The Righteous Shall Live By Faith!!
Habakkuk 2 I will stand at my watch
and station myself on the ramparts;
I will look to see what he will say to me,
and what answer I am to give to this complaint.
The Lord’s Answer
2 Then the Lord replied:
“Write down the revelation
and make it plain on tablets
so that a herald may run with it.
3 For the revelation awaits an appointed time;
it speaks of the end
and will not prove false.
Though it linger, wait for it;
it will certainly come
and will not delay.
4 “See, the enemy is puffed up;
his desires are not upright—
but the righteous person will live by his faith.
Reflection: The prophet Habbakkuk is from the 7th century, in the time where the people of Judah were about to be sieged by the Babylonians, who were rising in power at that time. In the first chapter, Habbakkuk questions why God would use such an unclean vessel for the judgment of His people. Then, in this second chapter, as Habbakkuk waits on The Lord, he is giving a most prophetic insight. It is so prophetic it is quoted by Paul in both his letters to the Galatians and the Romans. It is also quoted in the famous passage in Hebrews 11, the classic exposition on what faith is.
All the time we have been using the 2 year Moravian Bible reading plan we have been asking the question, "How does the Old Testament relate to the New Testament, the seem like two different books and almost two different types of God's??" Well here is a passage that is crucial for our understanding the interplay between the two and how they are inexorably linked. The passage is Habbakkuk 2:4, "The righteous shall live by faith." The Lord tells the prophet to write it down plain on tablets for all to see, for its revelation speaks of an appointed time. It will certainly come and not delay.
And we know now this is the revelation of Jesus, who revealed a righteousness that can only come by faith. See Romans 1. And the heart of this new revelation is the word "faith", which is properly translated belief, or trust. Righteousness or being in a right relationship with God now depended not on what we do, but in whom we place our trust. As we teach our Confirmation (jr high) students, "Faith is trusting in the One in whom you believe."
As the Old Testament draws to and end over the next week, it closes with a theme that will become the theme of the rest of the bible, the righteous shall live by faith. Notice faith is a way of life trusting in God to provide for us all of our needs in Christ. Though in this context God will provide eventual deliverance from the Babylonians, in the long run He will provide deliverance from sin, death and the power of the devil, through Christ our Savior and Lord.
As we prepare to remember and celebrate His coming, is good to reflect on the context of His birth, and what it would mean for God to become one of us. It is also good to reflect on the fact that we can become righteous by faith in the Son of God!!
Readings and Prayer of the Day
Wednesday, December 18 -- Psalm 144:5-8
Habakkuk 2,3; Revelation 16:1-11
I am the Lord, that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to idols. Isaiah 42:8
Lord, who will not fear and glorify your name? For you alone are holy. Revelation 15:4
Forgive us, living God. We dare to make sacred the things that remind us of you, until we adore them and cannot separate ourselves from them. Free us from our need for things. May we long to know you more deeply. Amen.
and station myself on the ramparts;
I will look to see what he will say to me,
and what answer I am to give to this complaint.
The Lord’s Answer
2 Then the Lord replied:
“Write down the revelation
and make it plain on tablets
so that a herald may run with it.
3 For the revelation awaits an appointed time;
it speaks of the end
and will not prove false.
Though it linger, wait for it;
it will certainly come
and will not delay.
4 “See, the enemy is puffed up;
his desires are not upright—
but the righteous person will live by his faith.
Reflection: The prophet Habbakkuk is from the 7th century, in the time where the people of Judah were about to be sieged by the Babylonians, who were rising in power at that time. In the first chapter, Habbakkuk questions why God would use such an unclean vessel for the judgment of His people. Then, in this second chapter, as Habbakkuk waits on The Lord, he is giving a most prophetic insight. It is so prophetic it is quoted by Paul in both his letters to the Galatians and the Romans. It is also quoted in the famous passage in Hebrews 11, the classic exposition on what faith is.
All the time we have been using the 2 year Moravian Bible reading plan we have been asking the question, "How does the Old Testament relate to the New Testament, the seem like two different books and almost two different types of God's??" Well here is a passage that is crucial for our understanding the interplay between the two and how they are inexorably linked. The passage is Habbakkuk 2:4, "The righteous shall live by faith." The Lord tells the prophet to write it down plain on tablets for all to see, for its revelation speaks of an appointed time. It will certainly come and not delay.
And we know now this is the revelation of Jesus, who revealed a righteousness that can only come by faith. See Romans 1. And the heart of this new revelation is the word "faith", which is properly translated belief, or trust. Righteousness or being in a right relationship with God now depended not on what we do, but in whom we place our trust. As we teach our Confirmation (jr high) students, "Faith is trusting in the One in whom you believe."
As the Old Testament draws to and end over the next week, it closes with a theme that will become the theme of the rest of the bible, the righteous shall live by faith. Notice faith is a way of life trusting in God to provide for us all of our needs in Christ. Though in this context God will provide eventual deliverance from the Babylonians, in the long run He will provide deliverance from sin, death and the power of the devil, through Christ our Savior and Lord.
As we prepare to remember and celebrate His coming, is good to reflect on the context of His birth, and what it would mean for God to become one of us. It is also good to reflect on the fact that we can become righteous by faith in the Son of God!!
Readings and Prayer of the Day
Wednesday, December 18 -- Psalm 144:5-8
Habakkuk 2,3; Revelation 16:1-11
I am the Lord, that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to idols. Isaiah 42:8
Lord, who will not fear and glorify your name? For you alone are holy. Revelation 15:4
Forgive us, living God. We dare to make sacred the things that remind us of you, until we adore them and cannot separate ourselves from them. Free us from our need for things. May we long to know you more deeply. Amen.
Comments
Post a Comment