"The Lord is in His Holy Temple"

“What profit is an idol when its maker has shaped it, a metal image, a teacher of lies?For its maker trusts in his own creation when he makes speechless idols!  Woe to him who says to a wooden thing, Awake; to a silent stone, Arise! Can this teach? Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver, and there is no breath at all in it. But the Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him.” (Habakkuk 2:18-20)

The Book of Habakkuk has a gospel lesson for all of us. Habakkuk also helps us in our lives as we encounter challenges that, on their face, seem impossible to overcome. Habakkuk had two basic questions for God. In the face of the overwhelming sin of Israel, who were emboldened by an apparent absence of God, rebelled with a growing animosity. Habakkuk witnessed the idolatry, the greed, and the sexual immorality of God’s people and asked, First, where are you, God? And second, why are you allowing all of this to happen? For me, those are the very same questions I ask today; however, on this side of the cross, I believe and have faith in God’s providence, no matter how bad it gets. Although I still ask.

In a time when God still spoke to the prophets, his answer to Habakkuk was quite startling. God reveals to Habakkuk that He will use the enemy of Israel, Babylon, to punish all those who are evil. Secondly, God would punish not only Judah but also all of the enemies of God, showing His sovereignty for all to believe.

Habakkuk reveals the prophet as he recounts God's providence in the Exodus, the wanderings, and the arrival at the promised land. This remembrance of the deliverance from Egypt to the promised land is a revelation of the deliverance of all sinners who come to Christ in faith and repentance.

The gospel can also be found in the justice, mercy, and providential provision God makes for His people. The greater story of the Bible is that God’s sovereign time and the fullness of His mercy and grace are revealed through the person of Christ Jesus, the Son of God.  It is Christ who came and gives mercy and justice. All sins are washed away by the cross for those who believe in the risen Son of God and His penal substitutionary finished work on the cross. Those who reject God will receive God’s justice in hell. In each book of the Bible, these characteristics of God are revealed, as are the shadows and foretelling of the coming of the Messiah, our deliverance, and the promised land of heaven which awaits all saints.

Have you come to Christ? He beckons you; all you need do is call out to Him and ask for forgiveness and receive His mercy and the faith that saves.

Grace and peace!