HABAKKUK

The following comments are from Navigator's and Quiet Time Diary journals. One verse will be entered, then the comment, then the date.

1:2    How long, O LORD, will I call for help,
         And You will not hear?
         I cry out to You, "Violence!"
         Yet You do not save.

    This is an unanswerable question. Why does God do what He does, or why doesn't God do something when we think He should?
    If I think of the Jewish holocaust of the 1940's, I'm sure they asked the same question, but that led to the creation of Israel for the remainder to go to.
    God can see the future, we can't. He hears our prayers, but decides to wait due to reasons He alone knows.
    I/we need to put our faith and trust in Him to do the right things when He chooses to act. As time passes, we will see that His "delay" was for the best. (DRM 6/25/17)

    Why silence? Because we easily overlook our own spiritual poverty. Silence allows us to recognize our sinfulness in the presence of a holy God. (from Our Daily Bread 6/22/17 _{TIM GUSTAFSON})

1:3    Why do You make me see iniquity,
         And cause me to look on wickedness?
         Yes, destruction and violence are before me;
         Strife exists and contention arises.

    In some ways, times do not change. What Habakkuk saw in society then also exists today. The words in this verse apply to people and governments today - so we can understand his feelings.
    In the first lines, Habakkuk asks a question of God that seems to have an answer that could be, 'so you will desire to be with Me in Heaven.'
    God wants a loving, peaceful world as much as we do - but that world is not our home right now. When Jesus rules, then we will see the dramatic differences - it's something to truly look forward to!
    God's response at the time was in vv. 5-11. He had a plan then and also has a plan for us today. (DRM 9/17/15)

1:5    "Look among the nations! Observe!
        Be astonished! Wonder!
        Because I am doing something in your days —
        You would not believe if you were told."

    I believe that God spoke these words - even though it doesn't say. Habakkuk was crying out to the Lord and God answered the above, and seemed to say He was in control. Maybe the people were Habakkuk's enemy, but God is in control. Depend on Him! (DRM 10/29/2000)

    This quote from God could be used today as much as it was in 600 B.C. He was raising up the Chaldeans - Babylonians to take over Judah (v. 6). God is also working today to prepare the world for Jesus' return. We can see the preparations in today's news. (DRM 5/4/06)

1:10, 11    "They mock at kings
                 And rulers are a laughing matter to them.
                 They laugh at every fortress
                 And heap up rubble to capture it.
               ¹¹"Then they will sweep through like the wind and pass on.
                 But they will be held guilty,
                 They whose strength is their god."

    This refers to the Chaldeans; people who were enemies (among others) of Judah (2 Kings 24:2).
    Apparently they would do whatever they could to stop the people of God from leading a quiet, peaceful life. They depended on their own strength rather than the Lord God.
    While it's thousands of years later, a lot of things today are similar between believers in Jesus and the people of the world. People currently will depend more on themselves and avoid dependence on God for their needs. We are to be the exceptions - trusting totally in the Lord for our needs. (DRM 10/8/17)

1:14    Why hast Thou made men like the fish of the sea, Like the creeping things without a ruler over them?

    There are now 6,000,000,000+ people on the earth, and I was told over the weekend that half of them never heard of Christ. Why so many people? I don't know, but the fields are white for harvest. . . (DRM 10/30/2000)

    While I haven't read God's answer to this question posed by Habakkuk, I don't agree that God views men as fish. I believe that He loves each of us individually and truly directs our paths. He is the ruler we are to obey. (DRM 5/5/06)

2:3    For the vision is yet for the appointed time; It hastens toward the goal, and it will not fail.
        Though it tarries, wait for it; For it will certainly come, it will not delay. 

    Visions, prophecy, future events mentioned in the Bible WILL happen. We need patience. In the Old Testament, prophets said the Messiah would come and they waited so long that they didn't believe Him when He was here! No one knows when He will return, but I want to be ready! (DRM 10/31/2000)

    I enjoy prophecy. The challenge for me is to understand if the prophecy has already been fulfilled or not. This verse shows that God will do as He said in His time. We are to wait and observe how He will do it. (DRM 5/5/06)

2:12    "Woe to him who builds a city with bloodshed
            And founds a town with violence!

    God is to direct all of our steps - we are directed to follow His lead and not our own.
    When a nation provokes a war, generally they are not doing God's will - at least that seems to be the cause today in Israel. Perhaps in history (e. g. David's battles) that was the cause.
    After the battle is over, the new city is built, but bloodshed caused it. According to this verse, God is not pleased with these events.
    With prayer, we are to follow the Holy Spirit's leading from the Bible - and not our own. (DRM 7/27/14)

    We can't sort out the whole picture from where we are in life; only God can. So let us continue to live by faith and not by sight. From His perspective, all things are working together for the believer's good and for His honor. {Poh Fang Chia} (From Radio Bible Class devotional, 7/27/14)

2:14    For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.

