God explains His answer

Habakkuk 2:4-20 God Explains His Answer

In 2:1 Habakkuk determined to wait upon God for more information regarding God’s troubling revelation of the Chaldeans being used to bring judgment upon Judah. In 2:2-3 God answered him, “the vision is yet for an appointed time…wait for it, because it will surely come.” I pointed out that this was a far bigger answer than Habakkuk was expecting, The vision is yet for a time, the Chaldeans are coming and it will be a difficult season, but there is something bigger, someone greater coming, “The vision…will rise up at the end…wait for him.”

2:4 Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith.
The Lord presents two men, the proud and the righteous. I think the Douay-Rheims Bible (translation of the Latin into English) captures the sense and intent of the first half of this verse, “Behold, he that is unbelieving, his soul shall not be right in himself.”

Here is the answer Habakkuk is looking for, “the just shall live by his faith.” The righteous man will live, will survive the coming days, by his faith. Not by his righteousness, but by his faith. Faith is powerful.

Faith also has priority. It comes before righteous living, righteousness is birthed in faith.

What is this faith? Belief in the Lord, His Word, His ways, His character, His promises, His faithfulness. It is faith that moves me to obey, to be righteous, to be holy; it is faith that helps me ride out the storm. Not simply faith, but faith in the Lord, because faith connects me to Him.

This verse is vital to the gospel and the New Testament – it is quoted three times in the New Testament. I plan a separate post on the just shall live by his faith as quoted in the New Testament.

What follows is really powerful. Faith is not something I work up or decide to have, it is always and only a response to something God has said or done. “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” This was as true in the Old Testament as it is in the New. So what God does in verses 5-20 is give them the word to believe. This is expressed in five woes and an amazing promise:

2:5-8 6 Woe to him that increaseth that which is not his! … 8 Because thou hast spoiled many nations, all the remnant of the people shall spoil thee

2:9-11 11Woe to him that coveteth an evil covetousness to his house … 10 Thou hast consulted shame to thy house by cutting off many people, and hast sinned against thy soul.

2:12-13 12 Woe to him that buildeth a town with blood, and establisheth a city by iniquity!

2:15-18 15 Woe unto him that giveth his neighbour drink, that puttest thy bottle to him, and makest him drunken also, that thou mayest look on their nakedness!

2:19 Woe unto him that saith to the wood, Awake; to the dumb stone, Arise, it shall teach!

What is this all about? Judgment is coming. There will be justice. God has promised. You can count on it. The just shall live by this faith.

In the midst of all these woes we read;

2:14 For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.

This is a wonderful, faith building promise! What a day this will be!


The chapter ends with this: 

2:20 But the LORD is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him.

Many years ago I often visited a church that sang this as their call to worship. What a sad misunderstanding. This verse is saying “sit down and shut up.” This is not a call to worship!

Here are calls to worship:

I will enter his gates with thanksgiving in my heart, and into his courts with praise.

O come, let us sing unto the LORD: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms.

O sing unto the LORD a new song: sing unto the LORD, all the earth.

O clap your hands, all ye people; shout unto God with the voice of triumph.

Hallelujah!

So what is this verse? It is a call of judgment. Just like in our courts, as the judge enters:

Bailiff: All rise. Department One of the Superior Court is now in session. Judge Roberts presiding.

You see, people have a tendency to justify themselves, to explain away their faults. At that Great Day the call will go forth, "The LORD is in his holy temple, let all the earth keep silence before him." Excuses, vindications, explaining away will not work in that Day because God knows everything. As we read in Revelation 20:11-13 11 

11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.  

12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.  

13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. 

If we haven’t settled our account before then, it will be too late for our souls. Come to Jesus now.

Isaiah 45:22 Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.

NEXT: Chapter 3 Prayer & Psalm of Habakkuk

Habakkuk's plan

 

Habakkuk Chapter 2

Habakkuk’s Plan

Habakkuk had a rather turbulent first chapter! He opens with a complaint, “ O LORD, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear!” Then he is blown away and befuddled by God’s answer, “I will raise up the Chaldeans.” So he devises a plan:

2:1 I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what he will say unto me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved.

