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Then the Lord replied:

“Write down the revelation
    and make it plain on tablets
    so that a herald may run with it.
³ For the revelation awaits an appointed time;
    it speaks of the end
    and will not prove false.
Though it linger, wait for it;
    it will certainly come
    and will not delay.

Recently I read in a book – and I believe this is true – that many of us are carrying promises from God in our hearts. But, the author argued, it can take so long for the fulfillment to appear, that we may lose heart and start to think it’s not going to happen. However, he said, if the promise is from God it will come to pass,

For ourselves, though, we don’t like to spend too much time in the waiting room.

Verse 3 reads like this in ‘The Message’:

This vision-message is a witness
    pointing to what’s coming.
It aches for the coming—it can hardly wait!
    And it doesn’t lie.
If it seems slow in coming, wait.
    It’s on its way. It will come right on time.

The last sentence of verse 3 is paradoxical. It seems to say that even though, from our perspective, an answer may seem a long time in coming; from God’s point of view it will always be bang on time.

PRAYER: Lord help me to wait for you and not try to impose my timescale on your purposes.

 Then the Lord replied:

“Write down the revelation
    and make it plain on tablets
    so that a herald may run with it.

It is a good idea to write down the things you believe God is saying to you. It is a way to keep them, test them, and pass them on to others. You know you are not writing Scripture, but if you sense God might be speaking, then you will want to keep a personal record.

The Bible does not command us to journal, and some Christians just can’t get along with the idea. But many believers do find it helpful. I have kept a diary/journal for many years, and, for me, it is an important discipline. Last week, on 27th October, Jilly and I were visiting friends. During that day and into the next, I felt an urgent insistence to look at my journal entry for 27th October 2021. When I finally got round to looking, there were a couple of quotes I knew I needed to pass on to our friends.

This morning I ‘just happened’ to come across this paragraph as I leafed through a great book:

‘Of these hidden years of work and waiting little would have been known in detail but for the preservation of a number of brief journals whose very existence was unsuspected. Providentially brought to light while these pages were being written, they fill a gap hitherto passed over in silence. Here they lie upon the table, twelve thin paper-covered notebooks, worn with years, but not one of them missing. Beginning soon after Mr. Taylor’s medical degrees were taken, they covered a period of three years…Daily entries in his small clear writing fill the pages, which breathes a spirit words are poor to express’ (‘Hudson Taylor and the China Inland Mission: The growth of a work of God’, p.15: Dr. and Mrs. Howard Taylor).

I will stand at my watch

    and station myself on the ramparts;

I will look to see what he will say to me,

    and what answer I am to give to this complaint.

‘God still speaks to the waiting soul.’ F.B.Meyer.

1. Receptivity:  Habakkuk may have a “complaint”, but he does believe God will have something to say to him on the subject. He is convinced that God speaks and he wants to hear. Indeed, he is committed to hearing;
2. Revelation: The language is fascinating. He expects to “see” what the Lord says to him. The entrance of God’s Word brings light. As Jeremiah 33:3 says, “Ask me and I will tell you remarkable secrets you do not know about things to come.” (New Living Translation). As we have seen, God answers with words as well as deeds, and frequently with both;
3. Resolution: You will see, I’m sure, the repetition of the words ‘I will.’ I think we can say that Habakkuk positions himself to hear from God. This is something we need to take into account for our own lives of discipleship. There isn’t a list of instructions to tell you exactly how to do this. Certainly, there are clues all over Scripture, but you have to work this out in your own walk with God. Find out how best you can place yourself to hear God’s voice. Of course, we can’t manufacture anything. We are not in charge of the process. We can’t determine if or when He will speak to us. But we can “station” ourselves to hear. This is about spiritual posture. (Let me just add that we must expect an almighty struggle once we do determine to wait on God. The devil hates prayer!)

‘Flee for a while from your tasks, hide yourself for a little space from the turmoil of your thoughts. Come, cast aside your burdensome cares, and put aside your laborious  pursuits. For a little while give your time to God, and rest in him for a little while. Enter into the inner chamber of your mind, shut out all things save God and whatever may aid you in seeking God; and having barred the door of your chamber, seek him.’ Anselm of Canterbury.

Prayer: Lord God, I want to hear your living word to my heart. I recognise that you will not say anything to me that contradicts your written Word, and everything must be tested by it. But I am convinced you do still speak to people today and I do not want to miss out. I pray earnestly for spiritual gifts, and especially for prophecy.

God, you’re from eternity, aren’t you?

    Holy God, we aren’t going to die, are we?

God, you chose Babylonians for your judgment work?

    Rock-Solid God, you gave them the job of discipline?

But you can’t be serious!

    You can’t condone evil!

So why don’t you do something about this?

    Why are you silent now?

This outrage! Evil men swallow up the righteous

    and you stand around and watch!

* * *

14-16 You’re treating men and women

    as so many fish in the ocean,

Swimming without direction,

    swimming but not getting anywhere.

Then this evil Babylonian arrives and goes fishing.

    He pulls in a good catch.

He catches his limit and fills his bucket—

    a good day of fishing! He’s happy!

He praises his rod and reel,

    piles his fishing gear on an altar and worships it!

It’s made his day,

    and he’s going to eat well tonight!

* * *

17 Are you going to let this go on and on?

    Will you let this Babylonian fisherman

Fish like a weekend angler,

    killing people as if they’re nothing but fish?

In today’s passage, Habakkuk expands on the difficulty he has with God using the Babylonians as instruments of judgment. (I’ve quoted from ‘The Message’ so it’s even more vivid).

Previously, in verse 7b, he has said:

“…they are a law to themselves

    and promote their own honour”;

Also, in verse 11b he has called them:

“…guilty people, whose own strength is their god.”

In today’s reading there is an elaboration on this point, with the vivid word picture painted of the dominant Babylonian empire angling for nations, catching them, and then worshipping their own fishing tackle (16).

Habakkuk’s prayer concludes in (17) with a big question: will the Lord allow this to “go on and on?”

By the time we arrive at (3:16b) he is confident that this will not be allowed to continue, but he is still waiting for God to deal with the wicked empire.

I found a note in my journal for 1^st November 2021. It comes from John Mark Comer: “My Father has been a pastor for longer than I’ve been alive. On his desk is a little frame with one simple sentence, a daily reminder: Take the long view.”