Are you not from everlasting? (Habakkuk 1:12)Put yourself in Habakkuk's place. As a prophetic bridge between God and Jerusalem, you sound the alarm about the injustices in Judah foisted upon the poor and the weak by the rich and the powerful. God says, That's okay. Even now I'm raising up a violent nation that will eradicate Judah. Problem solved. According to Robert Chisholm, that's not the remedy Habakkuk had in mind. [1]
The prophet makes that quite clear in his ensuing dialog with the Almighty. O Lord, are you not from everlasting? . . . Why do you tolerate the treacherous? Why are you silent when the wicked swallow up those more righteous than themselves? (1:12,13)
This is an important question: Are you not from everlasting? Habakkuk was betraying a weakness in human understanding. God looks at things on an epic scale, from everlasting to everlasting. We see only right now... and maybe the five minutes before and the five minutes after. But looking at the big picture, God - speaking to Babylon - says there is coming a time when the tables will be turned: Because you have plundered many nations, the people who are left will plunder you (2:8).
Habakkuk finally gets it: I will wait patiently for the day of calamity to come on the nation invading us (3:16).
How would things look differently if you could see the big picture?
[1] Robert B. Chisolm Jr. Handbook on the Prophets (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2002), 435.
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