Christian Non-ViolenceSocial IssuesTheology

Habakkuk and God’s Judgment Upon Militarism

I’ve been reading through the minor prophets (the twelve small books named after the prophets behind them in the Old Testament) and today I got to Habakkuk. In it, Habakkuk questions the wisdom of God in allowing the bloodthirsty Babylonians to punish Judah. However, God answers that He will also not hold the Babylonians guiltless for their militarism and idolatry.

The Babylonians are described in pretty harsh terms. “They all come for violence” and “gather captives like sand” (Hab 1:9). They “seize dwelling not their own” (Hab 1:6) and pour out “the blood of man and [do] violence to the earth, to cities and all who dwell in them” (Hab 2:17).

There is another sin that God condemns them for, however, which is their worship of power and violence. They are “guilty men, whose own might is their god” (Hab 1:11). The Babylonian offers “sacrifices to his [implements of war] for by them he lives in luxury, and his food is rich” (Hab 1:16). But God promises that this idol is a false one, and He will judge the Babylonians for their worship of it:
““What profit is an idol when its maker has shaped it, a metal image, a teacher of lies” (Hab 2:18)?

“Woe to him who gets evil gain for his house, to set his nest on high, to be safe from the reach of harm! You have devised shame for your house by cutting off many peoples; you have forfeited your life… Woe to him who builds a town with blood and founds a city on iniquity! …The cup [of wrath] in the Lord’s right hand will come around to you, and utter shame will come upon your glory” (Hab 2:9-10, 12, 16)! Though “they shout with joy as if they were plundering the poor with no opposition” (Hab 3:14, NET), God will pierce “with [the Babylonian king’s] own arrows the heads of his warriors” (Hab 3:14).

In contrast to the false idols that men make, “the Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him.” (Hab 2:20). It is not military might that saves, but it is God who goes “out for the salvation of [His] people” (Hab 3:13).

And though Habakkuk knows that God is sending Babylon to judge Judah, he concludes thusly:
“I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation” (Hab 3:18).

Apart from God’s condemnation of trusting in military might, this book has another striking feature– that God would be willing to punish Israel. This is striking because it stands in contrast to how many American Christians see themselves– as God’s special people whom He is almost obligated to bless, and ultimately rapture out of the world when things get too unpleasant. God might judge America’s non-Christians, but its Christians are certainly safe. That America has supplanted Israel in the minds of many Americans is manifest by the way in which many American Christians misappropriate the Psalmist’s benediction, “blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord’s” (Psalm 33:12)! A simple Google image search of the keywords “blessed is the nation whose god is the lord” will suffice to demonstrate my point:

If you want to understand Psalm 33:13, you need to read the entire chapter. The same God who inspired Psalm 33:12 also inspired Psalm 33:16-17:
“The king is not saved by his great army; a warrior is not delivered by his great strength. The war horse is a false hope for salvation, and by its great might it cannot rescue” (Psalm 33:16-17).

Calling one’s country to turn to God and even appreciating the sacrifices of the soldiers of one’s country’s military are not by any means sinful actions. But lest we incur the penalty of Babylon by following their sin of idolatry, let us never forget that it is the grace of God and not military prowess that saves us.

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