Haggai 1

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Haggai the prophet, Joshua the priest, and Zerubbabel the descendant of King David, were used by the Lord to steer the Jews toward godly choices as they returned to the Promised Land after decades of exile. The Lord disciplined His vulnerable refugees with a devastating drought as they tried to get back on their feet. What was the problem? “These people say the time has not come to rebuild the house of the Lord.” God's answer to their troubles was simple enough, “Consider your ways.” The facts concerning their meager agricultural success were very disappointing, but what was the reason for their troubles? The Lord said, “Because of My house that lies in ruins, while each of you busies himself with his own house.”

The directive to first seek God and His worship did not fall on deaf ears. The three leading officials and “all the remnant of the people” heard the Word of the Almighty and “obeyed the voice of the Lord their God.” They did not have to wait long to receive encouragement from heaven. Jehovah said to them, “I am with you.” God “stirred up” His people and they “worked on the house of the Lord.”

We live in a very different time than Haggai, Joshua, and Zerubbabel. As we hear the call of Jesus to His church, it is no longer to construct a temple in Jerusalem, but to build up the body of Christ in our own neighborhoods and to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8). Our Redeemer is our Cornerstone, and the apostolic foundation around Him is preserved for us in the New Testament. The faithful from every generation are “living stones” (1 Peter 2:5) in a house of worship that will never be destroyed.

God has given gifts to His children that we are to use for the coming of His kingdom. His priorities in our families, workplaces, and churches are more important than our own desires to have more beautiful homes and successful businesses. God's numerous displays of kindness to us all have their importance in His purposes, but He needs to be our first desire. The strengths that the Lord has granted us must be combined with the varied blessings bestowed upon others so that our message concerning Jesus will shine forth in fruitful service. The works that God has prepared for each of us to accomplish together (Ephesians 2:10) are a part of the larger divine decree that will bring glory to God as we seek to do His will.

Prayer from A Book of Prayers

Lord God, we must seek first Your Kingdom. We are busy with our own affairs, but nothing has seemed to work out according to our plans. We have looked for much, but our efforts have not been very fruitful. We recommit ourselves to Your Word and give ourselves to Your service. Be with us, O Lord. Fill Your servants with holy boldness for the glory of Your Name. Build up Your house, O God! Help us to see the part that You have for us and to offer up our lives for Your wonderful purposes.

Zephaniah 3

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Jerusalem was an “oppressing city” rather than a “light for the nations” (Isaiah 49:6). God had sent her many prophets, but she was “rebellious and defiled” because she listened “to no voice” but her own. Her leaders were at least as guilty as the populace at large. Only “the Lord within her” was “righteous.”

The Almighty had both defended His beloved from outside forces and disciplined her in order to work toward necessary “correction.” What was the yield from His wise and powerful actions? “They were eager to make all their deeds corrupt.”

The Lord would judge His chosen ones, yet He also gave them good news that He would usher in a glorious fulfillment of His covenant to Abraham. The people groups of the earth would “call upon the Name of the Lord and serve Him with one accord.” Jehovah's “worshipers” would be used to collect an offering for Him. Their gift would not be silver, gold, or sacrificial animals, but human beings who would be part of a growing community of “pure speech” who would discover a holy way of life in the Messiah. An assembly of the “humble and lowly” would “seek refuge in the Name of the Lord.” God's gathering of the redeemed would ultimately be perfected in holiness, for in their number there would be “no injustice” and they would “speak no lies.”

Yahweh spoke these great words through Zephaniah: “I will bring you in” and “restore your fortunes before your eyes.” Such truths should lead the church to raise voices in praise, for Jesus has sealed these extravagant divine commitments in His blood. “The Lord has taken away the judgments” against us and has “cleared away” our worst “enemies” of sin, death, and hell. Jehovah Himself will sing to His bride. “He will rejoice over you with gladness; He will quiet you by His love; He will exult over you with loud singing.” In His song we can find all the security and happiness that our wounded and weary hearts could ever desire.

Prayer from A Book of Prayers

Father God, we hear Your Word of correction. Speak to us day by day and grant us new hearts by Your Holy Spirit. By Your grace, we will turn from our iniquities. When You pour out Your indignation, You will keep us as Your people. We will be with You on Your holy mountain. Our sin will be removed far from us, and we will praise You forever. You have taken away the judgments that were against us. You will be in our midst, and You will save us. You will rejoice over us with singing. This is our glorious hope. You will heal us and restore our fortunes according to the promises that You have made to us in Your Son Jesus Christ, our Mediator and our Atoning Sacrifice. Teach us to walk in this faith today, for You will surely accomplish all of Your purposes.

