Bowling Green Covenant Church

Friday 11 May 2007

If you cannot remember the last time you read the prophet Habakkuk (H?-bak -??k), or if you have never read him, it’s likely you are good company. To find him you must venture deep into the Old Testament. He is ensconced between Nahum and Zephaniah (two other lesser read minor prophets – minor only terms of the number of words used to communicate God’s message). Habakkuk begins with typical prophetic abruptness.

“This is the message that the prophet Habakkuk received from the Lord in a vision. How long, O Lord, must I call for help? But you do not listen! “Violence!” I cry, but you do not come to save. Must I forever see this sin and misery all around me? Wherever I look, I see destruction and violence. I am surrounded by people who love to argue and fight. The law has become paralyzed and useless, and there is no justice given in the courts. The wicked far outnumber the righteous, and justice is perverted with bribes and trickery.” – Habakkuk 1.1-4 [NLT]

Habakkuk uttered these words some time between 640 and 615BC (approximately 2600 years ago). Since the word of God is eternal, Habakkuk’s words are as relevant today as the day he first spoke them. His words have a familiar ring do they not?

Many of us have either thought or spoken similar words to the Lord in our lifetime. The wicked violence that occurred on the campus of Virginia Tech, the continued strife in Iraq, the mortal tragedy of a recent murder in our community reminds us evil still wields the power to kill in world still groaning under the curse of sin – our sin.

How long, O LORD?

Flash forward 600 years from Habakkuk to the Book of Revelation. There, in Revelation 6.9,10, John the Beloved Disciple saw

“the souls of all who had been martyred for the word of God and for being faithful in their witness. They called loudly to the Lord and said, ‘O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long will it be before you judge the people who belong to this world for what they have done to us? When will you avenge our blood against these people.’”

How long, O LORD?

The question shouts our desire for justice. The question pleads with God to act, to vindicate His name and His people. The question voices our heart’s cry for vengeance – a judgment that belongs to God and God alone. We know in the end the Lord will punish with vengeance those who do violence, commit evil and destroy life. But in our frustration, in our impatience, in our humanity we lament through tears and gritted teeth.

How long, O LORD?

The irony in Habakkuk’s lament is that when the LORD answers him the response is not what the prophet expected. Habakkuk expected the LORD to wreak vengeance on those in his own culture who broke the covenant with apparent impunity. The LORD assures the prophet such is not the case. He will exact vengeance on those who do violence. The surprise is the unexpected means and the manner by which the LORD will exact His vengeance.

So what is the LORD’s unexpected answer to Habakkuk’s lament? Judgment will come in the form of invasion by a dreaded foreign enemy – the Babylonians.

“The Lord replied, “Look at the nations and be amazed! Watch and be astounded at what I will do! For I am doing something in your own day, something you wouldn’t believe even if someone told you about it. I am raising up the Babylonians to be a new power on the world scene. They are a cruel and violent nation who will march across the world and conquer it. They are notorious for their cruelty. They do as they like, and no one can stop them. Their horses are swifter than leopards. They are a fierce people, more fierce than wolves at dusk. Their horsemen race forward from distant places. Like eagles they swoop down to pounce on their prey.” – Habakkuk 1.5-8 [NLT]

Surely, this is not a case of “Be careful what you pray for.” To the contrary, this is an example of how in His sovereignty the LORD controls the destiny of nations and peoples in order to bring glory to His name. How this can be is beyond our ability to comprehend. This much is certain, and this we know because the Lord spoke it through the prophet Isaiah,

“’My thoughts are completely different than yours,’ says the Lord. ‘And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts,’” (Isaiah 55.8,9).

