Title: The righteous by faith/2:1-20
Contents One of the many questions believers have in their life of faith is why God keeps Satan alive. If it is the person who persuaded humans to disobey God, they should immediately destroy them in the Garden of Eden when they sinned. Why didn't He do that? The Bible says that there is a will of God. As we know, Satan is destined to be defeated by the Messiah and has been given to us as a promise to finally receive God's judgment. Then, we will be able to understand the reason why the evil realities that are being used by Satan are placed on this earth. Even in the days of the prophet Habakkuk and today, the reality of this evil is being shown to the believers as they are under the power of Satan.
The prophet Habakkuk saw injustice in Jerusalem and prayed to God. My prayers were not answered quickly, so I prayed in a way of protesting to God (1:2-4). Habakkuk's prayer was not to destroy Jerusalem.
He prayed for the speedy deliverance of the righteous who are suffering by the wicked who practiced unrighteousness (1:2). It was to restore Jerusalem, where evil was rampant, to the image of God's people. It was to become a nation that faithfully obeys the word of God's covenant (the law). In response to Habakkuk's prayer, God declares that he will raise up Babylon and destroy Jerusalem (1:6). What God was saying was that he would destroy Jerusalem by picking up the wicked who were immersed in uncovenantal thinking.
Nevertheless, it was because of God's righteousness that Habakkuk was able to plead with God. “You have pure eyes, and you cannot see with evil, and you cannot see with rebellion. Why do you stand by the treacherous, and the wicked swallow up those who are more righteous than them, yet remain silent” (1:13). So the prophet Habakkuk sees God as not completely severing his relationship with Judah. That is why God responds to the prophet Habakkuk. You were told to write this down (verse 2). Because God's answer does not come right away as people think, we had to learn to wait for God's time (verse 3).
Also, until the end of time, God's revelation is not only to be continuously witnessed, but also to be fulfilled according to God's promises. “This vision has an appointed time, and its end will come quickly, and it will not be false. Wait, though it will be delayed, for it will surely come without delay” (verse 3). The correct translation of the word “successfully will surely come” here means 'he will surely come'. In other words, God's righteousness must come in the end that God gives. That is the end. In other words, when the righteousness of God comes, it is the end. Since all human beings are sinners, it is impossible for humans to bring about the end.
So God mentions five woes to the prophet Habakkuk. These are ① material greedy people (verses 6-8), ② self-interested people (verses 9-11), ③ cruel and murderers (verses 12-14), ④ drunken people They are licentious (verses 15-17), and ⑤ idolaters (verses 18-20). All human beings are sinful like this. The person who should be cursed as woeful has in common five evil deeds, and it is considered to be a disgrace that does not appear unless it is a mindset that only uncircumcised people (those with a non-covenant mindset) can have.
God reveals that human beings are in this state throughout all ages, regardless of whether they are Babylon or Israel (Judah). Even though they belong to Israel, if there is a person who lives without knowing the meaning of circumcision, that person is a Gentile and possesses a non-covenant mindset.
But the righteous live by faith (verse 4). In such a situation where the wicked surround the righteous, faith takes on a new meaning. The 'righteous' are those who do not possess any power within themselves, but rely solely on the power to come out of God. In this sense, righteousness is by no means doing the law. Because the law is given to humans, it appears that you and all of you are willing to live a righteous life in your own way with the law. Nevertheless, not only the image of a righteous man according to the law remained, but the whole of Judah was turned into a furnace of sin.
So, the prophet Habakkuk came to know that the righteousness of God does not lie in those who do the law. For man to do the law had nothing to do with the righteousness of God. That's the meaning of the saying, "The righteous will live by faith." Therefore, righteousness means to know God, and sin is to consider oneself righteous.
Therefore, if we understand only as God who answers our prayers just because we prayed, we do not live by faith. To live by faith is to live by trusting in God, knowing that God will fulfill His promises and His words. God works according to His own will, regardless of human needs or expectations. That God sent his son to this earth in his own time and according to his good will. We should know that the gospel is not a tool to satisfy our desires, since it has nothing to do with our needs anyway.
The cross is not a goblin's rod that accomplishes what we want, but a place where God exposes our sins and demands that we die. Therefore, the righteous are those who share the destiny with Christ. I am a person who gives up my will and lives with the spirit that it is okay to die if I am with the Lord.
“But the LORD is in his temple; let all the earth be silent before him” (verse 20). Even if the temple is destroyed and Israel is destroyed, God will never be destroyed. God is alive through His Son. No, it is through his son, the cross, that God's God-likeness is more revealed. He is now ruling all the nations through his Son. Therefore, Prophet Habakkuk, who was frustrated that God is silent in Chapter 1, now has no choice but to remain silent before God because of God's answer. It is not that God is silent, but that human beings have nothing to say before God. Don't let the whole world talk like God is dead. God is still with His people through His Son, Jesus Christ.
No matter how evil abounds, God is the one who keeps His promises. To show that, for a brief moment, God tolerated Satan's activity. But now Satan is losing all real power as a decisive blow by the cross of Jesus Christ. Therefore, the only realm of righteousness is Christ, who struck Satan's head. So who will be righteous? Those who are in Jesus Christ are righteous. Those with Jesus Christ are righteous. Those with Christ are not those who claim that they can live on their own, but those who cannot live on their own, but who rely on the power of the Lord and only exalt the name of the Lord.