In The Word
Read: Habakkuk 1-2:5
Chaldeans Used to Punish Judah
1 The oracle which Habakkuk the prophet saw.
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.
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.
4 Therefore the law is ignored
And justice is never upheld.
For the wicked surround the righteous;
Therefore justice comes out perverted.
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.
6 “For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans,
That fierce and impetuous people
Who march throughout the earth
To seize dwelling places which are not theirs.
7 “They are dreaded and feared;
Their justice and authority originate with themselves.
8 “Their horses are swifter than leopards
And keener than wolves in the evening.
Their horsemen come galloping,
Their horsemen come from afar;
They fly like an eagle swooping down to devour.
9 “All of them come for violence.
Their horde of faces moves forward.
They collect captives like sand.
10 “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.”
12 Are You not from everlasting,
O Lord, my God, my Holy One?
We will not die.
You, O Lord, have appointed them to judge;
And You, O Rock, have established them to correct.
13 Your eyes are too pure to approve evil,
And You can not look on wickedness with favor.
Why do You look with favor
On those who deal treacherously?
Why are You silent when the wicked swallow up
Those more righteous than they?
14 Why have You made men like the fish of the sea,
Like creeping things without a ruler over them?
15 The Chaldeans bring all of them up with a hook,
Drag them away with their net,
And gather them together in their fishing net.
Therefore they rejoice and are glad.
16 Therefore they offer a sacrifice to their net
And burn incense to their fishing net;
Because through these things their catch is large,
And their food is plentiful.
17 Will they therefore empty their net
And continually slay nations without sparing?
God Answers the Prophet
2 I will stand on my guard post
And station myself on the rampart;
And I will keep watch to see what He will speak to me,
And how I may reply when I am reproved.
2 Then the Lord answered me and said,
“Record the vision
And inscribe it on tablets,
That the one who reads it may run.
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.
4 “Behold, as for the proud one,
His soul is not right within him;
But the righteous will live by his faith.
5 “Furthermore, wine betrays the haughty man,
So that he does not stay at home.
He enlarges his appetite like Sheol,
And he is like death, never satisfied.
He also gathers to himself all nations
And collects to himself all peoples.
New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation
Walking In The Word
The prophet cried out to God, “How long, O Lord?” Habakkuk continued to see evil, wickedness, violence, strife, contention, and destruction all around him. It seemed that God’s law and ordinances were ignored and justice was perverted. He knew that the Lord was sovereign, faithful, and righteous, and that His eyes were too pure to approve evil. Finally, the Lord answered Habakkuk and told him to record what he saw so that all who read it would be warned. The Lord’s response will come in His timing, and it will not fail. His people should wait on Him, living in faith.
You may be able to relate to that today. You may look around and see circumstances similar to what the prophet saw: those who do evil and wickedness are doing better than you, those who are disobedient to the Lord’s ways and teachings are getting away with it, and those who are in charge of justice are perverting it. However, Isaiah 5:20 says, “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil…” and Revelation 22 says, “…for the time is near…Behold, I am coming quickly…to render to every man according to what he has done…Blessed are those who …may enter by the gates into the city. Outside are the dogs, the sorcerers, the immoral persons, the murderers, the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices lying.” We are to stand our guard, keep watch, and live faithfully today and every day. Come, Lord Jesus!