Alastair's Adversaria - Biblical Reading and Reflections: September 13th (Habakkuk 1 & Matthew 11)

Episode Date: September 12, 2021

Habakkuk's dismay at the rise of Babylon. Messengers from John. My reflections are searchable by Bible chapter here: https://audio.alastairadversaria.com/explore/. If you are interested in supporting this project, please consider supporting my work on Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/zugzwanged), using my PayPal account (https://bit.ly/2RLaUcB), or buying books for my research on Amazon (https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/36WVSWCK4X33O?ref_=wl_share). You can also listen to the audio of these episodes on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/alastairs-adversaria/id1416351035?mt=2.

Habakkuk chapter 1 The oracle that Habakkuk the prophet saw O Lord, how long shall I cry for help and you will not hear, or cry to you violence, and you will not save? Why do you make me see iniquity, and why do you idly look at wrong? Destruction and violence are before me, strife and

contention arise, so the law is paralysed, and justice never goes forth, for the wicked surround the righteous, so justice goes forth perverted. Look among the nations and see, wonder and be astounded, for I am doing a work in your days that you would not believe if told. For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, who marched through the breadth of the earth to seize dwellings not their own. They are dreaded and fearsome. Their justice and dignity go forth from themselves. Their horses are swifter than leopards, more fierce than the evening wolves, their horsemen press proudly on, their horsemen come from

afar, they fly like an eagle swift to devour, they all come for violence, all their faces forward, they gather captives like sand, at kings they scoff, and at rulers they laugh, they laugh at every fortress, for they pile up earth and take it, then they sweep by like the wind and go on, guilty men whose own might is their God. 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. 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? You make mankind like the fish of the sea, like crawling things that have. no ruler. He brings all of them up with a hook. He drags them out with his net. He gathers them in his drag net, so he rejoices and is glad. Therefore he sacrifices to his net and makes offerings to his drag net, for by them he lives in luxury and his food is rich. Is he then to keep on emptying his net and mercilessly killing nations forever? Habakkuk, the eighth of the minor prophets or the Book of the Twelve, consists of two chapters of prophecy in the form of a dialogue, followed by a public prayer or psalm of the prophet. Some have speculated that these two parts were independent

works, but there are enough relationships between them to cast doubt upon this idea. There is no explicit historical context given for the book, and as in the case of several other prophetic books, we are largely dependent upon discerning relevant clues from the relative applicability of the prophecy to different times. As in the case of other problems, as in the case of other we should learn some lessons from the difficulty of dating. The difficulty of dating such books suggest that their presence in the canon is not absolutely contingent upon their situatedness within their historical context. Rather, such prophecies can speak beyond their times

and beyond their initial reference to deal with larger issues of the Lord's justice in history. A wide range of suggested dates have been given for the book. The principal and strongest historical detail that might help us to date the book seems to be the very reference to the rising up of the Chaldeans in chapter 1 verse 6. This would point to the period of the decline of the Neo-Assyrian Empire and the rise of Babylon as the most likely focus of the prophecy. However, the prophecy does not reference things such as the destruction of the temple and the removal of the king. While they definitely don't settle the question, descriptions of the oppression that the righteous are currently experiencing at the hands of the wicked in places like

chapter 1 verse 4 gives strength to the case that the power of the Babylonians is already being experienced. If this were the case, then it is most likely that Habakkuk should be dated around the final decade of the 7th century BC, in the period after the death of Josiah, and prior to the deportation of 597 BC. This would make Habakkuk a contemporary of Jeremiah, and also ministering around the time of Daniel's deportation to Babylon, join the reign of Jehoekim, a politically charged time when Judah became a vassal kingdom of Babylon. We don't really know much about the identity of Habakkuk beyond this. He is mentioned in the apocryphal story of Bell and the Dragon, which in the Septuagint is said to come from the prophecy of Habakkuk, who is said to be the son of

