Day 202: God's Judgment

Isaiah 23:1-18 The final prophecy against nations targets Tyre and Sidon, two major cities of Phoenicia, which were besieged by Babylon and Assyria; eventually they would fall under Greek domination through the  conquests of Alexander the Great.

Chs 24-27 These chapters, known as the Apocalypse of Isaiah, include eschatological prophecies of God’s final triumph.

Ch 24:1-23 This first prophecy speaks of a day when all of creation will suffer destruction on account of the many sins committed.

The Book of Habakkuk

Author and Date:

• Habakkuk was a prophet who had great familiarity with the liturgical life of the Temple.

• Textual clues indicate that the prophecies of the book date to the late seventh century BC, around the time of the rise of Nebuchadnezzar and the fall of Nineveh (612 BC).

• Elsewhere in Scripture, an angel carried Habakkuk by his hair to bring food to Daniel in the lion’s den, but this is only part of the mythical narrative of the Book of Daniel (cf. Dn 14:33-43).

• Certain generic language in the oracles suggests that a later editor may have altered the text in order to apply its message to other foreign invasions.

Audience:

• The oracles of Habakkuk address the painful issues of why God allows his people to suffer at the hand of pagan oppressors.

• His preaching came before the siege and fall of Jerusalem to Nebuchadnezzar (597 and 587 BC, respectively) but likely took on new significance after the deportations to Babylon.

Main Themes:

• The central question in Habakkuk’s dialogue with God regards why, if God has special regard for his people and controls the course of human events, he uses pagan armies to carry out his chastisements of Israel.

• It is a corporate extension of the problem of suffering: Why does God allow his people to suffer, whether the suffering is perpetrated upon them by other nations or is a consequence of their own sins?

• Habakkuk’s fundamental answer is that punishment will come upon all evil oppressors in time and that those who remain faithful and virtuous will find salvation.

• “The righteous shall live by his faith” (2:4) was used by St. Paul to explain his teaching on justification by faith apart from the Law, but both he and the Church Fathers also saw this verse as stating that faith is the essential motivation for living a just life. 

Habakkuk 1-3 This book deals with the question of whether God’s apparent inactivity by allowing Israel (or any individual) to be persecuted by foreign enemies (or unfaithful Israelites) is a sign of his disinterest. It was written after the exile of the northern tribes to Assyria in the late eighth century BC but before the destruction of Judah by the Babylonians in the early sixth century BC. Little is known about Habakkuk; of great interest, however, is the anecdote in the Book of Daniel about Habakkuk being carried by the hairs of his head to take food to Daniel while he was in the lions’ den (cf. Dn 14:33-43).

Ch 1:1-17 Like Nahum, Habakkuk used the method of dialogue, although his questions were asked directly to God. Although admitting the sins of Israel, he questioned why God would use evil to punish the Jews. 

Ch 2:1-20 God, who seems distant at times, knows all things at every moment. He knew about the plundering, violence, oppression, and idolatry of the pagans who ruled the Jews; however, his work would be seen in its proper time. Habakkuk counseled patience and trust that God would intervene at the right moment. (CCC 268)

Proverbs 11:4 This verse and verse 28 warn about deception and danger of setting one’s heart on riches. Material possessions can never satisfy the yearning of the human heart. (CCC 1723)

(*The Didache Bible RSV-CE Ignatius Edition, 2006)

• Ok so we are in the middle of Isaiah

• Ok maybe not quite the middle but maybe more like the first ⅓

• We have 66 chapters of Isaiah

• We are in the Book of Woe aka the Book of Condemnation

• Don’t get discouraged yet

• Here is what Fr. Mike is proposing….uh, projecting….predicting?

