Habakkuk 3:14 Thou didst strike through with his staves the head of his villages: they came out as a whirlwind to scatter me: their rejoicing was as to devour the poor secretly.
15 Thou didst walk through the sea with thine horses, through the heap of great waters.
16 When I heard, my belly trembled; my lips quivered at the voice: rottenness entered into my bones, and I trembled in myself, that I might rest in the day of trouble: when he cometh up unto the people, he will invade them with his troops.
17 Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls:
18 Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation.
19 The LORD God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds’ feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places. To the chief singer on my stringed instruments.
God is very patient. He wants His children to know the truth and understand the truth. He wants His children to have confidence in Him. There are many rebels who are not interested in the truth. Judah was going into bondage to the Babylonians because they had already placed themselves in bondage to the devil. They had rejected God and they needed to experience where that rejection led them. God had sent them many prophets who had warned them of the danger they were in. God had also slowly and carefully removed some of His blessings from them, however it did not matter to them. They just continued to rebel.
Habakkuk understood that Judah needed to be punished. His problem was with how God chose to punish them. He was not like so many who are bleeding hearts and enable the wicked to continue in their wickedness. Habakkuk understood the need for judgment. He wondered at why God was doing things the way He was.
God knew the heart of Habakkuk. He knows the heart of every person. He knows those who are His and He knows those who are pretenders. He also knows those who are outright rebels who do not even care to pretend. He deals with each one according to His righteousness.
In the short book of Habakkuk, we can see again how important it is to be a child of God. I listened to an interview regarding the state of our country. The two people were both conservatively minded. They could both see that there is a major problem in our country. They were at a loss to figure out why so many people were still willing to support the current government. It is amazing to observe people who can see there is a problem, but they are completely in the dark as to how to address the problem.
This same situation exists in churches. Years ago I pastored an Independent Baptist church and some people that I knew came to talk to me one day. They liked some of what we were doing, but they thought I was too firm on the Bible. They wanted me to loosen up somewhat and they said they would bring a number of people with them to join us. I told them that would be a useless venture. I told them that if we do not have the Word of God as our authority, in no time at all our church would be just like the ones they were disappointed in.
We need to be reminded of who we are if we are saved and what God has done for us to save us. God rehearsed His love and mercy toward the nation of Israel. He reminded Habakkuk of how He had guided them. In our text today, He was continuing to remind Habakkuk of Israel’s past. In the review that God gave, He did not do so in a chronological order. He chose different events from different time frames according to His purpose. In verse 14 He spoke of driving out the Canaanites from their villages and cities. He defeated the Canaanites in every place. At Ai, Israel faltered due to their sin. The people of Ai were emboldened by Israel’s sin and subsequent defeat. It was Achan that had stolen from the LORD, but Joshua did not bother to consult with God before he commanded the people to advance against Ai. If he would have done so, God would have told him there was sin in the camp. After they dealt with the sin, God gave them victory over the city of Ai. From there they continued to take more territory according to God’s will.
In verse 15 God seems to be looking back further to the crossing of the Red Sea and the Jordan River again. He stopped the waters and He led the nation through the waters and drowned the Egyptians in that same water. Israel did not have horses but God spoke figuratively of His horses.
In verse 16, Habakkuk is directed to look ahead to the judgment that God was inflicting upon Judah. In spite of all the blessings He had bestowed upon them in the past, the time had come for Him to deal in His wrath upon them. Habakkuk had concerns about this earlier in this chapter. Habakkuk had pleaded with God that He might act in mercy toward His people. God is always merciful. If it were not for His mercy, man would not exist.
Habakkuk was right to tremble at the LORD’s dealings. He was not right to try to interfere with God’s justice. We are reminded here again that the righteous do not rejoice in the punishment that God inflicts upon others. We would want others to heed God’s warnings and repent. We also must understand that when God acts, it is always justified.
In verse 17 we see some symbolism used to describe the situation. God referred to Israel as a fig tree. He also used the illustration of the vine and the olive tree as well as that of the sheep. All of those plants were designed to produce good fruit. However, Israel had turned away from the Lord and she could not produce good fruit. That is why she had to go into exile. Israel spent 70 years in exile. Seventy years where they could have been growing and serving the Lord, yet they were in a strange land, kept under by ruthless kings. Only a few like Daniel and his three friends were fruitful in that strange land. The rest just blended into the society and culture.
In verse 18, we see that Habakkuk submitted to the LORD’s authority and he chose to rejoice in the LORD. He did not rejoice in the suffering of his people, but He could rejoice in the LORD. He could submit himself to walking in the fear of the LORD. He could joy in the God of his salvation. A God-fearing person does not need to be dragged down by those who do not want to walk in the fear of the LORD. We can choose right and we can press on in truth.
In verse 19 Habakkuk knew that the LORD God was his strength. Notice again this is Jehovah God — the self-existent God Who is well able to do all that He says He will do. He does not make idle talk. Habakkuk also acknowledged God as his Lord, his Master. This has to be the testimony of every born again Christian. We cannot assume that we can dictate to God what we will do for Him. He dictates what we must do and if we are truly His child, then we submit to His will. This is a learning process, but the heart attitude must be there.
Habakkuk would be like that female deer that was firm-footed and strong. He did not need to slip. He could walk in the high places. Those high places were the places that God designed for His children.
In the New Testament, Peter was reluctant to simply obey the Lord. He looked behind him and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved. He wanted to know what he needed to do. Jesus reminded him that he did not need to concern himself with others. We do need to show concern fellow believers’ spiritual well being. However, when it comes to the service that God wants of us, we press on regardless of whether anyone is coming along or not. We seek to encourage fellow saints, but we do not allow them to drag us down.
Habakkuk learned some important lessons in this book. He wrote them down so that man could learn them as well. We see that this book was to be used as a song to be sung. Again, we see that God’s music is much different than that of the CCM and the rockers. This book is not a feel good book. It is not designed to get a person jigging. It is a solemn book that is needful so that we do not forget who we are if we are saved and how important it is to remind ourselves and those around us of what God provides for those whom He saves. Careless living is not a trademark of born again Christians. It was not a trademark of God’s people in the Old Testament and it is not a mark of His people in our time.
As we have often mentioned, we do not believe in replacement theology. However, there is much we can learn from studying God’s dealings with both Jews and Gentiles in the Old Testament. That is what God tells us:
Romans 15:4 For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.
Let us be sure we can claim the LORD God as our strength. We need that strength in the time in which we live.
Pastor Bartel
