Habakkuk’s Question

Although Habakkuk is one of the shortest books in the Old Testament, containing only three chapters, it offers both a scary and a comforting message for Christians today.

The book begins with the prophet Habakkuk asking God why He has done nothing about the wickedness, strife and oppression rampant in Judah.(Hab 1:2-4)  The Judaean people were at strife with one another.  The wicked surrounded the righteous and apparently controlled the judicial system to the point the law was weak and only wrong or wicked judgements were carried out.

This description of Judah in Habakkuk’s time reminds me a lot of what we are seeing today.  The oppression of those who speak where the Bible speaks is becoming more and more difficult to bear.  Homosexuality and perversions of gender identity have become the accepted norm.  The idea that murder of an unborn child is a choice and not a crime is hard to swallow.  And, yet, a police officer defending himself against a vicious attacker is considered a crime by many.

I could go on and on, but let’s just leave it that we are living in a time when the wickedness, strife and oppression are rampant, much as they were in the time of Habakkuk.

God’s Answer

God has an answer that Habakkuk has a little trouble swallowing. (Hab 1:5-11) God has a plan to punish this wicked nation of Judah by allowing an even more wicked and idolatrous nation conquer the Judaeans and possess their lands.  This doesn’t make sense to Habakkuk.  He questions God again.  God lets him know that He can and will use what ever tool He chooses to bring justice to the land.

It doesn’t take long to start seeing possible connections to present times.  We are seeing the rise of evil regimens throughout the world, that hate America and Christianity.  Could this be because we have turned so far away from God, we need a course correction.  Remember God can and will use what ever tool He sees fit.

In the second Chapter of Habakkuk, God says to write these visions down.  Apparently God wants to give the people of Judah an opportunity to repent and return to Him.  We are told these things are not going to happen immediately, but farther down the road.  There was still time for them and there is still time for us to change and return to our Father in Heaven.

God tells Habakkuk that He will also punish the Chaldeans as well after their usefulness has ended.  He will raise up the faithful in the end.

Habakkuk’s Faithful Response

In the third chapter, Habakkuk shows how the faithful should respond.  Although, he doesn’t like what God plans to do and is afraid, he will remain faithful to God.  He will even rejoice in God.  He knows that God will be his strength and will make him walk in the high places.

Here we can see that God will remain faithful to His promises.  No matter what trials we have to endure, if we keep our faith in God, He will raise us up again.

Hopefully, we will learn from the lessons in Habakkuk and turn back to God before it is too late.  But even if that doesn’t happen, rest assured that God will not turn His back on those faithful to Him.  He will raise us up again in the end.