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| The Gulf of Mexico off of Galveston Island - Celebrating the 86th birthday of One of My Favorite Sisters in Christ For…the vision…is yet for an appointed time; but at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries wait for it, because…it will surely come. Habakkuk 2:3 |
My Meditations on Today’s Readings
(Ellipses are mine
and are used for contemplation.)
Key Words/Phrases: O LORD,
how long shall I cry, and You will not hear? Look, watch, be utterly
astounded! For I will work a work in
your days which you would not believe, though it were told to you; Behold the
proud…but the just shall live by faith; For the vision is yet for an appointed
time; but at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; because it
will surely come; Though the fig tree may not blossom…yet I will rejoice in the
LORD; Praise the LORD; the beast rising out of the sea; then I saw another
beast; Here is wisdom; let him hear.
Trusting Even When We
Can’t Understand Circumstances - Habakkuk 1, 2, and 3 – (Facts:
What It Says – Summarized) Habakkuk’s
Burden: 1) O LORD, how long…shall I cry, and You will not hear? 2) Even
cry out to You, ‘Violence!’ And You will
not save. 3) Why…do You show me iniquity... and cause me…to see trouble? 4) For
plundering...violence…strife…contention are before me. 5) The
law is powerless…and justice never goes forth. 6) For
the wicked surround the righteous…therefore….perverse judgment proceeds. God’s Answer:
Look…watch…be utterly astounded! For…I will…work a work in your days which you
would not believe, though it were told you.
I am raising up the Chaldeans who are terrible…dreadful…violent…deride
every stronghold…heap up earthen mounds and seize it. Then his mind changes…and he transgresses; he
commits offense…ascribing this power to his god. Habakkuk’s
Praise of God: Are You not from
everlasting…O LORD my God…my Holy One…O Rock…You have appointed them for
judgment and correction. You are of purer
eyes than to behold evil, and cannot look on wickedness. Habakkuk’s Determination: I will stand my watch…and set myself on the rampart…and watch to see
what He will say to me…and what I will answer when I am corrected. The LORD’s Answer: Write
the vision and make it plain…that…he may run who reads it. For…the
vision…is yet for an appointed time; but at the end it will speak, and it will
not lie. Though it tarries wait for it,
because…it will surely come.
The Difference Between the Proud and the Just:
The
Proud: His soul…is not upright in
him. He transgresses by wine. He is a proud man…and he does not stay at
home…because…he enlarges his desire as hell…and he is like death, he cannot be
satisfied. Woe to him…who increases what
is not his…woe to him…who covets evil gain for his house…that…he may set his
nest on high…that…he…might be delivered from the power of disaster. But
the Just: Shall live by faith. For…the earth…will be filled with…the
knowledge of the glory of the LORD as the waters that cover the sea. The LORD is in His holy temple. Let all the earth keep silence before Him. Habakkuk’s prayer:
O
LORD I have heard Your speech…and was afraid; O LORD…revive Your work…in the
midst of the years! In the midst of the
years…make it known. In
wrath…remember mercy. You trampled
the nations in anger. You went
forth…for…the salvation of Your people…for salvation…with Your Anointed. Though
the fig tree may not blossom…nor fruit be on the vines…though the labor of the
olive may fail…and the fields yield no food…though the flock may be cut off
from the fold…and there be no herd in the stalls…yet…will I rejoice in the
LORD. I will joy…in the God of my
salvation. The LORD God is my
strength…He will make my feet like deer’s feet…and He will make me walk on high
hills. Principle: This is the prayer of intimate fellowship between Holy God and the fallible but
faithful soul – laying our burdens, our lack of understanding before the LORD,
listening to Him speak to us in our hearts, through our circumstances, and then
putting all trust in Him, leaving all consequences to Him, persevering in the
faith regardless of circumstances…because He is the God of our salvation.
Worthy of Praise
– Psalm 146:1-10 (Facts: What It Says) King David’s Paean to the LORD: Praise the LORD…praise the LORD…O my
soul…While I live I will…praise the LORD.
I will sing praises…to my God while I have my being. The LORD shall
reign forever…Your God…O Zion…to all…generations. Praise the LORD! Lessons
Learned by David and Sung to the LORD: 1) Do not put your trust in princes, 2) nor in the son of man in whom there is no help. His spirit departs; he returns to his
earth…in that very day…his plans perish.
3) Happy…is he who has the God of
Jacob for…his help, 4) whose hope…is
in the LORD his God, 5) who
keeps…truth…forever, 6) who
executes…justice…for the oppressed, 7) who
gives food to the hungry; 8) the LORD
gives…freedom…to the prisoners. 9) The
LORD opens the eyes of the blind. 10)
The LORD raises those…who are bowed down.
11) The LORD loves…the righteous.
12) The LORD watches over…the strangers. 13) He relieves…the fatherless and the widow, 14) But the way of the wicked…He turns upside down. Principle:
It often takes personal experience or observation before we internalize as
truth the Word of God and come to a point of true worship and praise of Him for
His Sovereignty and Providence.
