Habakkuk is God’s messenger to me this Thanksgiving. He has reminded me that, regardless of what I see with my flesh eyes, there’s something else, far more important, that I must see by faith. My faith must see that what is going on is revealing. We are learning. God is teaching us what we need to know about ourselves and Him. We are learning that our “labor,” – the “desperate flurry of panting feverishness” that is our life – “is only fuel for the fire.” We “exhaust ourselves for nothing.” Facing that head on, honestly, we recognize how “unmanageable” our lives really are. Here God’s promise that “the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord,” gets our attention. There is something “glorious,” despite our despair. The proverbial “pot of gold at the end of the rainbow,” may just exist. But before we run off into fantasy God stops us short and reminds us that He is the one whose “glory” is being revealed. “God is in His holy temple – He’s still the one on the throne where ultimate decisions are made – we on earth must silence ourselves in His presence and wait for His intervention.” (Habakkuk 2:20) It is in the “silent” waiting, as we are “still,” that we come to “know” God (Psalm 46:10) And, “knowing” God is really what we need most. In fact, Jesus said it is the essence of our lives as immortal beings. “(L)ife eternal,” He said, in a conversation with our Heavenly Father, is “to know you the only true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” (John 17:3)
This has been my passionate desire for most of my life and especially during recent years. Our Father used Habakkuk to refocus my attention this Thanksgiving Week and I am, truly, grateful. I’m grateful for the nudge back to “first things.” But I’m even more grateful for some new insights. I’m also grateful for his reminders.
One new insight, in particular, stands out for me. As I read God’s direct command to Habakkuk, “the LORD is in his holy Temple. Let all the earth be silent before him,” for the umpteenth time, I wonder, why would He use “temple” in this context? He’s talking like a ruler but using a religious term. I began to unpack the words. “Holy,” to the Hebrews is about being “clean.” “Clean” in the sense of “consecrated.” Something that is “holy,” to the God of the Bible, is something that is prepared meticulously, and used, exclusively, by Him, or for Him. The “holy temple,” is for and about God and God alone. The more I thought about the “temple” itself the more I realized how awesome and formidable it is. In the Scriptures of the Jewish people it is the place where God lives. Before there was a temple there was a “tabernacle.” Descriptions of the construction of that “traveling temple,” in the Exodus, are meticulously intricate in their detail and jaw dropping exquisite in their elegance. The same is true of the temple Solomon built (2 Chronicles 3 & 4). The reverence and wonder ... the phenomenal demonstrations of God’s presence that characterize its history truly expose the raw power of the “God of terrible aspect.” No part of the temple embodies that more than the “Holy of Holies.” This place, “set apart” from all the other rooms, and halls, and porticoes of the temple was where God and His chosen representative man met face-to-face. The meeting, once a year at a precisely appointed time, was a terrifying prospect. No one who was unprepared and unacceptable to God would survive in that place. Men died in there because they weren’t worthy to be there. Special provisions were routinely made for their removal should they fall before the “unapproachable” God. But, once inside, a marvelous reality awaited the yearly visitor. The “ark,” kept in this holy place, was covered by a skillfully crafted gold cover. Moses describes this “cover.” “(A) lid of pure gold for the Ark … forty-five inches long and twenty-seven inches wide … two seraphs with wings … one on each end of the lid … one seraph attached on one end of the lid and the other … on the other end … both one piece with the lid at the ends. The seraphs’ wings … spread upward, covering the lid, and they … face each other across the lid.” Moses recalls the directions God gave Him for this lid. “Put this lid on top of the Ark, and put in the Ark the Agreement which I will make with you. I will meet with you there, above the lid between the two winged creatures on the Ark … . There I will give you all my commands for the Israelites.” That “lid” was called “The Mercy Seat.” The priest had just entered the presence of the unapproachable God. He’d survived. He had to be relieved. He may have been tempted to dwell on the ways he’d met the ritual requirements for such an entrance. This golden symbol of the “mercy” of His God checked that inclination. The “God of terrible aspect,” whose presence silenced worshippers for millennia, had met their representative, yet again, in a Spirit of "mercy." Year-after-year the Priest was reminded that the God he met with on behalf of the people of Israel was not a vengeful potentate. The symbols in the “holiest” place declared beyond question that He is a “merciful Lord.” The God who is “in His Holy Temple,” is, truly, the God before whom “the earth trembles.” But, once we are “silent before Him,” we discover He is “mercy.”
Hundreds of years after Habakkuk staged his protest, and learned this lesson, a Christian writer wrote to Hebrew Christians, “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” (Hebrews 4:16) He and his readers were Jews who believed that Jesus was their Messiah. They had come to realize that Jesus is the consummate expression of the mercy of our God. They knew that He was then in the “throne room” of the Father, “seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:2) They knew that, because of the work of Jesus, it was, now and forever, the “throne of mercy.” The “throne of God,” is "the mercy seat." And, because Christ’s death brought down the “veil” that prevented our coming near it, any one of us can, now, approach the King. Not only can we approach Him. We are invited to “come boldly.” Once there we are assured we’ll find more than “mercy.” We'll find “grace that will be helpful to us in our time of need.” God’s favor is revealed to be a given. If we’ll presume it is so and come to him “with confidence,” He will provide whatever help we need regardless of the situation.
Needless to say my mood has changed. That’s what happens every time someone listens to God. It’s what happened to Habakkuk. He reveals truth to us. He shows us how things really are. Knowing the truth we’re no longer jaded by what seems to be. We expect the best despite appearances. That is what “faith” looks like. Then Thanksgiving is the only appropriate response; official Holiday or any day!
With that I will thank our God this Thanksgiving and all year long! ... There is more ...
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