Chapter 3:1-2 Notice how Hab is hearing a report about God, and then sort of goes into a mode where he seems to be recounting a vision that he's seen of God. Could just be his poetic flourish about a report and the God Who is behind that event reported, or it could be a theophanic vision. I think it's a bit tough to tell.
Let's read through the chapter and notice how similar to later ideas of Jesus' Parousia it is.
But let's also keep in mind the context - this is God appearing in the context of judging some nations and bringing destruction/chastening down upon them. This is also biblically appropriate language for a non-Parousia "coming" of the Lord to chasten and judge and carry out temporal decisions. Let's look at a few examples so that we can be sure not to finish this study today, haha.
Matt 10:23
Matt 23:35-36
Lk 12:49
1 Thess 2:16
Rev 2:5
Rev 3:3
Now, obviously alot of other references in the NT are of the Parousia, of course. No question about that. But what I'm saying is that the Parousia is not the only way that Christ comes in judgment, and I'd argue that this Hab 3 passage is probably a non-Parousia example, though of course it's supposed to foreshadow and evoke the expectation of the Parousia by its very nature.
3 God comes from Teman, And the Holy One from Mount Paran.
--Probably a reference to the appearance of God to Moses on Mount Sinai - Deut 33:2.
As He came once to deliver the Law to His people, so He will return again to deliver them from the hand of evildoers.
4 And there is the hiding of His power.
cf Psalm 2 - He clothes Himself with light as a garment. Ps 104:2, Exod 24:17, 1 Tim 6:16
And if that kind of thing is the HIDING of His power...
5 Before Him goes pestilence
--When we hear about a plague or a bio-weapon, does it not strike fear into our hearts? One envelope in the mail with some white powder on it can paralyse the entire Capitol building. So that's one of the most fearful things imaginable; who can hope to stand before it? And God reveals here that this is merely one of His tools, that He manipulates. Reminds me of when God talks about Behemoth and Leviathan in Job - if you can't take on these things that I created, don't think you can take on God.
And what does God use pestilence for?
1) To punish evildoers.
2) To turn ppl's hearts to God for their provision or even their cure (cf Num 21:1-12).
3) To chasten/discipline His children (cf 1 Cor 11 - "some of you are weak and sick and a number sleep"). Prov 3:11-12 and Heb 12:5-6 quotes it.
4) To glorify the work of God.
-cf 2 Cor 12:9,
-God chose Moses partly b/c he had a speech impediment of some kind
-Exodus 3:11
-John 9:3
6 Yes, the perpetual mountains were shattered, The ancient hills collapsed.
It seems that this is an expectation of things to come.
7 I saw the tents of Cushan under distress...
Habakkuk continues his vision of God's appearing. God approaches from the south, from Ethopia (Cushan) and then further north thru the Sinai peninsula (Midian).
8 Did the LORD rage against the rivers...?
Hab breaks from his theophanic vision to remind us why this is happening. Is this action from God due to His wrath against inanimate creation? Or does He have something else in mind?
9 Your bow was made bare...
More description of God as man of war. War to the extent that He'd even chop the Earth up with rivers - at the time of the Flood, maybe? The miracles at the Red Sea, or water in the desert? I don't know, but at any rate Hab is only glancing at it.
10 The mountains saw You and quaked;
Cf Ex 19:18, Ps 114:5-6 - when the Lord appears, even the mighty mountains are shaken.
(LXX says "peoples" instead of "mountains", and that's even easier to understand.)
11 Sun and moon stood in their places; They went away at the light of Your arrows...
The sun is the most brilliant and warming light that we can imagine, yet at the appearance of God's power and brilliance in His attacks on evil, they flee away, so the point is that you can't imagine how brilliant His arrows are.
12 In indignation You marched through the earth...
More reference to the powerful, angry Judge, coming in righteous indignation against evil.
13 You went forth for the salvation of Your people, For the salvation of Your anointed.
You struck the head of the house of the evil...
A picture of God destroying the kingdom of Babylon, by striking at its head, and this head just happened to be Belteshazzar. Ditto for v14.
15 You trampled on the sea with Your horses,
An allusion probably to the salvation of Israel from another oppressive power thru the parting of the Red Sea. Past mercies are types of future deliverances.
16 I heard and my inward parts trembled,
When you hear that this God, Who is so powerful, majestic, and brilliant, is on the warpath and you know that His judgment would fall on you except for His mercy, you should tremble too. You should be terrified of His wrath, because it would destroy you completely and mercilessly. And you fully deserve that destruction, make no mistake.
17 Though the fig tree should not blossom
And there be no fruit on the vines, Though the yield of the olive should fail
And the fields produce no food, Though the flock should be cut off from the fold
And there be no cattle in the stalls...
When anyone invades you, it's going to cause a major disruption in your normal flow of goods and services, in your normal provision. How much moreso when the Babylonians, who amused themselves by killing forest creatures by the truckload, invade you? No doubt they would chop down trees and vines, spoil fields, etc. And they're going to take all the livestock to feed their army. What are you left with?
18 Yet I will exult in the LORD, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation.
Where is his heart? Is it in the material possessions and lifestyle that make his life easy/enjoyable? Or is it in the God of his salvation?
Heart check - where is your heart? What if the orange trees don't blossom, and the corn and wheat and rice don't yield their grain? What if the economy gets worse and you lose your job? Will you yet exult in the Lord?
Showing posts with label Habakkuk Bible Study. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Habakkuk Bible Study. Show all posts
Sunday, June 06, 2010
Saturday, June 05, 2010
Habakkuk Study, Part 6
Exegesis of Acts 13:13-41, in which Paul quotes Habakkuk 1:5.
Let's read the entirety of the passage to get the context.
-What is he talking about as he leads up to verse 41?
-Who is he talking to, as he refocuses in v 26-27?
-v32 - good news, right? In fact, all the way to v 39, this is great news.
