PT-1 of The Day of the Lord and the Jews from Zeph. 1:2-3

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 2/29/2016 9:37 PM

My Worship Time                                           Focus:  PT-1 The Day of the Lord and the Jews

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Zephaniah 1:1-3

Message of the verses:  “1 The word of the LORD which came to Zephaniah son of Cushi, son of Gedaliah, son of Amariah, son of Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah son of Amon, king of Judah: 2  "I will completely remove all things From the face of the earth," declares the LORD. 3 “I will remove man and beast; I will remove the birds of the sky And the fish of the sea, And the ruins along with the wicked; And I will cut off man from the face of the earth," declares the LORD.”

We will mostly look at verses 2-3 in this SD, because we have already mentioned what Zephaniah writes in verse one which is a verse of his genealogy, although it short, and also mention the time period that he ministered in as he names King Josiah son of Amon who was king in Judah when he ministered.  John MacArthur writes that Josiah reigned from 640-609 BC, and then he goes on to write:  “The moral and spiritual conditions detailed in the book (cf. 1:4-6; 3:1-7) seem to place the prophecy prior to Josiah’s reforms, when Judah was still languishing in idolatry and wickedness.  It was in 628 BC that Josiah tore down all the altars to Baal, burned the bones of false prophets, and broke the carved idols (2 Chronicles 34:3-7); and in 622 BC the Book of the Law was found (2 Chronicles 34:8-35:19).  Consequently, Zephaniah most likely prophesied from 635-625 BC, and was contemporary of Jeremiah.”

Zephaniah was the fourth generation from the godly King Hezekiah and so one may think that he would have been hanging around the palace doing things to make his life easier, but when the call of God came he followed it and became a prophet, and in those days godly prophets had a very dangerous job as we have seen when we studied Jeremiah and found him thrown into a cistern, and would have been killed if not being rescued by the prompting of God to those who got him out.  “6 Then they took Jeremiah and cast him into the cistern of Malchijah the king’s son, which was in the court of the guardhouse; and they let Jeremiah down with ropes. Now in the cistern there was no water but only mud, and Jeremiah sank into the mud. 7 But Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, a eunuch, while he was in the king’s palace, heard that they had put Jeremiah into the cistern. Now the king was sitting in the Gate of Benjamin; 8 and Ebed-melech went out from the king’s palace and spoke to the king, saying, 9 “My lord the king, these men have acted wickedly in all that they have done to Jeremiah the prophet whom they have cast into the cistern; and he will die right where he is because of the famine, for there is no more bread in the city." 10 Then the king commanded Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, "Take thirty men from here under your authority and bring up Jeremiah the prophet from the cistern before he dies’ (Jer. 38:6-11).”

In his introduction to this rather long section from Zephaniah (1:1-2:4) Dr. Wiersbe writes the following at the end of his introductory comments:  “Zephaniah opened his book by presenting three graphic pictures of the Day of the Lord.” We will just look at the first picture which he calls “a devastating universal flood (Zeph. 1:2-3).

Zephaniah writes “I will completely remove all things From the face of the earth.”  Dr. Wiersbe adds “The Hebrew word translated ‘consume’ in the KJV means ‘to sweep away completely,’ The picture is that of total devastation of all that God created and is probably a reference to Noah’s flood.  (You find similar wording in Gen. 6:7; 7:4; 9:8-10.)  God gave man dominion over the fish, fowls, and the beasts (1:28; Ps. 8:7-8), but man lost that dominion when Adam disobeyed God.  However, through Jesus Christ, man’s lost dominion will one day be restored (Heb. 2:5-9).” 

Now one of the big reason that God will do as He says He will do in these verses is because of idolatry, and as we have studied the prophets we have seen that both Israel’s and Judah’s down fall came because the broke the first of the Ten Commandments.  One of the problems was that those who worshiped idols were probably claiming that they were actually worshiping God, but that was surely a great lie. Zephaniah 1:6 explains this as he writes “And those who have turned back from following the LORD, And those who have not sought the LORD or inquired of Him.’”  Dr. Wiersbe writes “They were guilty of sins of commission (worshiping idols) and omission (ignoring the Lord).”

One thing we have learned is that once Israel was in captivity they stopped their worshiping of idols, as this punishment from the Lord made them learn a harsh lesson.

I want at this time to quote from John MacArthur’s study Bible on what he wrote on verses two and three as I did not totally understand the things that I learned from Dr. Wiersbe’s commentary.

“1:2, 3 The prophet began by noting the far fulfillment of the Day of the Lord, when even animals and physical creation will be affected by His judgment on the earth (cf. Gen. 3:17-19; Ex. 12:29; Jos. 7:24-25; Rom. 8:22).

“1:2 face of the earth.  Generally translated ‘ground,’ the term is used in reference to the whole earth (1:18).  The phraseology is reminiscent of the Noahic Flood (Gen. 6:7, 17; 7:21-22).

“1:3 Comparisons with the Genesis Flood continue with ‘man and beast’ and ‘birds of the sky’ (Gen. 6:7; 7:2 3).  The prophet also alluded to the creation, pairing man and beast (sixth day of creation) and birds with fish (fifth day of creation).  Ruins.  An alternate translation is ‘stumbling blocks.’  Whatever alienates man from God will be removed.”

When we studied the book of Revelation we learned that the “Day of the Lord” took place at the end of the Tribulation Period when all of the armies of the world were in Israel and the battle of Armageddon was taking place as nations were fighting each other and then when the Lord Jesus Christ comes from heaven with His saints the armies begin to fight against Him with His saints and are quickly stopped.  My point is that not all of the people that are on earth will be destroyed, as Jesus did say in Matthew 24 that if He did not return then all people would be destroyed, so perhaps there is a bit of hyperbole in what Zephaniah is talking about here, or perhaps he does go back to speak of the Genesis Flood to compare how things will happen during the real Day of the Lord.

