Tag Archives: Habakkuk

Itty Bitty Bible Study – Habakkuk 3b finale

My thoughts for the Itty Bitty Bible Study group on Facebook. (join if you’d like to get these in fb!)

The first verse is explained in various versions (as obtained via Bible Hub) and on got questions.

Habakkuk 3 Amplified Bible (AMP)
God’s Salvation of His People
3 A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet, set to [a]wild and enthusiastic music.

Habakkuk 3 Living Bible (TLB)
3 This is the prayer of triumph[a] that Habakkuk sang before the Lord:

Habakkuk 3 World English Bible (WEB)
3 A prayer of Habakkuk, the prophet, set to victorious music.

In my research, no one really knows, but it sounds like the variations of worship, praise and prayer that we all see today in the variations of worshipers!

I’m going to do chapter three a little different than usual. I’m going to just list the verse, and add some cross references that come to mind. This chapter sounds so completely relevant to today, and the second coming of our Lord (Matthew 24). See if you agree.

Habakkuk 3 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
Habakkuk’s Third Prayer
3:1 A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet. According to Shigionoth.[a]
2 O Lord, I have heard the report of you,
and your work, O Lord, do I fear.
In the midst of the years revive it;
in the midst of the years make it known;
in wrath remember mercy.

Some verse, then my verses. Do you agree? Do you have some to add?

Isaiah 43:2
Deuteronomy 31:8
Jeremiah 42:11

Matthew 24:22 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
22 Unless those days were limited, no one would[a] survive.[b] But those days will be limited because of the elect.

Psalm 85:6-9 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
6 Will You not revive us again
so that Your people may rejoice in You?
7 Show us Your faithful love, Lord,
and give us Your salvation.

8 I will listen to what God will say;
surely the Lord will declare peace
to His people, His godly ones,
and not let them go back to foolish ways.
9 His salvation is very near those who fear Him,
so that glory may dwell in our land.

Back to Habakkuk 3

Description of our great God:
3 God came from Teman,
and the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah
His splendor covered the heavens,
and the earth was full of his praise.

Psalm 48:10
Psalm 72:19
Psalm 113:4
Knowing Jesus has a compilation of verses about the earth being filled with His glory!

Isaiah 6:3 New International Version (NIV)
3 And they were calling to one another:

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty;
the whole earth is full of his glory.”

Praise Break!

Back to Habakkuk 3

4 His brightness was like the light;
rays flashed from his hand;
and there he veiled his power.

Matthew 24:27
Isaiah 30:30

Luke 17:24 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
24 For as the lightning flashes from horizon to horizon and lights up the sky, so the Son of Man will be in His day.

Revelation 1:12-20 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
12 I turned to see whose voice it was that spoke to me. When I turned I saw seven gold lampstands, 13 and among the lampstands was One like the Son of Man,[a] dressed in a long robe and with a gold sash wrapped around His chest. 14 His head and hair were white like wool—white as snow—and His eyes like a fiery flame. 15 His feet were like fine bronze as it is fired in a furnace, and His voice like the sound of cascading[b] waters. 16 He had seven stars in His right hand; a sharp double-edged sword came from His mouth, and His face was shining like the sun at midday.[c]

Do you see the similarities? Not to mention that Jesus is the light of the world! I love seeing Jesus in the Old Testament tying together both testaments!

John 1 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
Prologue
1 In the beginning was the Word,[a]
and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God.
2 He was with God in the beginning.
3 All things were created through Him,
and apart from Him not one thing was created
that has been created.
4 Life was in Him,[b]
and that life was the light of men.
5 That light shines in the darkness,
yet the darkness did not overcome[c] it.

Habakkuk 3

5 Before him went pestilence,
and plague followed at his heels.[a]

“Things followed him”… not? I don’t think this means that pestilence and plague were part of God’s presence. I think this is part of the whole concept that where the holy God is, that which is unholy just trembles and dies!  On the other hand, this also sounds very similar to the judgments in Revelation for His coming again to judge the living and the dead.
I’ve written a quickie guide to Revelation from the end to the beginning.
If you want to look up the judgments, start at Revelation 6.
There are many warnings in the Bible of judgement, both in the current lifetime of the prophet/writer, and in prophetic nature for the future. It is a part of the Christian’s theology.

Habakkuk 3

6 He stood and measured the earth;
he looked and shook the nations;
then the eternal mountains were scattered;
the everlasting hills sank low.
His were the everlasting ways.
7 I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction;
the curtains of the land of Midian did tremble.

Zechariah 14:4
Psalm 73
End times verses, Matthew 24.  PureFlix has compiled a few,  as has Open Bible.

Back to Habakkuk 3

8 Was your wrath against the rivers, O Lord?
Was your anger against the rivers,
or your indignation against the sea,
when you rode on your horses,
on your chariot of salvation?

This is Habakkuk asking God questions.
What is being said here? Why is a chariot of salvation being called when he’s going forth pouring out judgement?
Salvation for those in the midst?

This brings to my mind the discussions about when the rapture is, when the tribulation is, and where are all the believers during any of this. If you checked out the above collections of verses for end times, you know that this sounds very much like some of the judgments in Revelation! I’m not qualified to write much about this, but there are those who are, and they do not agree! All about God  is one place I like to go to for some answers. My belief lines up with a Keith Green quote – “pray for Pre, Prepare for Post” as in, no one knows the hour or day, so be prepared!