Zephaniah 2

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“Gather together, yes, gather, O shameless nation.” The Lord intended to discipline His own people because of their violations of His commandments. If they would not hear His final warnings, they would suffer the fate of the surrounding nations who worshiped idols. What was God's instruction to the Jews in this hour of decision? “Seek the Lord, all you humble of the land, who do His just commands; seek righteousness; seek humility; perhaps you may be hidden on the day of the anger of the Lord.”

All the neighboring countries would be cut off from their property. Philistines, Moabites, and Ammonites would all feel the consequences of their pride. They had “taunted and boasted” against the worshipers of God, but they would soon be destroyed. Even more distant empires like Cush and Assyria would become a “desolation.” Wealthy cities that were centers of imperial authority would now be populated by “all kinds of beasts.”

The men and women who lived in luxury imagined that they were far above the God of Israel. Zephaniah quoted their absurd motto: “I am, and there is no one else.” Did they have any awareness of their blasphemy as they took Jehovah's own Name as their own? Were they claiming that they were the unstoppable I-AM? In due time the meek remnant of the Lord's chosen assembly would inherit everything that had once belonged to their enemies. The lifeless pagan “gods” of the world would be “famished” since no supplicants would bring them food offerings any longer.

The hope of the few faithful could never be assured through their own keeping of God's law. The Lord has always demanded perfect and perpetual obedience, and they could not even remotely satisfy His exacting requirements. Nonetheless their sinless Redeemer would meet all of God's holy demands and die for the sins of His beloved sons and daughters. A foolish man might presume that he is supreme without even bothering to acknowledge Yahweh. The godly will be content to find their worth in the refuge of the Almighty who made the heavens and the earth.

Prayer from A Book of Prayers

Sovereign Lord, we are ashamed of our sin. We should seek You and obey Your commandments. We pray that You would grant to us both righteousness and humility. Father, please make a distinction between Your people and their enemies, for You love Your church. Your Son gave His blood for us, but You will bring a devastating judgment upon the world. We must be found by You in mercy, and kept by Your faithfulness, or we will be destroyed with the wicked.

Zephaniah 1

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God spoke through Zephaniah to give an oracle of worldwide judgment that has yet to be fulfilled. The Lord has not been slow in keeping His promises, but has been accomplishing His will in the years that have passed since those days. He said, “I will utterly sweep away everything from the face of the earth,” and He surely will do just that.

Before the Old Covenant era was over, Jerusalem would be destroyed by the Babylonians. Zephaniah pointed to the faithlessness of religious leaders who worshiped not only Yahweh but also “Milcom,” an Ammonite deity. Others kept the form of sacred tradition, but they did not really believe in the sovereign power of the I-AM. They said, “The Lord will not do good, nor will He do ill.” These rulers and the nation at large had become worldly, taking on “foreign” ways of life and ignoring the commandments of God.

Destruction would soon come upon the Jews, but in the distant future a final calamity will overwhelm the entire globe with “distress and anguish.” Before that frightening cataclysm, all the people groups of the earth will hear the gospel of hope in Christ. Nonetheless, many human beings will lose everything in the wrath of God. They will remain in their sin “against the Lord” because of their continued unbelief and idolatry.

The loss of our current global society will be “full and sudden.” We have been warned by Christ and His apostles that Jesus will arrive like “a thief in the night” (Matthew 24:43 and 1 Thessalonians 5:2). Until the final trumpet sounds, we have been told to remain at our posts, waiting, watching, and working in the service of the King of kings. His victory over death for sinners was certainly the complete answer for our right standing with God. At the Lord's predestined time we will see Jesus coming on clouds of glory, and every knee in heaven and on earth shall bow before Him. (Philippians 2:10-11)

Prayer from A Book of Prayers

Lord of Hosts, a great Day of Destruction is coming against the world. You have warned us that judgment begins with Your household, and that You will purify Your church. How will we stand when You bring distress upon mankind? Forgive us, for we have violated Your commandments. Will we be safe if we worship You and also bow down before false gods? Our money will not deliver us from Your hand. Your Son is our only hope. Please have mercy upon us.

