Wait Faithfully
Opening Prayer
Mighty God, knowing You is the only reward I ever seek. I praise You and I love You.
Read HABAKKUK 2:2–20
2 Then the Lord replied:
“Write down the revelation
and make it plain on tablets
so that a herald may run with it.
3 For the revelation awaits an appointed time;
it speaks of the end
and will not prove false.
Though it linger, wait for it;
it will certainly come
and will not delay.
4 “See, the enemy is puffed up;
his desires are not upright—
but the righteous person will live by his faithfulness—
5 indeed, wine betrays him;
he is arrogant and never at rest.
Because he is as greedy as the grave
and like death is never satisfied,
he gathers to himself all the nations
and takes captive all the peoples.
6 “Will not all of them taunt him with ridicule and scorn, saying,
“‘Woe to him who piles up stolen goods
and makes himself wealthy by extortion!
How long must this go on?’
7 Will not your creditors suddenly arise?
Will they not wake up and make you tremble?
Then you will become their prey.
8 Because you have plundered many nations,
the peoples who are left will plunder you.
For you have shed human blood;
you have destroyed lands and cities and everyone in them.
9 “Woe to him who builds his house by unjust gain,
setting his nest on high
to escape the clutches of ruin!
10 You have plotted the ruin of many peoples,
shaming your own house and forfeiting your life.
11 The stones of the wall will cry out,
and the beams of the woodwork will echo it.
12 “Woe to him who builds a city with bloodshed
and establishes a town by injustice!
13 Has not the Lord Almighty determined
that the people’s labor is only fuel for the fire,
that the nations exhaust themselves for nothing?
14 For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea.
15 “Woe to him who gives drink to his neighbors,
pouring it from the wineskin till they are drunk,
so that he can gaze on their naked bodies!
16 You will be filled with shame instead of glory.
Now it is your turn! Drink and let your nakedness be exposed!
The cup from the Lord’s right hand is coming around to you,
and disgrace will cover your glory.
17 The violence you have done to Lebanon will overwhelm you,
and your destruction of animals will terrify you.
For you have shed human blood;
you have destroyed lands and cities and everyone in them.
18 “Of what value is an idol carved by a craftsman?
Or an image that teaches lies?
For the one who makes it trusts in his own creation;
he makes idols that cannot speak.
19 Woe to him who says to wood, ‘Come to life!’
Or to lifeless stone, ‘Wake up!’
Can it give guidance?
It is covered with gold and silver;
there is no breath in it.”
20 The Lord is in his holy temple;
let all the earth be silent before him.
New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
“But oh! God is in his holy Temple! Quiet everyone—a holy silence. Listen!” (Hab. 2:20, The Message). Silence, so we can listen to God, is a commodity in short supply. We live in such a noisy world!
Habakkuk’s wait at the watchtower is not in vain. Finally God answers him, stressing that his divine action will take place in history. He encourages Habakkuk to continue to wait. The evil will perish (4a,5–20) whereas the righteous will survive. Meanwhile, the righteous are to remain faithful to God (4b). Verse 4b, “the righteous will live by their faithfulness,” is often translated as “the righteous will live by their faith.” The latter translation is influenced by the New Testament teaching of justification through faith, but it is misleading (Rom. 1:17; Gal. 3:11; Heb. 10:38). The Hebrew word emunah actually refers to “fidelity” or “faithfulness”—living a life of faithfulness while awaiting God’s deliverance from the trial.
Growing up on a farm, I have gained some wisdom about “waiting faithfully.” Between sowing and harvesting there is a long process of hard work—watering, weeding, pruning, repelling harmful creatures, adding fertilizer, etc. A farmer needs to keep working while awaiting the harvest. Similarly, Habakkuk is to live faithfully in the present in all of its fullness, because waiting does not mean that he simply folds his arms and waits passively for the future destiny.
Habakkuk is living “between times”—between promise and fulfillment (Ralph L Smith). God only tells Habakkuk what he will do, but not when it will happen. Farmers can estimate when the harvest season will be after sowing seeds. Habakkuk, however, has to wait without knowing God’s appointed time. What is required of the righteous in Habakkuk’s time is more than performing the daily tasks faithfully during the long wait but doing so under adverse misfortune, extreme hardship and deep anguish. Such waiting demands good courage and great perseverance!
Apply
Keeping Habakkuk 2:4b in mind, what tasks entrusted to us by the Lord do we need to finish faithfully? How can you run with endurance the race marked out for you, even when there is no visible sign of God’s presence?
Closing prayer
Lord Jesus, I need to be more like You. You withdrew from the crowds so You could regroup and hear Your Father’s voice. I need to be still and listen to my Heavenly Father. Quiet my soul.
Click here to sign up to receive the EXTRAs via email each quarter.
© 2024 Scripture Union U.S.A. All rights reserved. Reproduction of the whole or any part of the contents without written permission is prohibited.
Encounter with God is published in the USA under license from Scripture Union England and Wales, Trinity House, Opal Court, Opal Drive, Fox Milne, Milton Keynes, MK15 0DF.