The Minor Prophets and the Book of Habakkuk

As mentioned in our discussion of the Mosaic covenant, an important theme in the Old Testament is that of the land. Whereas Moses and Joshua guided the people of Israel into the Promised Land, the Minor Prophets had the great task of pronouncing God's judgment upon the people for their disobedience and helping them understand God's work in exiling them from the land.14 The Minor Prophets is the representative name for twelve books of the Old Testament. Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi are called "minor" prophets simply for the brevity of each of the writings. In fact, all the Minor Prophets appear together as just one book in the Hebrew Bible which is simply entitled the twelve. The other Old Testament prophets such as Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel produced much longer works and are sometimes known as the Major Prophets.

In general, a prophet in the Old Testament was a person called upon to speak to the people on behalf of God. They were called to be his direct messengers to the people. Now before you start thinking "Wow, what a great job!" remember that many times the message they were to carry was something like this: "You guys all suck, and you are going to be destroyed if you don't repent. SO REPENT!" So these guys were not always the popular kids on American Idol. No, many times they were despised by their own people simply because they told them the truth. They also dressed weird and at times did and said all kinds of crazy things.

There are many themes found in the Minor Prophets but there are some commonalities throughout these books. James Montgomery Boice observed the sovereignty of God, the holiness of God, and the love of God to call people to repentance as common themes in the Minor Prophets.15 O. Palmer Robertson makes note of the justice and judgment of God16 as well as the faithful salvation of God17 in these books. I find them both helpful in unifying the themes of these prophecies which were given in dire times for the people of God. More than anything the people needed to know that the coming judgment was from God.18 Yet God had not forsaken his promises to them as his people if they would repent and return to him, and as a consequence, a faithful remnant of Israel would be preserved and saved in the end.

We will now close by looking particularly at the prophecy of Habakkuk, ancient words given long ago to a prophet standing on the eve the Babylonian conquest of Jerusalem and the final defeat of the Southern Kingdom of Judah.

The Book of Habakkuk

Authorship

We know very little about this person Habakkuk other than what is in the text of his prophecy. We know he would have likely lived through the reforms and righteous kingship of Josiah19 (see 2 Chronicles 34 for Josiah’s reforms) as well as seeing the sharp decline under his successors. This decline culminated with the wicked leadership of Jehoiakim20 most likely the king at the fall of the Kingdom of Judah. For those interested in the full decline of Judah, the Southern Kingdom, it is described in the works of the prophets Jeremiah and Ezekiel.

Time and Place of Writing

There are many important bits of information which help us to date Habakkuk’s prophecy. Each of them serves to narrow the time frame so that we have a very good approximation of the time of writing. First, we see from Habakkuk chapter 1 that the Chaldeans or Neo-Babylonians21 were already a known power which was on a conquering path. We know that the Chaldeans conquered Ninevah in 612 BC so our date for the book is likely to be after this event. Second, we see from the description in Habakkuk 1:2-4 that the Kingdom of Judah is in decline not in a state of reform or revival. This must mean it is some time after the death of the godly king Josiah which is dated to 609 BC, likely during the reign of the wicked king Jehoiakim.22 Two other dates can be brought to bear at this point. It seems the Chaldeans had not yet made their inroads into Jerusalem so this puts Habakkuk’s writing before the final fall of Judah in 587 BC. Additionally, the coming of the Chaldeans was still in the future during Habakkuk’s writings so we must place it even before the first victory they had over a combined Egyptian-Assyrian force in Syro-Palestine in 605 BC.23 So this puts the date between the first defeat in 605 BC and the death of the king Josiah in 609 BC. So by inference, a date somewhere around 605-608 BC is likely. The following table shows the dates of the relevant events:

Table 1: Events surrounding the writing of Habakkuk

Date	Event
612 BC	Fall of Nineveh
609BC	Death of Judean King Josiah
608-605 BC	Writing of Habakkuk
605 BC	Defeat of Egyptian/Assyrian army in Palestine
597 BC	First Exiles to Babylon
587 BC	Final Conquering of Jerusalem

One interesting note of history about the king Jehoiakim is warranted. This king’s evil doings became notorious. His reputation was so evil in the eyes of God and people that Jeremiah said the following of him at his death:

18 Therefore thus says the Lord concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah: “They shall not lament for him, saying, ‘Ah, my brother!’ or ‘Ah, sister!’ They shall not lament for him, saying, ‘Ah, lord!’ or ‘Ah, his majesty!’ 19 With the burial of a donkey he shall be buried, dragged and dumped beyond the gates of Jerusalem.” Jeremiah 22:18,19 ESV

As the old King James translation puts it, this king received the burial of an ass. You can guess what kind of guy he was. You must be a real donkey if God has his prophet promise you the burial of a donkey.

Form and Purpose for the Prophecy Literary Form

Habakkuk's prophecy is unique in that it records the prophet's personal interactions with God. This is a word given to the prophet about the people, but not directly to them. The book takes the form of a series of questions from Habakkuk and subsequent answers from God. It is sort of like getting to live in Habakkuk's head for a bit. I know some of the interactions I have with God in the privacy of my own soul; this book is a great look into such a dialogue. So this divine Q and A is the main literary structure of the book. Additionally there are two other literary styles of note. First, there is a taunting or mocking song given24 by God in chapter two (yes, God does talk smack in the Bible…not in arrogance, but in truth) towards the evil Chaldean empire. Yes, he was allowing their success in conquering Judah, but they would in no way be excused for all their evil doing and excess. Finally, chapter three includes a psalm of worship by the prophet which sets up the culminating message of the book.

Purpose of the Prophecy

The purpose of the prophecy was to prepare a people to live faithfully amidst an unexpected downturn of events. Judah was in a state of internal sin and chaos where both justice and religion were being perverted. As a consequence they were about to be conquered as discipline from God. God wanted his people to know several things during this time of discipline and turmoil. First, the righteous would live by faith in the midst of the discipline. They would trust God in the middle of the storm. Secondly, he wanted them to know that their hope was in Him, not simply their temporal circumstances. This prophecy was also to steady the people of God through one of their darkest hours of exile from the Promised Land. They were not to lose hope; they were to persevere in faith. I believe the same purposes are eternally relevant for the people of God for we all travel through many troubles and trials in life and we too must persevere. The many themes found in this book establish our faith, trust, and hope in God which transcends our circumstances. We will close our discussion with a brief look at the themes found in Habakkuk.

