Slices
Prepare
Start by confessing the wrong things you’ve done, said or thought recently, or the less than godly ways that have simply become part of you. Use the words of Psalm 51 to help you.
Bible passage
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 faithfulness –
5 indeed, wine betrays him;
he is arrogant and never at rest.
Because he is as greedy as the grave
and like death is never satisfied,
he gathers to himself all the nations
and takes captive all the peoples.
6 ‘Will not all of them taunt him with ridicule and scorn, saying,
‘“Woe to him who piles up stolen goods
and makes himself wealthy by extortion!
How long must this go on?”
7 Will not your creditors suddenly arise?
Will they not wake up and make you tremble?
Then you will become their prey.
8 Because you have plundered many nations,
the peoples who are left will plunder you.
For you have shed human blood;
you have destroyed lands and cities and everyone in them.
9 ‘Woe to him who builds his house by unjust gain,
setting his nest on high
to escape the clutches of ruin!
10 You have plotted the ruin of many peoples,
shaming your own house and forfeiting your life.
11 The stones of the wall will cry out,
and the beams of the woodwork will echo it.
12 ‘Woe to him who builds a city with bloodshed
and establishes a town by injustice!
13 Has not the Lord Almighty determined
that the people’s labour is only fuel for the fire,
that the nations exhaust themselves for nothing?
14 For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea.
15 ‘Woe to him who gives drink to his neighbours,
pouring it from the wineskin till they are drunk,
so that he can gaze on their naked bodies!
16 You will be filled with shame instead of glory.
Now it is your turn! Drink and let your nakedness be exposed!
The cup from the Lord’s right hand is coming round to you,
and disgrace will cover your glory.
17 The violence you have done to Lebanon will overwhelm you,
and your destruction of animals will terrify you.
For you have shed human blood;
you have destroyed lands and cities and everyone in them.
18 ‘Of what value is an idol carved by a craftsman?
Or an image that teaches lies?
For the one who makes it trusts in his own creation;
he makes idols that cannot speak.
19 Woe to him who says to wood, “Come to life!”
Or to lifeless stone, “Wake up!”
Can it give guidance?
It is covered with gold and silver;
there is no breath in it.’
20 The Lord is in his holy temple;
let all the earth be silent before him.
Explore
‘But the Babylonians are monsters, Lord!’ Habakkuk cries out in response to God saying he’ll use them to bring his people, crushingly, to their senses (1:13). ‘How can you use such evil people? Are you just going to ignore all their horrific ways? Tell me. I’m waiting!’ ‘Of course not,’ reassures God. ‘Their time will come, but in my time’ (v 3).
Then God points out five ungodly characteristics in the Babylonians to reassure Habakkuk that he sees, cares and will act in judgement. What would you call each of the five (vs 6–8,9– 11,12– 14,15–17,18–20)? Of course, we’d never be like the Babylonians, would we? Maybe even now, if we’re honest, we recognise the seeds of those wrong things sprouting in our own lives. Let’s pause to pray that God will uproot them from us.
In the kingdom of heaven, might is not real power nor short-lived victory real glory. There’s only One who holds ultimate power and will, one day, receive all the glory he deserves (v 14; Isaiah 45:23,24).
Respond
Pray that, as many have a little more time to reflect during the Christmas break, they may be reminded of the words of a Christian carol or TV Christmas message, and start their journey towards glorifying the Lord.
Deeper Bible study
I enter your house; here I am, prostrate in your inner sanctum, waiting for directions to get me safely through enemy lines.’1
In a watchtower high on the city wall, sentinels of old stood day and night, alert to signs of danger. Stationed on the spiritual ramparts, Habakkuk gazes God-ward, alert for hints of hope (v 1).
In Habakkuk 1, God’s scales of justice seemed imbalanced; in Habakkuk 2, God’s clock seems to be running slow! In God’s economy, however, justice delayed does not mean justice denied. God’s appointed time may ‘linger’, but it will not ‘delay’ (v 3). The apparent delay does not signify indifference to human suffering or inability to save, but stems from God’s long-suffering love that does not want anyone to perish.2 God’s message encourages those who pursue righteousness to remain faithful (v 4) but contains grim warnings to all who persist in unrighteousness. The mighty Babylonians, despite being God’s instrument of judgement, would not escape punishment. The five ‘woe’s (vs 6–19) are chilling reminders that ‘Though the mills of God grind slowly, yet they grind exceeding small; though with patience he stands waiting, with exactness grinds he all.’3 God’s patience is not weakness, but strength under control; his grace is never a licence to sin but always a gracious invitation to repent. The command to ‘Write down the revelation’ (v 2) shows that this message is not just for Habakkuk’s time but for all people and all times.
The chapter began with the prophet waiting for God to break the silence and provide some answers (v 1); it concludes with a call to humanity to fall silent before the Lord (v 20). Only a heavenly perspective can help us make sense of events on earth; only as we give God his rightful place are we enabled to discern his design and decipher his directions.
‘How often God’s answers come, and find us gone!’4 Are you, like Habakkuk, confident that God will respond to prayer? Are you committed to keep on actively listening for God?
1 Ps 5:7,8, The Message 2 2 Pet 3:9 3 HW Longfellow, ‘Retribution’, 1846 4 Meyer, quoted by David Guzik, blueletterbible.org/Comm/guzik_david/StudyGuide2017-Hab/Hab-1.cfm
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: Zechariah 13,14; Revelation 21
Pray for Scripture Union
Pray that God will give vision to Faith Guides to start new Grow Communities around the country and that the 95 will come with open hearts to these Grow Communities to connect and hear the good news of Jesus.