This is a good plan. “God, I don’t understand, so I will wait on You for more information.” This is a further indication of Habakkuk’s faith: he believes that whatever God will do will be right, (even though he doesn’t understand), and he believes God will answer him. And He does!

God’s Answer

2:2 And the LORD answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it.
2:3 For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.

Here is God’s initial response, “Write it down, make it plain, it’s going to happen.” I admit, this doesn’t seem to answer Habakkuk’s question - the Lord will make that clear beginning in v 4, but let’s look at this first, after all, God spoke it first!

Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it – a vision has not been mentioned so far, but it must be referring to the revelation of the coming of the Chaldeans in ch 1. “Write it down and make it clear so they will know what I am going to do.”

For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry – “I have set the time for the Chaldeans to come; they will surely come.”

at the end it shall speak - This is very interesting, it seems to speak to the immediate situation, the Chaldeans, as well as something else more significant. This is brought out in the Septuagint (or LXX, a translation made by the Jews of the Old Testament Hebrew into Greek):

The vision is yet for a time and will rise up at the end and not in vain; if he seems to delay, wait for him, because he who is coming will come, and will not tarry. (LXX)

Very interesting! “He who is coming will come, and will not tarry.” The pronoun was changed from it to he: “it will surely come” to “he who is coming.” I believe the “he” is Christ.

Hebrews 10:37 quotes this and says it does indeed speak of something greater, the coming of Christ:

For yet a little while, and he who is coming will come, and will not tarry.

This could be applied to the first coming of our Lord, as it says in Galatians 4:4-5, "But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son.” And it is true, “he who is coming” came in the incarnation, life, ministry, crucifixion, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. But I think that in Hebrews Paul is referring to the second coming of Christ. He is taking the situation in Habakkuk’s day (suffering because of the Chaldeans) and applying it to their day (suffering because of their faith in Christ) and his encouragement is, “The vision is yet for a time and will rise up at the end and not in vain; if he seems to delay, wait for him, because he who is coming will come, and will not tarry.” And it looks like Paul interprets “if he seems to delay, wait for him” to mean, “Yet a little while”.

Amen! Yet a little while and he who is coming will come and will not tarry!

Habakkuk got a big answer in response to his waiting on the Lord. “The vision is yet for a time”, the Chaldeans are coming as I showed you, and it will be a difficult season for you; but there is something bigger, someone greater coming, “The vision…will rise up at the end…wait for him.”

As the LORD said in Isaiah, "Hearken unto me, ye stouthearted, that are far from righteousness: I bring near my righteousness; it shall not be far off, and my salvation shall not tarry: and I will place salvation in Zion for Israel my glory." (Isaiah 46:12-13)

This is by no means the end of God’s response to Habakkuk, in 4-20 He expands upon His answer. It just keeps getting better!!


Tomorrow: 2:4-20 God explains His answer to Habakkuk 

Habakkuk's Response

1:12-17 Habakkuk's Response

 

Habakkuk opens with a bang, “How long, O LORD will I cry out to you and you won’t answer!”
 
Then God answers with a bigger bang, “I’ll tell you what I’m going to do, but you won’t believe it.” Then He reveals that He will use the Chaldeans to bring about His judgment on Judah. The ungodly, unrighteous, idolatrous Chaldeans!
 
Today, we consider Habakkuk’s response. Simply put, he couldn’t believe his ears! It’s not that he couldn’t believe God would bring judgment on Judah, he couldn’t understand how God could use the Chaldeans to do it.
 
He has two objections:
 
The LORD is holy

1:12  [Art] thou not from everlasting, O LORD my God, mine Holy One? we shall not die. O LORD, thou hast ordained them for judgment; and, O mighty God, thou hast established them for correction.

Here is his conundrum: The LORD is the everlasting God, the Holy One, yet He has declared He will use these Chaldeans for judgment and correction.
 
1:13  [Thou art] of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity: wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, [and] holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth [the man that is] more righteous than he?