My looking at the various scriptures, of which I do not have the space to list here, I am preparing for mid trib rapture. Why? That’s what I see when I look at the whole of the end times verses.  Also, it’s what I see as how God works with his children…He saves them in the midst of the storm!  My other reason, how terrible will it be for those that are not preparing for any true persecution to find out that they are in the first three and a half years of the tribulation, not raptured out before hand as they had been taught, and completely ill prepared to stand for God in the midst of the horrors that, well, honestly, are going on every where else in the world but here in America. The Bible warns that many will fall away and hearts will grow cold.  How many are falling away because the prosperity doctrine does not work for them? How many fall away because it’s been preached that they will be healed in this life, and they continue to suffer, or lose a child, or what have you?  Why won’t God answer their prayers? and the spiral starts. Be prepared! And we can rejoice if we are raptured before the tribulation!

Back to Habakkuk 3

9 You stripped the sheath from your bow,
calling for many arrows.[b] Selah
You split the earth with rivers.
10 The mountains saw you and writhed;
the raging waters swept on;
the deep gave forth its voice;
it lifted its hands on high.
11 The sun and moon stood still in their place
at the light of your arrows as they sped,
at the flash of your glittering spear.
12 You marched through the earth in fury;
you threshed the nations in anger.

Still sounds very much like His last campaign on the Earth to separate the sheep from the goats. Just read the various passages listed herein.

Back to Habakkuk 3

13 You went out for the salvation of your people,
for the salvation of your anointed.
You crushed the head of the house of the wicked,
laying him bare from thigh to neck.[c] Selah
14 You pierced with his own arrows the heads of his warriors,
who came like a whirlwind to scatter me,
rejoicing as if to devour the poor in secret.

There’s a verse about the end times enemies turning upon themselves and hiding. They did so many times in Old Testament battles.  One such is Gideon in Judges 7:17-22.  Also 1 Samuel 14:20, and 2 Chronicles 20 .

The key for believers to remember is this… the children are saved, in the midst of the judgement. Remember the three Hebrew children, and Daniel in the lions’ den, and Joseph in the pit, and then the jail, and then raised up to deliver the world as they knew it! I discussed this in IBBS Habakkuk 2

Psalm 46:10-11 New International Version (NIV)
10 He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth.”
11 The Lord Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.

Habakkuk 3

15 You trampled the sea with your horses,
the surging of mighty waters.

16 I hear, and my body trembles;
my lips quiver at the sound;
rottenness enters into my bones;
my legs tremble beneath me.
Yet I will quietly wait for the day of trouble
to come upon people who invade us.

This is in light of the scripture shared above that except the day be cut short even the very elect would fall away. Here are some verses about our responsibility and our comfort for the end times.

Isaiah 54:17 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
17 No weapon formed against you will succeed,
and you will refute any accusation[a]
raised against you in court.
This is the heritage of the Lord’s servants,
and their righteousness is from Me.”
This is the Lord’s declaration.

Isaiah 41:10 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
10 Do not fear, for I am with you;
do not be afraid, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you; I will help you;
I will hold on to you with My righteous right hand.

Luke 10:19 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
19 Look, I have given you the authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy; nothing will ever harm you.

Ephesians 6:10-20 is our responsibility to be prepared for battle, remembering this:

Ephesians 6:12 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
12 For our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world powers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens.

Romans 12:19 with Proverb 20:22

Psalm 37
Who better to fight for us than the God of all Creation?
Jesus is the prince of Peace…Psalm 23 goes nicely here.
As Psalm 46:10 says, Be Still and know that I am God!

Back to Habakkuk 3

Habakkuk Rejoices in the Lord
17 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,
18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord;
I will take joy in the God of my salvation.
19 God, the Lord, is my strength;
he makes my feet like the deer’s;
he makes me tread on my high places.

No matter what happens around us we need to rejoice in the Lord and joy in the God of our salvation because He is the strength of our heart and He does make our feet like Hinds feet that walk on high places!

My Joy blogs –

  • a year ago I wrote Joyful Joyful about my decision to choose joy.
  • a Quick read about Joy from my Advent series.
  • I also have written about my struggle with depression, and how I’ve had to choose joy. One such blog is Oil of Joy, my testimony.
  • Another is Whose Joy am I responsible for, an addition to my joy journey.

Why am I talking about Joy in the midst of talking about end time events? I defined Joy for myself several years ago:

Joy is not dependent upon the things going on around me. It depends upon the Joy that is within me –

Another point of view is that

Happiness comes from Happenings, but Joy comes from Jesus.

If we depend on things around us to determine our joy, we will be sadly disappointed, if not depressingly despairing.
If our Joy is based upon Jesus residing in us, no one, NOTHING can take that from us, and we will have the Love of God within us, and the Peace of God sustaining us! Remember the first three fruit of the Spirit  are listed as Love, Joy, and Peace! These are gifts to us from our heavenly father because HE KNOWS what’s going to happen! Let’s thank him!

Praise Charts has a list of various Christian Songs to praise the Lord and give Him thanks.

