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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…

“Of what value is an idol carved by a craftsman?
    Or an image that teaches lies?
For the one who makes it trusts in his own creation;
    he makes idols that cannot speak.
¹⁹ Woe to him who says to wood, ‘Come to life!’
    Or to lifeless stone, ‘Wake up!’
Can it give guidance?
    It is covered with gold and silver;
    there is no breath in it.”

²⁰ The Lord is in his holy temple;
    let all the earth be silent before him.

Before moving on further into the third chapter, I want to take a step back into chapter 2. This chapter is, we might say, ‘book-ended’ with the idea of waiting for God to speak. In the first verse the prophet stations himself where he is ready and available to hear the Lord. In the last verse, the whole world is called to be quiet before God; (and the inference seems to be from verses 18,19 that this is because the Lord actually speaks, in contrast to the dead and dumb man-made idols).

So we are back with the call to wait on the Lord and for the Lord.

But this will, more often than not, require patience.

Better a patient person than a warrior,
    one with self-control than one who takes a city. (Proverbs 16:32).

In John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress, Chriatian comes to the house of the Interpreter, and is shown two children, one named Passion and the other Patience. Passion is discontented because his Governor wants him to wait until the next year to have his treasures; Patience waits calmly for his own. Someone brings Passion a pile of treasures, and Passion, laughing at Patience, plays with them. But a little later, Passion dissolves into a pile of rags. The Interpreter explains that Passion symbolizes people of this world, while Patience symbolizes people who look for the world to come. Eventually, Patience will be given everlasting glory.

Patience is willing to wait.

A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet. On shigionoth.

² Lord, I have heard of your fame;
    I stand in awe of your deeds, Lord.
Repeat them in our day,
    in our time make them known;
    in wrath remember mercy.

In my ‘Bible in one year’ I found that, many years ago, I had noted down some words of F.B.Meyer from his ‘Our Daily Homily’, Volume 3:

”When we are oppressed with the state of the Church and the world, as Habakkuk was, there is no resource but to turn to God. It is of no use to say to our brother, “What shall we do?” Better at once get into the presence of the Almighty. All conferences with flesh and blood are wasted breath, unless there has been a previous one with God…We must not pray “Revive my work,” lest the insidious temptation come in of using the stream of God’s blessing to turn our own tiny water-wheels for our own profit. Let us get beyond the narrow limits of our church or section, and ask for a revival of God’s work everywhere.”

‘See, the enemy is puffed up;

    his desires are not upright –

    but the righteous person will live by his faithfulness –

5 indeed, wine betrays him;

    he is arrogant and never at rest.

Because he is as greedy as the grave

    and like death is never satisfied,

he gathers to himself all the nations

    and takes captive all the peoples.

6 ‘Will not all of them taunt him with ridicule and scorn, saying,

‘“Woe to him who piles up stolen goods

    and makes himself wealthy by extortion!

    How long must this go on?”

7 Will not your creditors suddenly arise?

    Will they not wake up and make you tremble?

    Then you will become their prey.

8 Because you have plundered many nations,

    the peoples who are left will plunder you.

For you have shed human blood;

    you have destroyed lands and cities and everyone in them.

9 ‘Woe to him who builds his house by unjust gain,

    setting his nest on high

    to escape the clutches of ruin!

10 You have plotted the ruin of many peoples,

    shaming your own house and forfeiting your life.

11 The stones of the wall will cry out,

    and the beams of the woodwork will echo it.

12 ‘Woe to him who builds a city with bloodshed

    and establishes a town by injustice!

13 Has not the Lord Almighty determined

    that the people’s labour is only fuel for the fire,

    that the nations exhaust themselves for nothing?

14 For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord

    as the waters cover the sea.

15 ‘Woe to him who gives drink to his neighbours,

    pouring it from the wineskin till they are drunk,

    so that he can gaze on their naked bodies!

16 You will be filled with shame instead of glory.

    Now it is your turn! Drink and let your nakedness be exposed!

The cup from the Lord’s right hand is coming round to you,

    and disgrace will cover your glory.

17 The violence you have done to Lebanon will overwhelm you,

    and your destruction of animals will terrify you.

For you have shed human blood;

    you have destroyed lands and cities and everyone in them.

18 ‘Of what value is an idol carved by a craftsman?

    Or an image that teaches lies?

For the one who makes it trusts in his own creation;

    he makes idols that cannot speak.

19 Woe to him who says to wood, “Come to life!”

    Or to lifeless stone, “Wake up!”

