HABAKKUK
(610 B.C.)
12
Hab 1:2 How long, O Lord,
shall I cry out
And you not listen,
Shall I shout to You, "Violence!"
And You not save?
Why do You (Lord) look upon wrong?-
Raiding and violence are before me,
Strife continues and contention goes
on.
That is why decision fails
And justice never emerges;
For the villain hedges in the just
man –
Hab 1:4 Therefore judgment
emerges deformed…
Hab 1:13 Why do You (Lord)
countenance treachery,
And stand idly by?
Hab 2:1 I will stand on my
watch,
Take up my station at the post,
And wait to see what He will say to
me,
What He will reply to my complaint?
Indeed, what will He reply? The
same question has been asked by many other prophets and
people as well. Why is evil allowed to dominate the good?
God answers:
Hab. 2:2 Write the prophecy
down,
Inscribe it clearly on tablets,
So that it can be read easily
For there is yet a prophecy for a
set term
A truthful witness for a time that
will come.
Hab 2:3 Even if it tarries,
wait for it still;
For it will surely come without
delay:
Lo, His spirit within him is puffed
up, not upright.
But the righteous man shall live by
his faith and in
His faithfulness is rewarded with
life.
The treacherous, arrogant man
Who has made his maw as wide as
Sheol,
Who is as insatiable as Death,
Who has harvested all the nations
And gathered in all the peoples!
Surely all these (all the peoples)
shall pronounce a satire against him,
A pointed epigram concerning him.
They shall say:
Ah, you who pile up what is not
yours –
How much longer? –
And make ever heavier your load of
indebtedness!
Right suddenly shall your creditors
arise,…
You shall be sated with shame
Rather than glory:
The answer to "Why allow evil to
triumph?" is that those who live by faith are rewarded with
infinity and those who choose evil also choose extinction.
In addition, the prophet is told that justice will be
achieved at the end of The Age, after the full harvest is
reaped. Everything has its season, "even if it tarries, wait
for it still." "Write down this prophecy, it will be a
truthful witness for a time that will come." That time is
now almost upon us. The prophecy will be fulfilled and thus
it will be a "truthful witness" to God’s foreknowledge. Lets
look at part of this passage from another source the
Septuagint.
Hab. 2:1 And the Lord answered
me and said. Write the vision,
Septuagint and that plainly on a tablet, that
he that reads it may run.
For the vision is yet for a (set)
time, and it shall shoot forth
at the end, and not in vain: though
he should tarry wait for
him; for he shall surely come, and
will not tarry.
I think the true flavor of this
passage is caught in the Septuagint. The 'vision' is for a
set time 'at the end' of the Age at which time it will
'shoot forth' by means of the interpretation of prophecy by
the final prophet 'in whose heart God has placed
understanding'. This prophet must 'read' this prophecy from
the already existing prophecy writings of the Olden
Prophets, which has been sealed by God up until that set
time. This final prophet must 'read on the run' for
presumably he is busy with other activities.
In 4Ezra God answers similarly
this same question of why:
Ezra 4:27 …this age is full of
infirmities and sadness. For the evil has
been sown but the harvest of it is
not yet come.
"Everything has its season", the
"sun is made to shine on the good and the evil."
The Urantia Book teaches us also that
potential evil is inherent in creatures that are both
imperfect and have free will. Causes are allowed to have
their true effects no matter how awful the results may be.
If it weren’t so we would be hapless spectators in a show
and not true participants in the creative process. In
order for the universe to succeed, it must be allowed to
fail. Also, consider what the angel who reveals to Ezra
says next:
4Ezra 7:3 There is a sea set in
a wide expanse:
so that it is broad and vast,
but it has an entrance set in a
narrow place,
so that it is like a river.
If anyone, then, wishes to reach the
sea, to look
at it or navigate it, how can he
come to the
broad part unless he passes through
the narrow part?…
4Ezra 7:11 When Adam transgressed
my statutes, what had been made was judged.
And so the entrances of this world
were made
narrow and sorrowful and toilsome;
they are few
4Ezra 7:12 and evil, full of
dangers and involved in great hardships.
4Ezra 7:16 …And why have you
not considered in your mind
what is to come, rather just what is
now present.
This is very similar to the
statement in the Urantia Book that the biggest deprivation
of our world is the partial loss of the biologic uplift
program of Adam and Eve. (This program was designed to
augment the natural evolution of the human species so as to
provide for increased creativity and increased capacity for
spiritual experience and spiritual qualities of character.)
This loss of 'biological uplift' has resulted in a humanity
that still has deep roots in the "animal tendencies" of
evolutionary origin. We are full of fear and worry and
negativity. Disorders such as anxiety syndrome, depression,
various phobias and compulsions are strongly hereditary. The
neurological wiring and chemistry in these conditions has a
biologic-genetic substrate and can be treated by
medications, which alter this chemistry. Our fearful
natures are the single largest impediment to happiness and
spiritual growth. And where fear leaves off, pride takes
over. Together, pride and fear conspire to usurp the divine
potentials within. In verse 7:16, God reminds us to think of
"what is to come," as well as what is now, to obtain proper
balance of outlook.
