The Minor Prophets: #8 Habakkuk

"Questions, questions, questions. Don’t you ever wish God would answer your questions? How much longer will I be sick? Who will I marry? Why must people suffer?I certainly am that way. When I don’t understand something I go straight to God. I don’t think he thought my questions were disrespectful. I was not being critical… I just wanted help understanding the mind of God! If there was anyone holding on tight to God during this time, it was me!..."

Do you have questions you would like God to answer? I certainly do! I have cried out to God many times for answers. Sometimes he has been quiet, and other times he has given a reply. Was it always the answer I wanted to hear? No. Was it always good news? No. But in process of asking the questions and listening for the answers we develop an intimate relationship with God... a relationship of trust and patience, of openness and honesty. Habakkuk was a guy like that. He did not hold back with God. Like David, he laid out the difficult questions before God, not because his faith was weak, but because his faith was strong. He trusted God to hear his questions, and give him real answers.

When God's answer to our question is not something we want to hear, how do we respond? Let's see how Habakkuk reacted to unfavorable news... news of an impending invasion. We must all learn to guard our hearts in these last days. Here is some help from Habakkuk. Thanks, Gabe Shader, for narrating Habakkuk! You are so much like him! Keep asking questions! To print a worksheet click here. For the scriptures and questions, click here!

Scriptures: Habakkuk (Whole book), 2 Chronicles 35: 20-26, 2 Kings 23: 31-37, 24: 1-7, 35: 20-26, 36:1-8, Daniel 1:1-3, Jeremiah 36

Questions:

1. What were the three questions Habakkuk asked God? Have you ever asked God those questions? What questions do you ask Him?

2.What was Habakkuk's response to bad news, the coming judgment of Judah? How can we apply this response to our own lives?

3. Why do you think that the reforms of Josiah did not last into the next generation? Why are so many of the young people leaving the churches today? What can we do about it?'

4. How was Habakkuk's relationship with God different than some of the other prophets?

5. The prophets taught us much about how to wait on God, and be patient. What are some things we must wait on God and be patient for?

6. What words of encouragement can you give someone who is going through a difficult time of life and has no answers?

Activity: Write out some of the questions you have asked God in the past, and received answers for. How did God answer you? What was your response? Now write out some questions you have for God right now. Pray the questions to God and prepare your heart to receive the answers--whatever he decides them to be!

Activity: David was a man after God's own heart! He asked God many questions, too. Read the following Psalms, and write down the question. Then, pay attention how David prayed about the question he asked! Have fun! Psalm 10:1, Psalm 12:1, Psalm 13: 1-2, Psalm 14:4, Psalm 22:1, Psalm 35:17, Psalm 43:2, Psalm 44: 23

Don't miss this full length movie on the Prophet Jeremiah! (1:21) Or, watch a few clips:

Here is the rest of the text of the video!

My name is Habakkuk, and I was a prophet during the death throes of Judah.My name means, “One who embraces or clings.” Zephaniah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel were there, too, along with some of the others. I was born during the reign of good king Josiah, but my book was written around 609 BC during the reign of Jehoakim, his son. After king Josiah died in that same year in a battle with the Egyptians, his son Jehoahaz became king for 3 months. That did not last very long! The Egyptians attacked and put our country of Judah under a tribute of 100 talents of silver. In a sense, that meant we had been “conquered” by them, and as long as we paid the required “taxes” they would leave us alone. They carried King Jehoahaz off to Egypt and he died there. Then they crowned Jehoakim (another son of Josiah) to take his place.

Now, King Jehoakim was no King Josiah. Don’t you wonder how a kid with a wonderful father like Josiah, could end up being so evil? He reigned 11 years, and was a wicked king. Oh, yes, Jehoakim did pay the Egyptians their tribute, but he exacted all the money from the people of Judah, the common folk! Now, in his days, the Babylonians and Chaldeans set their eyes on our country, and came up against Judah and Jerusalem for the first time. King Nebuchadnezzar entered Jerusalem, and Judah now became a vassal state to Babylon for three years. Many of the young princes were taken into captivity, including Daniel! They also took many of the treasures from the temple.