2/29/2016 10:56 PM

PT-3 The Master Persecuted (John 5:9b-16)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 2/29/2016 10:33 AM

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  PT-3 The Master Persecuted

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  John 5:9b-16

Message of the verses:  “Now it was the Sabbath on that day. 10 So the Jews were saying to the man who was cured, "It is the Sabbath, and it is not permissible for you to carry your pallet." 11 But he answered them, "He who made me well was the one who said to me, ’Pick up your pallet and walk.’" 12 They asked him, "Who is the man who said to you, ’Pick up your pallet and walk’?" 13 But the man who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had slipped away while there was a crowd in that place. 14 Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, "Behold, you have become well; do not sin anymore, so that nothing worse happens to you." 15 The man went away, and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. 16 For this reason the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because He was doing these things on the Sabbath.”

We want to begin by looking at the contents of verse eleven seeing that after the man began to walk away the Jews questioned him as to why he was carrying his bed, and his response was that the man who made him well told him to pick up his bed and walk away.  Now we have mentioned that it was the Lord who wanted the confrontation with the Jews over their rituals that they imposed on the people, things that did not go along with the Law of the Lord as found in the Old Testament.  Think about how the Lord set this entire process up to accomplish this confrontation.  First of all He healed this man on the Sabbath and then tells him to pick up his mat and walk away, and Jesus knew that he would be questioned by the Jews when He sent him away, and then as we follow the story Jesus went and found the man in the mass of people who were at the temple so that the man could then tell the Jews who it was that healed him.  This was all about what had to happen to our Lord in order to have the Jews begin to persecute Him so that in the end, exactly when the Lord planned for it to happen that He would be crucified to pay for the sins of those who would come to know Him as Savior and Lord.  We have mentioned before that when Jesus was 12 years old his mother and father found Him in the temple teaching the scribes and when confronted by his mother and father He told them that He had to be about His Father’s business, and what we are seeing in this story is a part of that business that He was doing, and then at the end of His life when He died exactly at the time when the Passover lamb was to die He cried out “it is finished,” and He was saying that the business from the Father that He had Him do was over, as it is finished means “paid in full,” and so the debt of sin was paid in full to all those who would come to know the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.

Now the question arises as to whether or not this man was a true believer or whether he never came to know that Jesus was the Christ, and I mentioned that I listened to two sermons by John MacArthur on this section, one from 1990, and the other from 2013 and in the first one he states that he believes that he was a believer and in the second one he states that he was not a believer and that he actually set the Lord up by telling the Jews who it was that healed him, and the reason he did this was because he was so steeped in the false religion of Judaism that was prevalent during that time.  Let’s go over what Jesus said to him when He found him in the temple.  “Behold, you have become well; do not sin anymore, so that nothing worse happens to you.”  Think about that as we look at this quotation we can summarize that it was a sinful act that caused this man to become unable to walk and so for 38 years he sat near the pool waiting to be healed.  Now Jesus tells him not to sin lest something worse happen to him.  It is very possible that Jesus was saying to him that if you don’t turn you life around and become a believer that this worse thing that will happen to you is going to hell, which is far more worse than sitting by a pool waiting to be healed for 38 years.  Now I am not saying that all sickness is caused by a person sinning, but sin is certainly the main reason that people get sick and die as you look all the way back to what the Lord told Adam and Eve after they sinned.  Perhaps this man liked to drink too much, and I am only giving an example here, but suppose after getting drunk he took a very bad fall and that was why he could not walk, so we could say that getting drunk is sinful and because of this sinful act he ended up in the condition he was in.  We only have to look at David’s sinfulness against Bathsheba and her husband to show us that sin can cause us sickness in his life “3 When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away Through my groaning all day long. 4 For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; My vitality was drained away as with the fever heat of summer. Selah.”  It is believed that for one year David did not confess this sin to the Lord and it was after he confessed this sin as Nathan exposed it to him that he looked back and figured out why he was sick as he wrote two psalms about this experience, 32 and 51.

John MacArthur quotes some verses from Deut. 28:58-61 and Leviticus 26:14-16 that go along with the verse in Psalm 32:3-4 “58 “If you are not careful to observe all the words of this law which are written in this book, to fear this honored and awesome name, the LORD your God, 59 then the LORD will bring extraordinary plagues on you and your descendants, even severe and lasting plagues, and miserable and chronic sicknesses. 60 “He will bring back on you all the diseases of Egypt of which you were afraid, and they will cling to you. 61 “Also every sickness and every plague which, not written in the book of this law, the LORD will bring on you until you are destroyed.”  “14 ’But if you do not obey Me and do not carry out all these commandments, 15  if, instead, you reject My statutes, and if your soul abhors My ordinances so as not to carry out all My commandments, and so break My covenant, 16  I, in turn, will do this to you: I will appoint over you a sudden terror, consumption and fever that will waste away the eyes and cause the soul to pine away; also, you will sow your seed uselessly, for your enemies will eat it up.”  Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28 have similar warnings in them, as Moses wrote the book of Deuteronomy, which means the renewing of the law to the second generation of the children of Israel who came out of Egypt for the first generation 20 years old and older all died in the wilderness because of the sinfulness of the ten spies.

We can look at one more section on sickness from the NT book of 1 Corinthians chapter eleven and verse thirty:  “For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep.”  Paul wrote this to the Corinthians who were actually getting drunk at what we might call “potluck dinners” if you use today’s terms, for these people had feasts before they participated in the Lord’s Table and would not confess their sin and so some of them died because of this, which is what the term “a number sleep,” which speaks of the death of a believer.

John MacArthur concludes his comments on this section:  “The die was cast.  Jesus had not only confronted Jewish legalism at its very core by disregarding their Sabbath rules, but had also  challenged them with His true identity as the Son of God, in whom ‘all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form’ (Col. 2:9).  As impossible as it is to imagine, the Jews’ opposition to their own Messiah would harden and intensify until they finally were able to satisfy their wicked hearts when the ‘crucified the Lord of glory’ (1 Cor. 2:8).”

I want to mention that I have no problem with John MacArthur changing his view as to whether or not this man was a believer or not, for there are things that I have changed my mind on from years back, so as stated this does not bother me in any way.

We will introduce verses 17-24 of chapter five in our next SD as we go into the discourse that happens after the healing of this man.  I have stated before that the main point of this chapter is the beginnings of persecution for our Lord by the Jews as the tide is changing during the life of Christ as persecution begins.

Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I see the plan of God coming together in the life of Christ, and this reinforces to me that He is in control of all things.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Trust the Lord for the plan He has for me.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “"In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets” (Matthew 7:12).

