Unshakeable Joy Part II

Hab 1:1 The oracle that Habakkuk the prophet saw.

So what happens in the book of Habakkuk that enables this prophet to come to a place of unshakeable joy?  Here’s what I see happening in the book….

1. Habakkuk was bothered that he lived in a nation that claimed to be God’s and yet promoted injustice.  It seemed to him like God was sitting “idly” by and just letting it happen. (Hab. 1:2-4)
2. God tells Habakkuk that He is raising up an evil nation to judge Israel. (Hab. 1:5-11)
3. Habakkuk is then bothered that the Lord was going to use a wicked nation to judge one that is more righteous than they.  He wonders whether this nation (The Chaldeans) will be permitted to continue “mercilessly killing nations forever.”  (Hab. 1:12-2:1)
4. The Lord says (among other things) that He will not permit them to continue, and that He will personally judge them.  He also says that the ones who really live will be the ones who live by faith in Him. (Hab. 2:2 – 3:15)
5. He shows Habakkuk a vision of the ultimate judgment of Christ.  (Hab. 3:3 – 3:15) [VERY important point that may be a little controversial.]
6. Habakkuk comes to a place where he (resides) himself to take joy in God even though circumstances get worse, because he is convinced that everything wrong will eventually be made right by God’s personal intervention.  (Hab. 3:17-19)

What can I learn from this? 

1. Dialogue with God about the circumstances that I am bothered by in which He doesn’t seem involved. 
2. Look for an answer from God.  (The clearest way to do this is to look up Bible verses that relate the topic on my heart and to submit myself to what the Word says.)   
3. Put my hope in His ultimate, coming, and complete salvation.  “Wait” for Him to make things right.  (In areas where He promises to do so and tells me to wait – in particular, the Second Coming of Christ..) 

From what I can personally see, Habakkuk has a vision of God personally visiting the earth and executing justice and pouring our His wrath on the wicked.  He names specific mountains and places in the book and it makes me think that it is not just a theoretical or allegorized example of how God acts but that the Lord showed him an actual vision of what is to come.  The clearest place in the Bible that I see this actually occurring in detail and presented as an actual coming event is in the book of Revelation.  If this is what Habakkuk sees, that is in perfect alignment with other verses, like 1Peter 1:13 “…set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”  If I understand that verse correctly, then I am literally to fix all of my hope on the Day where Jesus returns personally to the earth to bring the salvation that we have been awaiting. 

If my hope is set completely on that day, then I will be less bothered by circumstances now.  That hope is secure. 

Anyway, my personal lesson from Habakkuk is that I need to be more familiar with what happens upon Christ’s return and to really seek to put my heart in that place.