Here’s my praise Break!

Final bit of Habakkuk:

To the choirmaster: with stringed[d] instruments.

Remember that in all of things, we should worship. Worship is our greatest weapon!

Patheos has written a collection about verses to ward off the enemy.

Let me know what you think about this!
~~~

Hi!
My hope in the midst of despair and my joy in the face of depression is because of my relationship with Jesus Christ. If you do not have one, or are not sure you will join him in heaven, please check out these links.

Thanks for joining me in this journey,
In His hands and under His wings,
~Christi
Ps 63:7 Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings.

“The Lord does not give me rules, but He makes His standard very clear.
If my relationship to Him is that of love, I will do what He says without hesitation.
If I hesitate, it is because I love someone I have placed in competition with Him, namely, myself.” – from My Utmost for His highest

Copyrights and Legal-eze
There are many organizations that support children and families. Here are ones that we are blessed to be a part of. Please consider sponsoring a child – the life you change could be your own.

Itty Bitty Bible Study – Habakkuk 2

My thoughts for the Itty Bitty Bible Study group on Facebook. (join if you’d like to get these in fb!)

IBBS Habakkuk Introduction
IBBS Habakkuk 1

Habakkuk 2

In IBBS Habakkuk 1, we discussed that sometimes bad things happen to discipline us. that is not always the case.

Sometimes, it’s to test us…(though we are told not to blame God for our temptations!

James 1:12-15 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
12 A man who endures trials[a] is blessed, because when he passes the test he will receive the crown of life that God[b] has promised to those who love Him.

13 No one undergoing a trial should say, “I am being tempted by God.” For God is not tempted by evil,[c] and He Himself doesn’t tempt anyone. 14 But each person is tempted when he is drawn away and enticed by his own evil desires. 15 Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and when sin is fully grown, it gives birth to death.

There are those that fall because of their own lusts…and they need Psalm 38

The truth is, that there are those that are refined by the fire, and that refining has a higher purpose!

Habakkuk is not happy with the answers by God in the first chapter…

Habakkuk 1:13 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
13 Your eyes are too pure to look on evil,
and You cannot tolerate wrongdoing.
So why do You tolerate those who are treacherous?
Why are You silent
while one[a] who is wicked swallows up
one[b] who is more righteous than himself?

He decides to:

Habakkuk 2 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
Habakkuk Waits for God’s Response
2 I will stand at my guard post
and station myself on the lookout tower.
I will watch to see what He will say to me
and what I should[a] reply about my complaint.

Here’s a few of the clarifications that God gives in Chapter 2, for what His purposes are:

Habakkuk 2
8 Since you have plundered many nations,
all the peoples who remain will plunder you—
because of human bloodshed
and violence against lands, cities,
and all who live in them.

11 For the stones will cry out from the wall,
and the rafters will answer them
from the woodwork.

13-14 Is it not from the Lord of Hosts
that the peoples labor only to fuel the fire
and countries exhaust themselves for nothing?
14 For the earth will be filled
with the knowledge of the Lord’s glory,
as the waters cover the sea.

16 You will be filled with disgrace instead of glory.
You also—drink,
and expose your uncircumcision![i]
The cup in the Lord’s right hand
will come around to you,
and utter disgrace will cover your glory.

Bottom Line?

Habakkuk 2:20 But the Lord is in His holy temple;
let everyone on earth
be silent in His presence.

God sees us, even in the midst of darkness!
Here’s some examples:

Daniel and the Three Hebrew Children

Daniel 1 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
6 Among them, from the descendants of Judah, were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. 7 The chief official gave them other names: he gave the name Belteshazzar to Daniel, Shadrach to Hananiah, Meshach to Mishael, and Abednego to Azariah.

Daniel and the three Hebrew children and many others were taken away in Babylon and they were made eunuchs, which to be very graphic and specific means they were neutered. Everything that they understood from their religion was taken away from them and they had a reason to cry out like Habakkuk!

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego
Daniel 3

The three Hebrew children were thrown into the fiery furnace, because they would not bow down and choose fleshly comforts in exchange their lives.

Daniel 3 – their declaration of faith.
16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied to the king, “Nebuchadnezzar, we don’t need to give you an answer to this question.
17 If the God we serve exists,[f] then He can rescue us from the furnace of blazing fire, and He can rescue us from the power of you, the king.
18 But even if He does not rescue us,[g] we want you as king to know that we will not serve your gods or worship the gold statue you set up.”

The rest of the story is that they were not delivered from the fiery furnace, but another walked with them who was like the son of God. later in the Bible we find out it was the pre incarnate Christ that walked with them and protected them from the fire while they were in the furnace. Those that were unrighteous and had been trying to destroy the righteous Hebrew children, thought they had one, and those that cranked up the fire were actually swallowed with the heat. The three Hebrew children were pulled out. When they were not consumed, Nebuchadnezzar declared praises to their God, and freedoms to serve their own God!

Dan 3
