I love Johnny Cash’s version of the traditional folk song known as “Run On” or “Run On for a Long Time.” Johnny Cash titled it, “God’s Gonna Cut You Down” on his American V: A Hundred Highways (2006) album. The song describes how everyone appears before God in the end of life and how sinners will get their just punishment. (Because of copyright laws I am not able to quote the lyrics in print, but you can search the song on your favorite music app.)
That song reminds me of eleven words Habakkuk shares: “Lord, I have heard the report about You and I fear” (Hab 3:2a).[1] The “report” that Habakkuk refers to here are the responses of God in Habakkuk 1:5–11 and in 2:2–20. The book of Habakkuk is a report from God to Habakkuk about God’s plans to use the Babylonians to judge Judah.
Here’s a brief timeline. In 607 BC Habakkuk writes. In 605 BC Babylon comes to Judah and Daniel is taken into exile in Babylon. In 597 BC Babylon comes again and Ezekiel is taken into exile in Babylon. In 586 BC Babylon finishes what they started by completely destroying the city of Jerusalem. To correctly understand this timeline we need to know who was the king in Judah and what kind of king he was.
King Jehoiakim ruled in Judah from 609–605 BC under Egyptian influence and from 605–601 BC under Babylonian control. King Jehoiakim killed innocent people who opposed him, he refused to pay poor laborers (2 Kings 23:35–37; Jer 22:13–19), he allowed prophets and priests to commit adultery and abuse their authority (Jer 23:1–2, 9–11), he killed Uriah the prophet for prophesying that Jerusalem would fall (Jer 26:20–23), and he burned the prophet Jeremiah’s hand-written prophecy about the destruction of Jerusalem (Jer 36).[2]
Now back to Habakkuk 3:2a. Habakkuk hears reports from God and it causes “fear.” Imagine how we would feel in America if God told us a foreign nation was coming to conquer us because of our country’s sins. We might compare that to what Americans experienced during the Cold War.
One thing we learn from Habakkuk’s prayer is that peace in the midst of God’s plans comes when we fear God. Sadly, most Americans don’t fear God.[3] How do I know? We take his name in vain in our personal speech, on the radio, in books, and on TV. We mock God with bumper stickers that say, “In the beginning man created God.” We post pictures on social media of a cross as the first letter in the word, “toxic.” That behavior makes it clear that most Americans do not fear God.
However, we should fear God. So what does the fear of God look like in believers? It is a reverence and respect for God’s person and God’s works. We respect and revere God as the creator of the universe and sustainer of our lives. Proverbs 1:7 says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.” God had told the Israelites about this in Deuteronomy 10:12, “Now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require from you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and love Him, and to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.”[4] The fear of God guides us as we approach him asking for forgiveness for our sin and it guides the way that we walk with him. We know that God loves us (Rom 8:38–39) but we fear him because he also disciplines us (Heb 12:1–6). We also should fear God because we will meet the Lord at the judgement seat after the rapture of the church, known as the Bema Seat, where our works will be judged (1 Cor 3:11–15; 2 Cor 5:10).[5]
Peace comes when we fear God because fear is a way to acknowledge that he is in complete control while we are not. A fear of God is correct because of who God is and it is healthy because of who we are.
[1] Scripture taken from the New American Standard Bible, Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995. Used by permission.
[2] Adapted from J.K. Bruckner, “Habakkuk, Book of” in Dictionary of the Old Testament: Prophets, edited by Mark J. Boda and Gordon J. McConville (Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity Press, 2012), 296.
[3] In America we don’t talk much about fear. I had trouble finding any discussion about the fear of God here in my commentaries from Habakkuk.
[4] Also see Deut 10:20–21, ““You shall fear the Lord your God; you shall serve Him and cling to Him, and you shall swear by His name. He is your praise and He is your God, who has done these great and awesome things for you which your eyes have seen.”
[5] So what does the fear of God look like in unbelievers? Their fear should be of judgement, eternal death, and forever separation from God (Luke 12:5; Heb 10:31). Unbelievers should fear God because they will face God, at the Great White Throne judgment, after the 1,000-year millennial reign of Christ. At that Great White Throne judgment their rejection of the Savior is what judges them (Rev 20:11–15).