“Behold ye among the heathen, and regard, and wonder marvellously: for I will work a work in your days, which ye will not believe, though it be told you.”
My Notes
What Does Habakkuk 1:5 Mean?
God's answer to Habakkuk's complaint about injustice is itself shocking: "I will work a work in your days, which ye will not believe, though it be told you." God is doing something — but it's so unexpected, so counter-intuitive, that even the prophet who asked for it won't believe it when he hears it.
The "work" God describes (verses 6-11) is raising up the Chaldeans (Babylonians) as his instrument of judgment against Judah. Habakkuk complained about injustice in Judah; God's answer is to send a nation even more unjust to punish them. The cure seems worse than the disease.
Paul quotes this verse in Acts 13:41, applying it to the gospel: God's work in Christ is so unexpected that many who hear it won't believe it. The pattern holds: God's interventions are consistently too surprising for conventional expectation. The answer to the prayer is always bigger, stranger, and less predictable than the prayer anticipated.
Reflection Questions
- 1.When has God's answer to your prayer been so unexpected that you struggled to believe it was actually his answer?
- 2.How does the pattern of God's solutions looking like bigger problems challenge your expectations of divine intervention?
- 3.What 'work in your days' might God be doing that you're refusing to believe because it doesn't match your request?
- 4.How does Paul's application of this verse to the gospel deepen your understanding of God's counter-intuitive methods?
Devotional
God says: I'm doing something. You won't believe it. Even if someone tells you in advance what it is, you'll refuse to believe it. The work is too unexpected for your categories.
Habakkuk wanted God to fix injustice. God's fix is to send Babylon — a nation more unjust than Judah — as the instrument of correction. The prophet who asked God to act is about to wish God hadn't. The answer to prayer is so far from what was expected that it looks like the opposite of an answer.
This is how God frequently works: the solution looks like a bigger problem. The healing looks like a worse injury. The rescue looks like a deeper crisis. Habakkuk wanted a surgical correction; God sent a Babylonian invasion. The scale and method of God's response exceeded every reasonable expectation.
Paul applies this to the gospel in Acts 13: the work God did in Christ is so unexpected that people who hear about it refuse to believe it. A crucified Messiah? Salvation through death? Life through a tomb? The work is too counter-intuitive for a mind that thinks it knows how God should operate.
If God's answer to your prayer looks nothing like what you expected — if the 'work' he's doing seems to contradict the request you made — Habakkuk says: you're in good company. The work is real. It's happening in your days. And you might not believe it even while it's unfolding in front of you.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
Behold ye among the heathen, and regard,.... This is the Lord's answer to the prophet's complaint, or what he directs…
Behold ye among the heathen - The whole tone of the words suddenly changes. The Jews flattered themselves that, being…
Behold ye among the heathen - Instead of בגוים baggoyim, among the nations or heathen, some critics think we should read…
We have here an answer to the prophet's complaint, giving him assurance that, though God bore long, he would not bear…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture