{"id":9334,"date":"2020-05-18T20:00:52","date_gmt":"2020-05-19T03:00:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/?p=9334"},"modified":"2020-05-19T00:22:01","modified_gmt":"2020-05-19T07:22:01","slug":"habakkuk1_1-17","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/habakkuk1_1-17\/","title":{"rendered":"When God Doesn\u2019t Do What You Expect Him To"},"content":{"rendered":"

Habakkuk 1:1-17 \u00a0Click here for Bible Verses<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/div>\n
Hi GAMErs,<\/div>\n

Today we begin the book of Habakkuk.\u00a0\u00a0Written approximately between 700 and 600 B.C., the book of Habakkuk is a short but powerful book by a prophet called Habakkuk.\u00a0\u00a0In this book Habakkuk writes down his revelations from God at a time when Babylon is emerging as a world power and Habakkuk\u2019s own nation of Israel is fraught with internal corruption.<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Habakkuk 1:1-17.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Habakkuk 1:1 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n1\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0The oracle that Habakkuk the prophet received.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 1:\u00a0 Little is known with certainty about Habakkuk, the author of this book.\u00a0 In fact the very first line and the very last line of this book tell us more about Habakkuk then all the writing in between.\u00a0 The first line tells us that Habakkuk was a prophet chosen by God.\u00a0 The last line, \u201cFor the director of music.\u00a0 On my stringed instruments\u201d (Habakkuk 3:19), tells us that Habakkuk was a musician who probably played and wrote worship music for the temple where people worshiped the Lord.\u00a0 The body of this book shows us that Habakkuk was sensitive to God\u2019s voice, sensitive to the injustice he saw around him as well as the visions God was showing him.\u00a0 Many scholars believe Habakkuk\u2019s name comes from the Hebrew word for \u201cto embrace\u201d.\u00a0 This is fitting given that in this book we get a glimpse of the intimate relationship between the Lord and Habakkuk.\u00a0 Interestingly, some have speculated that Habakkuk is the son of the Shunammite woman in 2 Kings 4:15-17 since Elisha tells the woman, \u201cnext year you will\u00a0embrace<\/em>\u00a0a son in your arms\u201d.\u00a0 This is really just conjecture, but an interesting one at that to think that the prophet Elisha may have had a hand in the prophet Habakkuk\u2019s life.<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this verse?\u00a0 Notice that chapter 1 contains an oracle, or vision, that Habakkuk \u201creceived\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0Prophetic words and visions are not something you can make up, but they are something you receive from the Holy Spirit.<\/strong>\u00a0 To use an American football analogy, it\u2019s like the Holy Spirit is the quarterback and we are the receiver.\u00a0 Our job is to get open and available to receive the ball while running the route marked out for us. \u00a0May you run the route marked out for you and receive revelation from the Holy Spirit.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Habakkuk 1:2-4 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n2\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0How long, O\u00a0LORD, must I call for help, but you do not listen? Or cry out to you, “Violence!” but you do not save?
\n3\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrong? Destruction and violence are before me; there is strife, and conflict abounds.
\n4\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Therefore the law is paralyzed, and justice never prevails. The wicked hem in the righteous, so that justice is perverted.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 2-4:\u00a0 If you\u2019ve ever wondered why God seems silent in the midst of great injustice, why He allows certain evil in this world, or why in a particular situation He did not come to the rescue the way you expected Him to, then you\u2019re not alone.\u00a0 Habakkuk, a prophet, someone with a close relationship with God, had similar questions and complaints.<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this? \u00a0When God doesn\u2019t do what You expect Him to, that doesn\u2019t mean that there is no God.\u00a0 It simply shows that\u00a0you<\/em>\u00a0are not God.<\/strong>\u00a0 When God does not act as you hoped, remember that\u00a0God is writing a far greater story than anything you could write yourself<\/strong>, and that God is not finished writing the story.<\/p>\n

