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May 7, 2010
Habakkuk 2:5 “Indeed, wine betrays him; he is arrogant and never at rest. Because he is as greedy as the grave and like death is never satisfied, he gathers to himself all the nations and takes captive all the peoples.”
Some scholars say you cannot separate verse 5 from verse 4. In saying that “the righteous will live by faith, you have to define who or what a righteous is and what a righteous man does; how a righteous man lives. And, the way that we “define” or describe best is by offering a contrast.
This is what a righteous man is not like! What we think Habakkuk is doing is describing the opposite of the righteous person. The arrogant man is never “satisfied” because he is “never at rest;” he is greedy as the grave!” Note, the arrogant man gathers to himself all the nations and takes captive all the peoples!” What does the Christian do? Does he “gather to himself all the nations; does he take them captive?”
No, the Christian goes to them! That’s what Jesus says: “Go and make disciples of all nations; baptize them and teach them!” But, you don’t gather them to yourself. You point them to Jesus. You don’t make them come to you; you go to them! In drinking wine, how often do we celebrate our own exploits? And, how often do we exaggerate?
How much do we try to magnify ourselves? But, when the Christian drinks wine, we are celebrating the Lord; we celebrate our Savior’s exploits; we celebrate the humility of God; the graciousness of the Lord; the faithfulness of our Creator and redeemer; we drink to His death! It means life to us; He means life to us! But, salvation is not what we do; but what the Lord does!
You see, this great contrast is so pronounced. “The righteous will live by faith; not by human exploits; not by human achievement; it’s by “super-human” strength! Note that the term “righteous” and “just” are used interchangeably. But, while righteousness is a religious term, justification is a legal term. How can a man be justified before the Lord? Is that a legal question? Is it a moral issue? Is it a human achievement? No, it is a spiritual matter; and the solution is that we are to “live by faith!”
And, this word is better rendered by “faithfulness” or “trust.” Faithfulness carries a sense of endurance and perseverance and overcoming obstacles. The only way that we can do that is to “trust” in God; don’t trust in your own faith. Believe in; trust in; put your money on the faithfulness and steadfastness of the Lord.
The arrogant person believes in himself; the just person believes in the Lord. We are betting on the Lord’s love and grace and forgiveness. I mean, how can you give up on the One who would send His only Son out from the beauty and joy and safety of heaven to the raw ugliness of the cross because He loves you enough to desire to redeem you from all the ugliness that surrounds you; that you bring on yourself; that you would indeed even throw at Him?
Father, may I serve a living Savior whose in the world today; may I trust fully in a love that knows no boundary and respects no limit to reach out to me.