Notice how v 17-25 is more or less bad news. Then 26-31 is the really bad news. Note how 26-31 is directed specifically at Jews; given that Paul is speaking at a synagogue, that makes sense. But isn't it the case that those who bear responsibility for Jesus' death extends beyond the Jewish people of that specific time? Sure, they were directly responsible as they were the ones who asked Pilate to execute Him, their representatives put on the show trial, they in the mob cried "Crucify Him, and let His blood be on us and on our children!". But didn't Jesus die for the sins of all who would eventually call on His name and plead for His mercy? In other words, this is bad news for everyone.
-Thus the good news is good news for everyone as well!
-v41, quotes Habakkuk 1:5. What do we know about Hab 1:5? Given that, and given that these Jews would certainly know this passage and its context, what is Paul saying by quoting it?
Back to Habakkuk 2--
v7-8 - Who will be plundered by whom?
How was this fulfilled?
Now begin the 4 Woes for Babylon. I have to confess that I didn't notice the structuring into 4 woes until I read the Pulpit Commentary. Eureka! I subsequently felt dumb for not noticing it before.
v9 - Woe #1 - Woe to him who gets evil gain for his house...
What is the goal of "putting one's nest on high"? What is in the unbeliever's mind as he does that? And how is this related to getting evil gain for his house?
v10 - Again from last week, who gave him permission, what made the Babylonians think it was OK to cut off many peoples and just take and take and take and kill? Did they even stop to ask themselves that question?
v11 - it is so bad that even the house built by ill-gotten gain will cry out in testimony against the Babylonians.
v12 - Woe #2 - Woe to him who builds a city with bloodshed and founds a town with violence...
Notice how in v13 that the Lord is the one from Whom this all has come. The Lord uses evil desires of men for His own purposes.
Three great examples:
1) The way Satan thought he was striking a blow against God with Job, yet God turns it around for His own glory.
2) 2 Sam 24 - Again the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and he incited David against them, saying, “Go and take a census of Israel and Judah.”
1 Chron 21 - Satan rose up against Israel and incited David to take a census of Israel.
3) Acts 5 - “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back some of the price of the land?"
...
v11 - And great fear came over the whole church, and over all who heard of these things.
Those of unbelieving and stubborn mind look at the surface of each and take up their cause against God. "How dare God do what He please with His own creation! How dare He violate my moral principles! How dare God do what He thinks is best and what brings Him glory!" or "Contradiction! Did God do it or did Satan do it? Nya nya, you stupid Christian fundy!"
Do they stop to think that the correct answer to the question of #2 is that BOTH are true? Satan works, and then God uses that work of Satan to bring good to His people and glory to Himself, and judgment and calamity upon the unrepentant, who are servants of Satan anyway. Think about the Garden of Eden - Satan tempts Adam and Eve, and they fall into sin. Yet later God gives us the most amazing gift that anyone could ever receive - Jesus Christ!
So, we see that it is from the Lord that Babylon and other rapacious conquerors "grow weary for nothing". But in contrast to their desire for world conquest, "For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord."
v15 - Woe #3 - Woe to you who make your neighbors drink, who mix in your venom even to make them drunk so as to look on their nakedness!
Their disgusting desire to uncover and shame their victims will be turned back on them. Again, see the embarrassing and shameful way that Babylon came to an end in Daniel 5.
v17 - Apparently the Babylonians' rapacity and greed and violence were so overwhelming that they would even attack the very forests of Lebanon, renowned for their beauty. Why attack the forest, of all things? B/c these people were so overwhelmingly evil and full of themselves, to execute their own will to dominate and overwhelm anything in their path. Even the wild animals, apparently, they went after, like the shameful way that some American settlers would sometimes just shoot up a whole herd of buffalo to leave them to rot in the sun. I don't know if that happened all the time as Hollywood would probably have us believe, but it certainly happened a few times, and it's that exact same evil dominating sentiment. Indicative of a heart that refuses to submit itself to God's authority. Did they ever stop to ask whether God thinks it's OK to shoot up His creation for no good reason?
v18-20 - Woe #4 - Woe to him who says to a piece of wood, ‘Awake!’...And that is your teacher?
The hilarious picture of a guy who cuts down a tree, carves an idol, and then asks it to be his god and save him.
Let's notice a pattern in the Word of God about this issue.
Cf Romans 1, especially v 24:
Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them.
Notice the purpose of God's giving them over. The judgment of God is not just BECAUSE of the sin. The judgment IS ITSELF MORE SIN.
Cf Isaiah 44:9-20
v16 - Half of (the tree that the man cut down) he burns in the fire; over this half he eats meat as he roasts a roast and is satisfied. He also warms himself and says, “Aha! I am warm, I have seen the fire.” 17 But the rest of it he makes into a god, his graven image. He falls down before it and worships; he also prays to it and says, “Deliver me, for you are my god.”
18 They do not know, nor do they understand, for He has smeared over their eyes so that they cannot see and their hearts so that they cannot comprehend.
Cf John 10:24 The Jews gathered around him, saying, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.”
25Jesus answered, “I did tell you, but you do not believe. The miracles I do in my Father’s name speak for me, 26but you do not believe because you are not my sheep.
Is it that they are not His sheep b/c they don't believe, or is it that they don't believe b/c they are not His sheep?
v20 - Will you answer back to the Lord of the universe? On what basis? What could you, mere tiny worm made of dust and ashes, possibly say to correct the Almighty Omniscient All Holy One? "Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?" - Job 38:2
Job certainly found out what that is like:
Job 40:3 Then Job answered the LORD and said, 4 “Behold, I am insignificant; what can I reply to You? I lay my hand on my mouth. 5 “Once I have spoken, and I will not answer; Even twice, and I will add nothing more.”
42:6 - Therefore I retract, and I repent in dust and ashes.”
Job certainly knew what it was like to feel the weight of the command "Let all the earth be silent before Him".
Let us spend some time to be silent before Him and to reflect on two things:
1) You are guilty too of the 4 woes.
You have coveted that which is not yours, which is as good as taking it, according to the desire of your heart.
You have been unjustifiably angry against a brother for a personal slight of because you wanted something you should not want.
You have lusted after your neighbor and desired to have power over him or her.
