Habakkuk, 10...Who Will Rejoice In The LORD [ Hab 3:17-18] / Paul's Bible Characters

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Habakkuk, 10

Who Will Rejoice In

The LORD 

[ Hab 3:17-18]

 

/ Paul's Bible Characters 

 

/ By Paul

 

1. Personal information:

 

The prophet Habakkuk

was a member of the band,

which belonged to the

tribe of Levi,

 

 

who had the

mission of praising

and playing musical

instruments before God. 

 

 

It is said that he was

probably the choir conductor

of the Zion Temple.

 

 

It is because the choir conductor

at that time was given the privilege

of deciding which psalms and

hymns to sing in the temple.

 

 

 - 'For the director of music.

On my stringed instruments.'

(Hab 3:19)

 

 

His name, Habakkuk,

is derived from the original

Hebrew title, 'Habakkuk',

which means

 

 

'the one who embraces'

or 'the one who wrestles'.

 

 

In other words, he was

'a person who embraced

the nation and comforted

 

 

his people that God would

make everything righteous',

 

 

while he was showing himself

as 'a person who lived by

struggling with religious

issues to God'.

 

 

2. Ministry:

 

 

As a prophet of Judah,

between the fall of the

Assyrian Empire in 612 BC

 

 

and the defeat of Egypt

at the Battle of Carchemish in 

605 BC, before the Babylonian

 invasion of Judah,

 

 

when the religious and

moral depravity of the people

reached its peak, Habakkuk

prayed to God for the quick

arrival of a justice judgment,

 

 

while taking on the ministry

of proclaiming prophecies to

comfort the suffering of the

people and to encourage

 

 

them to live more faithfully

in any situation of injustice.

 

 

He is assumed to have

lived during the reigns

of Josiah (640-609 BC),

 

 

Jehoahaz (609 BC),

and Jehoiakim (609-598 BC),

 

 

and he seems like a prophet

nearly contemporaneous

with Zephaniah and

Jeremiah (627-580 BC). 

 

 

He was also a prophet

who performed activities

to praise God by writing songs

and writing prophecies,

 

 

although the religious

reformation occurred

during the reign of King Josiah

and it was a short period of revival.

 

 

In particular,

Obadiah prophesied about Edom,

and Jonah and Nahum prophesied

about Nineveh, but Habakkuk

mainly prophesied about Babylon.

 

 

He was a prophet who wrote

songs and praised God.

 

 

3. Content:

 

 

He was a man of much

religious skepticism, and he was

a prophet who asked many

questions to God, earning

him the nickname

 

 

'Thomas

of the Old Testament'

by later generations: 

 

 

'Why does God allow evil?  

 

 

Why does God allow Babylon,

a Gentile more evil than Judah,

to destroy Judah?  

 

 

How should we live

in this corrupt era?'

 

 

He was in serious anguish

with these religious issues,

but God's answer to these

questions was that

 

 

'the righteous will live 

by his faith' (Hab 2:4). 

 

 

After

hearing this word of truth

from God, he realized

God's providence.

 

 

And he became the first to

proclaim the great truth of

'justification by faith'

 

 

and

became a man who lived a life

satisfied with the LORD alone.

 

 

This scripture was later

quoted by Paul and became

one of the New Testament themes. 

(Rom 1:17, Gal 3:11, Heb 10:38)

 

 

Also, this scripture became

the basis for Luther's Reformation

that took place in the 16th century

 

 

and created an opportunity to move

from Catholicism to Protestantism.

 

 

4. Characteristics of Habakkuk's faith

 

 

1) Those who serve God speak

the truth that they can live

only by faith. 

(Hab 2:4)

 

 

All things in this world

are equally given life and

that life is maintained by

relying on God.

 

 

However, creatures other

than humans only obey

God's providence,

 

 

but they do not know and

understand God and do not

know that He is a glorious being.

 

 

Only human beings were

created as beings who would

know God's work: God loves

human beings

 

 

and saves human

beings created by Him.

 

 

It is faith to accept this,

and it provides the source

of new life within us,

 

 

makes us realize God's will,

and works in us as the power

so that we can apply His word

of promise in our lives.

 

 

In particular, the meaning

of 'he' in the phrase

'the righteous will live

by his faith' is important.

 

 

It's because it points to the

motive that initiates and

sustains life, that is, the special

part that recognizes God's power.

 

 

The prophet Habakkuk

realized that life would

come from faith.

 

 

It is because when God

determined the destruction

of Babylon

 

 

and revealed the fact, 

only those who had

faith would live.

