Daily Bible Reading - August 10, 2017

Today's Reading:

2 Corinthians 12

1 Chronicles 1-2

Habakkuk 3

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Thoughts and Commentary on Today's Reading   

In Habakkuk 3:2 we find an amazing, but little-known Messianic prophecy. It reads:

Habakkuk 3:2  "O Yahweh, I have heard Thy speech, and was afraid: O Yahweh, revive Thy Work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known; in wrath remember mercy."

Throughout Habakkuk, we have been reading of Yahweh's righteous Judgment, which is coming against His idolatrous people. The sure warning of this impending doom was sufficient to make the prophet, Habakkuk, afraid! But he pleads with Yahweh to fulfill a promise which He had given in Daniel. Habakkuk asks Yahweh to remember mercy in wrath (Judgment) and to revive His Work in the middle of the years. 

Scripture refers to the "Wrath" of God being poured out upon unrepentant sinners on the final Day of Wrath. Ultimately, this is the Judgment of eternal Death. 

Job 21:20, 30  "His eyes shall see his destruction, and he shall drink of the wrath of the Almighty.... The wicked is reserved to the day of destruction. They shall be brought forth to the Day of Wrath."

Revelation 19:11-16  "And I saw Heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and He that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He doth judge and make war. His Eyes were as a flame of Fire, and on His head were many crowns; and He had a Name written, that no man knew, but He Himself.  And He was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and His Name is called The Word of God (this title identifies the Rider on the white horse as Yahshua - John 1:14). And the armies which were in Heaven followed Him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of His Mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it He should smite the nations: and He shall rule (Judge) them with a rod of iron: and He treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And He hath on His vesture and on His thigh a Name written, KING OF KINGS, AND SOVEREIGN OF SOVEREIGNS." 

Thankfully, no person need experience the Judging Wrath of our righteous God!  For indeed, through the Death of His Son, Yahweh has remembered mercy in wrath:

John 5:24  "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth My Word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath Everlasting Life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto Life." 

So what is the pivotal event - the dividing moment - which delivers sinners from Death and Wrath, and bestows the mercy of God upon them? That Moment is Calvary! As Scripture states, on the Cross, Righteous Judgment and Merciful Peace "kiss" each other:

Psalm 85:9-10  "Surely His Salvation is nigh them that fear Him; that glory may dwell in our land. Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other."

Now that we understand the context of Habbakuk 3:2, we are ready to look delve even more deeply into this amazing verse:

Habakkuk 3:2  "O Yahweh, I have heard Thy speech, and was afraid: O Yahweh, revive Thy Work in the midst (middle) of the years, in the midst of the years make known; in wrath remember mercy."

We have seen that the moment when Yahweh remembers mercy in Wrath is the moment of Calvary. But what does Christ's Death on the Cross have to do with reviving God's Work in the middle of the years? To understand this, we need to look at Daniel 9:27.

Daniel 9:27  "And He shall confirm the Covenant with many for one week: and in the midst (middle) of the week He shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease..."

Both Habakkuk and Daniel are referring to Calvary, for it was at the Cross that the need to offer sacrifices ceased (Daniel 9:27) and it was at Christ's Death that God's Mercy is given to us, instead of Wrath (Habakkuk 3:2). Notably also, both Daniel and Habakkuk refer to Calvary as taking place in the middle of something. In Habakkuk, the Calvary moment is foretold to fall in the middle of the years. But in Daniel, the Cross is foretold to happen in the middle of the week.

As I explained in my blog from April 8, Yahshua really did die in the literal middle of the week (on a Wednesday). But, Bible prophecy is multi-faceted. Prophetic events are fulfilled both literally and figuratively. Thus, the moment of Calvary actually took place in both the middle of the literal week, and in the middle of the years - or figurative week.

What do I mean by the "figurative week"? In figurative time, Scripture gives us the principle of a day for a year. Thus, the days of the week from Daniel 9, figuratively align with the sequence of years (from Creation to final Jubilee) mentioned by Habakkuk, as shown in the graphic below:

To more fully understand Figurative Week, we need to remember that the Judgment Day is foretold to conclude the Figurative Week, in which each day of earth's history is 1000 years:

2 Peter 3:7-9  "But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same Word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the Day of Judgment and perdition of ungodly men. But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. Yahweh is not slack concerning His Promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance."

With this understanding, we see that Yahshua literally and figuratively died in the middle of the week, as foretold by Daniel and Habakkuk. And it is because of His Death that we are spiritually revived and mercy is available to us on the Day of Wrath: 

Habakkuk 3:2  "O Yahweh, I have heard Thy speech, and was afraid: O Yahweh, revive Thy Work in the midst (middle) of the years, in the midst of the years make known; in wrath remember mercy."