Tuesday November 8, 2022

Hello friends, I pray all had a productive weekend, and that you enjoyed whatever house of worship you attend. At OFA, our service was great-I could really sense the presence of the Lord. Today we are going to continue our look at the book of Habakkuk. I did not get a chance to wrap up Ch. 1 before I preached-I would encourage you to check out the sermon on YouTube (you can access it on our "audio/video" page." 
Today, we are moving on to Ch. 2 of Habakkuk. We are going to look at the first 4 verses.
Habakkuk 2: 1-4
I will stand on my guard post And station myself on the rampart; And I will keep watch to see what He will speak to me, And how I may reply when I am reproved.  Then the Lord replied:
“Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it. 3 For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay. 4 “See, the enemy is puffed up; his desires are not upright— but the righteous person will live by his faithfulness
Chapter 2 is a continuation of chapter 1. Verse 1 could have been the last verse of Ch. 1-because it is still the prophet speaking. Habakkuk says that he will "stand guard," and keep watch for the Lord's answers. The idea here is that the prophet has to wait on God-which is never an easy thing to do; especially when we have been told something we don't like and are waiting for more information. 
Verse 2 is where God answers Habakkuk. The rest of the chapter is God's response to Habakkuk's frustration. God being our creator, he understands that we have a very finite view of the world. Often times our perception is not reality. When this happens, we can become frustrated-like Habakkuk did when the Lord told him that the Babylonian army would capture the people of Judah. That said, Habakkuk is a man of God-even though he does not understand, he trusts that the Lord knows what He's doing. Vs. 4 is one of the most well known and most quoted verses in the Bible. Many people think that Paul is the first one to utter these words: "The righteous person will live by faith," but he was not-Paul was quoting the prophet Habakkuk. 
This upcoming Sunday, we will be discussing 3 main ideas: waiting, perception, and the difference between God's wrath and God's discipline. I do hope to have an opportunity to make another post on Ch. 2-I will do my best to make the time. God Bless.