Nor is the LORD taunting Habakkuk in his grief. He is making very clear there is a plan, an order to the apparent chaos – a justice that is invisible to all those except the righteous who live by faith. But that is not how Habakkuk sees it. And that is not how we see it, not when the mainstream media all too willingly broadcasts the vindictive rant of a young man determined to kill, or of a terrorist gloating in his cleverness. There may be a plan but we do not see it, we do not have the faith to see it and so like Habakkuk we lament,

“O Lord my God, my Holy One, you who are eternal—is your plan in all of this to wipe us out? Surely not! O Lord our Rock, you have decreed the rise of these Babylonians to punish and correct us for our terrible sins. You are perfectly just in this. But will you, who cannot allow sin in any form, stand idly by while they swallow us up? Should you be silent while the wicked destroy people who are more righteous than they? Are we but fish to be caught and killed? Are we but creeping things that have no leader to defend them from their enemies? Must we be strung up on their hooks and dragged out in their nets while they rejoice? Then they will worship their nets and burn incense in front of them. “These nets are the gods who have made us rich!” they will claim. Will you let them get away with this forever? Will they succeed forever in their heartless conquests?” – Habakkuk 1.12-17 [NLT]

And having launched our complaint we, like Habakkuk, wait in smug silence for the Lord to answer certain we have argued an airtight case.

“I will climb up into my watchtower now and wait to see what the Lord will say to me and how he will answer my complaint.” – Habakkuk 2.1 [NLT]

However, when the answer comes we are reminded that there is plan after all and the working out of it is best left to God.

“Then the Lord said to me, ‘Write my answer in large, clear letters on a tablet, so that a runner can read it and tell everyone else. But these things I plan won’t happen right away. Slowly, steadily, surely, the time approaches when the vision will be fulfilled. If it seems slow, wait patiently, for it will surely take place. It will not be delayed.

“Look at the proud! They trust in themselves, and their lives are crooked; but the righteous will live by their faith. Wealth is treacherous, and the arrogant are never at rest. They range far and wide, with their mouths opened as wide as death, but they are never satisfied. In their greed they have gathered up many nations and peoples. But the time is coming when all their captives will taunt them, saying, ‘You thieves! At last justice has caught up with you! Now you will get what you deserve for your oppression and extortion!’ Suddenly, your debtors will rise up in anger. They will turn on you and take all you have, while you stand trembling and helpless. You have plundered many nations; now they will plunder you. You murderers! You have filled the countryside with violence and all the cities, too.

“How terrible it will be for you who get rich by unjust means! You believe your wealth will buy security, putting your families beyond the reach of danger. But by the murders you committed, you have shamed your name and forfeited your lives. The very stones in the walls of your houses cry out against you, and the beams in the ceilings echo the complaint.

“How terrible it will be for you who build cities with money gained by murder and corruption! 13Has not the Lord Almighty promised that the wealth of nations will turn to ashes? They work so hard, but all in vain! For the time will come when all the earth will be filled, as the waters fill the sea, with an awareness of the glory of the Lord.

“How terrible it will be for you who make your neighbors drunk! You force your cup on them so that you can gloat over their nakedness and shame. But soon it will be your turn! Come, drink and be exposed! “Drink from the cup of the Lord’s judgment, and all your glory will be turned to shame. You cut down the forests of Lebanon. Now you will be cut down! You terrified the wild animals you caught in your traps. Now terror will strike you because of your murder and violence in cities everywhere!

“What have you gained by worshiping all your man-made idols? How foolish to trust in something made by your own hands! What fools you are to believe such lies! How terrible it will be for you who beg lifeless wooden idols to save you. You ask speechless stone images to tell you what to do. Can an idol speak for God? They may be overlaid with gold and silver, but they are lifeless inside. But the Lord is in his holy Temple. Let all the earth be silent before him.” – Habakkuk 2.2-20 [NLT]

A time is coming when God will punish with vengeance all those who do violence and cause destruction. But it will not happen quickly. “These things I plan won’t happen right away,” is God’s way of assuring us that while the wheels of His justice grind slowly they grind exceedingly fine. We mistake His tardiness for unconcern. It is grace that causes the wheels of His justice to grind slowly. It is His wrath that causes them to grind exceedingly fine. The LORD punishes the violent, the evildoers, and the criminal, but He does so in His time, in His way and in His inescapable sovereignty. Lest we forget while evil seems to have won the day,

“…the Lord is in his holy Temple. Let all the earth be silent before him.”

