FAITH 87 



field of Megiddo, and this was the end of all their 

 bright hopes, and confident expectations* 



It is intensely interesting to compare the writings of 

 Habakkuk with those of the eighth century prophets. 

 The eighth century prophets constantly called Israel 

 to her trial and found her guilty* Habakkuk, that brave 

 old sceptic, with a still nobler flight of faith, called God 

 to His trial, and asked Him what He meant by it* ** Art 

 not Thou of old, Jehovah, my God, my Holy One ? 

 Purer of Eyes than to behold evil, and that canst not 

 ga2;e upon trouble* Why gazest Thou upon traitors ? 

 Art dumb when the wicked swallows him that is more 

 righteous than he ? '' 



And when no answer comes, he says, in a passage of 

 matchless beauty, 



Upon my watch-tower I will standi and take my post upon the rampart. 

 I will watch to see what He will say to me, and what answer I get 

 back to my plea* 



And when at last the answer does come, it is in large 

 measure a counsel of patience* God points out to His 

 Prophet that the pride and arrogance of the oppressor 

 presage his downfall* Then He goes on to say, '* But 

 the just shall live by faith '' — or, as it might be better 

 translated, ** the righteous shall live by his faithfulness*'' 

 That is to say, Judah, the righteous nation, shall live by 

 its loyalty to God and His laws* 



The word translated ** faith ** is the same word as is 

 used elsewhere for faithfulness between man and wife ; 

 it means fidelity or loyalty. Now consider for a moment 

 how wonderfully history has vindicated this prophecy 

 of Habakkuk* Centuries after their proud oppressors 

 were crumbling in their graves, when Nineveh and 

 Babylon were mere mounds of sand, and their very 

 existence almost forgotten, Israel was, and is still, 

 living obedient to the law of God as revealed in the 

 Torah* Of a truth the just has lived by faith* 



