Exposition by Max A Forsythe
The
Reformer's Fire
Exposition by Max A Forsythe
In 1989 I delivered a short Thanksgiving meditation on a portion of this chapter. At that time I was very well prepared for any Y2K problems even before the fear of that event was widely known. You see, in the late seventies and early eighties I was very much concerned with self-sufficiency on the farm. I worked my ten acres of land intensely, we froze fresh fruit and tomato juice for the winter. We bought raw milk from my father, and almost every pound of meat that went into the freezer came from an animal that was known by name. There were no additives to the feed, and my ground was carefully fertilized to improve the land. I spent a fortune and learned like Gandhi, the leader of India, that it cost more to live in poverty than to live within the market economy!
That fall of 1989 I was bragging that there were seven calves in their stalls and thirteen sheep in their pen, as well as two dozen laying hens in their cage, the mow was full of hay and feed prices had gone down. Unlike the drought year of 1988 our garden yielded an abundance of lettuce, corn, beets, tomatoes, zucchini, apples and grapes. And so we buttoned up the barn for winter by stacking hay bales against the windy side of the barn. And like the Pilgrims it was easy to count the blessings in the barn and compare them to earlier years and thus give thanks for the increase. Part of the thankfulness of that year was also attitude as well as material. The Cold War was ending, the shortages of the Carter years had been more than made good. And I felt confident. Our little church was about a year and a half old. The boys were growing old enough to to take over the daily operation of the farm so that I could turn my attention to a different type of shepherding. Ten years later, I have no time to grow my own food and the boys have changed the focus of the farm operation to make money instead of making work for little willing hands!
I do remember the hardships of the middle seventies, for almost a year I was underemployed. So I worked fifteen hours a week and went back to school. We lived off of savings in the winter of 1975 after having been run out of the liberal church. In the spring of 76 when I was down to my last $100 of savings. That week I had three job offers. I took the one at school and lived on credit until my first pay check that fall. It was good to have a regular pay check, because the economy got only worse that year. The cost of living went up and up and up. I say all of this because in the midst of a booming economy we need to realize that the stock market can really historically go down as well as up. And we all know that their hangs over our heads this fuzzy little problem of computerized confusion when the new century is being born.
As I have said before, I do not think that this problem is of major proportion unless some unethical politicians choose to make if difficult. By contrast to what is coming ahead for us, the prophet Habakkuk had a clear vision of the "end of Judean sovereignty". Beforehand he knew the Babylonians were coming and the trembling of his heart and body before that fall of Jerusalem is just as grim as the wildest predictions of our most radical militia Henny Pennies. Now, let me be careful here, I do not wish to downplay the righteous wrath of our heavenly Father should He choose to hold America to account for sins too numerous and scandalous to mention. Have you heard the latest scandal? The Media was all worked up because the governor of Minnesota agreed to referee a wrestling special for television. Oh my, what is this world coming to, he should have stayed in his office and only taken advantage of a young intern! Or better yet have contented himself with asking the supporters of PBS to send him some money!
Like Habakkuk, God's faithful people have heard His voice and are at least concerned! Here and there, their are sincere prayers for a religious revival. A common interest that in wrath He may remember mercy. But we must read on into the third chapter and see what it is like for the Lord God of all the universe to come down in judgment. Yes, indeed "His glory covered the heavens, and the earth was full of His praise. His rightness was like the light; He had rays flashing from His hand, And there His power was hidden." In the verses following the fourth, we have described the ravages of disease, loss of confidence, earthquake, floods, war and drought. All the mighty acts of God usually not covered by insurance!
And yet through it all, we see in verse sixteen that Habakkuk will temper his fear with respect for the Almighty knowing that in His gracious hands the elect are safe forever. We have to remember that the God of heaven does work in history for the good of His people. The mountains in verse three are those in the Egyptian Sinai. The brightness in verse four is the Shekinah glory which led Israel by His presence. The plagues of verse five were in Egypt, the parting of the water in verse eight allowed the Israelites to cross over on dry land. Verse eleven retells the holding back of the sun reported in Joshua 10. These Habakkuk knew from the history of his people. The enemies of God paid a heavy price for standing in opposition to His divine will. So too will all those who follow the example of Pharaoh.
If as many reports from World War Two indicate, that grown men were more afraid of General George S Patton than the German Army - then we like Habakkuk should quake in our shoes as we know the full power of our righteous God in heaven. Pity the poor slob who chooses to stand against the God of heaven in any time! When the righteous indignation of our God is let loose, who can stand? Strong economies may be dismissed overnight, prosperity turned to depression in a fortnight.
Look at verse seventeen. I have lived long enough to see poor harvests, I have had a garden just dry up in spite of regular irrigation. In my neighborhood a whole flock of sixty sheep was frozen to the ground and covered by snow until finally found after the spring thaw. We have had a steer spooked to death by its own fear, a ewe once rolled over on her back and died! One spring the value of my livestock dropped by two thousand dollars in less than ten days. I didn't stop going to church - what other hope could I have had?
And so as we wind down our observations on this deep passage, let us reflect upon the fact that God alone is our God in good times as well as bad. In fact the joy that should be ours for being His is like the dancing feet of the deer on the mountain heights of Palestine. Yes, that is the correct image in the last verse of Habakkuk. The lighthearted prancing and gamboling of the mountain deer should be as the skipping joy of Habakkuk's psalm. Do we bring such a joy in our salvation to our believer's worship here today?
I hope so, because the seeker's churches which are worldly in their attempt to manufacture a like joy at least understand that Church should be a happy place. But our happiness must be like that of Habakkuk. Our joy must be focused on the object of our singing - Jesus Christ: crucified for our sins, risen from the dead to destroy death and ascended into heaven to pray for and rule over us. So let us not worry about our careers as long as we have work to do, let us not worry about the end of a millennium, the economy nor dwell on the perfidy of politicos. Let us rejoice in our Lord and Savior.
Resources Used:
Baker, David W. Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries: Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah.
Boice, James M. The Minor Prophets: An Expositional Commentary.
Places Preached:
Christ Covenant REFORMED (Presbyterian Church in America)
Box 13926 -- Columbus, OH 43213
Hab03b 18 Nov 89 & 18 July 99
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