Can it give guidance?

    It is covered with gold and silver;

    there is no breath in it.’

20 The Lord is in his holy temple;

    let all the earth be silent before him.

God now makes it utterly clear that the Babylonian empire will fall, and why. He outlines the sins that will be their downfall. Their very behaviour contains within it the seeds of their own destruction.

Within this longer section two great certainties stand out. We can still hold on to these in the most uncertain of times:

1. In the short term God calls people to live by faith (4). The word can also be translated “faithfulness.” Faith and faithfulness are two sides of the same coin. They belong together.This was the text (as quoted in Romans 1:17) that so impressed itself on Martin Luther and fuelled the Reformation;
2. In the long term all will be well (13,14). However much the Babylonians (and all other world powers) huff and puff and throw their weight around, it’s all “for nothing.” Ultimately it will amount to “nothing.” Nothing can stop the final glorious manifestation of God’s Kingdom. The knowledge of His glory will fill the earth. We can count on it.

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.”

‘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.

6 I am raising up the Babylonians,

    that ruthless and impetuous people,

who sweep across the whole earth

    to seize dwellings not their own.

7 They are a feared and dreaded people;

    they are a law to themselves

    and promote their own honour.

8 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;

9     they all come intent on violence.

Their hordes advance like a desert wind

    and gather prisoners like sand.

10 They mock kings

    and scoff at rulers.

They laugh at all fortified cities;

    by building earthen ramps they capture them.

11 Then they sweep past like the wind and go on –

    guilty people, whose own strength is their god.’

Note first of all that answers to prayer can come in words (revelation, insight, pictures etc) or deeds – maybe both. God answered Habakkuk by telling him what he was going to do and then doing it. He answered in speech and action.

There may be a greater problem than unanswered prayer, and it is that of answered prayer, when the answer isn’t what you wanted or comes in a guise you didn’t expect (or possibly don’t even recognise).

Habakkuk had been praying about the state of his nation, wondering how long it would be before God did something. God said He was going to do something, but Habakkuk wouldn’t be able to believe it when he knew what it was.

Habakkuk could scarcely believe his ears. He got an ‘amazing answer to prayer’ but not in the sense in which we tend to use the expression. God told him that He was going to use the then dominant world superpower, Babylon, to invade and judge His own people. If the people of God were bad at this time (Habakkuk’s issue if you remember? See verses 1-4), the Babylonians were even badder!!

As we will see in chapter 3, when we pray we to be prepared to take the long view. Some answers may come quickly, but many are worked out over a period years. It’s like sowing prayer seed, but we do not know exactly when the harvest will appear. By the end of the book, the prophet has got to a place of deep faith and confidence in God. He knows things will ultimately turn out fine, but in the short term he makes the choice to worship God in circumstances which are less than ideal.

Prayer: Lord, when answers to my prayers are delayed, or are not to my taste, help me to go on believing. Cause my roots to sink deeper into you and your Word. Grow my faith in these hard times. Where I might fail to recognise your answers because I asked one way and you answered another, please give me eyes to see and understand

1 The prophecy that Habakkuk the prophet received.

Habakkuk’s complaint

2 How long, Lord, must I call for help,

    but you do not listen?

Or cry out to you, ‘Violence!’

    but you do not save?

3 Why do you make me look at injustice?

    Why do you tolerate wrongdoing?

Destruction and violence are before me;

    there is strife, and conflict abounds.

4 Therefore the law is paralysed,

    and justice never prevails.

The wicked hem in the righteous,

    so that justice is perverted.

It’s one of the great cries of the Old Testament: “How long, Lord…?”

It is also regularly one of the anguished heart cries of Christian experience.

But God’s timescale is His own and not ours.

Many years ago, when Alex Haley’s book, ‘Roots’, was turned into a highly acclaimed television series, he was asked by an interviewer, ‘What is the secret of your success?’ He replied that he didn’t really know, but he remembered what his old grandmother used to say, “You never know when the Lord is going to come, but He is always on time.”

The problem of unanswered prayer may be nothing other than the problem of a delayed answer to prayer – and we don’t like waiting.

As we will see, Habakkuk was to get his answer, but when it came he didn’t like it. It seemed to be worse than the problem he prayed about!

Prayer: Lord, help me to pray with prophetic insight – to turn what I see on the news into heartfelt prayer.

P.S. I apologise for moving away from 1 Corinthians so quickly, but I’ve written this week about the need to follow the Spirit’s leading, and I sense that I need to move in another direction. Thank you for bearing with me in this.