Notes:

14. O. Palmer Robertson, The Books of Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah (Grand Rapids, Mich.: W.B. Eerdmans, 1990), 1.
15. See the preface to James Montgomery Boice, The Minor Prophets, 2 vols., vol. 2 (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2006).
16. Robertson, The Books of Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah, 21, 22.
17. Ibid., 24.
18. Assyria was the conquering power for the Northern Kingdom of Israel and the Babylonians for the Southern Kingdom of Judah
19. Boice, 391.
20. Robertson, The Books of Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah, 13.
21. The word used for these people in the Old Testament is Kasdim
22. J. J. M. Roberts, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah: A Commentary (Westminster John Knox Press, 1991), 83.
23. There is an excellent timeline of events from the 7th century BC in Robertson, The Books of Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah, 29, 30.
24. Frank Gaebelein, ed., The Expositor's Commentary: Daniel and the Minor Prophets (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1986), 495.

Up Next - Final Part of the Paper - The Major Themes of Habakkuk  

Introduction to the Old Testament - The Covenants

As God worked to redeem a people throughout history, he has done so by making promises, establishing covenants with people. Seeing the whole of redemptive history, particularly the Old Testament, through the grid of the unfolding of the covenants is very helpful. The idea of a covenant was prominent in many cultures that existed in the time of the Old Testament. A covenant was usually seen as a treaty or contract between two parties binding them to certain benefits and consequences should one party prove unfaithful to the deal. In his book Christ of the Covenants, O. Palmer Robertson defines a covenant with firm sobriety: A covenant is a bond in blood, or a bond of life and death, sovereignty administered.9 In other words a covenant is a bond between two parties in relationship that is not casual in nature but has commitments of a life and death nature.10 As such this relationship and its terms are conveyed to us and established by the Sovereign God of the universe. It is both a privilege and a responsibility before God to be his people by covenant.

A complete discussion of the nature of the covenants God has established with people is well beyond the scope of this paper. I will refer the reader to the aforementioned work by Robertson for that treatment. For our purposes here I simply want to present the work of God in the Old Testament as an unfolding of relationship with us through various covenants he established. Seeing the people associated with each covenant displays God’s working at various times and places to call a people back into relationship. As we walk through each of the major biblical covenants, we will be able to locate the Minor Prophets, specifically that of Habakkuk, in its proper redemptive historical context.

The Covenant with Adam

The first covenant with man takes place in the Garden of Eden in the first chapters of Genesis. God created a man (Hebrew for “man” is adam) and told the man he may eat of whatever he wishes except of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If man obeys, he will live. If he transgresses the command he will die. Sometimes people get hung up on the “the fruit tree” part of the story and fail to see the significance of God’s work with the first humans. He did not desire to withhold from them, he was providing the best of relationship with himself. God wants them to trust his word, heed his voice and receive thereby the promise of his blessing. If the man uses his god-given capacity of choice to turn from God, he will be necessarily choosing evil. As we read in the Bible, the man and his wife do indeed ignore the voice of God and reap the consequences of their sin and the breaking of covenant with God. Death will now visit the human race until the end of the age. The prophet Hosea recounts this sin specifically as a transgression of covenant:

4 What shall I do with you, O Ephraim? What shall I do with you, O Judah? Your love is like a morning cloud, like the dew that goes early away. 5 Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of my mouth, and my judgment goes forth as the light. 6 For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.7 But like Adam they transgressed the covenant; there they dealt faithlessly with me. Hosea 6:4-7 ESV

In addition, God makes promises to the first man and woman after they sinned and broke covenant. This involved consequences for their sin and a promise to crush the serpent through the offspring of the woman. In Genesis 3 we see the initial promise of redemption, through a human being, who would smash the enemy rather than succumb to his temptation. This was the first promise of the gospel (which some have called the proto evangelion or first gospel); one day God would reverse the curse now upon the world through a human being, born of a woman, who would crush the head of the serpent. Now when you see Mel Gibson’s Passion of the Christ, one of the first scenes depicts the head of a snake being crushed by the foot of Jesus. Now you will understand the imagery in this scene.

The Covenant with Noah

Many will remember Noah due to his Ark full of animals that was displayed throughout their childhood. Others may recount him as the man acting like a guy pledging a frat, getting drunk and naked after the flood. But what many fail to see is that God specifically describes his relationship with Noah as covenantal. At the beginning of the narrative of Noah and the flood, God utters the following words:

17 For behold, I will bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life under heaven. Everything that is on the earth shall die. 18 But I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons' wives with you. Genesis 6:17-18 ESV

God’s covenant with Noah was one of protection and provision. God would protect and then reestablish the human race through Noah’s family and their descendents. After the flood God does several things. First, he established the sanctity of life and the consequences for taking it in Genesis 9:6. Second, God assigns meaning to a common occurrence after the rains. The rainbow, the dividing of the spectrum of light into its beautiful array of colors, would be a reminder for all time of God’s covenant promise to protect and to sustain the earth and human beings.

The Covenant with Abraham

Think for a moment. What makes the people of Israel distinct? Is it ethnicity, is it language, or is it merely geographical location? It is not so simple. In fact it can be argued that Israel is defined as the people related to God by covenant. Quite frankly one cannot speak of the history of Israel without speaking of God. The origin of this people can be traced to a lone nomadic figure in the Old Testament whom God called to himself and made covenant with. God promises this man that he would be the father of nations with innumerable descendents. His promise is that through his offspring the whole world would be blessed. This man was named Abraham and it is through the promise that he believed God and was counted righteous. God’s faithfulness would be expressed to this man and his offspring as it would be from the people of Israel that salvation would come for the whole world. Jesus the savior would come; he would come from the seed of Abraham.

