Habakkuk 1:5  Behold ye among the heathen, and regard, and wonder marvellously: for I will work a work in your days, which ye will not believe, though it be told you.
6  For, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, which shall march through the breadth of the land, to possess the dwellingplaces that are not theirs.
7  They are terrible and dreadful: their judgment and their dignity shall proceed of themselves.
8  Their horses also are swifter than the leopards, and are more fierce than the evening wolves: and their horsemen shall spread themselves, and their horsemen shall come from far; they shall fly as the eagle that hasteth to eat.
9  They shall come all for violence: their faces shall sup up as the east wind, and they shall gather the captivity as the sand.
10  And they shall scoff at the kings, and the princes shall be a scorn unto them: they shall deride every strong hold; for they shall heap dust, and take it.
11  Then shall his mind change, and he shall pass over, and offend, imputing this his power unto his god.

We have noted before that people often take advantage of God’s mercy, grace and long-suffering. They wrongly assume that because God does not deal with great force for a sin, therefore it must not be that bad a deal.
In our text, Judah had been living in rebellion against God for several hundred years, by the time that Habakkuk was called upon to write these words. He had been a prophet in the days of king Josiah. He knew some of the history of Israel. He knew of the ups and downs of the government in Judah. He witnessed the reforms that Josiah was making, but he also saw the general attitude of the people was not in agreement with king Josiah.
He wondered out loud why God did not deal with this according to his understanding. Habakkuk needed to learn some important truths about God. He is far more merciful to man than man is to man. In His mercy, He never condones sin. He has always been very clear with man. His power and authority were revealed in Genesis 1 and His resolve was shown in Genesis 3. Adam was likely shocked by the response of God to his sin. We are not told what all was going through Adam’s head at that time. We are told that he disobeyed God and lied to cover up his sin. He was not created with sin in his heart. We know that Cain had developed quite the sophisticated method of rebellion.
In verse 5 of our text, God began to lay out His answer to Habakkuk’s question. He told him to look at the heathen nations around Judah. He was to marvel at how those nations were living. He also told him to note that He, the LORD, would do a work in his days that would shock the nation of Israel, even though He would forewarn them of it.
The Jews were of the opinion that God would never punish them severely for their actions. They did not even see their actions as sin. They found justification for their wickedness. They may have compared themselves to the nations around them and assumed that they had the best of both worlds. They did not realize there is no “best” in the world. They did not accept the fact that you cannot mix God with paganism and still have God.
The apostle Paul quoted this verse to the Jews of his day in Acts 13:41. They still had not learned the lesson that God wanted them to learn. We can take this verse and make application to ourselves as Gentiles as well.
The U.S. has accused Canada of being a producer and promoter of fentanyl. They claim we are a source of that poison entering into their country and they want it stopped. Our P.M. and other of his puppets have consistently come out and claimed that Canada sends so little fentanyl into the U.S. that it is not even worth talking about. Trudeau has now appointed a fentanyl czar to supposedly look into this issue. Our country has long taken advantage of the U.S. when it comes to defence. We have also used them as big brother on other issues. Our current P.M. thinks that he can parade around in his coloured socks and preach feminism and that his woke agenda is of greater importance than anything else. He ruined any type of good relationship with Mr. Trump during his first term as president. Our P.M. is an embarrassment to this country. If that is the best we can come up with for the leader of this nation, we are in big trouble. He has been the puppet leader for the past 10 years. He and the media and other parties do not realize the corruption he has led this country into. Some talk big of things they would do differently if they get the opportunity, but at the core they are all the same. You can hear that in their responses to the President’s actions.
In our text, Judah was in a mess and the hammer of God’s judgment was about to fall on them. It would come with such force that they would be shocked and in fact they would not believe it could even happen. How could God possibly judge His own people harshly? They did not understand what true love is.
In verse 6 God told Habakkuk that He would raise up the Chaldeans to march through the land. He described them as a bitter and hasty nation. The Chaldeans did not act in a rational manner. Yet God would raise them up to be a world empire. They would expand their territory in ruthless ways. Their appetite for expansion was insatiable. Their desire for promoting their brand of paganism would also be enforced. They were not content to live and let live. They wanted all to think the same way.
That too sounds very much like our country. Freedom of thought is not accepted in our country. We saw that on full display during the Wuhan virus event. If you did not comply with their wicked agenda, they came after you. They encouraged people to spy on their neighbours and report activity that the government did not want to be taking place. Children were not allowed to visit their loved ones in nursing homes. Families were not allowed to gather for weddings or funerals. Churches were told to limit attendance and even to shut down for a time.
God has allowed this ruthlessness to exist in this country. It has not been quenched yet. It will not be quenched. It is bigger than our country. The difference is that most churches accepted the invasion of their governance because they had already caved by becoming registered charities.
In our text, the Babylonians would possess houses and cities that did not belong to them. They would take possession of land that had long ago been promised to Abraham and his descendants.
In verse 7 we are given further description of the ruthless nature of the Babylonians. Judgment needs to be enacted, but it needs to be righteous judgment. God knows how to give righteous judgment. Without God, judgment will be ruthless.
In verse 8 we read of their tools of warfare. Their horses were well trained and they were fast. They had learned how to function in the midst of a lot of noise and death. They were not easily spooked. Their horsemen were also vicious men who had learned how to fight to win at all cost. They would be like the eagle. The eagle does not care if its claws tear the prey. It is swift and powerful.
In verse 9 we are told that the Babylonians would come for violence. They were not coming just to expand and assimilate the people into their camp. They were going to demonstrate their power and authority. They would take captives, but those captives would have witnessed the violent death of their fellow Jews. They used that tactic to intimidate their captives. A few, like Daniel and his friends, were not intimidated.
The Babylonians would not have any respect for the kings of Judah. They replaced the existing king with one more suited to their desires. They changed his name to prove their power over him.
Verse 11 tells us that king Nebuchadnezzar would change his mind as he invaded Judah in three distinct waves. He would become more ruthless with each invasion. He would not tolerate the resistance of the people. Judah assumed they still had a right to their land. Some of them would use any means available to fight back. This land had belonged to their forefathers. It had been given to them by God. They failed to accept the fact that God had put conditions on their dwelling peacefully in that land. They just assumed it was their land and should never be occupied by anyone else.
God made a promise to Abraham. He repeated that promise to Isaac and to Jacob. He told them to write the promises down and every generation was reminded of this promise. God also told them they needed to obey Him to enjoy that promise. It was not an unconditional promise.
The apostle Paul wrote that not all those that are of Abraham’s seed are of his spiritual seed:

Galatians 3:29  And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

There are thousands of Jews who are suffering in torment in hell today. They will also stand at the great white throne judgment along with thousands of Gentiles. They will all be cast into the lake of fire for all eternity. Being a Jew does not guarantee a home in heaven. Being a Jew does not guarantee protection from attacks. We have seen this with the latest Hamas invasion of Israel.
The promises of God are sure. He promised to protect Israel from destruction. He also promised to punish them if they would rebel against Him.
The same is true for professing Christians. God promises great blessings for those who are truly born again. He also promises to judge truly born again Christians who want to rebel. Even those born again Christians who seek to honour Him will suffer persecution in this wicked world. The difference is that those who are truly born again and seeking to live in obedience to God’s Word, will have a peace that the world cannot give them, nor can it take that away from them.
God is not a ruthless ruler. He is just and righteous in all His dealings. Rather than ignoring or twisting His Word, we would be wise to listen to His Word and know His peace and blessing.
Pastor Bartel