I am raising up the Babylonians

I am raising up the Babylonians

Scripture:

How long, LORD, must I call for help, but you do not listen? Or cry out to you, “Violence!” but you do not save? Habakkuk 1:2

I am raising up the Babylonians, that ruthless and impetuous people, who sweep across the whole earth to seize dwellings not their own. Habakkuk 1:6

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? Habakkuk 1:12-13

Observation:

In the book of Habakkuk, it opens with the prophet crying out to God for help because he sees violence, wrongdoing and injustice everywhere in Judah. He has been crying out for a long time but does not seem to receive an answer from the Lord. There are 2 things we can learn about Habakkuk’s prayer here. Firstly, is his honesty. He cries out honestly from his heart what he feels. His words even seem to challenge God at times. When we pray we are to pray honestly to let out what we have in our hearts. The Lord wants us to be honest with Him? Secondly, Habbakuk was persistent in his prayer. He had been praying and calling on God for a long time. This reminds us of the parable of the widow who kept pestering the judge to get justice and the neighbor who kept knocking until he received some bread for his guest. We are to persevere and keep praying for a long time even if we have to.

In the second Scripture, we see God’s answer to Habakkuk, which shocks him greatly. The Lord tells of using the cruel Babylonians to bring judgment across the whole earth. This shows us that God uses peoples and nations to accomplish His purposes, whether they know Him or not. It is God’s prerogative to bring about His plans through men if He wants to. We need to trust in His wisdom that He knows what He is doing. In the book of Revelation, it is written how the kings of the earth will accomplish God’s purpose by agreeing to give their power to rule to the Beast. Even in the end times, when all may seem lost from a human point of view, God is in complete control.

In the third Scripture, Habbakuk pleads with God not to send the Babylonians. They are far worst than those in Judah, and Habakkuk cannot understand why God would allow an even more wicked nation swallow up those more righteous than themselves. When David sinned by counting the fighting men of Israel, the Lord gave him 3 choices, whether to suffer punishment by famine, from men, or from a plague. He chose to suffer punishment from the Lord Himself because His mercy is very great. Such is the nature of men that their cruelty is the worst form of punishment possible. Again, we need to trust in God’s sovereignty that He is indeed in control of everything, even if we face the worst of times.

Application: In prayer, we need to be honest before the Lord and also persevere in persistence. In regard, to world events, we need to continue to trust that God is sovereign and in control. Even when we don’t understand why God allows certain things to happen sometimes, our part is to trust in Him anyway that He knows what He is doing.

Prayer: O Lord You are righteous. You hold the whole world in Your hands and direct the decisions of men and nations. Let my trust always be in You, even when I do not understand. Help me O Lord in my prayer. Teach me to be honest and real before You. Give me strength and perseverance even when I pray and patience to wait for Your answer. In Jesus name, Amen.