Prophet Habakkuk was told an amazing voice of God that is
shaking the humanity, saying “The righteous shall live by faith!” This is the
whole truth of the Scriptures. This is how man God intended man to live even
before the foundation of the world. The world says exactly the opposite that
men shall live by sight. But the remnants of God shall not live by sight, being
blinded and near-sighted by the shallowing and glittering things of the world,
but live by faith in the invisible and mighty God who made all things by his
words of power and might. The world says that is nonsense, unreal,
unreasonable, unpractical, and whatever they call it. But it is the most real,
reasonable, sensible, practical life. That’s what Prophet Habakkuk was told in
ancient days. His prophecy is unique in the sense that it is the personal
dialogue between God and the prophet. Like most of humans do, Habakkuk (meaning
embrace) was perplexed and bewildered by that even though injustice was
reigning and prevailing it seemed God was completely silent and not doing
anything. It is one of the most frequently asked questions in all human history
why injustice and unfairness are seemingly dominant in almost every corner of
the globe. Why are murderers and kidnappers not punished immediately or even
before they commit any evils? That’s Habakkuk’s cry and hungering and thirsty
prayer.
“How long,
Lord, must I call for help,
but you do
not listen?
Or cry out
to you, ‘Violence!’
but you do
not save?
Why do you
make me look at injustice?
Why do you
tolerate wrongdoing?
Destruction
and violence are before me;
there is
strife, and conflict abounds.
Therefore
the law is paralyzed,
and justice
never prevails.
The wicked
hem in the righteous,
so that justice is perverted.” (Habakkuk 1:2-4)
When the Lord answers the prophet, he hears not what he
wanted to hear. Instead, God tells him something unspeakable things would
happen to the nation and its people. The Lord says the prophet to be utterly
amazed because he is going to do something in his days that he would not believe
even if he was told. “Look at the nations and watch—and be utterly amazed. For
I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you
were told. I am raising up the Babylonians, that ruthless and impetuous people,
who sweep across the whole earth to seize dwellings not their own.” (Habakkuk
1:5-6) God is telling him that he would raise the Babylonians, that ruthless
and impetuous people who would fly like an eagle swooping to devour and come
intent on violence. They would laugh at all fortified cities and by building earthen
ramps they would capture the fortified city of Jerusalem. This makes the
prophet more perplexed and stunned, thinking that how could God allow the
heathens to overpower the people of the Lord. The prophet cannot reason any
longer on how could the mighty God not defend the holy city. This is the same
question many people raise, which is, why did not God punish Hitler before he
committed such a heinous crime against the humanity. Now, the prophet does the
wisest thing man can do. He withdraws himself and goes back as far as he can,
all the way to the beginning of the universe God made. He remembers God as an
everlasting one, his Holy One, his Rock. He also remembers God is so pure that
he cannot tolerate any evil and wrongdoing.
“Lord, are
you not from everlasting?
My God, my
Holy One, you will never die.
You, Lord,
have appointed them to execute judgment;
you, my
Rock, have ordained them to punish.
Your eyes
are too pure to look on evil;
you cannot
tolerate wrongdoing.
Why then do
you tolerate the treacherous?
Why are you
silent while the wicked
swallow up
those more righteous than themselves?
You have
made people like the fish in the sea,
like the sea
creatures that have no ruler.
The wicked
foe pulls all of them up with hooks,
he catches
them in his net,
he gathers
them up in his dragnet;
and so he
rejoices and is glad.
Therefore he
sacrifices to his net
and burns
incense to his dragnet,
for by his
net he lives in luxury
and enjoys
the choicest food.
