Sharper Iron — Majoring in Minors: The Righteous Live By Faith

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Rev. Jason M. Kaspar, pastor at Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church in La Grange, TX, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Habakkuk 1:12-2:5.

Habakkuk responds to the Word of God by confessing faith in the LORD as the everlasting God, the Holy One who keeps His promises to His people. Yet Habakkuk still questions why the LORD would use the idolatrous Babylonians to sweep away the righteous together with the wicked. Rather than rationalizing away his question or attempting to justify God, the prophet stands as a watchman to hear the answer from the LORD. The LORD assures Habakkuk of the certainty of His Word by telling the prophet to write the vision down. The LORD promises that He will act; though He seems slow, He will not delay in saving His people. The righteous receive this news in faith, trusting God to keep His promise no matter what their eyes may see. This glorious truth carries into the New Testament, as God has kept His promise of salvation at the appointed time through His Son Jesus Christ. Now He strengthens His people by His Word to continue to live in the righteousness of faith as we wait for His appointed time to send His Son on the Last Day.

“Majoring in Minors” is a mini-series on Sharper Iron that goes through the books of Obadiah, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah. These three prophets all spoke the Word of God in the days leading up to the fall of Jerusalem at the hand of the Babylonians. Through their unique emphases, these men proclaimed the same message of repentance of sins and faith in the LORD, pointing ultimately toward their prophecies’ fulfillment: Jesus Christ.

Sharper Iron, hosted by Rev. Timothy Appel, looks at the text of Holy Scripture both in its broad context and its narrow detail, all for the sake of proclaiming Christ crucified and risen for sinners. Two pastors engage with God’s Word to sharpen not only their own faith and knowledge, but the faith and knowledge of all who listen.

Sharper Iron is underwritten by Lutheran Church Extension Fund, where your investments help support the work of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Visit lcef.org.

Habakkuk 1:12-2:5

Habakkuk’s Second Complaint

12 Are you not from everlasting,
O Lord my God, my Holy One?
We shall not die.
O Lord, you have ordained them as a judgment,
and you, O Rock, have established them for reproof.
13 You who are of purer eyes than to see evil
and cannot look at wrong,
why do you idly look at traitors
and remain silent when the wicked swallows up
the man more righteous than he?
14 You make mankind like the fish of the sea,
like crawling things that have no ruler.
15 He[a] brings all of them up with a hook;
he drags them out with his net;
he gathers them in his dragnet;
so he rejoices and is glad.
16 Therefore he sacrifices to his net
and makes offerings to his dragnet;
for by them he lives in luxury,[b]
and his food is rich.
17 Is he then to keep on emptying his net
and mercilessly killing nations forever?

2 I will take my stand at my watchpost
and station myself on the tower,
and look out to see what he will say to me,
and what I will answer concerning my complaint.

The Righteous Shall Live by His Faith

2 And the Lord answered me:

“Write the vision;
make it plain on tablets,
so he may run who reads it.
3 For still the vision awaits its appointed time;
it hastens to the end—it will not lie.
If it seems slow, wait for it;
it will surely come; it will not delay.

4 “Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him,
but the righteous shall live by his faith.[c]

5 “Moreover, wine[d] is a traitor,
an arrogant man who is never at rest.[e]
His greed is as wide as Sheol;
like death he has never enough.
He gathers for himself all nations
and collects as his own all peoples.”

Footnotes

Habakkuk 1:15 That is, the wicked foe

Habakkuk 1:16 Hebrew his portion is fat

Habakkuk 2:4 Or faithfulness

Habakkuk 2:5 Masoretic Text; Dead Sea Scroll wealth

Habakkuk 2:5 The meaning of the Hebrew of these two lines is uncertain

English Standard Version (ESV)

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.