Scripture References: Habakkuk 3:2-6; 17-19
Light dominates the sight of God who comes to deliver the people. Rays, like rays of the sun, shone forth from divine hands, but while the light tells of God’s splendor and might, it also veils the extent of God’s power (verse 4). Even when God has done mighty deeds and we are praising Him for His greatness, there is much more that we have not seen; and we cannot see because we cannot know all of God. Habakkuk was not out of line in approaching God with reverent caution; that is still today our basis of approaching God.
It follows, for Habakkuk, that if God’s people are liberated, then what has kept them from freedom will be destroyed. As God the warrior comes to deliver them, pestilence comes ahead, and plague follows behind as tools of destruction to those who oppose God (verse 5). Pestilence seems to refer to disease, and plague evidently alludes to disasters of nature. The Egyptians had experienced these as severely as they had refused to let God’s people go.
God the warrior, in Habakkuk’s prayer-vision, now takes a position from which He examines the conditions in all the world: “He stood and measured the earth.” And as God looked, nations shook; people became fearful because of what might come to them as a result of this warrior’s judgment. The earth itself feared such acts of judgment: the mountains scatter or crumble, and the hills sink. The earth quakes in fear of the judgment of God because God has been said to have so acted in the past; God’s “ways are everlasting” (verse 6).
If this is how God acts, fear alone is inappropriate; utter terror is called for. Habakkuk is never able to put this out of his mind. His prayer is very honest and genuine. His problem is our problem: What to do with all that is attributed to God? Is God a God of mercy as many have said? Is He a God of judgment as others insist? Or both? Without the benefit of God’s revelation in and through Christ Jesus, Habakkuk moves into the realm of hope and faith and comes, in verses 17–19, to a powerful affirmation of his faith in God’s mercy.
His vision is over. His rehearsal of the dramatic acts of God as warrior has been offered to God and the people who worshiped with Habakkuk. Back into his present, things have not changed. He and His people are still “in the midst of the years,” still in need, still despairing.
But, somehow in spite of all this, Habakkuk, still in worship and dialogue with God, breaks out into song. His song is a magnificent song of trust, and the basis for his desire to find his strength in the Lord.
Though the fig tree may not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines; though the labor of the olive may fail, and the fields yield no food; though the flock may be cut off from the fold, and there be no herd in the stalls— yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation. – Habakkuk 3:17-18.
What if the difficulties continue? What if Habakkuk tells his people there is no relief in sight? What if our crops are destroyed and we end up without basics like figs and grapes and olives or even no food at all? That’s a drastic thought and extreme. He is not proposing some aesthetic lack or being deprived of some frill. He proposes, in his inner reasoning, the possibility of being without a very basic food; doing without food can change everything, attitudes, perceptions, and commitments. For further complications, what if our flocks are lost and livestock is taken by a group presumed to be God’s agents of judgment? Easier said than done to be sure, but at least Habakkuk said it with conviction and sincerity. Even though all these come to pass, he confesses, “I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation.” His response is as extreme as the possibilities he entertains.
To Be Continued
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD 
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