A question that I, and many others who teach about the
end times receive concerns what, if anything, the Bible has to say about the
times we are living in today. My answer
is; quite a lot actually. A saying I
have heard often, not only while studying the Bible but when studying history
while in college is, “the past is prologue”.
Something else most who choose to study prophecy in the Bible are aware
of is the principle of dual fulfillment, where prophecies made in the Word are
seemingly fulfilled more than once. I
would like to share with you in the next few weeks a study done by Jack Kelley
on the prophecies of Habakkuk which illustrate this point rather well. I hope you enjoy them as much as I have.
Habakkuk; A Bible Study by Jack Kelley
The prophet Habakkuk wrote about the same time as
Jeremiah, Daniel, and Ezekiel. It was just before the Babylonians swooped down
upon Judah to punish them for their idolatry, finally carrying them off in 586
BC after 19 years of siege and failed diplomacy. As they left, they destroyed
the city and the Temple, taking its priceless artifacts along with their
captives to Babylon for 70 years of servitude. All this had been foretold by
Jeremiah from Jerusalem and Ezekiel from Babylon, where he and Daniel had been
held as hostages since the early stages of the conquest.
First, A Summary
Habakkuk’s message differs from the other prophets in
that it consists solely of a dialog with God. It opens with Habakkuk’s
complaint that God would allow so much evil to prosper in the land without
doing anything about it.
In response, Habakkuk learns that God is finally going to
act, but has chosen the Babylonians, a people much more evil than the
Israelites, to do the job. He can’t believe it. Sure, Judah deserves to be
punished, but how can a righteous God justify using such an evil force as
Babylon against His own people? Instead of being judged themselves, the most
depraved and unjust nation on Earth is going to be rewarded with the chance to
punish God’s people. How is that fair? Now Habakkuk’s really upset!
Throughout he gets the benefit of God’s perspective and
finally, as is always the case when man questions God, winds up apologizing.
Now, The Application
While the prophecies of Habakkuk were largely fulfilled
in the Babylonian conquest, there’s a striking similarity between conditions in
Judah in 600BC and those in the Western World, especially America, today.
Commenting on Israel’s history, the Apostle Paul said,
“These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings
for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come.” (1 Cor. 10:11) In other
words, events in Israel’s history had the dual purpose of instructing them
through experience and us through observation.
I believe it was Mark Twain who said, “The only time
experience is the best teacher is when it’s somebody else’s experience.” This
is exactly what God had in mind for us, to learn from Israel’s experience. And
that includes the events of Habakkuk’s time.
Someone else said that those who fail to learn from
history are condemned to repeat it, so as we go through this study let’s
remember that, like ancient Israel, much of the West at one time claimed to
believe in God and pledged our fidelity to Him. But now we’ve denied that
belief in large part, and have withdrawn our fidelity.
Like Israel we began by first tolerating and then
following other gods. Like Israel we started out by including them with Him in
our worship and moved from there to excluding Him altogether in favor of them.
As we’ve done this, our system of justice has failed and evil is triumphing
over good all too often. In short we’re as ripe for judgment as they were.
Is it merely coincidence that a powerful force from the
very region on Earth that spawned the Babylonians, a force we consider to be
much more evil than we are, has arisen with the stated goal of judging God’s
people both Jew and Christian? Or is history repeating itself? If it is then
the Prophecies of Habakkuk could have easily been written for our time as well.
Let’s find out.
Habakkuk’s Complaint
The oracle that Habakkuk the prophet received. How long,
O LORD, must I call for help, but you do not listen? Or cry out to you,
“Violence!” Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrong?
Destruction and violence are before me; there is strife, and conflict abounds.
Therefore the law is paralyzed, and justice never prevails. The wicked hem in
the righteous, so that justice is perverted. (Habakkuk 1:1-4)
As it was in Habakkuk’s time, concerned believers bemoan
the current state of affairs in the world wondering why God puts up with it.
They witness the breakdown of family, the increase of violence, the systematic
perversion of justice, and the seeming triumph of evil over good, and shake
their heads in bewilderment.
The Lord‘s Answer
“Look at the nations and watch- and be utterly amazed.
For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if
you were told. I am raising up the Babylonians, that ruthless and impetuous
people, who sweep across the whole earth to seize dwelling places not their
own. They are a feared and dreaded people; they are a law to themselves and
promote their own honor. Their horses are swifter than leopards, fiercer than
wolves at dusk. Their cavalry gallops headlong; their horsemen come from afar.
They fly like a vulture swooping to devour; they all come bent on violence.
Their hordes] advance like a desert wind and gather prisoners like sand. They
deride kings and scoff at rulers. They laugh at all fortified cities; they
build earthen ramps and capture them. Then they sweep past like the wind and go
on— guilty men, whose own strength is their god.” (Habakkuk 1:5-11)
Many wonder if the dramatic increase in the frequency and
intensity of natural disasters is signaling God’s displeasure, but very few
have defined the sudden rise of Islamic terrorism as a judgment from God. Even
considering the possibility provokes the same question from us as it did from
Habakkuk. How could a righteous God use such an evil force against His people?
And yet in the past He’s used the Egyptians, the Philistines, the Assyrians,
the Romans, the Germans, the Russians and others, all godless in their time and
all evil in their motivations. The only difference is that He came right out
and told His people He was using many of those others, and so far as we know He
hasn’t said anything like that about Islamic terrorism. (Of course the
terrorists have said it, but nobody believes them.) Again I ask, is it just
coincidence or are we supposed to draw conclusions about this from history?
Maybe we’re just like the people of Habakkuk’s time in that we wouldn’t believe
it even if we were told.
To be continued…
Keep watching.