28 Nebuchadnezzar exclaimed, “Praise to the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego! He sent His angel[m] and rescued His servants who trusted in Him. They violated the king’s command and risked their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God. 29 Therefore I issue a decree that anyone of any people, nation, or language who says anything offensive against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego will be torn limb from limb and his house made a garbage dump. For there is no other god who is able to deliver like this.” 30 Then the king rewarded Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the province of Babylon.

Would that have happened if the Three men had not endured this fire?

Daniel in the Lions den.
Daniel 6
Daniel was recognized as being a very gifted leader, and he actually served under a couple of the leaders of his day. And then there were those people that set him up that he should not pray to any God other than Darius. Not only did he continue to pray, it says he opened his window, and knelt by his window to pray to God. Daniel didn’t go into hiding!

It horrified the king that he had been duped to put this law into effect and he worried about Daniel being thrown into the lions den. The rest of that story is the unrighteous thought they were winning the day as they threw Daniel in, but God sent the angel of the Lord to keep the Lions from eating Daniel. So the righteous was pulled out of the Lion’s Den and the unrighteous were thrown in afterwards.

The end of this chapter has Darius, not a Hebrew, God worshiper, giving God, Yahweh, YHWH, Jehovah, praise!
Daniel 6:25-28

Would that have happened if Daniel had not endured this trial?

Jesus and Judas

Judas was one of Jesus’s top 12. Judas was given the responsibilities of finances. He went out with the others and apparently was able to do the same Miracles that the others. If he didn’t, whoever he was sent out with would come back and say

“yeah well whenever we go with Judas he just can’t do anything! I have to do all the work!”

The thing about the story at the Last Supper was that no one had any idea that it was Judas that was going to turn in Jesus.
So we have the Last Supper and then some very ugly days of thinking everything has gone wrong and that the wicked have won!
We, as Christians, know that the rest of the story is that on that third day Jesus rose from the dead and some days after that He rose to sit beside his father and to intervene, and to pray on our behalf. They didn’t have this Bible from which to draw strength!

If Judas had not betrayed Christ, there wouldn’t have been the crucifixion and there would not have been the days where everyone questioned their loyalty to Christ.

There are others!

Moses on the back side of the desert – or he would not have experienced the burning bush!
Paul in prison – Purposes for his suffering were to spread the gospel!

I’ve shared this testimony before and some of my stories specifically in IBBS Jonah, but it fits here as well.

My life was rough, but there’s many who had lives worse than mine. I had a very, very difficult ability in pushing for things or believing things that I believed were God’s call for me because I had no one in my life that actually was hearing God’s call and following it. I didn’t know how to embrace God’s calling!

So when I was told to go to Ohio State University for art and music and English, because of varying scholarships for the different schools, I told God He didn’t know what he was talking about, I wasn’t good enough for college. I joined the Navy. I want to get this very clear. I joined the United States Navy in direct opposition to what I knew God wanted me to do. At the time, I was attending churches, I was attending youth groups, I was attending Bible study. My life had gotten very rough in my senior year of high school, and I could not see any way that I could go to college. So I decided (I DECIDED) that I should go in the Navy to get an education and to learn a trade and to serve my country. Also to be clear, I don’t think the serving my country was where I was wrong. Where I was wrong was knowing God’s direction for me, and having probably half a dozen Bibles and even more Bible studies available to me to tell me how to hear God’s voice, and I told God no. I TOLD GOD NO! that is the error, the mistake, the sin. In Jonah, I talk about what happened.

If you look at Moses and the burning bush and God telling him that he is being sent to deliver his people, Moses says “I can’t speak send somebody else!”

If we look at Jonah, which I did in itty bitty Bible study about Jonah, Jonah said “no I’m not going to Nineveh!”

In both of these guys’ lives, God used some very interesting techniques to get their attention. We all know Jonah was thrown over the side of the boat and was swallowed by a fish and was spit up on the shores of Nineveh.

What did God use for Moses? Well for one his brother Aaron showed up having walked all the way across the desert and he finds Moses whom the Pharaoh wanted Dead! There’s also the little thing where Moses is almost being killed on his way back and God speaks to Zipporah who circumcises her sons and throws the foreskins at Moses and says “a bloody husband out art.”

If there was any doubt of the seriousness of God’s call for Moses or Jonah, that would get their attention.
Me, well, I ended up paralyzed from the waist down after a fall the third day of boot camp. I still struggle with the physical ramifications of that choice! Kind of like Jacob walking with a limp because he wrestled with God.

There is a history book that we had when our children were being homeschooled that shared how history when looked at from above from the big picture, can be seen as the varying ways God uses the wicked to orchestrate his greater plan.

Providential History
disclaimer – I do not get any benefit for sharing an amazon link.

One such example is Nazi Germany and the extermination of Jews.
If there had not been such a horrid Event that was documented by photographs and newsreels, the global mentality would not have been such that they would have the outcry to create the nation of Israel. The nation of Israel being reestablished is a crucial point in the Fulfillment of the end time prophecies. The whole aspect of what was done to the Jews was horrific. I don’t know what the spiritual status was of the Jews in the way that we know by God’s word back in the time of Saul and David and Solomon and Josiah and Hezekiah. But I do know that this one event caused sympathy for this one nationality and everyone agreed to the creation of the nation of Israel.

