Part 1: Introduction  | Part 2: Jonah, for the First Time | Part 3: Exemplary Pagans | Part 4: A Psalm | Part 5: More Exemplary Pagans | Part 6: Jonah v. God |  Part 7: Who Will Judge Nineveh? | Part 8: How Will He Judge Nineveh? | Part 9: Why Will He Judge Nineveh? | Part 10: Why the Delay? 

Our third prophet, Habakkuk, will wrap up our thinking with a flourish. He has asked God why he hasn’t judged Judah for her sins, and God has assured him that he will—with the Chaldeans (Babylonians). 

But this raises another question. The Babylonians, like the Assyrians, are cruel and violent. Habakkuk asks, “Why, God, would you judge sinners by giving victory to even worse sinners?” (Hab 1.13). How can God use, and benefit, such ruthless (Hab 1.14), brutal (Hab 1.15), sensuous (Hab 1.16), and relentless (Hab 1.17) people? 

Good question. And now Habakkuk waits for an answer (Hab 2.1).  

Was he out of line for asking the question? I don’t think so—not if God gave him the answer he requested. Even further, God ordered Habakkuk to write down the answer and to run to deliver it to his people (Hab 2.2). 

Justice is coming, God says, but slowly (Hab 2.3). You need to trust me and be patient (Hab 2.4). 

The next section (Hab 2.5-20) is a “taunt song,” similar to the one David spoke to Goliath as their battle approached. God describes what he will to the the Chaldeans: 

• The looter will be looted (Hab 2.6-8). 

• The cocky one will be exposed (Hab 2.9-11). 

• The expansionist will be thwarted and outshone by the glory of God (Hab 2.12-14). 

• The shameless will be defamed (Hab 2.15-17). 

• The idolatrous will be powerless before the enthroned God of heaven (Hab 2.18-20). The Hebrew of Hab 2.20 effectively says, “Hush!” 

God will act in his own time, overcoming Habakkuk’s enemies in ways the prophet never could. To this point in the book, we’ve seen our second principle restated: God is better at dealing with our enemies than we can be, 

But the book doesn’t stop there; there’s one more chapter. Here God quits speaking, and the prophet speaks in response to what he has heard. 

Or rather, he sings; this is a musical work, as the musical term Shigionoth (Hab 3.1) indicates. And what does he sing? 

He begins with full recognition of the greatness of this God who is in his holy temple, infinitely greater than Habakkuk, than Judah, than Chaldea, and even than the whole earth (Hab 2.20). The prophet has asked his questions; now it’s time for him to reflect on the answers. 

He begins by describing the Lord’s powerful execution of judgment and justice. I won’t go into the details; it’s moving enough for us just to read it thoughtfully. At the end of it all, the prophet stands overwhelmed by this all-powerful God (Hab 3.16). 

But. 

He can “rest in the day of trouble” (Hab 3.16), because this all-powerful God is no stranger; he is the covenant God of Judah. He is Habakkuk’s God. 

And so he closes with words with which most of us are familiar. 

No matter what happens (Hab 3.17), he says, “I will rejoice in the Lord” (Hab 3.18). 

Why? 

Because God will do things right; he will keep his promises; he will deliver his people. 

So how do we think about our enemies? 

• We see them not as enemies, but as broken objects of God’s love, just as we are. 

• We trust God to deal with them infinitely more effectively than we can. 

• And we trust God to do the right thing, and to do it perfectly. 

In this world or the next, our enemies will be properly dealt with. We have the privilege of trusting our God, who is in his holy temple. 

Fear and despair in the face of polarization and rage is just stupid.

Photo by engin akyurt on Unsplash

Part 1: Introduction  | Part 2: Jonah, for the First Time | Part 3: Exemplary Pagans | Part 4: A Psalm | Part 5: More Exemplary Pagans | Part 6: Jonah v. God |  Part 7: Who Will Judge Nineveh? | Part 8: How Will He Judge Nineveh? | Part 9: Why Will He Judge Nineveh?   

