In our last blog, we left Habakkuk in a watchtower. If you remember, the prophet began by lamenting the evil and injustice he saw in Judah. Essentially, Habakkuk wanted to know what God would do about it. And God’s answer was difficult to swallow, to say the least.
HaShem told Habakkuk that He was going to raise up the Babylonians to judge Judah.
Well…Habakkuk did not accept that answer in the least!
How could God allow a nation even more wicked than Judah to judge Judah?
So Habakkuk parks himself in a watchtower and basically says, “God, I’m not budging until I get a better answer!”
And indeed, more is what Habakkuk is going to receive.
The powerful and deep chapter 2 is a booming statement from HaShem about how He is going to handle the Babylonians. But I’m particularly interested in how HaShem frames His answer to Habakkuk. He begins with this:
“Write the vision; make it plain on tablets…For still the vision awaits its appointed time…If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay.” (Habakkuk 2:2-3)
Notice that HaShem has not yet told Habakkuk what He is going to do. But He does make it clear that the vision He is about to give Habakkuk will come to pass, even if it “seems slow.” I find the statement “write the vision” significant.
Why was writing the vision down so important?
Well, writing a vision down, whether it is a spiritual vision or even a vision for an organization, tends to make the vision concrete. It also helps us remember the vision when hard times come.
In Habakkuk’s case, writing the vision down was critical so that people would remember what HaShem had promised even when it seemed as if it wasn’t going to happen. And that brings us to one of the most famous verses in the Bible about trusting God. Habakkuk 2:4 says:
“Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him, but the righteous shall live by his faith [or faithfulness].”
Or in Hebrew:
V’tzadik b’emunato yichyeh.
“The righteous shall live by his emunah.”
Now remember how HaShem has framed this. He has already told Habakkuk that the vision may seem slow. So what I see happening here is that HaShem is preparing Habakkuk for the fact that evil and injustice are going to be settling in…and winning for the moment.
And God’s answer is: Live with emunah. (Emunah is the Hebrew word for “faith”)
But what does that look like?
What does it look like for a person to live with emunah when evil seems to be winning in the season they find themselves in?
In my mind, this is where godly habits are critical.
In dark times, whether on a personal, community, or national level, the righteous need to press on in faithfulness. In dark times, it’s natural to want to crawl into a pit…or dig a hole. But that’s not what tzadikim (righteous people) do. Rather, they rise up. People of emunah continue to pray. They continue to gather and serve. And they continue to grow. Put differently, if evil is winning for the moment, it is critical that we keep our eyes on Yeshua and walk in the ways of Torah. That’s how we shine and bring light into darkness.
Okay…let’s move on.
For the rest of chapter 2, God communicates five poetic “woes” against the Babylonians. This is where God’s answer to Habakkuk gets more specific. In the opening verses, God gives Habakkuk the big picture. Justice will come, and Habakkuk is to live by faith until then. Now God tells him how justice is going to come. One of these “woes” declares:
“Woe to him who builds a town with blood and founds a city on iniquity!” (Habakkuk 2:12)
And a few verses later: “The violence done to Lebanon will overwhelm you…for the blood of man and violence to the earth, to cities and all who dwell in them.” (Habakkuk 2:17)
There is a frightening principle at work here. The violence exercised by the Babylonians to bring them up will eventually be exercised in judgment to bring them down. This is a classic case of “what goes around, comes around.” So despite what Habakkuk saw in chapter 1, the wicked do not ultimately flourish.
But tucked right into this section is another statement that I think becomes a game changer for Habakkuk:
“For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.” (Habakkuk 2:14)
That’s a guarantee that HaShem is going to win in the end. And by the time we get to chapter 3, something has clearly changed in Habakkuk. Habakkuk finishes his sefer with a tefilah, a prayer. And this prayer is powerful.
The prophet envisions the day when God will crush His enemies and bring salvation to His people. And in verse 16, Habakkuk says:
“Yet I will quietly wait for the day of trouble to come upon people who invade us.”
Did you catch that?
Habakkuk is now resting while he waits. That is a very different Habakkuk from the prophet we met in chapter 1! And then Habakkuk ends with three powerful and beautiful verses:
“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, yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. God, the Lord, is my strength.” (Habakkuk 3:17-19)
So what changed? Habakkuk has learned some things in these three chapters. God’s justice unfolds at what may seem like a slower pace to us. However, God will fill the earth with the knowledge of His glory. And while we wait, and while it seems the wicked are winning, righteous people are to live with emunah.
Most of us will experience at least one season in our lives when everything around us seems scorched…and when we have deep soul questions that seem crippling.
I know I have. But I learned something during that season that I wouldn’t trade for anything. I learned that these verses are true. And I learned that when all is stripped away from us…GOD IS ENOUGH.
So my hope is that when we walk through seasons of doubt and darkness, we will eventually land where Habakkuk did. I don’t know if you are going to see the salvation you are looking for in your lifetime. But what I do know is that in the midst of your waiting…and living by faith…God can make your feet like the deer’s and make you tread on high places.
In other words, there can be joy in the midst of suffering because of the hope we have in God and His faithfulness. And that’s the prophet’s last word.
