Last time we looked at Jonah as the Missionary Prophet. This week, we look at Habakkuk, another “Minor Prophet” with a definitively major message. Habakkuk is a Book with just three chapters and again, like Jonah, could easily be read in one sitting. It is often said that the New Testament is in the Old Testament concealed and the New Testament is the Old Testament revealed. When the Lord Jesus Christ was resurrected and met with the two on the road to Emmaus, we are told that He explained Scripture to them speaking of Himself. Peter, shortly after Pentecost said “[i]ndeed, all the prophets from Samuel on, as many as have spoken, have foretold these days”—Acts 3: 24. Habakkuk was one of those Prophets that concealed Christ in His Prophetic Ministry.
While there is no question that Jesus had a primarily salvific (about salvation) message to His audience, which includes you and me, it is also quite clear that Jesus had a socio-ethical message as well. You can see it in the Sermon on the Mount where he speaks of divorce, murder, the breaking of oaths and adultery amongst other things. Jesus tells us to “turn the cheek” when slapped—a social message; tells us to rejoice when we are persecuted—another social message; and in His Olivet Discourse, He points out that we should take care of others in prison. In the life and ministry of Habakkuk, the social message of Jesus as revealed in the New Testament was concealed. In Habakkuk, I see three cries that make him a Social Prophet and I turn to those cries now.
#1: Cries of Violence.
Habakkuk begins with the words: ‘How long, O LORD, will I call for help, And You will not hear? I cry out to You, "Violence!"Yet You do not save’. The cry of Habakkuk is one that should ring true in the life of every Christian (and believer in God in general) as it did in the life of Jesus. When Jesus saw the mis-shepherding by the Jewish leaders in His day, He cried out loudly cleansing the temple at one time and calling the Pharisees “brood of vipers” at another. The fact of the matter is that the believer cannot remain in silence, but must cry out “Violence”.
The first thing Habakkuk tells you and me is that we need to be troubled by the violence prevalent in our world and I hope we Christians don’t think it only exists in the outside world but even so in the Church as well. To be aware of the violence, for example in the Middle East or the continent of my birth—Africa—and not be moved by it, is quite unchristian. And lest we think that violence is a thing of miles away and across the oceans, our streets are littered with “home-grown” rapists , pedophiles and murderers, some of them who are themselves “victims of circumstance”. So troubling was such violence to Habakkuk that he wrestled with God about it. Imagine the audacious boldness to which the Prophet approaches God—Will you not hear? Will you not save? And what Jesus tells you and me is that we need to be burdened by the marring of God’s image in man. We need to cry out “Violence”! The question I leave with you, then, is “Do you cry out against violence when you see it”?
#2: Cries of Injustice.
First Habakkuk cried out against violence. Then there was a second cry in Habakkuk’s life. It is similar to the social cry of violence. We read Habakkuk saying in verse 3 “Why do You make me see iniquity [“injustice”—NIV], And cause me to look on wickedness?” Psalm 89: 14 reads “Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your [God] throne”. You and I can understand Habakkuk’s predicament, can’t we? If indeed God’s throne is founded on righteousness and justice, why does injustice prevail over justice? Further, the Prophet is very perceptive. He says in v. 12 “Are You not from everlasting”. Do you know what the question is implying? If you are God and claim that Justice is the foundation of your throne and are eternal, why in the world can’t you get rid of this injustice? Or maybe it is because you really aren’t an everlasting God, isn’t it? Habakkuk is calling into question the very nature of God because of the nature of the world?
I see a lot of non-Christians making this same cry against injustice. Yet, I wonder if we Christians care for the injustice in our street, in our homes and in our hearts? As a Teaching Assistant, I struggle deeply with this question. There are certain students that one likes and others that are openly annoying and rude. Isn’t there a temptation to be unjust in grading legitimately? And if that application seems trivial to you, who is fighting for the “rights” of the homeless? A friend of mine started a ministry to the homeless that I was privileged to be a part of. It is deeply disturbing. Some of them have great minds. It’s one thing to be, like me, a foreigner; it’s another to be a “foreigner” of sorts in your own “home”. Who is fighting for the “rights” of the African Americans? If there is anything I appreciate from the last elections, I hope that we African Americans can rise to excellence with the prospect and model of the President-Elect. The days of hopelessness are gone. But there is still quite a wealth of injustice on the African American. What Jesus calls me and you to do is to take up the fight for the poor and unprivileged in the midst of injustice. Cry #2 is a cry against injustice.
