Ken, this is Dan. I had written something pertaining to recent events already and thought I might post it. I hope I am not out of order
All of us experience events that shape our lives and affect us deeply. Sometimes we live through significant events that make a mark on us and leave their indelible imprint. Growing up, I heard many adults recount their memories of the first moon landing. They remembered every moment in great detail, down to what they were wearing. In a similar fashion, almost everyone who lived through John F. Kennedy’s assassination can tell you exactly where they were and what they were doing when they heard the news. I used to snicker at such reminiscence until I experienced a similar day. My moment is September 11th, 2001. Even as I say it aloud, I am recalling that morning with my bride of ten days in a small apartment back in western Pennsylvania, about 40 miles from the crash of United Airlines Flight 93. I suspect that almost all of you are also going back to your respective places as well. Personally, I can still recollect the fear and anger that I felt that day with ease.
Many turned to God that day for answers. How could this happen? How could a loving God let this happen to so many innocent people? Countless Christians and non-believers alike sought advice from religious leaders. As many of you can recall, Sunday the 16th saw one of the most packed days in church history in recent years. The media also looked to the prominent figures in religion to get their perspective. As I recall, this is where Pat Robertson and Oral Roberts came under fire. They had the audacity to suggest that this was a punishment delivered by God on a corrupt nation. This was the deserved sentence for permitting abortion, pornography, homosexuality, and the like to run rampant in a land that once held God’s law as its own.
Well, this kind of rhetoric sounded almost like blasphemy. How could we deserve such a treatment? What did we do to warrant the death and destruction on such a level by the hands of such a horrendously evil group of people? There did not seem to be any logical explanation for God using MUSLIM TERRORISTS to strike against God’s “chosen people.” After all, “this land is your land, this land is my land, from the Redwood forests,…, this land was made for you and me.” At least, manifest destiny says so. All cynicism aside, how could God use such a wicked and unrighteous people to correct US? Well, the political incorrectness of these televangelists’ statements forced them to retract their original stances and take a more accepted view.
In my scrambling on that terrible morning, I admit that I searched my Bible for answers and for peace, but I never thought to look anywhere before the book of Matthew. I was used to sticking with the New Testament until I was more mature. I do not doubt the sincere intentions behind that suggestion; however, if I had looked in the Old Testament, I would have found countless examples of that day lived over and over again by a people in a far off land in a not so far off time.
Imagine having the foreknowledge of such a day! How terrible could that be? What other questions might appear? If your are the typical red-blooded American that equates patriotism with religion, then you stand with the majority of Americans who took offense to Mr. Robertson and Mr. Roberts. You might even take steps to prevent this occurrence. But what if you are one of these two Christian men? How do you respond? You see, the punishment was justified in their minds. Would you try to prevent the judgment that you yourself had asked God to bring upon a nation as a means to bring about repentance? Would you agree with God’s selection for bringing about change? I think this last question is one that we would wrestle over a great deal. We might try to bargain with God on what would be appropriate. It turns out that Habakkuk had the same dilemma that is presented here.
This prophet’s oracle begins with a petition for God to take action against his own sinful countrymen. His cry is for vengeance against those who have perverted the law and for vindication of the righteous. Sound familiar? I believe this is the cry of most preachers on Sunday mornings across this nation. There is the universal message that the world is going to Hell and something must be done. It turns out that God is about to do something very soon to influence Habakkuk’s neighbors, something very big.
This is where we arrive at the afore-mentioned dilemma. Our prophet becomes worried at the prospect of the impending judgment. God is about to send the Babylonian army against Judah to punish them for their wickedness. In their time, they were one of the most devastating forces of military might in Palestine. There was no fortification that could keep them from going over, under, or through. They had large numbers on their side in conjunction with the skills of combat. They struck terror into the hearts of anyone in their path. Now Habakkuk had that same terror interfering with his own acknowledgment of Judah’s sins.
In 1:13 we can see Habakkuk beginning to have reservations about Yahweh’s option for delivering punishment after hearing of the plan: “Why are you silent while the wicked swallow up those more righteous than themselves?” This is a familiar refrain throughout several Old Testament books. Job too believed that he did not deserve his condition because he did nothing to merit such a fate. The writer of Ecclesiastes also questions the fairness of the wicked prospering and the righteous suffering. Our prophet takes a slightly different approach and focuses on the malice of the Babylonians and the appropriateness of such a terrible force being used to inflict punishment.
I have to wonder what reprimand Habakkuk would have thought fit the sins of Judah. Perhaps a plague of locusts would have done the trick. Maybe, but that seems a little weak. What about a severe drought? No, that had already been done before to little effect. It needs to be big, but not too big. Given enough time, I am sure that Habakkuk could have come up with something that he considered effective yet still showed restraint in comparison to Yahweh’s decision.
Sometimes it seems to us like God isn’t operating on our level of understanding. We don’t see his picture of the problem and we start making judgments based on our level of information. In short, we think we know better than God, The Almighty Creator of the Universe. But, and I hope this doesn’t come as a shock to anyone, we don’t. This is the lesson that Job learns after Yahweh responds to his petitions. It’s kind of humorous to see Job rant for more than a third of the book on our same subject only to give a two-verse retort when God puts him in his place.
Habakkuk experiences a similar reply. Yahweh responds by telling him the terrific force will indeed be punished for their heinous actions. He pronounces judgment on their practices of prosperity through “evil gain,” such as extortion, violence, drunkenness, sexual sin, and idolatry. This seems to satiate the prophet’s need for clarity.
It is interesting to note that God does not answer the question our prophet put forth. Similarly, God didn’t answer Job’s query of equity either. How could this be? Could it be that the question posed is the wrong question? It seems that our level of comprehension is too small to grasp God’s design. We lack the God’s-eye-view of the situation and will always have to operate on faith. We may never understand why 9-11 happened or why a tsunami took so many, many more in a single day, or why so many are suffering in squalor after Katrina. All we are asked to do is trust God through whatever occurs. This is the premise behind Paul’s statement of hope in Romans 8:28. And as one might guess, this is the realization upon which our prophet lands. Upon hearing the Lord’s response, he offers a prayer that reflects his innermost feelings and expresses a deepened trust in God’s sovereignty: “LORD, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, O LORD. Renew them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy” (3.2) “I heard and my heart pounded, my lips quivered at the sound; decay crept into my bones, and my legs trembled. Yet I will wait patiently for the day of calamity to come on the nation invading us. Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior” (3.16-18).
Jesus said it just about as much with a few less words. In Luke’s 13th chapter, some approach Jesus with some “news” about some people who received horrible treatment. He responds to their insinuations by telling them that their judgment of these people’s sin is unfounded. In much the same way, he tells them that the tower that fell and killed several (sounds remarkably familiar) has nothing to do with their sin. Instead, he tells them to let it serve as a sign that they should repent.
It’s hard not to judge. We’re brought up in a western society that privileges intellect and reason. We feel that we are the best and brightest in the world. As a result, we might try to put two and two together and decide that God smote New Orleans because of sex, drinking and gambling. But we are just not equipped to handle the kind of “logic” that makes sense of what we call chaos.
