Habakkuk 1
COMMENTARY:
: 2 O LORD, how long shall I cry, and you will not hear! Even cry out unto you of violence, and you will not save! (7768 “cry” [shava] means shout, to ask for aid, to implore help, or plead for relief.)
DEVOTION: Have you ever come to a point in your life that you have hit the wall? You don’t seem to be able to handle even the smallest things without feeling like breaking down. Life just seems to be so hard and the LORD doesn’t seem to be answering your prayers for help.
Habakkuk was at that point in his life. He saw people around him sinning and seeming to be getting away with it while he was trying to live a righteous life and all it seemed to do is cause him more trouble.
So we find him asking the LORD for aid in his present situation. He asked the LORD how long HE was going to take to come to his aid. He thought the LORD was not listening to his request. He wanted deliverance and didn’t understand why the LORD would allow heathens to judge HIS people.
God was judging Israel for their sin. HE was using a heathen nation to correct them. Habakkuk thought this was wrong. He thought the Israelites who were sinning against God were sinning less than the heathen the who didn’t have any relationship with the LORD.
Today we are praying the same prayer regarding what is happening in the church. The courts seem to be correcting the problems that the church is guilty of regarding the breaking of HIS laws.
There are religious leaders who are living contrary to the way the LORD wants them to live. Some claim to be obeying the LORD, but in reality they are just taking advantage of God’s people.
There is violence in the church with members fighting with each other and taking their claims to the courts that are not at present honoring the LORD. Should this be done? The New Testament states that the leaders of the church should deal with problems in the church and not take their problems to those who are unsaved.
When we have difficulty with another believer should we take them to court? What if the one who claims to be a believer shows no signs of honoring the LORD?
CHALLENGE: Each situation needs to be taken to the LORD in prayer and then brought before witnesses to address the issue.
: 4 Therefore the law is slacked, and judgment does never go forth: for the Wicked does compass about the righteous; therefore wrong judgment proceeds. (6313 “slacked” [puwg] means to be or become in the state of mental numbness, especially as resulting from shock, be feeble, powerless, be paralyzed, or be weak or tired.)
DEVOTION: Here we find a time period in the life of Israel where the Law of the LORD was not honored. It seems that wickedness was running the show and the people were not even considering what the LORD had commanded them to do. They were not reading or listening to the Word of God. This has happened in all generation of our world. The children of Israel were not concerned with what the LORD had to say to them.
Habakkuk was telling the people that they were nearsighted. He wanted them to open their eyes to the truth of HIS Word and obey it. They were not to look at circumstances but look to HIM for guidance and direction.
Obedience would bring blessing if they were looking to the LORD for HIS teachings in their life.
CHALLENGE: Is our worldview one that honors the LORD or are we trying to do everything our own way and seeing the consequences of our actions like the children of Israel? Obedience bring blessing but disobedience brings judgement.
: 11 Then shall his mind change, and he shall pass over, and offend, imputing this his power unto his god. (3581 “power” [koach] means strength, might, force, ability, property, authority, or substance.)
DEVOTION: There are strong people in the world and there are weak. When you look at individuals who play any sport you see that they are in shape. They work out on a regular basis to keep their body in shape once they have maximized their strength. Their strength is what keeps them fit of future sporting events.
The sport in the ancient world of some nations was to conquer other nations. Their armies had to be fit to conquer their enemies. They would encourage each other to be better fighters. They would even have false gods that they worshiped who they thought would give them more power to defeat any enemy.
Here we find the nation of Babylon worshiping their false god and giving him credit for their ability to defeat any enemy. They didn’t realize that when they were going to defeat Israel it was the LORD that allowed it to happen. HE was judging HIS people for their sin. They credited their false god with strength the only TRUE God was giving them to work as HIS servants.
They have a false sense of accomplishment. In the future the LORD is going to judge them. Then they will realize WHO is the ONLY TRUE God of the universe.
We need to recognize this fact if we want to understand who the LORD really is and how HE works. The Bible gives us the answer to all of our questions.
CHALLENGE: Habakkuk stated his questions and we need to go to the LORD honestly and ask HIM our questions.
: 12 Are YOU not from everlasting, O LORD my God, mine Holy One? We shall not die. O LORD, YOU have ordained them for judgment; and O mighty God, YOU have established them for correction. (3198 “correction” [yakach] means to prove, decide, judge, rebuke, reprove, or to show to be right.)
DEVOTION: Habakkuk knew that the children of Israel needed to be shown what is right. They were not living right. They were in need of judgment. He knew that the LORD was going to send judgment. He knew that the LORD is holy and could not look on iniquity or sin.
However, he didn’t understand the LORD using a people who were more wicked, in his eyes, than the children of Israel. How could a holy God use unholy people to do HIS work of judgment? It did not compute in Habakkuk’s brain. It does not compute in our brains. But the LORD sometimes uses other nations or government officials to get the attention of HIS people, so that, they will begin acting right.
We can’t understand God’s ways but that is what the Bible tells us is true all the time. The Word of God informs us that the LORD will chasten those HE loves. HE loved Israel in the Old Testament. HE loves HIS church in the New Testament. Both groups are going to be chastened by HIM when they are sinning against HIS commandments.
HE also prunes HIS people to make them more fruitful. We only grow through suffering. In this world we are going to have suffering because are commanded to suffer for righteousness sake. As the LORD looks at those who are followers of HIM today, HE sees individuals who are not totally dedicated to HIS serve. HE wants us to be totally dedicated to growing in our relationship with HIM. Are we willing to suffer for righteousness sake?
Habakkuk asked questions of the LORD. The LORD doesn’t mind questions as long as we realize how GREAT a God HE is. This verse tells us that HE is an everlasting God. HE is a HOLY God. HE is SOVEREIGN. HE is the CREATOR of the universe. HE is MIGHTY. HE shows HIS love through suffering. HE showed it through the suffering HIS Son went through on the cross for us.
We have to trust HIM to do it the right way in the right time. We know that we deserve the judgment of God on our lives but for the blood of HIS son on the cross. We deserve the lake of fire but will receive a mansion in heaven. Praise HIS name.
We need to realize that sin is sin in the eyes of the LORD. There are no big sins and little sins with God. HIS holiness causes HIM to deal with both types of sins.
CHALLENGE: Never assume that your sins are too small for the LORD to correct.
: 12 Are You not from everlasting, O Lord my God, my Holy One? We shall not die. O Lord, You have appointed them for judgment; O Rock, You have marked them for correction.
DEVOTION: Habakkuk realized that the children of Israel were marked for judgment because of their sins. Once you study and understand the attributes of the LORD you realize that HE is both loving and holy. HIS holiness cannot look at sin and do nothing about it. HIS love, send HIS Son to die on the cross so that we could have forgiveness of sin.
Even with the forgiveness of sin there is a time of corrections for those who still don’t understand that the LORD has a path HE wants all HIS children to follow. If they don’t follow it HIS love demands that HE correct HIS children. Those HE loves HE chastens.
Human fathers are supposed to chasten their children that are disobedient to their rules. Each household has to have rules that help children understand their responsibility to the rest of the family members. Parents are supposed to give a good example to their children regarding proper care of belongings. They are to set a good example on the use of money. They are to see a good example for the watching of television and other media sources in their homes. They are to set good example of how to establish friendships. There needs to be guidelines for the opposite sex. There has to be a regular time of service to the LORD in the local church. All these help children grow up with a sense of what is expected of them. If the parents set a bad example it will hinder their children from living good godly lives in the presence of the LORD.
CHALLENGE: The LORD continues to this day correcting HIS children. HE still loves those who love HIM.
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