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Royalty and Ruin
fulfill the highest expectations of those who put their trust in Him.
He will give the wisdom their needs demand.
We must cultivate the faith that lays hold on God’s promises and
waits for deliverance in His chosen time and way. The sure word
of prophecy will meet its final fulfillment in the glorious advent of
our Savior as King of kings and Lord of lords. The time of waiting
may seem long, and many in whom we have had confidence may
fall by the way. But with the prophet who tried to encourage Judah
in a time of apostasy, let us declare, “The Lord is in His holy temple.
Let all the earth keep silence before Him.”
Verse 20
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O Lord, revive Your work in the midst of the years!
In the midst of the years make it known;
In wrath remember mercy.
Habakkuk 3:2
Though the fig tree may not blossom,
Nor fruit be on the vines;
Though the labor of the olive may fail,
And the fields yield no food;
Though the flock may be cut off from the fold,
And there be no herd in the stalls—
Yet I will rejoice in the Lord,
I will joy in the God of my salvation.
The Lord God is my strength.
Habakkuk 3:17-19
Habakkuk was not the only one to whom God gave a message of
hope and future triumph as well as of present judgment. During the
reign of Josiah the word of the Lord came to Zephaniah, telling the
results of continued apostasy and calling attention to the glorious
prospect beyond. His prophecies of judgment on Judah apply with
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equal force to the judgments that will fall on an unrepentant world
at the second coming of Christ:
The great day of the Lord is near;
It is near and hastens quickly.