Habakkuk 2:3

“For the vision is yet for an appointed time; but at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.” — Habakkuk 2:3

When we read the book of Habakkuk, we see that the prophet does not tell us which tribe he came from or who his father was, unlike many other prophets who mentioned their family line. Habakkuk’s book also does not begin with a command from God to speak to the people. Instead, it is a personal conversation between Habakkuk and God. The prophet speaks to God with an groaning heart. Habakkuk seeks the presence of God and asks why the Lord allows evil to prosper and why He seems silent when the wicked oppress the righteous and God responds with an answer that he did not expect. The LORD tells him that He will send the Babylonians to judge His people, and that His will shall be done in its appointed time. This reveals the heart of a righteous man living among a wicked generation.

When God says, “For the vision is yet for an appointed time; but at the end it will speak, and it will not lie” (Habakkuk 2:3). We must first understand the character of God. God is not quick to destroy or eager to judge. That is not His nature. The Lord Himself declares, “Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the Lord GOD: and not that he should return from his ways, and live?” (Ezekiel 18:23). God never takes pleasure in the death of the wicked, because to die in sin is to be eternally separated from Him. For unrighteousness cannot enter the Kingdom of God. That is why the Lord calls, “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon” (Isaiah 55:7). Through repentance, we receive mercy from God. God hates sin because it separates us from Him and it grieves His heart. He is a righteous Judge, and because He is holy, He cannot overlook sin. His law declares, “Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, life for life” (Exodus 21:24), and “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23).

Yet in His great mercy and lovingkindness, God Himself stepped down from His throne and was manifested in the flesh, declared to be the Son of God (1 Timothy 3:16). He humbled Himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross (Philippians 2:8). He was despised and rejected of men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief (Isaiah 53:3). He was beaten, mocked, spat upon, scourged, and crucified. He hung upon the cross, stripped and shamed, bearing our griefs and carrying our sorrows. He was wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and with His stripes we are healed (Isaiah 53:5). Jesus who knew no sin was counted among the transgressors and bore the sin of many (Isaiah 53:12). He took upon Himself the punishment we all deserved, for “the wages of sin is death” . Yet on the third day, He rose again in glory and power, conquering sin and death (1 Corinthians 15:4–57), that we might be reconciled to God and no longer separated from His presence. Through His precious blood, our sins are washed away, and eternal life is granted to all who believe in His Name (John 3:16; Revelation 1:5). That makes us understand that if living in sin were right in the sight of God, then Jesus would not have needed to die on the cross. 

God appointed a day of judgment, because He is a righteous and just God. Though His heart is grieved, that day is already set for those who reject His salvation, a day of eternal separation from His presence. Just as God raised up the Babylonians to judge Judah and the Assyrians to judge Israel, so will He once again rise to judge the whole world at His appointed time. As the Apostle Paul declared in Athens, “because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man [that Man is Jesus Christ] whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.”(Acts 17:31) Therefore, if anyone does not have Jesus Christ in their life, they stand condemned already. On the great day of judgment at the Great White Throne all who reject Him will be cast into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:11–15). Just as Judah was judged for its sin, so will all the earth face God’s final judgment.

Yet, until that day, His mercy still calls out, “…Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” (Acts‬ ‭2:38‬). ‭

When God says, Though it tarries, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.” He assures Habakkuk that whatever He has appointed will surely come to pass not in our time, but in His perfect time. For God is gracious and full of mercy, giving every person the opportunity to repent. You and I are living proofs of God’s forbearance and longsuffering, for He is “not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).

As the righteous living in a wicked generation, we can feel what Habakkuk felt, the heavy burden of seeing evil increase everywhere. We see how our loved ones are being affected by the wickedness of this world. The food we eat has become poison to our bodies because people are driven by greed for money. Lawmakers have lost all fear of God, creating laws that go against His Word. Having sex outside of marriage has become normal, and killing the innocent unborn has become a business and called “woman’s right” while the child in her womb has no right to live. We don’t need birth control!! we need self-control. The Word of God says we must “deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, and live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world” (Titus 2:12). Children are now being taught to question who they are, even to identify as animals. As confusion spreads like wildfire. They are being robbed of truth and left to wander in darkness. The world is drowning in lies because it has rejected its Creator.

Even the earth itself groans under the weight of sin. As the Scripture says, “For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now” (Romans 8:22). The blood of the innocent cries out from the ground, just as it did in the days of Abel. Corruption, violence, and pride fill the earth once again, just as in the days of Noah.

Yet in the midst of this darkness, God’s command remains the same, wait. Just as He told Habakkuk to wait, He tells us to wait upon Him. The apostle James exhorts us, “Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth… Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh” (James 5:7–8). The world we are living in already has an appointed day to be judged and destroyed. God has set the time and it will surely come. That is why He is preparing a new heaven and a new earth for all who belong to Him. As it is written, “Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness” (2 Peter 3:13). That is what we should be longing and looking for, not to this world appointed to be destroyed. As Paul reminds Titus and us, we should look for “that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13). This world is not our home. Our permanent dwelling is not here on earth but in the Kingdom of God. We are not citizens of this world. We are citizens of Heaven (Philippians 3:20). We are ambassadors of Christ.

So do not set your heart on the things of this world, for all of it will soon pass away. Instead, fix your eyes on the things above, where Christ sits at the right hand of God (Colossians 3:1–2). Set your mind on what God has called and assigned you to do fulfill the work He has entrusted to your hands so that His purpose in you may be finished and accomplished. For soon, the trumpet will sound, and King Jesus will return in power and great glory. He will make war against the devil, defeat him, and cast him into the lake of fire. Then those who belong to the LORD Jesus Christ, the faithful and redeemed will reign with Him forever and ever