The Theme of Shalom
I was listening to a Tim Keller podcast the other day, and he was going through a passage in Jeremiah and Isaiah about injustice in Israel, and the judgment that was coming upon them because of it. And he started talking about the whole OT having this theme of "shalom". Shalom is the Hebrew word for "peace", and for the Isrealites, this word meant alot. In fact their entire life centered on the awaiting of "shalom", or peace. Peace when they had finally gotten ahold of the Promised Land and had established their kingdom on Earth through Messiah. Then there would be peace, there would be rest. This concept of peace for them was all encompassing, meaning it wasn't just a political peace, but a mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual peace or rest that they had been waiting for ever since the giving of the Law on Mount Sanai. This peace would come when Messiah would come and right all wrongs, would straighten all that is bent, would make everything work in perfect harmony with God's intended will for the world. This theological concept is called the Kingdom of the Messiah, which was expected when Israel attained and kept the land through obedience to the Mosaic Law. This was their desire, their great expectation! Shalom! Rest! Perfect and utter joy in the land under the rule of Messiah!
But of course they missed something. And as one reads the OT Prophets, you see judgment and condemnation, and wrath, and anger! Why? The people of Israel could not keep the land, and they could not find obedience to the Mosaic Law, therefore they could not attain that peace, but only divine discipline from God! Why? They missed something crucial that Moses tried to teach them, that King David tried to exemplify, that Christ started teaching right from the get go of His ministry - the deceitfulness of the heart (cf. Jeremiah 17:9). They concentrated so much on the external devotion to God, but they never depended on Him, as Christ says, with their heart, mind, soul, and strength. They wanted peace? They could, through faith. And yet, they never found their strength in Him, and the nation ran rampant with idolatry because they trusted in and sought after the sinful desires of their own heart and own understanding rather than finding root in the truth of the Word of God.
The Battle of Faith in Finding Shalom
Habakkuk, an OT prophet sent by God, had to find out the hard way how to find that peace. The time when Habakkuk prophesied was during a horrible part of Israel's history, when they would bow down to foreign gods and participate in sexual promiscuity and child sacrifice. Habakkuk looked around and was in disgust. He cried out to God and asked him two questions, and Habakkuk got two answers that made him tremble in awe before God.
Question #1: Habakkuk asked God this, "God, why are you allowing your people to run rampant in sin and do seemingly nothing about it?" (Hab 1:2-4) This is a great question, and God gave him a great answer as well...
Answer #1: God answered, "I will judge my people and spurn them for their disobedience by the nation of Babylon, and then I'm going to judge them for this action" (Hab 1:5-11)
Now, if you know anything about history, you've probably heard about the nation of Babylon, and they were a wicked nation. Much more wicked than that of Israel. They were the originators of much of the idols that lured Israel away from God, and they were a fierce people that took over and killed many peoples.
This answer completely perplexed Habakkuk, because he was completely outraged that God would use a wicked and idolatrous nation to dicipline Israel. Why would God use an evil people for His purpose? Why would he use a nation that He will inevitably judge (see Nahum)?
Question #2: "Why would You use the nation of Babylon, a wicked nation marked out for judgment, for your purpose?" (Hab 1:12-2:1)
This seemed to be a reasonble question, well, to human standards. But as you read Isaiah 45:1-13, and also Romans 9:19-24, human standards fail in comparison to God's standards and the wisdom of His counsel. And rightfully so Habakkuk, after asking this question, says "I will keep watch to see what He will speak to me, and how I may be reproved" (Hab 2:1)
Answer #2: "I am God, and I act according to My purpose and My will, and you should act in faith according to My will as well". Not a very pleasing answer, but one that can change one's life in their Christian walk. God says that this is His plan and it is according to His infinite wisdom, to raise up the Babylonians in their wickedness to judge Israel, and then to judge Babylon as well.
God then says the famous verse in 2:4, "as for the proud one [the nation of Babylon], his soul is not right within him; but the righteous shall live by faith".