Joshua and from the tribe of Levi. Within that story, Habakkuk provides food to Daniel while he is in the lion's den. Thomas Wrens notes that his name is not attested outside of this book, and that it is probably an Acadian loan word, a term used for a garden plant. The superscription in verse one is one of two superscriptions in the book, another is found over the prayer of chapter three, raising the possibility that the superscription here is for the two chapters of the prophecy in particular, not for the whole book. The prophecy is here described as an oracle that Habakkuk saw, perhaps highlighting the presence of visual elements. The prophecy itself opens with a complaint of the prophet, in a form familiar from the Psalms and elsewhere, for instance Psalm 13 verses 1 to 2. How long, O Lord, will you

forget me forever. How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me? The complaint of the prophet is fundamentally one of the odyssey. He is impatient with the violence, wickedness and injustice that he sees, and with the Lord's failure to act decisively against it. This is a familiar theme from places like Psalm 37 and 73 or Job 21. Habakkuk has been calling out to the Lord to intervene, yet the heaven seems silent in response. The failure of the law to act against wickedness and injustice causes a crisis of effectiveness for the law. The rule of law depends heavily upon the effectiveness and the speedy enforcement of the law. Where laws cannot be or are not enforced,

wrongdoers are emboldened and the righteous dispirited, as Ecclesiastes chapter 8. As Ecclesiastes chapter 8 verse 11 describes, because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed speedily, the heart of the children of man is fully set to do evil. Those who reject or ignore the law act unjustly with seeming impunity, and the law consequently comes to be treated by many as a dead letter. Jeremiah prophesying around the same period makes similar complaints. For instance, in Jeremiah chapter 12 verses one to three. Righteous are you, O Lord, when I complain to you, yet I would plead my case before you. Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all who are treacherous thrive? You plant them, and they take root. They grow and produce fruit. You are near in their mouth and far from their

heart. But you, O Lord, know me. You see me and test my heart toward me. Pull them out like sheep for the slaughter, and set them apart for the day of slaughter. On the other hand, the paralysis of the law that Habakkuk speaks of may be something that he is more directly attributing to the outnumbering of the righteous and the overwhelming of the legal system with corruption and contention, preventing justice from being done and leading to many miscarriages of it. While verses two to three were the words of Habakkuk himself, verses 5 to 11 are a divine word. Commentators most typically regard this as part of a dialogue between the Lord and the Prophet within which the entire nation of Judah is also addressed, as the opening imperative

are masculine plural. Rens disputes the dialogic reading, partly on the basis of the plural form, but also because the verses in question don't really seem to answer the complaint of Habakkuk at all, rather they seem to provoke it. The Chaldeans aren't presented as the instrument of the Lord's justice. Indeed, in verse 7, it is their own justice that is the subject. Renz argues that this section is best read as a citation of an earlier prophecy, and that the rise of the Babylonians is in large measure what Habakkuk's earlier complaint is about. Their rise represents an injustice that the Lord seems to be passively tolerating, much to the concern of the prophet. This Rens maintains would also make more sense of verses 12 to 17 that follow this section, making the entire chapter a single prayer complaint.

There would be a number of ways to read this section along such lines. Perhaps Habakkuk is loosely summarizing earlier prophetic messages. Perhaps he is citing an earlier message delivered through him or some other prophet. Renz argues that material from Jeremiah, especially chapters four and five, can be seen in the background here. He cites chapter 5 verses 15 to 17 in particular. Behold, I am bringing against you a nation from afar, O house of Israel, declares the Lord. It is an enduring nation. It is an ancient nation, a nation whose language you do not know, nor can you understand what they say. Their quiver is like an open tomb. They are all mighty warriors. They shall eat up your harvest and your food.

They shall eat up your sons and your daughters. They shall eat up your flocks and your herds. They shall eat up your vines and your fig trees. Your fortified cities in which you trust, they shall beat down with the sword. In the oracle that Habakkuk recounts, the Lord calls for the heroes to attend to the nations and to witness the powerful work that he will accomplish in their days,

raising up the Chaldeans. While the Neo-Assyrian Empire had dominated the region for many years, wiping out Israel and reducing Judah to its vassal. Under Naba Palasa, the Babylonians started a revolt against the Assyrians in 625 or 26 BC, through which they successfully secured their rule over most of Babylonia by 620 BC. After this period, the Babylonians continued to fight against the Assyrians, who were suffering also from the internal problems of a civil war, particularly with the Meads, in the decade or so that followed,

they decisively defeated the Assyrians. The Medes defeated Assar in 614 BC, and the combined forces of the Medes and Babylonians defeated Nineveh in 612 BC, and Haran in 609 BC. In 605 BC, the remnant of the Assyrian forces and their Egyptian allies were dealt a final crushing blow at Kharkamish. It is likely that the 70 years of Babylonian dominance that the Prophet Jeremiah spoke of should be dated from this time. In this same year, Judah became a vassal of Babylon, and some members of the royal family in elite were deported in the fourth year of King Jehoekin. The Oracle declares that the Babylonians will take possession of vast territories across the known world with the dreadful might and absolute

authority. The justice and majesty of Babylon would prevail over all others. Their will and their glory would hold complete and unrival sway. They would come with the rapidity and cruel ferocity of the most deadly predator, hungry for their prey. No force could withstand nor obstacle arrest their onslaught. Kings and rulers and their armies and great fortresses would fall before them helpless. The Babylonians are, however, wicked, marked by the considerable hubris that we see in the Book of Daniel, for instance, and having great pride in their own strength. They are guilty, idolaters of their own might, which they trust in over God himself. The rise of such a cruel and guilty nation presents clear problems for Habakkuk. He appeals to the Lord's divine identity.