Today’s Bible question:  “Who said ‘Let there be light?”

Answer in our next SD.

2/29/2016 11:24 AM

    

Introduction to Zephniah 1:1-2:15

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 2/28/2016 11:01 PM

My Worship Time                                                                       Focus:    Intro. To Zeph. 1:1-2:15

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Zephaniah 1:1

Message of the verse:  “1 The word of the LORD which came to Zephaniah son of Cushi, son of Gedaliah, son of Amariah, son of Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah son of Amon, king of Judah.”

In our introduction to the book of Zephaniah from yesterday’s SD we spoke of the theme of the book as begin “The Day of the Lord,” and in his introduction to this section Dr. Wiersbe quotes a very old hymn that actually comes from 1:15 of Zephaniah and it is about the Day of the Lord.  We will quote it in a moment, but first we need to think about how many hymns have you ever heard of about the judgment that God will judge the nations during the Day of the Lord, and my guess is probably none. 

“Day of wrath! O day of mourning!

See fulfilled the prophets warning,

Heav’n and earth in ashes burning!

 

O what fear man’s bosom rendeth

When from Heav’n the Judge descendeth

On whose sentence all dependeth.”

 

In our recent studies of the Old Testament prophets we have seen mentioned “The Day of the Lord,” and even when we studied the book of 1 and 2 Thessalonians we also say this topic, and then last year when we studied the book of Revelation we saw exactly when the Day of the Lord would occur.  We have also mentioned that when the OT prophets wrote about the Day of the Lord that there were times when there was an almost instant fulfillment of the Day of the Lord in their day and then added to it was a reference to the real Day of the Lord, something that has not happened yet. 

Now as Dr. Wiersbe concludes this introduction to this section of Zephaniah (1:1-2:15) he writes “In the first two chapters of his book, the Prophet Zephaniah relates the Day of the Lord to both the Jews and the Gentiles, and from 1:1-2:4 we will look at the Day of the Lord and the Jews, and we will begin that section in our next SD, but it will probably take more than one SD to get through that.

2/28/2016 11:19 PM

 

PT-2 of The Master Persecuted from John 5:9b-16

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 2/28/2016 7:30 AM

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  PT-2 The Master Persecuted

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  John 5:9b-16

Message of the verses:  “Now it was the Sabbath on that day. 10 So the Jews were saying to the man who was cured, "It is the Sabbath, and it is not permissible for you to carry your pallet." 11 But he answered them, "He who made me well was the one who said to me, ’Pick up your pallet and walk.’" 12 They asked him, "Who is the man who said to you, ’Pick up your pallet and walk’?" 13 But the man who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had slipped away while there was a crowd in that place. 14 Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, "Behold, you have become well; do not sin anymore, so that nothing worse happens to you." 15 The man went away, and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. 16 For this reason the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because He was doing these things on the Sabbath.”

As we ended looking at the first part of this passage yesterday I was writing about how I have had difficulty in understanding about the Law of the Sabbath and said that I had a bit more to say about that this morning, which is actually a quote from John MacArthur:  “The Old Testament prohibited working on the Sabbath (Ex. 31:12-14; 25:2), but did not specify exactly what kind of work was forbidden.  It seems, however, that one’s customary employment was in view.  The Israelites were not to participate in their normal, week-long occupations on the Sabbath day.

“But rabbinic tradition went far beyond that, listing thirty-nine forbidden categories of work—including carrying goods.  The rabbinic prohibition against carrying loads on the Sabbath was ostensibly based on such passages as Nehemiah 13:15-18 and Jeremiah 17:21-22.  Those passages, however, were aimed at individuals who conducted their ordinary business, their livelihood or occupation, on the Sabbath.  Thus they did not apply to the healed man, since he did not make his living by carrying his mat.”

Now as I think more of this subject of not doing things on the Sabbath and how the Pharisees had different rules than what the Word of God had to say about it I can understand why people have difficulty with this and it has to do with why people fall into a false “religion.”  People do that because they feel guilty for being a sinful person and have a desire to do something to please the Lord so that they can one day be ushered into heaven.  I have been a believer for a long time and it is still difficult for me at times to embrace the fact that I did nothing, nor ever could do anything in order to merit God acceptance of me, for “Jesus paid it all, All to Him I owe; Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow.”

Now we see that the Jews (The religious leaders) confronted the man who was carrying the matt because He was doing it on the Sabbath as they said to him “it is not permissible for you to carry your pallet” for “It is the Sabbath.”  Now if you think about how heartless and loveless that they were as this man had been unable to walk for 38 years and now they are getting on him for carrying his mat and not rejoicing that he has the ability to carry it because of this great miracle done for him by the Lord Jesus Christ. 

Since it is Sunday morning and I must get ready for church I will end this SD, and pick up the remainder in our next SD, as I do want to finish this section and then get into the discourse that takes up the remaining portion of chapter five.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Third” (2 Corinthians 12:14).

Today’s Bible question:  “What did Jesus teach regarding how to treat others?”

Answer in our next SD.

2/28/2016 7:52 AM

Introduction to Zephaniah

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 2/27/2016 8:53 PM

Introduction to the book of Zephaniah

As we begin looking at the introduction to the book of Zephaniah I must confess that I know very little about this prophet.  We looked at this book briefly in a Sunday school class a few years back, and in a Bible study last year, but not sure I was there when we went over it, but we will do our best to find out where the gold nuggets of Scripture are found in this book.  I will begin by quoting from Dr. Wiersbe and then perhaps from John MacArthur’s study Bible, and may even look at what some of the older commentators had to say about this book.

“Zephaniah in His Day”

If the Hezekiah named in Zephaniah 1:1 is King Hezekiah (715-686), then the Prophet Zephaniah was his great-great-grandson.  His name means ‘Jehovah hides’ (i. e., ‘Jehovah protects’) and describes God’s ministry of protection for His faithful people when the day of His anger arrives (2:3).

“Zephaniah’s major theme is the Day of the Lord, that period of time when God will judge the nations and usher in His righteous kingdom.  This theme is found in almost all the prophets, but it is particularly evident in Joel and Zephaniah.  ‘The great day of the Lord is near’ (Zeph. 1:14 NIV).

