Art thou not from everlasting, O LORD my God, mine Holy One?
— Habakkuk 1:12a, 17
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Shall they therefore empty their net, and not spare continually to slay the nations?
We have now come to Habakkuk’s second prayer in which he states the truths he knows about God and tries to reconcile the problems his earthly eyes see. He begins with stating the eternality of God.
“Art thou not from everlasting, O LORD my God, mine Holy One?” Habakkuk claims the Lord as his own. The LORD was Habakkuk’s God. No matter what problems Habakkuk sees and no matter how confused Habakkuk is about the ways of the Lord, he was going to remain faithful to the Lord his God. He acknowledges the the Lord as HIS God, and he also acknowledges the Lord as the Holy One. The Lord’s ways are righteous and complete. He recognizes the Lord to be eternal – everlasting.
The Lord has no beginning. In Job 38:4-6, the Lord demands an answer from Job to the questions, “Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? Declare, if thou hast understanding. Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? Or who hath stretched the line upon it? Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? Or who laid the corner stone thereof?” The Lord has no ending. After the final judgment, John records these words – “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea” (Revelation 21:1). When he was taken to get a glimpse of the New Jerusalem, he records, “And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb . . . And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him . . .” (Revelation 22:1,3). The Lord proclaims Himself, “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last” (Revelation 22:13).
The Lord is from everlasting! Our God is not from OUR time. He is from EVERLASTING! Habakkuk KNOWS this, but his earthly eyes see that the heathen are continually in control. He saw the heathen reign over Judah in violence. He now sees the Chaldeans’ future reign over Judah in violence. His carnal mind couldn’t see past the heathen’s seeming continual reign.
We shouldn’t pass judgment too quickly on Habakkuk’s view of the world. It’s easy to be so absorbed with the “here and now”. It’s very natural for us all to be consumed with what’s happening in the world now that we can’t just take a break and mentally step out of our time to see that the days we live in are just a little drop in the bucket of eternity. Right now the heathen are raging. They are rioting, looting, and burning churches all in the name of justice. Social media is now filled with posts from people who claim they do not condone these actions but they are the very ones who are instigating the rioting movement. I’m seeing people post empty posts with only a black, blank screen which they think will somehow fix injustice. What has our country come to when people think a black-colored post will fix injustice? Violence was abundant in Habakkuk’s day as it is ours. Nothing’s changed. The heathen will continue to rage. A black-colored post will not fix things, but the red-colored blood of Jesus can. Christ filling the heart will eliminate hate. A Christ-centered life will be void of violence and wrongdoing. Why are otherwise conservative-minded people in amazement at what’s happening? A country who has openly defied the Lord will be filled with sin and violence.
Habakkuk asks, “Shall they therefore empty their net, and not spare continually to slay the nations?” The Lord God is indeed from everlasting. Though it seems as if the heathen are always in control of the world, this won’t be forever. Without Christ in the heart, those rioting over racism will go to the same hell as the racist being rioted about. Sin will be finished. The heathen will be judged. Death and hell will be cast into the lake of fire. The curse will be no more. Holiness and Peace will be in the home of the Redeemed of the Lord for all eternity. THAT’s the spiritual perspective. Friend, I realize it’s looking bad out there, but we have a Bible that tells us the best days are yet to come!
Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?
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The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved:
He uttered his voice, the earth melted.
-Psalm 2:1; 46:6