Peter Misselbrook's Blog

Sep 4 2019 - Habakkuk 2:2-20 – The Lord's answer

Habakkuk is distressed because the land he loves and views as God's gift to his people is being overrun and destroyed by the Babylonian army. He cried out to God in prayer, but the Lord responded that he has sent this fearsome army to invade the land. Habakkuk is astonished that God, who is holy and cannot abide evil, should tolerate the violent behaviour of these people (1:13).

In today's passage, the Lord assures Habakkuk that evil will not have the last word. If the Lord has sent the Babylonians as an act of judgment because of the unfaithfulness of his people, he will certainly judge the Babylonians in turn for their violence and wickedness:

Because you have plundered many nations,
    the peoples who are left will plunder you.
For you have shed human blood;
    you have destroyed lands and cities and everyone in them. (2:8)

Their confidence in their idol-gods will count for nothing. They are lifeless and unable to come to the aid of those who trust in them (vv. 18-19).

Habakkuk should be assured that "The Lord is in his holy [heavenly] temple" (v.20). Jerusalem may fall to the Babylonians and the temple built by Solomon may be reduced to rubble, but the Living God is still reigning and working out his own purposes through all the twists and turns of human history. It may sometimes seem to us that the world is completely out of control, but that is not the case as verse 14 of this chapter asserts – a verse which finds expression in the hymn: 

God is working his purpose out,
as year succeeds to year:
God is working his purpose out,
and the time is drawing near:
nearer and nearer draws the time,
the time that shall surely be,
when the earth shall be filled
with the glory of God,
as the waters cover the sea.

The Sovereign Lord tells Habakkuk to write what has been revealed to him in language that all can understand. He calls on his people to trust him in the midst of these troubled times – the righteous person is to live by faith (v.4). At the same time, God calls on the warring world to be silent before him (v. 20, compare Psalm 46:8-10).

How do we view the chaotic times in which we live, times when evil seems often to have the upper hand? It is right that we should be distressed by the evil we see in the world around us and want to do something about it, but we should not forget that if these things distress us, they anger the Lord far more. Our righteous indignation is but a pale and muddied reflection of the holy anger of the living God against the sin and selfishness of those whom he created to image him. We need to learn to trust God who works out his own purposes even through human evil – as he did with the death of the Lord Jesus Christ.  We need to look with longing and hope to the day when that same Jesus shall return in glory and put the world to rights – the day when "the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea."

Father God, teach me to trust you and to live by faith that fixes its sight on the Lord Jesus rather than being overwhelmed by all that is wrong with our world. Help me to live in faithful obedience to you so that your righteous character may begin to be seen in me. Help us to be the means through which something of that world to come – a world marked by righteousness and peace – pours into this present world.

Sep 4 2020 - Matthew 10:24-11:6 – Are you the one?

Jesus tells his disciples to be bold in preaching the good news of the kingdom; they are to go and shout it from the housetops. But at the same time he warns them that their message will stir up opposition. There has been, and will be, opposition to Jesus and there will be opposition to those who follow him and serve him; the servant must not expect better treatment than his master.

As if to illustrate this point, the focus now turns to John the Baptist who has been imprisoned for his preaching of righteousness. John is perplexed and sends some of his followers to ask Jesus, "Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?" (Matthew 11:3). John had prepared the way for the coming of the Messiah. He had called the whole nation to get themselves ready for what God was about to do and he had pointed his own disciples to Jesus and encouraged them to follow him. But now he was in prison and with little hope of being released. If Jesus was truly the Messiah, come to establish his kingdom, why was Herod still in power? Why were the prisoners not released?

Jesus does not give a detailed answer to John. He simply sends the messengers away with the instruction, "Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor. Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me" (11:4-6). Jesus had not come to establish the kind of kingdom people had been expecting – or even the kingdom that John had been hoping for. He had not come to take on Herod on his own terms but to undermine the whole system of self-assertive power. Jesus wants John to recognise that he came not to crush but to heal. He will bring healing and transformation to a broken world by taking the world's brokenness upon himself.

And he sends his disciples out as recruits in his mission to heal the world, telling them that they too will be wounded healers. They may even be wounded by those who are closest to them, those whom they love. The kingdom will be established through the pain and power of the cross – a cross his followers must also bear (10:38).

Those who would follow Jesus and be agents of the kingdom are not promised a peaceful life (10:34). But they are assured that they are loved and valued by their Father in heaven; he takes note when a sparrow falls to the ground and they are of far more value to him than a sparrow – the very hairs on their heads are numbered. And just as they have been ready to speak to others about Jesus, so Jesus promises that he will speak up on their behalf before his Father. None of those who respond to and follow the Saviour will fail to receive a reward from his hand.

Lord Jesus, I fear the scorn and disapproval of others and I do all that I can to avoid being hurt. Help me to care far more for the deep hurts and brokenness of others than for my own comfort. Your Spirit has whispered words of love into my heart and assured me that I am a child of God.  You have shown me that every blessing I possess streams from your cross. Help me to proclaim from the housetops the good news of your love and mercy.

Peter Misselbrook