Thursday, December 2, 2004 Nativity Fast
The Holy Prophet Habakkuk
Kellia: Habakkuk 3:1-19 Epistle: 1 Timothy 6:17-21 Gospel: St. Luke 18:31-34
Habakkuk 3:1-19 (the Fourth Ode), especially vs. 1: "O Lord, I have heard Thy report, and I
was afraid; O Lord, I considered Thy works, and I was amazed." The Church places this prophecy of Habakkuk before us
in early December as we turn our attention to the forthcoming Feast of the Lord's Nativity, now rapidly approaching. In
Orthodox Christian interpretation, the passage is read as a vision of the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in the flesh. This
is why, for instance, when the Church sings the opening verse of this ode of praise, she hears the Prophet in the very
moment of his enlightenment by the Holy Spirit "when he perceived [Christ's] coming in the last days." She understands
the enlightened Habakkuk to say, "I have heard of Thy might, O Lord [Jesus], that Thou hast come to save all Thine
anointed ones."
The Faithful in the generations since the Lord's coming also are "amazed" at Him "that spake in the Prophets and was
proclaimed through the Law...." All true followers of Christ in these latter days are in awe, for we are more blessed than the
Prophet Habakkuk because we live in the gracious "years of the Lord" following His Incarnation. Our eyes and ears have
arrayed before them the riches of His recorded works for consideration in prayer: "all that Jesus began both to do and
teach, until the day in which He was taken up, after He through the Holy Spirit had given commandments to the apostles
whom He had chosen to whom He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs..." (Acts
1:1,2,3).
Observe how the Prophet looked forward: "Thou shalt be known, when the years draw nigh, Thou shalt be shown forth"
(Hab. 3:2). Furthermore, Christ's drawing nigh to our benighted race, His manifestation to mankind, actually came as the
greatest of mercies, for our souls were troubled to death at God's righteous anger because of our iniquities (vs. 2). Then, as
Habakkuk foresaw, Christ our Lord came in mercy" to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to
guide our feet into the way of peace" (Lk. 1:79).
The Prophet continues: "God shall come out of Thaeman [Teman]" (vs. 3). How precisely the Spirit opened the Prophet's
eyes! Teman is a name applied to the southern region of greater Israel, and broadly may include southern Judah where
Bethlehem is located, the city of Christ's birth. This mention of God coming from Teman is exactly how St. Irenaeus
perceived these words of the Prophet: "thus [Habakkuk] indicates in clear terms that He is God, and that His advent was to
take place in Bethlehem...which is toward the south of the inheritance."
What is more, the Church understands the "mountain overshadowed and densely wooded" to refer to the Theotokos. Our
hymnody sings: "Habakkuk foresaw as an uncut mountain Thine undefiled womb, O pure One, and so he cried out: 'The
holy God shall go forth from Teman and from a wooded and uncut mountain.'" How prophetic! Recall: the Virgin was
told: "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you, therefore, also that Holy
One Who is to be born will be called the Son of God" (Lk. 1:35).
The whole of this prophecy may be "mined" in this way for the prophetic riches which the Spirit of God gave to His servant
Habakkuk. Christ's "virtue hath covered the heavens, and the earth [is] full of His praise" (Hab. 3:4). The Word has come
forth with "instruction at His feet" (vs. 6). Let us sing of the triumph of the Incarnation with the Prophet of God: "Thou
wentest forth for the salvation of Thy people, to save Thine anointed ones art Thou come. Thou didst cast death upon the
heads of transgressors," trampling down death by death (vs. 13).
Today the Virgin cometh to the cave to give birth in an ineffable manner to the pre-eternal Word. Rejoice, therefore, O
universe, when thou hearest the Prophet's message.