the guilty Babylonians are vaunting themselves as the greatest power, idolizing their might, usurping rights and titles that belong to God alone as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. They are asserting their justice as the rule over all, against the justice of the Lord. The people who bear the name of the Lord are in danger of being overwhelmed and extinguished by their power, which would be a further violation of the Lord's right. The Lord surely would not abandon his people to death as a nation. He must have established the Babylonians for his own purposes of justice. Perhaps he has raised them up simply in order to bring them down and humble them.

With his confidence in the holiness of the Lord, Habakkuk is bewildered by the Lord's failure to act against such a ruthless and guilty people, especially when it was swallowing up people who were more righteous. Even in a time when faithfulness was weak in Judah, there were still righteous persons in the land. They were threatened like everyone else by this proud and wicked nation. it compares human beings to the fish of the sea or the teeming crawling things. They are greatly multiplied in their numbers and their great masses, but they lack the ability to defend themselves

against the skill of the fishermen, who with his hooks, nets and dragnets, is able to catch increasing quantities of them. This catching of fish might make us think of the various deportations from Jerusalem, for instance. In the first, a few key fishes are hooked. Then the nets and the drag nets come and remove great quantities of the people. The fisherman, confident in his might, gives glory not to the Lord, but to his own net and dragnet, praising them for his success. In the case of the Babylonians, this would be praising their own military might and their war machine. Is the Lord going to permit this proud, idolatrous and wicked nation to continue to deny him his glory and to act with impunity against other nations, most especially

his own people, without being stopped? A question to consider. What other scriptural examples do we have of figures struggling to understand the Lord's justice in his governing of the nations? Matthew chapter 11. When Jesus had finished instructing his 12 disciples, he went on from there to teach and preach in their cities. Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another? And Jesus answered them, go and tell John what you hear and see. The blind received their sight and the lame walk lepers are cleansed and the deaf here and the dead are raised up and the poor have good news preached to them and blessed is the one who is not offended by me

as they went away jesus began to speak to the crowds concerning john what did you go out into the wilderness to see a reed shaken by the wind what then did you go out to see a man dressed in soft clothing behold those who wear soft clothing are in king's houses what then did you go out to see a prophet yes i tell you and more than a prophet this is he of whom it is written behold i send my messenger before your face who will prepare your way before you truly i say to you among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than john the baptist yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he From the days of John the Baptist until now The kingdom of heaven has suffered violence And the violent take it by force For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John And if you are willing to accept it

He is Elijah who is to come He who has ears to hear Let him hear But to what shall I compare this generation It is like children sitting in the marketplaces And calling to their playmates We played the flute for you and you did not dance. We sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.

For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, He has a demon. The son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, Look at him, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners. Yet wisdom is justified by Hadid's. Then he began to denounce the cities where most of his mighty works had been done, because they did not repent. woe to you Koresan woe to you Besseda for if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes but I tell you it will be more bearable on the

day of judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you and you Copernium will you be exalted to heaven you will be brought down to Hades for if the mighty works done in you had been done in Sodom it would have remained until this day. But I tell you that it will be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom than for you. At that time Jesus declared, I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding

and have revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my father, and no one knows the Son except. the father and no one knows the father except the son and anyone to whom the son chooses to reveal him. Come to me, all who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls, for my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. In Matthew chapter 11, the 12 disciples have been sent

away and Jesus is continuing his ministry. John has heard the accounts of Jesus' ministry, but is himself in prison. John the Baptist preached an imminent judgment, but Jesus is healing and restoring people. And you can imagine John the Baptist is uncertain about whether Jesus is in fact the one awaited. He might be wondering where the promised fire is. He's expecting judgment to fall, and yet he has someone going around healing and restoring, raising the dead, casting out demons, and it just doesn't seem to fit the bill. The first part of this chapter focuses upon Jesus' identity and then that of John the Baptist. The key question is, are you the one who is to come? And the important thing to notice is that Christ is judging. Christ is bringing this judgment foretold by John the Baptist,

