Today in God's Word—December 2024
East Tallassee Church of Christ
December 12, Habakkuk 3
O LORD, I have heard the report of you, and your work, O LORD, do I fear. In the midst of the years revive it; in the midst of the years make it known. - Habakkuk 3:2
You’ve probably heard stories about people who died in apparent poverty despite having plenty of money stashed away in their home. I thought about those sad stories as I studied Habakkuk and refreshed my memory about what a rich storehouse of spiritual treasure this little book is to all who live “in the midst of the years.” It's sad that so many modern believers live without an awareness of the treasure that is theirs in this little book. It reminds me of how the Lord told Joshua there was still very much land to be possessed after the people of Israel entered and settled in the land of Canaan. Our Bible contains God-given wisdom and guidance that most of us still have not learned and applied to our hearts and lives.
Habakkuk's prophecy is best known for the verse from chapter 2 that is quoted three times in the New Testament: "But the righteous shall live by his faith." Habakkuk modeled what a righteous life lived by faith looked like for his contemporaries, and for us as well. In the text verse I chose for this chapter, Habakkuk modeled an awestruck reverence for God, inspired by a review of God's great power in Creation and in Israel's storied history. He took God at his word and prayed that the Lord would work for his people again against the terrible enemy that God had shown him was coming to conquer, kill and destroy what was left of Israel in Judah. Habakkuk pleaded with God to remember his divine mercy as he poured out divine wrath on unrepentant sinners. It seems to me that we, as people of faith living today, need those three evidences of living by faith in our own lives.
The review of God's mighty power made Habakkuk weak with fear. God had shown him that Judah had to be punished, and that Babylon would also feel his wrath in time. Habakkuk pled for mercy after God showed him how he would deal with wickedness among his own people and the ungodly enemies. He resolved to wait patiently for the day when God would take vengeance on the invading enemy. Habakkuk asked God to once again use his mighty power on behalf of his people. He knew God was sovereign over nations and nature itself. So he asked God to act, and then waited patiently.
But the fact of Habakkuk's righteous faith that shines most brightly to me is the “Though...yet" statement that concludes the book. His request for the nation to be spared would be denied. Judah would fall to the Babylonians. Those who survived would be enslaved as captives, and many of them taken away to Babylon. Hard times were coming soon. The Babylonians would destroy their land, the crops would fail and the people would face the grim prospect of starvation.
Despite his prayer not being answered as he hoped and the terrible circumstances they would face, Habakkuk still wrote, "Yet I will rejoice in the LORD; I will take joy in the God of my salvation." That’s what the life of a righteous person living by his or her faith should be. We should share Habakkuk's joy in God as our Savior and our strength. Entrusting ourselves to him, we are able to walk our life path with sure, steady steps, rejoicing in the Lord.
I want to live like that! I want to encourage you to live like that. When we humble ourselves and do God's will instead of our own, we find our deepest joy in God and our relationship with him in Christ. When we trust God and his promises, we can have overcoming joy like Habakkuk's. Such joy, hope and peace are true riches in a dark and broken world.
Copyright © 2024 by Michael B. McElroy. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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