“The Scriptures reveal very little about Zephaniah’s personal life.  He ministered in Judah during the time of King Josiah (640-609), who led the nation in a religious reformation triggered by the finding of the Book of the Law in the temple in the year 622 (2 Chron. 34:14ff).  It’s likely that Zephaniah preached prior to this reformation, or he would have said something about it in his book.  Jeremiah and Zephaniah were contemporaries.

“Politically, the times were in ferment.  Assyria was losing its power, the Scythians were invading from the north, and Babylon had become the leading empire.  King Manasseh (697-642) had led the people of Judah deeper and deeper into idolatry and the adoption of foreign ideas and customs, and Josiah had sought to reverse this trend.  Alas, King Josiah died on the battlefield before his work was finished, and his successors on the throne allowed the people to return to their sinful ways.”

I will give the shorter rendition of Dr. Wiersbe’s outline here:  “The Day of the Lord and the Jews; The Day of the Lord and the Gentiles; and The Day of the Lord and the Kingdom.”

The following comes from the John MacArthur Study Bible:  “Historical and Theological Themes:  Zephaniah’s message on the Day of the Lord warned Judah that the final days were near, through divine judgment at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar, ca. 605-586 BC (1:4-13).  Yet, it also looks beyond to the far fulfillment in the judgments of Daniel’s 70^th week (1:18; 3:8).  The expression ‘Day of the Lord’ is described as a day that is near (1:7), and as a day of wrath, trouble, distress, devastation, desolation, darkness, gloominess, clouds, thick darkness, trumpet, and alarm (1:15, 16, 18).  Yet even within these oracles of divine wrath, the prophet exhorted the people to seek the Lord, offering a shelter in the midst of judgment (2:3), and proclaiming the promise of eventual salvation for His believing remnant (2:7; 3:9-20).”

“Zephaniah first mentions the time in which he prophesied; it was under the king Josiah. The reason why he puts down the name of his father Amon does not appear to me. The Prophet would not, as a mark of honor, have made public a descent that was disgraceful and infamous. Amon was the son of Manasseh, an impious and wicked king; and he was nothing better than his father. We hence see that his name is recorded, not for the sake of honor, but rather of reproach; and it may have been that the Prophet meant to intimate, what was then well known to all, that the people had become so obdurate in their superstitions, that it was no easy matter to restore them to a sound mind. But we cannot bring forward anything but conjecture; I therefore leave the matter without pretending to decide it.

 

“With regard to the pedigree of the Prophet, I have mentioned elsewhere what the Jews affirm — that when the Prophets put down the names of their fathers, they themselves had descended from Prophets. But Zephaniah mentions not only his father and grandfather, but also his great-grandfather and his great-great-grandfather; and it is hardly credible that they were all Prophets, and there is not a word respecting them in Scripture. I do not think, as I have said elsewhere, that such a rule is well-founded; but the Jews in this case, according to their manner, deal in trifles; for in things unknown they hesitate not to assert what comes to their minds, though it may not have the least appearance of truth. It is possible that the father, grandfather, the great-grandfather, and the great-great-grandfather of the Prophet, were persons who excelled in piety; but this also is uncertain. What is especially worthy of being noticed is  —  that he begins by saying that he brought nothing of his own, but faithfully, and, as it were, by the hand, delivered what he had received from God.

 

“With regard, then, to his pedigree, it is a matter of no great moment; but it is of great importance to know that God was the author of his doctrine, and that Zephaniah was his faithful minister, who introduced not his own devices, but was only the announcer of celestial truth. Let us now proceed to the contents (John Calvin).”

INTRODUCTION TO ZEPHANIAH  by John Gill

 

“This book in some Hebrew copies is called "Sepher Zephaniah," the Book of Zephaniah. Its title, in the Vulgate Latin version, is, the Prophecy of Zephaniah; and, in the Syriac version, the Prophecy of the Prophet Zephaniah; and so the Arabic version calls him a prophet; and he is the last of the minor prophets that prophesied before the Babylonish captivity. The time of his prophesying, as well as his, parentage, are expressed #Zep 1:1, and therefore need not be inquired into; only the sad mistake of Hobbes {a } may be observed, who makes him to be the most ancient of the prophets, and to be contemporary with Amaziah and Uzziah, kings of Judah, when he is expressly said to prophesy in the days of Josiah. Pseudo-epiphanius {b } calls him a prophet of Sarabatha, of a mountain of that name, and says he was of the tribe of Simeon; and in this Isidore {c } agrees with him; and both affirm that he died and was buried in his own native place; but the author of the Cippi Hebraici {d } says he was buried at Geba, in Mount Lebanon, in the midst of a cave shut up, where his school continues; and from which place the clouds never depart, and where also are flowing fountains. His name, according to Jerom, signifies either "the Lord’s watch tower," or "watchman"; or else "the secret of the Lord"; or, "his hidden one"; deriving his name, either from צפה, which signifies to "look out," as a watchman from his tower; or from צפן, "to hide"; which latter derivation is best; and some interpret it "a revealer of the secrets," or "hidden things, of the Lord"; and take it to be much the same with Zaphnathpaaneah, the name given to Joseph by Pharaoh, #Ge 41:45, and is of the same signification: but Hillerus {e } interprets the name of Zephaniah, "the Lord hid himself"; which agrees with the times in which he lived. That this prophecy was wrote by himself, there need be no doubt of; nor of the authenticity of it, being always received by the Jewish synagogue as authentic; and as it appears to be from its style and manner of composition; from the subject matter of it agreeing with other parts of Scripture, especially with Jeremiah and Ezekiel; and from the accomplishment of various prophecies in it. There are indeed some spurious things which have been ascribed to him, as the "analepsis" or assumption of Zephaniah the prophet, and the prophecy of Zephaniah, consisting of six hundred verses; but these are apocryphal, and have no likeness to this prophecy; in which he foretells the destruction of the Jews by the Chaldeans for their sins, which he inveighs against, and calls them to repentance for them, as also the ruin of many other nations, all which came to pass; as well as he prophesies of the calling of the Gentiles, and the conversion of the Jews, and of the comfortable state of the church in Gospel times, and especially in the latter day.”  (John Gill)

 

 

PT-1 of The Master Persecuted from John 5:9b-16

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 2/27/2016 7:47 PM

My Worship Time                                                                   Focus:  Pt-1 The Master Persecuted

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  John 5:9b-16

Message of the verses:  “Now it was the Sabbath on that day. 10 So the Jews were saying to the man who was cured, "It is the Sabbath, and it is not permissible for you to carry your pallet." 11 But he answered them, "He who made me well was the one who said to me, ’Pick up your pallet and walk.’" 12 They asked him, "Who is the man who said to you, ’Pick up your pallet and walk’?" 13 But the man who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had slipped away while there was a crowd in that place. 14 Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, "Behold, you have become well; do not sin anymore, so that nothing worse happens to you." 15 The man went away, and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. 16 For this reason the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because He was doing these things on the Sabbath.”

