Week 34 Habakkuk 2
The Habakkuk Backstory: Babylon was becoming a world-power. Maturing into Empire Building Adulthood. Starting to stomp weak countries with imperial boots. Worst of all Babylon was going to crush Israel.
The Lord said two things to Habakkuk that caught my attention.
The first one was how prophetic communication worked. The Lord told Habakkuk to: write my answer in large, clear letters on a tablet so that a runner can read it and tell everyone else. So in Habakkuk’s case the Lord spoke in a vision. Then Habakkuk wrote the message down. Then he gave it to a speaker who publicized the message orally. So that was the process in Habakkuk’s case.
The second more important thing was that the Lord also said: the things I plan won’t happen right away. Slowly, steadily, surely, the time approaches when the vision will be fulfilled. If it seems slow, wait patiently, for it will surely take place. This gives me a heads-up about one of the recurring concerns with prophetic communication. Timing.
I think back to Moses giving Pharaoh the plague forecasts. Pharaoh didn’t have to wait long. A day or so. They happened very quickly. But lots of times people have to wait-and-see. Personally I think one of the huge downsides with prophecy is the wait time.
There are two different ways to manage wait time – a) frustrated-and-impatient waiting and b) patient-self-controlled waiting. Prophetic content pretty much requires b).
Note: quotes from Habakkuk 2:2 & 3 (NIV)