ONE PLUCKY PROPHET
Our very laid back Bible studies re-commenced last Thursday evening. All three of us(yes-wise men of course!) meet fortnightly and discuss a piece of Scripture. Our approach is very informal and loosely structured which allows for good fellowship as well as more cerebral study. Our meeting is often peppered with personal experiences of events that have unfolded since we last met,and the fact that we are all friends over many years helps to keep the atmosphere both real and mellow! My two compatriots by the way are Aidan Power and Tony Ryan.
At the moment we are studying the book of Habakkuk, a so called’minor’ prophet of the Old Testament,who has a lot to say about the age old problem of the flourishing of the wicked. We are greatly helped in this study by the CD teaching of David Pawson,the finest Bible teacher that I have encountered.
Habakkuk begins this little book bewailing the awful moral downturn that his country has taken…”violence is everywhere(1v2)…all this misery(1v3)…these evil deeds(v3)…destruction(v3)…perverted justice(v3)…” Sounds familiar !
God answers him in an unexpected way,at first re-assuring the anguished prophet,saying”I am doing something in your own day,something you wouldn’t believe”(1v5) Cant you just see Habakkuk's eyes widening in expectation at what consolation God is about to deliver ! Then comes the divine punch line..”I am raising up the Babylonians, a cruel and violent people”(1v6). This is not I expect the answer that Habakkuk was waiting to hear,and in fact begged another even bigger question which I will come back to later.
The Book of Habakkuk was written about 600b.c. at a time when two super powers dominated the world stage,Assyria to the East and Egypt to the West. A third power was at this time just emerging on the scene, the Chaldeans also called Babylonians. Twenty years prior to this Josiah became king of Israel and through his reforms ushered in a period of reform and stability for Israel.Josiah was a man who remembered the ordinances of God and sought to implement them by royal decree.Upon his death,his son Jehoiakim took the throne and ruled tyrannically without regard to the moral health of the nation.Pawson makes the point that reform can only achieve so much,but for real and lasting change personal revival is needed.During the study we reflected on this and agreed that Christianity can easily slip from being a faith based on personal experience with Jesus to a religion based only on moral reform.Godlessness and wickedness are the obvious pitfalls from which most Believers will manage to steer clear,far easier to drift away from our first Love and passion for the Lord.
Our inner life needs nurturing by meditating on Gods Word and spending time alone in that secret place with Him.One heart set aflame after God can ignite a whole forest,nothing communicates faster or more effectively than pure holy passion.
So having recovered from his initial shock,Habakkuk brushes himself down and prepares for round two,he asks…”Should you be silent while the wicked swallow up people more righteous than they?”Bad as Israel may have been they were in the halfpenny place compared to the terrible Babylonians!How could a just God possibly allow these thugs to punish his very own people? it’s the age old question…why are the wicked allowed to prosper?
In our own lives bad things happen and we look bewildered to God for an explanation.All great saints of God have wrestled with this great puzzle.Harold S.Kushner,a Jewish rabbi addressed this question in a book aptly entitled ‘When Bad Things Happen To Good People’,after the sudden and painful death of his son. God does not provide either Habakkuk our ourselves with a neat philosophical answer,he does however impart an insight that will help us to cope with impossible circumstances…”The righteous will live by their faithfulness to God”(2v4) In other words hold tight and trust that God will work everything out in the end! This verse would later be used by Paul the Apostle to explain the heart of the good news about Jesus Christ. Centuries later a young German monk,Martin Luther would experience a revelation through these same words that would revolutionise the future course of Christianity…the just shall live by faith.
Unwittingly this minor prophets dilemmas would trigger a major reformation of a corrupted church over 2000 years later ! Strange indeed are the ways of the Lord,a sentiment that I think the ancient prophet would agree with!