As we begin to look at the end of verse nine we see the reason for the Jews wanting to persecute Jesus, for it was on the Sabbath when, not only Jesus performed this miracle, but He told the man to take up his bed and walk, which according to them broke the Sabbath law, remember according to them.  As we have already mentioned this was the beginning of the Jews persecution of Jesus and it would go all the way to the cross where they would have Him put to death on the cross.

John MacArthur writes “Jesus’ refusal to observe the legalistic and man-made Sabbath regulation of rabbinic tradition was a major point of contention between Him and Israel’s religious establishment (cf. Matt. 12:1-14; Mark 2:23-3:6; Luke 6:1-11; 13:10-17; 14:1-6; John 7:21-23; 9:14-16).  In fact, the Lord deliberately chose to heal this man on the Sabbath to confront superficial and bankrupt Jewish legalism.  The man’s condition was not life threatening, and he was constantly at the pool.  Jesus could have easily chosen another day to heal him.  But the Lord not only wanted to show mercy to this man; He also wanted to call the nation to repentance by confronting the self-righteous and unbiblical stipulations that led to their illusions of spiritual life.  They had become experts at substituting their traditions for God’s commands (Matt. 15:9)”  “They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men’ (Matthew 15:9 NIV).”

I have one more quote to write and it is from a man named Gerald L. Borchert who is quoted by John MacArthur:  “The Sabbath had become a pervading theme in Jewish life….So significant was the Sabbath that a major section of the Mishna was devoted to Sabbath rules.  Sabbath obedience became in fact an eschatological issue because it was through at least minimally that the coming of Messiah was linked to the perfect keeping of Sabbath.  The actions of Jesus were thus regarded by Sabbath-oriented Jews as being diametrically opposed to the expectations of the rabbis who probably would have categorized Jesus as an antinomian libertarian.  He did not seem to be concerned for the precious rules of the rabbis.

“Not only in John, but also in the Synoptics is Jesus portrayed as seemingly unconcerned for the rabbinic traditions about the Sabbath….The rules of the rabbis were as misunderstanding of God’s design for the Sabbath.  The Sabbath was not the means to God’s approval, as the rabbis seem to have suggested.  The Sabbath was not merely a rule for humans, but a gift to humans (cf. Mark 2:27).  It was to be used to honor God and to benefit his people.  More importantly, Jesus was Lord of the Sabbath (cf. Mark 2:28).  If, therefore, anyone would have a right to act on Sabbath, it was Jesus.”  Let us look at Mark 2:27-28 “27 Jesus said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. 28 “So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath."”

I have to admit that all of this talk about the Sabbath by the Pharisees when I first became a believer caused me a lot of problems and it seems to have taken me a long time to better understand it.  First of all, as we have been learning the system that was in place by the Jews during the time when Jesus walked on the earth was a false religion as the Pharisees were trying to make the Jewish people live up to a certain standard that they had made up in order to have eternal life, and this is something that deals with in many places of the gospels.  Mt 23:15 “"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel around on sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.”  This is just one example that I have thought of.  Also the verses from Mark speak of man being made for the Sabbath, and that He was Lord over the Sabbath have also given me more insight into this issue, for after all it was the Lord who gave the Jews the Law at Mt. Sinai and so when He came to earth He had to fulfill that Law in order to be able to die on the cross for our forgiveness. 

I don’t know if I should mention what I am and have been thinking about but in the book of Numbers chapter 15 we read “30 ’But the person who does anything defiantly, whether he is native or an alien, that one is blaspheming the LORD; and that person shall be cut off from among his people. 31 ’Because he has despised the word of the LORD and has broken His commandment, that person shall be completely cut off; his guilt will be on him.’" 32 Now while the sons of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering wood on the Sabbath day. 33 Those who found him gathering wood brought him to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation; 34 and they put him in custody because it had not been declared what should be done to him. 35 Then the LORD said to Moses, "The man shall surely be put to death; all the congregation shall stone him with stones outside the camp." 36 So all the congregation brought him outside the camp and stoned him to death with stones, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.”  This section is kind of like what is found in Acts chapter five when after the church was only very young they found Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, lying and they instantly died after Peter talked to them about their lie.  My problem with the section in Numbers has been settled, but it was on my mind for some time, but because Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath He could do what He wanted to do, and also doing a miracle on the Sabbath was not work in the sense that it broke any of God’s laws, just the Pharisees rules, and I might add very stupid ones at that, and as mentioned Jesus had to fulfill every part of the Law to be qualified to die on the cross for our sins.  We will look at this just a bit more in our next SD.

Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I am eternally thankful that Jesus kept the Law so that He could go to the cross and die for me, for it is something that I would never be able to do.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Continue to trust the Lord to show me things in His Word that I don’t understand as well as I should.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Urim and Thummin” (Exodus 28:30).

Today’s Bible question:  “When writing 2 Corinthians which visit was Paul planning?”

Answer in our next SD.

2/27/2016 8:48 PM

 

 

I will rely on the Lord from Habakkuk 3:19

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 2/26/2016 10:15 PM

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  “I will rely on the Lord.”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Habakkuk 3:19

Message of the verses:  “19 The Lord GOD is my strength, And He has made my feet like hinds’ feet, And makes me walk on my high places. For the choir director, on my stringed instruments.”

We began to study the book of Habakkuk on the 28^th of January and so it took us almost one month to make our way through this rather short book, but even though it is a short book there is much in it that pertains to how the Lord deals with sinful nations, and we can look at this book and see that the long-suffering of the Lord came to an end with Judah, and will come to an end with other nations that do similar things, especially those who have had great blessings from the Lord and are turning from that blessing.

