NOTES: 1]Read the Hebrew Bible in the light
of our understanding of God in Jesus.2]
Habakkuk was a Prophet about 600BC at a time Judea was under great
threat from the Chaldeans (Babylonians). 3] This part is a conversation
between HAB & YAHWEH. Some of the book may have been used
liturgically. The thrust of HAB is that YAHWEH is 'on the march'
(NJB) to save his people, using the Babylonians to punish them
for their misdoings. 4] Paul
uses 2:4 in RO 1:17 & GAL 3:11. It also appears in HEB 10:38.
WARMING UP: Does marching
/ martial music appeal to us or not?
TREASURES OLD & NEW:
Identify God at work in anything this week?
ENTERING INTO THE STORY:
1:1-4 Do we ever find ourselves, like HAB, asking
God,"How long do I have to ask for help?", or, "Why will you not
listen?"?
If not, why aren't we asking such questions? Could these be healthy
questions just
as readily as they could indicate a lack of faith on our
part? Are we ever at least inclined to ask questions like these as we
face increasing mindless violence in our own society & world? When
is God going to do something about it all? What is God going to do about it
all? Might God's answers be just as unpalatable to us today as
the thought of YAHWEH using the Babylonians, feared for their violence,
to deal with the Judeans of HAB's day?
What
issues of violence, troubles, wrong-doing, destruction, strife,
contention concern us? Or don't they? What does God say have to say
about such things? What is God doing about such things? How much do we
complain that laws are slack, & that justice doesn't always
prevail? Isn't it a common complaint today that we have plenty of laws
but not much justice? What ought YAHWEH God to be doing about that?
Do
we at all feel ourselves surrounded by the wicked? What about 'justice
coming forth perverted'? Is the implication of this last that those who
should be ensuring justice are in fact perverting it? Do we need to
look any further than our own society for examples of this? How up to
date is HAB?!
2:1-4 Does
HAB's imagery of a lookout at their post ring any bells in the way we
keep spotting things wrong with our society, governments, church, etc.?
Might we sometimes give the impression that we spend too much time
looking out for such things? (Maybe the 'Letters to the Editor' columns
of our local papers show us examples of this from others? Not from us
of course!) Are we as good at keeping watch for what YAHWEH wants us to
'see' as we are at spotting what others are up to? How can we best turn
'complaints' into 'opportunities' (for God & us)?
What, if anything, are
we doing to a) listen to, & b) spread God's attitude to wrong
thinking, wrong doing, & their consequences? Or have we given up on
that? Is it in the too hard basket? Where does true Vision come from? Are we
sometimes too busy trying to beat up our own vision of things rather
than discerning God's? How much is it still important for us to discern
God's timing, wait for an end result, wait patiently for God's outcome
in our life situations?
What is it about those
who are proud that shows us 'their spirit is not right in them'? What
gives us away if we ourselves are guilty of pride? Is it crystal clear
to anyone & everyone that we are living rightly ( = right in God's
eyes) by our faith? What light does the Gospel (above) throw on issues
HAB raises & we face?