We turn now to a third prophet who will refine how we think about our enemies. He’s the prophet with the funny name, Habakkuk. He lived, apparently, just before Babylon began attacking Judah and taking her people into exile. This was a time of great evil in Judah—evil kings, evil priests, evil businessmen, evil everybody else. As a prophet, Habakkuk is grieved and troubled by the evil he sees all around him. He cries out to God, seeking answers (Hab 1.2-3), decrying the evil behavior of his own people (Hab 1.3-4). 

Have you ever wished that you could just sit down and have a one-on-one conversation with the Almighty? Ask him pointed, specific questions, and hear his answers? 

Well, Habakkuk is one of the few people who’ve ever been granted that opportunity. Though lots of people have cried out, “How long, O Lord?” (Hab 1.2), most of them don’t get an audible, verbal answer. Habakkuk does. And his book is a record of the conversation. 

In chapter 1 Habakkuk asks God a question and receives an answer—which only raises a further question at the end of the chapter. Chapter 2 records God’s further answer. And chapter 3 wraps it all up, with an example that will put the finishing touches on our philosophy of response to our enemies. 

Habakkuk’s first question to God is, “Why don’t you judge Judah’s evil?” (Hab 1.2-3). He describes the evil that is prompting his cry: 

• Violence (Hab 1.2). Interestingly for our day, this is the word hamas. 

• Violent robbery (Hab 1.3) 

• Strife and contention (Hab 1.3) 

• The Law is paralyzed and does not render justice (Hab 1.4). 

• Everywhere he looks, there’s evil (Hab 1.4). 

Does any of this sound familiar? Maybe applicable to our relationships with our enemies? 

The prophet thinks this calls for divine judgment. 

And he’s right. 

And now, uncharacteristically, God speaks up; he answers Habakkuk’s question. 

He begins with a simple promise: I will indeed judge Judah, and within your lifetime (Hab 1.5). 

And this tells us why Habakkuk’s question—“How long, O Lord?”—is unwarranted. First, he has apparently assumed that God doesn’t know about the problem; and second, that if he does know, he apparently doesn’t care. 

Bad thinking, friend. God knows all things, and his heart is closely wrapped up in his creation and in his covenants. Delay doesn’t mean anything. 

God is never in a hurry, because hurry is evidence of lack of authority and ability. Remember the White Rabbit? 

God moves deliberately, authoritatively, and always exactly at the right time. 

I suppose I should say that we shouldn’t be too hard on ol’ Habakkuk. His entire question seems to be prompted by his firm belief that God will do the right thing—so why isn’t he doing it?! It seems that his view of God is correct; he simply doesn’t understand the timing. We’ll see clearer evidence of this at the end of this chapter. 

Now God expands on his answer. He is going to judge Judah by means of the “Chaldeans” (Hab 1.6)—essentially another term for the Babylonians (Is 47.1), who about this time (605 BC) have defeated Egypt at Carchemish (Jer 46.2), establishing themselves as the dominant power in the Middle East. Their infantry is intimidating (Hab 1.7), and their cavalry gives them swiftness of movement (Hab 1.8)—Blitzkrieg! They attack with the fierceness of wolves—”evening wolves,” who haven’t eaten all day and thus are ravenous, attacking with a violence that is only exponentiated by the taste of blood. A feeding frenzy. 

When they come to a walled city with an established king, they will not be impressed: king, schming (Hab 1.10). They’ll simply build siege ramps—“heap dust”—and overrun the walls. 

And when they win—and they will win—they give themselves all the credit; they are mindless to the role of the God who has decreed and empowered their victory (Hab 1.11). 

These are evil, evil people. 

Now, this raises a second question, doesn’t it? We’ll include the last paragraph of chapter 1 with chapter 2 in the next post. 

Photo by engin akyurt on Unsplash