Habakkuk 3

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The prophet Habakkuk sought and received two explanations from the Lord regarding the consequences of sin. Would the Lord ignore evil among His covenant community? No, God would use the Babylonians to punish His children. Would the Almighty allow a pagan people to destroy His beloved nation and face no sanctions for their brutality and idolatry? No, there would be a reckoning for Jerusalem's foes, but the righteous would need to wait upon the Lord, trusting that God would do what was right at the proper time.

When Jehovah revealed His will to Habakkuk, He also granted vivid images of a future judgment. What was His servant's response to these frightening visions? He authored a song to the Lord in which he offered this humble petition: “In wrath remember mercy.”

Habakkuk saw more clearly than ever the greatness of God's being and works. The Lord's “splendor covered the heavens, and the earth was full of His praise.” God would touch land, sea, and sky in order to defeat His enemies and bring “salvation” to all who called upon His Name. In these fearful deeds of divine warfare, Yahweh would make a distinction between the “house of the wicked” and the lives of His “anointed.”

Habakkuk had learned how to “quietly wait” for the “day of trouble” to come upon those who hated the Jews. The righteous would “rejoice in the Lord” as they lived by faith. Even though the circumstances of life might be very dangerous and unpleasant, Habakkuk would “take joy” in the Holy One of Israel and in His glorious victory. The Lord would give His worshipers strength as they lifted up their voices to Him. If honoring God made sense in the days of the Old Testament, the church should surely praise Him today since we know that the Son of God has secured our eternal happiness through His own death and resurrection.

Prayer from A Book of Prayers

Father God, we humbly ask that You would remember mercy in Your wrath. We plead the blood of Christ Your Son because You sent Him to be a Substitute for sinners. Your justice already came upon Him centuries ago. There was nothing missing in His atoning sacrifice. Surely our wickedness has been utterly crushed through His death for Your people. We tremble at the truth of Your holiness and Your costly love. The wicked who hate You will not prosper without end. Though we seem empty now, we are full of the joy of Your glory, and we will worship You in the splendor of Your majesty forever.

Habakkuk 2

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Habakkuk had asked the Lord an important question regarding His plans for the Jews and for the Babylonians. Would the empire to the east be allowed to destroy God's city?

God told Habakkuk to write down the following answer for future generations: “The righteous shall live by his faith.” (See Romans 1:17, Galatians 3:11, and Hebrews 10:38.) The Lord would establish His final purposes at “the appointed time,” but until then, the people of God had to “wait” for their vindication. Though it might seem as if events were moving too slowly, the Lord's perfect day of joy “hastens to the end.” God's assembly needed to trust Him that His kingdom would “surely come.”

Though in both Jerusalem and Babylon there was much stealing, violence, sexual impropriety, and idolatry, these worldly troubles would not ultimately prevail. Eventually, “the earth” would be “filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.”

God's great victory will be comprehensive. The Lord's children will dwell in a new resurrection environment where His holiness will reign supreme. Believing this promise, we can join those throughout the centuries who have found their peace in the Lord. Our God is “in His Holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before Him.”

We do not deny that the life of godliness can be very challenging in a world of sin. Our best strategy for survival will not be through the escape of drunkenness, since Habakkuk warns us that “wine is a traitor.” Nothing under the sun has the power to bring heaven to earth. It is far better for us to remember that the Prince of Peace was obedient to the end for us. The Lord is God and He is good. He will defeat every overwhelming adversary. Our coming King will judge the wicked and save the righteous.

Prayer from A Book of Prayers

Sovereign Lord, we wait for Your Word. There is much that we do not understand. Your Son will finally come with power. Until that day Your people will live by faith. Though the wicked man will gather up what is not his own, he cannot take it with him beyond this life. There will be surprising witnesses that will rise against him in the day of resurrection that he does not expect. There are many things that we do not understand now, but we know that the earth shall be covered with the knowledge of Your greatness and Your glory. All idols will be exposed as nothing. You are in Your holy temple. We worship You with awe and reverence, and trust You in everything.

Habakkuk 1

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The prophet Habakkuk questioned the Almighty. He had requested “help” from God regarding the “iniquity” that was all around him among the Lord's own people. Jehovah was allowing “violence” and “strife” to continue in direct violation of divine statutes without any apparent consequences.