Dr. Wiersbe begins this last section with the following statement:  “If my legs were shaking and my heart pounding, I’d find a safe place to sit down and relax, but Habakkuk began to bound up the mountain like a deer!  Because of his faith in the Lord, he was able to stand and be as surefooted as a deer; he was able to run swiftly and go higher than he’d ever gone before.  This is one reason why the Lord permits us to go through trials:  they can draw us nearer to Him and lift us above the circumstances so that we walk on the heights with Him.”

Deuteronomy 32:13a states “"He made him ride on the high places of the earth,” and so we learn that God make us for the high places, so, as Dr. Wiersbe says we can be with Him there.  I can think of a portion from a couple of the gospels where Jesus goes up on the mount of Transfiguration and meets up with Moses and Elijah to speak to them before He would go to the cross and while up there His glory was unveiled so that His glory was shining for a little while as three of His disciples saw.  However they all had to make their way back down to the valley where Jesus meets up with a man who had a demon possessed son that His disciples could not heal and so Jesus had to heal this man’s son.  He was back down in the valley away from the glorious time He had spent up on the mountains.  Let us look at another Scripture from Isaiah 40:30-31 “30 Though youths grow weary and tired, And vigorous young men stumble badly, 31 Yet those who wait for the LORD Will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walk and not become weary.” 

We will complete our study of Habakkuk with some great quotes from the end of Dr. Wiersbe’s commentary.  “The great British expositor G. Campbell Morgan said, ‘Our joy is in proportion to our trust.  Our trust is in proportion to our knowledge of God.’  As the hymn paraphrase of this passage puts it:

 

‘Though vine nor fig-tree neither

Their wonted fruit shall bear,

Though all the fields should wither,

Nor flocks nor herds be there,

Yet God the same abiding,

His praise shall tune my voice

For while in Him confiding,

I cannot but rejoice.

 

“Habakkuk teaches us to face our doubts and questions honestly, take them humbly to the Lord, wait for His Word to teach us, and then worship Him no matter how we feel or what we see.

“God’s doesn’t always change the circumstances, but He can change us to meet the circumstances.  That’s what it means to live by faith.”  Remember the key verse from Habakkuk’s book:  “The just shall live by faith.”

Our next book to begin to look at is comes from the prophet Zephaniah, which God willing we will begin tomorrow.

2/26/2016 10:40 PM

PT-2 of The Miracle Performed from John 5:1-9a

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 2/26/2016 11:34 AM

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  PT-2 The Miracle Performed

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  John 5:1-9a

Message of the verses:  “1 After these things there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 2 Now there is in Jerusalem by the sheep gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew Bethesda, having five porticoes. 3 In these lay a multitude of those who were sick, blind, lame, and withered, [[waiting for the moving of the waters; 4 for an angel of the Lord went down at certain seasons into the pool and stirred up the water; whoever then first, after the stirring up of the water, stepped in was made well from whatever disease with which he was afflicted.]] 5 A man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he had already been a long time in that condition, He said to him, "Do you wish to get well?" 7 The sick man answered Him, "Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, but while I am coming, another steps down before me." 8 Jesus said to him, "Get up, pick up your pallet and walk." 9 Immediately the man became well, and picked up his pallet and began to walk.”

We begin our SD today by looking at verse five as we left off in verse four in yesterday’s SD.  John tells us that there was a man there at Bethesda who had been there for 38 years waiting to be healed.  He does not say much about the others there other than to say that they all had some kind of physical problem and were waiting for the moving of the water to get in so that they could be healed.  John does not say for a fact that anyone has been healed by getting into this water, he only says that is what these people did.  I have to confess that when I first read this passage many years ago I thought that there was an angel who stirred up the water and this was how God was healing his people, but as mentioned in our last SD this did not happen.

In verse six I highlighted the word “knew” and the reason I did this is because Jesus knows everything for He is omnisciencet and as we go through the gospel of John we will see this attribute that Jesus has always had come out.  Jesus knew how long he had been there and knew what happened for him to be there.  Now some may wonder why Jesus began the conversation with this man the way that He did “Do you wish to get well?”  John MacArthur writes “Jesus never engaged in flippant, idle conversation.  His question served several purposes:  it secured the man’s full attention, focused on his need, offered him healing, and communicated to him the depth of Christ’s love and concern.”  We can see by the man’s response that he did not understand who he was talking to, the One who could heal him.  As we look at this conversation we see similarities with the one where Jesus was talking to the woman at the well, but that conversation ended eventually in her salvation, and we are not sure how this one ended up for we are not told definitely how that ended up and therefore leaves us with questions.  However perhaps the salivation of this man was not what John wanted to focus in on by adding this story to his gospel, for as stated in the introduction this miracle that Jesus was about to perform began the persecution of the Son of God as seen through the eyes of John.

The man simply tells Jesus that there was no one to put him into the water when it was being stirred up, and as mentioned there was tradition that an angel did this and we really have no idea if the man believed that or not.  However what we have here is many physically deprived people for one reason or another and my thoughts, and they are my thoughts, are if because of the reputation that Jesus was gaining if some, especially in their condition have not heard of Jesus, which makes me wonder about the answer that this man gave to Jesus.  I have mentioned in earlier Spiritual Diaries of a missions conference that we had at our church a few years ago and one of the speakers was behind the pulpit and stated that when he was preaching directly from the Word of God that he stood right behind the pulpit, but if he was saying something that he did not know for sure he moved to one side or the other.  If I was there telling you what I just wrote I would be standing on one side of the pulpit or the other.

After listening to the man’s comments Jesus give him an order and that order is “Get up, pick up your pallet and walk.”  Let me take you to the last part of the Sermon on the Mount to give you an idea of just how persuasive Jesus was, and I believe the same way here:  “28 When Jesus had finished these words, the crowds were amazed at His teaching; 29 for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as their scribes (Matthew 7:28-29).”  I think that at times some people do not understand the power that Jesus had while on earth, as although some of the things that He possessed were covered by His human body, He still was and still is the very God who spoke and the world, and all the stars were created, Jesus said to this man to get up and then John borrows a word from Mark’s gospel and we read that he “immediately became well and picked up his pallet and began to walk.”  Whatever was broken in this man’s body was immediately fixed and if he needed new parts Jesus gave them to him right away, for we have to remember who it was that created Adam out of the dust of the earth, and certainly believe that He had the power to fix a broken body.  The man had no ill effects physically, but just got up and began to walk.  I wonder how much of the story, if any that John leaves out for I don’t hear a “praise the Lord, I am healed,” or “Thank you for this great miracle that I just received,” nothing like this, and we will focus in on this another time.