You have put something created in the place of your Creator with respect to the direction of your life, desires, and worship.
And I have done more of each of these than you.
Let us spend time in repentance before Him.
2) The Lord is in His holy temple. Yet the Lord has come to Earth, has died for our heinous crimes, and has risen again to give us eternal life! After you repent, REJOICE! The Lord has taken away your guilt and atoned for your sin. What grace! What mercy! What kindness to undeserving people! John 14:1 “Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 “In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you.
Thank Him for His amazing favor! Let us worship Him with all of our heart!
Let's read the entirety of the passage to get the context.
-What is he talking about as he leads up to verse 41?
-Who is he talking to, as he refocuses in v 26-27?
-v32 - good news, right? In fact, all the way to v 39, this is great news.
Notice how v 17-25 is more or less bad news. Then 26-31 is the really bad news. Note how 26-31 is directed specifically at Jews; given that Paul is speaking at a synagogue, that makes sense. But isn't it the case that those who bear responsibility for Jesus' death extends beyond the Jewish people of that specific time? Sure, they were directly responsible as they were the ones who asked Pilate to execute Him, their representatives put on the show trial, they in the mob cried "Crucify Him, and let His blood be on us and on our children!". But didn't Jesus die for the sins of all who would eventually call on His name and plead for His mercy? In other words, this is bad news for everyone.
-Thus the good news is good news for everyone as well!
-v41, quotes Habakkuk 1:5. What do we know about Hab 1:5? Given that, and given that these Jews would certainly know this passage and its context, what is Paul saying by quoting it?
Back to Habakkuk 2--
v7-8 - Who will be plundered by whom?
How was this fulfilled?
Now begin the 4 Woes for Babylon. I have to confess that I didn't notice the structuring into 4 woes until I read the Pulpit Commentary. Eureka! I subsequently felt dumb for not noticing it before.
v9 - Woe #1 - Woe to him who gets evil gain for his house...
What is the goal of "putting one's nest on high"? What is in the unbeliever's mind as he does that? And how is this related to getting evil gain for his house?
v10 - Again from last week, who gave him permission, what made the Babylonians think it was OK to cut off many peoples and just take and take and take and kill? Did they even stop to ask themselves that question?
v11 - it is so bad that even the house built by ill-gotten gain will cry out in testimony against the Babylonians.
v12 - Woe #2 - Woe to him who builds a city with bloodshed and founds a town with violence...
Notice how in v13 that the Lord is the one from Whom this all has come. The Lord uses evil desires of men for His own purposes.
Three great examples:
1) The way Satan thought he was striking a blow against God with Job, yet God turns it around for His own glory.
2) 2 Sam 24 - Again the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and he incited David against them, saying, “Go and take a census of Israel and Judah.”
1 Chron 21 - Satan rose up against Israel and incited David to take a census of Israel.
3) Acts 5 - “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back some of the price of the land?"
...
v11 - And great fear came over the whole church, and over all who heard of these things.
Those of unbelieving and stubborn mind look at the surface of each and take up their cause against God. "How dare God do what He please with His own creation! How dare He violate my moral principles! How dare God do what He thinks is best and what brings Him glory!" or "Contradiction! Did God do it or did Satan do it? Nya nya, you stupid Christian fundy!"
Do they stop to think that the correct answer to the question of #2 is that BOTH are true? Satan works, and then God uses that work of Satan to bring good to His people and glory to Himself, and judgment and calamity upon the unrepentant, who are servants of Satan anyway. Think about the Garden of Eden - Satan tempts Adam and Eve, and they fall into sin. Yet later God gives us the most amazing gift that anyone could ever receive - Jesus Christ!
So, we see that it is from the Lord that Babylon and other rapacious conquerors "grow weary for nothing". But in contrast to their desire for world conquest, "For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord."
v15 - Woe #3 - Woe to you who make your neighbors drink, who mix in your venom even to make them drunk so as to look on their nakedness!
Their disgusting desire to uncover and shame their victims will be turned back on them. Again, see the embarrassing and shameful way that Babylon came to an end in Daniel 5.
v17 - Apparently the Babylonians' rapacity and greed and violence were so overwhelming that they would even attack the very forests of Lebanon, renowned for their beauty. Why attack the forest, of all things? B/c these people were so overwhelmingly evil and full of themselves, to execute their own will to dominate and overwhelm anything in their path. Even the wild animals, apparently, they went after, like the shameful way that some American settlers would sometimes just shoot up a whole herd of buffalo to leave them to rot in the sun. I don't know if that happened all the time as Hollywood would probably have us believe, but it certainly happened a few times, and it's that exact same evil dominating sentiment. Indicative of a heart that refuses to submit itself to God's authority. Did they ever stop to ask whether God thinks it's OK to shoot up His creation for no good reason?
v18-20 - Woe #4 - Woe to him who says to a piece of wood, ‘Awake!’...And that is your teacher?
The hilarious picture of a guy who cuts down a tree, carves an idol, and then asks it to be his god and save him.
Let's notice a pattern in the Word of God about this issue.
Cf Romans 1, especially v 24:
Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them.
Notice the purpose of God's giving them over. The judgment of God is not just BECAUSE of the sin. The judgment IS ITSELF MORE SIN.
Cf Isaiah 44:9-20
v16 - Half of (the tree that the man cut down) he burns in the fire; over this half he eats meat as he roasts a roast and is satisfied. He also warms himself and says, “Aha! I am warm, I have seen the fire.” 17 But the rest of it he makes into a god, his graven image. He falls down before it and worships; he also prays to it and says, “Deliver me, for you are my god.”
18 They do not know, nor do they understand, for He has smeared over their eyes so that they cannot see and their hearts so that they cannot comprehend.
Cf John 10:24 The Jews gathered around him, saying, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.”
25Jesus answered, “I did tell you, but you do not believe. The miracles I do in my Father’s name speak for me, 26but you do not believe because you are not my sheep.
