Steve Webb  0:00  
Imagine how things would be different if people served him instead of shunning him. 

Steve Webb  0:06  
Coming to you almost live, this is the Lifespring! One Year Bible and podcasting since 2004. I am your OG Godcaster. Steve Webb, it's prophecy Friday, and we're going to read the book of Habakkuk. The website is Lifespringmedia.com. and I'll have contact information at the end of the show. Before we read, let's pray. Our Heavenly Father, we ask You to bless our time of reading together, we pray that you would teach us today, we pray this in Jesus name. Amen. All right, are you ready? Let's begin. 

Steve Webb  0:39  
Habakkuk chapter one. This is a vision the prophet Habakkuk received from the Lord. Here is what Habakkuk said, Lord, how long do I have to call out for help? Why won't you listen to me? How long must I keep telling you that things are terrible? Why don't you save us? Why do you make me watch while people treat others so unfairly? Why do you put up with the wrong things they're doing? I have to look at death. People are harming others. They are arguing and fighting all the time. The law can't do what it's supposed to do. Fairness never comes out on top. sinful people surround those who do what is right so people are never treated fairly. The Lord replies, look at the nation's watch them be totally amazed at what you see. I am going to do something in your days that you would never believe you would not believe it, even if someone told you about it. I am going to send the armies of Babylonia to attack you. They are very mean they move quickly. They sweep across the whole earth. They take over places that do not belong to them. They terrify others. They do not recognize any laws but their own. That is how proud they are. Their horses are faster than leopards. They are meaner than wolves in the dark. Their horsemen charge straight into battle. They ride in from far away. They come down like an eagle diving for its food. All of them are ready to destroy others. They're huge armies advanced like a wind out of the desert. They gather prisoners like sand. They laugh at Kings and make fun of rulers. They laugh at all of the cities that have high walls around them. They build dirt ramps against the walls and capture the cities. They sweep past like the wind, then they go on their way. They are guilty. They worship their own strength. Lord, haven't you existed forever. You are my holy God, so we won't die. Well, we, Lord, you have appointed the Babylonians to punish your people. My rock, you have chosen them to judge us. Your eyes are too pure to look at what is evil. You can't put up with the wrong things people do. So why do you put up with those who can't be trusted? The evil Babylonians swallow up those who are more godly than themselves. So why are you silent? You have made men as if they were the only fish in the sea. They are like sea creatures that don't have a ruler. The evil Babylonians pull all of them up with hooks. They catch them in their nets, they gather them up. So they celebrate. They're glad they offer sacrifices to their nets. They burn incense to them. Their nets allow them to live in great comfort. They enjoy the finest food. Are you going to let them keep on emptying their nets? While they go on destroying nations without showing them any mercy 

Steve Webb  3:33  
Habakkuk chapter two. I will go up to the lookout tower. I'll station myself on the city wall. I'll wait to see how the Lord will reply to me and then I'll try to figure out how to answer him. The Lord replies, write down the message I'm showing you in a vision. Write it clearly on the tablets you use. Then a messenger can read it and run to announce it. The message I give you waits for the time I've appointed. It speaks about what is going to happen. and all of it will come true. It might take a while but wait for it. You can be sure it will come. It will happen when I want it to. The Babylonians are very proud. What they want is not good. But the one who was right with God will live by faith. Wine makes the Babylonians do foolish things. They are proud. They never rest. Like the grave. They are always hungry for more like death. They are never satisfied. They gather all of the nations to themselves. They take their people away as prisoners. Won't those people laugh at the Babylonians? Well, if they make fun of them, they will say to them, how terrible it will be for you who pile up stolen goods. You get rich by cheating others. How long will that go on? Those who owe you money will suddenly rise up. You charge them too much interest. So they will wake up and make you tremble with fear. Then they will take away everything you have. You have robbed many nations so the nations that are left After will rob you. You have spilled man's blood. You have destroyed lands and cities and everyone in them how terrible it will be for the Babylonians. They build up their kingdom with money they gained by cheating others, they have tried to make the kingdom as secure as possible. After all, they did not want to be destroyed. They have planned to wipe out many nations, but they have brought shame on their own kingdom. So they must pay with their own lives. The stones in the walls of their homes will cry out, and the wooden beams will echo that cry. How terrible it will be for the Babylonians. They build cities by spilling the blood of others. They establish towns by committing crimes. I am the Lord who rules over all, human effort is no better than wood that feeds a fire. So the nations wear themselves out for nothing, and the oceans are full of water. In the same way the earth will be filled with a knowledge of My Glory. How terrible it will be for the Babylonians. They give drinks to their neighbors, they pour the drinks from wineskins until their neighbors are drunk. They want to look at their naked bodies, but the Babylonians will be filled with shame instead of glory. So now it is their turn to drink and be stripped of their clothes. The cup of anger in my powerful right hand is going to punish them, they will be covered with shame instead of glory. The harm they have done to Lebanon will bring them down because they have killed so many animals, animals will terrify them. They have spilled man's blood, they have destroyed lands and cities and everyone in them. and if someone carves a statue of a god, what is it worth? What value is there in a God that teaches lies? The one who trusts in another god worships his own creation? He makes statues of gods that can't speak, how terrible it will be for the Babylonians. They say to a wooden God come to life. They say to a stone God, wake up. Can those gods give advice? They're covered with gold and silver, they can't even breathe, but I am in my holy temple. Let the whole earth be silent in front of me. 

