Habakkuk 2:14 Podcast Transcript:

God is a God of order, so why did I go out of order when choosing our first memory verse for Embracing Joy?  

I’m Jean Wilund but It’s All About Him! Welcome to a fun place to get serious about Bible study. 

Our first memory verse in Embracing Joy does not come from the first chapter of Habakkuk, like you would expect, but from the second chapter.

Choosing this verse to begin our study was an easy choice because the main reason I wrote this study is reflected in Habakkuk 2:14, our first memory verse:

For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.

–Habakkuk 2:14

One of my main prayers for each us through this study is that we would grow in the knowledge of the glory of the Lord. 

So what is God’s glory? It’s the sum of all of God’s radiant attributes. It’s everything He is.

And my desire for us as we study Habakkuk (or any book of the Bible) is to grow in the knowledge of His glory, and that His glory would fill our hearts with peace and joy just like the waters cover the sea. 

I can think of no better way to begin a Bible study than to begin focused on the glory of the Lord. Especially when the book opens with such anguish as Habakkuk does. 

He starts with: 

O LORD, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not hear? Or cry to you “Violence!” and you will not save?

God’s response to Habakkuk was: 

“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.”

And you’re NOT going to like it. In fact, you’re going to HATE it. 

Okay, this last part is not in the Bible. That was from me. But God’s people were going to hate being conquered by Nebuchadnezzar and dragged off to Babylon. 

The message of Habakkuk opens in despair and aguish. In confusion and frustration…just like so many of our lives. We don’t understand why God is allowing the things to happen around us, and in us, and to us. 

And so from the first lesson, I wanted us to fix our minds on the answer to our problems. 

The knowledge of the glory of the Lord is the answer to every problem. [Habakkuk 2:14]

Fixing our eyes and our worship on Christ causes our hearts to find rest—even in the chaos. 

Christ is our Salvation. He’s our Redeemer. God’s glory is the strength we need for all things, but only those who know the Lord as their Savior find rest in Him. 

Everyone else may marvel at the glory of His creation and find a sense of peace in its beauty, but they kick against the glory of His rule—His authority—over their hearts and minds.

His glory is a spotlight that shines on their sin, and it makes them squirm or rage. 

It makes all of us squirm when His glory exposes our sin to our hearts and before the world. 

But for those who belong to Christ, this spotlight does a beautiful work of conviction to put off our sin, and it gives us the power to put on Christ and to walk in the light of His holiness—the only place of true and abiding joy.  

One day, the whole world will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord. Some of us will shout Hallelujah in that day—or maybe, more likely, we’ll just fall on our faces speechless in worship. 

But the rest will likely fall on their faces in horror as they see the glory of the One they rejected and despised. The One they refused to believe in and trust.

I pray that while there is still breath in your lungs, if you have not trusted in Christ, I pray that you will. 

And I pray for each of us who have trusted in Christ, that as we study the book of Habakkuk that the knowledge of the glory of the Lord will grow in our hearts as the water covers the sea. [Habakkuk 2:14]

Yes, God is a God of order, and I may have chosen an unusual order by going to the second chapter of Habakkuk for our first memory verse, but what better order could there be for us as we begin to study Habakkuk than to focus on the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, who one day will restore all things to their rightful order.  

Thank you for joining me today. If you like what you heard, share it with others. Hit the subscribe button—and write a review on your favorite podcast app. If you haven’t started studying Embracing Joy yet, get it today. The link is in the show notes. I’m Jean Wilund. But It’s All About Him!

To purchase Embracing Joy: An 8-Week Transformational Bible Study of Habakkuk, visit Our Daily Bread Publishing, Christianbook.com, or  Amazon, or your favorite bookseller.

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