Why does God allow evil? Rabi Ravi Zacharias explains this so well in his answer to Gun violence.

Another of his messages is How could an all-powerful, all-loving God allow evil to exist?

For me, there are two key verses…

Habakkuk 2:4 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
4 Look, his ego is inflated;[a]
he is without integrity.
But the righteous one will live by his faith.[b]

and

Habakkuk 2:20 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
20 But the Lord is in His holy temple;
let everyone on earth
be silent in His presence.
But the Lord is in His holy temple;
let everyone on earth
be silent in His presence.

In honor of the three Hebrew children, I’m going to put Even If by Mercy Me here again.

And this is a reminder for us!

The history of this hymn story is huge.

Hi!
My hope in the midst of despair and my joy in the face of depression is because of my relationship with Jesus Christ. If you do not have one, or are not sure you will join him in heaven, please check out these links.

Thanks for joining me in this journey,
In His hands and under His wings,
~Christi
Ps 63:7 Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings.

“The Lord does not give me rules, but He makes His standard very clear.
If my relationship to Him is that of love, I will do what He says without hesitation.
If I hesitate, it is because I love someone I have placed in competition with Him, namely, myself.” – from My Utmost for His highest

Copyrights and Legal-eze
There are many organizations that support children and families. Here are ones that we are blessed to be a part of. Please consider sponsoring a child – the life you change could be your own.

Itty Bitty Bible Study – Habakkuk 1

My thoughts for the Itty Bitty Bible Study group on Facebook. (join if you’d like to get these in fb!)

IBBS Habakkuk Introduction

Habakkuk 1

Habakkuk 1:1-4 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
1 The oracle that Habakkuk the prophet saw.

Habakkuk’s First Prayer
2 How long, Lord, must I call for help
and You do not listen
or cry out to You about violence
and You do not save?
3 Why do You force me to look at injustice?
Why do You tolerate[a] wrongdoing?
Oppression and violence are right in front of me.
Strife is ongoing, and conflict escalates.
4 This is why the law is ineffective
and justice never emerges.
For the wicked restrict the righteous;
therefore, justice comes out perverted.

Does this sound familiar? (read in a whining voice…or just a very sad, discouraged, or defeated voice, all are appropriate)
HOW LONG LORD????
WHY????
accusations about his tolerating wickedness….violence…oppression…strife and conflict.
“THIS IS WHY” as if we need to teach God a lesson! Uh huh.

I want to start this with worship….because tough topics need to have the promises included!

https://youtu.be/FUzx4oEmnxQ

Why does God let good things happen to bad people and bad things happen to good people?

Maybe part of the question is who does God consider bad and who does God consider good?

Let’s look at Job. He’s one of the guys that God says was good…and had some troubles!
Job 1

Job 1:8 Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? No one else on earth is like him, a man of perfect integrity, who fears God and turns away from evil.”

First, you get backstage view of God and the enemy and how the enemy goes around trying to cause trouble for those who love God. God specifically points out his servant job who is perfect in all his ways. Now – this is key! God didn’t point out all the folks that were upsetting God…but he points out a man of perfect integrity!

The devil says “hahaha! it’s because you take care of him!”
So long and short of the story:
Satan is given permission to take things away from Job, and Job does not deny God or renounce him.
Satan is given permission to touch Job’s flesh but not to take his life, and Job continues to refuse to denounce God.
Job does get into depression, what I consider a suicidal depression because he wishes he was never born.
consider adding to this that he lost his children at that first testing. Just for clarity, he knew his children were not necessarily walking with the Lord or he wouldn’t be waking up everyday after their parties and trying to do sacrifices on their behalf. Still, these were his children! All gone in ONE event!

So, Job has lost all of his Earthly possessions, he’s lost all of his children, he has lost his health, and his wife is telling him curse God and die.

I’m thinking Job was in a position very similar to Habakkuk saying why are the wicked prospering!? What do you think?

Job 21
7 Why do the wicked continue to live,
growing old and becoming powerful?
8 Their children are established while they are still alive,[a]
and their descendants, before their eyes.
9 Their homes are secure and free of fear;
no rod from God strikes them.

A young friend, Elihu, speaks up:
Job 33
But I tell you that you are wrong in this matter,
since God is greater than man.
13 Why do you take Him to court
for not answering anything a person asks?[c]

Elihu clearly spelled it out:

Job 33 and I’m posting starting at 22:
22 He draws near to the Pit,
and his life to the executioners.
23 If there is an angel on his side,
one mediator out of a thousand,
to tell a person what is right for him[h]
24 and to be gracious to him and say,
“Spare him from going down to the Pit;
I have found a ransom,”
25 then his flesh will be healthier[i] than in his youth,
and he will return to the days of his youthful vigor.
26 He will pray to God, and God will delight in him.
That man will see His face with a shout of joy,
and God will restore his righteousness to him.
27 He will look at men and say,
“I have sinned and perverted what was right;
yet I did not get what I deserved.[j]
28 He redeemed my soul from going down to the Pit,
and I will continue to see the light.”

Elihu is speaking of all the times that the Lord allows things in order to bring us back from the pit!

