Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Congratulations with the feast of the Resurrection of the Lord and with the memory of the Holy Prophet Habakkuk!

The Holy Prophet Habakkuk lived in the 7th century BC in Judea, the southern Jewish kingdom. We can consider him to be a successor to the work of the Prophet Nahum, whom we discussed last week. While Nahum prophesied about the fall of Assyria, Habakkuk is concerned with the fate of the Babylonian Empire, which took the place of Assyria. All of the Jews were overjoyed by the fall of Assyria, but shortly the same problems arose. This time, the conquerors were not the Assyrians, but the Babylonians or, as they are also called, the Chaldeans. The problem of a foreign enemy was compounded by internal state problems. The Judean government, notwithstanding external pressures, was itself on the verge of collapse. The law was no longer being enforced and in general lawless and evil people were oppressing the just. Under such difficult conditions, a sense of despair appeared amongst the faithful Jews. The Holy Prophet Habakkuk, in his very expressive book, gives voice to this despair and asks God the following question: where is justice in the world, for evil people are successful in everything while the just suffer?

The short book of the Holy Prophet Habakkuk is divided into three main parts. In the first part the prophet, on behalf of the faithful Jewish people, in a poetic manner poses the above-mentioned question to Lord twice. In His turn, God answers these questions. After this discussion, or one could even say argument, between the prophet and God, five curses of the Chaldeans follow. These curses begin with the word ‘woe,’ after which a list of reasons why the enemies of the Jews are being cursed is given. Each ‘woe’ concludes with a description of the consequences that will follow. The third part of the book contains a prayer of the Holy Prophet Habakkuk in which he praises the power of the Lord and notes that God conquers His enemies and protects His people. Without a doubt, this prayer was used by the Jews in a liturgical manner. We do the same thing, for this prayer is the model on which the fourth ode of the canons is based.

It remains for us to discuss the main question of the book of the Holy Prophet Habakkuk: how is it that sinners prosper in life and are free from punishment, while the righteous suffer and have no justice? The Lord God, through the quill of His prophet, gives not a simple, but a multifaceted answer. First, we can note that sinners are at times used by God as an instrument of punishment. The Chaldeans broke up the Assyrian Empire and subjugated Judea, which in many ways had fallen away from God. We have enough examples of this in the 20th century. The Lord God also notes that in the end all evil authority comes to a close, be it the Assyrians or the Babylonians (as happened later with the Communists and the Fascists). One must only wait with patience for the evil to fall. One could say that the prophet summarizes all of these ideas in the fourth verse of the second chapter: “Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith.”

Let us all live in the faith of God’s justice. We see that the Lord, without a doubt, subjugates the evil, but in their stead new villains appear. That about which Habakkuk so beautifully prays in the final part of his prophecy has not yet come to pass. This prayer is a prophecy of the Second Coming and the Dread Judgement. God has not yet appeared on the earth in all His power, has not yet completely defeated His enemies. Therefore, let’s stand on watch with the prophet, with firm faith that with time, the righteous will be justified and the sinners condemned. As we wait, let’s sing with the prophet the following words: “Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds' feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places!”

priest Alexis