WAIT AND SEE (PART 1)

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

“Look at the nations and watch—and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told. I am raising up the Babylonians, that ruthless and impetuous people, who sweep across the whole earth to seize dwellings not their own. They are a feared and dreaded people; they are a law to themselves and promote their own honor. Their horses are swifter than leopards, fiercer than wolves at dusk. Their cavalry gallops headlong; their horsemen come from afar.
They fly like an eagle swooping to devour; they all come intent on violence. Their hordes advance like a desert wind and gather prisoners like sand. They mock kings and scoff at rulers. They laugh at all fortified cities; by building earthen ramps they capture them.  Then they sweep past like the wind and go on—guilty people, whose own strength is their god.”

Habakkuk 1:5-11

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

“ Why Lord? Why?”

“How long Lord must I call out for help before you do anything?”

As we saw in yesterday’s devotion, these are questions that Habakkuk had on his mind as he looked at the Israelite society and saw nothing but social injustices and spiritual apostasy all around him. He was yearning for the Lord to step in and do something about it, something that would change things, something that would show His people that He was not going to tolerate their sinful behavior.

Today, we find the Lord providing His prophet some answers, answers that could be centered on one statement:

“Wait and see.”

Look again at what God had to say to Habakkuk here:

“Look at the nations and watch—and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told. I am raising up the Babylonians, that ruthless and impetuous people, who sweep across the whole earth to seize dwellings not their own. They are a feared and dreaded people; they are a law to themselves and promote their own honor. Their horses are swifter than leopards, fiercer than wolves at dusk. Their cavalry gallops headlong; their horsemen come from afar. They fly like an eagle swooping to devour; they all come intent on violence. Their hordes advance like a desert wind and gather prisoners like sand. They mock kings and scoff at rulers. They laugh at all fortified cities; by building earthen ramps they capture them.  Then they sweep past like the wind and go on—guilty people, whose own strength is their god.”  Habakkuk 1:5-11

First of all, the Lord wanted to make one thing clear to His chosen messenger:

What was about to happen would be something completely surprising and unbelievable, something that would leave every witnessing nation amazed.

Would He do something supernatural, something that would be powerfully magical, leaving everyone in awe and wonder?

Not exactly. The Lord was going to do something much more conventional than that.

No, what was going to make the Lord’s actions incredible was His choice of His instrument of judgment on His people. For as we read in today’s passage, God told Habakkuk He was sending the Babylonians to bring punishment on the Israelites.

Why was this so astonishing and astounding?

Because the Babylonians were just as sinful and wicked as the Israelites, maybe even more so. God even called them “guilty people” who saw their strength as their god.

And yet, God chose them to be instruments of His judgment. They were His pick to bring their ruthless, impetuous ways to Judah where they would be feared and dreaded in the way they assaulted, plundered, and destroyed. The Babylonians were likened to leopards and wolves and eagles for the way they attacked and devoured their prey. Indeed, when the Babylonians came, they came mocking and scoffing at kings and rulers, laughing at fortified cities as they assailed them “intent on violence”.

Essentially, the Babylonians opposed whoever they wanted and when they did, they had their way, sweeping across territories and seizing land that was not originally their own. It’s how empires are built.

Habakkuk wanted to know what God was going to do and God told him. It was probably the last thing the prophet would have expected God to say and certainly no one would have believed that an empire steeped so much in evil would be the one chosen by God to do His work.

But that’s exactly what happened.

So what is our takeaway? What is the Lord trying to convey onto us through these verses and this account of Judah’s predicted judgment?

I believe God is reminding us that He will react and respond to all matters of life in His way and at His time. He doesn’t need to consult mankind for their opinion and it doesn’t matter one way or another what we think about His decisions.

In the end translation, He is God and we are not. His ways are always perfect and ours aren’t. And even if God shared with us what He was going to do in advance, we probably would find ourselves left amazed and in disbelief like Habakkuk and any other nation who would watch His judgment unfold against Judah in completely unpredictable ways.

Yes, we can certainly ask, “Why Lord? Why?” but in response we can almost always find Him answering, “Wait and see.”

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark
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