HABAKKUK’S VIEW (HAB. 1:1-4)
Habakkuk cries to God a cry that is similar to ours today: “The Law is slacked, judgement does not go forth.” (V.4). And this cry is magnified by the reason of the fact that it has been long: “How long shall I cry?” (V.2). It is sickening to be saying the same prayer over and over again and yet the Father refuses to answer. Didn’t the Father say “Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not?” (Jer. 33:3). Didn’t the Father say “Ask and it shall be given unto you, seek and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you?” (Lk. 11:9, Mt. 7:7). Didn’t the Father say “If ye shall ask anything in my name, I will do it? (Jn. 14:14). Didn’t the Father still say “I said not unto the seed of Jacob, seek ye me in vain?” (Is. 45:19b). The above scenario brings two possible questions to mind:
- Is God a liar? Because from the foregoing, it is only logical to surmise that when you ask and you do not receive, God has integrity issues, or
- What is God trying to achieve with delaying? Because whatever He is trying to achieve, He must have forgotten that “Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life.” Prov. 13:12
So, we must understand the burden of Habakkuk (v1), because more than the situation around him at that time, it was more about why God will allow it to persist and yet do nothing when His children call. Does this not sound familiar to our today’s experience in Nigeria? When justice has been heavily perverted and governance has been made to look like business. Where the middle class that used to exist in the financial ladder has been completely erased and the rich are getting richer while those at the lower part of the ladder are being pinned down by the heavy boots of those far atop.
You see, I’m writing this with Nigeria in view, and most especially, Kwara State; which has become a one-man business…
I see the burden of a minister like Habakkuk in the eyes of our many pastors who wonder how to keep the faiths of poor and oppressed and depressed people high. How do I preach to you about a loving God who seems not to be answering your prayers… am I not contradicting myself; and confusing you?
GOD’S VIEW (HAB. 1:5-11)
So, when God begins, I thought He’s about to defend Himself against these unspoken accusations, and when I read “I will work a work in your days, which ye will not believe…” (v5), I sort of relaxed, thinking God is about to turn the weeping of Judah into joy. But no! He’s introducing more gruesome affliction: the rise of the Chaldeans!
God was detailed. He knew what He was doing. He didn’t just choose Babylon, no. He knew Babylon, and gave details of their evilness; of their dastardly acts.
And God says, or seems to say “Oh! You cry of violence (v2), well, you aint seen nothing yet, for the Babylonians are coming “All for violence” (v9). And this makes me want to conclude that God has got to be cruel; crueller than the nations He would be using against Judah. Why would God so much want to punish a nation, ceaselessly, unrelentingly. Isn’t this gruesome?
God detailed the oppression. These oppressors are terrible and dreadful. “Their judgement and their dignity shall proceed of themselves” v7. Does this not sound as the leaders we’re having in the Nigeria of today? God, why empower evil people so much?
HABAKKUK’S VIEW (HAB. 1:12-17)
Well, Habakkuk answered our question on why God empowers evil people so much: “Thou hast ordained them for judgement; and O Mighty God, thou hast established them for correction.” V12.
If God has said this, I would have seen it as an accusation that the people of Judah were evil, since you don’t deserve judgement and correction unless you were evil. But Habakkuk said it; which suggests admission, rather than accusation. So, obviously, the people of Judah were not innocent after all, the same way the crying masses in Nigeria may not be completely innocent. Everyone has their own fault. On the part of Judah, however, it’s not like being guilty of some offense would have justified that gravity of punishment that was being proposed, but at least being completely innocent would have proven the punishment to be unjust.
And Habakkuk said God ESTABLISHED the Chaldeans for correction. That means God empowered them; gave them fame and renown and strength for battle. This is what any nation would regard as blessing at that time. So, God seemed to bless these evil people so as for them to use their “blessings” to correct His people. God gave whip to the enemy, and seemed to be saying: “Lash him till his common sense returns.”
- God Himself says that the Chaldeans shall offend in “Imputing this his power unto his god.” V11. That means, the power God gave unto him, he will not regard God as its giver, but his gods. He will assume and conclude and declare that his gods gave him the power that God gave him. How can God bless someone who will not return the glory to Him at the end; who will ascribe His glory to someone/something else, when He has many of His children who have the propensity of ascribing His glory to Him, in need of blessings?
