HABAKKUK 1:5-6
5 “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 6 I am raising up the Babylonians, that ruthless and impetuous people, ?who sweep across the whole earth to seize dwelling places not their own.
Watch and be amazed.
That’s basically what God tells Habakkuk. But maybe our English word for amazed doesn’t fully capture the meaning. If you look at the Hebrew word, “tamahh” it can be used to mean something along the lines of fear. For instance, Job 26:11 which says, “The pillars of heaven tremble and are amazed at his rebuke.” (NASB) Or in Psalm 48:5 which says, “They saw it, then they were amazed; They were terrified, they fled in alarm” (NASB).
God has something to reveal to Habakkuk that may inspire a stunned fear and amazement.God is raising up the Babylonians. He is involved in the rise and fall of nations. Assyria had already taken over Israel. The Babylonians will conquer both Israel and Judah.
Habakkuk had complained that there was no justice. We read yesterday in verse four that “the law is paralyzed.” People may not be following the law, but God will mete out justice on his people. If the Israelites do not follow the law, then God will be just and carry out his end of the covenant.
We see that the punishment of Israel was part of God’s plan in response to Israel’s disobedience. We read in Deuteronomy 8:20 “Like the nations the Lord destroyed before you so you will be destroyed for not obeying the Lord your God.”
God had used Israel to punish nations in the area that did not follow God. God waited until the wickedness of the nations reached their fullest extent before Israel was asked to wipe them out (Gen. 15:16). But Israel did not finish driving out the nations that inhabited the land (Judges 1:27-36). Israel began to follow the gods of their neighbors and by the time of Habakkuk, the Northern Kingdom of Israel was under the rule of Assyria (2 Kings 17:6).
But God was not finished punishing their disobedience and the wickedness: Babylon would come and take over both the Northern Kingdom of Israel and the Southern Kingdom of Judah.
I think that sometimes its easy for us to be amazed at God in the same sense as we are amazed at a sporting event or new technology: That’s so cool. God you’re so cool… But sometimes we need to step back and realize that God is God. He has the power to cause the rise and fall of nations, and he has the power to do so much more. God is not only a God of mercy, but a God of justice, who should inspire a healthy fear.