The Covenant with Moses

The next major event in the Old Testament is the Exodus. From Abraham until the Exodus many events had taken place. God had brought his people into Egypt through the faithful leadership of a person named Joseph. That story is a great place to do some reading. You can find it in Genesis chapters 37-50. The people had greatly prospered and became numerous while in Egypt. Due to this population explosion, the Egyptian leadership had made slaves of the Jews and had kept them in a cruel state of oppression and servitude. From this point God raises up perhaps the greatest of the Jewish prophets, a man by the name of Moses. Through Moses’ direction, the people of Israel are taken from slavery in Egypt and set free by many miraculous and providential acts of God. The two things which took place in this time which are of great importance were the promise of a land11 and the giving of the law. The land would be the place of provision and blessing from God and the law would teach them of the holiness and right ways of God and ultimately point to their need of forgiveness. These two themes, land and law are huge throughout the Old Testament. The covenant made with Moses was simple. If the people of God walked in his ways and kept his laws there would be covenant blessing. If the people turned away from God and broke his laws there would be covenant curses upon them (see Deuteronomy 28). It is at this time that God also gave the people the priesthood and covenant mediation through a blood sacrifice and worship at the tabernacle. The blood of animals would be offered for sin; not simply to appease God but as his gracious gift to temporarily cover the sins of the people.

The land represented provision, protection and blessing to the people of Israel. The law would be their guide for faithful living in the land before God. These themes will be important when looking at the Minor Prophets. For as Moses and Joshua guided the people to the land, the voice of the prophets were to guide them into exile from the land under God’s discipline for their rebellion and law breaking.12 We will come to that in a moment.

The Covenant with David

After the Exodus, the conquest of the promised land (see the book of Joshua), and a time of chaos, (see the book of Judges) God creates a monarchy in Israel. After the people ask God for a king to be “like the other nations” God finally gives them their wishes despite his warnings. God in his wisdom knew that an unrighteous king will bring them great burdens and trouble (see 1 Samuel 8). The first King of Israel was a guy named Saul. He turns out to be a loser so God chooses another King named David who would be called a man after God’s own heart (Acts 13:22). It is to this king that God makes an additional covenant promise. In 2 Samuel 7 God promises David that his throne, his lineage of rule would be established and one of his offspring would sit on his throne forever. An eternal king would come and take his place on the very throne of David. This King will bring an eternal and righteous rule to the world and the age of crooked human politicians and governments will finally end.

After David things just fall apart for Israel. They undergo a bitter split into a Northern (Israel) and Southern Kingdom (Judah). Their kings and priests become corrupt and wicked to the point where God brings foreign nations to conquer them and thereby bring his judgment upon them. It is in the latter days of the Northern and Southern Kingdoms that God sends some of the Minor Prophets to speak both judgment and hope to the disobedient people.

The Organic Nature of the Covenants

At this point in redemptive history God had promised Adam to crush the head of the serpent through the offspring of a woman, he had promised to protect and maintain the human race to Noah, he had made a great nation through Abraham through which his blessing would flow to the world, he had given his people a land and a law through Moses, and promised an eternal, good, covenant King to his man David. These covenants were in no way arbitrary, they were building, one after the other towards the covenant which would fulfill and bring them all into fullness. The following diagram is helpful in seeing the connection between the covenants.

Figure 1: Unfolding of the Covenants – Modified and adapted from diagram in O. Palmer Robertson, Christ of the Covenants, 62

 

God, before creating the world had decreed or purposed that he would redeem a people for his very own possession. For his glory and their joy he had created the world. This decree had to be worked out in time and through history with a building from one covenant to the next. Like a large wave gaining momentum as it moves closer to the shoreline, the plans of God would crest and find their ultimate fullness in what Scripture calls the New Covenant. To this final covenant we turn.

The New Covenant in Jesus Christ

History marched forward under the direction of God until the arrival of what the Scriptures describe as the fullness of time. Of this time, the book of Galatians tells us a beautiful truth:

4 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.

• Fulfilling the covenant with Adam, the Son of God would be born of a woman, the seed promised in Genesis 3, the second Adam (see Romans 5) whose victory secures our destiny.
• Fulfilling the covenant with Noah, God had protected humanity for this very purpose.
• Fulfilling the covenant with Abraham, a great nation had now given birth to the Savior of the World.
• Fulfilling the covenant with Moses, this person would be born under the law and he would fully obey all its demands, himself becoming the blood sacrifice for the people’s sins.
• Fulfilling the covenant with David, this person was from the royal line of David and would be crowned by God as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

Yes, the fullness of time had come. God the Father had sent God the Son into the world as a fulfillment of all of God’s covenant promises over the ages. His coming was foretold by prophets, his work unfolded in the covenants, and his love would fulfill the hearts of his people. It is no wonder that Nehemiah, when the people were retuning from exile from the land, described God in his prayer as follows:

O Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments Nehemiah 1:5 ESV

So when we come to the New Testament, the Old Testament is the only backdrop by which we can understand the identity and work of Jesus. He is the promised 2nd Adam and seed of the woman, he is fully human protected from the time of Noah, he is the descendant of Abraham, a fully obedient servant of God following all his commandments, he is the King descended from David, he is the sacrificial lamb provided by God to take away the sins of the world. He is the final and greatest prophet who brought us the word of God, he is the great high priest whose ministry mediates the New Covenant, he is our covenant King who will govern the nations in righteousness when the fullness of his Kingdom comes at the end of time.

The New Covenant is the culmination of the works of God to redeem a people for himself. It was decreed from eternity, set in motion throughout history, culminated in Jesus, lived today through his church. One enters this covenant by grace through faith – fully trusting in the person and work of Jesus. The entry into the covenant is signified by baptism and God’s faithful maintaining of the covenant is celebrated at the Lord’s Table. For Jesus said of this celebration: “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood” (Luke 22:20)

So now we return full circle. The Old Testament is a story about the work of God the Father to bring glory to himself through God the Son by the ministry of God the Spirit in redeeming a people to be his own. If you are interested in getting a great overview of each book in the Bible, I highly recommend Mark Dever’s new volumes Promises Made the Message of the Old Testament and Promises Kept the Message of the New Testament.13 These volumes are tremendous in getting the big ideas of the two testaments and every individual book of Scripture. Now that we have flown the plane high over the Old Testament, it is time to zero in on the Minor Prophets, the group of writings in which the prophecy of Habakkuk finds its home.

Notes:

9.O. Palmer Robertson, The Christ of the Covenants (Phillipsburg: Presbyterian and Reformed, 1980), 4.
10.Ibid., 14, 15.
11.There are some who separate a covenant of the land or Palestinian covenant, from the Mosaic covenant. I am treating them as one here. The promises relating to the land are found in Deuteronomy 29 and 30.
12.The exceptions being Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi are post-exilic Minor Prophets and they address the nation returning form exile to the land.
13.Dever. Promises Made: The Message of the Old Testament (Wheaton: Crossway Books, 2006) and Mark Dever, Promises Kept: The Message of the New Testament (Wheaton: Crossway Books, 2005).