You can’t look on iniquity (that is, approve of iniquity), so how can You look upon the Chaldeans, who deal treacherously and devour Your covenant people?
 
The Chaldeans are idolators

1:14  And makest men as the fishes of the sea, as the creeping things, [that have] no ruler over them?
1:15  They take up all of them with the angle, they catch them in their net, and gather them in their drag: therefore they rejoice and are glad.
1:16  Therefore they sacrifice unto their net, and burn incense unto their drag; because by them their portion [is] fat, and their meat plenteous.
1:17  Shall they therefore empty their net, and not spare continually to slay the nations?

These Chaldeans don’t recognize You, they don’t honor You. They are idolators. He compares them to fishermen who use nets to catch their fish. They “rejoice and are glad” when they devastate and captivate, then they worship their net, as God had said, “imputing this his power unto his god” (1:11); and they start all over, they are insatiable in their lust for power and riches.
 
"O LORD my God, mine Holy One, how can you use these idolatrous, ungodly, unrighteous people to judge your covenant people?"
 
This is a good question, a tough question, a hard question. God is holy, but sometimes His ways are hard to understand. As God Himself explains in Isaiah 55:8-9:
 
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. [The entire chapter is great!]
 
Being the Almighty, God can do whatever He wants. What protects us from arbitrary abuse of this power?
 
He is light – there is no darkness in Him at all
 
He is holy – He can do no evil
 
He is righteous – everything He does is right
 
He is love – we can trust Him
 
All this is why Isaiah says in the verses that come just before those quoted above:
 
Seek ye the Lord, and when ye find him, call upon him; and when he shall draw nigh to you, let the ungodly leave his ways, and the transgressor his counsels: and let him return to the Lord, and he shall find mercy; for he shall abundantly pardon your sins. (Isaiah 55:6-7 LXX*)
 
Habakkuk’s question is also filled with irony - the “covenant people” were idolatrous, ungodly, and unrighteous themselves.

 
The chapter division is rather awkward here as the thought continues in the first verse of the second chapter, which we will see
 
 
NEXT WEEK: Habakkuk 2 The LORD provides more information

* LXX is the Septuagint. Both LXX and Septuagint mean 70, tradition tells us 72 Jewish scholars translated the Hebrew Old Testament in Greek.

God Answers Habakkuk

1:5-11 God Answers Habakkuk

In these 7 verses we see that Habakkuk did indeed speak in God-pleasing faith when he cried, “O LORD, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear!” We also see God’s answer to Habakkuk’s cry.

1:5  Behold ye among the heathen, and regard, and wonder marvellously: for [I] will work a work in your days, [which] ye will not believe, though it be told [you].

God introduces His answer by basically saying, “Habakkuk, I’m gonna tell you what I’m going to do, but you’re not gonna believe it.”

Behold ye among the heathen – I’m about to do something among and with the heathen

regard, and wonder marvelously – wonder marvelously is wonder wonder in Hebrew, being repeated for emphasis; the Septuagint† does the same, wonder marvelously (or marvel at marvelous things); I think the Tanakh* captures the meaning, Observe well and be utterly astounded.

I will work a work in your days – in that generation

which ye will not believe, though it be told you – Wow! What could God do that is so astounding?

1:6  For, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, [that] bitter and hasty nation, which shall march through the breadth of the land, to possess the dwellingplaces [that are] not theirs.

Ah! I will raise up the Chaldeans. The Chaldeans were a tribe in southern Babylon who took over Babylon. “In process of time, as the Kaldi grew in power, their name gradually prevailed over those of the other tribes inhabiting the country; and by the era of the Jewish captivity it had begun to be used generally for all the inhabitants of Babylonia.” (Smith Bible Dictionary)

The first unbelievable part is that these Chaldeans would break the power of Assyria and become a world power. Second, the LORD is bringing them into Judea to judge Judah.

