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Habakkuk 2 (ESV)

1 I will take my stand at my watchpost
and station myself on the tower,
and look out to see what he will say to me,
and what I will answer concerning my complaint.

The Righteous Shall Live by His Faith

² And the Lord answered me:

“Write the vision;
make it plain on tablets,
so he may run who reads it.
³ For still the vision awaits its appointed time;
it hastens to the end—it will not lie.
If it seems slow, wait for it;
it will surely come; it will not delay.

⁴ “Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him,
but the righteous shall live by his faith.

⁵ “Moreover, wine is a traitor,
an arrogant man who is never at rest.
His greed is as wide as Sheol;
like death he has never enough.
He gathers for himself all nations
and collects as his own all peoples.”

Woe to the Chaldeans

⁶ Shall not all these take up their taunt against him, with scoffing and riddles for him, and say,

“Woe to him who heaps up what is not his own—
for how long?—
and loads himself with pledges!”
⁷ Will not your debtors suddenly arise,
and those awake who will make you tremble?
Then you will be spoil for them.
⁸ Because you have plundered many nations,
all the remnant of the peoples shall plunder you,
for the blood of man and violence to the earth,
to cities and all who dwell in them.

REFLECTION:

• The “watchpost” was a place to monitor people’s movements and issue timely alarms for the safety of fellow citizens. Although the prophet Habakkuk still had conflicts and struggles in his heart, he still faithfully performed the duty of keeping watch. He must pay attention to God’s answer. So that he can ask questions immediately. He wants to understand the future of God’s people, and he is convinced that God will answer (1). When God answered (2-3), he faithfully wrote down what God said, so that the people could see it. This is the correct attitude of the prophet. Verse 2 can be translated as “make the reader run and read”, which means to declare everywhere. This is expressing a picture of lively confidence, because the fulfillment of the message has a certain date (3), and the person who declares it must have confidence. We must learn the attitude of the prophet Habakkuk, no matter what the situation, still face God faithfully, wait for and deliver the message of God by faith.
• “The righteous shall live by his faith.” (4) People who belong to God must have faith in God’s deeds and know that the wicked will eventually perish in order to rely on God to live in the midst of troubles, and finally receive the blessing of life. The New Testament also quoted this verse twice (Romans 2:17; Galatians 3:11) to confirm the truth of believing in the Lord Jesus and gaining eternal life.
• The Babylonians are proud and confident, and have never doubted their military strength. They only care about satisfying their own desires, and never care about the consequences (4-6). However, the sins of these people will eventually be accounted for, and those captives will come and take everything from Babylon and ridicule them (7-8). Justice may come slowly, but it will come.

PRAYER:

Lord please help me learn the attitude of the prophet Habakkuk. No matter what the situation is, I will still face God faithfully, wait by faith and preach the Lord’s gospel.

HYMN:

By Faith – youtu.be/-ksMIWSGnLc