Up Next - The Minor Prophets

Apologetics and Pi - An Exercise...

When a circle's diameter, its circumference is Pi (3.14nnnnnnnnnnn...n) - A statement on wikipedia has the following description: This number is real but irrational, transcendental, and cannot be constructed with compass and straightedge.

Why might Pi be a clue that the Universe is designed by an intelligent mind?

My Hint: Where art thou perfect circle whose circumference is Pi?  I have never seen thee, my friends have not either. You can be perceived by all minds, but where doth thou dwell if not in this world?

Something I didn't hear...

Outreach Magazine just put out its list of "most innovative churches" this week.  Now, I think I know what evangelical people mean by "innovative" but I wanted to check out some of the churches on the list.  Most, of course, are multi-site video churches, internet churches, etc.  Not surprising.  The pragmatism of mainstream white evangelical leaders leads folk to think "new" is better because it is not boring.  Most of the time these are people who grew up bored in church and just want to do it differently.  Believe me I am not for boring church at all.  Not hardly.  But what I see out there at times is that churches can start to leave so much out.  When I read the narrative of Scripture then go on the web site of some of these churches, see their literature, listen to some sermons, etc. I feel a bit of a disconnect.  Rather than seeing the gospel lived in and through American cultural contexts, many times I feel like I am just watching American culture with a dash of unspecified Christian religion splashed around.

One church in particular put up a video highlighting their teaching from the year.  Now, I know this is not their actually teaching.  And I know that it just represents what they choose to show as a highlight, important family moments, etc.  But this reinforces my concern. Go here and click "teaching highlights" to watch the video and tell me what you do not hear - especially in light of it being a "highlight film" of the teaching ministry.  It looks like this church is working hard, has a great heart to reach people, has lots of fun, and has lots of folks coming around.  I am not hating on it, it is probably a good church - but things like this bring up concern. Some times I wonder if "innovative" just means shorter messages, less Bible, absent theology and more jokes?

Additionally, I was trying to find out the church's view of the gospel and here is the site map on the web site (which is a nicely designed site) where that info is found:

New to GCC --> "Everything Else" --> Bottom of the page it reads: Some people ask, so we include it here. View our mission, vision, and value statement. 

Once that file opens (a pdf) there is a brief thing talking about their beliefs at the very bottom of the file.  I wondered why this is so hidden and reluctantly included?

Young men out there, future pastors and preachers - Paul gave a great exhortation about ministry in 2 Timothy - a great read. Do these things and then after that think about "what works" today.  The two do not have to be at odds - good theology and missiology ought to stay married.

Fall, Redemption, Restoration

Overview of the Old Testament - Worldview Categories Cont...Creation, Fall, Redemption, Restoration...

Fall – CS Lewis, in his classic work The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, describes the mythical world of Narnia as existing in a state where it is always winter, but never Christmas. Narnia was in a state of perpetual coldness, underneath the power of a great evil. The world was held in its wintry bondage until the time when Aslan, the great Lion, renewed and redeemed all things. Lewis’ Christian worldview soaks the pages of his story as he understood the reality of our world. Our world, like Narnia, is too in bondage to decay, cursed long ago as the result of a treasonous revolt of our ancient ancestor, one known to us by the Hebrew name for man…Adam. The Old Testament teaches us that the first human beings, in direct contradiction to their creator, disobeyed him and reaped the consequences on the world and the human race. The Christian doctrine of the fall of humanity is established in the Old Testament in the first three chapters of Genesis. As a result of our rebellion, God himself cursed creation and human beings. The results are devastating. All people die, though we presume that we will live forever. As a result, the world is not a paradise, but rather a war zone full of disease, human atrocities, natural disasters, and our own separation from God and each other. Yet God did this in hope, (Romans 8:18-30) for his plan was just beginning. Though we had sinned, in love God set about to forgive and restore. He would win back a people from the curse and vindicate his name which had been dishonored by the very creatures he had created.

Redemption – Therefore, God set about a course of redemption, by which he would pursue and reconnect with his creatures that had rebelled against him. The plan included many people and nations, many hundreds of years and a complex matrix of events and signposts. His plan would find its fullness when God himself, incarnate as the second Adam, the person of Jesus of Nazareth, would pay the final price for sin and bring us back into relationship with God. This drama unfolded throughout the Old Testament and was ultimately fulfilled in the New Testament. It unfolds on various continents, centered in the Promised Land, through various covenants (more on that in a moment) by which God invited people back into relationship with himself. This was all extended by grace, a free gift from God who offers peace to those who now live at war with him.

Restoration – We now live at a time where God is at work redeeming a people to be his very own children. God is giving new birth to people today around the world from every tribe, tongue, people and nation. His work is on going through the church which relates to God by a new arrangement – one sealed in the blood of his own Son. An engagement ring has been given; a promise has been made in the first coming or advent8 of Jesus. We now wait for the time when Jesus will return in power to claim his bride and fully realize the Kingdom which began at his first coming. At the end of all history, when the scroll of the plan of God is fully revealed, there will be a great wedding feast with Christ. At this time the eternal, joyful, and fully realized, restored and re-created world will begin. What is spoken in the Old Testament by the prophet Jeremiah (see chapter 31) will be completed in the description found in Revelation 21:1-4:

1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

To be honest, I can’t wait.

All of these important truths, creation, fall, redemption, restoration find their beginning and backdrop in the Old Testament. The Old Testament once again gives the big picture we need in order to see clearly. Yet the Old Testament also unfolds a relationship between a loving God and his people. He initiates with us over and over with the highest level of faithfulness and commitment. The word used to describe this relationship is covenant; a committed, until death, faithfully promised bond of love. This is the second way we can garner an overview of the Old Testament, through God initiated covenants with his beloved people. To this we turn.

Notes

8. The word advent comes from the Latin word adventus which means coming.

Up Next - An Overview of the Old Testament through the Covenants

This is scary, scary stuff

Well those rational guys who worship Darwin seem to have learned to have fun

I'm not sure where these guys are from (appears to be grad students and profs) but they love the koolaid they are drinking.  Hey, you can't knock them for trying.  I know all the scientists who believe in intelligent design now feel utterly and finally refuted.  Funny stuff.

