08/26/2020 NOTHING IS GREATER THAN GOD
Habakkuk 3: 17-18 Even though the fig trees are all destroyed, and there is neither blossoms left nor fruit, and though the olive crops all fail, and fields lie barren even if the flocks die in the fields and cattle barns are empty, yet I will rejoice in the LORD; I will be happy in the GOD of my salvation. THE LORD GOD is my STRENGTH.
[The Living Bible Translation]
Summary
Habakkuk was an Old Testament prophet who prophesized about 612 B.C. Many scholars trace his name to the Hebrew word habaq, which means “to fold one’s hands or to embrace.” But scholars question whether the name means that Habakkah was an active embracer (e.g. embracing the people’s suffering and in endeavoring to understand what seems like chaos and calamities that plague humanity) or if Habakkah was being passively embraced (e.g., one who is embraced by GOD, as a child of GOD and GOD’s messenger). The book of Habakkak suggests both.
Like Job, Habakkuk questions GOD about the chaos of living, especially when bad times come and then one bad event seems to follow another, and yet another, and still another. For Job, it was a series of personal tragedies and suffering. And, in the Book of Job, Job asks, “Why GOD!?”
Habakkuk lived during the cruelty and violence of the Neo Babylonian Chaldean reign. The Chaldean King Nebuchadnezzar uprooting the lives of the Jewish people. This Chaldean nation captured Jerusalem, prevented worship in the temple, created an agricultural and financial disruption, and eventually caused the Jewish trek into Babylonian captivity. Habakkuk questioned the sadness and destruction all around him and questioned GOD’s wisdom in using the Chaldeans as a method of punishing the Jews. So, in the Book of Habakkuk, Habakkuk asks, “Why GOD!?”
However, both Job and Habakkuk in their attempts to question GOD, reached the same conclusion! Both concluded that they must rely on GOD’s wisdom and understanding, not their own. Both concluded that GOD has the strength to control all things and to save them, despite their circumstances. And, both Job and Habakkuk renewed their faith and trust in GOD, because of WHO GOD is and GOD’s love for them.
NOTHING is greater than GOD or GOD’s LOVE!