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I have noted through my study in history that, in every generation, God raises a people, a man or woman who will stand in the gap and defend the truth no matter how tough it may be.
The book of Habakkuk echoes the same. The book of Habakkuk was written around 600 BC, a time when the kingdom of Judah had reached its zenith in evil and God was about to pour his wrath on them.
During the time, things were messy. Violence was rampant, abductions, enslaving, murder, robbery, sexual immorality and all manner of evil were the order of the day. Sounds like the current situation all over?
Habakkuk takes all these issues to God in prayers, he asks God to unmute his ears and listen to his cries about the situation on the ground.
In verse five of the first chapter God answers Habakkuk. He tells him that he, God, was going to send the Babylonians, who were a powerful nation and very evil, to punish the Israelites.
At that time Babylon was staging herself as the global super power, hence any nation that stood on her path to glory was trampled to dust. In fact one of the last kings of Judah, had his eyes gorged out, was hooked and dragged to Babylon where he died.
God’s answer to Habakkuk makes him mad. He is shocked that a holy God would send a very evil nation, which did not know or respect God to punish the chosen people of God. This makes me wonder whether dictators and all evil leaders are sent by God to punish an evil nation, am still wondering.
In chapter two God answers Habakkuk again and tells him to wait and see. That the conquering nation would later become too puffed up with pride leading to her utter destruction.
God also tells Habakkuk that during that tough time, the just would live by faith, that he would not abandon the righteous, which is evident in the lives of Daniel, Meshach and Abednego, who lived around that period.
In the same answer God tells Habakkuk in 2:14 “For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters covers the sea.” That I believe is God’s main agenda, that he would be glorified in all the earth. Tough times may come but his agenda is supreme, that he would be glorified in all nations’ tribes and tongues.
In the final chapter, Habakkuk realizes that God is sovereign over all the earth and that he is in control hence he surrenders the situation to God. Habakkuk 3:17-18 “Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and there be no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will be joyful in God my savior.”
~~>Dunmo
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