Is it that they are not His sheep b/c they don't believe, or is it that they don't believe b/c they are not His sheep?
v20 - Will you answer back to the Lord of the universe? On what basis? What could you, mere tiny worm made of dust and ashes, possibly say to correct the Almighty Omniscient All Holy One? "Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?" - Job 38:2
Job certainly found out what that is like:
Job 40:3 Then Job answered the LORD and said, 4 “Behold, I am insignificant; what can I reply to You? I lay my hand on my mouth. 5 “Once I have spoken, and I will not answer; Even twice, and I will add nothing more.”
42:6 - Therefore I retract, and I repent in dust and ashes.”
Job certainly knew what it was like to feel the weight of the command "Let all the earth be silent before Him".
Let us spend some time to be silent before Him and to reflect on two things:
1) You are guilty too of the 4 woes.
You have coveted that which is not yours, which is as good as taking it, according to the desire of your heart.
You have been unjustifiably angry against a brother for a personal slight of because you wanted something you should not want.
You have lusted after your neighbor and desired to have power over him or her.
You have put something created in the place of your Creator with respect to the direction of your life, desires, and worship.
And I have done more of each of these than you.
Let us spend time in repentance before Him.
2) The Lord is in His holy temple. Yet the Lord has come to Earth, has died for our heinous crimes, and has risen again to give us eternal life! After you repent, REJOICE! The Lord has taken away your guilt and atoned for your sin. What grace! What mercy! What kindness to undeserving people! John 14:1 “Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 “In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you.
Thank Him for His amazing favor! Let us worship Him with all of our heart!
Monday, May 31, 2010
Habakkuk Study, Part 5
Let's consider a comparison from the entire scope of the Old Testament.
The OT itself is a story of God's progressively revealing what He wanted to His people when He wanted. When a prophet speaks, you are obligated to listen, simple as that. Generations of believing Hebrews lived and died with only Genesis in oral tradition, then later generations with only Genesis in writing, then more generations with only Genesis in writing and some of Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers orally passed down. More and more progressively committed to writing, and yet other oral traditions - not inspired - being passed down as well, like 2 Kings 1:18 - "are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel?", an inoffensive one like Hanukkah, or an anti-biblical one like that condemned by Jesus in Mark 7:1-13. Two categories - Scripture and not-Scripture.
God sets the time for speaking, God provides for His people before, during, and after, in His way. Who is the man who will put God in the dock and say "Why have You done this?"
A specific example - King Josiah 2 Kings 22.
The point is simple - when God decides to send His Word to His people, we trust Him to make it known, and to provide for its communication to the people to whom He wanted to communicate it, all in His timing. Just because it's messier than we might like it doesn't mean we are justified in ignoring it.
The challenge for the questioner, then, is to demonstrate that there is indeed another source of divine revelation besides Scripture.
V 3 - You want me to act? I will, but in my own good time.
Cf 2 Peter 3:8-9, Isaiah 46:9-11
Is God's action any less certain just because it takes longer than we think it will or should? How pathetic does that make me because of my lack of trust in Him, that I think of things on the basis of whether I see an answer in an hour or day?
v 4 - The man who trusts God will live and be righteous. He who would call God on the carpet for not acting fast enough is proud, proud enough to correct Almighty God! And his soul is obviously not properly oriented toward God. Or do you think you know how to run the world better than He does?
So, speaking of which, how were people in the OT saved?
Notice that God is telling Habakkuk to trust Him that the Babylonians will be dealt with. But whom was He telling Hab just last answer that He'd be dealing with? Judah! It's not one or the other, as we often like to try and set up as a dilemma. "God, don't deal with ME! I'm not as bad as THAT GUY!"
No, God deals with ALL sin, ALL lawbreaking, when He has decided to. Not some of it, not only the really really bad stuff. It's a both-and.
And God's answer to Habakkuk is to take a wider perspective: don't try to tell Me how to run the world and enact justice - you should be more interested in living, and living is by faith. "What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?" - Matt 16:26
v 5 - Like death itself, which doesn't stop until it takes 100% of life, even good men, little children, pastors, etc, these Babylonians are not satisfied with "home", ie, what God has given to them as their portion?
Nebuchadnezzar of Daniel 4:28-30 - why does this king, this mortal man, think it is permissible for him to assemble a violent army to kill a bunch of people and take their stuff? What does Neb say as to the reason?
And how is this any different from the modern idolater? Tycoon banker? Drunkard? Senator? Drunkard Senator? Gambling addict whose family loses out to the addiction?
v 6 - the lesson is that your deeds will find you out, will bite back. God will arrange punishments and sufferings for the Babylonians to endure as well. Further, He'll arrange for them to be mocked and scorned. Think about it - isn't the end of King Belteshazzar of Daniel 5 pretty pathetic and worthy of all the contempt and scorn heaped upon it for centuries? Especially the way he blows off the obvious miraculous sign, failure of his normal mystical aids, and accompanying prophecy? Only to be destroyed that very night?
BONUS if we have time: Exegesis of Acts 13:13-41, in which Paul quotes Habakkuk 1:5.
The OT itself is a story of God's progressively revealing what He wanted to His people when He wanted. When a prophet speaks, you are obligated to listen, simple as that. Generations of believing Hebrews lived and died with only Genesis in oral tradition, then later generations with only Genesis in writing, then more generations with only Genesis in writing and some of Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers orally passed down. More and more progressively committed to writing, and yet other oral traditions - not inspired - being passed down as well, like 2 Kings 1:18 - "are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel?", an inoffensive one like Hanukkah, or an anti-biblical one like that condemned by Jesus in Mark 7:1-13. Two categories - Scripture and not-Scripture.
God sets the time for speaking, God provides for His people before, during, and after, in His way. Who is the man who will put God in the dock and say "Why have You done this?"
A specific example - King Josiah 2 Kings 22.
The point is simple - when God decides to send His Word to His people, we trust Him to make it known, and to provide for its communication to the people to whom He wanted to communicate it, all in His timing. Just because it's messier than we might like it doesn't mean we are justified in ignoring it.
The challenge for the questioner, then, is to demonstrate that there is indeed another source of divine revelation besides Scripture.
V 3 - You want me to act? I will, but in my own good time.