John MacArthur concludes his comments on this section:  “This incident perfectly illustrates God’s sovereign grace in action (cf. v. 21).  Out of all the sick people at the pool, Jesus chose to heal this man.  There was nothing about him that made him more deserving than the others, nor did he seek out Jesus; Jesus approached him.  The Lord did not choose him because He foresaw that he had the faith to believe for a healing; he never did express belief that Jesus could heal him.  So it is in salvation.  Out of the spiritually dead multitude of Adam’s fallen race, God chose and redeemed His elect—not because of anything they did to deserve it, or because of their foreseen faith, but because of His sovereign choice (6:37; Rom. 8:29-30; 9:16; Eph. 1:4-5; 2 Thess. 2:13; Titus 3:5).  Even the faith to believe was a sovereign gift (Eph. 2:8-9).”

Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I certainly do not want to be like this man that Jesus healed in the sense that I am not grateful for the spiritual gift of salvation that He gave to me which in my mind is far greater than the healing of my body.  Like this man I had nothing to do with the salvation that Christ gave to me over 42 years ago, but to accept the gift and I am thankful for this wonderful gift that God has given to me.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  I trust the Lord to use the Spiritual Diaries that I believe that He leads me to put onto my blogs, that He will use them to bless those who read them and bless the heart of God, and bring glory to my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Zechariah.”

Today’s Bible question:  “What two objects were in the breastplate upon Aaron’s heart?”

Answer in our next SD.

2/26/2016 12:17 PM

   

 

I will rejoice in the Lord (Hab. 3:17-18)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 2/25/2016 10:53 PM

My Worship Time                                                                         Focus:  I will rejoice in the Lord

Bible Reading & Meditation                                              Reference:  Habakkuk 3:17-18

Message of the verses:  “17 Though the fig tree should not blossom And there be no fruit on the vines, Though the yield of the olive should fail And the fields produce no food, Though the flock should be cut off from the fold And there be no cattle in the stalls, 18 Yet I will exult in the LORD, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation.”

I have to say that this is one of my most favorite passages in the Word of God to me as it shows what great trust that Habakkuk has in the Lord to care for him, even in the distressing times that will ever come upon him.  He has resigned to the fact that Judah will be destroyed, and that the people will go into captivity and even if there is no food or anything to sustain him, his trust is in the Lord.  When Babylon got done with ravishing the land of Judah there would be very little left that had any value “You’ll wake up holding your throbbing head, hung over—hung over from Lebanon violence, Hung over from animal massacres, hung over from murder and mayhem, From multiple violations of place and people (Habakkuk 2:17).”  Even though all of this has happened to Judah God is still on His throne working out His divine purposes for His people as we read in another of my favorite passages “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28).”

There are verses in the New Testament that go along with this section from Habakkuk:  “16  Rejoice always; 17  pray without ceasing; 18  in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).” 

Dr. Wiersbe concludes his commentary on this section by writing “It’s one thing to ‘whistle in the dark’ and try to bolster our courage, and quite something else to sing about the eternal God who never fails.  Though his lips were trembling and his legs were shaking (Hab. 3:16, NIV), the prophet burst into song and worshiped his God.  What an example for us to follow!  It reminds us of our Lord before He went to the cross (Mark 14:26), and Paul and Silas in the Philippian dungeon (Acts 16:19-34).  God can give us ‘songs in the night’ (Ps. 42:8; 77:6; Job 35:10) if we’ll trust Him and see His greatness.”

It surely takes a lot of faith and trust in the Lord to do the things that these hero’s of faith did in the face of great danger to themselves.

2/25/2016 11:11 PM

 

The Miracle Performed PT-1 (John 5:1-9a)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 2/25/2016 10:40 AM

My Worship Time                                                         Focus:  The Miracle Performed, PT-1

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  John 5:1-9a

Message of the verses:  “1 After these things there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 2 Now there is in Jerusalem by the sheep gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew Bethesda, having five porticoes. 3 In these lay a multitude of those who were sick, blind, lame, and withered, [[waiting for the moving of the waters; 4 for an angel of the Lord went down at certain seasons into the pool and stirred up the water; whoever then first, after the stirring up of the water, stepped in was made well from whatever disease with which he was afflicted.]] 5 A man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he had already been a long time in that condition, He said to him, "Do you wish to get well?" 7 The sick man answered Him, "Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, but while I am coming, another steps down before me." 8 Jesus said to him, "Get up, pick up your pallet and walk." 9 Immediately the man became well, and picked up his pallet and began to walk.”

According to John MacArthur’s view on this first verse it is believed by him that Jesus’ ministry in Galilee had ended because of the way that verse one is constructed with the words “after these things.”  I certainly do not disagree with him on many things, but the thought has come to me that if this was one of those feasts that all men had to go to that it could have been in the middle of his ministry in Galilee, for even if this is not correct on my part we do have to believe that during those 16 months that Jesus ministered in Galilee He would have had to go up to Jerusalem to three feasts required by the Lord to go to.  At any rate John does not cover much of His ministry in Galilee with the exception of the healing of the nobleman’s son.  Now as far as which feast this is the only one that when we read “a feast of the Jews” that it is not identified, or whatever reason.  We also see something that is often seen in the Word of God and that is that it is “up to Jerusalem.”  I believe there are a couple of reasons for this and one of course is that Jerusalem is up on top of a hill, but when you compare it with when someone went to Egypt then it is “down to Egypt” so there is some spiritual qualities in these two statements.  Now as far as men going to certain feasts let us look at a couple of OT verses which show that all men were to go up to Jerusalem for, that is Passover, Tabernacles, and Pentecost or Weeks.  “"Three times in a year all your males shall appear before the LORD your God in the place which He chooses, at the Feast of Unleavened Bread and at the Feast of Weeks and at the Feast of Booths, and they shall not appear before the LORD empty-handed (Deut. 16:16).”

