Jump Start # 670

Habakkuk 2:20 “But the Lord is in His holy temple. Let all the earth be silent before Him.”

Yesterday we took a brief look at Habakkuk. Today we continue with a few more thoughts. Habakkuk is a short book—three chapters. This is why it is found among the “minor” prophets. The third chapter is a prayer of Habakkuk. Our verse today, the last verse of the second chapter, is the last recorded words of God in this book. It is a great statement “The Lord is in His holy Temple.”

Earlier in the second chapter, God introduces a series of “woes” This is similar to what is found in Isaiah. Habakkuk’s woes are:

• Woe to him who increases what is not his (2:6)
• Woe to him who gets evil gain for his house (2:9)
• Woe to him who builds a city with bloodshed (2:12)
• Woe to you who make your neighbors drink (2:15)
• Woe to him who says to a piece of wood, “Awake!” (2:19)

It is interesting in those series of woes to see a shift in wording. Four times we find, “woe to him…” but one time, it says, “Woe to you…”

With all these woes, God ends this section by reminding all that He is in His holy Temple. God has not gone away. He has not abandoned us to figure things out on our own. He has not given up. Yet, He remains true. He continues to be Holy. He is in His Holy Temple.

What a powerful principle we find when we put the last verse and the first verse together. They stand almost like bookends. The chapter begins with the prophet declaring, “I will stand on my guard post and station myself on the rampart…” I will stand on my guard post and God is in His holy Temple. I’m not counting on God doing it all, nor to do things for me. I am at the post watching. Neither do I expect to handle this alone, God is in His holy temple.

With God in His Holy Temple, Habakkuk was standing guard at his post. God was sending the Babylonians. Habakkuk was watching. The conclusion of verse one states, “and I will keep watch to see what He will speak to me, and how I may reply when I am reproved.” He knew the Babylonians were coming. He knew because God said so. What God says, happens. This is a profound, yet basic understanding in our faith. God says, it will happen.

Some how we don’t always get that. Throw in the subject of morality, lifestyles, what God expects, and all of a sudden what God says, doesn’t really mean that. We find ways to skirt around some things. We do not find ourselves standing watch at the post, because we do not believe it will happen. We laugh at sin and find it to be attractive. We flirt with the world and stick our toes over the line of right and wrong. Society gets softer and softer with wrong and redefines what is normal and we find our definitions following society. Not so for Habakkuk. He stood at the post. He watched. It was coming because God said so. May the Lord give us hearts so pure and honest that we accept what God says without question and that we stand ready at the post.

Those two expressions, beginning the chapter and ending the chapter are great for us to keep before us. God is in His holy Temple. Hebrews tells us to come boldly before the throne of grace. What a blessing it is that we can do that. Likewise, how important it is for us to be watching at our post. Do not desert the post. Do not fall asleep while on duty. Do not neglect what we ought to be doing. The wise virgins in Matthew 25 were told to be alert, for you do not know the day nor the hour. The elders at Ephesus were told to watch the flock and be alert (Acts 20). At the post…watching. Knowing that what the Lord said will come about.

There is comfort for us as we stand at the post, knowing that God is in His holy Temple.

Roger