Habakkuk 1:5-6 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n5\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“Look at the nations and watch– and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told.
\n6\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0I am raising up the Babylonians, that ruthless and impetuous people, who sweep across the whole earth to seize dwelling places not their own.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 5-17:\u00a0 Here God Himself describes how He is raising up the Babylonians as His appointed tool to bring judgment on the nations.\u00a0 God acknowledges that this will seem strange or even unjust to some, as He says, \u201cI am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told.\u201d (v5)\u00a0 The Babylonians did not fear the Lord.\u00a0 Habakkuk describes them as a \u201cruthless and impetuous people, who sweep across the whole earth to seize dwellings not their own\u201d.\u00a0 He describes them as those who \u201cmock kings and scoff at rulers\u201d (v10), \u201cguilty people whose own strength is their god\u201d (v11).\u00a0 He calls them \u201ctreacherous\u201d (v13), \u201cwicked\u201d people (v13) who do as they please with those weaker than them (v14-15), idol worshipers (v16) who worship the tools they use to get wealth instead worshiping the God who allows them to have wealth (v16).\u00a0 Yet despite not fearing God at all, the Babylonians are God\u2019s tool to accomplish His purposes in judging the nations.\u00a0 \u00a0Without knowing it and without trying in any way to be part of God\u2019s plan, the Babylonians would wreak havoc on nations and in so doing would be the instrument God used to pronounce judgment on certain peoples.<\/p>\n

How could God use \u201cguilty people whose own strength is their god\u201d (v11) to fulfill His purposes?\u00a0 It\u2019s because God is sovereign.\u00a0\u00a0God can do whatever He pleases and He can use whomever He wants. \u00a0<\/strong>In fact, in\u00a0all<\/em>\u00a0things God works for the good of those of love Him (Romans 8:28). \u00a0\u00a0That means that\u00a0whether we know it or not, and whether we like it or not, God is using every thing and every person to accomplish His purposes in the end.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>God has a way of orchestrating everything so that it ultimately tells the story He wants to tell.\u00a0\u00a0Since we will all be used by God in some way, the more important question is: how will we be used by Him?<\/strong>\u00a0Will we be used by God the way He used the Babylonians, as a passive, unconscious tool in God\u2019s work on earth and which He will discard later?\u00a0 Or will we be used by God the way He used Habakkuk, as a living, active participant and partner in God\u2019s work, who has a relationship with God based on love and trust that will last long after He uses us on earth?\u00a0\u00a0We don\u2019t get to choose whether God will use us, but to a great degree we do get to choose\u00a0how<\/em>\u00a0God will use us.\u00a0 So much of it depends on how we respond to Him on a daily basis.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Heavenly Father, You are the Sovereign Lord.\u00a0 I pray that like Habakkuk I would get open long enough to receive words of revelation from You.\u00a0 I want You to use me, not as a passive tool who has no idea about You but as an active participant, partner and servant in Your kingdom, working with You.\u00a0 In Jesus\u2019 name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today we begin the book of Habakkuk.\u00a0\u00a0Written approximately between 700 and 600 B.C., the book of Habakkuk is a short but powerful book by a prophet called Habakkuk.\u00a0\u00a0In this book Habakkuk writes down his revelations from God at a time when Babylon is emerging as a world power and Habakkuk\u2019s own nation of Israel is fraught with internal corruption.<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Habakkuk 1:1-17.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Habakkuk 1:1 (NIV)\u00a0
\n1\u00a0\u00a0The oracle that Habakkuk the prophet received.<\/p>\n

On verse 1:\u00a0 Little is known with certainty about Habakkuk, the author of this book.\u00a0 In fact the very first line and the very last line of this book tell us more about Habakkuk then all the writing in between.\u00a0 The first line tells us that Habakkuk was a prophet chosen by God.\u00a0 The last line, \u201cFor the director of music.\u00a0 On my stringed instruments\u201d (Habakkuk 3:19), tells us that Habakkuk was a musician who probably played and wrote worship music for the temple where people worshiped the Lord.\u00a0 The body of this book shows us that Habakkuk was sensitive to God\u2019s voice, sensitive to the injustice he saw around him as well as the visions God was showing him.\u00a0 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9335,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9334","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9334","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9334"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9334\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9389,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9334\/revisions\/9389"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9335"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9334"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9334"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9334"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}