Consider the following from John Hogue’s, Millennium
Prophecy.
The Inner Workings of Man
Millennium
Prophecy The new humanity will have an ecology in
which nature is
Pg. 298 not to be conquered, but lived and
loved…the new man is an
absolute necessity. The old is dead
or dying…cannot survive long.
And if we cannot produce a new human
being, then humanity will
disappear from the Earth.
OSHO (l986) (John Hogue)
Up to now man
has survived without transformation because there was
no urgency for change…but I still
hope that the danger of global death
will be the shock that awakens
humanity.
OSHO
(l987) (John Hogue)
Pg. 305 There’s a Sufi metaphor about
identification. Misery doesn’t come
to us; we unconsciously seek it out
and hold on to it, like flinging our
arms around a pillar. As we squeeze
tighter we yell, "Oh if I could only be
rid of this misery and pain!" This
misunderstanding is our choice.
As American mystic Adi DaShentosa
ouce remarked, we "do"we misery,
"do"expectation. Hell is not a place
we "do" it. We "do"
predictability. We make prophecy
work because we are so damned
predictable…we have repeated again
and again the behaviors that
make it easy for our seers to
prophesy unto us doomsday…there is a
need for a global awareness of how,
from the moment we emerge
from the womb, we are programmed to
imprint concepts that are totally
divorced from our deepest natural
understanding. (John Hogue)
Pg. 323 Our minds are so
polluted with garbage and fears that have been
passed on from generation to
generation, that we have forgotten who
we are. Our spiritual path is not
complex, it is quite simple. It is not
easy; it is not a romantic
sacrifice to look at oneself, to be able to
celebrate life. Yet with this comes
a sense of joy, a sense of being,
and a connection with the flow of
the universe.
Good Horse Nation (l985),
Visayan Medicine Man (John Hogue)
Roles and
patterns are keeping you in a straitjacket. Freed from
these you will come into contact
with your inner being; with the one
who doesn’t see any limitations, who
sees only possibilities.
Ambres (l986) (John Hogue)
Pg. 289 Prophecies from many
different traditions say that America is
destined to become the seat of the
next spiritual evolution…one of
America’s greatest attributes is its
ability to give social and religious
experiments a chance.
(John Hogue, Millennium
Prophecy)
Pg. 291 America, as the
Sioux medicine man Good Horse Nation says,
must wake up. To do that, America
will have to suffer a most
difficult weaning – from what is
false or destructive about the
American Dream. (John Hogue)
Pg. 298 A peculiar
generation now exists on this earth, which does not
carry
an inner urge for growth but only death for the whole race.
America
And when we wake up
we will realize that these bereft beings are running the
political and financial centers of the world.
And that no mere human effort will be able to correct this
problem. This is why divine intervention will be needed;
otherwise everyone and everything would be destroyed.
Hyperbole? No, simple and honest logic. If nations had
nuclear weapons when Rome fell – none of us would be here
today to discuss this problem. Do we really think that when
things start to turn sour for our world that force will not
be seen as the answer. Does anyone really believe that
thousands of nuclear weapons will never be used? Mankind has
never invented a weapon that he has not subsequently used.
Does anyone look upon the world scene and not see the
progressive danger that we are entering? China and Russia
are building up their military (with our money and
technology) and staking out their territories. America
suddenly is the bully of the world, using its military might
in an aggressive, self-serving way rather than as a
defensive stronghold of peace. We have lost all respect and
goodwill in the eyes of the world’s nations. They will
accept our money, but no longer look up to us as a moral
force in the world. And yet America notices nothing,
as long as the stock market stays up and the material goods
keep flowing. We have ceased to use our minds and
think for ourselves, our opinions are those of the last
newspaper article we have read. We take our media and
information sources at face value, without question. When
the "wagging heads" of the experts wag so do ours –
glassy-eyed, inured, and asleep. The prophets have said
"our people are stupid." We only see what we want to see.
Where is the thirst for truth? Prophets pull no punches;
they live and die for the truth and only truth. Our own
leaders prepare before us the rudiments for the destruction
of an entire world. What does God say about America’s
world leadership of weapons technology sale, and exportation
to an entire world? When did it become acceptable to export
destruction so that our richest people can become richer? Is
it acceptable? What do we do? What do we say? The answer is
a resounding nothing. History and God will hold America
accountable for the deaths of tens or hundreds of million
lives. But as long as we still have our cozy lives and our
wants fulfilled – we see nothing. And so, not until our toys
and possessions are taken away from us will anybody notice
that there are a lot of bully’s that have moved onto the
block. Then will America cry and then will America open her
glazed-over eyes. And so, we will finally realize, that
which we have had ample opportunity to understand; Man needs
God to guide his steps! By himself he is a miserable and
obvious failure.
