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by Sandy Shaw
When we were reading Habakkuk Chapter 1 , we hear Habakkuk challenging God, with many searching questions - how long? - why? And, when God answers - look and see - don't be so limited as to what I am doing in Israel - look around - I am going to raise up the Babylonians.
Habakkuk can hardly cope - them! You are going use them to judge us Your chosen people! Lord, You are too holy and pure to do that - I'll go out on the walls of the city of Jerusalem to see them coming – and the idea in his mind is that they will never come. Habakkuk is not pleased - he is almost in the huff - God's man!
In what ways is our living God challenging us today? Secularism? Humanism? Amorality? Islam?
"Lord Jesus, what are you doing? What are you saying on all this? And Lord - if - if you told us - would we be prepared to hear. In verse 13 , we read – if the Babylonians, come even the righteous will suffer - we will all be swallowed up.
That shakes your tree - that shakes your thinking. Prophets are shaken and can shake.
Chapter 2 - Is Habakkuk getting near to God by going out to be a watchman? No. This is not a fresh awakening in the prophet - rather he is saying - "Lord, I dare You to do it!"
Lord I am going to get up onto the wall and see if You are going to do what You have said You are going to do - Lord, You are too good to let that happen. I'll go and see if God is going to answer my argument in the way He said He would.
"Habakkuk - you are going to have to sit there for a long time - you'll be looking for quite a while. At the appointed time I will do it. I have told you all this so that you will get down and go and tell the people. Write it on a poster - put up the billboard - so that those running and rushing past may see it - put it up - "The Babylonians are coming" .
Tell the world - give the world around you My message.
Be not only a pray-er - but be a prophetic preacher."
Habakkuk is an oracle - a mouthpiece - with a word from God.
God is revealing His emotions and His intentions.
Regarding these words about the righteous - this is one of the most famous verses in the Bible - "The righteous shall live by faith". These are the words which 400 years ago sparked off the Reformation. The righteous will survive by their faith.
"FAITH" occurs only twice in the Old Testament, and it means faithfulness.
The righteous will survive by keeping faith with God - continuous faith. Are you believing now? Then endure to the end!
"He, who, through faith, is righteous, shall live."
Have enough oil in your lamp to continue to burn for Jesus.
One of the names for the prophets is "seer" - a man who sees - not just hears and speaks – but sees things from God's point of view - and this is extremely rare today.
There has to be that element in our lives and ministries in the Church of Jesus Christ where we are prophetic and see and speak.
It will be costly as we go and tell people – we must not sit back on some comfortable couch or wall. Christ’s commissioning command is that we go and speak and tell and preach – and make disciples – and baptise – and then teach – knowing that the risen and living Jesus will be with us.
“Loving God – help us – hear our prayers – reassure us that You will be with us as we go and preach and speak and tell and make disciples and baptise. Feed us from every part of Your Holy Word. Strengthen the Church of Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray.” Amen.
Alexander 'Sandy' Shaw is pastor of Nairn Christian Fellowship in Nairn, Scotland. Nairn is 17 miles east of Inverness - on the Moray Firth Coast - not far from the Loch Ness Monster!
Gifted as a Biblical teacher, Sandy is firmly committed to making sure that his teachings are firmly grounded in the Word.
Sandy has a weekly radio talk which can be heard via the Internet on Saturday at 11:40am, New Orleans time, at wsho.com.
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