“And therefore will the Lord wait – that He may be gracious unto you – and therefore will He be exalted – that He may have mercy upon you! For the Lord is a God of Judgment. Blessed are all they – that Wait For Him!” [Is.30:18]
“For the vision is yet for an appointed time – but at the end – it shall speak and not lie. Though it tarry; – WAIT for it – because it will surely come! It will not tarry!” [Hab.2:3]
These texts of holy scripture should communicate much encouragement to every true child of God’s eternal family in this present sinful world! Whenever the enabling Grace of Christ – the only Savior that there is – causes His saved ones in this world to earnestly and persistently seek Him for a much needed supplication – whether it be seemingly small or obviously great – He, Himself, also, will burden His child to earnestly pray for what they so desperately need! It is then – at this time – that He will communicate the bottom line message of both of these texts unto their Regenerated hearts and souls.
Take note of how the prophecy of Habakkuk begins – 1:2 “O Lord, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear! Even cry out unto thee of violence – and thou wilt not save! (3) Why dost thou show me iniquity – and cause me to behold grievance?…” This (iniquity and violence) was the sad state and condition of things in and among the Nation of Judah! Therefore, the Lord – through the minor prophet – boldly declared unto Judah: “Behold ye among the heathen – and regard (or, diligently consider) – and wonder marvelously! For I will work a work in your days – (lit.) ye will not believe – though it be told you.” This verse, the apostle Paul – in his day and time – quoted unto the Jews and Gentiles in the synagogue in Antioch on the Sabbath. You can read about this from Acts 13:14-52. The reason why Paul quoted this same text unto the Jews of the first century — which was Holy Spirit inspired through Habakkuk (a contemporary of Jeremiah) in 626BC – is because the Jews of the first century AD had become equally as idolatrous as their predecessors! The only difference was that – their idols were not exactly the same. Nevertheless, idolatry is idolatry – no matter what generation it happens to be -– and God judges and condemns it! With the Lord God, it is a damnable sin to fear and to follow anyone or anything except Him and Him alone.
Isaiah, who preceded Habakkuk, accurately prophesied what was taking place in both Habakkuk’s and Paul’s time (and as well in our own time)! This is what made Habakkuk relevant to Paul – hence, he quotes Hab.1:5 in his message in Acts 13:41. All of the Bible is completely and contemporarily relevant unto all of us, at all times! The Spirit of God bears witness to our spirits that this is the Truth! Otherwise, why was Paul also inspired to write Ro.15:4-6> “For whatsoever things were written aforetime – were written for our learning – that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. (5) Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus: (6) that ye may with one mind and one mouth – glorify God – even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Therefore, when we read Is.30:18, we can rest assured that it is absolutely relevant to us even in our earnest praying and seeking the Lord God for the earnest supplication(s) of our hearts! Indeed, the context of Is.30:18 has much relevant considerations for us to wisely take note of – for our learning. For our learning to truly seek Him – and to wait for Him – to unfold His grace unto our hearts and our circumstances. Lord willing: we will address this in a future missive.— John Carpenter
