The Rampart

I will stand my watch…Habakkuk 2:1

As he did in chapter 1, Habakkuk records his conversations with the LORD. They read as prayers with audible answers. Oh, that we could have such conversations with God. That we could speak to Him and hear Him as though He was in the room with us. Or, so we think.

With privilege comes responsibility. Chapter 2, verse 1: I will stand my watch and set myself on the rampart and watch to see what He will say to me, and what I will answer when I am corrected.Habakkuk expected the Lord to change his mind about what he thought about his circumstances. For in Chapter 1, he prayed for the destruction of the enemies of Israel.  His words were strong. His suggestions were merciless. He wanted revenge upon his enemies. For they all come for violence, 1:9. 

God does not answer that prayer. Instead in Chapter 2, God has him write the vision, verses 2 thru 20. In God’s answer comes the phrase quoted by Paul in his letters; verse 4: but the just shall live by his faith, Romans 1:17 and Galatians 3:11 and Hebrews 10:38.

In this vision, God reveals to the prophet why he must stand his watch upon the rampart. God issues several warnings to the wicked of earth. Judgment is coming at its appointed time, verse 3: for the vision is yet for an appointed time. But at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. 

The vision is sure. Judgment is coming. And judgment belongs to the LORD. Meanwhile, the just shall live by their faith. For the LORD is in His holy temple. Let all the earth keep silence before Him. Habakkuk 2:20. Meanwhile, we stand our watch as a fortified defensive barrier between them and us. In Habakkuk’s day the rampart was mainly dirt and stone. In our day it is us. 

When they come to do violence, they meet you; us, those who are just and live by faith in the Lord.