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HAT is the thing from which we
need to be saved? It seems that many of the prophets emphasized how the pains,
deaths and tragedies of life demand that we need a Savior. And of course, we who suffer can indeed be
most intensely aware of our need for a Savior. There is nothing amiss in that.
But Habakkuk seems to have been a little deeper in his thinking than the
average saint. Habakkuk's burden; Habakkuk's concern was related to the vices
of his people (vs. 2-4), not simply the danger that those vices would induce.
And, when God revealed to Habakkuk that He was going to use the Babylonians to
beat the devil out of Judah, instead of being focused on and disturbed by the
level of pain that the Jews would be facing, Habakkuk was repulsed by the vices
of the Babylonians (vs. 12-17).
God's answers to Habakkuk are as
intriguing as are Habakkuk's questions for God. In vs. 5-11 we get to read
God's answer to Habakkuk's original questions. In fact, God even warned
Habakkuk that His answer (though true) would be unbelievable (vs. 5). He was
going to use a nation that was even more wicked than the Jews to punish them
for their sins. He would use the idolatrous Babylonians. Habakkuk 1:11 includes
the realization and revelation that although God knew how the Babylonians would
attribute their successes to a false god, He determined to use them for His own
purposes anyway. He would deal with Babylon later on. His ultimate purpose at
this point was to purge the Jewish mind of its sinfulness. He used (and is
still using) Babylon to accomplish that purpose. His works are sometimes very
strange to us, but they are always perfect.
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