Paul cites Habakkuk 1:5 from the Greek OT to give a warning that his audience in the synagogue would take heed to the work God had done in raising Messiah from the dead and respond in faith. Paul cites the imperative from the OT verse and uses his own as well to get the attention of his listeners. Habakkuk's message was hard to accept in his day because it was a message about God bringing judgment through a foreign nation to Israel in her rebellion. Paul's even greater message was about the coming of Messiah who proved His claims in many ways. People would either put their faith in Christ and thus find salvation or they would face judgment.

We discuss how the gospel is offensive to those who are religious in our day as well and how many have altered the gospel to make it popular. But when they do so they destroy the content of the gospel and have not real, eternal salvation to offer. Better living through religion is not the gospel message. Paul uses the term "scoffers" which is also found in Isaiah 28:14-16 where Messianic salvation is predicted as God laying a "costly cornerstone." Many in the synagogue believed Paul's message, but when the message spread, jealousy on the part of the Jewish leadership led to contradiction and blasphemy. We will discuss that more when we teach from Acts 13 again.  

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