Then, he speaks of Repentance:

Job 34
31 Suppose someone says to God,
“I have endured my punishment;
I will no longer act wickedly.
32 Teach me what I cannot see;
if I have done wrong, I won’t do it again.”
33 Should God repay you on your terms
when you have rejected His?
You must choose, not I!
So declare what you know.

The main point of Elihu’s discourse is that God is God…who are we to argue?
Then, God speaks out of the whirlwind…saying..where were you????

Job 40 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
40 The Lord answered Job:
2 Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct Him?
Let him who argues with God give an answer.[a]
3 Then Job answered the Lord:
4 I am so insignificant. How can I answer You?
I place my hand over my mouth.
5 I have spoken once, and I will not reply;
twice, but now I can add nothing.

The last bit of Job has God reprimanding everyone but Elihu for how they keep telling Job that this is because of some sin. On the other hand, once Job hears completely what God has to say, Job repents of being proud and humbled himself before God. And then God blesses Job by multiplying all that he has before. Job 42

Why am I talking about Job in the book of Habakkuk?
First, as I said in the introduction, it is commonly misunderstood that God did not speak to man in the Old Testament.
Job is considered the earliest book – though Moses’ books do tell history prior to Job.
Elihu has a very clear picture of God’s purposes for man and for what HE does or allows to man.
There are those that consider Elihu a preincarnate Christ…but, whatever. His words are clarifying to the rest of Habakkuk 1!

Back to Habakkuk:

Habakkuk 1:5-6 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
God’s First Answer
5 Look at the nations[a] and observe—
be utterly astounded!
For something is taking place in your days
that you will not believe
when you hear about it.
6 Look! I am raising up the Chaldeans,[b]
that bitter, impetuous nation
that marches across the earth’s open spaces
to seize territories not its own.

Habakkuk is not happy with this answer….

Habakkuk 1:12-13 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
Habakkuk’s Second Prayer
12 Are You not from eternity, Yahweh my God?
My Holy One, You[a] will not die.
Lord, You appointed them to execute judgment;
my Rock, You destined them to punish us.
13 Your eyes are too pure to look on evil,
and You cannot tolerate wrongdoing.
So why do You tolerate those who are treacherous?
Why are You silent
while one[b] who is wicked swallows up
one[c] who is more righteous than himself?

I’m not sure, but if Job would have responded similarly to Elihu had God not jumped in. In fact, you can read in Job all the times that Job argued!
Have you ever heard of folks saying that “You have the patience of Job” as if he was so patient? Read his book! In several versions! He’s not even in the Heroes of Faith Hall of Fame in Hebrews 11! Yet, Job was REAL – transparent – and he repented of his sin, and allowed God to restore him.

Habakkuk is making the determination who is righteous…or holier than others.

Are there others?
Joseph
Joseph is the favorite of his father, and has some sort of spiritual connection in that he gets dreams that are prophetic. Now as a teenager, he does not quite get when and where are the appropriate times to share these dreams, besides that nobody else is getting these dreams! Now, Joseph’s father, dreamed again, and hears from God at Bethel in Genesis 28. He also wrestled with God the night before he went to meet his brother Esau in Genesis 32. Joseph father, Jacob, had been used to hearing from God in several ways in order to be led as to what he should do. In fact, that situation where Jacob wrestled with the angel of God, his hip was affected in such a way that he limped for the rest of his life. Face-to-face interaction with God changes you!

Joseph had dreams AFTER the above interaction Jacob had with God! Genesis 37
Why didn’t Jacob believe that Joseph was actually having dreams from God? I don’t know. It doesn’t really matter. What matters is that if Joseph’s brothers’ unrighteous behavior had not happened, if Potiphar’s wife lies about Joseph had not occurred, Joseph would not have been in the prison with the Pharaoh’s servants and would not have been able to rise to the number two position, and save many from famine. Not to mention saving his own family. Which of course, was the whole point of those dreams when he was a teenager. Gen 42

One of the outcomes of Joseph bringing his family to Egypt to survive the famine was that eventually they forgot who Joseph was and the Hebrews were enslaved. Over and over and over in the Old Testament God delivers the Hebrews, the Israelites, the children of God. After a while, they become comfortable and they forget the god Who delivered them.

Even after years of being slaves to the Egyptians, and being miraculously delivered, when the going got a little bit tough, they accused Moses of bringing them out into the desert to let them die. Actually they were accusing God of bringing them out into the desert to let them die.

Over and over, when you read through 1st and 2nd Samuel, 1st and 2nd Kings and 1st and 2nd Chronicles, you see how God raises up a people who love him and obey Him. Then the next generation or at most two generations later, He is forgotten and they go back to the Pagan ways. Prophets cry out to them the simple words of God, because they are the people of the words of God. They hear the word of God every week in the synagogue. But, it takes suffering for them to actually, personally, cry out to God, to recognize their sins, and to repent so that he will turn around and heal their land

2 Chronicles 7:14 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
14 and My people who are called by My name
humble themselves,
pray and
seek My face, and
turn from their evil ways,
then
I will hear from heaven,
forgive their sin, and
heal their land.

This is written to THOSE WHO ARE CALLED BY THE NAME OF GOD! not to the wicked.
Why would the people of God need to call out…or need healing in their land?
They are not walking with the Lord.

 