- Is God not aware that the enemy may not be unwilling to go the extra mile and destroy things beyond repair, which will – at the end – make God not achieve His purpose of correction, but harvest destruction and annihilation of His people on the contrary?
Before I proceed into trying to answer these questions, I will like to relate the foregoing to our state.
Our oppressors in this country seem to be blessed by God, and they have never relented in using their “blessings” against us. God established them (Rom. 13:1), and they are not willing to spare the rod. Otherwise, why will it be hard for a nation to prosecute a big fish in the ocean of our governance, and the case just keeps getting adjourned? Isn’t this justice delayed, or in the words of Habakkuk, “judgement doth never go forth”?
You will agree with me that our oppressors are dead-rich! Hell-of-a rich! They are comfortable and blossoming. They have turned us into fish and they keep plundering us with their angles and nets and drags (v14ff). It looks as if the exact opposite of their blessings is what the masses experience. For example, when they steal billions of naira, they only get to pay a nauseatingly minuscule fine that may not even equal one percent of whatever they stole, whereas if a hungry common-man steals a cube of seasoning in Kaduna, rather than face the arm of the law, his arm faces the Sharia Law! Where is Sharia Law when big men are caught stealing, suspended? Our oppressors have immunity. All we common men can get is immunization! Isn’t this our tragedy?
Now, to answer these questions, I will start by saying that whatever our oppressors have is not blessing in the real, scripture-sense of it. It’s just like a bait. You bless someone you love. But whatever blessing you give your broiler chick is so as to get a greater meat; not love-borne. There is a greater purpose for these things that we misconstrue as blessings at the disposal of our oppressors. The greater purpose, at the time of Habakkuk, was to correct, to judge.
So, even though, they will rejoice and not give glory to God when He gave them that bait, they are just instruments in God’s hands to bring back the lost children, very soon they themselves and whatever they have will be dealt with. “Because thou hast spoiled many nations, all the remnant of the people shall spoil thee…” (Hab. 2:8a).
Psalms 73:3-20 says
For I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. For there are no bands in their death: but their strength is firm. They are not in trouble as other men; neither are they plagued like other men. Therefore pride compasseth them about as a chain; violence covereth them as a garment. Their eyes stand out with fatness: they have more than heart could wish. They are corrupt, and speak wickedly concerning oppression: they speak loftily. They set their mouth against the heavens, and their tongue walketh through the earth. Therefore his people return hither: and waters of a full cup are wrung out to them. And they say, How doth God know? and is there knowledge in the most High? Behold, these are the ungodly, who prosper in the world; they increase in riches. Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocency. For all the day long have I been plagued, and chastened every morning. If I say, I will speak thus; behold, I should offend against the generation of thy children. When I thought to know this, it was too painful for me; Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood I their end. Surely thou didst set them in slippery places: thou castedst them down into destruction. How are they brought into desolation, as in a moment! they are utterly consumed with terrors. As a dream when one awaketh; so, O Lord, when thou awakest, thou shalt despise their image.
Psalms 37:1 says
Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity. For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb.
Proverbs 24:19-20 says
Fret not thyself because of evil men, neither be thou envious at the wicked; for there shall be no reward to the evil man; the candle of the wicked shall be put out.
The wicked may seem to prosper and have their way, but God’s purpose shall soon be unveiled, and then, their prosperity will strike us all as foolishness, while God’s children will be justified. Judas sold Jesus, even got cool cash; Joseph’s brothers did the same; satan did the same to Job, but you see, when God’s purpose prevailed, their successes eventually turned into sour grapes in their mouths.
This pain is not meant to destroy us. Let us learn our lessons, change our ways where necessary, let us not waver. Let us not stop praying. Habakkuk never got weary of praying. Even in the affliction, God’s purpose is being made known, since all things work together for the good of them that love God and are called according to His purpose (Rom. 8:28, 1Pt. 4:19, Is. 48:10, Lk. 24:25-26). Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might, so that like Habakkuk, you can say, while you are yet in the process of the affliction:
Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The LORD God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds’ feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places. (Hab. 3:17-19b).
Remember, “The just shall live by his faith.” (Hab. 2:4b). Hang in there, friends, the Lord is right on our matter.
pendatruth 