What does this mean? God speaks of the nation of Babylon as a man, and says that he is proud, and that his soul is not right within him, and that the righteous person lives by faith. The Hebrew word for faith has a different ring to it than one might suspect. In the literal Hebrew it means faithfulness or steadfastness. Namely that the righteous one will react in every situation in dependance to God and obedience to His statutes. Leaning on God's promises, and then acting according to them.
God goes on to describe the proud person in verses 5-15, and describes him as one who takes what is not his, living off of thievery, and depending solely on his own strength. The proud man thinks the world revolves around him, and attributes every good thing to his own strength. This is arrogance, not depending on God, not giving glory to God, and not acting in faithfulness to Him.
But the man of faith is pictured as depending on God in even the most horrible of circumstances, like that of Habakkuk, having to accept God's judgment and live through it in faith of God's promises to His people.
Habakkuk realized that he had to wait on God's judgement and yet depend on God's promises and says, "I have heard and my inward parts trembled, at the sound my lips quivered. Devay enters my bones, and in my placeI tremble. Because I must wait quietly for the day of distress, for the people to arise who will invade us". (Hab 3:16)
Habakkuk knows God's plan, and knows that it is according to His will to discipline Israel and bring them to repentance, and depends on God's perfect character and promise of salvation for Israel. He submits to the coming suffering and bows down to God in the midst of it. He doesn't run, he doesn't hide, he doesn't give in to sin or to sorrow, but merely bends the knee.
Now one might read this and say, "How could he submit with peace in knowing God's plan? How could he just sit there and wait? How could Habakkuk ever find peace in just waiting for this invasion? For this death to come upon him?" Habakkuk explains in 3:17-19 the source of his inner peace, the source of his faithfulness to God in the midst of the coming disaster.
His says, "Though the fig tree should notblossom, and there be no fruit on the vines, though the yield of the olive should fail, and the fields produce no food, thought the flock should be cut off from the fold, and there be no cattle in the stalls yet I will exult in the Lord, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength, and He has made my feet like hind's feet, and makes me walk on high places"
Now one thing to not is that in the time of Habakkuk, all of these agricultural things that he referred to were the means by which people of that day received both income and food, so this was crucial to survival in their day. And he anticipates that when Babylon invades, they will lose all their security and means of survival. And he says that even though they will lose everything, my hope is in God's character and His promise to bring salvation through the prophesied Messiah. Even if I lose everything, even if I am killed, I have found my security in God's promises, and I will live by faith. That is true faith. In the midst of extreme trials, you can exult in the God that never fails, the God that never gives up on His people and promises for them.
This was the "shalom" that Israel was missing, and this was the "shalom" that they needed. Faith and steadfastness in the midst of the greatest of trials. Israel missed their Messiah by about a foot, the distance between their heart and their brain.
Shalom through Faith in Everyday Life
So the inevitable question that arises is, what is your crisis? What is your trial that God is putting you through right now? Job crisis? Relationship troubles? Whatever it is, you can react by depending on God and His promises through faith in Him. How do we do that? How do we find that shalom that the Israelites so desired? That inner-peace that Paul talks about in Philippians 4?
1) What are you most obsessing over in life? What takes up the most head-space? Identify that as you go through your day, and identify the cause of your worry.
2) Confess to God your self-reliance and pride (cf. Hab 2:4a) and remind yourself of His promises that come from His Word. Promises like the fact that you are declared righteous through your faith in Christ's death and resurrection. Promises like that fact that God loves you and is with you no matter what you go through. Promises like that fact that one day Christ will return and gather you with Him to have everlasting life in heaven. Remind yourself of His perfect character and judgments, of His steadfast patience in your life, and of His great forgiveness.
3) Find places in this particular situation that you need to correct and correct them.
4) Believe that God has His hand in this situation in your life and walk in that truth.
No comments:
Post a Comment