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Discussion Forum : Devotional Thoughts : Habakkuk a Book We Can Relate To In Our Time

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 Habakkuk a Book We Can Relate To In Our Time



Chapter 1 A Burden:
We are presented with Habakkuk's burden.He sees the wickedness in Judah and their disregard for God and His Law.He wonders just how long God is going to put up with their disobedience.Then God tells him that He will do a work that he will not believe.He is going to allow the Chaldeans (Babylonians),a much more wicked people and permit them to destroy Judah the nation and carry them into captivity.This presents Habakkuk with an even greater burden.He just couldn't understand how a Holy and Righteous God would punish Judah with a people far more wicked and ruthless than the Jews themselves.The second burden out weighs the first and he presents his feelings to God and we see his thoughts and his conclusion in chapter 2:1.

"I will stand my watch
And set myself on the rampart,
And watch to see what He will say to me,
And what I will answer when I am corrected."

He says I have presented my thoughts to God and now I will await His answer.

Chapter 2 A Vision:
Here we see the vision Habakkuk receives from God in answer to his burdens.Five woes are presented in verses 6,9,12,15 and 19.They are presented as stealing,coveting,killing,deceiving and worshiping idols.These would be things that Judah and Babylon both were guilty of and Babylon would eventually be destroyed also.God gives Habakkuk two promises or assurances in this chapter(Verses 2:4 and 2:14), to comfort him because of the two burdens he has.

“Behold the proud,
His soul is not upright in him;
But the just shall live by his faith."v 4

"For the earth will be filled
With the knowledge of the glory of the Lord,
As the waters cover the sea."v 14

Habakkuk received the answer he needed.He was to live by faith,that God has His plans and everything would work out according to those plans.

Chapter 3 A Prayer:(or literally a Song)
With the hope he had Habakkuk presents two praises to God,verses 2-15 for what He has done and verses 16-19 for what He will do.Even though the invasion is coming and he trembles at the thought of it(verse 16) he makes the assuring statement in verses 18 and 19:

"Yet I will rejoice in the Lord,
I will joy in the God of my salvation.
The Lord God is my strength;
He will make my feet like deer’s feet,
And He will make me walk on my high hills."

Why I say this is a song is the word "Shigionoth"in 3:1 which means "a song set to music" and in the last verse the statement:"To the Chief Musician. With my stringed instruments."

So we see Habakkuk go from a sob of sorrow to a song of praise,from despair to a shout of confidence.In chapter 1 faith questions and waits.In chapter 2 faith sees.In chapter 3 faith rejoices.

I believe we have presented in this book applications that can apply to us today.We live by faith and stand on the promises God has made concerning the Church and we are assured by His Word about the future for Israel and the nations,the judgements that are to come and the future deliverance of humanity and the earth itself,when Christ comes to rule just as He assured Habakkuk in chapter 2:14.
Yes we see the wickedness in the world today and in our own individual countries and I'm certain we have wondered how much longer God is going to put up with it and maybe have even asked Him about it.Well we can be assured from His Word that eventually He will bring judgement on this world system and many will suffer,believers and non-believers.He will allow another "Babylon"to rise up,(The reign of the Antichrist) and He will use it to deliver a remnant of Israel that will look to Him as their Savior and King.
Just as He allowed Israel to be carried right into the middle of idolatry,to Babylon, to cure them of it,He will allow Israel to be carried into the reign of the Antichrist and deceived by him in accepting him as their Messiah to cure them of their disobedience in rejecting their true Messiah.The remnant will recognize that deception and look to Jesus their true Messiah.
He will also purge the nations and judgement will be brought on them and there will be people of the nations that will believe and go into the Kingdom when Christ will rule.
Just as Habakkuk stood by faith on the promises of God,the believers during the tribulation will stand by faith on the promises of God.We today in the church also stand by faith,knowing what is to happen with this world system and the judgements that are to come.We walk with our blessed hope of our Savior coming for us,to meet Him in the air.As we are seeing all that is going on in the world and the signs that point to that endtime judgement,we need to continually reassure ourselves of this hope.
As we see all these problems and they might be effecting us individually and our lives as we have known it,may be changing from day to day and we find ourselves rebelling against it and we just seem helpless in doing anything about it.It seems that the leaders in the world today are being controlled by powers beyond their control.It seems that what many of us see that is wrong is totally ignored by them as they rush headlong into destruction.It seems their minds are set with an agenda they fully don't understand themselves but are blindly convinced they are doing the right thing.Eventually they will come together and commit themselves to the rulership of one man.We need to remind ourselves that even though things seem to be coming apart,they could be just coming together.We can rejoice in our hope that God knows what He is doing and He will succeed.
We can state as Habakkuk did:

"Yet I will rejoice in the Lord,
I will joy in the God of my salvation.
The Lord God is my strength;
He will make my feet like deer’s feet,
And He will make me walk on my high hills."

Doesn't this sound very much like Philippians 4:4,6,7and 13

"Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!

"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

Is this not what Habakkuk did?He had burdens,he took them to the Lord and waited with patience.The Lord assured him,gave him peace,strengthened him and he is found rejoicing and praising God that He is his strength.

 2013/3/29 8:30Profile
ginnyrose
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Joined: 2004/7/7
Posts: 7534
Mississippi

 Re: Habakkuk a Book We Can Relate To In Our Time

Habakkuk 3:17,18 has ministered to me a lot:

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,

18 Yet I will exult in the LORD,I will rejoice in the God of my salvation.


Can I rejoice when or if this would be my situation? A hard test...


_________________
Sandra Miller

 2013/4/5 15:33Profile





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