"On every page of the God-breathed writings are many thoughts that stretch out like long, clear arms of light across the darkness, discovering things otherwise hidden and illuminating wider areas than those of the immediate context. They are searchlights. I have selected one in each chapter of Scripture, for at least one central thought in every chapter should arrest the mind and affect the life," wrote G. Campbell Morgan, a skilled, wise, warm-hearted Bible teacher who conducted a classic 3-year study called Life Applications from Every Chapter of the Bible. Here is the fruit of that research—summarized, illustrated, and amplified with useful details—on all 66 books of the Bible.
DEUTERONOMY, JOSHUA, JUDGES, RUTH,
1 JOHN, 2 JOHN, 3 JOHN, JUDE, REVELATION
Habakkuk 1:2 "O Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not hear?" Habakkuk deals with problems that arise from faith in the one true and living God, providing divine answers to questions expressing those problems. These opening words reveal the first problem. Habakkuk lived in an age when circumstances seemed to contradict his faith in the righteous government of God. His nation was characterized by violence, perverseness, exploitation, and strife. All the ways of justice were twisted, but God was apparently doing nothing and ignoring Habakkuk's fervent prayers about those serious matters. That is now the subject of a new prayer, and Habakkuk is to be commended for taking this to the Lord rather than making it an excuse for unbelief. He is rewarded with an answer from God, but it proves more bewildering than the first problem. The divine declaration is that God was not inactive, but was employing the Babylonians—fierce enemies of Habakkuk's people—to carry out His purposes. So far we see that a godly person's faith may have problems that must be faced, but only in communion with God and His Word. The person in that situation will often find that his or her reading of circumstances is wrong and that God is indeed acting when He seems to be indifferent. The method of His action may create a new problem, but it is a step in the right direction to see He is at work.
Habakkuk 2:2 "And the Lord answered me." This answer came after Habakkuk's humble determination expressed here: "I will stand my watch ... to see what the Lord will say to me, and what I will answer when I am corrected" (verse 1). The Lord replied in pivotal words set in stone for all ages: "Behold the proud, his soul is not right; but the just shall live by faith" (verse 4). Regarding the proud Babylonians, Habakkuk realized that while for the moment their power would be employed to discipline Habakkuk's people for their pride, in the end the destroyers would be destroyed by their own pride. The government of God is always true to this principle: "God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble" (Proverbs 3:34; James 4:6). He overrules the ways of men and women, compelling them to contribute to His purposes. Even human wrath will praise the Lord, declares Psalm 76:10, and then He restrains that wrath. Faith in God is the fundamental principle of life, but the pride that opposes it leads to death.
Habakkuk 3:2 "O Lord, revive Your work in the midst of the years." This is a prayer or hymn of faith from Habakkuk in response to what he has learned from God's Word. It is not a cry to renew an activity that has ceased, but to maintain an activity that has not ceased: like saying, "O Lord, keep alive Your work in the midst of the years." When it seemed to Habakkuk that God was doing nothing, he wanted the Lord to punish the violence and sin all around him. Now that he had seen the wrath of God in operation, he agreed and prayed for it to continue, but added: "In wrath remember mercy" (verse 2). He looked forward to a time yet future when "the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea" (2:14). In the meantime, he leaves this example of triumphant faith as an encouragement for all God's people as we now wait for that blessed time: "Though the fig tree may not blossom, nor the fruit be on the vines; though the labor of the olive may fail, and the fields yield no food; though the flock may be cut off from the fold, and there be no herd in the stalls—yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength; He will make my feet like deer's feet, and He will make me walk on my high hills" (3:17-19).  |
| How Habakkuk (around 620 to 605 B.C.) relates to other prophetic writings and historical events. |
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