Reflections on Habakkuk and JMB's "The Minor Prophets: Volume 2"

   

         This post is dedicated to my sweet husband for his book recommendation and verbal processing with me and Alstair Begg due to his beautiful sermon on Habakkuk a couple weeks ago. I was inspired by the two of them to dive into the minor prophets over the past couple weeks, and it has been such a rich and rewarding experience. So basically, for my post today I just wanted to long-windedly discuss and say that I highly recommend simultaneously reading Habakkuk and James Montgomery Boice's book, "The Minor Prophets: Volume 2." 😊
         Habakkuk is perhaps not a typical choice for your spring quarantine reading. Experiencing the author's description of the impending judgment on God's people at the hands of the cruel and merciless Babylonians just doesn't shout "fun" or "let's brighten the day." The book doesn't shy away from hard questions and the very real terror the prophet expresses, "I hear and my body trembles; my lips quiver at the sound; rottenness enters into my bones; my legs tremble beneath me" (Hab. 3:16). Not really a quote you would put on your computer desk to inspire your Monday, right? However, despite this depiction of fear and terrible hardship, Habakkuk has strangely been the most encouraging reading I've done since our lockdown began 7 weeks ago.
         In its three brief chapters, Habakkuk covers a wide range of questions, which the author directs toward God. As James Montgomery Boice writes, "Habakkuk is profound because it raises deep questions about the workings of God in history--why God does what he does, why he does it in the way that he does, and why he sometimes does nothing" (400). Much like us looking at our world today, Habakkuk sees the brokenness, the pain, and the lack of justice for so many (Hab. 1:4). His words sound all too familiar as we think about racial and socio-economic inequities; the paralyzing fear of hearing that our loved ones have gotten sick; the fear for our economy and the future; the concerns over the state of the church and how the gospel can go forth in the midst of lockdowns; or, if you are like me, the state of your own sinful heart as you wrestle with patience with each other in restricting times; trust as we combat the sleepless nights of hurting for those around us; joy in the mundane and even in the somewhat terrifying day-to-day of living in a pandemic; issues of sphere sovereignty as we navigate the virus and our communities; and the pain of being separated from the people we love (and even the people we struggle to love😉).
         In response to Habakkuk's questioning and lamenting over the brokenness he sees, God answers Habakkuk, saying, "For I am doing a work in your days that you would not believe if told" (Hab. 1:5). At first this seems comforting; perhaps God is planning to save them from judgment due to the reforms of Josiah, as described in 2 Kings 23? Maybe God will step in and immediately end the suffering and injustice: "Well, you've really tried so I've decided to cancel the Babylonians and bring back King David right here on the spot." That's what I would be hoping. (Or, to briefly transport it to our day and time, maybe God will step in and immediately end the pandemic and all the fear, hurt and pain?) But no, instead, God responds to Habakkuk by saying He is working to bring judgment at the hand of wicked Babylon that will surely come, later stating, "If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay" (Hab. 2:3). God's responses raise a huge dillema for Habakkuk. How can this be God's plan? To raise up Babylon to bring judgment when they as a nation are pretty much the epitome of wickedness? (Hab. 1:13). 
         My goodness. How is this comforting? As the reader we are then shocked to see Habakkuk's change in attitude from a questioning complaint to rejoicing in response to God's answers. Habakkuk's change occurs even in the face of this definite coming of a pain and judgment at the hands of Babylon (a prospect that we honestly can't even begin to imagine). Somehow Habakkuk is led to sing and rejoice in the Lord? "Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. God, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer's; he makes me tread on my high places. To the choirmaster with stringed instruments." (Hab. 3:17-19). (And not only is Habakkuk singing, he's clearly writing a song for others to join and sing as well, as the verse ends noting that it is a song for the choirmaster with stringed instruments and thus to be put to music).
         Why is this and how can this be? How can he rejoice in the Lord in the face of judgment? It is because Habakkuk has recognized that the Lord is seated on His throne and is still at work,  bringing about good even in ways that seem to make no sense to His people. "But the Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him" (Hab. 2:20).  And because of this reality, God gives the charge that "the righteous shall live by his faith" (Hab. 2:4). Habakkuk thus dwells on who God is, this God who is seated on His throne, and what He has done. "You went out for the salvation of your people, for the salvation of your anointed" (Hab. 3:13). He knows God and His history of saving His people, and therefore Habakkuk has a joy and trust, and so also may we. As Boice writes, "God's mighty past acts in history amply demonstrate that he is able to save those who look to him in faith. But he has also promised to save his people and therefore will save them. The God who makes promises stands by his promises. The God who makes oaths keeps them" (431-432).
         Yes, suffering and pain and hardship will come, and, in fact, we are even assured it will (John 15:20). It may even last the entire duration of our lives (something I've watched many grapple with over the years). But, there is still a God on His throne. And He is a good God. As the author of Hebrews writes, expanding on the words of Habakkuk, "you endured a hard struggle with suffering . . . Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised. For, 'Yet a little while, and the coming one will come and will not delay; but my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.' But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls" (Hebrews 10:32-39). It is towards eternal hope that Habakkuk and we can look and have hope and persevere, living by faith, knowing that "our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all" (2 Cor. 4:17).  
         And this is why I loved these two books. Hopefully you got at least two take-aways and can glean more from your own readings of these two books. 1) There is some perspective, we don't have the Babylonians coming to conquer us (that's a real plus compared to our struggles not being able to find toilet paper or to have a beautiful 401k), and 2) even if we did, we can sing, knowing that God is on His throne, He has been and will always be faithful, and there is such a hope to come at the end. I hope this long reflection and recommendation encourages our hearts as we seek to live joyfully in the midst of quarantine. We are never to ignore the pain and deny the hardship, but we are to persevere with joy to the end.

         With love, Jack Jack. Tomorrow I will tell you about my new favorite food.....oatmeal banana pancakes thanks to my dear soon-to-be sister-in-law's ingenious cooking skills.