Write the Vision

We are going to start in Habakkuk's prophecy. He is one of the Minor Prophets in the Old Testament, and he is called a minor prophet because of the shortness of his writing, only three chapters. His prophecy has to do with the day in which we live. Therefore, we can say his ministry still lives.

Christians tend to look over the Old Testament too much. The Old Testament is the Word of God also. These men prophesied some tremendous words from the Lord. How many times the Lord spoke and said, “I am the God of your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” That means Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are still living; they are still involved in ministry.

Isaiah, for example, tremendous prophet that he was, still ministers. Moses is still ministering. Samuel is still ministering. These men of the Old Testament along with those of the New Testament and those of today are ways of the Lord. They are channels through which the Lord moves and Habakkuk is such a prophet. He is ministering in this day as well as he was in the day that he actually lived as a man. We are just going to look at a few verses. I would encourage your hearts that when you go to the Old Testament to read get to know these men because they are still living and they are still speaking.

Let me give you another example. After Cain killed Abel, God began to talk to him and asked him, “Where is your brother?” Cain answered, “I don’t know. Am I my brother’s keeper?” God said, “Thy brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground” (Genesis 4:8-10). Then over in the book of Matthew, Jesus speaks of the blood of Abel still speaking in judgment (Matthew 23:35). Abel was a prophet and he still speaks. Moses still speaks. Isaiah, Jeremiah and all the rest are still speaking. The things that they have to say are very, very important.

Habakkuk 2:1 I will stand upon my watch …

There is a reason that Habakkuk said that he would stand upon his watch. Habakkuk was a special type of prophet. He was one of the watchmen on the wall. He was to watch over the people of God, he was to warn them in times of danger, and he was to minister the Word of God. He knew that there was a place in the Lord he had to be and in that place was his watch. That was his charge; he was to stand upon his watch.

Habakkuk 2:1 I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower …

Habakkuk's tower was a spiritual positioning. He was positioned a little above – upon a tower – so he could watch. In other words, he could see into realms that the ordinary people could not see. The Lord opened up things to him, so Habakkuk says, “I will stand upon my watch.”

Now, God still gives people a watch, a place of responsibility, and He will lift them up to a realm where they have insight into areas that others cannot see. Habakkuk was determined to fulfill his calling.

Habakkuk 2:1 I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what He will say unto me …

The Septuagint is the Old Testament written in Greek and were the writings that were available in Jesus’ day. It is the writings He and His disciples had. In the Septuagint it is worded just a little different. It says: I will stand upon my watch, and set upon my tower, and will watch to see what He will say in me. The voice of the Lord was heard in him. So you see, Habakkuk did not go up on a literal tower. He was tuned-in to another realm, another world and the voice of the Lord would come forth in him.

Habakkuk 2:1-2 … and will watch to see what He will say in me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved.
2 And the Lord answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that reads it.

It was important that the men of God, not only in the Old Testament but in the New Testament also, for the vision to be written. Someone has to write the vision. Someone has to make it available. The Prophet must be on his watch, he must be stationed on his tower, determined to be there, determined to hear what the Lord will speak in him and then to write the vision that others may read it and run.

Just think, if we did not have this Bible, how could we run? Someone has to speak the Word! Someone has to write the vision! Someone must make it known that others may read it and run, so they can get involved with it. We can get involved in the things of Habakkuk, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Zechariah and all the rest. These things are written so that we can read them and run, so we can be involved in them.

Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that reads it. There has to be a spoken word. There has to be a written word. I received an email today from someone who said that God had spoken to their hearts that they are to write. So I sent an email back and encouraged their hearts, “Yes, write.” And I remembered many years ago when I was in the days of my training and I was under the pastor who had so much to do with my spiritual growth, he emphasized the writing very much. In fact, he would tell us, “After every service write one paragraph of what God did and said in that service.” So this is what I did and it became a habit. Even when we received the cassette tapes that came from his ministry later, I would sit and listen to the tapes and make notes. Whenever the Lord would speak, I would write it. The writing of the word is very, very important. You can read it and somehow you just forget it, but when you write it, sit down and write it, it is that activity of thinking about it. “Now what did God do and what did He speak in that service?” The next thing you know your spirit is learning how to tune-in to the spirit realm, because you cannot know what God did or said in a service without being able to tune in to the realm of spirit in which He was moving. That is not something that just comes automatically. It is something that you have to learn how to do.

The writing is important. I encouraged this person, “Write the things that God gives you. Write the things that you are sensing that are taking place. Keep a personal journal if necessary and review them. Check and recheck. Look for confirmation to everything you feel that God is saying to you.” These are things that are important if you really want to know. When God speaks to you, it is like a vision. Write it down and then begin to appropriate the things that you saw. You read it that you might run. Be active.

Habakkuk 2:3 For the vision is yet for an appointed time …

An appointed time is a season. A season is a particular time span, from one point to another point, and between those two points is a season. That is the appointed time when something is to happen. It is like a time of visitation of the Lord.

The vision is yet for an appointed time. Well, don’t make the mistake of putting that appointed time way out in the future – “One day it is going to come to pass.” The appointed time could be the very next step God has for you. God says that the Word will be a light unto your path and a lamp unto your feet (Psalm 119:105). That light to your path and that lamp to your feet is the vision. It is the appointed time.

Habakkuk 2:3 …but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it…

I’ve had times when I knew that the Lord was speaking something to my spirit, something was being imparted to me of Him, but I did not what it was. I knew that I had to withhold it, to keep it, because there was going to be a fruition that followed. There was going to be a fulfillment. This is what it is talking about here. The vision comes; write it, make a note of it that you may run, that you may be active in the things of the Lord. This vision is yet for a season, for an appointed time. You do not want to miss the time that it is appointed for but at the end, in other words, at the time of its fruition or its fulfillment it shall speak and not lie.

Habakkuk 2:3 …though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.

We are talking about becoming. You see God is always speaking. There are always those emanations of Spirit that are coming from the Lord that we have to take hold of. Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that reads it. So, it is not only important that you write the things that God is speaking to you because they are the things that will enable you to be active and to run, but the things that God shows you and that you write are important for the people who come after you and read it.

This is the vision that we have at Open Heavens Ministries. The Word that God is speaking and bringing is a Word to be read and a Word for those who are yet to come. The vision is yet for an appointed time but at its fruition, at its fulfillment, it shall speak. Suddenly, the vision blossoms forth. Suddenly, it is like a trumpet in the wilderness that speaks. It does not lie and though it tarries, wait for it. Don’t just sit back and wait, “I know God is speaking and it is going to happen.” Earnestly partake of it because it will surely come. Do you see the faith in that? It will surely come. That seems strange: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry. You can bring the tarrying to an end through the appropriation of your hungering after the Word. Believe it. Amen.