1:6  For, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, [that] bitter and hasty nation, which shall march through the breadth of the land, to possess the dwellingplaces [that are] not theirs.
1:7  They [are] terrible and dreadful: their judgment and their dignity shall proceed of themselves.
1:8  Their horses also are swifter than the leopards, and are more fierce than the evening wolves: and their horsemen shall spread themselves, and their horsemen shall come from far; they shall fly as the eagle [that] hasteth to eat.
1:9  They shall come all for violence: their faces shall sup up [as] the east wind, and they shall gather the captivity as the sand.
1:10  And they shall scoff at the kings, and the princes shall be a scorn unto them: they shall deride every strong hold; for they shall heap dust, and take it.
1:11  Then shall [his] mind change, and he shall pass over, and offend, [imputing] this his power unto his god.

This is shocking! The Chaldeans are described:

v6 bitter and hasty
v7 terrible and dreadful
v8 their horses are swift and fierce, their horsemen will devour
v9 they are marked by violence and will lead the Jews into captivity   
v10 they shall scoff at kings, scorn the princes, and deride strongholds
v11 worst of all they shall say their god gave them this power and victory

No wonder this is a report that will not be believed! As we will see, Habakkuk is shocked!

Tomorrow: 1:11-17 Habakkuk’s Response

Extra! Extra! Read all about it!
1:5  Behold ye among the heathen, and regard, and wonder marvellously: for [I] will work a work in your days, [which] ye will not believe, though it be told [you].

Verse 5 is the first of two passages quoted in the New Testament. Paul quotes this in his sermon in Acts 13:
Acts 13:41 Behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and perish: for I work a work in your days, a work which ye shall in no wise believe, though a man declare it unto you.

Do I hear you saying, “What? This isn’t the same.” That’s because here, as in the majority of New Testament quotations of the Old Testament, Paul is quoting from the Septuagint†. Here is Habakkuk 1:5 in the Septuagint:

5 Behold, ye despisers, and look, and wonder marvellously, and vanish: for I work a work in your days, which ye will in no wise believe, though a man declare it to you

Now that we have that cleared up, this is still confusing. Habakkuk spoke this in his day regarding the Chaldeans. Is Paul saying that the Jews of his day are fulfilling this prophecy by rejecting Christ? No. His sermon is full of Old Testament references. After giving a brief history of Israel he makes six references to prophecy:

Acts 13:23 Of this man's seed hath God according to his promise raised unto Israel a Saviour, Jesus:

13:29 And when they had fulfilled all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree, and laid him in a sepulchre.

32 And we declare unto you glad tidings, how that the promise which was made unto the fathers, 
33 God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again; as it is also written in the second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee.

34 And as concerning that he raised him up from the dead, now no more to return to corruption, he said on this wise, I will give you the sure mercies of David.  

35 Wherefore he saith also in another psalm, Thou shalt not suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.  
In all of these he clearly says they were spoken of Christ and fulfilled in Jesus.

40 Beware therefore, lest that come upon you, which is spoken of in the prophets;

But, when he provides his quotation from Habakkuk 1:5 he introduces it a little differently, lest that come upon you. He is saying Habakkuk 1:5 contains a principle: God often does a work that people find hard to believe. And he exhorts them, Don’t be those kind of people! What has Paul said that they would find hard to believe? That God had raised Jesus from the dead, and that this crucified and raised again man is the Christ.

38 Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: 39 And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses.

Habakkuk 1:5 contains a principle and Paul is saying, “Don’t be those kind of people.”

How does this apply to us? God has made many wonderful promises to us in Christ, let us embrace and believe them, and not stumble over them in unbelief.


† The Septuagint, also known as the LXX, is a translation of the Hebrew Old Testament into Greek made by the Jews in Egypt some 300 years before Christ.

* The Tanakh is a modern Jewish translation of the Hebrew Old Testament into English.

O LORD, how long!

1:1-4 Habakkuk’s Complaint

1  The burden which Habakkuk the prophet did see.

This was a common way for prophets to introduce a prophecy. It tells us they have received a word from the Lord and that this word is heavy, serious, hard.

Jewish tradition tells us the Habakkuk prophesied between Nahum (who prophesied to Assyria) and Zephaniah (who prophesied in the days of Josiah). Habakkuk indicates that he prophesied when the Chaldeans (Babylonians) were coming to power.

