As we close this series I want to reflect on what we have learned. We have seen that Jesus has prophetically fulfilled all 3 positions of authority pertaining to the Messiah. He fulfills the prophecies of the coming prophet, priest, and king.
Today we will learn from Habakkuk chapter three in our final message in this series. Chapter 3 is a prayer in the form of a psalm to be sung by Levites in the Temple services. This is much more than the outpouring of a believing soul; it is the declaration of a prophet. Let’s see what Habakkuk declares.
Habakkuk foresaw a terrible day for the heathen nations. That word nations refers to any group of people, this is not the word that claims the people to be the Lord’s possession. There is a lot said in verses 12,13.
God's promised savior is the leader. In the battle against evil the Lord’s promised savior will head up this campaign! Num 24:17-19 This battle was for one main purpose. It was for "the salvation of your people." You see God has a plan and it includes the salvation of his people! God does not want a single person to not receive this salvation! THE SALVATION OR THE DELIVERANCE OF GOD’S PEOPLE COULD NOT HAVE HAPPENED WITHOUT GOD’S INTERFERING!! He interfered and provided salvation with his promised savior. The salvation God has for his people will be provided with or through his promised savior!
The coming savior will lay Satan's kingdom bare. In figurative language, v13 depicts the great victory which God enabled his people, through the promised savior, to win over evil! The promised savior "struck" the head of the house of evil. The word struck literally means to cleave, crush, destroy. It carries the connotation of annihilation! Ps 68:21 It's plain to see that we are talking about a total annihilation of the evil one. The head, or the leader of the house of evil, is destroyed by the promised savior. The words "to lay him open" in verse 13 means to be bare; leave destitute. The word "thigh" literally means base; bottom; or foundation. So this verse actually says the promised savior, in battle, will leave the evil one destitute from his foundation to his neck. Now the word neck carries the connotation of binding. Therefore, not only will the promised savior leave the evil one bare and destitute, he will bind the evil one as well.
We even are told how the promised savior will complete this task. He will do it with the evil ones "own spears." Satan had tried Jesus’ entire life to catch him somehow, some way! He tried to have Jesus killed as a baby, pushed off a cliff, & tried to drown him in a storm while he was sleeping. Oh, how excited Satan must have been to see Jesus before Pilate, and the Jews yelling, “Crucify him!” Satan didn't know he was just piercing himself! The evil one, Satan, was pierced by his own spear at Calvary! We must always remember that Jesus was not conquered at Calvary. Rather he laid down his own life and became the conqueror. Jesus said several times this was what he came to do, to die! Mk 9:31 I can see Satan dancing around the cross, as Jesus breathed his last, yelling, “I got him, I got him, I finally got him!” Not realizing he just pierced himself with his own spear. It goes back to Gen 3:15 Satan only bruised Jesus’ heel, but Satan took a death blow! Satan hasn’t given up yet! He still shoots arrows at God’s people, but we must use protection God provides. Eph 6:16
WOW, what a great prophecy about the promised savior. Did such events happen? Did God really send a savior for all mankind? Were these prophecies fulfilled? YES!
The Fulfillment of Prophecy
Was Jesus the leader in the fight against evil. 1Jn 3:8
Did Jesus provide salvation? Heb 5:7-9
Did Jesus lay bare Satan’s Kingdom? Heb 2:14
Did Jesus actually die on the cross? Jn 19:30
It’s easy to see God had a plan to give us a prophet to speak his Word. He gave us a high priest to go into the Holy of Holies and offer a sacrifice. He gave us a king to establish a peaceful and eternal kingdom for his people. He also gave us this savior to battle our enemy and adversary Satan and destroy his works of eternally separating us from God. God gave us the Messiah, or the Christ. I always say, "Christ was Jesus' title, not his last name!" Jesus and Jesus alone can accomplish all these things. The question is he your prophet, priest, king, and savior?
Today, will you do all you can to bring a person to the feet of the Messiah, Jesus Christ. You can nothing better for a person than that. We can not save people, but we can lead them to the one that can. That is our job, my beloved. Jesus cane to seek and save that which was lost. Lk 19:10 As his brothers and sisters, we are to carry on that task. GO, PREACH, BAPTIZE, PREACH Mt 28:19,20 Show someone you love them by telling them how much God loves them. He loved us enough to send us a prophet, priest, king, and savior in the form of Jesus Christ who willingly laid down his life so we can have eternity with God.
We Must Hear Rom 10:17; Acts 4:4
We Must Believe or Have Faith- Heb 11:6; Acts 16:31
We Must Repent- Lk 13:3; Acts 17:30
We Must Confess Christ Before Others- Mt 10:32; Acts 8:37
We Must Be Immersed Into Christ (Baptized)- 1Pe 3:21; Mk 16:16; Acts 2:38
We Must Remain Faithful- Rev 2:10; Acts 14:22
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