https://esv.literalword.com/?q=hab+2%3B+revelation+6
Observations from today’s readings and today’s S-WOD, Thursday, 7 December 2023:
Habakkuk 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.
Life is full of hard questions. Too rarely do Christians wait for God’s answer rather than choosing their own answer, often convincing themselves in their impatience that it is from God when it isn’t. The world would say, “Don’t just stand there; do something!” But God says, “Don’t just do something; stand there, and wait on me.” Getting ahead of God results in sin (missing the mark). As the old Marine Corps saying goes, “Go with what you know.” Keep doing what you know God told you to do until you understand clearly what His next directions are; but, make sure you are really listening. Don’t let emotions drag you away from your watchpost.
The watchman’s job was vital. An approaching army left residents of an ancient city precious little time to flee or to prepare for battle. Everyone’s life depended on the alert watchman as he peered into the horizon for the earliest glimpse of an approaching threat. It was critical that the people be alerted as soon as possible to what was coming. As a Christian, God places you as a watchman for yourself, your friends, your family, and your church family. It is essential that you be attentive to what God is saying. It may be that a friend is in crisis and needs God’s word. As you study your Bible, God may choose to give you words of encouragement to share with your friend. It may be that as your children face difficult challenges, God will speak to you as you pray and reveal how you can help them. If you are spiritually alert, you may receive a warning from God that addresses specific dangers that those around you are facing. If you are careless, on the other hand, your family may be struggling, but the answers God has for them will go unheard. If you are oblivious to God’s message, those around you may miss the encouraging promise from God that He wanted to share through you. God holds His watchmen accountable for their diligence (Ezek. 33:6). Strive to be attentive to every word that comes to you from God. Your diligence will benefit you and those around you as you heed God’s warnings and follow His commands.
Habakkuk 2:2-4 — And the Lord answered me: “Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it. 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. Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him, but the righteous shall live by his faith.”
Habakkuk the prophet complained to the Lord because wickedness and injustice seemed to prevail while the Lord appeared to stand idly by. Yet, God reminded Habakkuk that, in fact, He was still God and His perfect timing was not Habakkuk’s. “If it seems slow, wait for it.” As the old pastor says, “The Mills of God’s justice grind slowly, but exceedingly fine.” When Habakkuk reconsiders the Mightiness and Sovereignty of the God He serves, he is left with but one conclusion: “Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. God, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer’s; he makes me tread on my high places.” (Habakkuk 3:17-19) Do you have the faith to wait of the Lord?
- Psalm 37:7 — Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices!
- Psalm 37:34 — Wait for the Lord and keep his way, and he will exalt you to inherit the land; you will look on when the wicked are cut off.
- Isaiah 25:9 — It will be said on that day, “Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us. This is the Lord; we have waited for him; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”
- Lamentations 3:26 — It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.
Habakkuk 2:6 — Woe to him who heaps up what is not his own— for how long?— and loads himself with pledges!
God will hold all evil doers accountable in His time. God will not be mocked. We cannot understand what God is doing; we must trust and obey.
Habakkuk 2:12-17 – Woe to him who builds a town with blood and founds a city on iniquity!… You will have your fill of shame instead of glory.
Terrible judgement awaits those who take advantage of others.
Habakkuk 2:20 — But the Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth be silent before him.
Habakkuk had a complaint for the Lord that may sound like what you hear from many today: “Why do you tolerate wrong (Habakkuk 1:3)…? Why… do you tolerate the treacherous? Why are you silent while the wicked swallow up those more righteous than themselves (1:13)?” God explains that He intends to glorify His name before the kingdoms of men, “guilty men, whose own strength is their god (1:11).” Man wants to rule themselves apart from God, and God turns them over to the consequences of their own wickedness: “Has not the Lord Almighty determined that the people’s labor is only fuel for the fire, that the nations exhaust themselves for nothing? For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea (Habakkuk 2:13, 14).” God tells Habakkuk that His judgment comes in due course: “For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it.” (Habakkuk 2:3). In the New Testament 2 Peter 2:3 also gives perspective on God’s delay in judgment: “In the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say, ‘Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation…..’ The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief…. You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming….. So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation…. “Your King is King, and His plan is in work. Trust in God. Make the most of every opportunity that remains to spread the Good News of His Kingdom. “The righteous will live by faith (Habakkuk 2:4).”
- Revelation 15:3, 4 — “Great and marvelous are your deeds, Lord God Almighty. Just and true are your ways, King of the ages. Who will not fear you, O Lord, and bring glory to your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before you, for your righteous acts have been revealed.”
Revelation 6:9-11 — “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been.
Final Judgment will occur when martyrdom is complete, confirming that some Christians will go through the tribulation. Only the Father knows when their mission will be complete. These martyrs are further spoken of in the next chapter – “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” (Revelation 7:14)
God does not always protect His faithful servants from persecution, but He holds a special place of honor for them in the Kingdom. Persecution will continue until the End.
Revelation 6:15-17 – Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?”
On the Day of Judgment, no one escapes the wrath of God except those who have been covered over by the Blood of Jesus and His righteousness, through faith in Him and salvation.
“Cross” Fit S-WOD (Spiritual Workout of the Day) – 7 December 2023: Listen carefully to the Holy Spirit’s counsel today. The Holy Spirit convicts you of your sins (where you are missing the mark, doing things other than what God would have you do). Ask for forgiveness for the shortcomings the Holy Spirit reveals to you, repent of your sins (turn 180-out; 1 John 1:9), receive and accept God’s forgiveness, and move forward, walking closer to Jesus with your eyes affixed on Him, never looking backwards. (Proverbs 1:23-25) “Jesus said to him, ‘No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.’” (Luke 9:62)
Defenders Bible Reading Plan 