Read Habakkuk 2:2–5
Questions from the Scripture text: Who is speaking in Habakkuk 2:2a? What does He tell him to do (verse 2b)? Upon what (verse 2c)? So that who may do what (verse 2d)? What about the vision necessitates this (Habakkuk 2:3a)? What will it do, when (verse 3b)? So, what must Habakkuk, do with it (verse 3c)? Why (verse 3d–e)? Whom is he to behold/consider (Habakkuk 2:4a)? What is he to observe/conclude about him (verse 4b)? Who lives in what other way (verse 4c)? What does the proud man do in Habakkuk 2:5a–b? What doesn’t he do (verse 5c)? What does he enlarge, to what extent (verse 5d–e)? What does he gather and heap up (verse 5f–g)?
How do believers overcome doubt and self-indulgence? Habakkuk 2:2–5 prepares us for the evening sermon on the coming Lord’s Day. In these four verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that believers overcome doubt and self-indulgence by faith in God’s Word.
A Word for everyone in Scripture and preaching. YHWH gives Habakkuk a vision; so why must he write it down? Because what God is giving Habakkuk to experience isn’t just for himself. It’s for God’s people throughout the ages. The “runner” in Habakkuk 2:2 isn’t engaging athletics, or even fleeing. He’s a messenger. God wants His message to His people written down so that it will be read. So that it will be proclaimed exactly. Here are the doctrine of the inspiration of Scripture and the doctrine of preaching. What Habakkuk writes is “a vision,” which is to say that it is given by God, rather than coming from Habakkuk. And what the preacher proclaims is what he “reads,” which is to say that he proclaims the written Word, rather than his own ideas.
A reliable Word to wait for. The Lord has told Habakkuk to look and watch (cf. Habakkuk 1:5), and Habakkuk is doing just that for the Word of God (cf. Habakkuk 2:1). YHWH has appointed a time for its fulfillment (Habakkuk 2:3a). Habakkuk does not know what that time is, but he knows that the fulfillment is certain (verse 3b), and its arrival will be not a moment later than the Lord has planned (verse 3c–e). As I once heard a preacher say, in my youth, “the Lord’s train may seem slow to us, but it is always right on time.”
Two ways to relate to the Word. Skepticism isn’t honest; it’s arrogant. The righteous man, in Habakkuk 2:4, lives by his faith. The way that he watches is by the Word of God. He is not discouraged, and does not doubt. Circumstances may be bewildering, but the Word of God is sure. Fulfillment may take time to come, but the Word of God is sure. And this is especially the Word of God about Jesus Christ. Hebrews 10:37–38 identifies this Word as a Person! This righteous man, who lives by his faith, is set over-against “the proud” in Habakkuk 2:4. The alternative to faith is to be one whose soul is not upright within him. It is arrogance to allow our experience or our assessment to overrule, in our hearts, what God’s Word says. The outcome of this skepticism is self-indulgence (Habakkuk 2:5). Wine easily deceives him (verse 5a), because in his pride (verse 5b), he is subject to all of his impulses (verse 5c–e). Self-indulgence is a conqueror even more ruthless than the Chaldeans (verse 5f–g). Apart from believers, there are none whom it does not overcome.
The Lord has given us faith in His Word as both the mechanism by which we come to be counted as righteous, and the method by which we live. How shall it be for you, dear reader? Will you (arrogantly!) live as one who questions God’s Word, but never questions his own impulses and desires? Or, will you live by the confidence that God’s Word is His Word, and that it shall be perfectly fulfilled at exactly the right time?
What experiences threaten to discourage you? What impulses and desires threaten to overcome you? What prescription does this passage give against those? How are you implementing what it says?
Sample prayer: Lord, thank You for causing Your sure Word to be written down for us. And thank You for sending us messengers who proclaim not their words but Yours. Please grant that we would have faith to take You at Your Word. And make our preachers faithful to preach only Your Word. Thus, strengthen us and gladden us in Christ, Who is that Word, and the great proclamation of all Scripture. And, guard us from all pride and self-indulgence. Make us those just ones who live by faith, we ask in His Name, AMEN!
Suggested songs: ARP131 “My Heart Is Not Exalted, LORD” or TPH256 “God Moves in a Mysterious Way”
No comments:
Post a Comment