(HT - Uncommon Descent)

Now, if they are wrong about the whole God thing - I think they might be compelled to watch with the Almighty upon their departure from this world. In a little YouTube window no doubt. A fearful thing.

Cuss. Cuss! Cuss?

There is quite a bit of discussion going on relating to John Piper's recent use of the language "God kicks your ass" at the Passion 07 conference.  Below are some comments I threw in the mix over at Challies.com regarding Piper's choice of words and Dr. Wayne Grudem's subsequent exhortation. 

Good discussion. I think what is missing is a real discussion of philosophy of language. Now, I am a realist so I believe that all of our linguistic symbols and signifiers have a referent. In other words, reality is not created and constructed by our words. All languages refer to things which are real in the created space/time order or metaphysical realities as is the case of language referring to God, souls, abstract ideas (sets of numbers etc.) Additionally we may logically rearrange ideas with our language as when we "refer" to pink unicorns.

The reason we can call something feces, poo-poo, etc. is that it refers to something. Additionally our language that God "kicks our ____" (choose your word) also speaks to an actual state of affairs that obtains. Now, when discussing profanities and obscenities Mr. Swindle makes a very important distinction above between the two so I will not repeat it here. (Here it is noted  that a profanity is speaking of something holy in a way that belittles, blasphemes...profanes.  Obscenities are that which is vulgar or offensive)  Yet, with the case of obscenities, one must discuss the usage of language within a cultural/linguistic group. Dr. Grudem has done this in stating the following:

A number of different words can denote the same thing but have different connotations, some of them recognized as "unclean" or "offensive" by the culture.

The problem here arises because we must ask "which culture" - There is no easily arrived at shared norm in English speaking culture today to which we can refer. If one follows what is allowable by censors on television, then ass is certainly not an obscenity at all. It perhaps was 50 years ago, but it in no way is "offensive, vulgar, etc." in the mainstream today. If however one means to "the Chrisitan community" we are again mired to differentiate acceptible language within certain subcultural groupings of Christians. Should Piper's language be considered obscene if his audience found no offense in it whatsoever? Or if someone actually took offense to it somewhere on the internet, or in the car listening to it on CD? In regards to language I believe we must realize that though reality is not constructed by language, things such as obscenities are quite communally oriented. Many words which would cause shame, derision in some parts of the body of Christ are completely benign and venacular to the culture at large. Words like "suck" "pissed off" are quite normal on the street. Many Christian converts, those who did not grow up in a certain sub culture, would have been right at home with Piper's remarks; perhaps discipleship will lead them to saying things other than "Kick your ___" or even dropping the whole "kicking" metaphor altogether. But I think what was communicated was more truthful, honest, and biblically faithful to some of Dr. Piper's hearers than just about anything I could substitute. Perhaps many who are not regularly engaged with real, worldly, non Christian speakers are outraged by someone saying "that sucks" - but believe me, in our "culture" this sort of language would not come close to meeting a dictionary definition of obscenity as: "Something or an utterance that is disgusting to the senses abhorrent to morality or virtue."

Reality, including truth and morality is fixed. I am not advocating for any sort of relativism at all. All the verses Dr. Grudem cited refer to real states of affairs before God which we must yield and obey. Yet they refer to orientations of the heart and affections and then expressions of these with words and actions. It is precisely here where it requires wisdom and discernment. To know what is corrupting talk and what is edifying in our community. Does it move one towards idolatry, self worship, the degradation of others, hatred of neighbor, profaning that which is holy, does it titilate, tear down, provoke unrighteous anger, mock, etc, etc. These are the questions we must ask for these things happen in our souls and in our communities. Does a Christian, who is looking at the death of his infant child and says "this present age sucks" committ a heinous sin? Or has he said something real and true about life outside of the garden in the language he finds as home. The language which we use to describe our inner states as well as the states of the world does shift. So my bottom line is this. I think such conversations about "corrupting talk and crude joking" will always happen within the body of Christ. Some calling for Piper's head because he said ass, others saying he didn't do a thing wrong. In the spirit of loving our brothers, our neighbors, we should not seek to offend one another, push the edges simply to ruffle others, etc. This is immature and sophomoric. Yet neither should we claim the definitive high ground above others whose language is a bit rougher than the small tribe in which we make our home. They might just be communicating gospel truth to others. Love covers a multitude of sins and helps us on in this conversation so please don't cuss me out nor smugly dismiss the discussion.

Beginning an OT Overview

Many use different ways to describe the story of the Old Testament. Some focus on dividing the work of God into dispensations of divine activity6, others have focused on the unfolding of the covenant of redemption initiated by God the Father, carried out by God the Son. Others focus on the story of major characters or the narrative of Israel. Yet one thing is clear; the story of the Bible contains an account of the ongoing relationship between Creator and creation, God and his world. Even more specifically it unfolds the relationship of God with the creatures he has made in his image, those known collectively as the human race. In describing the story of the relationship of God to humanity I will do so in two fashions. First, I will do so through some major categories which describe the Biblical worldview: creation, fall, redemption, and restoration. Secondly, I will look at the story through the means of relationship God establishes with people throughout the Old Testament, that of covenants. First, let’s look at some big picture categories.

If we step back and see the big picture of the grand drama of the Bible, we see that it can be described in four acts with God the main actor. Each act we give a name, a category by which we understand what God has done and is doing. The categories we will use are creation, fall, redemption, restoration.

Creation – In the beginning God…so thunders the first words of the Old Testament. The book of Genesis, the book of beginnings, tells us what we know intuitively and by scientific investigation. The universe began to exist in the finite past; it became to be when before it simply was not. God in his wisdom created the universe with both purpose and design. The Scriptures of the Old Testament teach us that the world was created by God and created good. Yet God did not only create the universe, but he also created a unique species, specially fashioned in his own image and likeness.