2  O LORD, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear! [even] cry out unto thee [of] violence, and thou wilt not save!

3  Why dost thou shew me iniquity, and cause [me] to behold grievance? for spoiling and violence [are] before me: and there are [that] raise up strife and contention.

4  Therefore the law is slacked, and judgment doth never go forth: for the wicked doth compass about the righteous; therefore wrong judgment proceedeth.

He opens with a bang:

how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear!

[how long shall I] cry and thou wilt not save!

This is a strong complaint. What is going on that he would protest so?

He states it in 5 couplets:

v3 iniquity and grievance
v3 spoiling and violence
v3 strife and contention
v4 the law is slacked and judgment never goes forth
v4 the wicked compass the righteous.

The covenant people in Judah (especially Jerusalem) had sunk to such low depths of spiritual life that wickedness rather than righteousness was the norm. And this wasn’t a new thing – this had been going on a while. Not only had this become the norm, they had ignored the warnings the prophets had proclaimed.

“O LORD how long!” Habakkuk had been praying for his people, interceding fervently for them. He had not only been praying faithfully, he had also been praying in faith. He fully expected God to hear his prayers and answer them. Now, in faith he refuses to give up.

This raises personal and theological questions!

Personal – I have to ask myself, Am I praying for my family with such fervency and faith? Am I praying for my church? my neighborhood? my state and country? Ouch!

Theological – Can we speak to God this way? I mean, is this acceptable? Is He pleased with this or is Habakkuk way out of line?

Yes! This is fully acceptable. He is asking in the same faith that he had been praying. This will become clear when we look at 1:5-11. When we speak in faith we can pray this way. Let me go further, God is pleased when we are so zealous in our prayers. This is wrestling with God.

I believe we have a powerful example of this type of wrestling with God in Genesis 18. It begins with the LORD having dinner with Abraham (!!), then in v 17-33 we see Abraham wrestling with God as he intercedes for Sodom. Notice, the LORD invited it!

17 And the LORD said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do?
20 And the LORD said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous; 21 I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me; and if not, I will know.
22 And the men turned their faces from thence, and went toward Sodom: but Abraham stood yet before the LORD.

23 And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked?
24 Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the city: wilt thou also destroy and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are therein? 

25 That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?

See how bold he is? He is interceding, praying in their stead for them.

In v26-32 Abraham wrestles with God: 50? 45? 40? 30? 20? Then, in v32 And he said, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak yet but this once: Peradventure ten shall be found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for ten's sake.

Even 10 righteous people would have saved the entire city! But we know the story, Sodom was destroyed - was all this prayer and wrestling a holy waste of time? NO! Because of Abraham Lot and his family were rescued.

O brother, O sister, stand before God; draw near; pray; intercede; don’t give up! God delights in this kind of wrestling! And souls are rescued from the fire!

Finally, coming back to the beginning, O LORD, how long! Twelve times in the Old Testament we find the phrase, “O LORD, how long?” This is the cry of people who are seriously living for the Lord, who are fervent in their prayers, who have prayed in faith, fully expecting God to answer, but have not yet seen the answer. It is okay to cry out, “O Lord, how long?” But we have to be careful to ask in faith. Mary and Zacharias were both visited by the angel and told they would have a child. This was not possible in the natural for either of them: Mary was a virgin, Zacharias and Elizabeth were old. They both responded, “How can this be?” But only Mary was asking in faith. How do I know this? Zacharias was rebuked, Mary received an explanation.

I believe the first four verses of Chapter 1 encourage us to pray for our family, our church, our country; to pray fervently, expecting God to hear and answer our prayers. They also teach us that such faithful praying may often include wrestling with God. In other words, we are encouraged to persevere in prayer, what used to be called “praying through.”

Tomorrow: 1:5-11 God Answers Habakkuk

Habakkuk Introduction

THE PROPHET HABAKKUK

This is a page from the Chick tract* “DON’T READ THAT BOOK”.