(Hab 2:3)

 

 

2) It refers to the truth that

no matter how devastated the

environment may be, God 

will surely revive it. 

(Hab 3:2)

 

 

(1) Revival is the manifestation

of the will of the Lord.

 

 

 Revival presupposes decline.

 

 

Decline comes because of the fall. 

And in the fallen place, God's wrath

and judgment will come.

 

 

In other words, revival is

to restore the place where

the Lord's will has disappeared

by those who long for the

Lord's will.

 

 

Revival means that the

will of the Lord is done,

not my will or my wish.

 

 

Therefore, it is important

for those who want revival

to first know what the Lord's will

is and to pray for supplication.

 

 

In the revival of Mizpah

in the time of Samuel,

 

 

it was God's will for the people

to abandon foreign gods and

serve the LORD alone.

 

 

When the people fasted

and repented at Samuel's prayer,

the Philistines were wiped out

and never invaded them again.

 

 

Nehemiah's rebuilding

of the walls and revival was

his will to establish the kingdom

of God through the people

 

 

of Israel by rebuilding

the temple and the

walls of Jerusalem.

 

 

When Nehemiah fasted

and prayed for this, the walls,

 

 

which had been neglected

for 130 years, were completed

in 52 days.

 

 

Today's church reviva

l movement is to pray for the

restoration of the Word

-centered life.

 

 

We can live as true children

of God only when we get away

from self-belief in which we are

the master

 

 

and the Word

is the maid, and return to a

life centered on Jesus.

 

 

This is because it is the true

will of God that the Lord seeks

and reaps the grain in this age,

the time of the last harvest.

 

 

(2) It is revival  to trust and

wait for the Lord's time.

 

 

There are times when the will

of God feels like life to us.

 

 

In other words, it means

when all our lives are full of

confidence and lively

with vitality.

 

 

For this purpose,

the Holy Spirit comes to us

as a word or revelation and

guides each of us to know

God's will.

 

 

Most of the time,

we are in a hurry and

act impatiently.

 

 

Revival does not come

from a heightened state

of emotion, but it can be

greeted from an attitude

of emptying ourselves

 

 

and completely entrusting

ourselves to the Lord.

 

 

That's because we tend

to fall into the arrogance

of trying to take the initiative

of the Holy Spirit when revival

comes to us in our desire. 

 

 

On the contrary, when

revival is delayed and

we give it up exhausted,

 

 

there are times when we lose

obedience and faith, although

revival comes to us.

 

 

God has his own time.

And it works when it is

most suitable for us.

 

 

Those who believe in the

 Lord's timing are those

who learn to live in faith,

 

 

not to be in a hurry,

not to be impatient,

 

 

not to be discouraged,

and not to give up.

 

 

Habakkuk knew that

revival would come within

a few years,

 

 

and the number

of years should be seen as

meaning that it would be done

 

 

at the most appropriate time

during the period of 70 years

of discipline, rather than

a few years.

 

 

Now, it is time to believe

that God's revival will surely

come to our families, churches, 

societies, and nations.

 

 

We should hold on to the Word

we have received with faith

and patience.

 

 

3) True faith comes when

we live a life that is satisfied

with God alone.

(Hab 3:17-18)

 

 

Calvin said,

"The only true way to rest is

to go through all fear."

 

 

The body goes

through the senses.

 

 

The soul goes

through the feeling.

 

 

And they end up staying within

the confines of the environment.

 

 

However,

the spirit goes through

the environment into eternity.

 

 

What perishes are 

things in the environment.

 

 

What does not perish are the

things in God.

 

 

And they are forever.

 

 

The meaning of life is that

when we keep in mind the point

 

 

at which we are called to go to

heaven as another starting point,

we can live a worthy and upright life.

 

 

In 30 years, in 10 years,

or today, if I am called, what s

hould I cherish the most?

 

 

Everything in my

environment from which

I have to leave will no longer

be of any use to me.

 

 

God alone I met in the dawn

will be the most precious.

 

 

It is because I will go to

the Father and live with Jesus

in the eternal new environment

prepared for me.

 

 

The prophet Habakkuk is

an Old Testament figure

 

 

who lived with faith that

 transcended his circumstances

in the world.

 

 

God, who has no shadow

of shifting, shines his power

like light from his hand.

 

 

In this way, Habakkuk,

who experienced God,

became a person who lived

with the glory of God as his joy.

 

 

"His splendor was like

the sunrise; rays flashed from

his hand, where his power

was hidden."

(Hab 3:4)

 

 

- To Be Continue - 

 

 

2023/06/30

 

 

/ By Paul