It’s one of those passages that is nestled deep in the Book of Acts that is easy to miss, or just skim over and really give no thought to, which we tend to do with so many portions of scripture. We are all guilty of doing so...until the Holy Spirit gets involved with our studies. Take a look at Acts 13:40-41, then make a notation of the reference it gives in regards to the OT prophet Paul is quoting from there- Habakkuk, chapter 1. I’ve touched on this before and felt compelled to revisit it again with this current study we are on.

Paul begins with a word of caution: “Beware...”. Take heed that what was spoken by Habakkuk does not happen to you, church...and for you scoffers and skeptics... you better marvel and sit up and take notice. What I (God) am about to do will be so off anyone’s radar that they would have a hard time believing any of this...even if it was spelled out for them before it ever happens.

Maybe we should go back and read in more detail what Habakkuk had to say. I’ll give you a moment to find that small book that consists of only three chapters. Go ahead and read vs. 1-12 in that first chapter. Verse 5 will sound familiar since that is the one Paul quotes in Acts 13:41. And please remember, we are not dismissing or ‘replacing’ the ‘natural’ events we read here; rather we are asking the Holy Spirit to ‘illuminate’ any ‘spiritual’ component or layer that might be ‘hidden’ in the text that we can draw from, since much of this is a ‘shadow of things to come’ (Col. 2:17)

We are reading the oracle of what Habakkuk saw coming (1:1) and it was of coming judgment due to ongoing sin and rebellion among God’s people (2-4). According to vs. 6, who is God about to ‘raise up’ and how are these people described as? It sounds as if they are a formidable army that have a not so favorable reputation...who ‘march the breadth of the earth...to possess dwelling places that are not theirs’. What do we know already, about ‘Satan’ as revealed in Job 1:7; 1 Pet. 5:8; Matt. 12:43-45 & 2 Cor. 2:11?

Verse 7 solidifies that they would be unwanted guests at any gathering, if you ask me. And would you please note in verse 8 how they are compared to ‘wolves’ and eagles/vultures’.

I want to stop here for a moment and point out a few NT passages, beginning first with Matt. 7:15 and Acts 20:29. Is the concern being expressed in those two passages really about ‘four-legged’ beasts...or maybe something else?

Now turn to Luke 17:34-37. Many folks have mistaken this to be a picture of the ‘rapture’, where ‘one is taken and one is left behind’. I hate to burst your bubble, but Jesus is NOT talking about the ‘rapture’ here. We read in vs.27 there how the ‘flood’ is coming in to take people away to destruction, letting us know how things will unfold prior to His return. So one of the disciples asked Jesus: “Where Lord,...where are they being taken to’? (37). And Jesus responds with “Wherever the body, or carcass is, there the eagles will be gathered together.” (38). We know what a ‘carcass’ is- it’s a ‘dead body’. What do we usually see gathered around ‘road kill’ or maybe a dead animal laying out in a pasture somewhere? Buzzards...vultures and/or eagles. They ‘feed on dead bodies’.

Would you now turn to Rev. 3:1 and read how Jesus addressed one of the churches there at Sardis. Sounds like He is calling them out, and despite the ‘reputation’ they have locally of being ‘alive’, how does Jesus describe their current condition? (a 'dead body' perhaps?) Then, with a few other words of warning and rebuke, He then tells them of their need to ‘repent’...or else... What word picture does He use to explain how He will ‘come upon them as, in verse 3? Does your Bible say as a ‘thief’? And what do we know about what a ‘thief’ comes to do, from what Jesus taught us in John 10:10?

But wait- There’s more: When Jesus was explaining the parable of the sower to His disciples in private, what ‘connection’ did He make between the ‘birds of the air’ in Luke 8:12? Why not flip back to Revelation real quick and read 18:1-4, while underlining vs. 3. Now for some time, I have kept beating this same old drum about the importance of ‘putting to death’ this ‘flesh nature’ as opposed to ‘dialing it down, putting it on a leash, or in a cage’. What have those who belong to Christ done with this nature? (Gal. 5:24)

Dealing with this ‘old man’ is NOT...an option. Romans 8:13 says if we continue to live according to the flesh, we will...die! And hopefully you have read here in the past, the connection I make from Gen. 3:14,19 how our ‘flesh is serpent food’, yes? So when we fail to ‘put it to death, and instead ‘make provision to fulfill the lust of the flesh’, who are we ‘giving place to’ if you read Romans 13:14 and Eph. 4:27 together?

So let’s return and finish up back in Habakkuk 1. It sounds as if God is sending out ‘armies’ bent on violence and destruction, even ‘taking captives’ (9-10). Why did Jeremiah weep over his warnings in 13:15-17?. What did Paul tell Timothy happens to folks in 2 Tim. 2:25-26?

Oh, please make note of Hab. 1:10, that reference to how they ‘heap up earthen mounds to seize it’...we will come back to that tomorrow, Lord willing. Now, let’s finish up with verse 12. What does the prophet make known for us to learn as to why or how God uses these ‘enemies’? What have they been appointed and marked to do?

So when Paul told us to ‘beware’ back in Acts 13:40-41...what concern was he expressing to us that might happen if we are not careful? Are we to really be looking for an 'army of Chaldeans' to come storming in?  Now go look at 2 Cor. 7:1.

I hope I need not ‘apologize’ for laying so many Bible verses in here for you to look up. My words pale in comparison to His word, do they not? You really should take your time with this one today...and maybe even go over it another time or two. This really is far more significant than you could imagine; trust me.