26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. Genesis 1:26, 27 ESV

So at the outset of the Bible we see a creator, a good creation, and a unique creature with a great responsibility given to him by God. Humans would rule over the created earth, hand in hand in fellowship with God. Then the treasonous act which echoes even to this day took place in paradise. The foreknown path of man would be taken – they would sin and rebel and the results would be devastating then glorious. Before turning to the rebellion of humanity, let’s say one last thing about creation. I was once asked some very profound questions by an unbelieving friend. What he said went something like this: If God is perfect, if in himself he has no needs, has no imperfections, is not lacking anything, why did he create a world and little play friends to go with it? I thought…that is a great freakin question! But the answer is even better. First, my friend is right. God is perfect so he did not and could not create us and the world out of need. He was not lonely and he did not need anyone with which to watch the football game or go to the concert. He did not have to create anything, yet he did. Why? The answer is awesome. God created not out of lack or need, but out of a desire to display, to show off his glory, and to share his delight with others. He created to give himself to his creatures and thereby share his beauty, glory and joy with them. As Jonathan Edwards so aptly described long ago in the book The End For Which God Created the World: “It is fitting that God’s glory be delighted in as well as known”.7 God created the world for himself; we only exist by him and for him (Psalm 24:1, Colossians 1:15-17). We were made to worship, delight in, and have joy in God. Which makes what we will discuss next all the more tragic and treasonous.

Notes

6.See Greg Herrick, Dispensationalism and God's Glory (Bible.org, accessed December 28 2006); available from http://www.bible.org/page.php?page_id=535. There also is a fairly balance wiki on the subject of dispensational theology found at Dispensational Theology, (Wikipedia, accessed December 14 2006); available from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dispensationalist_theology.
7. John Piper, God's Passion for His Glory : With the Complete Text From "The End for Which God Created the World" By Jonathan Edwards (Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway Books, 1998), 149.

Up Next - Fall, Redemption, Restoration

The Importance of the Old Testament - HD Jesus

 
HD Jesus

Without the gracious gift of God which is the Old Testament, we would not see the extent of the beauty, majesty and glory of the person and work of Jesus Christ. Our vision of him in the New Testament would be very accurate, but it would be small and the horizon incomplete. Let me give an example. My wife and I used to have a 13’’ Orion5 cathode ray tube television that we would watch in our bedroom. For those of you have not seen one of these sorts of ancient devices, it has a small screen and it is fat panel, not flat panel. If I were to watch a movie on this TV I would see it, I would get it and could honestly say I watched the movie. Now, think for a second if I got this same film on HDDVD and watched it on a 60 inch, 1080p HDTV along with theater surround sound. Same movie? Absolutely! Same vision and experience of the film? Well, those of you with the home theatre system know the answer to that. The same thing could be said of seeing Jesus in the Bible. If you only had the New Testament you might be asked who Jesus is and reply in a 13 inch TV fashion: Jesus is the Savior and the Son of God. This would be absolutely and beautifully true. Now if you looked at both Testaments you would get a full featured High Def Jesus. This Jesus is the promised one who would crush the head of Satan (Genesis 3:15), who is the seed of Abraham through whom the whole world would be blessed (Genesis 12), the long promised messiah of Israel who sits on the eternal throne of David as our covenant King (2 Samuel 7), who fulfilled the law of Moses perfectly (Matthew 5:17, 18) and lived without sin (Hebrews 4:15), the final priest of the tabernacle (Exodus 25-28) and sacrificial lamb foreshadowed in the book of Leviticus (Leviticus 16). He is our Savior, he is our God, and he is the suffering servant prophesied long ago by the prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 53). He is our great high priest, our covenant mediator, and unique sacrificial Lamb of God which takes away the sins of the world (Hebrews 8-10). The one whose cross reconciles all things to God and whose return will usher in a new Kingdom which will have no end. 60 inch HD Jesus, we have to study the whole book to see the difference.

The Old Testament is central to seeing the big picture of the history of redemption, understanding the character and attributes of God, and seeing Jesus, God the Son in all his glory. Now that we see a bit of the importance of the Old Testament, let’s go ahead and unroll the first part of the scroll and get an overview of this first section of Scripture.

Notes:

5. Orion is the brand of the TV, it seems it is a Japanese company who sells inexpensive TVs at places like Wal-Mart.

Up Next - A Brief Overview of the Old Testament...

Familiar stats on Europe, birthrates, and Islam

There is some familiar data in the recent Jerusalem post article: Right on!: Say Goodbye to Europe | Jerusalem Post

A Few More Articles on the iPhone

Note - I use a PC and I am not currently a MAC addict.  But here are a bunch of iPhone articles out there on the net:

• iPhone Blows Away Expectations by Ed Burnette
• Nice pics from the Keynote at Engadget
• An inconsistent but helpful critique over at PalmInfocenter.
• A funny catalogue of iPhone fakes by speculators over the last few years - courtesy Gizmodo.
• A good hands on report from David Pogue of the NYTimes.
  

Also, Engadget has a good wrap up of MacWorld here.

Importance of the Old Testament - A Complete Vision of God

The New Testament letter known as the book of Hebrews begins in dramatic fashion:

Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.

Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke. That to me is interesting! God spoke to whom? How did he speak? What did he say!?!? The writer to the Hebrews tells us that he spoke to our fathers by the prophets. Did you know that we are able to see who these fathers were and what these prophets said to them? In the stories of women and men gone before us and their interaction with God we actually see a great story unfolding. The characters are fascinating, the circumstances profound, and the main actor revealed fully to us for our love and worship. The main actor of the Old Testament is God himself and by the Old Testament we know the Lord more fully in all the diverse wonders of his character. We see his mercy upon his enslaved people in the book of Exodus. In the same book we see his justice poured out upon the Egyptian oppressor. In the Psalms we see his beauty and holiness, in the Proverbs we find wisdom personified and displayed through the words of God. In the long story of Israel, the people of God, we see God’s faithfulness, his discipline of sin, and the redemption of his own. In the prophets we see God’s fierce wrath against spiritual idolatry and his weeping heart for those that turn from him to lesser things and ruin their lives. If you were to list the many biblical attributes of God (love, justice, holiness, unchangeableness, righteousness, truth, goodness, sovereignty, etc) we would be amazed at how much about God is revealed to us through the Old Testament. As we read, study, and contemplate the drama of the Old Testament we come to know God more in our own lives and learn how to walk in a way that is pleasing to him. The entirety of Scripture reveals to us both who God is and what he desires for the world. Neglect of the Old Testament will warp our vision of God and allows us to substitute the truth about God for our own ideas about who God “should be” in our own minds. In doing so we replace the living God with the idols of our imagination; the Old Testament revelation of God’s character keeps us from such sin. Finally, we see the importance of the Old Testament in revealing to us Jesus Christ. What?! Jesus revealed in the Old Testament? Oh yes, High Def Jesus at that. Let me explain.

