“  Art thou not from everlasting, O LORD my God, mine Holy One? we shall not die. 

O LORD, thou hast ordained them for judgment; and, O mighty God, thou hast established them for correction.

Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity: wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, and holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous than he?

And makest men as the fishes of the sea, as the creeping things, that have no ruler over them? They take up all of them with the angle, they catch them in their net, and gather them in their drag: therefore they rejoice and are glad.

Therefore they sacrifice unto their net, and burn incense unto their drag; because by them their portion is fat, and their meat plenteous. Shall they therefore empty their net, and not spare continually to slay the nations?

I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what he will say unto me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved. “

- Habakkuk 1:12–2:1 

Habbakuk - II

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Habbakuk 1:1-11 ( our previous study ) began with a question-answer/call-response form. 

The prophet complains bitterly about being surrounded by iniquity on all sides, and receives a response… telling him that an army is being raised that will judge those committing these crimes. 

Furthermore, he is told, that though this army is an instrument of judgment against the people of the LORD, the instrument will ALSO be judged for its idolatrous belief in its own strength!  

( “Then shall his mind change, and he shall pass over, and offend, imputing this his power unto his god.”- H v1:11 , KJV —- bookmark this mentally, we will refer to it later )

How would you respond if you were in Habbakuks position? What thoughts would go through your head? How would you frame them, for a follow up ?

We are not left to speculate, as Habbakuk himself records his thoughts for us, and please observe the picking up of threads from v 1-11 — the command to watch, the concepts of judgment against evil, and against idolatry —— answering his own questions whilst posing new ones…

“Art thou not from everlasting, O LORD my God, mine Holy One? we shall not die. O LORD, thou hast ordained them for judgment; and, O mighty God, thou hast established them for correction.”

Here is the argument against those that would rail against God for slaughtering/judging his own people, and the instruments of their humiliation. 

The prophet acknowledges that like God, we are eternal beings. We WILL NOT DIE ! Hallelujah! However, our existence on this planet is very much conditional on the LORDs plans for us, and our response to His Law. No one, whether a child of God, or a force of evil, is beyond the reach of his judgment and correction!

Having acknowledged which,  the prophet recasts his original lament to ask…

“Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity: wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, and holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous than he?And makest men as the fishes of the sea, as the creeping things, that have no ruler over them?They take up all of them with the angle, they catch them in their net, and gather them in their drag: therefore they rejoice and are glad.”

LORD, How can YOU stand it???  And having asked this question , the question now takes on a broader turn….the sweep of the question embracing all humanity, and pointing at the source of an evil that consumes MEN like fishes!!

We have an echo in the New Testament from the Apostle Paul’s instructions to Timothy, instructing him to patiently deal with those whose eyes have not yet been enlightened…. “And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will. “ ( 2 Tim 2:26 )

v 11 in Habbakuk now begins to take on a deeper significance… a shadow of a person /king whose heart is turned away from God, and whose armies are bent on capturing and destroying the kingdoms of men!

Small wonder, the prophet notes, that these armies burn incense and attribute power to their worldly devices, and worship the instruments of power, elevating them to a godly status…. and why not…. it seems to be working for them !!!

Almost sulking, he says, “I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what he will say unto me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved. “

OK LORD, in v1-11 you asked me to watch… that’s what i’ll do… i’ll go to the rampart, and keep a lookout, but i am expecting a response to these questions, even though i KNOW that they are somewhat impertinent…. let me watch, wait, and think about what HE might say to me, and how  I should respond..  should i get a paddling for asking these questions!!

Don’t you love him? ? He’s like the apostle Peter in the New Testament ( to whom we are indebted for his lack of hesitation in asking “basic” questions ) or like Thomas, who said, “I’m not going to believe unless i stick my hand in His side… “. Honest men, that wore their hearts on their sleeve and were not afraid to express their very real doubts and questions!

We will look at the LORDs response next week( if you can’t bear the suspense feel free to read it in the Word ? ), but we will leave you with an interesting application….

Capturing the souls of men in a net…. isn’t that a familiar picture from somewhere? Yes, it’s a prophetic parable from our Lord Himself ( Matthew 13:47-50 ), and a metaphor often used to characterize His disciples. “I will make you fishers of men.” ( Matthew 4:19, Mark 1:17 )

Two fleets out in the ocean, doing battle with each other!

A deep lesson for those looking to create “ministries” for whatever agenda - at one extreme a genuine desire to “save” humanity, at the other, to build a following that can be fleeced (!) for money and political prestige! 

Beware of relying upon human methods, ways, and means of trying to accomplish a superhuman task. Without the Lord telling us where to put down our nets, we will toil all night, and catch NOTHING !!!

His Way, has always been to instruct His children and servants to walk in TRUTH & LOVE, having an impact on those around them by BEING salt and light, being patient with ( but NOT enabling) those that have not yet come to a saving knowledge of the Word.

Like the disciples in the story, an abundant harvest may await us the other side of the boat, if we would just look away from our fancy fishing tackle, our radar, our gps….

We have converted our ministries into professions, and have begun ranking and rating them the way businesses are run… how’s attendance? How’s tithes and offerings? How many baptisms a month ? how’s your q/q growth… etc.

Don’t get us wrong. Our desire is for the work of the kingdom to be run as efficiently and professionally as possible, with excellence in everything, giving all glory and honor to the Person whose work it is,and, we MUST always examine whether we are being fruitful or fruitless in this eandeavor.

Are people growing in the Word, in the graces? Is there an aroma of truth,love, joy, peace, and trust? 

These are the big questions each servant leader must ask of themselves and of their work, because at the end, all will be judged…. and the question will be…

What did you do for my brothers and sisters that were poor, hungry,sick,naked, and in prison? If you couldn’t be bothered to do anything for them, anything you SAY you did for ME, is meaningless!

Our ministry is based on our Lords question/command to Peter. “ He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, —-Feed my sheep—-. “

If that’s what He wants, that is what we will do, God willing, in His strength and wisdom, till He comes for us, or the world!

Hallelujah!!