The Inner Workings of Man
Now, returning to the
underpinnings of the animalistic, negative aspects of human
nature, the Adamic inheritance would have greatly improved
our fearful nature and our spiritual receptivity. Fear is
loud static to a mind that needs to tune into the
wavelengths of God and Eternity. And since hatred is merely
the shadow of fear, it has had fertile soil in which to
grow. Man’s external world is a
reflection of his internal world. The inner world creates
the outer, just as M.C. Escher’s picture of two
hands drawing themselves from out of the plane of the paper
nicely illustrates. The causes for our problems are inside
and invisible to the eye, but are very real nevertheless.
And so the higher the hill that our will must climb to get
beyond negative factors of nature and nurture, the less
probable statistically, that we will succeed. On the
environment side of the equation, childhood upbringing is
also very important. And yet if we truly desire, God tells
us that there is nothing that can ultimately keep us from
finding Him. Rather, these physical and environmental
factors can only delay the eventual success. God is
a Father and as all good fathers, he
requires only that we do our best. Ultimately, this
planet’s handicaps will be overcome and our material,
social, and spiritual milieu will be attuned and harmonized,
providing conditions that will sustain optimal and balanced
human development. Nevertheless, our failings and weaknesses
also work to our good for "all things work to the
good of those who love God." And we can all bear witness
to this when we look back on our hardest experiences and see
the deep changes that they have wrought within. We are
smelted, purified, and refined in the flames of affliction;
flames that are appeased and regulated by the wisdom and
mercy of God. And the wide sea, still not visible, is just
beyond the great rapids directly ahead. Habakkuk tells us
further –
Hab 3:3 God is coming from
Teman,
The Holy One from Mount Paran.
His majesty covers the skies,
His splendor fills the earth:
It is a brilliant light
Which gives off rays on every side –
And therein His glory is enveloped…
You make the earth burst into
streams,
The mountains rock at the sight of
You
Sun and moon stand still on high.
You come forth to deliver Your
people,
To deliver Your anointed.
Teman is in the mountains of
Jordan, just South of Bozrah mentioned previously. "God"
here, is Melchizedek, note the brilliant light he radiates
and that "he covers the skies." How could his "majesty cover
the skies?" He has come to deliver His people – those who
love God. The messianic setting is indicated by the "earth
bursting into streams," the "mountains rock," and "the sun
and moon stand still on high." The streams could issue forth
as a result of the tectonic activity that "rocks the
mountains." For the "sun and moon to stand still" earth
would have to stop spinning on its axis or undergo a shift
of the polar axis. Are these literal or figurative
prophecies or both?
Hab 3:17 Though the fig tree
does not bud
And no yield is on the vine,
Though the olive crop has failed,
And the fields produce no grain
And no cattle in the pen.
Yet I will rejoice in the Lord.
Exalt in God who delivers me.
My impression of the above is that
there is severe drought in the trial period. Crops fail and
cattle die. Drought has played a consistent role in the
Bible, signifying God’s displeasure. Joseph foretells a
drought and stores up food for Egypt in advance. Elijah
prophesies drought in connection with God’s displeasure
toward the Israelites. There is now a severe drought
developing in the Middle East, China, and even parts of
America. If my timetable is correct, this drought should
become progressively worse and play an enlarging role in the
increase of famine and disease, as well as worsening
political hostilities and war in the Middle East, which will
conclude with "all the nations" coming against Modern
Israel. Drought will not improve until
Melchizedek arrives and "streams burst forth" from
the earth. Lack of water leads to physical death,
just as lack of spiritual influx leads to soul death. Water
and spirit are therefore tightly linked to one another
symbolically.
Spiritual disease has physical effects on our
environment. Our seemingly separated universe of matter,
mind and spirit is unified and integrated on higher levels
of reality not visibly apparent in the material plane. The
American Indians and many other indigenous people already
possess and use this wisdom that is so neglected by "modern
man."
Now, a final thought on the existence of evil and we
move on to Ezekiel (600 B.C.), the next prophet in our
chronologic line.
Emily Dickinson All circumstances
are the frame
Poem #821 In which His face is set –
All latitudes exist for His
Sufficient Continent –
The Light His Action, and The
Dark
The Leisure of His Will –
In Him existence serve or set
A Force illegible.
The idea of evil as the "leisure
of God’s Will" captures evil’s evanescence and ultimate
unreality; as a shadow cast by God’s grandeur. However,
ultimate unreality does not affect transient, time-space,
temporal impact. Pain and suffering are real to us, even if
washed clean by the tides of eternity.