Hearing and Believing
When We Don’t Understand the Why of Prophecy – Revelation 13 – (Facts: What It Says – Summarized)
The First Beast of the Tribulation: 1) rises up out of the sea - like a leopard, with feet like that of a
bear, with a mouth like that of a lion2) having 7 heads, 10 horns with 10
crowns on them, 3) and on his head a
blasphemous name. 4) One of his heads
was as if it had been mortally wounded.
5) The dragon gave him his
power…his throne…and great authority. 6) All…the world…marveled…and followed…the beast. 7) So,
they…worshipped…the dragon…who gave authority to the beast…and…the beast. 8) The
beast spoke blasphemies with its mouth.
9) It was given authority for 42
months. 10) He opened his mouth in blasphemy…against God…to blaspheme His name…His
tabernacle…and those who dwell in heaven.
11) It was granted to him…to
make war with…the saints…and to overcome them. 12) And…authority
was given him…over every…tribe, tongue, and nation. 13) All…who dwell on the earth…will worship
him…whose names have not been written in
the Book of Life of the Lamb slain…from the foundation of the world. The Directive, the
Promise Regarding the Prophecy: If
anyone has an ear, let him hear. He who leads into captivity…shall go into
captivity; he who kills with the sword…must be killed with the sword. Here
is the patience and the faith of the saints. The Second Beast:
1) He comes up out of the earth,
2) and he has horns…like a lamb and
speaks…like a dragon. 3) He
exercises…all…the authority of the 1st beast in his presence…and
causes the earth and those who dwell in it…to worship…the first beast…whose
deadly wound is healed. 4) He performs great signs…so that…he even
makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men. 5) He…deceives…by
signs, 6) tells those on earth to
make an image to the wounded beast. 7) He
was granted power…to give breath…to the image of the beast…that…the image of
the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of
the beast to be killed. 8) He causes…all…both small and great, rich and
poor, free and slave…to receive a mark…on their right hand…or on their forehead,
9) and…that…no one may buy or sell
except one who has the mark…or the name of the beast…or the number of his name. The 2nd
Directive Regarding the Prophecy: Here
is wisdom. Let him who has
understanding…calculate the number of the beast, for…it is the number of a man:
His number is 666. Principle: The wounded head and
the 666 numerology are the subjects of extensive commentaries and debates – as
are the meanings of the beasts. One of
those commentaries is linked below. What
is clear, is that he who kills with the sword will have that returned upon him,
and he who takes others captive will experience that same fate. Saints are called to be, and will be revealed
as, faithful and persevering during this time.
Pre-millenialists will understand these saints to be the 144,000 of the
tribes of Israel still on earth, as the church will have been raptured prior to
the Tribulation.
My Lessons and
Applications: The prayers of
Habakkuk and Job are 2 of my favorite in the Bible. They both acknowledge that it is not the
blessings of God that are the genesis of, or contingent upon, the perseverance
of our faith. We persevere because
He is the God of our salvation. “The LORD giveth and the Lord taketh
away. Blessed be the name of the LORD
(Job 1:21). He also shall be my salvation, for no hypocrite shall come before
Him. (Job 13:16) Though the fig tree may not blossom…nor
fruit be on the vines…though the labor of the olive may fail…and the fields
yield no food…though the flock may be cut off from the fold…and there be no
herd in the stalls…yet…will I rejoice in the LORD. I will joy…in the God of my salvation. This
is the faith and the perseverance of the tested and saved soul. Does my faith grow or go under severe trials?
“His ways are everlasting.” Habakkuk 3:6
What
he hath done at one time, he will do yet again. Man’s ways are variable, but
God’s ways are everlasting. There are many reasons for this most comforting
truth: among them are the following—the Lord’s ways are the result of wise
deliberation; he ordereth all things according to the counsel of his own
will. Human action is frequently the hasty result of passion, or fear, and is
followed by regret and alteration; but nothing can take the Almighty by
surprise, or happen otherwise than he has foreseen. His ways are the
outgrowth of an immutable character, and in them the fixed and settled
attributes of God are clearly to be seen. Unless the Eternal One himself can
undergo change, his ways, which are himself in action, must remain forever the
same. Is he eternally just, gracious, faithful, wise, tender?—then his ways
must ever be distinguished for the same excellences. Beings act according to
their nature: when those natures change, their conduct varies also; but since
God cannot know the shadow of a turning, his ways will abide everlastingly the
same. Moreover there is no reason from without which could reverse the divine
ways, since they are the embodiment of irresistible might. The earth is
said, by the prophet, to be cleft with rivers, mountains tremble, the deep
lifts up its hands, and sun and moon stand still, when Jehovah marches forth
for the salvation of his people. Who can stay his hand, or say unto him, What
doest thou? But it is not might alone which gives stability; God’s ways are the
manifestation of the eternal principles of right, and therefore can never
pass away. Wrong breeds decay and involves ruin, but the true and the good have
about them a vitality which ages cannot diminish.
This
morning let us go to our heavenly Father with confidence, remembering that
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and in him the Lord is
ever gracious to his people.
For one
commentary on Revelation 13: http://www.biblegateway.com/resources/commentaries/IVP-NT/Rev/Beast-Sea
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