A Current Message from 2,625 Years Ago

Habakkuk was a Biblical prophet who lived in the late 7th century B.C. Though he lived more than 26 centuries ago, his words and his concerns are as fresh today as they were back then. In the first chapter of his work (in the Old Testament of the Bible), he addressed a couple of complaints to God. He wanted to know why God allowed evil to flourish, and why God did not intervene in the world crisis of his day (Hab. 1:2, 12-13). In Habakkuk's day, the Babylonians were sweeping across the ancient world like a dragnet sweeping up fish from the sea. Today, in 2020, a virus known as the COVID-19 has created pandemic conditions, and, as this is written, the end has not come in sight. We wonder why God has not intervened or provided a miraculous cure. In Bible times, God answered Habakkuk's question, but I suspect that Habakkuk did not much like the answer. "You wouldn't believe it if I told you what I'm up to," God told Habakkuk (Hab. 1:5). What is God up to today? Would we believe it if we were told? Perhaps we would be as astonished as Habakkuk was long ago. But we can be sure of this: God is always at work in our world, and something astonishing is happening in our time.