God's reply was quite distressing: “I am raising up the Chaldeans” as agents of discipline against the Lord's own covenant community. Brutal soldiers on “horses swifter than leopards” would one day “gather captives like sand.” These foes were not chosen by God because of their goodness. The Babylonian warriors themselves were “guilty men, whose own might” was their “god.”

Habakkuk was alarmed by this frightening pronouncement which provoked within him a second question. Would the unchanging Yahweh, who had made precious promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, use a nation less righteous than the Jews to bring complete destruction upon the chosen ones of the Lord? Would God “idly look at traitors and remain silent” while ungodly pagans swallowed up God's worshipers? Would the Lord do nothing as these foreign armies were “mercilessly killing” not only the elect, but also many other nations?

The response to this second query would come in Habakkuk 2:4, and it would inform not only the Old Testament saints, but also the entire New Testament church, since it would be quoted in Romans, Galatians, and Hebrews. More on that in our next devotion, but until then, what can we conclude from Habakkuk 1? Our God permits us to ask Him about very troubling issues, though we may be surprised by the way that He responds to us in His Word.

The ultimate answer for our beleaguered hearts can only be found in Jesus, the Son of God. Through His cross and resurrection we have become convinced that the Lord did not ignore our evil, but has atoned for our sins with His own blood. The wicked will not be able to abuse the Lord's children forever. The Messiah who died for us will rescue us from His and our enemies.

Prayer from A Book of Prayers

Lord God, You love justice. We are amazed at Your patience, for there is still evil all around us. We see perversions of every kind, yet we trust that Your ways are perfect. You have a plan involving even powerful and wicked nations. You work out Your holy goodness using people groups who are swift to kill their adversaries. Even rebellious angels fit into Your glorious decrees somehow. You are the everlasting God. You have ordained judgments upon the earth. Will You use an oppressive army to discipline Your church? Surely we are brought to wonder about the unfolding of events even in our time, but it is well beyond us to guess the details of what will come to pass. We do receive what You have revealed in Your Word, and we know You, O mighty and majestic God.

Nahum 3

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Nineveh was a force to be reckoned with in ancient days, but God called her “the bloody city” that was “full of lies and plunder.” The capital of the great Assyrian Empire was used to telling other people what they must do if they wanted to live, but soon the streets of Nineveh would have “dead bodies without end.” God called this formidable seat of worldly power a “prostitute.” She looked “graceful” to the casual observer, but her “charms” were “deadly” to all who fell under her seductions.

Though Nineveh would be overcome by the Babylonians, it was God Himself who said, “I am against you.” The Lord would turn the ruling families of the Assyrians into a “spectacle.” Those who had been accustomed to the greatest accolades among men would now face the worst public humiliation.

Was such a fall possible? History assured any honest observer that other honored places of human authority had faced similarly swift destruction. All of them had eventually been scattered by a greater military force. Nineveh would be sent into exile. Like a hoard of “locusts,” the Assyrian soldiers might seem to cover the face of the earth, yet they would all “fly away” and be forgotten by future generations. Even their “nobles” would be “scattered on the mountains with none to gather them.”

Why would the Assyrian Empire be destroyed? Why would their neighbors celebrate the report of Nineveh's humiliation? The Assyrians leaders had ruled with “unceasing evil” and every nation around them had fallen victim to their brutality.

The story of international history is full of similar despotic groups that loved to lie, steal, and murder other weaker countries. It is good news that the kingdom of God will eventually have victory over all such tyrants. In the course of many centuries whenever a Nineveh is crushed by foreign warriors, we are given a taste of a far greater judgment that will one day come upon all the lawless powers of this fading cosmos. With the second coming of our Messiah, God's eternal kingdom will be fully glorified. The justice of the Almighty will be entirely in the hands of One who was pierced for our transgressions. The supreme Potentate over the resurrection world will be the Lord Jesus Christ who loves His church with a steadfast commitment that shall never fail.

Prayer from A Book of Prayers

Glorious God, the age of violence will soon be over. We do not know the day or the hour, but we do confess that our lives here below will not last forever. When our mortal bodies fail, we will still rejoice in You. No longer will we fear enemies from without or within. We do not know the one who knocks at the door with an evil heart, but we can trust You, even in this present age. Give us a mind for the life to come. Help us to meditate on the reality of heavenly habitations. Did not Jesus have a resurrection body? Did He not ascend in clouds of glory? Can any evil empire hurt Him? Have not Your beloved children found their safety in Him? The day of wickedness will soon be gone, and we will worship You forever.