Yet again our little gathering leaves us with much food for thought,and real urgency to revive that fire that once burned within.I’ll leave the last word to the plucky prophet of God who dared to ask the hard questions…
At the moment we are studying the book of Habakkuk, a so called’minor’ prophet of the Old Testament,who has a lot to say about the age old problem of the flourishing of the wicked. We are greatly helped in this study by the CD teaching of David Pawson,the finest Bible teacher that I have encountered.
Habakkuk begins this little book bewailing the awful moral downturn that his country has taken…”violence is everywhere(1v2)…all this misery(1v3)…these evil deeds(v3)…destruction(v3)…perverted justice(v3)…” Sounds familiar !
God answers him in an unexpected way,at first re-assuring the anguished prophet,saying”I am doing something in your own day,something you wouldn’t believe”(1v5) Cant you just see Habakkuk's eyes widening in expectation at what consolation God is about to deliver ! Then comes the divine punch line..”I am raising up the Babylonians, a cruel and violent people”(1v6). This is not I expect the answer that Habakkuk was waiting to hear,and in fact begged another even bigger question which I will come back to later.
The Book of Habakkuk was written about 600b.c. at a time when two super powers dominated the world stage,Assyria to the East and Egypt to the West. A third power was at this time just emerging on the scene, the Chaldeans also called Babylonians. Twenty years prior to this Josiah became king of Israel and through his reforms ushered in a period of reform and stability for Israel.Josiah was a man who remembered the ordinances of God and sought to implement them by royal decree.Upon his death,his son Jehoiakim took the throne and ruled tyrannically without regard to the moral health of the nation.Pawson makes the point that reform can only achieve so much,but for real and lasting change personal revival is needed.During the study we reflected on this and agreed that Christianity can easily slip from being a faith based on personal experience with Jesus to a religion based only on moral reform.Godlessness and wickedness are the obvious pitfalls from which most Believers will manage to steer clear,far easier to drift away from our first Love and passion for the Lord.
Our inner life needs nurturing by meditating on Gods Word and spending time alone in that secret place with Him.One heart set aflame after God can ignite a whole forest,nothing communicates faster or more effectively than pure holy passion.
So having recovered from his initial shock,Habakkuk brushes himself down and prepares for round two,he asks…”Should you be silent while the wicked swallow up people more righteous than they?”Bad as Israel may have been they were in the halfpenny place compared to the terrible Babylonians!How could a just God possibly allow these thugs to punish his very own people? it’s the age old question…why are the wicked allowed to prosper?
In our own lives bad things happen and we look bewildered to God for an explanation.All great saints of God have wrestled with this great puzzle.Harold S.Kushner,a Jewish rabbi addressed this question in a book aptly entitled ‘When Bad Things Happen To Good People’,after the sudden and painful death of his son. God does not provide either Habakkuk our ourselves with a neat philosophical answer,he does however impart an insight that will help us to cope with impossible circumstances…”The righteous will live by their faithfulness to God”(2v4) In other words hold tight and trust that God will work everything out in the end! This verse would later be used by Paul the Apostle to explain the heart of the good news about Jesus Christ. Centuries later a young German monk,Martin Luther would experience a revelation through these same words that would revolutionise the future course of Christianity…the just shall live by faith.
Unwittingly this minor prophets dilemmas would trigger a major reformation of a corrupted church over 2000 years later ! Strange indeed are the ways of the Lord,a sentiment that I think the ancient prophet would agree with!
Yet again our little gathering leaves us with much food for thought,and real urgency to revive that fire that once burned within.I’ll leave the last word to the plucky prophet of God who dared to ask the hard questions…
Even though the fig trees have no blossoms,
and there are no grapes on the vines;
even though the olive crop fails,
and the fields lie empty and barren;
even though the flocks die in the fields,
and the cattle barns are empty,
yet I will rejoice in the Lord!
I will be joyful in the God of my salvation!
The Sovereign Lord is my strength!
He makes me as surefooted as a deer,
able to tread upon the heights.
Habakkuk4v17-19
Gerard O'Shea
1 comment:
Beautiful article! and let me assure you I am in no way biased!
Post a Comment