The prophet Isaiah speaks a similar word when he says,

“The sinners in Zion are afraid; trembling has seized the godless:

Who among us can dwell with the consuming fire?

Who among us can dwell with everlasting burnings?” – Isaiah 33.14 [ESV]

In the end Habakkuk sees. He gets it. It is not the plan he would have chosen. It is not the strategy he would have implemented. It is, however, the LORD’s plan. The strategy of the Almighty God is a perfect tapestry although when looked at from our side of the tapestry all seems chaos.

The proud trust in themselves. They gloat in atheistic ecstasy. They trumpet the greatness of gods which are not gods at all. The arrogant ignore the reality of the Almighty and because of their arrogance they will die.

“But the righteous will live by their faith.”

And ours is not an empty faith. Nor is the word of the LORD spoken in vain. Judgment approaches. Vengeance awaits. His is judgment is holy and just, His vengeance timely and thorough. Thus we live by faith. We persevere with hope.

“This prayer was sung by the prophet Habakkuk:

“I have heard all about you, Lord, and I am filled with awe by the amazing things you have done. In this time of our deep need, begin again to help us, as you did in years gone by. Show us your power to save us. And in your anger, remember your mercy.

“I see God, the Holy One, moving across the deserts from Edom and Mount Paran. His brilliant splendor fills the heavens, and the earth is filled with his praise! What a wonderful God he is! Rays of brilliant light flash from his hands. He rejoices in his awesome power. Pestilence marches before him; plague follows close behind. When he stops, the earth shakes. When he looks, the nations tremble. He shatters the everlasting mountains and levels the eternal hills. But his power is not diminished in the least! I see the peoples of Cushan and Midian trembling in terror.

“Was it in anger, Lord, that you struck the rivers and parted the sea? Were you displeased with them? No, you were sending your chariots of salvation! You were commanding your weapons of power! You split open the earth with flowing rivers! The mountains watched and trembled. Onward swept the raging waters. The mighty deep cried out, lifting its hands to the Lord. The lofty sun and moon began to fade, obscured by brilliance from your arrows and the flashing of your glittering spear.

“You marched across the land in awesome anger and trampled the nations in your fury. You went out to rescue your chosen people, to save your anointed ones. You crushed the heads of the wicked and laid bare their bones from head to toe. With their own weapons, you destroyed those who rushed out like a whirlwind, thinking Israel would be easy prey. You trampled the sea with your horses, and the mighty waters piled high.

“I trembled inside when I heard all this; my lips quivered with fear. My legs gave way beneath me, and I shook in terror. I will wait quietly for the coming day when disaster will strike the people who invade us. Even though the fig trees have no blossoms, and there are no grapes on the vine; even though the olive crop fails, and the fields lie empty and barren; even though the flocks die in the fields, and the cattle barns are empty, yet I will rejoice in the Lord! I will be joyful in the God of my salvation. The Sovereign Lord is my strength! He will make me as surefooted as a deer and bring me safely over the mountains.

(For the choir director: This prayer is to be accompanied by stringed instruments.)” – Habakkuk 3.1-19 [NLT]

Habakkuk’s faith and patience originate from one source, “I will be joyful in the God of my salvation. The Sovereign Lord is my strength! He will make me as surefooted as a deer and bring me safely over the mountains.”

For as long as we walk this earth we will live in slippery times, uncertain and violent days—days of injustice. Even so, let us live by faith. Let us persevere with hope in the LORD the Almighty. He will make us surefooted. He will help us keep our balance lest we fall away while wait for the vision to be fulfilled.

In our impatience for vengeance, we ask “How long, O LORD?”

And the LORD, who has infinite patience, is gracious enough to answer.

“Soon.”

You think about that.