A Call For Justice

Again, Habakkuk reflects on what the Babylonians are doing. He says it's like a fisherman with a dragnet catching everything in its path, indiscriminately. And not only that; he then offers a sacrifice to his nets. He treats them as his god because he thinks they've provided him with his food. Surely God can see that this sort of pagan worshipper deserves to be punished, not used to punish others.

As he reflects on all of this his conclusion appears to be that no, God won't let the unrighteous Babylonians go unpunished. He will judge them for their violence and their pagan worship. So there must be some sort of explanation for what's happening in the world at the moment.

So he stops and says to himself: “1I will stand at my watchpost, and station myself on the rampart; I will keep watch to see what he will say to me, and what he will answer concerning my complaint.”

As much as he wants God to act, he realises that it's not for him to set the time and type of response. All he can do is to wait and watch to see what God will say to him, what God will do with his complaint.

As God's people we're often forced to wait for God to answer, aren't we? We ask him to do something but no immediate answer comes back. All we can do is wait and keep asking. Sometimes we don't see an answer until we look back and see how God has acted. At other times we just keep waiting.

I'm reminded of the early disciples who were waiting for Jesus to return as he'd promised. It was a bit disconcerting to think how the years had passed and nothing had happened when they thought he'd return in their lifetime?

Well, Peter, in his second letter, addresses that question. Here's what he says: “The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some think of slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9) His answer was that God's slowness was connected with his loving patience, as he waited on more people to call on Jesus for forgiveness.

That may well be part of the answer to Habakkuk's complaint. As he cried out for an end to violence he didn't realise what it was he was asking for. Yes, God would bring an end to the violence of the powerful in Jerusalem, but it'd be at the cost of thousands of lives as the Babylonian army came to conquer the whole land and drag off the survivors to exile in Babylon. And it would cause huge dismay among believers when they saw how Jerusalem was being destroyed by this pagan army.

Well, let's think for a moment about what we can learn from this first chapter of Habakkuk.

First we need to be careful what we ask for when we make our complaints to God. Sometimes God delays bringing justice to the world because the price of justice is so high.

Second. we shouldn't be surprised if we see God's justice being brought about by unjust men and women. Remember that the forgiveness of our sins was brought about by Jesus' death at the hands of wicked men and women.

Third, remember that when you see things happening that you don't think are right, stop and take a moment to think it through theologically, starting with your knowledge of God, then be prepared to wait to let God decide when's the right time to act to right the wrongs of this world.