[Faith-talk] Baffling Bible Questions Answered for Monday, August 8, 2016

[Paul Smith]

Hello and greetings to my astute Bible students out in cyberspace.  I 
hope that you are all doing well, by God's matchless grace and His 
providential care.

This week we only have one book to deal with, namely the prophecy of 
Habakkuk, so let's see what our unknown named author has to tell us 
about him and his book.



Question:  Who wrote this book, and what themes and issues does it deal with?

Answer:  Habakkuk, like Jeremiah, prophesied during the last decades of 
Judah's existence as a nation.  His was a unique concern:  How could a 
holy God permit the sin the prophet observed in Judah to go unpunished? 
When God showed Habakkuk the punishment He was preparing, Habakkuk 
wondered how a holy God could use an evil people as His agent.  The 
Book of Habakkuk warns Judah that judgment is sure coming and 
demonstrates the need for the believer to rest on her faith in God when 
devastating judgments fall.



HABAKKUK 2

Question:  How can God as a judge justify giving success to a cruel 
people bent on conquest?

Answer:  We human beings consistently assume that success is good and 
that conquering nations or wealthy individuals is in some sense 
blessed.  When Habakkuk raised the question of how God could permit a 
wicked nation sinful though the people of Judah were, God pointed out 
that He was, in fact, punishing the Babylonians even as they achieved 
their greatest military successes.  The principles of present judgment 
of the successful wicked that are spelled out in Habakkuk 2 are that:  
(1) however great successes of the wicked, they remain dissatisfied 
(2:4, 5); (2) the actions of the wicked arouse hostility and enmity 
(2:6-8); (3) the wealth and power they gain, rather than providing them 
security, makes them vulnerable to others who want their place 
(2:9-11); (4) the material things they gain are even now in a process 
of decay (2:12-14); (5) ultimately they will be repaid in kind by those 
whom they have mistreated (2:15-17).

The point here is that God does not let the wicked get away with 
anything.  Instead, He has structured a truly moral universe in which 
wickedness creates the conditions for its own punishment, a universe in 
which the wicked, however well off they may seem, can never experience 
satisfaction and peace.

And there, brief as it is, is your look at the short book of Habakkuk.  
I hope that today's post along this line was a blessing for you.

Until next Monday when, Lord willing the next chapter of this column 
will be posted, may the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob just keep us 
safe, individually and collectively, in these last days in which we 
live.  Your Christian friend and brother, Paul