but he's doing so by showing mercy. And he responds to John the Baptist's question with allusions back to the book of Isaiah. In Isaiah chapter 35 verse 5 we read, Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened and the ears of the death unstopped. But in the previous context it reads, Strengthen the weak hands and make firm the feeble needs, say to those who have an anxious heart, be strong, fear not. Behold your God will come with vengeance. With the recompense of God he will come and save you. These things belong together. What Christ is bringing in his healing belongs with the judgment that he's bringing. And we'll see more of that

as the chapter proceeds. Jesus answers the question of John the Baptist in a way that highlights the relationship between judgment and mercy. Isaiah 61 is another passage being alluded to. The spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the of the prison to those who are bound. And then to proclaim the year of the Lord's favour and the day of vengeance of our God. Jesus is fulfilling all these themes of restoration and healing that Isaiah foretold. But within it, he is also bringing the vengeance and the judgment that John the Baptist foretold. By sending the messengers from John the Baptist back with this report,

he wants John the Baptist to see that he is fulfilling all these different points. parts of the prophecies of the Book of Isaiah, and the other things are part of it. They will be understood in time as things play out. Blessed is the one who is not offended by me. The point of Jesus' statement there is that he's doing all these healings, he's restoring in many ways, and the person who can see those things and thank God for them, rather than seeing those as an obstacle, is going to be blessed on that account. I don't think we should read this primarily as a rebuke to John the Baptist.

It's a statement of blessing to those who will truly understand what's taking place. And Jesus takes this occasion provided by the messengers from John to discuss the ministry of John more generally. Who was John? A reed shaken by the wind? Jesus here taking up an image that we find in places such as First Kings Chapter 14 verse 15, The Lord will strike Israel as a reed is shaken.

in the water and root up Israel out of this good land. A reed shaken by the wind is something or someone who is weak, easily moved or pressured or swayed this way or that by people around it. John the Baptist was not that. He was not that sort of person at all. Was he a man dressed in soft clothing, the sort of person that you find in King's houses? No, quite the opposite.

He was dressed in the clothing that you associate with Elijah, camel skin and a leather belt. John the Baptist marks the transition between the age of the prophets and the age of the kingdom, and he is someone who was to prepare the way of the Lord in the wilderness. And the kingdom ushers in a new period of violence, this conflict between the enemies of the kingdom, between Satan and his forces, and the work of the kingdom, which is pushing forward. He was Elijah who was to come. John the Baptist and Elijah are associated in their own.

dress, in their behaviour, John the Baptist was foretold in Malachi, the very last verses of our Old Testament, where we read, Behold I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes, and he will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with the decree of utter destruction. Like the first Elijah, John the Baptist is a man associated with the wilderness. He's a forer of a land prophet. Elijah led up to Elisha and John the Baptist led to Jesus. He's a man clothed in camel skin with a leather belt, similar to the way that John the Baptist is described in 2nd Kings chapter 1 verse 8. And there are further similarities to notice. Reading the story of Elijah,

we have a fierce prophet who declares a drought upon the land, who brings down fire from heaven to burn up opponents who wins this great conflict on Mount Carmel and several other dramatic events. And then God tells him at Mount Horeb that he's supposed to appoint a successor and he's supposed to anoint two other people. And the Lord said to him, Go return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus. And when you arrive you shall anoint Haziel to be king of Assyria.

And Jehu, the son of Nimshi, you shall anoint to be king of Israel. And Elisha, the son of Shappiah, the son of Shappiah. at. Of Abel Mahola, you shall anoint to be prophet in your place. And the one who escapes from the sword of Hazeal shall Jehu put to death. And the one who escapes from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha put to death. Now, we're expecting this great figure who's going to bring all sorts of judgment. Bring down judgment upon the people and be this fierce warrior of Yahweh. But that's not actually what we find. When Elisha comes on the scene, he multiplies loaves. He's someone who heals people. He heals

Neiman the Syrian from his leprosy. He raises from the dead. He does all these things that we associate with Christ. And it might be surprising. This is not what we're expecting. We're expecting this person to bring the sword. And yet, he brings healing.

