THE WAIT
Chapter 2, verses 1-4
The Lord gave a direct answer to the complaints and concerns that Habakkuk had expressed in his first complaint, stating that, contrary to what he thought, He was not inattentive to the serious situation of His people. The Lord then described the solution that He had already arranged to solve the problem.
Habakkuk was horrified by this solution and respectfully made a second complaint, expressing his surprise with the instrument of correction determined by God, because it seemed unfair to use Babylon, a nation still far worse than Judah
Habakkuk waited anxiously for the answer, and the Lord then ordered him to prepare to record carefully what He would say. This measure was taken so that His reply could be remembered and carefully monitored until its completion. Thanks to this providence we have this prophecy in our hands today.
Many of us are liable to go through situations that seem incomprehensible to us, even to the extent of our raising questions about God's providence in our lives, for they seem to contradict everything we believe about Him. We pray and hope for something, but nothing happens and sometimes something even worse befalls us. We ask, is God still faithful? How should we react to our problems?
Habakkuk was determined to get a satisfactory answer from the Lord and did everything he could to ensure that he got it. It is an example to be followed by those who let themselves be discouraged easily by allowing their concerns to take account of his life, thus undermining their faith and ruining their lives.
In describing his strong resolution, Habakkuk uses a very illustrative figure of speech: “I will stand at my watch and station myself on the ramparts; I will look to see what He will say to me…” – NIV). This is the best position to observe closely what's happening and take precautions against the enemy, as the watchmen in an army do (2 Kings 11:5-7, 2 Chronicles 23:6, Nehemiah 7:3) ..
The word of command "watch" appears fourteen times in the New Testament, among which we extract the following instructions:
"Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming ... lest you enter into temptation ... always, praying that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man ... stand fast in faith, be brave, be strong … the end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers ... your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour " (Matthew 24:42, Mark 14:38, Luke 21:36, 1 Corinthians 16:13, 1 Peter 4:7, 5:8).
It is noteworthy that the main reason for the watch is the coming of our Lord, which will determine the end of our existence here on earth (if we are still alive), because then we will be transformed and caught up to be with Him, who will judge us from his judgement seat. We must watch and pray, not to enter into temptation as the tempter, our adversary the devil, prowls around "seeking whom he may devour", that is, to cause us to fall into sin so as to harm or destroy our witness to Christ.
Habakkuk was attentive to what the Lord would say, giving him knowledge of the reason for His provision for the correction of His people. God also speaks to us through His Word, and in its meditation we learn how to act in the best way to please Him in our lives and to walk along His ways without straying away from them, nor to fall into the temptations that are placed as traps along the way. "To watch" and "to pray" are two complementary verbs.
The believer must also be brave. That is to be courageous, bold, fearless, energetic, strong, vigorous, a human adult. Take the examples of Moses, David, Daniel, Paul and many other figures of the Bible as role models in their integrity and total trust in God, thus conquering our fears and feelings of inadequacy when faced with the world around us.
The attitude of Habakkuk was of patience, perseverance and firm resolve: he would wait as long as it was necessary, he would stand firm and receive the response from the Lord. This he came to know what God had to communicate, not only for his satisfaction, but also for the benefit of others ... of ours too! We do not always get an immediate answer to our prayers, intercessions and questions, but with patience, perseverance and firm resolve to answer will come - we must never falter. "Pray without ceasing" is one of the shortest commandments that the believer has (1 Thessalonians 5:17), and perhaps one of the most misunderstood. Obviously it does not mean “pray without ending”, but it is patient, steady and firm perseverance in this inexhaustible resource that we have to the grace of God. He will answer, as the judge in the well known parable of Jesus (Luke 18:1-5).
The word "then", with which the second verse in our translation begins, suggests a cause and effect relationship to verse 1 which does not exist in the Hebrew. There the second verse begins with the conjunction "and." The difference is subtle but it means that the attitude of Habakkuk and God's response are simultaneous, not following a sequence. God reveals His will to us when we are determined to discover His will and His purposes.
God wanted His revelation to Habakkuk to be absolutely clear, leaving no room for any error. There was to be no doubt about what God had determined for the history of his people and also that of the Babylonians. The people of Judah, like Habakkuk, would have everything set in stone for posterity to remember all the details correctly.
What is transmitted orally can be distorted or forgotten, but one cannot deny what is written in indelible form. The Word of God is true, undeniable and incontrovertible because it was written by His servants through His inspiration and preserved through the centuries in a wonderful way for our knowledge in all its details. When God's purposes are fulfilled, they can be checked and verified by His Word, whose accuracy and divine origin is proved in this way. The events of history do not happen by chance but are foreseen in God's plans.
It is a good practice to set in writing the object of our prayers and intercessions, so as to verify how they were attended to and to give us reason to give thanks and praise to God for that. Like those nine lepers at the time of the Lord Jesus we often forget to return to thank God and to give Him the praise He deserves for the graces granted to us.
The prophecy of Habakkuk is for an appointed time, the "end" that Habakkuk was curious to know, in response to the complaint he had made. The time had been appointed by God and there would be a delay before Habakkuk saw its completion. It would not fail, but Habakkuk would have to have patience until it happened.
It seems to us that God sometimes is slow to move when we would like to see immediate action. In these situations we must have patience, certain that He will do so in time, and He is infinitely wiser than we.
We may even ask why Christ came to save sinners so late in human history. Or why were there over four hundred years of silence between the last prophet and His coming? One thing we can be sure of: it would have been a failure if He had not come when He came. God knew that there was need to prepare His people for the most appropriate historical circumstances for the Messiah to redeem His people. At that time He provided the birth of John the Baptist to prepare the people, as prophesied and Christ came, taught, and was rejected by His own people, being handed over to the Gentiles to be crucified; then He was resurrected and ascended to heaven at a time in world history when there would be greatest publicity because of various conditions. After nearly two millennia now, we see that the Gospel has spread throughout the world; the Word of God has been translated into most languages, and still saves thousands of souls everywhere.
The Lord told Habakkuk to write the contrast between the wicked and the righteous. The contrast between the two, recorded by Habakkuk, is literally that the “presumptuous”, understood as the Chaldean who came to punish the kingdom of Judah, was dishonest, a cheater, but the just shall live by faith.
Applying this to our days, the “ungodly” are those who do not fear the true creator God, Who gives us His Word. The ungodly are everywhere, and make up most of the world population, as has always been the case with rebellious humanity. Today we have many false religions and "religions without God" which are those of the humanists, the evolutionists, atheists and others that attract the ungodly. No doubt they are presumptuous in thinking that they can live without God. The just are those whose sin has been washed by the blood of Christ, through their faith, and they have always lived and will always live by their faith in the work of Christ on the cross in their place, holding him as their Lord and Saviour. They have eternal life, guaranteed by the very Word of God.
R David Jones
1 I will stand my watch And set myself on the rampart, And watch to see what He will say to me, And what I will answer when I am corrected.
2 Then the LORD answered me and said: "Write the vision And make it plain on tablets, That he may run who reads it.
3 For the vision is yet for an appointed time; But at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; Because it will surely come, It will not tarry.
4 "Behold the proud, His soul is not upright in him; But the just shall live by his faith.
Habakkuk chapter 2, verses 1 to 4