CHAPTER ONE. (Continued from page 230.)
The opening verses of the first chapter set before us the deep exercises of the prophet's soul on account of the fallen estate of the nation of Judah, dear to his heart, not only because they were his people, but because he knew them to be Jehovah's peculiar treasure; now, alas, so defiled and marred by sin.
"The ,burden which Habakkuk the prophet did see. O Lord, how long shall I cry, and Thou wilt not hear! even cry out unto Thee of violence, and Thou wilt not save! Why dost Thou show me iniquity, and cause me to behold grievance ? for spoiling and violence are before me:and there are that raise up strife and contention. Therefore the law is slacked, and judgment doth never go forth:for the wicked doth compass about the righteous; therefore wrong judgment proceedeth " (vers. 1-4). In a few graphic touches he depicts, as by a master hand, the various evils afflicting the unhappy nation. He takes no delight in thus portraying the sins of those so tenderly loved. It is into the ear of God, not of man, that he pours his complaint. For long he has been crying to Him; and now, overwhelmed with a sense of the hopelessness of recovery, he appeals to Jehovah in accents fraught with deepest anguish and concern. Could it be that his prayer was to go unheeded ? If not, how long must he supplicate ere the Lord gave evidence that He had heard and was about to interfere ?
He felt, as many another has done, that it were better not to see the evil than to see it only to be burdened thereby, seeing no remedy for the state that so distressed his sensitive soul.
There is grave danger, in the present disordered condition of Christendom, that one who is able to see things in the light of the word of God may be similarly affected. Some there are who, quite conscious of the lapsed state of the Church, and aware of the unholy influences at work, can yet be supremely indifferent to it all ; manifesting thereby their lack of real heart for what so intimately concerns the glory of God and the welfare of His saints. Others, whose eyes have been anointed and whose consciences have been exercised by the Holy Spirit, are in danger of being unduly oppressed and disheartened by the rising power of the mystery of iniquity. Quick to see dishonor done to Christ and departure from the truth on the right hand and on the left, they are oppressed in spirit by the seemingly irremediable and distressing conditions prevailing.
Needless to say, both are wrong. Indifferent, no truly exercised soul could or should be. But disheartened none need be; for all has been long since foreseen and provided for. It was so with Israel:it is so with the Church. No failure on the part of man can avail to thwart the purposes of God.
In regard to Judah, the greatest danger was from the spirit of strife and contention prevailing among the people, giving rise to spoiling and violence. As a result, the law was ignored, and judgment miscarried. The wicked were in high places, and perverted statutes proceeded from them.
It was surely enough to bow the soul before God; not as one competent to pass sentence upon others, but as one who was a part of that which had so grievously failed. This is where Habakkuk is found. He was one of them that sighed and cried for the abominations done in what had once been the holy city.
Nor does Jehovah ignore His servant's cry; but He answers him, telling of the chastisement He had prepared for the instruction of His disobedient and rebellious people. "Behold ye among the heathen, and regard, and wonder marvelously:for I will work a work in your days, which ye will not believe, though it be told you" (ver. 5). This is the verse quoted by Paul at Antioch of Pisidia, when warning the Jews of the danger to which they were exposed if they neglected the gospel of Christ (Acts 13:40, 41). There, the work so wondrous, in which none would believe, though it be told them, was the work of grace wrought out on Calvary's cross. In the Lord's reply to Habakkuk's entreaty, it was His strange work of judgment. Though it seem to be unbelievable, He was raising up the Chaldeans- "that bitter and hasty nation"-to "march through the breadth of the land, to possess the dwelling-places that were not theirs." Terrible and dreadful, carrying out what they thought were but the purposes of their own hearts, that they should come up with their vast and irresistible armies against Jerusalem, like the eagle hastening to its prey! They should be permitted to override all the power and dignity of Judah; as a result of which they would be lifted up in. pride, imputing their power unto their false gods. In such manner Jehovah was about to deal with His wayward people (vers. 6-11).
Is there not for us a weighty lesson in all this ? Of old, in regard to the Egyptians, we are told that God "turned their heart to hate His people" (Psa. 105 :25). In our short-sightedness we might only have seen the energy of Satan's power; but it was the Lord that used even Satan to chasten His people. So here:He it is who brings the armies of Nebuchadnezzar to the gates of Zion!
And has He not dealt in a similar manner with the Assembly ? It is customary to bewail the divisions and the distressing state of Christendom, and particularly of those who have learned the truth as to the Church. But are not these very things the evidences of the Lord's discipline ? He loves His people too well to allow them to prosper and remain a united company when pride and worldliness have usurped the place of humility and the pilgrim character. So He permits the power of Satan to work, and the result is dispersion and scattering. How this should call for confession and brokenness on our part!
In Habakkuk's case, he was amazed that God should so deal with the sheep of His pasture as to give them into the power of the wild beast of the nations. Discipline and chastening he knew were deserved, but he is astounded when he learns who the agent of their punishment is to be. But at once he turns again to the Lord, pouring out his prayer into His ear. " Art Thou not from everlasting, O Lord my God, my Holy One ? We shall not die. O Lord, Thou hast ordained them for judgment; and, O mighty God, Thou hast established them for correction" (ver. 12). His faith is very simple, and very beautiful. They were in covenant-relation with the everlasting One, who "will not call back His words." Therefore, however sorely they might be afflicted, it could never be that they should utterly be cut off. Corrected in measure they must be, but cast off forever they could never be without violating the sure mercies of David.
But that so evil a nation should be the instrument in the Lord's hand for the punishment of His wayward people, passes the prophet's comprehension. "Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity," he rightly declares; but then asks, in perplexity, "wherefore lookest Thou upon them that deal treacherously, and holdest Thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous than he " ? (ver. 13). He goes on to recite the cruelties and iniquities practiced by the Chaldeans; their inhumanity, and their gross idolatry; for of the latter Babylon was the mother. If permitted to take Judah in their net, will they not give the glory to their own prowess, and to their false and revengeful deities ? How can so perverse a people be Jehovah's agency ? It is what has perplexed more than Habakkuk-the toleration and use of the wicked to further the counsels of God.
The chapter closes without an answer; but in the next a reply is given that is altogether worthy of God, far transcending the prophet's highest thoughts, and leading to abasement of soul in His holy presence. H. A. I.
(To be continued.)