This image comes from Spiritual Inspirations, from their Bible Verses for Sunday. Psalm 91:14-16.  God gives us promises.  We cannot let go of that hope!

Just to be clear, not all that suffer are needing to be disciplined. In the next article, we will look at:
The Hebrews in Egypt…and the plagues that prepared them for the Exodus.(ok,yeah, they needed an attitude check)

Daniel and the Three Hebrew Children

Daniel 1 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
6 Among them, from the descendants of Judah, were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. 7 The chief official gave them other names: he gave the name Belteshazzar to Daniel, Shadrach to Hananiah, Meshach to Mishael, and Abednego to Azariah.

Paul in Prison – various texts

Jesus Crucified and the three days of thinking all was lost!

I’ve also written some things that might give you more things to think about.
IBBS Joel 1 call to repentance
IBBS Jonah into and Jonah 1 saying no to good and being disciplined(including my testimony of saying no)
IBBS Nahum intro about generation revival and the tendency for following generations to fall away

The key is that none is good –

Romans 3:10-12 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
10 as it is written:[a]
There is no one righteous, not even one.
11 There is no one who understands;
there is no one who seeks God.
12 All have turned away;
all alike have become useless.
There is no one who does what is good,
not even one.[b]

IBBS Ephesians 2:1-10 talks about the situation that we are in, and what God has done to remedy it. If there is any extra blog that you read, read this one! It talks about our victory by God through Christ Jesus!

If you have cried out to God in anguish, You are not alone!

I have sung this song…and here is the most amazing story behind it by the author.

Sometimes it takes a mountain by Gaither vocal Band

Hi!
My hope in the midst of despair and my joy in the face of depression is because of my relationship with Jesus Christ. If you do not have one, or are not sure you will join him in heaven, please check out these links.

Thanks for joining me in this journey,
In His hands and under His wings,
~Christi
Ps 63:7 Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings.

“The Lord does not give me rules, but He makes His standard very clear.
If my relationship to Him is that of love, I will do what He says without hesitation.
If I hesitate, it is because I love someone I have placed in competition with Him, namely, myself.” – from My Utmost for His highest

Copyrights and Legal-eze
There are many organizations that support children and families. Here are ones that we are blessed to be a part of. Please consider sponsoring a child – the life you change could be your own.

Itty Bitty Bible Study – Habakkuk Introduction

My thoughts for the Itty Bitty Bible Study group on Facebook. (join if you’d like to get these in fb!)

Habakkuk 1

Wikipedea on Habakkuk

International Bible Society introduction to Habakkuk

The introduction in summary is that this is a dialogue between the prophet Habakkuk and Yahweh, Jehovah, YHWH, or The God of creation. For simplification, I’m going to just say “God”.

My first thoughts are that this is an amazing book from the Old Testament.
The basic concept of the OT is that God was not approachable.

The Bible does not bear that thought out.

  • Adam and Eve Talked with God.
  • Job talked with God.
  • Abraham talked with God.
  • Moses talked with God.
  • Samuel talked with God.
  • David talked with God.
  • Daniel talked with God.
  • the whole concept of the prophets, both major and minor was that the all spoke with God!

And I’m not including those that HEARD from God!

The interesting thing here is that even though there was a separation because of sin, if the person had performed the proper sacrifices and had a heart towards knowing Father God, they were in communication.

Hebrews 11 talks about many in the Old Testament who, by faith, believed in God the Father, and in His promises.

Psalm 102:25-28 King James Version (KJV)
25 Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth: and the heavens are the work of thy hands.
26 They shall perish, but thou shalt endure: yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed:
27 But thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end.
28 The children of thy servants shall continue, and their seed shall be established before thee.

Hebrews 13:8 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

To me, the beauty is that the same God that created the beautiful garden for ‘man’ to enjoy,

    • is the same God that continues to love us enough to discipline us,
    • is the same God who will guide us in the way in which we should go,
    • is the same God that planned for our salvation, and gave himself for us.

This God loved us so much from before the time we were born, that HE planned our salvation so that we could enter into HIS presence with thanksgiving!
And, this God is big enough for us to ask Him the hard questions…which is what Habakkuk does.

The other theme that I see is that of why do the wicked prosper?
Why does God allow pain and suffering? We’ll get into that!

If you do a search for timeline of the prophets, there are many options out there!

Nahum is mostly considered Habakkuk’s contemporary.
IBBS Nahum 1:2b and IBBS Nahum 1:2-15 discusses why some bad things happen.

Obadiah is earlier, or later, depending on what timeline, but still gives us insight.
IBBS Obadiah 1:1-9 and IBBS Obadiah 1:10-21 discuss the seriousness of a nation’s sin.

Habakkuk 1 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
1 The oracle that Habakkuk the prophet saw.

Habakkuk’s First Prayer
2 How long, Lord, must I call for help
and You do not listen
or cry out to You about violence
and You do not save?
3 Why do You force me to look at injustice?
Why do You tolerate[a] wrongdoing?
Oppression and violence are right in front of me.
Strife is ongoing, and conflict escalates.
4 This is why the law is ineffective
and justice never emerges.
For the wicked restrict the righteous;
therefore, justice comes out perverted.

Total transparency…here’s my How Long Jesus cry!