There was a time in my early days in The Faith when everyone I knew who had read Habakkuk had done so in response to this! Have you read the prophet Habakkuk?

For some time now I have had a desire to teach through the book of the prophet Habakkuk. Why? What is the benefit of going through Habakkuk? To quote the apostle Paul, “much in every way.” My prayer is that we will profit from the “much in every way" grace found in this little book.

Habakkuk is the 8th book in The Scroll of the Twelve (Hosea-Malachi), a short, three chapter book sandwiched between Nahum and Zephaniah. Easy to miss or overlook.

Today I just want to give a little background and the outline of the book.

"Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah have a great deal in common. Each one gives a different facet of the dealings of God with mankind.

Another similarity is the fact that they come from approximately the same time period…we know that all three prophets fit into the period between the reigns of kings Josiah and Jehoiakim, which would also be the time of the prophet Jeremiah. The northern kingdom had already gone into captivity, and the southern kingdom was right on the verge of captivity. After Josiah, every king in the southern kingdom was a bad king. Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah all fit into that period of decline.

Although there are similarities, these books also differ from each other. Nahum dealt only with Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrian Empire. Nahum showed that God is just, righteous, and a God of love; yet He was absolutely right in judging that city.

Habakkuk approaches the problem from a little different viewpoint. He is a man with questions. He is disturbed about God’s seeming indifference to the iniquity of His own people. Habakkuk asks God, “Why don’t You do something?”

You can see that the message of Habakkuk is almost the opposite of the message of Nahum. In the Book of Nahum God was moving in judgment, and the question was: How can God be a God of love and judge as He is doing? Here in Habakkuk it is just the opposite: Why doesn’t God do something about the evil in the world?"

Why Study Nahum & Habakkuk Thru the Bible with J. Vernon McGee

"The Prophet Habakkuk was the son of Shaphat and of the tribe of Simeon. He was a contemporary of the Prophet Jeremiah. His actions revolved around Jerusalem, after the period when the Babylonians defeated the Egyptians at Carchemish, and extended their domination into Palestine.

 Holy Prophet Habakkuk as a Model for our Lives Protopresbyter Fr. George Papavarnavas

I have learned that the Orthodox and Catholic Church pay more attention to Habakkuk than most Protestants & Evangelicals. “On the Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar, his feast day is December 2. In the Roman Catholic Church, the twelve minor prophets are read in the Roman Breviary during the fourth and fifth weeks of November, which are the last two weeks of the liturgical year, and his feast day is January 15.” (Habakkuk, Wikipedia)

The three chapters of Habakkuk can be outlined as follows

Chapter 1
1-4 Habakkuk’s Complaint
5-11God’s Answer
12-17 Habakkuk’s Response

Chapter 2
1 Habakkuk’s Plan
2-3 God’s Answer
4-20 God Explains His Answer

Chapter 3
1-2 Habakkuk’s Prayer
3-16 Habakkuk’s Poem
17-19 Habakkuk’s Praise

TOMORROW: Habakkuk 1:1-4 How long, O LORD!

* Jack Thomas Chick (1924–2016) was an American cartoonist and publisher, best known for his Christian "Chick tracts", small comic book style booklets that could be given to people directly or left for them to find.

The best known Chick Tract (chick.com)

You, me, and the Old Testament

This past weekend our daughter and her family were visiting. We didn’t make it to church, so we had a brief worship time around the kitchen table.

We sang:

Peter and John went to pray; they met a lame man on the way.
He put out his palms and asked for some alms
And this is what Peter did say:
"Silver and gold have I none, but such as I have give I thee
In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!"
He went walking and leaping and praising God,
Walking and leaping and praising God.
"In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk."

Silver and Gold Have I None (anonymous), with motions (!)

and

Who is the king of the jungle? (hoo hoo)
Who is the king of the sea? (bubble bubble bubble)
Who is the king of the universe?
and who's the king of me?
I tell you: J-E-S-U-S
Yes! 
He is the king of me.
He is the king of the universe.
The jungle and the sea (bubble bubble bubble bubble hoo hoo!)

