Download Nevertheless God still graciously answers Habakkuk. From verse 5

Habakkuk 1:1-4, 2:1-4
The book of Habakkuk is a relatively short book with only 3 chapters. It records a
conversation between this prophet and God. We basically know nothing about this prophet. We
don’t know where and when he worked, we don’t even know what his name really means. But
from the conversation, we may get a hint of the general situation of his life and those around
him.
As you probably have sensed, this is no ordinary exchange between God and his prophet,
but it’s really complaints and questions concerning all the injustice around the prophet’s life, and
then God gives his answers concerning these complaints. The question “why” does not only
belong to Habakkuk, but also to all those around him experiencing the same things, and it is also
a question not far from our lips and hearts and minds. "Why, O Lord, do you allow violence,
evil, and injustice to befall your people? Why do you not answer?" Indeed, this is a question that
I often have myself (and probably you yourself have at least asked this once in your lifetime), but
this is also the question that non-believers use to challenge our faith. They often ask, "If God is
so loving, why does he allow evil to occur?" How can we answer this question if a neighbors ask
of us? Well then let's see God's answers and then Habakkuk's response.
So what's going on that made him question God? According to the contents, most
scholars and theologians think that Habakkuk ministered at around 600 BC, which by that time
the northern kingdom of Israel had already been destroyed by the Assyrians. All that was left
was the southern kingdom with just the 2 tribes left, and it seems that they too are in danger of
the same fate. And so Habakkuk asks God why he would let such great evil happen to his own
chosen people, why he would not help them even when they cried for help.
Can man question God? Yet this is a genuine heartfelt cry from a man of God, from a
believer, asking out of faith rather than out of doubt. Sometimes people are afraid of asking or
questioning God, thinking that it is a sign of weak faith or even an act of unbelief. Indeed,
outwardly there may be no difference, a believer can ask the exact same question as the
unbeliever, but the motive, the heart and spirit are totally different. For Habakkuk, he is asking in
order to be comforted and to confirm his faith and be strengthened in it, and probably also for the
sake of others who are asking the same questions. He asks only because he believes in the word
of God, which seems so contradictory to everything that he sees, hears, and experiences in his
current predicament. It is a struggle of faith, but nevertheless it is still out of faith. And of course
there are those who question God (through us) out of mockery and unbelief, but let the scoffers
scoff all they want, but let the word of God say what it says however unbelievable and incredible
it may be. Do we then have that same faith, that trust in God's word and also through that same
faith have the courage to complain and question God? Are we looking to disprove God and his
word or are we looking for comfort and assurance in God? Or is it both? It is a struggle because
there is seemingly nothing to grasp, nothing concrete that we can cling or hang on to.
Nevertheless God still graciously answers Habakkuk. From verse 5 to 11, God gives an
answer that is even more surprising. What is more challenging than mustering our faith and
courage to ask God a question is to hear an answer from him. We may ask and question but are
we ready to listen, hear, and actually accept his answers? Here God actually says that he will do
something so astounding that no one would believe even if it were told. Instead of using the
Assyrians, he would actually raise another group, the Chaldeans, also known as the Babylonians,
to attack and destroy the nations around them, including the remnant of God's people in Judah.
This was certainly not the answer that Habakkuk had expected at all. And so he questions
one last time from verse 12 to 17. He first confesses that God does use other nations as judgment
against his own people so that they would repent of their sins, but what he does not understand is
why God would let these wicked people go on forever. His concern is not only that evil should
befall on the people of God, but that these Babylonians are so evil that no one can stop their
destruction so that no one will be left in the end. The answer from God was a dire one for
Habakkuk saw nothing but total destruction and annihilation for his own people, yet he
concludes this section with verse 1 of chapter 2. In effect he is saying that even though he does
not like the answer nor does he understand it, he will watch closely and pay attention to the word
of God because he knows that evil will NOT have the last word. Death and destruction will not
be the final victor, therefore he will take his stand and watch closely at what God is doing.
