habakkuk pt.1
I’ve been wanting to take a book of the bible and break it down week by week, going through one chapter each week. This is one way that I have strengthened my quiet time with God. It used to be something that caused me more stress than it did peace. I used to feel like I had to sit down for at least an hour and had to take a ton of notes. This mindset meant a lot of the time I didn’t even open my bible because I felt overwhelmed by meeting the expectations I had placed on myself. So I decided to take the pressure off and simply read a chapter a day. No notes, just me reading the word of God. I highlight and take notes in my bible, but it’s allowed me to be much more intentional in my time with God and I’ve gained so much wisdom.
So, I wanted to take us all through a book of the Bible as if we were all doing it together. For the next 3 weeks, we will go through the book of Habakkuk. Habakkuk was written around 640-615 B.C., just before the fall of Assyria and the rise of Babylon. God used Assyria to punish Israel, and now her would use Babylon to punish Assyria and Judah. Although, this prophecy would be fulfilled several decades after Habakkuk.
The main theme of Habakkuk is how can God use such a wicked nation for His purpose. The name Habakkuk means “embrace”, he who embraces or he who clings. This is a fitting name because he comes to a firm faith through grappling with tough questions. Habakkuk was also a prophet. Habakkuk prophesied the destruction of Judah many years before it even happened. He knew what it was like to live during a time of revival and then to see God’s people and the nation slip into sin. He lived through a period of revival that was followed by a period of spiritual decline.
Habakkuk saw sin and trouble everywhere he looked. So much so that he cried out to God and asked him why He didn’t bring judgment immediately. “How long, Lord, must I call for help,
but you do not listen? Or cry out to you, “Violence!” but you do not save?” (Habakkuk 1:2). Habakkuk is grappling with questions of someone who really believes in God. He knew what God wanted, but looking around nothing matched up with that.
Habakkuk was constantly asking God where His judgment was, and the Lord kept telling him that it was coming. He told Habakkuk that when it came through Babylon, it would be terrible and dreadful.
The next question Habakkuk began asking was “Why do it this way, Lord?” God’s method of judgment seemed to be worse than their current state. Habakkuk didn’t see how it was going to glorify God. This also troubled Habakkuk because he knew the character of God. He didn’t understand why God would judge wicked Judah with an even more wicked Babylon. “Your eyes are too pure to look on evil; you cannot tolerate wrongdoing. Why then do you tolerate the treacherous? Why are you silent while the wicked swallow up those more righteous than themselves?” (Habakkuk 1:13).
Habakkuk asked important questions, yet he asked them willing to wait for God’s reply. So often we question God and expect an immediate answer or fix to our problem. We go to Him with the mindset of “What can he do for me?” Not only do we expect an answer, but quite frankly, we demand an answer. Habakkuk’s attitude toward God is so powerful. He asks God, yet waits on God and expects God to correct him. Habakkuk didn’t ask God these questions because he thought God was wrong. He asked because he knew he was wrong and he needed God to correct him.
Habakkuk humbled himself before God, that’s so powerful. We have to humble ourselves before God as well. My encouragement is that you and I begin to change our mindset into saying “God, I don't understand what you are doing, but I know that you are right in ALL things. Please speak to me and correct me.”