Now as I was listening to MacArthur’s two sermons on this section he mentioned that I want to write about and that is John’s description of where Jesus performed this miracle:  “there is in Jerusalem by the sheep gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew Bethesda, having five porticoes” or porches.  John uses the word “is” and we have to remember that John was writing this some 15-20 years after the city of Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans so there is a question as to why he is using the word “is.”  Now why this is important is because there are people who would say that John’s gospel was written at an earlier date, but this will not work for them in this case as historians tell us that the place where Jesus did this miracle was not destroyed during the Roman invasion of Jerusalem.  MacArthur writes “John was probably writing here in the ‘historical present,’ using a present tense verb to refer to a past event; doing so would have been consistent with his writing style elsewhere.”

MacArthur writes “The NASB italicizes the word ‘gate’ since the noun modified by the adjective probatikos (‘of or pertaining to sheep’) is not expressed in the text.  The reference is most likely to the sheep gate mentioned in Nehemiah 3:1, 32; 12:39, located near the northeast corner of the city’s wall not far from the temple.  ‘Bethesda’ is the Greek transliteration of a Hebrew or Aramaic word variously understood to mean ‘house of outpourings’ or ‘house of mercy.’”  Now we read that this place had “porticoes” which were near the pool and it is under these porticoes that the people who had these disabilities would lie.  The text states that those who were “blind, lame, and withered” or paralyzed were there.  Now we get into a section that we have to believe that this is the way things happened, and that is it is believed that the pool was feed by a spring, an intermittent spring “7 The sick man answered Him, "Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, but while I am coming, another steps down before me.’”  MacArthur adds “ancient sources indicate that the water in the pool had a reddish tint from the minerals in it.” 

Now I want to talk about the bracketed verses that are found in this section as they were added in a later manuscript and not in the earlier ones.  What we have here in these bracketed verses “, [[waiting for the moving of the waters; 4 for an angel of the Lord went down at certain seasons into the pool and stirred up the water; whoever then first, after the stirring up of the water, stepped in was made well from whatever disease with which he was afflicted.]] is a superstition that got its way into the later manuscripts.  MacArthur adds “The early church father Tertullian referred to the superstition of an angel stirring the water in the late second or early third century.  Later manuscripts incorporated the scribal glosses into the text.”

We will look at the rest of this section in our next SD.

Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I am thankful for John including this story of this man’s healing in his writings as with this story we can see the awful beginnings of the persecution of our Lord, something that I do not like to read about, but something necessary for the payment of my sins.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  When I think of that suffering that Jesus went through for me to pay for my sins I am thankful, and desire to love Him in the proper way.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Simon” (Acts 8:9).

Today’s Bible question:  “Which minor prophet was associated with Haggai in stimulating the people to resume and complete work on the temple?”

Answer in our next SD.

2/25/2016 11:44 AM

 

I will Wait Patiently on the Lord (Hab. 3:16)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 2/24/2016 10:09 PM

My Worship Time                                                            Focus:  I will Wait Patiently on the Lord

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Habakkuk 3:16

Message of the verse:  “16 I heard and my inward parts trembled, At the sound my lips quivered. Decay enters my bones, And in my place I tremble. Because I must wait quietly for the day of distress, For the people to arise who will invade us.”

We are now in the last main point in Dr. Wiersbe’s outline on the book of Habakkuk and he has entitled it “Faith:  Affirm the Will of God,” and it covers the last four verses of the book of Habakkuk.  He writes the following in his introduction:  This is one of the greatest confessions of faith found anywhere in Scripture.  Habakkuk has faced the frightening fact that his nation will be invaded by a merciless enemy.  The prophet knows that many of the people will go into exile and many will be slain.  The land will be ruined, and Jerusalem and the temple will be destroyed.  Yet he tells God that he will trust Him no matter what happens!  Listen to his confession of faith.”

When we began to look at this short book we found that Habakkuk knew that there was great sinful problems in Judah, and so he cries out to the Lord who then tells him that He will care for the problem by bringing in the Babylonians to destroy Judah, and many will be killed, and many will go into captivity.  Habakkuk was upset because we believe that he was hoping that the Lord would bring a great revival to His people and then all would be better.  As we move through this book we see the faith of Habakkuk begin to grow and his knowledge of who God is also grow and so as we come to this wonderful section we see that Habakkuk does not want to see the Babylonians destroy Judah, but he now puts his total faith in the Lord to accomplish His purpose and to bring glory to His name.  We have to believe that there was some part of Habakkuk that was frightened of what was going to happen, and that is just being human, but there was also a part of him that put his faith and trust in the Lord.  As we think about how Jesus felt when He was facing the cross we can get a little bit of understand of what Habakkuk was thinking about.  Dr. Wiersbe writes “When he looked within, he saw himself trembling with fear, and when he looked around, he saw everything in the economy about to fall apart.  But when he looked up by faith, he saw God, and all his fears vanished.  To walk by faith means to focus on the greatness and glory of God.

“One of the marks of faith is a willingness to wait patiently for the Lord to work.  ‘Whoever believes will not act hastily’ (Isa. 28:16, NKJV).  When we run ahead of God, we get into trouble.  Abraham learned that lesson when he married Hagar and fathered Ishmael (Gen. 16), and so did Moses when he tried to deliver the Jews by his own hand (Ex. 2).  ‘In quietness and confidence shall be your strength’ (Isa. 3:15).”

Habakkuk could wait quietly on the Lord for he knew that God was at work in his life and in the world.  Habakkuk had prayed to the Lord and He had given him a vision.  Waiting is a very difficult thing to do, but as we learn to trust the Lord we can wait quietly for Him to accomplish His plans in our lives even though things are not going well.  Psalm 37:7 says “Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him.”

Dr. Wiersbe concludes with some of his wonderful wisdom as he writes:  “Over the years, I’ve often leaned on three verses that have helped me wait patiently on the Lord.  ‘Stand still’ (Ex. 14:13), ‘Sit still’ (Ruth 3:18), and ‘Be still’ (Ps. 46:10).  Whenever we find ourselves getting ‘churned up’ within, we can be sure that we need to stop, pray, and wait on the Lord before we do some stupid thing.”  All I can say about doing a stupid thing is “been there, done that.”

2/24/2016 10:34 PM