Have you ever had questions that you would like to ask God?
Well, you are not the first.
In the Old Testament, one of the minor prophets, named Habakkuk, gave us a short book which presents us with some deep and insightful thinking about the state of his world,
which we can easily relate to our own.
The book begins with a plea from Habakkuk, who said, “How long, Lord, must I call for help, but you do not listen? Or cry out to you, “Violence!” but you do not save? 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. Therefore, the law is paralysed, and justice never prevails. The wicked hem in the righteous, so that justice is perverted.”
Does this sound familiar, when compared to the world of today?
It should.
We see violence and warfare in the Ukraine, the Middle East, West Asia, ongoing tensions between China and its neighbours in our own region, even, almost unbelievably, the awful situation that has now beset the United Kingdom. And to make matters worse, we seem to be bombarded with propaganda, coming from any number of sources that are trying to distort realistic views to suit their own political ends.
Not much is known about Habakkuk, the prophet himself. Concerning details of his life, it is thought that he lived during and after the reign of king Josiah, which was sometime around 609 BC.
What is clear is that he witnessed his home nation abandon their belief in the true
God and slip away into sin and all the consequences that naturally and inevitably follow.
One can only imagine how this prophet must have felt, watching his world fall to pieces
around him, unable to do anything about it, but to cry to God in prayer.
Except this time, God had an answer for him. He said, “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. …”
Habakkuk probably would not have liked the answer that he was given, which was God’s judgement upon the people.
Historically, it was fulfilled in 597 BC, during the reign of King Jehoiakim.
Judah was invaded by the armies of king Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, resulting in an exile of the Jewish people, that would last for 70 years.
As they say, justice would be served.
As we look around, it may appear that today’s world also is out of control and that everything is spiralling downwards.
But even as the nations rage around us, and their leaders appear to have become addicted to greed, power and violence, we must never forget that God is still in control of all things, no matter how crazy the world may seem.