew me iniquity, and cause me to behold grievance?” Habakkuk could see what was going on. He had insight and
understanding just like all believers in Jesus. The people who are in darkness
just do not have wisdom from God to know what is wrong or what is the solution. One of the things that is
wrong is all the violence. We would think that would be easy to see as well as
what should follow violent acts: justice. Governments are responsible to
protect their citizens and to punish evil doers. If they do not, then the
leaders of government will answer to God. But if governments will not do it, as
they head towards their judgment, we look to God who is the final Judge to
bring the punishments and the judgments that are due.
What we see
happening is the same thing that Habakkuk saw: the judgments of God just do not
come as swiftly as we would like. Why is that? One reason is that God is God
and He decides what will happen and when. Evidently, God is not in as big of a
hurry as we are. God has forever. He is not bound by time. Something that
happens a thousand years from now is the same as though it is happening today.
It says in Second Peter 3:8, “But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing,
that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one
day.” There is also the fact that God wants to save everyone.
Much more important than whether you live or die is whether you go to heaven or
not. If God were to bring the judgment of the evil doers now, they would have
no more chance to be saved by turning to Christ. It says in Second Peter 3:9, “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men
count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should
perish, but that all should come to repentance.”
Finally, we must say that in this world that God has established, He has given
free will to men and women. God allows people to make their own choices and to
choose their own course in life, even when they choose to do evil and violence.
And so now we are back where we started in the vicious cycle, and we ask the
question that Habakkuk asked: “Why.” Because we know the truth about Christ
from the New Testament, we know one important truth about all this: at least it
will all end when Jesus returns and is set up as King in
God answers Habakkuk
in Habakkuk 1:5-9, “Behold ye among the heathen, and regard, and wonder
marvellously: for I will work a work in your days, which ye will not believe,
though it be told you.[6] For, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter
and hasty nation, which shall march through the breadth of the land, to possess
the dwellingplaces that are not theirs.[7] They are terrible and
dreadful: their judgment and their dignity shall proceed of themselves.[8]
Their horses also are swifter than the leopards, and are more fierce than the
evening wolves: and their horsemen shall spread themselves, and their horsemen
shall come from far; they shall fly as the eagle that hasteth to eat. [9]
They shall come all for violence: their faces shall sup up as the east wind,
and they shall gather the captivity as the sand.[10]
And they shall scoff at the kings, and the princes shall be a scorn unto them:
they shall deride every strong hold; for they shall heap dust, and take it.[11]
Then shall his mind change, and he shall pass over, and offend, imputing this
his power unto his god.” The answer that God gave to Habukkuk is that judgment is
coming. God had it all planned out already, just like He does now. No one is
going to get away with anything. The Chaldeans were the Babylonians, the nation
that would eventually come and conquer
The Bible says
in Habakkuk 1:12-14, “Art thou not from everlasting, O LORD my God, mine
Holy One? we shall not die. O LORD, thou hast ordained
them for judgment; and, O mighty God, thou hast established them for correction.[13] Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and
canst not look on iniquity: wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal
treacherously, and holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is
more righteous than he?[14] And makest men as the fishes of the sea, as
the creeping things, that have no ruler over them?” Habakkuk made
two important statements in the first part of verse 12. He said to God, “Art thou not from everlasting?” And then Habakkuk said, “we shall not
die.” God is the eternally existent one. He is
life. He is the life-giver. If you become rightly related to God through
Christ, then you become connected forever to life. You have eternal life. God
revealed Himself to Moses at the burning bush that did not consume away, and
God said, “I AM THAT I AM.” In other words, “I am the eternally existent One.” Jesus
said, “I am the way, the truth, and the
life.” Once you become a part of “the
life” through trusting in Jesus, you will never die. That is why Habakkuk said,
“we shall not die.” For
Christians, the spiritual life that began when they trusted in Jesus will go on
forever. Death is simply the door that we go through to be with the Lord in
heaven. Death is not the end: it’s the beginning. If you are a Christian, when
you die, it will be like going to sleep for the last time, and then you will
awake in heaven. It will be the best morning that you have ever had. You will
see Jesus face to face. You will have love, joy, and peace that you cannot now
even imagine. As it says in Revelation 21:3-6, “And
I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is
with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God
himself shall be with them, and be their God.[4] And God shall wipe away
all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow,
nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are
passed away.[5] And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all
things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.[6] And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and
Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the
fountain of the water of life freely.”
