Goodness Gracious Great Chariots Of Fire Series

Minor Prophets Major Message

Goodness Gracious Great Chariots of Fire

Habakkuk 3:1-19

#minorprophets

INTRODUCTION… Different Types of Literature in the Bible, bibleresources.americanbible .org/resource/different-kinds-of-literature-in-the-bible [adapted]

The Bible is God’s Word. I hope you believe that. The Bible was and is inspired by the Holy Spirit to human beings who wrote down without error what God the Father wanted them to say. One of the interesting facts about the Bible is that the Bible is a collection from different authors over many years that wrote in different forms to communicate God’s Word to us.

The Bible includes a great number of types of literature and in the Bible the most important of these forms are laws and rules, history, poetry and songs, wisdom sayings and proverbs, Gospels, letters, and apocalyptic writings. Other forms of literature describe sections within a particular book like prose narrative, prayers, parables, prophesies, and genealogies.

Laws and rules include both laws that forbid things (“do not...”) and laws that encourage things (“do...”). They were given to the people of Israel in order to help them worship correctly and treat one another with respect and care. We find laws and rules in Books like Exodus and Deuteronomy and even passages like James 4:11–12.

History books and passages describe the activities of such important figures as the prophets Elijah and Elisha, and the kings of Israel and Judah, including King David and King Solomon. These books also include information about the events of the two Israelite kingdoms. Examples of history books in the Old Testament are Joshua and 1 and 2 Kings and in the New Testament, the Book of Acts.

Poetry and songs are a large category that includes many different forms. Psalms, Job, and the Song of Songs are in this category, but also poetry and songs can be found in many books of the Bible. Exodus has a few songs as does Judges. In the New Testament, Luke 1 has two songs and we also find a song in Philippians 2. Songs are important. Put a mental pin in songs because we are going to come back to them!

Wisdom sayings and proverbs are a large division of the Old Testament and there is even some in the New Testament. Wisdom sayings and proverbs have a unique style which makes them read like common sense sayings and reflections about the world, God, and ask moral questions about human life. A great example of this is the Book of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes in the Old Testament. A great example of wisdom literature in the New Testament is the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7 and some parts of the Book of James.

The Gospels are unique books in the New Testament that are autobiography, biography, history, teaching, and prophecy all rolled into one. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are very unique in the Bible and in all of literature and share all about the life and ministry of Jesus.

We also find letters mostly in the New Testament and are a particular letter-writing style of the first century AD. Within each letter a number of different kinds of literature can be found, including prayers, instructions, teaching, wisdom, warnings, hymns or songs, and personal news. The Apostle Paul, the Apostle Peter, the Apostle John and others all wrote these kinds of letters which were inspired by the Holy Spirit and saved for church use.

I also want to include apocalyptic writings in the list as the last one we will talk about this morning. Apocalyptic literature is very symbolic and cryptic and poetic writing meant to show the future and reveal spiritual truths in repeating and strange ways to encourage the readers to whom they were written. When we think of apocalyptic literature, we think of parts of Daniel and Ezekiel as well as the Book of Revelation.

BACKGROUND OF HABAKKUK 3

Now, take out your mental pin when it comes to songs and remember that the Bible contains songs… actually LOTS of songs. Today we are in the Book of Habakkuk and we are going to focus on chapter 3. This morning we are continuing our journey in the last twelve books of the Old Testament which I have called “Minor Prophets Major Message.” I want to focus each week on one of these specific prophets and the message that he brought to the people of God because those messages are also important to us.

Today we focus on the prophet Habakkuk in chapter 3, but before we read chapter 3, I want to explain a little bit what we are reading before we actually read it. Habakkuk is a small book at the end of the Old Testament and it has just three chapters. The last chapter of the Book of Habakkuk begins with…

READ HABAKKUK 3:1 (ESV)