The faith of Habakkuk

A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet, according to Shigionoth. O Lord, I have heard the report of you, and your work, O Lord, do I fear. In the midst of the years revive it; in the midst of the years make it known; in wrath remember mercy. God came from Teman, and the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah His splendor covered the heavens, and the earth was full of his praise. His brightness was like the light; rays flashed from his hand; and there he veiled his power. Before him went pestilence, and plague followed at his heels. He stood and measured the earth; he looked and shook the nations; then the eternal mountains were scattered; the everlasting hills sank low. His were the everlasting ways. I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction; the curtains of the land of Midian did tremble. Was your wrath against the rivers, O Lord? Was your anger against the rivers, or your indignation against the sea, when you rode on your horses, on your chariot of salvation? You stripped the sheath from your bow, calling for many arrows. Selah You split the earth with rivers. The mountains saw you and writhed; the raging waters swept on; the deep gave forth its voice; it lifted its hands on high. The sun and moon stood still in their place at the light of your arrows as they sped, at the flash of your glittering spear. You marched through the earth in fury; you threshed the nations in anger. You went out for the salvation of your people, for the salvation of your anointed. You crushed the head of the house of the wicked, laying him bare from thigh to neck. Selah You pierced with his own arrows the heads of his warriors, who came like a whirlwind to scatter me, rejoicing as if to devour the poor in secret. You trampled the sea with your horses, the surging of mighty waters. I hear, and my body trembles; my lips quiver at the sound; rottenness enters into my bones; my legs tremble beneath me. Yet I will quietly wait for the day of trouble to come upon people who invade us. - Habakkuk 3:1‭-‬16 ESV

Justin Kim

This was during the time of decline for the kingdom of Israel and Judah. Israel has already been overtaken by enemy nations and Judah was in it's last days as a kingdom. This prophetic book is small and instead of God speaking, this is a book of the prophet speaking to God. 

Habakkuk prays over the sin of Judah. He asks God why it seems that there is no justice. God speaks of the Chaldeans, the Babylonians, growing into a nation that will be used to punish the nation's sins. God will use an even more sinful people to punish His own nation. And then after that, even the Babylonians will have their sins punished. Habakkuk trusts that God will bring about justice, even as nations rise and fall.

Habakkuk's faith is not dependent upon the outcome of the prayer. It isn't focused on the desire of his heart, but rather it is focused entirely upon God. Habakkuk's faith is first on God. Even as God brings suffering to the nation of Judah when the prophet is praying for, this faith will not be shaken. There will still be peace in Habakkuk's heart even in the midst of exile, famine, and war

Hannah’s Prayers of Pleading and Praise

On the day when Elkanah sacrificed, he would give portions to Peninnah his wife and to all her sons and daughters. But to Hannah he gave a double portion, because he loved her, though the Lord had closed her womb. And her rival used to provoke her grievously to irritate her, because the Lord had closed her womb. So it went on year by year. As often as she went up to the house of the Lord, she used to provoke her. Therefore Hannah wept and would not eat. And Elkanah, her husband, said to her, “Hannah, why do you weep? And why do you not eat? And why is your heart sad? Am I not more to you than ten sons?” After they had eaten and drunk in Shiloh, Hannah rose. Now Eli the priest was sitting on the seat beside the doorpost of the temple of the Lord. She was deeply distressed and prayed to the Lord and wept bitterly. And she vowed a vow and said, “O Lord of hosts, if you will indeed look on the affliction of your servant and remember me and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a son, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and no razor shall touch his head.”

“There is none holy like the Lord: for there is none besides you; there is no rock like our God. Talk no more so very proudly, let not arrogance come from your mouth; for the Lord is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed. The bows of the mighty are broken, but the feeble bind on strength. Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread, but those who were hungry have ceased to hunger. The barren has borne seven, but she who has many children is forlorn. The Lord kills and brings to life; he brings down to Sheol and raises up. The Lord makes poor and makes rich; he brings low and he exalts. He raises up the poor from the dust; he lifts the needy from the ash heap to make them sit with princes and inherit a seat of honor. For the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s, and on them he has set the world. “He will guard the feet of his faithful ones, but the wicked shall be cut off in darkness, for not by might shall a man prevail. The adversaries of the Lord shall be broken to pieces; against them he will thunder in heaven. The Lord will judge the ends of the earth; he will give strength to his king and exalt the horn of his anointed.”

1 Samuel 1:4‭-‬11 2:2‭-‬10 ESV

Rev. Ryan Egli

"We tend to stay away from mourning and dancing. Too afraid to cry, too shy to dance...we become narrow-minded complainers, avoiding pain and also true human joy...While we live in a world subject to the evil one, we belong to God. Let us mourn, and let us dance." - Henri Nouwen

Hannah is a wife of Elkanah. She is one of two wives. The other wife is fertile and gives children but Hannah is barren. She cannot have children. She experienced shame and economic peril. Women who could not have children would not have people to care for her in her old age. Men could divorce their wives for this. It was often seen as a curse from God in those days. Hannah's suffering is not a single occurrence. It is long lasting and years in duration. Not only that, but the second wife mocks her. Her husband tries to address Hannah's suffering, but instead of comforting he makes it about himself. It is a poor attempt and Hannah seems to ignore it and goes to God. She prays persistently.

She goes home and God remembers her. She conceives a son. This is not random. But now that the long, longed for child is here, what will Hannah do? She had promised the child to God. This is where the rubber meets the road. Hannah is faithful to her promise in prayer. She tells her husband of the child's place in the temple. She brings the child to the temple as she has promised. She remembers her vow and fulfills it. 

