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daily devotional
Morning ...
Matthew 27:51
Behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom.
No mean miracle was wrought in the rending of so strong and thick a veil; but
it was not intended merely as a display of power-many lessons were herein
taught us. The old law of ordinances was put away, and like a worn-out vesture,
rent and laid aside. When Jesus died, the sacrifices were all finished, because
all fulfilled in Him, and therefore the place of their presentation was marked
with an evident token of decay. That rent also revealed all the hidden things
of the old dispensation: the mercy-seat could now be seen, and the glory of God
gleamed forth above it. By the death of our Lord Jesus we have a clear
revelation of God, for He was "not as Moses, who put a veil over his face."
Life and immortality are now brought to light, and things which have been
hidden since the foundation of the world are manifest in Him. The annual
ceremony of atonement was thus abolished. The atoning blood which was once
every year sprinkled within the veil, was now offered once for all by the great
High Priest, and therefore the place of the symbolical rite was broken up. No
blood of bullocks or of lambs is needed now, for Jesus has entered within the
veil with his own blood. Hence access to God is now permitted, and is the
privilege of every believer in Christ Jesus. There is no small space laid open
through which we may peer at the mercy-seat, but the rent reaches from the top
to the bottom. We may come with boldness to the throne of the heavenly grace.
Shall we err if we say that the opening of the Holy of Holies in this
marvellous manner by our Lord's expiring cry was the type of the opening of the
gates of paradise to all the saints by virtue of the Passion? Our bleeding Lord
hath the key of heaven; He openeth and no man shutteth; let us enter in with
Him into the heavenly places, and sit with Him there till our common enemies
shall be made His footstool.
Habakkuk 1:2-4
(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 shew me
iniquity, and cause me to behold grievance? for spoiling and violence are
before me: and there are that raise up strife and contention. (4) Therefore the
law is slacked, and judgment doth never go forth: for the wicked doth compass
about the righteous; therefore wrong judgment proceedeth.
The anguish in his voice is palpable. "God, I've been crying out to You
day and night, and still violence, perversity, and all these terrible things
are happening in the land. How long will this evil last? How much longer must
we endure this constant wickedness, this corruption? When are you going to act,
God?" We have probably prayed similar prayers ourselves: "We need You, God. How
long, O Lord?"
Ezekiel was a slightly later contemporary of Habakkuk. In Ezekiel 9:1-6
is a prophecy, a vision, that he saw while a captive in Babylon. The vision
describes what God was doing in Judah and answers, at least in part, Habakkuk's
question: "Why have You not judged all this evil, God?" His reply in Ezekiel 9
is, "I am going through the land, through My chosen people, and I am marking
each one who sighs and cries over what is happening. I am searching out and
seeing who is righteous, who has character, and whom I must destroy."
It is good that we mourn over all the corruption, wickedness, and
abominations that are happening in this land. It tells God something about our
heart and our character. He is seeking out those who are concerned, distressed,
and repulsed by what is occurring around them, and He is setting them apart for
deliverance. All the while, we must endure it, but it is a necessary wait,
because it takes time for God to evaluate our character, to see what we will do
over the long haul. As Jesus advises in Luke 21:19, "In your patience possess
your souls."
So we must ask ourselves, "How do we react to what is happening in our
nation?" How do we react to sex and violence on television, movies, and
magazines, in books, on billboards, and in just about all advertising and
entertainment? How do we react to terrorism, to drug use, to abortion, to
oppression? How do we react to our court system, which allows so much injustice
to stand? How do we react to racial inequalities? Have we become numb and
hardened to all of these things, or do we still sigh and cry over the depths of
this nation's depravity?
Habakkuk is certainly concerned, and so he asks God for answers, crying
out, "Save us!" God replies in Habakkuk 1:5-11, and His reply is very
interesting.
Richard T. Ritenbaugh
From Habakkuk
