Canonical Reading Plan for Sep 27, Hab 1-3 & Zep 1-3

Today's readings are Hab 1-3 & Zep 1-3.

Habakkuk is written somewhere in Jeremiah's time, probably around 620 BC, perhaps earlier. It comes after God uses Assyria to discipline Israel and before God uses the Babylonians/Chaldeans to do the same - to Assyria first then Judah. The over-arching theme of Habakkuk is God's sovereign authority in using wicked nations to accomplish His divine will in the lives of His chosen people, then judging those evil nations for their wickedness. As Habakkuk accurately prophesies, Babylon will capture God's people then be judged by Him.

Habakkuk is another graphic portrayal of the tension between sovereign election and human responsibility. God is completely sovereign over all the events of history. However, men and women are entirely responsible for their actions and will be judged accordingly.

This point is hard for us to reconcile. As a result, many try to rationalize God's actions with explanations that fall short of what we know the character and nature of God to be, frequently robbing Him of sovereign authority, saying "God would never allow that to happen. Evil is outside the will of God." This leaves God helpless to the whims of evil men, nature and Satan. Other attempts to resolve the tension between God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility deny God His omniscience, "God does not know what's in the future because He has given man free will and man's decisions have not yet been made." This perspective leaves Him powerless in the face of the will of man. In truth, many people are uncomfortable with God being sovereign over everything and everyone in creation. The sin of self-determinism and its pitfalls can be traced all the way back to the Garden when Adam and Eve decided they wanted to be like God and ate the forbidden fruit.

However, in books like Habakkuk, we hear that God raises up kings and nations to be used in refining His people, then judges those same kings and nations for their behavior. How can this be? Does God judge on behavior?

We see exactly the opposite in the Scriptures in the story of the Jews. Time and again, it is God's grace that determines their fate, not their behavior. If their future depended on their conduct, they would fare no better than the Chaldeans.

The sole difference between the Jews and the Chaldeans is the Jews have been chosen as God's vessels. The Chaldeans have not. As such, it is never the Jews' behavior that earns God's grace. Their status is based on God's sovereign election and the transformation He effects in their hearts (Ez 36:26). Why does God choose the Jews? It is His prerogative (Ex 33:19, Rom 9:15). We quickly see that it is the changed heart that is the evidence that they have been chosen. As imperfect as they are, they have a new passion and reverence for God. Apart from the grace that changed their hearts, they were doomed.

As the storyline of the Bible progresses, we see that the heart of every Jew has not been transformed, only some. Only those with changed hearts will be redeemed. Their new hearts will be demonstrated by their faith and their desire to please God. Some of those examples show up in Heb 11.

If we understand this, it should be fantastic news to those of us who name Jesus Christ as Lord and savior. We have been chosen as well, not by our behavior, but by the grace of God. We don't have to conjure up new hearts, for God gives us new hearts as gestures of His grace. Those new hearts are the evidence, the guarantee that we are saved. Yes, at times our behavior is not in harmony with our new hearts. Those times are reminders that God is still working on us. When they occur, we thank God that His grace is not dependent upon our behavior, but on the work He is doing in us. 

The Assyrians, the Chaldeans, the Babylonians and every other person who opposes God, rejects His only Son and lives in a constant state of rebellion against God. They are not doomed by their behavior, but by their evil, unregenerated hearts. God has not doomed them to Hell. Their sin dooms them to Hell. They're not, in any way, victims of anything but their own desires, victims of their own evil hearts and God judges them righteously. Those who receive new hearts are judged according to the gift of grace they have received in and through Jesus Christ. 

When we see His grace as that slender thread that rescues us from eternal flames, a thread that comes to us not because of our behavior (Rom 3:23) nor because we have good hearts (Jer 17:9; Mark 7:21)  nor because we made a correct decision (Rom 9:14-18) but merely because He is God and has the right and authority to save whom He will, we will fall to our knees in eternal thanks to Him for having redeemed us.

Zephaniah prophesied to Judah during Josiah's reign, from 640 BC to 609 BC.

Zephaniah's prophecy alternates between being an end-times prophecy when the whole world will be judged and a prophecy against Judah, who has been temporarily spared by Josiah's godly leadership.

The big picture Zephaniah paints is one of the "Day of the Lord," a time when His wrath will be poured out upon all nations including Israel, who will all be punished for their sin. But for Israel, they will be regathered. The pouring out of God's wrath will accomplish, in part, the final deliverance of Israel from her pagan enemies, purifying her of her sin at the same time.

God has already set a time when the proud will be swept away, the corrupt will be punished, and all ungodly people will meet their doom. In that day, those who truly seek the Lord will be delivered and will rejoice. With this in mind, our eyes, as believers, should be set on Christ and our final destination. It would be easy to look about, see how the world appears to prosper and how evil people seem to get ahead and be tempted to adopt their ways. We should never forget that the prosperity and comforts of those who reject God are temporary and will not be of any help when the day of judgment comes.