#3: Cries of Trust.
Finally, I like the way Habakkuk handles his cries. First, He takes it to the LORD, Himself. That is rare, yet very commendable. Secondly, He listens to the LORD’s answer. “Violence”, by definition, means “to violate”. But how can there be violation unless there is initially an objective design or purpose of the violated? How can there be injustice without a pre-cognition of the right of justice? You cannot violate a non-existent law; I cannot violate or abuse the instruction for microwave use if there are no such objective instructions. You see, the disbeliever in God cannot legitimately cry out “violence” because according to him/her, there is no objective design or purpose—there is no “instructions manual” for life so what is there to violate? But you and I have the glorious privilege of knowing that there is an instructions manual for life. Such is found in the Holy Scriptures for man, created in the image of God, is designed for that God. In the words of St. Augustine, “You have made us for Thyself, and we are restless until we find our rest in Thee”.
I was recently asked about the solution to the problem in the Middle East between Jews and Muslims. I presented the message of the Cross as I am deeply convinced that’s the solution. Yet, my questioner discounted it for it was “religious talk”. However, this “religious talk” is sought by secular institutions for even the U.N. called on Dr. Ravi Zacharias, an evangelist, to address it and proffer solutions and wasn’t it Chancellor Konrad Adenauer of Cologne, West Germany on the heels of Hitler’s leveling of that nation who said to evangelist Billy Graham, "Outside the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, I can see no hope for mankind". In those words, I believe there is awesome truth. So, Habakkuk was right in crying out “violence” and we all, believer or not, have that essential God given instinct of noticing violence. But the Christian can point us socially to the One who gives rest, the one who said “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS”. In a world of moral, socio-political, and economical crumbling there is rest from violence and injustice in Christ! In Habakkuk’s words, “I have heard of Your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, O LORD. Renew them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy”—3: 2. He ends with a cry of trust. May we be a people of trust in our ministry as social Prophets!
While there is no question that Jesus had a primarily salvific (about salvation) message to His audience, which includes you and me, it is also quite clear that Jesus had a socio-ethical message as well. You can see it in the Sermon on the Mount where he speaks of divorce, murder, the breaking of oaths and adultery amongst other things. Jesus tells us to “turn the cheek” when slapped—a social message; tells us to rejoice when we are persecuted—another social message; and in His Olivet Discourse, He points out that we should take care of others in prison. In the life and ministry of Habakkuk, the social message of Jesus as revealed in the New Testament was concealed. In Habakkuk, I see three cries that make him a Social Prophet and I turn to those cries now.
#1: Cries of Violence.
Habakkuk begins with the words: ‘How long, O LORD, will I call for help, And You will not hear? I cry out to You, "Violence!"Yet You do not save’. The cry of Habakkuk is one that should ring true in the life of every Christian (and believer in God in general) as it did in the life of Jesus. When Jesus saw the mis-shepherding by the Jewish leaders in His day, He cried out loudly cleansing the temple at one time and calling the Pharisees “brood of vipers” at another. The fact of the matter is that the believer cannot remain in silence, but must cry out “Violence”.
The first thing Habakkuk tells you and me is that we need to be troubled by the violence prevalent in our world and I hope we Christians don’t think it only exists in the outside world but even so in the Church as well. To be aware of the violence, for example in the Middle East or the continent of my birth—Africa—and not be moved by it, is quite unchristian. And lest we think that violence is a thing of miles away and across the oceans, our streets are littered with “home-grown” rapists , pedophiles and murderers, some of them who are themselves “victims of circumstance”. So troubling was such violence to Habakkuk that he wrestled with God about it. Imagine the audacious boldness to which the Prophet approaches God—Will you not hear? Will you not save? And what Jesus tells you and me is that we need to be burdened by the marring of God’s image in man. We need to cry out “Violence”! The question I leave with you, then, is “Do you cry out against violence when you see it”?
