SO WHAT DO WE DO NOW????

   There is a prophet in the scriptures named Habakkuk. He lived around 3625, and prophesied between the fall of Ninevah and the fall of Jerusalem. He lived in a world that was in the midst of war.

 His country had fallen from a period of revival under king Josiah, to a total collapse of righteous values and G-d honoring laws. The threat of invasion loomed from the north, the east and the south. Habakkuk cries out to the G-d of Israel in chapter 3, verse 2 and says:
              Lord, I have heard of your fame
          I stand in awe of your deeds, O Lord
                   Renew them in our day
              In our time make them known;
                 In wrath, remember mercy.

   I read this and thought, we need to pray this today! In our time! The situation is almost the same as it was over 2500 years ago for Israel!
                 
So what were the things in Habakkuk’s day that made G-d famous? What deeds was Habakkuk “in awe”of? What were the situations in which mercy triumphed? Well, I immediately thought of a few.
    If we go back 400-500 years before Habakkuk, when judges were the leaders of Israel, we read in the 5th chapter of the book of Judges that things were pretty tough for the Israelites at that time. Highways were deserted, village life had all but stopped. There was war all around, but G-d’s people didn’t even have a shield or a spear among the 40,000 soldiers. They had lived for 20 years under Canaanite oppression, and the situation was one of NO HOPE. It was grim! Of course they did not have worldwide media coverage telling the Canaanites how the Israelites were really oppressing them and unjustly squatting on their property
                                    
but they faced Jabin the King of Canaan who had 900 iron chariots at his disposal. When you have no weapons, that can be a frightening enemy!
                 
    Now there was a place in the land where people got water for their families and livestock, the “watering place”. People started talking about the things G-d had done for them while their animals drank and they themselves gathered water. As they shared, their hearts started to change. The atmosphere started to change. Maybe it was just small things like, “there was no food on the shelves when suddenly we were reminded we had flour hidden under the floor boards”, to bigger things like “their parents being fed with supernatural food for 40 years in the Sinai desert”. They remembered when those walls got swallowed up around Jericho
      
and when Balaam could only bless Israel and not curse them for Balak. So many memories of G-d’s awesome deeds!
    These memories started an “Awakening”. Deborah, the leader, judge, at the time heard from G-d who gave her a supernatural strategy that would bring hope back to the people and peace to the land (ended up bringing peace for 40 years!) G-d renewed his awesome deeds and gave the Israelites a stunning, complete victory over their Canaanite oppressers! An army with no spears, no shields, conquered an army with 900 iron chariots. G-d had mercy on the Israelites!
                
    Then Habakkuk may have remembered when Syria’s King Ben-Hadad gathered his forces against Israel to besiege Samaria. During King Ahab’s time, it was the capital city. King Ahab and his wife Jezebel were terrible leaders. When the King of Syria threaten to destroy Israel and boasted that the silver, gold, loveliest women and children belonged to him, Ahab’s response was, “All that I have is yours”. What a wimp! Even Ben-Hadad was shocked so he went a little further and sent a second message saying, “Whatever is pleasing and pleasant to you, Ahab, my army will take it!” King Ahab  responded with weak irritation.
    Then the king of Syria began to boast that his gods were more powerful than the God of Israel. (Does any of this sound familiar?) He boasted that his gods were able to totally destroy Samaria, and he began to plan a brutal attack. Meanwhile (here comes the “remembering G-d stuff) a prophet shows up and approaches Ahab. He is never given a name, but this guy helps save this silly King. He says this:

     Have you seen this massive army of
Ben-Hadad?
  I will deliver it into your hands TODAY!
And you shall know that I am the Lord.
                                          (1 Kings 20:13)

    Ahab is like, “Who’s gonna do that?” and G-d through the prophet gives him an unusual strategy. It works and the Syrians are struck down, but Ben-Hadad flees on his horse. The prophet with no name shows up again and tells king Ahab it’s not over. This guy will attack again be ready!
                
MEANWHILE, the enemy, Ben Hadad and his advisers have concluded that their loss was because Israel’s god is G-d of the hills, but if they fight in the plains, Syria will win. They completely underestimated the G-d of Israel! (sound familiar?) When the next battle came, both sides were encamped across from each other for 7 days, Israel being way outnumbered. However, on the seventh day, they went to battle and 100,000 Syrian foot soldiers fell in battle and the remaining 27,000 had a wall fall on them. It was an amazing victory.
                  
Sadly the King messed up later, but I think Habakkuk knew if G-d could do such an awesome victory through a King like Ahab, he could do it again for the glory of His name.
    Of course there are so many other remarkable exploits orchestrated by the G-d of Israel, but just by meditating on these two, a passion wells up in our hearts like Habakkuk, Oh Lord, DO IT AGAIN! DO IT IN OUR DAY! IN YOUR WRATH, REMEMBER MERCY! When evil leaders rise up and boast about their gods, when they threaten Israel and taunt Israel with their boasts, then pray like Habakkuk. Remember the mighty works of    G-d. He has not changed!
                         (Malachi chapter 3, verse 6)