IS SOUTH AFRICA BECOMING A SOCIALIST STATE? LESSONS FROM HABAKKUK
As a young student at Bible College, perhaps one of the most significant lessons I learned then, and am still learning today, comes from a short prophetic book in the Old Testament, the prophecy of Habakkuk.
There are many parallels between Habakkuk’s times and our own. Society in his day was out of control. Despite God’s covenant with Israel, choosing them above all the nations to be His own people, they were no different from their wicked, idolatrous neighbours.
They despised God’s instructions on how to live in harmony with one another and with their neighbours. Instead, crime was rife, law and order had collapsed, the rich oppressed the poor, and the justice system had failed to stop the rot.
Habakkuk was desperate. The situation was intolerable. It seemed to him that God was either deaf to his cries or powerless to do anything to intervene. He was sitting on His hands, perhaps even indifferent to the mess His own people were in.
When we read the opening verses of Habakkuk’s prophecy, we could be reading today’s newspapers.
“How long, O Lord, must I call for help? But you do not listen! “Violence is everywhere!” I cry, but you do not come to save. Must I forever see these evil deeds? Why must I watch all this misery? Wherever I look, I see destruction and violence. I am surrounded by people who love to argue and fight. The law has become paralyzed, and there is no justice in the courts. The wicked far outnumber the righteous, so that justice has become perverted.”
Habakkuk 1:2-4 NLT
How often do God’s people cry out to the Lord to intervene in a situation like Habakkuk’s, but God is seemly doing nothing! All we see is that sin is escalating everywhere in the world, and not only in our own country. The whole world has gone crazy!
(Despite what is happening around us now, and the apostle Paul’s warning of a state of meltdown in society that will characterise the end times, there are many so-called “prophets” who happily and confidently predict a great and worldwide revival before Jesus comes. Who is telling the truth? Jesus Himself said that the love of most will grow cold).
God’s response to the prophet’s complaint was both startling and frightening. “I am doing something that, if I told you what it is, you would not believe me. I am raising up the Babylonians.”
The threat of Babylonian invasion may have seemed remote to Habakkuk at that time but God alerted him to the reality that the Babylonians were coming, and they would inflict great suffering on God’s people.
Perhaps what troubled Habakkuk the most was that God claimed responsibility for raising them up and letting them loose on His own people.
How could God use such a vicious and cruel nation to punish His own people who were, to the prophet, “more righteous” than the Babylonians? Doesn’t God hate sin? Wasn’t He too pure to condone evil?
Habakkuk was determined to get answers from God, so he declared his intention to wait until God answered him (most probably to his own satisfaction, since God’s response up to this point provoked more questions than provided answers).
“I will climb up to my watchtower and stand at my guard post. There I will wait to see what the Lord says and how he will answer my complaint.”
Habakkuk 2:1 NLT
Eventually, God answered Him, but again, not in the way the prophet expected. Yes, the Babylonian army would invade Judah. Yes, they would utterly destroy Jerusalem and take God’s people into captivity. Yes, God’s people would suffer at the hands of the invaders but….
God’s focus is on those who remain faithful to Him throughout all the times of hardship.
“Look at the proud! They trust in themselves, and their lives are crooked. But the righteous will live by their faithfulness to God… “
Habakkuk 2:4 NLT
God is never indifferent to the suffering that ungodly people inflict on those who are faithful to Him. His cup of wrath guarantees that the wicked, be they individual or nations, will be made to drink that cup to its dregs.
Habakkuk finally got the picture. God uses situations that force people to make choices that separate the godly from the ungodly. He never imposes change on people. He uses circumstances and situation to drive them into a corner so that they must choose for good or evil. (Hebrews 12)
Change comes from within, and change happens when we recognise the evil of our ways and return to the standards of God’s word.
And so, when Habakkuk finally understood how God works, though His way might be painful and difficult through hardship and suffering, his faith in God became stronger and more resilient. Justice would be served on those who inflict hardship on others. The prophet rejoiced in God’s grace to endure when everything around him failed and fell apart.
“Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails, and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Saviour. The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer; he enables me to tread on the heights.”
Habakkuk 3:17-19 NIV
How, then, can we understand and participate with God in prayer in what He is doing in our world today, as Habakkuk did in his day?
Let me tell you what the Holy Spirit has revealed to me through His Word…
Some time ago I asked the Lord why He has not stopped the war in Ukraine, since many people around the world are praying. His response surprised me as much as His reply to Habakkuk’s question stunned him.
He took me to a verse in Genesis 15.
“In the fourth generation, your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.”
Genesis 15:16 NIV
God told Abraham that his descendants would be enslaved in a foreign land for 400 years. After that, they would return to the Promised Land (and conquer it – understood) because God was giving the Amorites time to repent or to fill up His cup of wrath against them.
In a process of unfolding revelation, He told me that Russia’s cup of wrath is not yet full. He took me to the prophecy of Habakkuk and showed me the parallels between the prophet’s dilemma and the dilemma of the church in our day.
South Africa is not a nation in covenant with God but the church in South Africa, as part of His church through the ages, is a covenant “nation” spiritually.
“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”
1 Peter 2:9 NIV
The church is God’s representative to the world in the New Covenant era as Israel was to the surrounding nations in their day. God’s attention is always on His covenant people since they are part of His plan for showing the world who He is.
“You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.”
2 Corinthians 3:3 NIV
When the church fails to live as citizens of God’s kingdom in this evil world, the Lord disciplines and trains through hardship and suffering so that we might be a holy people, set apart for God. As, with Israel, He uses circumstances… including people and nations, to do His work of sanctifying us for His glory.
“Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.”
Hebrews 12:9-11 NIV
A short while after this encounter with Scripture, I had a mental picture, out of the blue, of a huge ship ploughing through stormy seas, then slowing down and turning around. The words came to me, “The juggernaut is turning around.” Juggernaut? I looked up the meaning of juggernaut – an unstoppable force.
I had no clue what this picture meant until I was riveted by a statement in a weekly newspaper called “The Daily Friend” which I receive by email. The articles are written by knowledgeable people who view current affairs with insight and discernment.
The article I was reading examined the reason for President Ramaphosa’s agreement with Minister Gwede Mantashe that an “Eskom 2” was, a “good idea” and should be built to stimulate competition with Eskom1 as one option to deal with the energy crisis in South Africa.
What was underlying this ridiculous proposal to solve the problem of an already failing state enterprise? The writer’s conclusion, (that Gwede Mantashe is a “died-in-the-wool” communist whose sole purpose is to turn South Africa into a socialist state, to which President Ramaphosa agreed at this point), set alarm bells ringing.
This was not the president merely giving nodding approval to the suggestion, according to the writer, but a deep-seated conviction that this is the way to go for this country, underpinned by the SACP’s partnership in government.
Imagine my surprise when I read this statement near the conclusion of this article…
“The ANC, which has always been under the tutelage of the SACP, is intent on turning the ship of state around (!!!!!!) and leaving this embarrassing period of state failure behind them….”
Shortly after reading this, I learned that South Africa is to become the headquarters of the news channel, “Russis Today” after other countries had refused them.
With South Africa’s sympathetic attitude and close links with Russia, is there every possibility that the “ship of state” is intent on leading South Africa towards becoming a socialist state? We have only to examine the new policies the government is proposing (e.g., EWC, NHI, BIG, etc.), and new legislation being inflicted on the people in South Africa to recognise that the ANC is moving us ever closer to absolute control over our nation.
How does this tie in with Habakkuk’s interaction with God?
God claimed responsibility for raising up the Babylonians. His purpose was to punish His people for their disobedience to His covenant, and to bring them back, through their suffering, to faith in Him.