Habakkuk is wondering about the current affairs of his world.

Here’s another timeline from RevDr Brian. His site comes with the warning…THE WORDS OF A VERY MINOR PROPHET May contain coarse language and some nudity… so, if you go looking around other than this image, be forewarned. I haven’t checke out the site…though I greatly appreciate this image!

The other thing that these timelines show is that our bible is not set up chronologically!

Did anyone else not know that the Prophet books are out of order?
I didn’t realize it until I started doing these more in depth studies rather than just reading the books. As I’ve been looking into the current events of the writers, it’s been very interesting that things are not in order! This is very disturbing to my OCD mind!

For the record – Bible verses Chronology – taken from the Bible table of contents and the two images I’ve provided, Bible Contents is the first one.

  1. Hosea ……Amos……Obadiah
  2. Joel ……….Joel……….Joel
  3. Amos…….Hosea……..Jonah
  4. Obadiah….Jonah……Amos
  5. Jonah…….Micah…….Hosea
  6. Micah……Nahum……..Micah
  7. Nahum….Zephaniah….Nahum
  8. Habak…..Habakkuk….Zephaniah
  9. Zeph…….Obadiah…….Habakkuk
  10. Haggai
  11. Zechariah
  12. Malachi.

The Bible and the image that includes these agree with the last three.
Poor Obadiah…he’s in three different spaces!
For the most part, they agree on the timing of Habakkuk…and what’s going on at that time.

Do you ever wonder if there is any way to really know if the information that you are finding is true? I mean, the historical information, the timeline, the Arabic, Hebrew and Greek words?
I do.
Sometimes, I just feel very dumb, when it comes to bible study, when I listen to some preachers.
Sometimes, I just feel very stupid when it comes to those word studies, and all that interesting current events information that some folks provide.
Here’s how I deal with it.

2 Timothy 3:16-17 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
16 All Scripture is inspired by God
and is profitable for teaching,
for rebuking,
for correcting,
for training in righteousness,
17 so that the man of God may be complete,
equipped for every good work.

Here’s my favorite version(remember, for copyright purposes, I have to include the footnotes and such):

2 Timothy 3:16-17 Amplified Bible (AMP)
16 All Scripture is God-breathed [given by divine inspiration]
and is profitable for instruction,
for conviction [of sin],
for correction [of error and restoration to obedience],
for training in righteousness [learning to live in conformity to God’s will,
both publicly and privately—behaving honorably with personal integrity and moral courage];
17 so that the [a]man of God may be complete and proficient, outfitted and thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Footnotes:
2 Timothy 3:17 I.e. all believers whether man, woman, or child.
Amplified Bible (AMP)
Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, CA 90631. All rights reserved.

Notice this doesn’t say anything about the history, the timelines, the extra-biblical books or word studies?
If God was so concerned about us knowing that, he would have made sure that we had a timeline included in our bibles…and I don’t mean the ones that are after Revelation!
If God was so concerned about us knowing the word meanings, he would have made sure that the Bible was written in other languages…Oh wait! He did and He has!

If God is so capable of making sure that His word to us has been preserved against all odds of people and enemies trying to rid it…I think he’s capable of making sure that everyone can understand enough to be applicable.

Salvation and reconciliation with God is the main point for the Bible.
John 3:16 is pretty understandable in any version.
The 10 commandments are pretty clear in any language.
The sermon on the mount is pretty convicting in any version.
Ephesians 5:22-23 and 1 Corinthians 13 are great examples of life goals in any language.

What is my point?

I want to focus on what’s important.
Well, for housekeeping purposes, I mostly use Holman here because of their copyright permissions for when I publish these for ebook purposes. The others are very clear that only 20% of the writing can be their passage, or you start paying royalties. that could be why so many bible study books have a lot of opinion verses a lot of Bible. It’s the legality.
Why not KJV?
I love KJV, but as others around the world start to read, KJV is not public domain in the UK…the Queen owns it.
And, there are those that have difficulty with KJV, for reading.

I am just saying that there are so many things that we can argue about when it comes to Bible study.
Version.
Timeline.
What the latest speaker has said the bible says.

Here’s my point.
Read the bible.
Don’t take my word for it.
Ask The Holy spirit to guide your reading, and give you what YOU need from YOUR relationship with Jesus Christ.
I believe that God is big enough to speak to each of us, personally.
And I believe that God is big enough to hear us cry out, in pain, in frustration, in fear, in need of the Creator God to speak into our lives.

That is Habakkuk.
That is ME!
This is GOD!
He will speak to us!

Here are a few articles about hearing God’s voice:
The voice of God
Jesus is calling

Are you ready? Let’s dive in!

Hi!
My hope in the midst of despair and my joy in the face of depression is because of my relationship with Jesus Christ. If you do not have one, or are not sure you will join him in heaven, please check out these links.

Thanks for joining me in this journey,
In His hands and under His wings,
~Christi
Ps 63:7 Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings.

“The Lord does not give me rules, but He makes His standard very clear.
If my relationship to Him is that of love, I will do what He says without hesitation.
If I hesitate, it is because I love someone I have placed in competition with Him, namely, myself.” – from My Utmost for His highest

Copyrights and Legal-eze
There are many organizations that support children and families. Here are ones that we are blessed to be a part of. Please consider sponsoring a child – the life you change could be your own.