By: Curtis Baker
Do you ever find yourself grieving over the sins so prevalent in our society? Just a quick glance at many of things taking place today can give one a sense of despair. For example, here are a few things we can all recognize at once. First, there is a breakdown of the family, the most basic unit of any flourishing society. Divorce is rampant; single parent homes are the new norm; father’s are disconnected from their families. Second, there is an obsession with violence and sex in our pop culture. Only a brief survey of today’s popular music and movies will reveal this to anyone paying attention. Third, many of the traditional positions of moral society are falling by the wayside. Soon the Supreme Court will decide whether homosexual marriage is an inherent human right. Fourth, there is a continual divide between people of different classes and races, especially when that divide has to do with the economics of rich verses poor. Fifth, there is constant political strife causing a paralysis of lawmaking where justice is almost always prevented. Add to that a vigorous foreign policy that goes unchallenged, with the constant temptation for preemptive war, never ending cycles of revenge, and other military adventures, there is plenty to mourn over. Do you ever feel like crying out to God, “Are you paying attention to this?”
If so, then I think you will identify very well with the Old Testament prophet Habakkuk. He, too, stands in the midst of a society that was once oriented toward God and sees what has happened to a people who have abandoned God for their various forms of idolatry. They are obsessed with violence (1:2). Their society is characterized by injustice (1:3). Strife and conflict were the constant norm (1:3). Habakkuk looks at all of this and concludes in verse 4 that “the law is paralyzed and true justice never prevails.”
So with all of this in his field of vision, Habakkuk has a question for God: “How long must I call for help, but you do not listen? Why do you tolerate all this wrongdoing?” (1:2-3)? Habakkuk has decided that maybe God is negligent of his duties as God.
However, no sooner does Habakkuk present his complaint before God, then God comes thundering back with an answer. Needless to say, it is not an answer Habakkuk expected or desired. In 1:5-11, God informs the prophet that he in fact is paying attention to everything Habakkuk has complained about and he has a plan to do something about it. He warns Habakkuk that this plan will shock him, and that he likely won’t believe it, even when told. God’s plan is to bring a foreign power–the Babylonians–against the people of Israel. They will invade Israel and destroy it. These invaders are described as “ruthless” and “impetuous,” and the wayward people of God will be captured by them.
God was right. Habakkuk couldn’t believe what he heard. I suppose if we were told a similar thing, we would have trouble believing it as well. It is always dangerous to compare ancient Israel to the modern United States, but just to make the illustration come alive, let’s do so for a moment. As we grieve the ills of our own society, just as Habakkuk did, what if God told us something like he told him. What if he told us that he was raising up a wicked and ruthless people–like say, ISIS–who he was going to bring against us to bring about his divine wrath? What would we say? I am not suggesting, of course, that this is what happening today. The parallel is not exact. For one, Israel was a small nation compared to the power of Babylon. In our illustration, the role is reversed. We are the world super power and ISIS a small smattering of people in the Middle East. But the point is to try absorb the shocking nature of the news. How could God raise up a people even more wicked and ruthless than ourselves, and use them as a means to discipline us? Shouldn’t it be the other way around? That is what Habakkuk thought. Next week we’ll learn why he is wrong.
(Don’t forget to join me for A Message From the Heart radio program Sunday evening at 8:00pm on KJAK 92.7FM, or streaming live at www.kjak.com)
(curtisbaker@hotmail.com)
Write to: P.O. Box 157, Slaton, TX 79364