Cf 2 Peter 3:8-9, Isaiah 46:9-11
Is God's action any less certain just because it takes longer than we think it will or should? How pathetic does that make me because of my lack of trust in Him, that I think of things on the basis of whether I see an answer in an hour or day?
v 4 - The man who trusts God will live and be righteous. He who would call God on the carpet for not acting fast enough is proud, proud enough to correct Almighty God! And his soul is obviously not properly oriented toward God. Or do you think you know how to run the world better than He does?
So, speaking of which, how were people in the OT saved?
Notice that God is telling Habakkuk to trust Him that the Babylonians will be dealt with. But whom was He telling Hab just last answer that He'd be dealing with? Judah! It's not one or the other, as we often like to try and set up as a dilemma. "God, don't deal with ME! I'm not as bad as THAT GUY!"
No, God deals with ALL sin, ALL lawbreaking, when He has decided to. Not some of it, not only the really really bad stuff. It's a both-and.
And God's answer to Habakkuk is to take a wider perspective: don't try to tell Me how to run the world and enact justice - you should be more interested in living, and living is by faith. "What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?" - Matt 16:26
v 5 - Like death itself, which doesn't stop until it takes 100% of life, even good men, little children, pastors, etc, these Babylonians are not satisfied with "home", ie, what God has given to them as their portion?
Nebuchadnezzar of Daniel 4:28-30 - why does this king, this mortal man, think it is permissible for him to assemble a violent army to kill a bunch of people and take their stuff? What does Neb say as to the reason?
And how is this any different from the modern idolater? Tycoon banker? Drunkard? Senator? Drunkard Senator? Gambling addict whose family loses out to the addiction?
v 6 - the lesson is that your deeds will find you out, will bite back. God will arrange punishments and sufferings for the Babylonians to endure as well. Further, He'll arrange for them to be mocked and scorned. Think about it - isn't the end of King Belteshazzar of Daniel 5 pretty pathetic and worthy of all the contempt and scorn heaped upon it for centuries? Especially the way he blows off the obvious miraculous sign, failure of his normal mystical aids, and accompanying prophecy? Only to be destroyed that very night?
BONUS if we have time: Exegesis of Acts 13:13-41, in which Paul quotes Habakkuk 1:5.
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Habakkuk Study, Part 4
Today we will study Habakkuk 2:2-20 - God's 2nd answer to Habakkuk
v2 - Record the vision, inscribe it on tablets.
I'll bet he'd've been glad to have a laptop. That's going to take a while.
Of course, it's worth it - it's not every day you get a big-time revelation from God that's meant to be preserved unto all perpetuity for all of God's people to read.
Notice that this is another example of God's pattern of WRITTEN communication to His people.
Think about this with me - what if someone asked you in what year the Church entered its "normative state" and Sola Scriptura become possible? When did the church have enough Scripture to practice the biblical teaching that the Scripture alone is the final rule of faith for God's people?
Let's consider the situation in the apostolic era.
The Lord Jesus and His apostles came on the scene with the ability to speak directly prophetic and authoritative messages from the Lord, just like OT prophets could. The apostles were the shaluach of the Lord Jesus (otherwise known as God), whom He granted the authority to speak on Jesus' behalf with all the authority and backing of God Himself. He also granted the spiritual gift of prophecy to various men in the church at that time, and they could utter prophecy just like an OT prophet, as "Thus says the Lord". He used these spiritual gifts already dispensed to provide the start for His church as He founded it and provided for it to take root and begin to grow.
Read Ephesians 2:19b-21.
2 things to note here:
1) The church of Jesus from this early time already had Scripture from God.
Acts 17:10-12, 2 Timothy 3:14-15
Luke here commends thru inspiration of the Holy Spirit the Bereans' practice of subjecting the apostle Paul's authoritative words to the examination of the Scripture they already had. And yet others in Acts commendably receive the words of Paul straight up and believe the Gospel. So which one is the way to go? Both, because the message of each is the same. One builds on the other, yet the latter is deducible straight from the OT. A great example of that is the way Paul demonstrates the truth of justification by grace alone thru faith alone apart from works in Galatians 2-4, or the way the author of Hebrews exegetes the OT atonement system as a foreshadowing of Christ, each with extensive quotations from the OT. This fact, incidentally, puts a bullet in the head of any notion that "The Church is the mother of the Scripture" or "The Church preceded the Scripture".
2) The earliest church did not have Twitter or even email.
No, these letters and books that would become the NT books, when and if they reached the intended destination, would then be painstakingly copied by hand multiple times and then sent by human courier to another church, at which point the process would repeat itself. Writing materials, especially that which you wrote ON, were expensive and Christians weren't usually wealthy. This means it takes a while, and there are 27 books in the NT, that God intended (though as always in His own timing) for the church at large to have.
And yet life and Christian living must go on - what is one to do? One lives by the word from God that one has, and one trusts God with the rest. Christians in many parts of the world to this very day live like this - with one or two precious pages of Scripture hidden in their house or cell, that they read and memorise and trade furtively with other brethren as they have opportunity, to then cherish and take to heart that next page.
Does this translate to an effective, obvious, or clear-cut start- or stop-date for thousands of local churches spread over thousands of miles between which communications require months at a time?
v2 - Record the vision, inscribe it on tablets.
I'll bet he'd've been glad to have a laptop. That's going to take a while.
Of course, it's worth it - it's not every day you get a big-time revelation from God that's meant to be preserved unto all perpetuity for all of God's people to read.
Notice that this is another example of God's pattern of WRITTEN communication to His people.
Think about this with me - what if someone asked you in what year the Church entered its "normative state" and Sola Scriptura become possible? When did the church have enough Scripture to practice the biblical teaching that the Scripture alone is the final rule of faith for God's people?
Let's consider the situation in the apostolic era.
The Lord Jesus and His apostles came on the scene with the ability to speak directly prophetic and authoritative messages from the Lord, just like OT prophets could. The apostles were the shaluach of the Lord Jesus (otherwise known as God), whom He granted the authority to speak on Jesus' behalf with all the authority and backing of God Himself. He also granted the spiritual gift of prophecy to various men in the church at that time, and they could utter prophecy just like an OT prophet, as "Thus says the Lord". He used these spiritual gifts already dispensed to provide the start for His church as He founded it and provided for it to take root and begin to grow.