Up Next - The Importance of the Old Testament - Reason 3 - HD Jesus 

iPhone

 

OK, I just finished watching the keynote from Jobs.  The iPhone is one of the coolest, technologically sophisticated devices I think I have seen.

If:

• The finger interface proves accurate and the service durable
  
• If it actually syncs well w/Exchange/Outlook contacts and calendar and doesn’t take 10 min to do so on Windows.

I will have to pray with vigilance against the temptation of coveting when I see them out on the street later in 08.

Question: Does Cingular suck as a mobile provider? They have a 2 yr. exclusive on this.  I am guessing many will move on over and "raise the bar."

The only drawbacks I see:

• Only up to 8GB with no expansion…
• The price is high but does not seem too high for all that is packed in there…the user interface looks incredible. But it may be too high for some non geeky geeks.
  
• Only on GSM/Cingular/Edge. Sprint and Verizon's mobile broadband technology is much faster with data than edge.  I think this is a GSM issue, but I need to check on that.
• No GPS - I imagine for 499 or 599 folks would expect to see that - live driving directions, positioning etc.
  

Anyway, it makes the Palm OS and Windows mobile look a bit childish. I have used mobile computing devices since the first US Robotics Palm Pilot back in 1996 (see this wiki).  This indeed was the coolest device I have seen and looks to get convergence right. 

Classic MacWorld Expo Keynote

This was awkward stuff - the day Microsoft bailed out Apple as Steve Jobs took back over the reigns of the troubled company.  Many think these "friends" are about to go to war again over getting digital media in the living room.

Don't people love to booooooooo things they don't like. Classic human nature on display here.

Big Day for apple.

For those who are interested, MacWorld is giving live updates from the Steve Jobs Keynote this morning at MacWorld Expo.  There is likely to be much Apple/Mac hype today when the man in the black shirt speaketh.  These keynote presentations are usually available in Quicktime from apple.com. From the graphic on their homepage, they seem to have something big to share.

 

Here is the Macworld link 

I am in the market for a new home PC this spring - Cool new Vista machine? Or make the treasonous switch? 

POC Bundle 1.08.07 - One Huge Bundle

There is some fast action on the web in many of the POC Blog categories...so a HUGE POC Bundle was due.  Here is a ride down a large slide of links... 

Bible Translations

All my friends know that I have been and continue to be somewhat of an ESV evangelist.  Two good pieces of news on that front:

1. Mars Hill Church in Seattle has switched over to the ESV.  Our church did so about a year ago.  Glad to see others joining the party.  See Pastor Mark Driscoll's reasons for switching here.  For his full essay on Preaching and Bible Translations see here
   
2. And the ESV continues to grow in usage:  (This data may still reflect some bloat in ESV numbers due to a “Spread the Word” outreach bible they were selling New Testaments on the cheap in October)
   

The Church

• New book on the theology of Emerging Churches is forthcoming from Zondervan.
• John Yates and Os Guinness way in on why they left the Episcopal Church over at the Washington Post.The reasons they provide are well articulated yet heartbreaking.

Theological Reflection

• The Resurgence has begun a new podcast entitled the Heidelberg Project - Here is there description: Welcome to the Resurgence’s second podcast feed titled "Resurgence Heidelberg Project" which will run each week for all of 2007. The Heidelberg Catechism was divided up into 52 sections and will be read by pastors, professors and other godly men and women in the Church. The Heidelberg Catechism has been translated into many languages and is the most influential and most generally accepted catechism from the Reformation era. The desire of Resurgence is that believers in Jesus Christ stay biblically faithful while reaching people in their community and we believe this project will give support in this missional life. There will be weekly audio downloads of people reading this historic Christian confession of faith.  I plan on listening with my kids.

On Science

• National Geographic has an interesting show upcoming that features views of children in the womb.  The pictures are pretty amazing.
  

Technology

• The ESV Blog has a link to how Google Earth is being merged with data to use as a Bible Atlas.  It is cataloging 1100 places mentioned in the ESV translation of the Bible.  Very cool - here is the link
  

General News 

• This is what is meant by "filthy stinkin rich" 

The Importance of the Old Testament - Finding Our Redemptive Historical Context

The Importance of the Old Testament...Reason 1 - Finding Our Redemptive Historical Context

For Christians, the Old Testament provides a rich understanding of the historical context for our faith. It is a bit proverbial, but it is true that if we don’t know where we have come from, we will not know where we are going. Anyone in the real estate business will tell you that there are three things which matter: location, location, location. Likewise when we come to the Bible there are three things which are equally important: context, context, context. In other words, where something is found in the Bible is very important to understanding its meaning. There are many “contexts” that are discussed when coming to the Scriptures. Many will think first of literary context which is looking at where certain sentences are found in relationship to surrounding sentences, paragraphs, and divisions of a book. Although this is extremely important, right now I want us to look at a different context, namely the redemptive historical context of a portion of Scripture.

To illustrate what we mean by redemptive historical context let me give you a picture. For a moment, imagine the plans of God for the world as a tightly rolled scroll. It is written from beginning to end with all its contents established but it has not yet been read by those interested in its contents. Now for a second, think with me about the time before God created the world. God knew his plans from beginning to end perfectly in his mind. Yet his plans were still “rolled up” as it were, not yet revealed. In many ways his plans are like the scroll, not yet read by anyone on the earth. Yet slowly, over the course of time, God began to unfold his plans, in wisdom unrolling redemptive history bit by bit. God’s plans to redeem a people for himself were set in motion before the creation of the world (Read Ephesians 1:1-13) but continue to unfold up to the present day. It is important as we come to any section of biblical literature, for example an Old Testament prophecy like Habakkuk, that we ask when the people and events took place within the overall plan of redemption. This helps us understand what God is doing in the big picture scheme of things when we come to a certain book in the Bible. We’ll give a brief overview of the Old Testament narrative below so we can find Habakkuk in its redemptive historical context, but for now I simply want us to see the importance of reading both the Old and New Testaments. By reading the Old Testament we can understand the big picture of history and understand things in their proper context. Doing so will help us not only interpret Scripture better, but it will also help us understand our own place in the larger story. Indeed we are all part of his story that still unfolds today. Knowing the Old Testament teaches us our own history and it also shows us what to anticipate as the scroll continues to unfold until the end of time.

