“Look
among the nations, and see; wonder and be astounded. For I am doing
a work in your days that you would not believe if told. O Lord, I
have heard the report of You, and Your work. O Lord, do I fear. In
the midst of the years revive it; in the midst of the years make it
known; in wrath remember mercy.” Habakkuk 1:5; 3:2 (ESV).
Habakkuk
is an unusual prophetic book in that it is a dialogue between the
prophet and God rather than a message specifically addressed to the
nation of Israel. Scholars have not been able to date the writing of
the book with accuracy. It hints that the Babylonians are a threat
to Israel, but we don’t know how long the prophecy may have been
written before the Babylonian captivity occurred in 605, 597 and 586
B. C. In two cycles, chapters 1 and 2, we see first Habakkuk’s
complaint, followed by God’s answer. Then comes Habakkuk’s lofty
prayer in chapter 3 when he reviews God’s mighty works and rejoices
in Him.
Habakkuk
laments: “O Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and You will
not hear?” (1:2a). God commands Habakkuk to “look among
the nations.” God is already raising up a nation that will be
used as an instrument of punishment for Israel, the Chaldeans
(Babylonians). Babylon gained independence from Assyria in 626 B. C.
They continued to grow in power and actually defeated Assyria in 605
B. C. Nebuchadnezzar became king and cemented the loosely knit
Babylonians into an empire. Many in Israel were taken captive to
Babylon. The Babylonian nation flourished and conquered many lesser
nations until Persia defeated it in 539 B. C.
Realizing
that God is using one nation to punish another for its rebellion
against God, Habakkuk can express a universal truth: “I have
heard a report of You and Your work, Lord, and I fear.”
In
Habakkuk 2:1, Habakkuk declares that he will take his stand on the
watchtower and wait to see what else God will say to him. We do not
know how many years transpired before Habakkuk knew for a certainty
that God was in events. He could declare with assurance that God
should, “in the midst of the years revive His work…make it
known,” but he prayed sincerely: “in wrath remember
mercy.” Like Habakkuk of old we recognize that our nation is
not following the ways of the Lord. He cannot withhold His wrath and
punishment from us forever, because, as the famed Baptist preacher
Dr. Robert G. Lee used to preach, “Pay Day Some Day,” (which
sermon you can hear or read online) there will be a day of
reckoning.
I
was reading recently (with deep concern, consternation and regret, I
might add) an economic analysis of our nation’s financial standing
with indebtedness in the trillions of dollars. We have been so
selfish and uncontrolled in waste and unnecessary spending that the
debt seems hopeless. Our excessive greed and our pursuit after easy
money to satisfy our temporal pleasures are enough to cast us away
from a just and righteous God. We have idolized wealth to the
exclusion of tribute and obedience to Almighty God. The Lord’s
judgment in the midst of the years as in Habakkuk’s day will come
with surety. What do we see from our watch tower, our perspective?
Have we not had enough warnings to see the necessity for a drastic
change from the downward plunge?
Prayer.
Lord, we confess that we have become soft, selfish and seduced by
too much luxury. We have departed from Your covenant and gone our
own ways. Awaken us in the midst of these trying years. Let us
again take joy in the God of our salvation and turn to Thee for help.
Amen.
-Ethelene Dyer Jones
08.31.2014
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