    In the future everyone will know about the glory of the Lord, because His Spirit will be in them all! It will be as obvious as the water in the sea. Thank God I know now. Why can't others see? (DRM 6/11/89)

    I don't know when this will occur, but it sure sounds nice! Many people need to trust in the Lord to gain this knowledge. I pray that Jesus will use me somehow to tell others of His love. (DRM 11/1/2000)

2:18    "What profit is the idol when its maker has carved it,
            or an image, a teacher of falsehood?
            For its maker trusts in his own handiwork
            When he fashions speechless idols."

    An idol is something that we, as humans, create with our hands - or minds. Generally its something that is "perfect." In our effort to create perfection, we are ignoring God, the true Creator. Our worship should be to the Creator and not the things we create. (DRM 5/6/06)

2:19    "Woe to him who says to a piece of wood, 'Awake!' To a dumb stone, 'Arise!' And that is your teacher? Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver, And there is no breath at all inside it. 

    The previous verse and this one deal with idols. At first I thought, I don't worship idols, but quickly got convicted and thought of some people that I "idolize" in my mind instead of Christ who should be the only one. Lord, make my mind dwell on You alone. (DRM 11/2/2000)

3:2    Lord, I have heard the report about Thee and I fear. O Lord, revive Thy work in the midst of the years,
        In the midst of the years make it known; In wrath remember mercy.

    In some ways this verse expresses how I feel today. . . not in fearing the Lord, but in my fear of water in baptism. Then we go from that to revival which the Lord seems to want me to help Him on. And "the midst of years" makes me think of my birthday. Please Lord be merciful to me. (DRM 11/3/2000)

3:6    He stood and surveyed the earth;
         He looked and startled the nations.
         Yes, the perpetual mountains were shattered,
         The ancient hills collapsed.
         His ways are everlasting.

    Habakkuk is a prophetic book. I don't know if the prophecy in this verse took place in the past, but I doubt it - as the mountains haven't been shattered (in my terminology) yet.
    Even if this occurred in the past, we know from Revelation that this WILL occur during the Tribulation.
    God has surveyed the earth. When He acts in earnest, He will surprise/startle the nations. The mountains will fall and the earthquakes will smooth the earth. He will show the people on earth that day His power. God is to be feared for His power - and worshiped by His people. (DRM 2/19/16)

3:10    The mountains saw You and quaked;
           The downpour of waters swept by.
           The deep uttered forth its voice,
           It lifted high its hands.

    Normally I take everything in the Bible literally, but there are sections like this that are figurative. (e.g. the deep sea doesn't have a human voice or hands)
    Habakkuk in this verse is describing some of what God can do. He can make the mountains shake whenever He wants, He can send heavy thunderstorms or hurricanes/typhoons to our area and flood our land, thus the water will rise. All of creation is subject to His will.
    With power like that, He deserves our worship. He is almighty . . .  and He still loves each of us individually. (DRM 3/12/18)

3:13    Thou didst go forth for the salvation of Thy people,
            For the salvation of Thine anointed.
            Thou didst strike the head of the house of evil
            To lay him open from thigh to neck. [Selah.

    This verse seems like a prophecy about Jesus to me. Jesus brought our salvation - as we trusted in Him and became anointed by God. Jesus defeated Satan's plans to replace God, and has left him wounded until the final battle. Praise God our Deliverer (Jesus) lives! (DRM 5/6/06)

3:16    I heard and my inward parts trembled,
           At the sound my lips quivered.
           Decay enters my bones,
           And in my place I tremble.
           Because I must wait quietly for the day of distress,
           For the people to arise who will invade us.

    Habakkuk wrote this about 600 years  before Jesus came to earth. As a prophet, he was anticipating Jesus' coming and the Day of the Lord - not knowing they would be separate events.
    This verse is part of a prayer (3:2-19) and his reference to the day of distress points to the Day - still future - when Israel will be invaded.
    The final days will be terrifying to those on earth - and we don't know when they will begin.
    As we put our hope in Jesus, we have confidence/faith that He will protect His family in some way. (DRM 8/16/17)

3:17    Though the fig tree should not blossom
           And there be no fruit on the vines,
           Though the yield of the olive should fail
           And the fields produce no food,
           Though the flock should be cut off from the fold
           And there be no cattle in the stalls,

    This is an introduction to verse 18. Even though all these things have happened to the writer, "Yet I will exult in the LORD. . . " (v. 18).
    Following Jesus isn't always easy, and the world has an easier way - for today - but, in the end, trusting in the Lord Jesus will reap greater rewards. (DRM 12/29/11)

3:18,19    Yet I will exult in the Lord, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation. ¹⁹The Lord God is my strength, and He has made me walk on my high places.

    Verse 17 describes many things that can go wrong - and I can think of many more - but still the encouragement is in the final two verses. Depend on the Lord - my mind knows this, but I still have the fear of new things and how He will work it out. God always provides for His own. (DRM 11/4/2000)

3:19    The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on the heights.