Up Next - Importance of the Old Testament - Reason 2 - A Full Vision of God 

The Importance of the Old Testament

The Old Testament. Yes, that big part of the Bible full of blood and sacrifices, kings and heroes, laws and regulations, worship and lament, clarity and mystery. Though it makes up close to two thirds of our Bibles the Old Testament remains a bit unknown or disconnected from the lives of many contemporary believers. I’m not so sure if it’s the strange laws of Leviticus regarding bodily emissions or seeing God wiping people out that tends to make people shy away. Yet one thing is certain, God in his wisdom has given us the Bible as a unified whole, made up of sixty six books.1 The story line is consistent from beginning until end; the creator God at work to redeem the world through the person and work of Jesus Christ. JI Packer says it well:

There is but one leading character (God the Creator), one historical perspective (world redemption), one focal figure (Jesus of Nazareth, who is both Son of God and Savior), and one solid body of harmonious teaching about God and godliness. Truly the inner unity of the Bible is miraculous; a sign and a wonder, challenging the unbelief of our skeptical age. 2

As Jesus is the local hero of the Bible, he is also the subject and view of the Old Testament. Though many people may not think “Jesus” when they think Old Testament, its pages indeed anticipate, prepare and foreshadow his coming. Mark Dever, in speaking of the unity of the Bible’s storyline and focus upon Jesus explains it this way:

The context for understanding the person and work of Christ is the Old Testament. God’s work of creation, humanities rebellion against him, sin’s consequence in death, God’s election of a particular people, his revelation of sin through the law, the history of his people, his work among other peoples—I could go on and on—all these form the setting for Christ’s coming. Christ came in history at a particular point in the story line. 3

The Old Testament places our gaze and expectation on the coming one who would fully deliver a world which is under the curse of sin and death. Getting a good overview of the purpose of the Old Testament and its unity can make it much more approachable for modern readers. So I do pray this paper will be of help to motivate study of the Old Testament Scriptures.

Yet before we look at some of the huge importance held by the Old Testament, I want to make one thing very clear. There is one God who created the world and this God does not change. He is who he is and has told us so: I am who I am and I am the Lord, I do not change (Exodus 3:14, Malachi 3:6). One of the unfortunate misunderstandings about the Old Testament is that it reveals a different God than that of the New. Or that God has grown up or evolved over the course of the Bible. I want to emphatically state that the God of the Old and New Testaments is one and the same. It is not like God was having a bad hair day, was going through puberty or forgot his Nicorette gum during the days of the Old Testament. The Old Testament does not reveal a 13 year old God throwing temper tantrums at divinity junior high. Likewise the God of the New Testament is not a fluffy nice bunny rabbit who was never offended by the sins of people. No, God is loving and merciful in the Old and wrathful and just in the New, just as he is wrathful and just in the Old and loving and merciful in the New. This is important and should not be missed. The God who created all things, called Israel out as a nation, brought forth the Messiah through this nation and lineage is the same God who will bring about the Kingdom of Heaven at the end of the age.

With that said, I want us to focus on three major areas of importance of the Old Testament. First, it gives us a proper historical context to understand the work of redemption. Second, it rounds out and gives us a complete vision of the person of God. And third, it actually gives us a fully developed picture of Jesus which is not seen if he is only observed through the New Testament. We’ll handle each of these now in turn.

Notes: 

1. For those interested in a brief treatment of how the sixty six books arrived in the Bible see Reid S. Monaghan, One Bible, Many Books (Power of Change, 2006, accessed December 31 2006); available from http://www.powerofchange.org/blog/2006/11/one_bible_many_books.html.
2. JI Packer in the introduction to Edmund P. Clowney, The Unfolding Mystery - Discovering Christ in the Old Testament (Philipsburg: Presbyterian and Reformed, 1988), 8.
3. Mark Dever, Promises Made: The Message of the Old Testament (Wheaton: Crossway Books, 2006), 27.

Up Next...The Old Testament gives us proper Redemptive Historical Conext

Entering the Old School

 

That’s Old School…

At times we talk about the ways of past generations which get brought back to our day for our benefit. Call it going old school. We know that some of the old ways must pass away, but much that is ancient must never be lost. Wisdom and Truth once walked among the Old Testament prophets as they journeyed with the Lord in the midst of difficult and chaotic times. Theirs was a world swirling with armies, terror, political turmoil, and many times a faithless people who turned away from God. Yet many remained filled with hope that the purposes of God would once again triumph in the lives of the faithful. Our generation needs to hear from the ancients to tremble and rejoice at their vision of God. This semester we will take lessons from the old school and turn our hearts to the prophecy of Habakkuk; a word given by God on the eve of one of Jerusalem’s darkest hours.

As we start down this road together I want to take the time to give a substantial overview of the book of Habakkuk. Yet to do so we must lay some additional groundwork before we begin. Habakkuk is a minor prophet, a book which lives in that large and murky region of Scripture known as the Old Testament. For this reason, I want us to spend some time discussing this testament of the Holy Bible. So my goals with this paper are twofold: first, to give a high level overview of the importance and content of the Old Testament Scriptures and second, to provide an adequate overview for our journey through the ancient words of Habakkuk’s prophecy. With that said, lets jump right into that Old Testament Old School.

 
Up next...The Importance of the Old Testament 

One Paper, In Many Acts

I recently finished a paper for my teaching ministry with the Inversion Fellowship.  We are preparing to kick off a series entitled "Lessons From the Old School - The Prophecy of Habakkuk" so I have been hitting the books and banging away on my keyboard to give our folks a substantial overview of what we will be teaching verse by verse

The paper, lets say, has ended up a bit longer than I expected.  I knew I wanted to give a bit of an overview of the Old Testament, then the Minor Prophets, and finally Habakkuk's writing. I just got to having so much fun with it that it grew on me a bit. I mean, its not a book or anything - it is just 14 pages, single spaced, 10 pt font, 0.75 inch margins. 

I am really thankful for how it has developed so I figured I would share it here on the POC Blog.  Now, if I dropped it all up here in one post it would be a ridiculously long blog entry...so, I am going to post the paper in parts, one paper, rolled out in many acts.  At the end I will post an entire PDF of the deal for those interested in filing it away somewhere.

So for starters, my next post will contain the short intro paragraph, Entering the Old School...