Day 707: Habakkuk 2- Faith And The Future

I will take my stand at my watch post
    and station myself on the tower,
and look out to see what he will say to me,
    and what I will answer concerning my complaint.
The Righteous Shall Live by His Faith
2 And the Lord answered me:
“Write the vision;
    make it plain on tablets,
    so he may run who reads it.
3 For still the vision awaits its appointed time;
    it hastens to the end—it will not lie.
If it seems slow, wait for it;
    it will surely come; it will not delay.
4 “Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him,
    but the righteous shall live by his faith.
5 “Moreover, wine is a traitor,
    an arrogant man who is never at rest
His greed is as wide as Sheol;
    like death he has never enough.
He gathers for himself all nations
    and collects as his own all peoples.”
Woe to the Chaldeans
6 Shall not all these take up their taunt against him, with scoffing and riddles for him, and say,
“Woe to him who heaps up what is not his own--
    for how long?--
    and loads himself with pledges!”
7 Will not your debtors suddenly arise,
    and those awake who will make you tremble?
    Then you will be spoil for them.
8 Because you have plundered many nations,
    all the remnant of the peoples shall plunder you,
for the blood of man and violence to the earth,
    to cities and all who dwell in them.
9 “Woe to him who gets evil gain for his house,
    to set his nest on high,
    to be safe from the reach of harm!
10 You have devised shame for your house
    by cutting off many peoples;
    you have forfeited your life.
11 For the stone will cry out from the wall,
    and the beam from the woodwork respond.
12 “Woe to him who builds a town with blood
    and founds a city on iniquity!
13 Behold, is it not from the Lord of hosts
    that peoples labor merely for fire,
    and nations weary themselves for nothing?
14 For the earth will be filled
    with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord
    as the waters cover the sea.
15 “Woe to him who makes his neighbors drink--
    you pour out your wrath and make them drunk,
    in order to gaze at their nakedness!
16 You will have your fill of shame instead of glory.
    Drink, yourself, and show your uncircumcision!
The cup in the Lord's right hand
    will come around to you,
    and utter shame will come upon your glory!
17 The violence done to Lebanon will overwhelm you,
    as will the destruction of the beasts that terrified them,
for the blood of man and violence to the earth,
    to cities and all who dwell in them.
18 “What profit is an idol
    when its maker has shaped it,
    a metal image, a teacher of lies?
For its maker trusts in his own creation
    when he makes speechless idols!
19 Woe to him who says to a wooden thing, Awake;
    to a silent stone, Arise!
Can this teach?
Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver,
    and there is no breath at all in it.
20 But the Lord is in his holy temple;
    let all the earth keep silence before him.”
 
Meditation
Christians living in a world of war and injustice must live by faith and not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7). God’s sovereign grace compels us to wholly trust in Him. God’s answer to Habakkuk’s question of “How Long!?” orients our hearts to look heavenward for hope in hard times.
 
God promises the suffering and turmoil of the world will be transformed as “the knowledge of the glory of God will cover the earth as the water covers the sea” (14). Have you seen dry sand at the bottom of the ocean? No. Will there be a portion of the world not saturated with God’s glory? No. The imagery combines ancient promises of Numbers 14:21 and Isaiah 11:9 with the vision of Isaiah 6:3 to strengthen present hope with promised future grace. The right response to God’s revelation is to live by faith (4), total trust in God during tumultuous times.
 
God will judge and remove evil and injustice. A series of six “Woes” are warnings to those who oppose God and His design for life: Woe to the plunderer (6-8), the deviser (9-11), destroyer (12-14), the drunkard (15-17), and idol worshipper (18-20). God’s righteous rule will prevail.
 
“The righteous shall live by faith” was the battle cry of the reformers (Luther, Calvin, Knox…) because it is the heart cry of the New Testament (Romans 1:17; Galatians 3:11; Hebrews 10:37-38). This grace and truth applies to Christians today and is the hope for God’s righteous rule to be established in all the earth.
 
Richly Dwelling
-Do you live more by faith in God’s purposes and promises or by sight?
 
-How does it strengthen your hope to read of God’s clear judgement on the evil and injustice in the world?
 
-The righteous person lives by faith! Where do you specifically need to move your focus from fear to faith?
 
Key Verse
4 “…but the righteous shall live by his faith.”… 14 For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.