Subscription Lists

Two haunting questions had arrested the mind of Habakkuk. They were: 1) How long do I have to wait before You [God] will heed my call for help and avenge my cause? (see Habakkuk 1.2) And 2) Will You [God] use a more wicked person to discipline a righteous person? So distraught was he for an answer that he dared to confront God and stand on a watchtower awaiting a response from the Lord (see Habakkuk 2.1). The answer came and it is the pivotal point of Habakkuk's 3 chapter book. We will examine that answer and its implications.

In effect, Habakkuk had asked, “God are you at home, or have you forsaken your holy dwelling? Have you abdicated your position as God and protector of all who are righteous? If You are who You claim to be, then why are bad things happening to good people and why are good things happening to bad people? And why do my prayers seem to go unanswered?” Though worded in a different manner, this is really what Habakkuk was asking. God answered his questions with absolutely no ambiguity. Hear His response: “But the LORD is in His holy temple. Let all the earth keep silence before Him.” (Habakkuk 2.20). In this response the Lord is saying, “I have not moved; I have not changed; I am still Sovereign; I still rule in the affairs of men; I yet know what is best; I work to My greater purposes and not to man's lesser ones!”

The fact that Habakkuk had to wait on God should not come as a surprise. God has always worked to His own timetable and not man's. But on the other hand, man has always been impatient. Abraham ran ahead of God in supposing that his servant would be his heir and then Ishmael (see Genesis 15.3-4; 17.17-21). But God's plans were not limited by time or space as Abraham's were; God is free to work outside the constraints of the natural realm. So just as Abraham tended to limit God, so did Habakkuk but the answer was the same in both cases! God is God and man's job is to let Him be that!

But what of God using a wicked person or nation to discipline a righteous person or nation? As mortals, we tend to look at fairness and justice as being confined to this world; if a thief dies having never been convicted of his crimes, we tend to think that "he got away with it." But did he really? Life is not confined to the mortal realm in which we operate in our earthly existence and neither is Divine justice. God's existence predates time and it will also postdate time! Fairness may never be achieved here on this earth, but Divine justice will be served in the larger picture. If God chooses to discipline a righteous man by one of lesser morals, that is God's sovereign right. Unlike humans who have to set things right during their mortal existence, God is not limited by such constraints. Therefore what may seem unfair to us only appears that way because we see only a part of the picture!

The answer given to Habakkuk concluded with the statement, “Let all the earth keep silence before Him.” As inhabitants of the earth we need to realize that we are earth-dwellers. At the same time, we must fully recognize that God does not dwell in this earth; He exists outside and apart from our world. When we begin to criticize God, we walk in territory that is quite dangerous to say the least. Sovereign God is still in charge and we can rest assured that our world is in capable hands!

Questions:

1. What were the two haunting questions on Habakkuk’s mind?

2. How did Abraham “run ahead” of God? How was that similar to Habakkuk’s issue with God?

3. Why, from God’s perspective, is it not critically important that life here on this earth be fair? To put this question another way, if a man embezzles money and never gets caught, did he get away with his crime?

4. Is God Sovereign? What does this really mean? Is this a comfort or a threat to us?

"'Christ in You...'" from Dale Krebbs

Special Calling