#2: Cries of Injustice.
First Habakkuk cried out against violence. Then there was a second cry in Habakkuk’s life. It is similar to the social cry of violence. We read Habakkuk saying in verse 3 “Why do You make me see iniquity [“injustice”—NIV], And cause me to look on wickedness?” Psalm 89: 14 reads “Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your [God] throne”. You and I can understand Habakkuk’s predicament, can’t we? If indeed God’s throne is founded on righteousness and justice, why does injustice prevail over justice? Further, the Prophet is very perceptive. He says in v. 12 “Are You not from everlasting”. Do you know what the question is implying? If you are God and claim that Justice is the foundation of your throne and are eternal, why in the world can’t you get rid of this injustice? Or maybe it is because you really aren’t an everlasting God, isn’t it? Habakkuk is calling into question the very nature of God because of the nature of the world?
I see a lot of non-Christians making this same cry against injustice. Yet, I wonder if we Christians care for the injustice in our street, in our homes and in our hearts? As a Teaching Assistant, I struggle deeply with this question. There are certain students that one likes and others that are openly annoying and rude. Isn’t there a temptation to be unjust in grading legitimately? And if that application seems trivial to you, who is fighting for the “rights” of the homeless? A friend of mine started a ministry to the homeless that I was privileged to be a part of. It is deeply disturbing. Some of them have great minds. It’s one thing to be, like me, a foreigner; it’s another to be a “foreigner” of sorts in your own “home”. Who is fighting for the “rights” of the African Americans? If there is anything I appreciate from the last elections, I hope that we African Americans can rise to excellence with the prospect and model of the President-Elect. The days of hopelessness are gone. But there is still quite a wealth of injustice on the African American. What Jesus calls me and you to do is to take up the fight for the poor and unprivileged in the midst of injustice. Cry #2 is a cry against injustice.
#3: Cries of Trust.
Finally, I like the way Habakkuk handles his cries. First, He takes it to the LORD, Himself. That is rare, yet very commendable. Secondly, He listens to the LORD’s answer. “Violence”, by definition, means “to violate”. But how can there be violation unless there is initially an objective design or purpose of the violated? How can there be injustice without a pre-cognition of the right of justice? You cannot violate a non-existent law; I cannot violate or abuse the instruction for microwave use if there are no such objective instructions. You see, the disbeliever in God cannot legitimately cry out “violence” because according to him/her, there is no objective design or purpose—there is no “instructions manual” for life so what is there to violate? But you and I have the glorious privilege of knowing that there is an instructions manual for life. Such is found in the Holy Scriptures for man, created in the image of God, is designed for that God. In the words of St. Augustine, “You have made us for Thyself, and we are restless until we find our rest in Thee”.
I was recently asked about the solution to the problem in the Middle East between Jews and Muslims. I presented the message of the Cross as I am deeply convinced that’s the solution. Yet, my questioner discounted it for it was “religious talk”. However, this “religious talk” is sought by secular institutions for even the U.N. called on Dr. Ravi Zacharias, an evangelist, to address it and proffer solutions and wasn’t it Chancellor Konrad Adenauer of Cologne, West Germany on the heels of Hitler’s leveling of that nation who said to evangelist Billy Graham, "Outside the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, I can see no hope for mankind". In those words, I believe there is awesome truth. So, Habakkuk was right in crying out “violence” and we all, believer or not, have that essential God given instinct of noticing violence. But the Christian can point us socially to the One who gives rest, the one who said “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS”. In a world of moral, socio-political, and economical crumbling there is rest from violence and injustice in Christ! In Habakkuk’s words, “I have heard of Your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, O LORD. Renew them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy”—3: 2. He ends with a cry of trust. May we be a people of trust in our ministry as social Prophets!
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