Two Very Big Questions Habakkuk - Two Questions*
Habakkuk the prophet teaches a great lesson in his very short book: God always does things at just the right time.
Habakkuk had called out to God with a question. "How long will you allow these sinful and hard hearted people to go unpunished? For evil abounds, and the good men and women are being unfairly treated." The Lord answered and said, "This very minute I am strengthening the Babylonian army. They will sweep across the land and punish these proud people. But the just shall live by faith."
Habakkuk was shocked and asked God a second question, "How can You use an evil nation like Babylon to accomplish good?" Then the Lord told Habakkuk that someday everyone would know God. Habakkuk praised the Lord for teaching him these great truths.
Then the Lord spoke, "Who I use to bring about good upon the earth is unimportant. What is important is faith. Each person must believe in Me by faith."
A snapshot of the message of the book of Habakkuk is a follows**:
1. The World Is Full Of Suffering.
Everywhere the prophet looks in society there is suffering, and what is worse, it is often unjust. Because the wicked seem to get away with it, and his prayers for justice are unanswered, Habakkuk is faced with the awful dilemma: "If God is just, why does he allow it to go on? (Habakkuk 1:2-4)
Far from making things easier to take, God gives him a vision of much worse. The Babylonians, who would care little for human life or rights, would overrun the land. (Habakkuk 1:5-11).
Added to this horror was the fact that these invaders had no time for God, they were supremely confident. (Habakkuk 1:7,11,15,16)
2. God Is In Control.
Habakkuk believed that his God was Lord of the whole earth, and that because of this, he must have allowed these things to happen. He sees God as using these evil forces to his own ends (Habakkuk 1:5,6; 2:20;3:19).
He was also aware that God is just, and that he would judge this injustice and wickedness. The repeated 'Woe' seals their fate. (Habakkuk 1:12; 2:6-20;3:3-15)
This still left him with the problem of how God could get involved at all, seeing that he is holy and righteous. (Habakkuk 1:13)
3. The Message Of Trust.
Although Habakkuk complains to the Lord and waits for an answer, God does not really give him one. (Habakkuk 2:1)
Instead, the truth which he reveals - and commands to be written plainly so that all may easily read it - is that the righteous man would be preserved through it all in his faithfulness to God. (Habakkuk 2:2-4)
Habakkuk was given a glimpse of a wonderful future when all would acknowledge God and his law. In the confidence of who God is and what he will do, he finds it possible not only to endure through perplexing times, but actually to rejoice. (Habakkuk 2:14; 3:17-19)
* Taken From The Word And Song Bible, Stephen Elkins.
**Taken From Opening Up God's Word - The Compact Survey Of The Bible, John Balchin.
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