Steve Webb  7:07  
Habakkuk chapter three. This is a prayer of the prophet Habakkuk it is on Shiggy and off, here is what he said, Lord, I know how famous you are. I have great respect for you because of your mighty acts. Do them again for us. Make them known in our time. When you're angry. Please show us your tender love. God you came from Tieman you the Holy One came from Mount Paran Sayla Your glory covered the heavens. Your praise filled the Earth. Your glory was like the sunrise. Rays of light flashed from your mighty hand. Your power was hidden there. You sent plagues ahead of you, sickness followed behind you. When you stood up the earth shook. When you looked at the nations they trembled with fear. The age old mountains crumbled, the ancient Hills fell down. Your mighty axe will last forever. I saw the tense of KU Shan and treble the people of Midian were suffering greatly. Lord, did your anger burn against the rivers? Were you angry with the streams? Were you angry with the Red Sea? You rode your horses and chariots to overcome it. You got your bow ready to use. You asked for many arrows Sayla you broke up the surface of the Earth with rivers. The mountain saw you and shook floods of water swept by the sea roared. It lifted its waves high. The Sun and Moon stood still in the sky. They stopped because your flying arrows flashed by your gleaming spear shone like lightning. When you were angry, you marched across the earth. Because of your anger. You destroyed the nation's you came out to set your people free. You saved your chosen ones. You crushed Pharaoh, the leader of that evil land of Egypt. You stripped him from head to foot, c'est la vie. His soldiers rushed out to scatter us they were laughing at us. They thought they would easily destroy us. They saw us as weak people who were trying to hide. So you wounded Pharaoh's head with his own spear. Your horses charged into the Red Sea. They stirred up the great waters. I listened in my heart pounded my lips trembled at the sound. My bones seemed to rot and my legs shook. But I will be patient. I wait for the day of trouble to come on Babylonia. It's the nation that is attacking us. The fig trees might not bind. The vines might not produce any grapes, the all of crop might fail. The fields might not produce any food. There might not be any sheep in the pens. There might not be any cattle in the barns, but I will still be glad because of what the Lord has done. God my savior fills me with joy. The lord and king gives me strength. He may As my feet like the feet of a deer, he helps me walk on the highest places. This prayer is for the Director of Music. It should be sung while being accompanied by stringed instruments. 