But let’s back up. My words were penned at the beginning of King Jehoakim’s reign. Judah was a mess. Many of the prophets, including Micah, Isaiah and Zephaniah, had been predicting captivity into Babylon for some time now. Although Josiah’s reforms were noble, they had not affected the hearts of the people. Power had concentrated into the hands of an elite few. The rich were exploiting the poor, and everyone was filled with greed. How long was God going to put up with this stubborn and obstinate people? Did they think God will be patient with them forever?

King Jehoiakim wanted nothing to do with us, the prophets. He burned Jeremiah’s scroll! I sat down and just poured out my heart to God about it one day. Have you ever done that? I cried out to him, telling him things he already knew… that the city was full of violence, strife and contention! Therefore there was no justice. The wicked were winning, surrounding the righteous. The city was falling apart.

So I asked God, How long will I cry to you and you will not hear? I look around this nation and all I see is violence. Why aren’t you doing something about this Lord?

If you are used to talking to God, you realize that sometimes he answers you right away, and sometimes he does not. Talk to him anyways. But in this case, he answered, but it was not the answer I wanted to hear. The Chaldeans were coming to take us out! They were a bitter and hasty nation, terrible and dreadful. They were a powerful military force that showed no mercy. I had heard the warning about the Babylonians and Chaldeans before, but this time it hit home.

So then, I asked my second question. Seriously, God! How can you use them to discipline us? They are more wicked than we are! They devour men more righteous than themselves! How can this be possible? I know you have marked them for judgment, too! Will you let them continue to slay nations without pity?

I sat down, then, and awaited Yahweh’s reply. I decided to set a watch until I heard from him about this! I needed to know! And, I knew he would correct me somehow, but I just could not understand what God was doing.

God answered me again and said, “Write down what I am about to tell you. In the future, my people are going to need these words, for they are about an appointed time in the future. It is going to happen! Though it tarries, wait for it! It will surely come!

Then he said this. Behold the proud. His soul is not upright in him, But the just shall live by his faith.

What? It took me some time to process this thought. Why this? Why now? Then I understood. The Chaldeans, and much of the people of Judah were proud, and their souls were not upright. They had to be judged! But the others...the ones that believed in Yahweh? It was their faith that kept propelling them forward into life.

At that point I was writing faster and faster because God was talking and I didn’t want to miss anything. I knew he was talking about the wicked in our day, but also about the last days, too. In the last days, there would be a world leader, who wanted to be in charge of the entire world! And the people of Israel, would be asking the same questions, then. How long, Lord? He reassured me. One day, the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord! Wait for it!

I began to think I had really aroused God’s anger with all these questions. He kept saying, “Woe to them…! Woe to him who increases that which is not his. How long? Woe to him who covets evil gain for his house! Woe to him who builds a town with bloodshed! Woe to him who gives drink to his neighbor, and worships wooden and stone idols! Oh, yes, judgment was coming.

I was thankful I did not serve a God of wood and stone. Yahweh God, the living God, was in his holy temple. He was a just God, but also a merciful one. Then I remembered the words, “Let all the earth keep silence before him!” So I sat and was silent for a time, and became overwhelmed with fear. Fear of what was coming to Jerusalem, soon! Fear of the anger of the Lord! Fear of what would happen to all the people, both in our day, and in the future. But I did what I always do when I became afraid… I prayed again.

Oh, Lord, I said, in your wrath, remember mercy! You are such an amazing and awesome God! Your glory fills the whole earth, and the heavens, too! It was then I reminded the Lord of the vision he had given me! He was coming, in all his glory, to judge the nations, and trample them in his anger. He was going forth for the salvation of his people, Israel! Led by his anointed, Jesus! The vision was so clear by this time I was shaking, and my lips were quivering. I was praying for mercy~ praying that I could rest in the day of this trouble, on the Great Day of the Lord!

As I sat to ponder this thought, I gained a new resolve. No matter what happened, I was going to rejoice in God! I was going to take joy in the God of my salvation. I remembered that my strength comes totally from God, and no matter what happened he would strengthen my feet to walk through anything, and help me walk on high places with him! I cast my lot totally with Yahweh God. What he had said was right… The just shall live by faith. I did not need to know all the answers ahead of time. I just needed to trust him.