Sunday: The Big Picture
When we are hurting, it is very easy to presume that what happens to us is the only thing that matters. But there is a slightly larger picture than just “me” (see Revelation 12:7, Romans 8:22).
Read Habakkuk 1:1-4. What did Habakkuk face?
Image © Krieg Barrie from GoodSalt.com
You might expect that God would say something like, “That’s really terrible, Habakkuk; let Me come and help you immediately.” But God’s answer is the opposite. He tells Habakkuk that it is going to get worse. Read this in Habakkuk 1:5-11.
Israel had been taken into captivity by the Assyrians, but God promises that worse is coming: The Babylonians will now carry away the people of Judah. Habakkuk cries out again in verses 12-17, and then waits to see what God is going to say.
How does God’s introduction to the promised destruction of Babylon in Habakkuk 2:2-3, bring hope?
Habakkuk 2:1-20 is God’s promise of the destruction of the Babylonians. Hebrews 10:37 quotes Habakkuk 2:3, hinting of a messianic application to this promise in the future. With the same certainty that the destruction of Babylon was promised, so we also have the certainty of the destruction of “Babylon the Great” (Revelation 18:2, NIV).
Habakkuk was trapped between the great evil surrounding him and God’s promise of worse to come. Yet, this is precisely where we find ourselves in salvation history. Great evil is around us, but the Bible predicts that much worse is to come. The key to Habakkuk’s survival was that he was brought to see the whole picture.
Therefore, in chapter 3 he is able to pray an incredible prayer of praise because of what God will do in the future.
| Read Habakkuk 3:16-19. What does Habakkuk identify as his reasons for hope? What is the hope of God’s people as we wait for the last prophetic scenes to unfold? How can you make this hope your own? |
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We often confuse the "big picture" notion with "more detail". We think that if we have more detail, we will get the big picture. This is an issue that comes up among bird photographers. If you get a group of bird photographers together you will often hear some of them talking about how many megapixels their camera has and other technical mumbo-jumbo. Other photographers will get on with the job of observing the birds and capturing their behaviour. What is the point of having a 45 megapixel sensor if you are missing the action of group of Varied Sittellas feeding on the branches above you. Focussing on the technical details without the practical application is not the recipe for good bird photography.
I don't play chess, but I know all the moves that you can play with the various chess pieces. And I have watched experts play chess. They make the moves exactly according to the rules that I know so well. Yet in the end, typically one of the players wins and the other loses. I have worked out that there must be something more to playing chess than just making the moves according to the rules. The big picture of course is that the players must have a strategy that goes a long way beyond simple rule-keeping. That is the big picture stuff for chess.
In the play of salvation we need to understand that while we see the moves of the game, we may be unaware of the strategy. This is particularly true when one of the players are using subterfuge and deceit to in an attempt to gain the upper hand. It is our relationship with the player that it on our side that gives us the big picture.
I was awe stricken by the 20th verse of Habakkuk 2. The Lord is in His Holy Temple let all the earth keep silence. A post prayer lude sung by choirs I have been in. Habakkuk 2:20.
However, here I do believe it is put there for building our hope and trust in God. Because in verses 1-19 it speaks of turmoil, disaster, and crucibles all around us, but knowing that right now Christ is in His Holy Temple advocating for us, interceeding for us, and when God the Father says enough is enough, the whole earth will keep silence before Him as our King comes through the gate. It is immense hope. The knowledge of God being able to silence the ongoings of verses 1-19 is very building to our indestructible hope.
We too can see the whole picture. Much more so than Habakkuk. We have the life of Christ, the lives of the Apostles of Christ, and the Spirit of Prophecy. Let's not take forgranite that privilage.
Today's lesson proposes that "the key to Habakkuk’s survival was that he was brought to see the whole picture". While I do not disagree that this was a part of what assisted Habakkuk's survival, I do not agree that it was the key. Rather, I find that Habakkuk's willingness to turn to God amid his distress was the key.
Yes, knowing and growing in our awareness of the details of the 'big picture' of the Great Controversy that is raging and that we are caught up within is vitally important. But in and of itself, such awareness is only emptiness unless there is also an abiding relationship with God.
Jesus stated that He came to give us (ie, restore us back to) abundant life (John 10:10). And the core dynamic of that abundant life is safe and abiding relationship with The Creator and with all the rest of creation. This is why and how the righteous* will live by faith in the true God (Habakkuk 2:4). True faith is a relational experience that underpins life and living (Habakkuk 3:18-19) - especially when all else looks to be failing and crumbling (Habakkuk 3:17).
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* From a biblical perspective, the 'righteous' are those who live in accordance with 'what is right'. So, 'what is right'? It is precisely what we were designed and created for - abundant life. So what is abundant life? Abundant life is life and living that is characterised by self-renouncing, other-benefiting love. Thus the 'righteous' are those whose deepest heart desire is to live in accordance with self-renouncing, other-benefiting love. And it is the sharing in this foundational commitment to living life to authentically benefit others that unites our heart and God's heart - the foundation of the oneness that Jesus referred to in John 17:21.
There was war in Heaven! The LORD overcame Satan and his angels and expelled them from Heaven.
God told Habakkuk that there would be war against Judah and they would be taken captive.
How did the LORD counsel and comfort them?
He told him that He would destroy the wicked eventually and that in the meantime they should endure until the end through faith in Him and that He would be with them throughout the evil that surrounded them.