Is he to
keep on emptying his net,
destroying nations without mercy?” (Habakkuk 1:12-17)
Habakkuk remembers the mightiness and purity of God and yet
he is not still answered on why God is silent while the wicked foe is devouring
the people, destroying the nations without mercy, and enjoying the choicest
food and luxury. However, the prophet have decided to wait what God will say. “will
stand at my watch and station myself on the ramparts; I will look to see what
he will say to me, and what answer I am to give to this complaint.” (Habakkuk
2:1) This is the most significant action for the prophet to take. There is
something he knows about God and his character and at the same time he admits
that there is something that he cannot fathom about the Lord. It’s truly true. Man
cannot know and understand man himself. Then, how much farther away man is from
knowing the Creator. So, Apostle Paul says so pertinently about the impotence of
man and the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God. These days
many Americans are puzzled by the result of the recent presidential election
and many South Koreans are stunned and bewildered by the president’s incredible
and inconceivable scandals. It shows how much is man blind and unseeing. So,
the prophet has made a decision to wait for God’s answer. That’s a wise thing
for man to do.
“Oh, the
depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
How
unsearchable his judgments,
and his
paths beyond tracing out!
‘Who has
known the mind of the Lord?
Or who has
been his counselor?’
‘Who has
ever given to God,
that God
should repay them?’
For from him
and through him and for him are all things.
To him be the glory forever! Amen.” (Romans 11:33-26)
Now the Lord answers man and reveals the most significant
truth, “The righteous will live by his faithfulness.” Why shall man live by
faith? How man can live by faith, not by sight, says the world. Further, the
world says that man shall live by the material possessions like property deeds,
bank accounts, insurances, and stocks and bonds. In fact, no one can deny that
the whole world is driving in full speed and force to earn and horde
materialistic fortunes. It’s like a savages’ jungle where the strong deprives and
devours the weak. This strong illusion and delusion drive people to kill each
other. Man cannot live by sight alone. Just think about how the human body
functions and operates. For example, heart is pumping the blood every second
non-stop from the womb to death. No one knows all how and why the human body
with its immeasurably complicated and complex structure is running in the
perfect harmony and balance. How fragile it is and yet how resilient it is! How
easily broken it is and yet how sturdy it is! It is a great mystery. Having
said that and knowing little about it, how can man not live by faith? Man cannot
breathe without air, invisible but there is, so we breathe. Wind blows with its
force and yet no knowledge where it comes and where it goes, but we feel the
mighty force of wind. Winter has come in the northern hemisphere, so we prepare
for it. These are a few examples of exercising faith in nature. Man is made to
live by faith from the womb to death, even beyond death through the eternity.
The study of physics has found out a strange force. An
object travelling in a circle behaves as if it is experiencing an outward
force. This force is known as the centrifugal force. The microscopic particle
like atom is rotating in a circle, so it is experiencing the centrifugal force which
drives the object to flying out. But there is another force which holds back
and eventually prevent an object to fling away in the universe. This force is
called the centripetal force which holds back in order. No one knows where is
such a tremendous force coming from. But the Scripture gives the answer. “The
Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in
him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and
invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have
been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all
things hold together.” (Colossians 1:15-17) Jesus Christ is the One who hold
everything together. He is the authority and power to command all things which
submit and obey in fear and trembling. For example, when the Lord commanded the
waters in the Red Sea to separate and stand still, it saw God and writhed, the
very depths were convulsed (Psalm 77:16). So, there will no excuse for those
who have stubbornly and consistently refused to live by faith because God made
what may be known about him is plain to them (Romans 1:19). Our God is not
pleased and cannot be so with anything that has been done by anyone without
faith. “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who
comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who
earnestly seek him.” (Hebrews 11:6)
“Write down
the revelation
and make it
plain on tablets
so that a
herald may run with it.
For the
revelation awaits an appointed time;
it speaks of
the end
and will not
prove false.
Though it
linger, wait for it;
it will
certainly come
and will not
delay.
‘See, the
enemy is puffed up;
his desires
are not upright—
but the
righteous person will live by his faithfulness—
indeed, wine
betrays him;
he is
arrogant and never at rest.