Then from verse 2 to the end of chapter 2 God answers once again for the last time to
Habakkuk's questions and the key is here in verse 4 of chapter 2. There's a contrast here of one
who is unrighteous because of a puffed up soul, referring to the Babylonians who were proud
warriors (remember Nebuchadnezzar in the book of Daniel?), and the other one is righteous by
faith, referring to those who trust in God and his word. One will die and the other will live. God
tells Habakkuk that the Babylonians will also be punished for their arrogance and evil, but at
their appointed time, according to his own plan. He assures the prophet that they will get their
punishment in due time. But here we must be reminded of Jesus' words in Luke 13. Some people
were telling Jesus about some Galileans who died a horrible death, inferring that they are worse
sinners than others. But Jesus reminds them and us also, that unless YOU repent, you also will
perish. Do not just think about the injustice, the wickedness, and evil that other people are
inflicting upon you, do not just think about the their sins and how they deserve to die and rot in
hell, but you are no better than they are and unless you also repent and have faith, you also will
die and rot in hell with all the rest of them.
Indeed, we still want a clear answer from God. People ask, "If God is so loving, why does
he allow evil to occur?" and he gives an even more incredible and unbelieving answer then
before. The answer is that He doesn't, because he himself came down from heaven to take care of
this by dying and raising to life. This is how he answers evil and injustice.
And so he answers Habakkuk that it is faith that saves in the midst of all these, and the
way this verse is phrased, it can either mean the person's own faith (which is a gift of God), or it
can also mean the faithfulness of God. The answer to all injustice and evil is in the faithfulness
of God, it is his faithfulness in fulfilling his own promise by sending his son to die for the sins of
the world. This happened in the New Testament when the word became flesh, it is no longer
something abstract but it is a "someone" that we can touch, see, and actually hear. And this word
of God came and says, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he
die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die." (Jn11:25-26)
The answer to all evil and wickedness in this world is answered here in this man, who is also true
God. In his faithfulness to his promise, he dies for the sins of the world, he died for the sins of
the Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Persians, the Greeks, the Romans, the Jews. He died for their
injustice, their wickedness, their evil ways by submitting himself under injustice, wickedness,
evil, and the sins of the whole world. And by his resurrection, he undoes the damage and the
sorrow that evil and the wicked has inflicted upon us. It still affects us now, but it will not be so
forever, and our sins too will not drag us to the everlasting fires of hell either.
And this is the faith that Habakkuk had to look to God's promises. Though we know that
he did not live long enough to actually see the day of the lord like Simeon and other New
Testament people, he nevertheless waited patiently with great rejoicing. Thus he praises God in
chapter 3 and he says a most remarkable thing at the end of the book, starting from verse 16, he
says, "I hear, and my body trembles; my lips quiver at the sound; rottenness enters into my
bones; my legs tremble beneath me. Yet I will quietly wait for the day of trouble to come upon
people who invade us. 17 Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the
produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there
be no herd in the stalls, 18 yet I will rejoice in the LORD; I will take joy in the God of my
salvation. 19 GOD, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer's; he makes me tread
on my high places."
He can rejoice in such dire circumstances because of faith. It not only makes a person
righteous by receiving Christ, but it lives, it enables the person to live in righteousness in this
life. And this is another nuance of that verse, that one becomes righteous by faith, so that he may
live, but it can also mean that one goes on living by faith, so that he is upright in the sight of
God. Habakkuk believes and is righteous and so he lives a life of faith in the midst of injustice
and evil. Therefore he takes his stand in righteousness of faith and waiting for God's destruction,
he also rejoices knowing that death is not the final victor. To be able to rejoice in the midst of
suffering is a great blessing that only can come through faith. When we see that everything evil
things occurring around us and around the world are actually canceled and defeated in the death
of Jesus, then there is nothing to fear, there is no need for sorrow and despair, but there is only
joy and hope and a message of good news to those who are trapped by this illusion. To those
who challenge us, to those who are in need of real answers, to those who are suffering, we have
the answer from God: the one who is righteous by faith will live, he will be the final victor. Not
that we know why God would allow or even use these in our lives, but that ultimately these have
been taken care of at the cross, that those who live by faith, those who have faith in God's
faithfulness, they will live. They will live in a place and time where there will be no more
sorrow, no more hunger or thirst, and he will wipe away every tear from their eyes (Rev7:15-17).