The King of Israel, even the Lord, is in Thou shalt not see evil any more. In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem, And to Zion, "Let not thy hands be slack.' He will save. He will rejoice over thee with joy; He will joy over thee with singing. I will gather them that are sorrowful for the solemn assembly, who are of thee, to whom the reproach of it was a burden. Behold, at that time I will undo all that afflict thee: and I will save her that halteth, and gather her that was driven out; and I will get them praise and fame in every land where they have been put to shame. At that time will I bring you again, even in the time that I gather you: for I will make you a name and a praise among all people of the earth, when I turn back your captivity before your eyes, saith the Lord. HABAKKUK QUESTIONER OF THE WAYS OF GOD, PROPHET OF FAITHFULNESS FASCINATING bit of writing is this little Book of Habakkuk, and A in several respects quite unique. Of the writer we know nothing save that his name, Habakkuk, means one who embraces or clings, or, as Luther has suggested, one who holds up and comforts a weeping one; that he was a contemporary of the great Jeremiah, and like him deeply sensitive under wrong. And though the book is called prophecy, it bears very little resemblance either in form or content to the writings of the other prophets. Ordinarily a prophet is a spokesman for God unto the people, a questioner in the name of God, and a rebuker of the ways of men. Habakkuk, however, is a spokesman for the people unto God, a questioner of the ways of God with men. He holds dialogue with God and not with Israel. He is the first to speculate on the problem of the successful prevalence of unmerited injustice and evil, and to question the adequacy of traditional teaching on the subject. He is thus, in a sense, a philosophical pioneer among the prophets. Josiah, the good king, had enforced the law; the people had accepted it, and in obedience to it had reformed their ways. Following this grand revival had come twelve years of happiness and prosperity that stand forth as the noblest period in Judah's history. Josiah was himself the embodiment of the virtues he taught, a strong, patriotic, and high-minded ruler. And yet, Josiah had been slain in battle while fighting in an honorable cause; Israel was now enduring high-handed injustice and tyranny; and God, seemingly, was allowing it all. Right there lay the prophet's problem. Why was wrong thus allowed to prevail? Why was the law brought to naught? The reply that the Chaldeans were being raised up to avenge the wrong only aggravated the problem; for were not the Chaldeans themselves an exceedingly wicked people? How, then, could a holy God suffer their wicked might to prevail, and use them as an avenging force? Manifestly there was something radically wrong. He could not himself solve the problem, but he could and would wait,-wait in patience upon his watchtower to see what the Lord would say to him. And the Lord promised him a vision, and bade him wait for it. And while he waited, there flashed into his soul this bit of insight: "Behold, his [the wicked's] soul is puffed up; it is not upright in him: But the just shall live by his faith." For that flash of insight we shall forever be grateful to Habakkuk. The road of unswerving faithfulness to God and duty is the road that leads through doubt to light and peace. "The just shall live by his faith!" What a mighty statement! And what a liberating force it has been in Christian history! Paul used it to express the power of his new-found faith in Christ, and emancipated himself and early Christianity from bondage to Judaism. Luther grasped it anew and wrenched himself free from the tyranny of Rome. Wesley found it mighty unto the assuring and deepening of the soul's sense of salvation through Christ. Thoughtful Christians everywhere find it the Magna Charta of the soul. The prophet is here watching the course of world events beyond the horizon of his nation. He sees the Chaldeans, swift, bitter, terrible, who are to sweep down and overwhelm the world. The world in general deserves this inundation of punishment, and his beloved nation of Judah deserves it even more, for Judah has sinned against great light. HABAKKUK THE MIGHTY DELIVERER OD came from Teman, Go And the Holy One from mount Paran. His glory covered the heavens, And the earth was full of his praise. His brightness was as the light; And he had rays coming forth from his hands; Before him went the pestilence, And burning bolts went forth at his feet. He stood, and shook the earth; He beheld, and drove asunder the nations; And the everlasting mountains were scattered; His ways are everlasting. Thou didst cleave the earth with rivers; The mountains saw thee, and they trembled; The overflowing of water passed by; The deep uttered its voice, And lifted up its hands on high. The sun and moon stood still in their habitation; At the light of thine arrows they went, And at the shining of thy glittering spear. Thou wentest forth for the salvation of thy people, Even for salvation with thine anointed. Thou didst walk through the sea with thy horses, Through the depth of great waters. Although the fig tree shall not blossom, And the labor of the olive shall fail, And the flock shall be cut off from the fold, Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. He will make my feet like hinds' feet, HABAKKUK'S PRAYER Yet though the fig tree should no burden bear, Forever praise thy name; Forever thee proclaim The everlasting God, the mighty King of kings. -William Broome |