Because he
is as greedy as the grave
and like
death is never satisfied,
he gathers
to himself all the nations
and takes captive all the peoples.” (Habakkuk 2:2-5)
The prophet was told to write down the revelation and make
it plain on tablets. What is the revelation written on the tablets? It is the
vengeance of God without delay and the everlasting proclamation of life, “The
Righteous shall live by faith.” There will be the end of all things and
everything that has been done under the sun will be accounted in the marvelous
light of God which reveals all things in nakedness and conspicuousness. Yes, it
linger though, wait for it, for it will certainly come and will not delay. God’s
judgment is swiftly and suddenly and unexpectedly coming and irrevocable like
the woman’s labor pain. “While people are saying, ‘Peace and safety,’
destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and
they will not escape.” (1 Thessalonians 5:3) Why does it linger and we shall
wait for it? It is for our salvation through his long patience and suffering.
God does not want to judge anyone but to save all mankind. He prolongs and
lingers to impose the immediate and righteous judgment upon the nations in
order to save the elect. It does not opt out the righteous judgment, but
confirms the coming of the Lord who will vindicate all things. “Or do you show
contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not
realizing that Godʼs kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?” (Romans
2:4) Our God is restraining the evil force until an appointed time in order to
save the humanity. The Lord says the prophet that the enemy is puffed up and
arrogant while he is patiently and long-sufferingly lingering for the Day of
the Lord appearing. The mark of being puffed up is to be boast and proud of all
the human achievements in literature, science, and technology, saying “We can
do it,” though the things happening alarmingly indicate the other direction.
What’s happening in reality and truth? Apostle Paul warns the saints who are
living in the latter days not to be deceived by the powerful lie that there
will be no judgment but peace and safety in the Epistle to the Thessalonians.
“Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will
not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the
man doomed to destruction. He will oppose and will exalt himself over
everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in
Godʼs temple, proclaiming himself to be God. Donʼt you remember that when I was
with you I used to tell you these things? And now you know what is holding him
back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time. For the secret power of
lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue
to do so till he is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be
revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and
destroy by the splendor of his coming. The coming of the lawless one will be in
accordance with how Satan works. He will use all sorts of displays of power
through signs and wonders that serve the lie, and all the ways that wickedness
deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the
truth and so be saved. For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so
that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not
believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.” (2 Thessalonians 2:3-12)
Throughout the history, the secret power of lawlessness is
at work but the Lord is holding back the man of lawlessness appearing in full
force. The powerful untruth and delusion will be stubbornly and increasingly
influencing and domineering the world where the people will continue to drive
hording money and things in an attempt to fill their unsatisfied and hollow
hearts and minds. God made what may be known about him plain to them, so that
no one can excuse. The obvious mark of the work of invisible God is the
unfulfilling and unsatisfying heart, always lacking and wanting. It’s not
coming out of the lack of money and things but from God. The Scripture says man
is made in God’s image and his likeness. Man’s existence is possible only within
the relationship of God. Man can be fully filled and satisfied only with the
things of God. That’s the enough reason for man to live by faith. Prophet
Habakkuk was finally answered and understood why God was seemingly silent in
the midst and prayed with praise. He made a decision before the Lord to live by
faith.
“I heard and
my heart pounded,
my lips
quivered at the sound;
decay crept
into my bones,
and my legs
trembled.
Yet I will
wait patiently for the day of calamity
to come on
the nation invading us.
Though the
fig tree does not bud
and there
are no grapes on the vines,
though the
olive crop fails
and the
fields produce no food,
though there
are no sheep in the pen
and no
cattle in the stalls,
yet I will
rejoice in the Lord,
I will be
joyful in God my Savior.
The
Sovereign Lord is my strength;
he makes my
feet like the feet of a deer,
he enables me to tread on the heights.” (Habakkuk 3:16-19)
God has sent his Son Jesus Christ in his righteousness and
faithfulness and let him die on a cross, shedding the blood for the redemption
of the elect. This is the hope of mankind. God created a new man in the Son
Jesus Christ because once they were lost but now has been found through the
cleansing blood of Christ. No contributions could be made by man, so God made his
Son who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Christ we might become the
righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21). Is it not the good news of
Christmas? We are now able to live his life in the Spirit without lacking
anything, if we accept the Son of Man and follow him in fear and trembling.
2016. 12. 18.
© 2015-2016 David Lee Ministries – All Rights Reserved.
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