• One of the two

• One of the four

• One of the three (Hmmmm….guess they don’t teach arithmetic so much in the Seminary 🤔🤪)

• This time with the PROPHETS is going to be some of the most difficult time we have when it comes to The Bible

• You thought it was going to be Leviticus

• You thought it was going to be Numbers

• You thought it was going to be Deuteronomy

• Maybe it was, maybe it will be

• But as we journey through Isaiah through the next 40-some days

• And as we journey through Jeremiah and Ezekiel coming up

• This is going to be challenging because of the fact that here in Isaiah Ch 23 we have an Oracle Concerning Tyre

• Ok it mentions Tarshish 

• It mentions Cyprus

• It mentions Sidon

• Ok you may think some of those names seem familiar, but you may not know what they are talking about

• It’s kind of this “cloaked” language

• It is this mysterious, prophetic language that basically is saying a bunch of stuff about a time and people from a long way away, and a long time ago

• It might be difficult for us to recognize how is God speaking to you today

• Sometimes, we recognize that God is speaking HISTORICALLY

• God is speaking through Isaiah

• God is making it very clear this is a message or an oracle concerning Tyre

• And sometimes it is very clear that this is CONCERNING ALL OF US

• Fr. Mike’s prayer and encouragement is at times it is going to be kind of like, “Words in, words out. I don’t get this. I don’t know what they are talking about.”

• So Fr. Mike is going to try and put some context into it

• Tyre is one of the coastal towns on the Mediterranean Sea

• We realize that the land of Tyre had become WEALTHY

• Because of that wealth, just like everyone else, the land of Tyre had FORGOTTEN ITS CREATOR

• The land of Tyre had FORGOTTEN ITS MAKER

• The land of Tyre had FORGOTTEN WHO BLESSED IT (TYRE)

• So God’s Word here is saying in Isaiah 23:9, “The Lord of hosts has purposed it, to defile the pride of all glory, to dishonor all the honored of the earth.”

• Basically, “You have gotten SO MUCH. You have gotten SO WEALTHY. You’ve become SO POWERFUL among the nations, that you have FORGOTTEN THE LORD, YOUR GOD!!”

• So what’s going to happen is the Lord will ALLOW the Chaldeans, the Assyrians to come in

• Isaiah 23:14-15, 17  “...your stronghold is laid waste. In that day Tyre will be forgotten for seventy years, like the days of one king. At the end of seventy years, it will happen to Tyre as in the song of the harlot...At the end of seventy years, the Lord will visit Tyre, and she will return to her hire, and will play the harlot with all the kingdoms of the world upon the face of the earth.”

• Basically, after 70 years when the Assyrians come in and destroy Tyre, she will come back and she will become wealthy again and she will again turn back to her wealth and think that is her WORTH

• THAT HER WEALTH IS HER WORTH

• THAT HER POWER IS WHAT MAKES HER IMPORTANT

• AND YET…

• Isaiah 23:18, “Her merchandise and her hire will be dedicated to the Lord; it will not be stored or hoarded, but her merchandise (those things that were her power, her wealth) will supply abundant food and fine clothing for those who dwell before the Lord.”

• Some people have said that it is a prophecy not only of an immediate restoration of Tyre after 70 years after the Assyrians and Chaldeans come in

• BUT…

• Ultimately, Tyre will become CHRISTIAN because that is part of Tyre’s HISTORY

• Tyre became CHRISTIAN early in the history of Christianity

• St. Paul himself found many Christians there in Acts 21:4

• And they suffered a bunch under persecutions and also under times where Muslims had conquered Tyre and re-conquered it

• But ultimately Tyre had found a PURPOSE in BELONGING TO THE LORD

• That can be one of those things where we think, “Here are the PROPHETS who are talking about all these things that are so RANDOM, so HISTORICAL.”

• AND YET…

• We also have Isaiah Ch 24 that talks about the IMPENDING JUDGMENT UPON THE EARTH

• This is POETIC LANGUAGE and part of it is oriented towards recognizing that God’s judgment (remember, this is the BOOK OF WOE, the BOOK OF CONDEMNATION) is going to be ALL THE WAY TO THE END

• Another way to say it is, “The judgment of the Lord will always be COMPLETED”

• Isaiah 24:17-18, “Terror, and the pit, and the snare are upon you...He who flees at the sound of the terror shall fall into the pit; and he who climbs out of the pit shall be caught in the snare.”

• Basically, the judgment of the Lord will always be completed

• Isaiah 24:18, “For the windows of heaven are opened, and the foundations of the earth tremble.”