However, even in those acts of blessing, there is a judgment contained, and we see the same thing in Christ. John the Baptist and the Son of Man come in contrasting ways. And yet the people of that generation, reject both for different and perhaps contradictory reasons. They do not know the times. They do not know when it's the time to dance, when it's the time to mourn. A couple of chapters earlier, we saw an

indication of this with the flute players at the death of the daughter of the ruler. Wisdom, however, is known by Hadid's. I believe this should be seen as personified wisdom, and personified wisdom that's manifested in Christ and in John the Baptist. In both cases, they, they, come and they act properly for the times, in accordance with the times. Jesus challenges the cities he has performed most of his works in to that point. It's a preparation for judgment. These people have received great mercy, and it's in their response or their failure to respond to that mercy, that their judgment is found. And so the judgment and the fire that John the Baptist were told is happening through the separation that occurs as a result of the response to the

to Jesus' works and the works of his disciples. We've seen in the previous chapter that Jesus declares that as his disciples shake the dust off their feet in response to an unreceptive city, it will be worse for that city on the Day of Judgment than for Sodom and Gomorrah. And he continues that theme here. Judgment through blessing and through mercy.

He describes Copernium, his home city, as the one that sought to be lifted up to heaven. This should draw our mind back to a world. Isaiah chapter 14 versus 13 to 14 where God addresses the king of Babylon you said in your heart I will ascend to heaven above the stars of God I will set my throne on high I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far reaches of the north I will ascend above the heights of the cloud I will make myself like the most high but you are brought down to Sheol to the far reaches of the pit and Jesus declares the same thing of Copernium his hometown

This all sets things up for Jesus' prayer to the Father with which this chapter ends. The Father as the Lord of heaven and earth is the one who reveals and who hides. He hides the truth and proud who imagine themselves to be wise, while revealing things to the weakest and the most humble. All authority and all things have already been given to Christ. And he is the one who passes on all that the Father has given him, and apart from him there is no access to it, no access to the Father. He gives a promise of rest to those who accept his yoke, his teaching, or his law.

We can think about this in terms of the Sermon on the Mount. That's Christ's yoke, the teaching that he gives, and those who take that upon themselves will find that it brings rest. Christ's commandments, as the Apostle says, are not burdensome. This might also be a reference back to Exodus chapter 30. verse 14, where God speaks about giving his presence and bringing them into rest. Another background for these statements might be found in intertestamental literature concerning wisdom. For instance, in the book of Syrac chapter 51 versus 23 to 27, we find the words

draw near to me, you who are uneducated, and lodge in the house of instruction. Why do you say that you are lacking in these things? And why do you endure such great? thirst. I opened my mouth and said, acquire wisdom for your souls without money. Put your neck under her yoke and let your souls receive instruction. It is to be found close by. See with your own eyes that I have laboured but little and found for myself much serenity. There are probably allusions in this statement back to Isaiah chapter 55 versus one following. Come everyone who thirst, come to the waters and he who has no money, come by, and eat, come buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend your money for that

which is not bread, and your labour for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food. Incline your ear and come to me, hear that your soul may live, and I will make with you an everlasting covenant my steadfast sure love for David. The book of Syrac, taking up this biblical background, presents these words in the mouth of wisdom. And I think Jesus is doing the same thing. He's speaking, as it were, in the persona of wisdom, presenting her invitation to the people, that they should come and accept her words and find rest, the sort of words that we find in the book of Proverbs, chapter 9, the invitation of wisdom, and Christ is presenting it.

Those who receive the words of Christ, though they may be best, babes and not considered the wise of this age will receive wisdom. They will receive the blessings that are promised to those who have the fear of the Lord and answer the call of wisdom as she invites people to eat of her fare. To learn of Christ is to learn in the way of wisdom. It's to learn from one who has the deeds of wisdom that demonstrate that he knows the times. They will also find that his yoke is easy, his burden, is light and that he brings rest for their souls. The point here is not that Christ lessens the law, detracts from its authority, or dismisses or undermines its demands. Christ has already made it

very clear in the Sermon on the Mount that this is not in fact the case. So how exactly is this yoke easy and burdened light? It seems to me that the answer is found in the fact that the master who places this upon us is gentle and lowly in heart. He's one who reaches out to us in divine humility. He's the one who bears our burdens for us and with us. He's the one who is present with us in our struggles. These are not burdens that we have to bear alone. He bears them for us and with us.

And as a result, we find that the burden that we are bearing is one that has joy attached to it, the burden of persecution, the burden of suffering, the burden of obedience, are burdens that he himself has borne. He invites us to bear them with him, to follow in his footsteps, to take up our crosses, and to walk where he has walked before us. And that burden, though it might be the heaviest burden on earth to bear, is light when born with him. A question to consider, this chapter reveals a lot about the relationship between grace and judgment, and the way in which rejected grace can be the means by which the most severe judgment is known.

How does this fact shed light upon our relationship to judgment as members of the household of God?