27 September

Bible In 365 Days

Habakkuk 1-3; Zepheniah 1-3

 

Habakkuk 1

In this first division of the Book we have the prophet's statement of the problems which vexed his soul. The first was the apparent indifference of Jehovah both to his prayer and to the condition of prevailing evil. To this Jehovah replied that He was at work, but that the prophet would not believe if he were told. He then proceeded to declare explicitly that His method was that of raising the Chaldeans as a scourge against His people.

This answer of Jehovah, while strengthening the faith of the prophet, immediately created a new problem: that Jehovah should use such an instrument, for, notwithstanding all Israel's sin, she was more righteous than the Chaldeans.

The answer came immediately. The prophet was first commanded to write, and to make his writing plain for easy reading. The vision granted to him was stated in the words, "Behold, his soul is puffed up, it is not upright in him; but the just shall live by his faith." That is the central revelation of the prophecy. It is a contrast between the "puffed up" and the "just." The former is not upright, and therefore is condemned; the latter acts on faith, and therefore lives. The first is self-centered, and therefore doomed; the second is God-centered, and therefore permanent. This was the declaration of a great principle, which the prophet was left to work out in application to all the problems by which he was surrounded.

From this point the prophecy becomes a proclamation of the contrast, and therefore an affirmation of faith in spite of appearances.

 

Habakkuk 2

The proclamations fall into two parts. The first is concerned with the "puffed up," the second concerns the righteous.

The "puffed up" are described as haughty, ambitious, conquering, against whom the prophet pronounces certain woes.

In considering these the progress is to be carefully noted. The first was against ambition, which was described. The judgment pronounced against it was a revolt of the oppressed, and retribution in kind. The second was against covetousness, that lust for possession at the expense of others. Judgment was to be the subjugated people rising against the oppressor, the stones and beams of the house testifying. The third was against violence, the infliction of cruel sufferings on the subjugated. Judgment was that the very cities so built should be destroyed. The fourth was against insolence, the brutal act of making a man drunk, and then making sport of him. Its judgment was to be retribution in kind. The fifth was against idolatry, the description of which was wholly satirical. Its judgment was declared to be unanswering gods.

The final statement of the prophet in this connection declared that he had found the solution, "The Lord is in His holy temple." The apparent strength of wickedness is false. Jehovah reigns.

 

Habakkuk 3

In the proclamation concerning the righteous, the majesty of Jehovah and the consequent triumph of His people are set forth. It consists of a psalm which is a prayer.

In the first movement the prophet declared his recognition of the divine interference, and his consequent fear. He then proceeded to celebrate the greatness of Jehovah as manifest in His dealings with His ancient people.

The last section of the psalm expressed the fear and the faith of the just. The contemplation of the judgment of the "puffed up" had filled the prophet with fear, yet he triumphed in God. Describing the circumstances of utter desolation, he declared his determination to rejoice, and announced his reason for this determination.

 

Zepheniah 1

The first movement of the prophecy is the prophet's declaration of the coming judgment of Jehovah. This he announced in general terms, then described more particularly its procedure and character.

This description opened with a comprehensive announcement, "I will utterly consume all things from off the face of the ground, saith Jehovah." Zephaniah then showed that to be a description of the creation in so far as it had become evil: man and the sphere of his dominion, the stumbling-blocks, with the wicked and the race, were to be consumed. The local application was that judgment would descend on Judah and Jerusalem, falling on those who had practiced idolatry, those who had indulged in mixed worship, those who had backslidden from following the Lord, and those who had never sought or inquired after Him.

Proceeding to describe more particularly the judgment, the prophet announced the presence of Jehovah for the purpose of judgment. The stroke of that judgment would fall first on the princes, then on the extortioners, also on the merchantmen, and, finally, on those who were living on their wealth in idleness and indifference.

The prophet finally gave a graphic description of the day in which men would walk as blind, none being able to deliver them because Jehovah would make "an end . . . a terrible end, of all them that dwell in the land."

 

Zepheniah 2

After this declaration, the prophet uttered his great appeal, first to the nation as a whole, calling on it to pull itself together before the opportunity for repentance should pass, before the hour of judgment should arrive.

As though conscious that that larger appeal would be unavailing, he turned to the remnant, to such as were the "meek of the earth," and urged them to renewed devotion. This appeal he enforced by argument, in which he again set forth the fact of the coming judgment on the nations, interspersing his declaration with words of hope concerning the remnant.

He first addressed the nations on the West, proclaiming that they would be utterly destroyed, and that in their place the remnant of the house of Judah would feed their flocks. He next turned to the nations on the East, declaring that they would become a perpetual desolation, and that the remnant would inhabit their lands.

He then turned to those on the South, announcing that they would be slain by the sword.

Finally, he declared that those on the North would be destroyed and their cities made a desolation.

 

Zepheniah 3

In this chapter the prophet yet more clearly set forth the sin of the people, and spoke of the hopelessness of the case from the human standpoint. This gave him his opportunity to announce the victory of God, who, notwithstanding the utter failure of His people, would ultimately accomplish the purpose of His love for them.

The address opened with a declaration of woe against Jerusalem, which the prophet described as rebellious, polluted, and oppressing. In the presence of this utter hopelessness the prophet cried, "Therefore wait for Me, saith Jehovah." This was the first gleam of hope. The very hopelessness and sin of the people made divine action necessary, and the action would be judgment. The judgment, however, would be but the prelude, for no sooner had the prophet declared it to be inevitable than he proceeded to describe the ultimate restoration.

From this point the prophecy is clearly Messianic. Zephaniah gave no picture of the suffering Servant, nor any hint of His method. He dealt only with the ultimate result.

He then addressed himself to the remnant, charging them to sing and rejoice because their enemy would be cast out, and their true King Jehovah be established in the midst of them. He next called them to true courage and to service.

The prophecy reaches its highest level as Zephaniah describes the attitude of God in poetic language under the figure of motherhood. Jehovah in the midst of His people will rejoice, and from the silence of love will proceed to the song of His own satisfaction.