I sincerely hope that John McCain wins the election this week and becomes our new President. My wife and I plan of voting for him even though we live in Ohio where the vote has been pretty well contaminated by ACORN and we probably never will know how many of the votes in this year’s election are “real.” With Ohio’s instant register and vote law and early voting permitted there are probably already enough ACORN generated ballots in the system to carry the election for Barack Obama. I have even been praying for a McCain win as have many others.
Lately, I have been having some thoughts on this upcoming election and the later results, especially if Barack Obama wins. I dread the slide into increased Socialism. I fear the man, his ideas, his past associations, his proposed tax and social programs, the people he will place in offices of influence (including Supreme Court Justices) and just the whole Daley Chicago Political Machine type government and control he is a part of and represents.
I don’t know if we are seeing the end of the United States as a great nation or not. Others, such as Greece, Rome, Spain, and Great Britain have been great with world wide influence but have deteriorated to ghosts of what they once were. Look at Europe with its Socialism. Do we want to become like that? Some time ago someone and I were talking about the “end times” and the role of the United States in that drama. I told him that the way I understand Scripture, I don’t see the United States in the Bible. I don’t know if that is because the United States will become a small second-rate power that has passed from the scene and is not worth mentioning or if the United States has become just a nameless part of the one world government under the United Nations or under a revived European/Roman government.
I really don’t know what God has in mind. I do believe He is working on His plan and He doesn’t have to consult with us. I do believe God is in ultimate control.
Isaiah the prophet had similar questions. He prophesied during the reign of several kings of Judah. His call is found in chapter 6 of the book which bears his name and happened in the year King Uzziah died. That was probably 739 B.C. Uzziah had been a pretty good king but was smitten with leprosy toward the end of his reign and spent his last years in a “leper house” while his son Jotham ruled. When Uzziah died, Isaiah was probably filled with fears and doubts as to what would happen next. God appeared to him in a vision. Isaiah saw God high and lifted up, seated on a throne, and His glory filled the temple while the angelic hosts worshiped Him. Isaiah was made to realize that even though the earthly throne might be empty, God was large and He was in charge and He was seated on His throne. Some times we still hear the phrase, “God is still on the throne.” That may be hackneyed and trite but I believe it is true. I don’t believe anything takes God by surprise and I believe that no matter what happens to our government, to our country, or to us, God is big enough and strong enough to take us through it. isaiah lived through 16 years of ungodliness under King Ahaz. He lived through the reign of Hezekiah and saw revival, saw Hezekiah miraculously healed with a 15 year extension after he was given the words, “set your house in order for you shall die and not live” and lived to see the armies of Assyria defeated while Jerusalem survived in answer to prayer. He even lived under the reign of cruel King Manasseh and received the grace to be martyred by being placed in a hollow tree and sawed in half. If God could take Isaiah through good and bad government, through defeat and victory, through times of darkness and times of revival and even through death, He can also take us through anything we may have to face.
God brings nations into power and He puts them on the ash heap of history. In the book of Daniel, we see the kingdoms of Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome, and then a kingdom that many consider to be a revived Roman Empire come and go in the plan of God. We also see a stone come and destroy that last empire and then it becomes a great mountain which fills the earth. Daniel explains that in the latter days of those kingdoms, God will establish His Kingdom and He will rule the earth. While we believe that God has a church, a kingdom composed of all those who have submitted to His rule in their lives, we also believe that there is coming a time when Jesus will literally return to this earth and set up a kingdom on the earth to fulfill prophecies made centuries ago. We may be the generation that lives to see these things.
I have had some thoughts lately based on the little book of Habakkuk found in our Bible. This is a tiny three chapter book located near the back of the Old Testament. It’s not only difficult to find but also hard to pronounce. We usually call it Ha-BACK-uk or HAB-a-kuk. Some call it Hav-a-KOOK, It was written some time between 612 and 605 BC. A small nation called Babylon was growing in power and was eclipsing Egypt and Assyria which had been strong world powers. Habakkuk’s name means “to embrace” or “to cling to" or "to wrestle” and he seems to be wrestling with a problem. He is some times called “The Doubting Thomas” of the Old Testament. Some time last year I taught a single lesson from this book and called him “The Prophet with a Problem.”
The three chapters can be titled:
Faith sighing, Faith seeing, and Faith singing.
or
Faith tested, Faith trusted, and Faith triumphant
or
A burden, A vision, and A prayer
or
Faith wondering, Faith watching/waiting and Faith worshiping
or
they have been designated by other titles
The key verse is “the just shall live by faith” in chapter 2 and verse 4. This is quoted 3 times in the New Testament (
Romans 1:17,
Galatians 3:11,
Hebrews 10:38) and was the verse that God dropped into Martin Luther’s heart when he was a monk struggling with how to please God and “earn” or “deserve” salvation.
The whole book can be broken down into a 6 part conversation between God and the prophet. Briefly, the whole message of Habakkuk can be broken down like this:
Conversation 1 is found in chapter 1 verses 1-4. Here the prophet is complaining and questioning God. He looks around and sees so much sin, corruption, and ungodliness and in frustration asks God why He doesn’t do something about it.
Conversation 2 is found in chapter 1 verses 5-11. God speaks and says that He is going to do something and what He is doing is going to shock people. He’s going to raise up the nation of the Chaldeans (Babylon) and He’s going to use them to defeat Israel.
Conversation 3 is found in chapter 1 verses 1-17 where the prophet asks incredulously, “Why are you going to do it that way?’” He then acknowledges how bad God’s people are but the Babylonians are much worse, and besides that, those Babylonians will erroneously believe that their idols have defeated the God of Israel.
Conversation 4 is found in chapter 2 and verse 1. Here the prophet kinda talks to himself and says, “I better pray about this and see if I hear from God.”
Conversation 5 is found in chapter 2 and verses 2-20. Here God speaks. He basically says, “All you can do is trust me on this. I know what I am doing. In the end it will all work out.
The last conversation, number 6, is a song the prophet sings. He sings of some of God’s acts through history and says, “I trust you Lord. I don’t understand it, but I trust You, Lord. I see how you’ve moved throughout our history and I trust you to continue to dow what’s best. Go ahead and work the way you want. No matter what happens, I will trust you and I
will praise you.”
The prophet goes from wrestling with God to embracing Him or clinging to Him by faith.
The message of Habakkuk is:
Don’t wrestle, just nestle.
Don’t struggle, just snuggle.
Don’t try (to understand), just trust.
And, always praise God no matter what
(
1 Thessalonians 5:18,
Ephesians 5:20)
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