When I read Habakkuk I am always surprised when he asks God “O LORD, how long shall I cry, and You will not hear? Even cry out to you, ‘VIOLENCE!’ And You will not save.” (Habakkuk 1:2) It’s God’s response that is so surprising: “Look among the nations and watch—Be utterly astounded! For I will work a work in your days Which you would not believe, though it were told you. (6) For indeed I am raising up the Chaldeans, A bitter and hasty nation Which marches through the breadth of the earth, To possess dwelling places that are not theirs. They are terrible and dreadful; Their judgment and their dignity proceed from themselves.” (Habakkuk 1:5-7)
God was warning Habakkuk that their nation was about to be taken from them in war with wicked people. What Habakkuk could see was that when God sends judgment on a nation, even His precious people will experience the effects of it. Many Christians have to adjust their thinking from, “God will protect me from any hardship,” to “God will be with me through any hardships.” Just because we are His children does not mean we are immune from the judgment He brings on the world. In His grace He is the God who is near, the One who will never leave us nor forsake us. But, He also holds us responsible if we fail to listen to Him to prevent the demise of our nation (which seems like what we have done).
As I look back and see past hardships, personal things like illnesses or injuries to those I love, arguments, messy church situations, or national ones like recessions and terrible political leaders, I see how the Lord helped us through each one. With such a history of His faithfulness, it is easier to trust Him with an unknown future and to want to obey His Word.
It is encouraging to look at the rest of the story of the Israelites. After many warnings God exiled the Israelites to Babylon because they would not listen to Him. God addressed them through a letter sent through the Prophet Jeremiah.
This is a portion of the letter:
Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, to all who were carried away captive, whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem to Babylon: (5) Build houses and dwell in them; plant gardens and eat their fruit. (6) Take wives and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, so that they may bear sons and daughters—that you may be increased there, and not diminished. (7) And seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray to the LORD for it; for in its peace you will have peace. (Jeremiah 29:4-7).
Even in exile, God called His people to be fruitful and multiply!
There is great comfort for the Christian in these verses. Our circumstances may change, all of the scholars of our day are warning of a great fall of some sort (financial, military?), one that will change our lives drastically. Some say soon, some say ten years, some don’t guess, they just predict it’s coming.
But, whatever may come, God is faithful and trustworthy. In every situation in the past His ways have been for our good. We may not see it today or tomorrow because He is not interested in our immediate relief. He is growing our character and building our faith.
We have killed (as a nation) over 70 million babies in the womb. Abortion is used as a form of birth control for many women. That alone should cause us as a nation to expect God’s correction in judgment. Like those exiled Israelites, we have seen the warnings from God. We’ve heard the cry of many righteous people trying to open the eyes of those who celebrate so much death (not to mention the corruption and destruction happening within our government).
Will we ignore it all until the judgment of God affects our everyday life, or will we join the more righteous and cry out to the Lord for His mercy to open the eyes of the blind and listen to Him as He graciously has left us with specific instructions?
Will you read Deuteronomy 28? Then weep and pray for our nation as you see our disobedience is greater than most Christians think it is.