Read Ephesians 2:19b-21.
2 things to note here:
1) The church of Jesus from this early time already had Scripture from God.
Acts 17:10-12, 2 Timothy 3:14-15
Luke here commends thru inspiration of the Holy Spirit the Bereans' practice of subjecting the apostle Paul's authoritative words to the examination of the Scripture they already had. And yet others in Acts commendably receive the words of Paul straight up and believe the Gospel. So which one is the way to go? Both, because the message of each is the same. One builds on the other, yet the latter is deducible straight from the OT. A great example of that is the way Paul demonstrates the truth of justification by grace alone thru faith alone apart from works in Galatians 2-4, or the way the author of Hebrews exegetes the OT atonement system as a foreshadowing of Christ, each with extensive quotations from the OT. This fact, incidentally, puts a bullet in the head of any notion that "The Church is the mother of the Scripture" or "The Church preceded the Scripture".
2) The earliest church did not have Twitter or even email.
No, these letters and books that would become the NT books, when and if they reached the intended destination, would then be painstakingly copied by hand multiple times and then sent by human courier to another church, at which point the process would repeat itself. Writing materials, especially that which you wrote ON, were expensive and Christians weren't usually wealthy. This means it takes a while, and there are 27 books in the NT, that God intended (though as always in His own timing) for the church at large to have.
And yet life and Christian living must go on - what is one to do? One lives by the word from God that one has, and one trusts God with the rest. Christians in many parts of the world to this very day live like this - with one or two precious pages of Scripture hidden in their house or cell, that they read and memorise and trade furtively with other brethren as they have opportunity, to then cherish and take to heart that next page.
Does this translate to an effective, obvious, or clear-cut start- or stop-date for thousands of local churches spread over thousands of miles between which communications require months at a time?
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Habakkuk Study, Part 3
Let's read Hab 1:5-2:1. We'll focus today on 1:5-11 today.
A probable contemporary of Habakkuk is Jeremiah. Let's see what the inhabitants of Judah were saying around the same time as these prophecies of doom were reaching their hearing.
Jeremiah 7:1-15. Note that this refers to the same coming punishment as Habakkuk (and Deut).
So we can see that Jeremiah mocks those who say "well, that couldn't happen here. We have the temple of the Lord!" and tries to correct them unto repentance. Jeremiah, Habakkuk, and many other prophets throughout the history of both nations tried to warn the people about coming judgment, but those warnings were at best only partially and temporarily successful.
What do we call it when people assume too much about how good it's all going to be here on Earth? We could call it many things, but in general we could term it an over-realised eschatology. That is, sort of expecting the benefits and joys of the Eschaton here and now, and a neglect of the already and the not yet. Who are some of the worst offenders on this count these days? Liberals, humanistic utopianists, Emergents (but I repeat myself), and Word of Faith-ers, to name a few. The first three ppl tend to concentrate on making THIS EARTH into Heaven, bringing (their ideas of) justice to bear everywhere, making sure everyone lives in a communist utopia. And WoF-ers tend to concentrate on God as Fairy Godmother, who will be compelled to give you whatever you ask for with sufficient faith (or, more precisely, God is not even involved - speaking stuff into existence with the power of faith-filled words is a universal principle) (I only wish I were kidding). See how this all plays into the over-realised eschat?
Thus "the temple of the Lord". God is all about blessing and happiness, daisies, and kittens. No way does He have a law that we are obligated to know and obey, no way does He care much about holiness or justice.
Finally, notice the superstitious nature of "the temple of the Lord", as if the temple were a lucky rabbit's foot, that bad luck couldn't touch you if you had one, or you won't get a speeding ticket if you have a fish magnet on your car.
Rather, what is the cry of the NT?
1 Cor 16:22 - Maranatha.
Revelation 22:12 “Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done.
20 He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming quickly.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. (Maranatha).
21 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen.
Why?
Romans 8 answers:
19 For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. 23 And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. 24 For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.
The Jewish Passover Seder includes 4 cups of winejuice that you drink at various times during the ritual. The 3rd is called the Cup of Redemption, and this is probably the cup that Christ held up at the Last Supper.
Matt 26:26 While they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and after a blessing, He broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.” 27 And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you; 28 for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins. 29 “But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.”
He left the 4th cup undrunk - the Cup of Praise, signifying the completion, the Eschaton, as He says - "in My Father's kingdom". Why undrunk? His task was not yet complete, and neither is ours, neither is the Earth's. God will end it, but not yet. Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus!
Hab 1:5 - often taken out of context, like Jeremiah 29:11, but this is worse. This is a promise of destruction.
1:6 - what if He said "I am raising up the Islamic jihadists"? Or "...the Iranians" or "...the Chinese"?
1:7 - their justice and authority SHOULD originate with God, but these are idolaters, self-worshipers.
Basically, so far God's response to Habakkuk's prayer has been "Yes, I know", and "you ain't seen nothing yet".
1:10 - they mock at kings like Jehoiakim and Zedekiah, their puppets. And they mock at the once-mighty kings of Assyria, whom they wiped out utterly, fulfilling similar prophecies made about Assyria in books like Nahum and Jonah. Even high city walls they conquer by just building a big ramp.
1:11 - "they whose strength is their god" - could this possibly describe any parts of modern American evanjellyfish-dom? Rah, rah, American military!? The often-unquestioned unity of neo-conservative American politicomilitary pursuits with the agenda of the Bible-believing churches of America?
God gives a teaser to information He'll give later - "they will be held guilty".
A probable contemporary of Habakkuk is Jeremiah. Let's see what the inhabitants of Judah were saying around the same time as these prophecies of doom were reaching their hearing.
Jeremiah 7:1-15. Note that this refers to the same coming punishment as Habakkuk (and Deut).
