Habakkuk The Righteous shall live by faith. (pg 159-161)
The prophet prayed much about his nation without any noticeable impact on the violence in his nation. The wicked seemed to thrive and the righteous suffer in a society ignoring God. God had made him aware of the state of his society and all its behaviour.
God responded by telling the prophet that He was at work raising up the Chaldeans a ruthless nation to deal with his nation.
Habakkuk is horrified that God who is eternal, and so holy that He cannot look at the evil actions of men so how could He use a sinful nation to punish His people who must be not as bad as them. The enemy glories in his power and lives luxuriously off the spoils of its conquests. He said he would wait for God, the only God to reveal His answer.
The Lord’s answer was just as unexpected as the first revelation of how his prayers would be answered.. Hab was told to record the answer which would happen at an appointed time.
In the meantime the prophet is required to live by faith. By trusting God. To rely on the faithfulness of God. The righteous who are that because of God at work in their lives are to keep trusting God. To do that because of who God is and how and why He works in accordance with His character and His planned unfolding of history.
What follows in detail in chapter two are the results of violence and warfare which caused many nations to lose all so would the same thing happen to the Chaldeans..
One bright promise Habakkuk 2:14 'The earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters covers the sea.'
Warning to those who produce alcohol resulting in shame & violence, they too will will reap what they have sown to their shame and loss.
Habakkuk 2:20 'The Lord is in His holy temple. Let all the earth be silent before Him.'
Habakkuk’s Prayer: A prayer of the actions of the Creator. One day He will intervene & deal with the Chaldeans that invaded his country. Then he goes into details about total economic agricultural disaster in his land but he is determined that he will still rejoice in God and be joyful in God his Saviour. He accepts that the Lord God is his strength.
Habakuk understood that he will not always understand how God is going to accomplish His purposes but he himself will keep trusting him as eventually God will reveal to him what He did. The explanation is not required because The Lord God knows what He is doing.
Our part is to exercise faith in who God is & what He has done. Thereafter we continue to live by faith. When problems arise, we record them and through prayer ask God to give us understanding. In the mean time to keep on trusting. There is no other way.
Without faith it is impossible to please God. Every now & then God will surprise us by little “God interventions” to encourage us to keep trusting Him.