The Bible says
in Habakkuk 1:15-17, “They take up all of them with the angle, they catch them in
their net, and gather them in their drag: therefore they rejoice and are glad.[16] Therefore they sacrifice unto their net, and
burn incense unto their drag; because by them their portion is fat, and their
meat plenteous.[17] Shall they therefore empty their net, and not spare
continually to slay the nations?” In verse 14 the Lord compared
people to fish. Jesus did the same thing when He called the apostles and said
to them, “Follow me and I will make thee
fishers of men.” One of the characteristics of
fish is that they can be caught. Human beings go about catching and capturing
each other all the time. That is one of the great dynamics taking place in the affairs of people all over the world. That is
what Nimrod was known for when he established the first
One of the
points that Habakkuk is making is that as one nation gobbles up another,
instead of giving God the glory in seeing God’s hand in all these things,
nations that the glory to themselves, and they think that by their own power
they have been raised up. Christians see the Almighty power of the Savior who
is the King of kings. Nations struggle against one another as great schools of
fish competing for the same space in the ocean, but Christ is over all for His
purposes.
The Bible says
in Habakkuk 2:1-3, “I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will
watch to see what he will say unto me, and what I shall answer when I am
reproved.[2] And the LORD answered me, and said, Write the vision, and
make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it.[3] For the
vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not
lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not
tarry.” Habakkuk said in verse 1, “I will stand upon my watch.” He
realized that one of the important ways in which he served God was simply to
watch. There are several things to watch for. We should watch for temptation.
The flesh, that is, human nature, easily falls. Be on your guard against
temptation. Understand what kind of temptations can come upon you and be ready
for them. If temptation catches you unawares, you might fall and your fall
could be your ruin: the ruin of your family, the ruin of your career, the ruin
of your health, the ruin of your reputation, and worse of all the ruin of your
testimony for Christ. Jesus said in Matthew 26:41, “Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the
spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
Believers
should also be on watch for the coming of the Lord. Jesus will return. He
promised that fact. The return of Christ will mark the end of this age. The
return of Christ will be the fulfillment of the promises of the Bible and of
the hopes and dreams of all believers. The return of Christ will mean that the
antichrist individuals will get their just recompense. When we watch for the
return of Christ, it means that we believe God’s promise that He will return at
any moment. When we watch for the return of Christ, it means that we recognize
that Jesus is our hope and that our hope is not of this world, nor of anyone in
this world. Jesus said in Matthew 24:42-44, “Watch therefore: for ye know
not what hour your Lord doth come.[43] But know
this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would
come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken
up.[44] Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not
the Son of man cometh.”
One of the
things that Habakkuk said that he would watch for was “to see what
he will say unto me.” Habakkuk knew an important truth: God speaks to men and women,
boys and girls. But in order to be aware of what God is trying to tell you, you
must be intent on hearing and listening. Some people God is calling to come to
Christ. Will they listen? Will they hear? Some people are facing an important
decision, and God is saying to them: “This is the way. Walk ye
in it.” Will they listen? Will they hear?
The primary
way that God speaks to us is through His written Word, and so it says in
Habakkuk 2:2, “And the LORD answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make
it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it.” And so we
see the method that God used so that His truth would be available to all
generations: God picked certain men to write down His Word. That way God’s
Word, God’s message, and God’s truth is available to all generations. God gave
His written Word, God preserved His written Word, and now God speaks through
His written Word. If you have a problem, or a difficulty, or a decision for
which you need guidance, go to God’s Word. Christians should be in God’s Word
and preachers should be preaching God’s Word. Unless we do those things we will
not be “watching” to see what God has to say to us. There is no better part of the
Word to go to than the words of Jesus. That is why a red-letter edition of the
Bible is so useful. It makes it very easy to go right to Jesus’ words. Hebrews
1:2, “Hath in these last days spoken to us by His Son.”
___________________________________________________
Copyright; 2015 by Charles
F. (Rick) Creech
All Rights Reserved