Habakkuk is amazed and quite bewildered. He cannot for the life of him understand why God would choose a group of people who were much worse than his people as agents of justice. We have seen Habakkuk use questioning argument after argument for why God should not use the Chaldeans, however, God's purposes were not to change. Let's face it, God is sovereign, and He can do as He pleases whether we understand it or not. Today Habakkuk continues his discussion with God as he describes how easy it is for God to make men available for capture. Habakkuk wrote in verse fourteen of chapter one:
And make men as the fishes of the sea, as the creeping things, [that have] no ruler over them?
Habakkuk has been appealing to God because He is pure, holy, and cannot look upon iniquity. He has presented arguments that because God is the way He is, Habakkuk cannot understand why God would hold His tongue or be silent when wicked people are devouring others who are more wicked than they. Now Habakkuk writes, “and make men as the fishes of the sea.” In other words, easy to gather together for catching. Although some people might have difficulty catching fish, God never will, and Habakkuk knows this. Maybe some of us have heard the phrase, “it's like catching fish in a barrel”, and this gives us the idea of Habakkuk's complaint.
Habakkuk possibly knew Proverbs sixteen and verse four,
“The LORD hath made all [things] for himself: yes, even the wicked for the day of evil,”
He declared in the next part of this verse, “as the creeping things,”. Isn't it interesting how Habakkuk appeals to examples in nature to describe his misunderstanding of God? Let's think about this for a moment: Here is God's creation, Habakkuk, speaking to and arguing with the Creator about His creation. Have we ever been so presumptuous? Nonetheless, the idea is that creeping things, fish and whatever God desires is at His disposal. It is Habakkuk who has the difficulty, not God.
Finally Habakkuk not only sees God gathering men for judgment as the fish of the sea and creeping things, he now gives the reason for the examples, “that have no ruler over them.” In other words they go where they want, do what they want, say what they want, and take whatever they want. No authority is in their lives. They live as rampant psychotics, and their behavior is deplorable. This troubles Habakkuk as he wonders why God would allow such a thing.
There is one additional thought about this, have any of us ever wondered why God calls the disciples, “fishers of men?” Was is simply a term relative to their occupation and day, or could it have been at a deeper level that it is how God considers the management of people? Whichever the cause, there is no greater honor than to be one of His “fish” whenever we are considering fellowship with Him. Of course this relationship comes by way of Jesus Christ, and perhaps when we have misunderstandings with God rather than question His character as Habakkuk we will learn to be ecstatic that we were privileged to be the ones who were on His hook.
Next time we will see more of Habakkuk's metaphor of men being like fish, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow...there is more...
Look for the new devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation” in all major bookstore sites, www.amazon.com ; www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore
No comments:
Post a Comment