Steve Webb  10:13  
There's a lot of conjecture on just who this prophet Habakkuk was. The Jewish rabbis have some ideas, and Roman Catholicism has theirs based on one of the books of the Apocrypha, but really about all we do know is that this is a book of Habakkuk statements to God in the name of the people and God's statements to the people through Habakkuk. That's kind of the textbook definition of what a prophet is write. One sentence in the book should have certainly stood out to you if you've studied Martin Luther and the Reformation at all, did you hear it? It was in chapter two, verse four, here it is again, but the one who was right with God will live by faith. Or it might be more familiar to you from the King James version, but the just shall live by faith. Does it surprise you that that was from the book of Habakkuk, you might have thought that it was from Romans 116 and 17. Here it is, again, from the King James Version, Romans 16, and 17. For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth to the Jew first and also to the Greek. Verse 17. For their in is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith, as it is written, The just shall live by faith. So as you can see there in Romans Paul was quoting Habakkuk. In the phrase, The just shall live by faith is the verse that caused Martin Luther to begin questioning the Roman Catholic Church's practices. It's a very important piece of church history that I recommend you study if you're not familiar with it. So the first two chapters were sort of a conversation between Habakkuk and God. and then in chapter three was a prayer of the Prophet. In the translation we read today. This is verse two, Lord, I know how famous you are, I have great respect for you because of your mighty acts. Do them again for us, make them known in our time, when you're angry, please have mercy on us. But listen to it from the New American Standard. Lord, I've heard the report about you and I fear, oh, Lord, revive your work in the midst of the years in the midst of the years make it known in Wrath, remember, Mercy. So in this verse Habakkuk, is asking God for something that you've heard me ask for during our prayer times together. He's asking God for revival. He's asking God to do what he's done in the past, to bring people to Himself. Beloved, most of the problems we see in the world around us are because people have turned their backs to him. They've shut him out. Imagine how things would be different if people served him instead of shunning him. What are your thoughts? You have comments or questions? I want to hear from you. Contact information will be at the end of the show. Tomorrow will be gospel Saturday, and our reading will be Acts nine and 10.

Steve Webb  13:13  
Value for value. What does the Lifespring! One Year Bible mean to you? Is it helping you to stay in God's word? Maybe this is the first time you've been able to stick to a daily reading schedule. Would you be willing to help support the show? It would be a great help to me since the Lifespring family is the only source of outside funding there is around here. As you know, I won't accept any advertisers because I need to be completely immune from any pressure to water down the message of God's Word. So your support is desperately needed. The amount is up to you. What value do you receive from the show? Pray about it. Would you allow the Lord to lead you and then go to Lifespringmedia.com? SAS thoughts? I'll thank you. and I believe that God will bless you. 

Steve Webb  14:02  
Well, today is the first day of a little over a week long vacation for the lovely lady Leanne and me, we're taking an Alaskan cruise I've always wanted to visit Alaska. and this is sort of an early birthday gift. I'm turning 69 years old in August. Now in the past, I've been able to check email or any prayer requests you might send in but this time, I won't be able to do that. I'll be completely unplugged from the internet. That'll be fun. But if you do have a prayer request or a praise report, go ahead and send it in and when I get back we'll get caught up in I'll share them on the show on our prayer segment on Sunday, August 12. You see beginning with this show, every show until August 9 will be pre recorded. They are all new shows there won't be any reruns from previous seasons, but there won't be any donation segments essential segments or praise reports or prayer request segments. We will get all caught up with those things when I get back and of course I will give you a report on our vacation when I get Back to that. I gotta tell you, I'm really looking forward to this time with the lovely lady Leanne. It'll be just the two of us and a ship full of passengers and crew. But please do feel free to continue to send comments, questions and whatever while I'm away. I'll miss Yeah. Well, if you do have a comment or question, a prayer request or a praise report, this is the way you can reach me. You can send a boostagram of course, or to leave a voice message, call the Lifespring family Hotline at plus 1-951-732-8511 Or for prayer requests and praise reports go to prayer.lifespringmedia.com and for comments or questions, go to comment dot Lifespringmedia.com or send an email to me but again, I won't be around to get any of these things in real time. We will get caught up though when I get back.

Steve Webb  16:00  
Scott Snider did today's show art. Thank you, Scott. and thanks to Sister Denise and Michael Haner, Jason Paschall and sister Brittaney. Thank you so much for hanging out with me today. Until tomorrow. May God bless you richly. My name is Steve Webb. Bye

Announcer  16:18  
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Transcribed by https://otter.ai