He also had to deal with Babylon. Their wickedness, cruelty, and oppression of God’s people may have been the final drops in God’s cup of wrath which they would drink when the Medes and Persians overthrew Babylon in one night (see Dani 5).
I present my conclusions in the form of questions since I have no right to put words in God’s mouth or claim to speak for God. I can only conclude, on the strength and authority of God’s Word, that He might be using similar tactics as He did in Habakkuk’s day to bring His church back to Himself or, at least, to refine the remnant of His faithful ones who will survive the troubled times we are living in.
Since God is sovereign in all human affairs, can it be that He has raised up the ANC to purify His church and restore the simplicity of faith in and obedience to Jesus as Lord?
What if the ‘ship of state’ is turning us back to communism – the scourge that Russia let loose on the world – with its avowed intent to rid the world of faith in God and in Jesus as Lord, and to control the world and its wealth by oppressing the poor? Is that not Putin’s intention – to restore Russia’s rule over its once vast empire by bringing its former member-states to their knees?
Russian and Chinese communism’s attempt to destroy the church has failed. It produced, instead, a purer and more powerful witness to Jesus. Perhaps this shaking may just be what the church in South Africa needs to sift out the counterfeit church and refine the bride in preparation for the Bridegroom’s return.
I claim no prophetic gift or office. I ask only that you consider what I have offered you and heed the message that faithfulness to Jesus and His ‘law’ of faith in Him and love for one another (1 John 3:23) is our only hope of survival despite all attempts to nullify our faith and drive us to deny our allegiance to Jesus as Lord.
How did Habakkuk respond to God’s startling and terrifying revelation of His ways?
Did he “pray against” the invasion by the Babylonians? Did he “take authority” over the devil and his attack on God’s people? Did he “identify” and “pull down” altars and strongholds? Did he organise “prayer walks” and mass prayer meetings to deal with the situation he was enduring?
“No!” to these reactions which are so often typical of the current “prayer” movements.
Habakkuk reflected on the coming destruction of those who would harm God’s people. He remembered God’s great deliverance of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. He remembered how God’s power over nature destroyed the enemy and opened the way for His people to escape. If God did that for them, then, He could do it again. His prayer, in response to all that God had revealed to him, was simple.
“I have heard all about you, Lord. I am filled with awe by your amazing works. In this time of our deep need, help us again as you did in years gone by. And in your anger, remember your mercy.”
Habakkuk 3:2 NLT
Armed with a renewed confidence in the sovereignty, power, and wisdom of God, Habakkuk ends his encounter with the Lord in a song expressing his profound faith in God despite impending disaster. The Babylonian army may come and destroy everything but… accompanied by wild music and dizzy dancing, the prophet expresses his confidence in God’s grace to see him through the test.
“The Sovereign Lord is my strength! He makes me as surefooted as a deer, able to tread upon the heights.” (For the choir director: This prayer is to be accompanied by stringed instruments).
Habakkuk 3:19 NLT
Is it possible, then, that God’s message to Habakkuk is His message to us today? It is not our mandate or role to direct the political affairs of state by interference or prayer. Our role as members of Jesus’s church is to be faithful to Him, to live in obedience to His word and the leading of His Spirit, and to trust Him that He is working, in all things, for our good, to conform us to the image of His Son (Romans 8:28-29).
All the signs of South Africa becoming a socialist state under the present government are there. Communism’s goal, as demonstrated in the history of Chinese and Russian communism, is to destroy the church and annihilate God’s people.
Unless God rescues us from the present regime with its hidden and not-so-hidden agendas, the church in South Africa will be shaken as never before. Whether we stand or not will depend on our commitment to be faithful to Jesus, no matter what.
Communism or not, God is sovereign. He will use whatever is necessary to transform us into true children of God. His perfect family is His goal. Let our prayers echo and reflect the faith of Habakkuk, submitting to God’s ways and trusting Him for grace to endure suffering until His purified church becomes the light that points the way to Jesus who will take us to the Father.