• Not only is the judgment of the Lord going to be COMPLETED, but it is going to touch EVERYTHING

• That’s what Isaiah 24:19-20 is talking about, “The earth is utterly broken, the earth is torn apart, the earth is violently shaken...its transgressions lie heavy upon it, and it falls, and will not rise again...it will touch everyone”

• Isaiah 24:21-23 talks about how this will be from those who are unimportant, like prisoners, all the way to those who are kings, those who reign

• “Then the moon will be confounded, and the sun ashamed; for the Lord of hosts will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem…”

• Ultimately this is meant to be a WORD OF WARNING and a WORD OF PROMISE

• That PROMISE is that even though there is a JUDGMENT coming, a condemnation for those who fall away from the Lord, and turn their backs on him, and rebel against him

• There is also the PROMISE that God will REIGN ultimately

• God will reign in JUDAH

• God will reign in ZION

• God will reign in JERUSALEM

• So what about Habakkuk?

• The interesting thing about Habakkuk is that he is not necessarily prophesying to Jerusalem or the people of Judah

• Habakkuk is basically calling people out saying, “Here is the deal. There is wickedness in this world and God is going to answer it.”

• Habakkuk points out FIVE WOES in Ch 2

• He says what he sees in Ch 1

• There are people who have turned away from the Lord

• They ABUSE each other

• They USE each other

• Who is going to bring judgment?

• Ch 2 is God’s reply

• There are FIVE WOES

• WOE TO THOSE who are basically practicing UNJUST ECONOMICS (these are the first 2 woes)

• WOE TO THOSE who employ SLAVE LABOR

• WOE TO THOSE irresponsible leaders who make his neighbors drink of the cup of his wrath and make them drunk to gaze on their shame...etc.

• WOE TO THOSE who TRUST IN IDOLS

• One of the pieces that the Prophet Habakkuk is making VERY VERY CLEAR is that what is happening and going to happen from the Babylonians in Babylon is going to happen TO EVERY NATION

• MOST NATIONS EVENTUALLY BECOME BABYLON

• ALL THESE WOES

• WOES OF USING PEOPLE WRONGFULLY

• WOES OF USING SLAVE LABOR

• WOES OF UNJUST RULERS

• WOES OF TURNING TO IDOLATRY AND AWAY FROM THE LORD

• What is happening to Babylon ultimately happens to EVERY NATION

• This is the call to ALL OF US

• Here are the words of the PROPHETS that were contextualized IN THEIR TIME

• BUT…

• They are telling us something VERY IMPORTANT

• Tomorrow, we are going to read Habakkuk Ch 3 which is known as “Habakkuk’s Prayer” which he turns back to the Lord

• Just as Habakkuk knows that whatever happens to Babylon is going to happen to ALL NATIONS

• Most nations fall JUST LIKE BABYLON

• Habakkuk is going to utter a prayer that not only talks about this FALLING but also talks about the Lord’s role in bringing his own GLORY

• SO THAT HE CAN BE KNOWN

• I hope this makes sense

• We can get REALLY REALLY LOST in the PROPHETS

• We don’t want to get lost

• If you’ve lost your footing just for a day or if you’ve lost your footing and thought, “Man, I don’t know about Tyre and Sidon and all these places in Isaiah. I don’t know about Habakkuk talking about Babylon…”

• DON’T WORRY!!

• SHOW UP TOMORROW!!

• IT’S GOING TO BE GREAT!!

• We are going to keep walking with Isaiah

• We are going to keep walking with Habakkuk for one more day

• Then Zephaniah, Baruch, Ezekiel, etc.

• AND IT IS GOING TO BE FINE!!

• KEEP ON WALKING!

• KEEP ON READING!

• KEEP ON LISTENING!

• KEEP ON PRESSING PLAY!

• PRAY FOR FR. MIKE

• PRAY FOR EACH OTHER

Prayer by Fr. Mike: “Father in Heaven we give you praise and glory and we thank you. Thank you for your wisdom. Again, every time we hear your Word, Lord, in Proverbs, your Word coming from Solomon who was a wise man in his mind and not necessarily always wise in his actions, but who continually reminds us that those who choose you, even if they are devoid of everything else, are choosing the right path. Even those who have wealth, even those who have power in this life, ultimately we fall into your hands. And so we ask not just for more wealth or not just for more power but we ask for right relationship with you, right relationship with each other. And even in our hearts, Lord God, we ask for right relationship in ourselves, that we can be the kind of men and women who not only say yes to you with our minds, and say yes to you with our voices, but say yes to you with our entire lives. Help us to say yes to you, to your wisdom, and to walk in wisdom this day and every day. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.”