So we can see that Jeremiah mocks those who say "well, that couldn't happen here. We have the temple of the Lord!" and tries to correct them unto repentance. Jeremiah, Habakkuk, and many other prophets throughout the history of both nations tried to warn the people about coming judgment, but those warnings were at best only partially and temporarily successful.
What do we call it when people assume too much about how good it's all going to be here on Earth? We could call it many things, but in general we could term it an over-realised eschatology. That is, sort of expecting the benefits and joys of the Eschaton here and now, and a neglect of the already and the not yet. Who are some of the worst offenders on this count these days? Liberals, humanistic utopianists, Emergents (but I repeat myself), and Word of Faith-ers, to name a few. The first three ppl tend to concentrate on making THIS EARTH into Heaven, bringing (their ideas of) justice to bear everywhere, making sure everyone lives in a communist utopia. And WoF-ers tend to concentrate on God as Fairy Godmother, who will be compelled to give you whatever you ask for with sufficient faith (or, more precisely, God is not even involved - speaking stuff into existence with the power of faith-filled words is a universal principle) (I only wish I were kidding). See how this all plays into the over-realised eschat?
Thus "the temple of the Lord". God is all about blessing and happiness, daisies, and kittens. No way does He have a law that we are obligated to know and obey, no way does He care much about holiness or justice.
Finally, notice the superstitious nature of "the temple of the Lord", as if the temple were a lucky rabbit's foot, that bad luck couldn't touch you if you had one, or you won't get a speeding ticket if you have a fish magnet on your car.
Rather, what is the cry of the NT?
1 Cor 16:22 - Maranatha.
Revelation 22:12 “Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done.
20 He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming quickly.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. (Maranatha).
21 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen.
Why?
Romans 8 answers:
19 For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. 23 And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. 24 For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.
The Jewish Passover Seder includes 4 cups of winejuice that you drink at various times during the ritual. The 3rd is called the Cup of Redemption, and this is probably the cup that Christ held up at the Last Supper.
Matt 26:26 While they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and after a blessing, He broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.” 27 And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you; 28 for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins. 29 “But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.”
He left the 4th cup undrunk - the Cup of Praise, signifying the completion, the Eschaton, as He says - "in My Father's kingdom". Why undrunk? His task was not yet complete, and neither is ours, neither is the Earth's. God will end it, but not yet. Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus!
Hab 1:5 - often taken out of context, like Jeremiah 29:11, but this is worse. This is a promise of destruction.
1:6 - what if He said "I am raising up the Islamic jihadists"? Or "...the Iranians" or "...the Chinese"?
1:7 - their justice and authority SHOULD originate with God, but these are idolaters, self-worshipers.
Basically, so far God's response to Habakkuk's prayer has been "Yes, I know", and "you ain't seen nothing yet".
1:10 - they mock at kings like Jehoiakim and Zedekiah, their puppets. And they mock at the once-mighty kings of Assyria, whom they wiped out utterly, fulfilling similar prophecies made about Assyria in books like Nahum and Jonah. Even high city walls they conquer by just building a big ramp.
1:11 - "they whose strength is their god" - could this possibly describe any parts of modern American evanjellyfish-dom? Rah, rah, American military!? The often-unquestioned unity of neo-conservative American politicomilitary pursuits with the agenda of the Bible-believing churches of America?
God gives a teaser to information He'll give later - "they will be held guilty".
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Habakkuk Study, Part 2
Is it too harsh to charge Habakkuk with some amount of pride or bad judgment, getting too big for his britches, in that he seems to be correcting Almighty God?
Or is it better to see his prayer as the earnest inquiry of a believer who is distressed by all the evil around him and crying out to God for healing for his nation?
How does his prayer compare with many we pray today in modern evanjellyfish-dom? How about in our specific local church? In our own lives?
Take all the things Hab is complaining about and let's keep them in mind as we read Deut 29. Share background of Deut 29 and its purpose. Skim Deut 28 and let's see the basic outline of it:
IF you follow the Lord's Law herein:
-Blessed in city and country
-Children, livestock, crops
-Food
-Military victory
-Everywhere in everything.
If you DON'T follow the Law:
-Cursed in city and country.
-Cursed in children, livestock, crops
-Cursed in food
-Military defeat
-Pestilence
-No rain, impenetrable ground for crops
-All sorts of other horrible judgments
-You will be taken to another country in judgment
-v67 “In the morning you shall say, ‘Would that it were evening!’ And at evening you shall say, ‘Would that it were morning!’ because of the dread of your heart which you dread, and for the sight of your eyes which you will see.
What is all this a type and shadow of if not the fate of the unredeemed sinner? And all of this, horrible as it is, pales in comparison to the eternal judgment and torment of the unredeemed unrepentant sinner.
Now let's read Deut 29 aloud.
Interestingly, God predicts in Deut 30 that they WILL turn away and be exiled, and then their hearts will be turned back to Him and they'll return. Like with Nehemiah.
Further discussion:
What questions have you asked God? That you thought were good and worth not repenting over? That sincerely grieved you? Etc.
Did God give a clear answer?
Review the end of Job - what kind of answer did God give Job?
Or is it better to see his prayer as the earnest inquiry of a believer who is distressed by all the evil around him and crying out to God for healing for his nation?
How does his prayer compare with many we pray today in modern evanjellyfish-dom? How about in our specific local church? In our own lives?
Take all the things Hab is complaining about and let's keep them in mind as we read Deut 29. Share background of Deut 29 and its purpose. Skim Deut 28 and let's see the basic outline of it:
IF you follow the Lord's Law herein:
-Blessed in city and country
-Children, livestock, crops
-Food
-Military victory
-Everywhere in everything.
If you DON'T follow the Law:
-Cursed in city and country.
-Cursed in children, livestock, crops
-Cursed in food
-Military defeat
-Pestilence
-No rain, impenetrable ground for crops
-All sorts of other horrible judgments
-You will be taken to another country in judgment
-v67 “In the morning you shall say, ‘Would that it were evening!’ And at evening you shall say, ‘Would that it were morning!’ because of the dread of your heart which you dread, and for the sight of your eyes which you will see.