She has a second prayer. Not only that, but she prophesies about the anointing of a coming king. She celebrates about a coming kingdom. Some see this as being about David and others see it referencing Jesus. Israel has had no kings up to this point. In fact, Samuel, her son would anoint both Saul and David. In Jesus, we can find our sufferings turned into rejoicing.

A Community of Holiness & Grace

What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”? But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you. Do not speak evil against one another, brothers. The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor? - James 4:1‭-‬12 ESV

Rev. Ryan Egli

Adulterous slanderous people are in need of God grace

Nature of adulterous people

James confronts people. These are not the enemies of James. They are loved and are a concern for James. He calls them adulterous. There's infighting in these new churches. Why? Because they are under the control of their passions and desires, not only that, but they had the wrong desires. James is confronting friends. Their bitter envy, rivalry, gossip, and back biting is adulterous. They point to other loves in our lives that are not God.

A gracious God

How does God react to an adulterous people? When they come to Him, he gives grace. God calls us to himself to give ourselves, submit ourselves to God. He calls his people to lament their sins and repent. Then he empowers us and forgives us.

Stop judging each other

Those who have received grace from God are called to not stand in judgement over others. We are commanded instead to love our neighbors. We cannot stand over people in judgement at the same time we are loving them. We can't do both. This is different from the orderly judgement of church leaders to treat unrepentant sinners. We are called to stop malicious and vengeful judgement.

A Community Centered on the Word

Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing. If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world. - James 1:19‭-‬27 ESV

Justin Kim

Be doers

When we hear the word of God, do we put it into action in our lives. Or do we hear it and just ignore it from Monday to Saturday. Let us live it out with our fellow brothers and sisters. This isn't a call to pray at the end of every meeting with fellow believers or to always preach to one another. But the relationship between believers should look different from our relationships with other groups outside the church.

A Community of believers

Are there believers that are close enough to speak the word into our lives? Do we let people into our lives close enough to do this? Can we take small concrete steps this week towards one believer in our lives in this way? Do we have someone who we feel safe enough to open up in these ways? If not, can we cultivate those relationships with fellow believers in the church? If so, can we invite one person to speak to the sin in our lives? 

Christ-likeness

The church is supposed to reflect Jesus to the world. To do the word means to be like Jesus Christ. It is not just a group of people who like one another, have similar perspectives, social economic status. The church is a fellowship of believers living out the word together.

And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. - Ephesians 4:11‭-‬16 ESV

There is Always Enough in God's Kingdom

Now the wife of one of the sons of the prophets cried to Elisha, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared the Lord, but the creditor has come to take my two children to be his slaves.” And Elisha said to her, “What shall I do for you? Tell me; what have you in the house?” And she said, “Your servant has nothing in the house except a jar of oil.” Then he said, “Go outside, borrow vessels from all your neighbors, empty vessels and not too few. Then go in and shut the door behind yourself and your sons and pour into all these vessels. And when one is full, set it aside.” So she went from him and shut the door behind herself and her sons. And as she poured they brought the vessels to her. When the vessels were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another vessel.” And he said to her, “There is not another.” Then the oil stopped flowing. She came and told the man of God, and he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debts, and you and your sons can live on the rest.” - 2 Kings 4:1‭-‬7 ESV

Rev. Ryan Egli

Elisha demonstrates the Kingdom to those who are in difficult situations. 

US Christians, in a poll by the Washington Post, were twice as likely to believe that poverty came from lack of individual effort. Why is this? Poverty comes from a intricate web of causes. 

A cry for help

A widow and her sons are in financial trouble because the husband, the provider has died. He was one of these sons of the prophets who backed Elijah & Elisha against the prophets of Baal. Because he had died, there was a creditor coming to take her sons into slavery. How did widows and the fatherless pay off their debts? Slavery was the norm in those times. In Deuteronomy, God warns that Israel was to care for the fatherless and widows. This widow's tribe was supposed to be cared for by her tribe. But during this time, the kingdom was so divided that this family was falling between the cracks. Elisha replies to her by asking two questions. What does she want from him? And what does she have? She has a little oil. Elisha does not assume that she has nothing to bring to the table.

Kingdom community

Elisha sends her back to her community. She is told to ask them for jars. This is perhaps a nod to the brokenness in the community of Israel. God's Kingdom is not a political kingdom. Others said that the liberation of oppressed people was the kingdom. Another mistake is to think that the church is the kingdom. Yet another overly spiritualized the kingdom as something to come when Jesus returns. These are all mistakes. The kingdom is God's reign over God's people in God's place. The church already exists, but the kingdom is still becoming. It is task of the church to bring the invisible kingdom into visibility. 

Kingdom of plenty

The widow gathers the largest vessels she can find. The widow takes this small vessel and pours it into the larger vessels. This miracle is the pouring of oil from a small vessel to many larger vessels. Elisha isn't even there. She goes to tell the prophet what had happened. He tells her to sell this oil to provide for her and her sons into the future. This is an echo of Elijah and the widow at Mizpah. But not only that, this also points forward to Jesus. The miracle of the bread and the small fish feeding thousands. But not only feeding the thousands but twelve basketfuls left over. What does it mean? God's Kingdom always has enough. 

If you are a Christian, I challenge you to make visible the invisible kingdom. To find the widow, the fatherless and meet them where they are. To ask good questions and do good for them.