King of the Jungle (Colin Buchanan)

We read Scripture. We had communion. We ended with the Lord’s Prayer. Sweet time!

What Scripture did we read? I chose the Gospel reading for the day: Matthew 2:1-15, which begins:

1 Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, Wise-men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying,  2 Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we saw his star in the east, and are come to worship him.  
3 And when Herod the king heard it, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 And gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ should be born.  
5 And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written through the prophet,  
6 And thou Bethlehem, land of Judah, art in no wise least among the princes of Judah: for out of thee shall come forth a governor, who shall be shepherd of my people Israel.

We simply read it. No sermon, even though I’m always ready haha! But, and this is no surprise to anyone who knows me, I do have a thought about the part I quoted above.

Where the Christ should be born. How in the world would we know? The chief priests and scribes knew: Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written in the prophet. And they quoted Micah 5:2 to support that. 

Micah is in the Old Testament. How important is the Old Testament to us? There is a well known and rather popular pastor today who says, 

"Peter, James, Paul elected to unhitch the Christian faith from their Jewish scriptures, and my friends, we must as well."
Jesus' new covenant, His covenant with the nations, His covenant with you, His covenant with us, can stand on its own two nail-scarred resurrection feet. It does not need propping up by the Jewish scriptures. The Bible did not create Christianity. The resurrection of Jesus created and launched Christianity. Your whole house of Old Testament cards can come tumbling down."

This is sad. This man is no doubt smarter than me, and more people listen to one of his sermons than all the people who have ever heard me in my whole life. But he’s still wrong. Dangerously wrong. This is actually heretical. What???!!??

Yes. You see, Peter, James, Paul did not unhitch the Christian faith from their Jewish Scriptures. Au contraire. The Old is quoted or referenced in nearly every book in the New Testament. I believe it is safe to say every apostle, every author in the New Testament quotes, refers to, or alludes to the Old at some point. Jesus did as well. You see, the Old Testament was their Bible. They preached Christ, grace, the Holy Spirit, the cross, the resurrection from the Old Testament! The statement, All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable… is actually talking about the Old Testament. Oh we know the New is included now, but for them it primarily referred to the Old. They settled disputes and established doctrine by referring to the Scriptures – the Old Testament. The Old Testament is not Jewish Scripture, it is holy Scripture; it is our Scripture.  We can’t unhitch from that!

If we unhitch from the Old Testament we lose the meaning of the New. The New didn’t spring up suddenly, unexpectedly, from no where; no, it is the fruit of the Old; the entire Old Testament is leading up to the New; the entire New Testament is founded upon the Old. The New Testament is like a Penthouse, the top floor of a beautiful skyscraper. Truth is, the very phrase new testament comes from and is found in the Old.

Why would this popular pastor want us to unhitch our faith from the Old Testament? By his own admission he is “embarrassed” by creation, the flood, Jonah and the whale etc. Yet our Lord referred to all three. Paul stressed creation. Peter spoke of creation and the flood. They weren’t unhitched from the Old!

Where the Christ should be born. Now we come to the most important reason for maintaining ties with the Old Testament. The Gospel is the good news that Christ has come with salvation and healing in his wings, and that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ, the Son of God. He is not Christ because it makes us feel good to believe so; he is not Christ because the Apostles and early church said so; he is not Christ because Western Culture has decreed it. Jesus is Christ because he fulfilled the prophecies in the Old Testament. Here in Matthew 2 it was that he was born in Bethlehem just as the prophet said he would be. If he was born in any other city in the world he could not be Christ. And so with all the other prophecies. If he was not of the house and lineage of David, he is utterly disqualified from being Christ. Where do we learn these prophecies? In the Old Testament. Knowing them strengthens our faith and our witness. We do not believe and promote fairy tales, fables, and myths; no, prophecies uttered hundreds of years before he was born were fulfilled in Jesus of Nazareth! 

How well do you know the prophecies and promises of Christ? Can you trace the Scarlet Thread through the Old Testament? You should be able to. Just sayin’.

See how important the Old is to the New?