What is all this a type and shadow of if not the fate of the unredeemed sinner? And all of this, horrible as it is, pales in comparison to the eternal judgment and torment of the unredeemed unrepentant sinner.
Now let's read Deut 29 aloud.
Interestingly, God predicts in Deut 30 that they WILL turn away and be exiled, and then their hearts will be turned back to Him and they'll return. Like with Nehemiah.
Further discussion:
What questions have you asked God? That you thought were good and worth not repenting over? That sincerely grieved you? Etc.
Did God give a clear answer?
Review the end of Job - what kind of answer did God give Job?
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Habakkuk Study, Part 1
In the Sunday School class that I teach, we've been going through what is probably my favorite book of the Old Testament - Habakkuk. The notes I prepare each week for the class are not stripped-down so that I have a "teacher's copy" and the others in the class have something else.
Anyway, they may be terrible notes, but I'm going to post them here just in case anyone else out there likes Habakkuk. The extent of the notes will reflect how far my class got that particular Sunday.
I think the class will go 8 or 9 weeks total, so I'll post 8 or 9 posts in this series.
Here's week 1.
Read Habakkuk chapter 1 aloud.
Where is this taking place? Judah - the prophet's own country. Not Nineveh, not Egypt, not Edom or Moab or anywhere else, though possibly we could guess he'd say the complaint is relevant with respect to those places as well.
Let us review the timeline and where this is.
Kings: Saul - David, under these two kings the nation of splintered tribes becomes a nation, when they specifically asked God and Samuel for a king (and God and Samuel warned them that they wouldn't particularly like having a king).
Solomon - Israel rises to the height of peace and prosperity, as well as territory. Israel is literally a world power under Solomon.
Rehoboam - an idiotic decision leads to 10 tribes splitting off and forming their own nation in the north - Israel, leaving the other 2 tribes to Judah, in the south.
Each nation experiences ups and downs over the course of ~250 years; Judah has some good kings and the majority bad. Israel has no good kings, ever, and goes into sin quicker. They are eventually destroyed and exiled by Assyria. The Assyrian invasion reaches into Judah as well, under Hezekiah. God miraculously spares Judah and the Assyrians return home.
Hezekiah's son Manasseh, however, who was king ~55 years, was probably the worst king of any, and his reign and leading the nation into gross sin seals Judah's fate; they have no hope of escaping God's punishment thru Babylon. King Josiah comes soon after and his excellent reign postpones their destruction, but after he dies in an ill-advised battle with Egypt, it's all over. This is around when Habakkuk is writing.
What is happening? Let's make a list of all the things he's complaining about. v 1-4
What words would we use to describe the state of mind, heart, spirit, emotion of someone who is making a complaint to God like this?
Does "agony" describe it? What can we learn from the fact that this book exists, given the prophet's state of mind, heart, spirit, etc?
What does Habakkuk assume here?
-That God can do something about the evil. ie, He is sovereign.
-That God hates sin.
-That sin is contrary to God's character and commands.
-That God is yet allowing the sin to take place.
It would appear that Habakkuk is familiar with the Law. For a long time before the middle of Josiah's reign, the Law had been lost to Judah; no one knew it or read it, or apparently even possessed it. In 2 Kings 22, they happen to find a scroll of the Law as they're renovating the Temple, and it's read to Josiah, and he tears his robes. Never heard it before! The Law then made its way around the people, and the nation engages in short-lived revival. Perhaps Hab got his knowledge of the Law that way.
Anyway, they may be terrible notes, but I'm going to post them here just in case anyone else out there likes Habakkuk. The extent of the notes will reflect how far my class got that particular Sunday.
I think the class will go 8 or 9 weeks total, so I'll post 8 or 9 posts in this series.
Here's week 1.
Read Habakkuk chapter 1 aloud.
Where is this taking place? Judah - the prophet's own country. Not Nineveh, not Egypt, not Edom or Moab or anywhere else, though possibly we could guess he'd say the complaint is relevant with respect to those places as well.
Let us review the timeline and where this is.
Kings: Saul - David, under these two kings the nation of splintered tribes becomes a nation, when they specifically asked God and Samuel for a king (and God and Samuel warned them that they wouldn't particularly like having a king).
Solomon - Israel rises to the height of peace and prosperity, as well as territory. Israel is literally a world power under Solomon.
Rehoboam - an idiotic decision leads to 10 tribes splitting off and forming their own nation in the north - Israel, leaving the other 2 tribes to Judah, in the south.
Each nation experiences ups and downs over the course of ~250 years; Judah has some good kings and the majority bad. Israel has no good kings, ever, and goes into sin quicker. They are eventually destroyed and exiled by Assyria. The Assyrian invasion reaches into Judah as well, under Hezekiah. God miraculously spares Judah and the Assyrians return home.
Hezekiah's son Manasseh, however, who was king ~55 years, was probably the worst king of any, and his reign and leading the nation into gross sin seals Judah's fate; they have no hope of escaping God's punishment thru Babylon. King Josiah comes soon after and his excellent reign postpones their destruction, but after he dies in an ill-advised battle with Egypt, it's all over. This is around when Habakkuk is writing.
What is happening? Let's make a list of all the things he's complaining about. v 1-4
What words would we use to describe the state of mind, heart, spirit, emotion of someone who is making a complaint to God like this?
Does "agony" describe it? What can we learn from the fact that this book exists, given the prophet's state of mind, heart, spirit, etc?
What does Habakkuk assume here?
-That God can do something about the evil. ie, He is sovereign.
-That God hates sin.
-That sin is contrary to God's character and commands.
-That God is yet allowing the sin to take place.
It would appear that Habakkuk is familiar with the Law. For a long time before the middle of Josiah's reign, the Law had been lost to Judah; no one knew it or read it, or apparently even possessed it. In 2 Kings 22, they happen to find a scroll of the Law as they're renovating the Temple, and it's read to Josiah, and he tears his robes. Never heard it before! The Law then made its way around the people, and the nation engages in short-lived revival. Perhaps Hab got his knowledge of the Law that way.
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