Daily Devotions
Habakkuk
"We shall not die"
Text: Habakkuk 1:12
THE FRIGHTENING DESCRIPTION OF THE CHALDEANS
God’s revelation about the powerful Chaldeans caused Habakkuk to respond with some measure of fear. This led him to offer this word of prayer to the Lord God!
“Are You not from everlasting,
O LORD my God, my Holy One?
We shall not die.
O LORD, You have appointed them for judgment;
O Rock, You have marked them for correction.”
Habakkuk 1:12
1. A quick analysis of this prayer
a) Impassioned
b) Fearful
c) Struggling to come to terms with what God had revealed to Habakkuk about the Chaldeans.
2. “Are You not from everlasting, O LORD my God, my Holy One”
a) Habakkuk was trying to reconcile his knowledge of God with what had been revealed to him.
b) His knowledge of God:
i) He is holy.
ii) He is the LORD their God.
iii) Surely, He has been who He is… Holy… from everlasting to everlasting!
c) His struggle:
i) How could God have raised up the Chaldeans?
ii) How could God send them to fight against Judah?
iii) If the Chaldeans came, then Judah would die!
3. “We shall not die”
a) Habakkuk struggled with this problem.
b) He could not believe that they would become the victims of the Chaldeans.
c) He could not accept that Judah would perish if the Chaldeans were to wage war against them.
4. “O LORD, You have appointed them for judgment”
Habakkuk nursed this idea that God had appointed the Chaldeans for judgment!
5. “O Rock, You have marked them for correction”
This was in part an imprecatory cry! Surely God would punish them for their wickedness. He could not be using the cruel Chaldeans for the destruction of Judah, could He? The LORD was the Rock of His people, surely, He could not contemplate the destruction of Judah! So, Habakkuk became an intercessor-prophet for Judah.