Learning with Habakkuk

May 7, 2023 – Habakkuk 2:2-20 – Learning with Habakkuk

This is the third sermon in our series through the short book of Habakkuk. To bring everybody up to speed on where we are, let me do a quick review. After the period of the judges, Saul, David, and Solomon each ruled in Israel for 40 years. Their 120-year collective reign was the time of united kingdom, meaning, all twelve tribes of Israel were united as one kingdom under one king. But when the throne passed from Solomon to his son Rehoboam in 930 BC, there were tensions within the kingdom and Rehoboam didn’t handle them very well, so the kingdom split. It split into two; a northern kingdom and the southern kingdom. The tribes of Judah and Benjamin made up the southern kingdom and remained under the rule of Rehoboam, whereas the other ten tribes made up the northern kingdom and had a different king; a man named Jeroboam.

During the time of the divided kingdom, the northern kingdom had 20 kings. What’s notable is that all 20 of them were bad kings. Which is to say, not a single one of them honored God and ruled His people according to His law. So after 208 years of sending prophets to the northern kingdom, telling them of their sins and warning them about the judgement God will bring upon them if they refuse to repent, the Lord made good on His threat. In 722 BC, He brought judgment on the northern the kingdom of Israel. He used the Assyrian army to invade and conquer Israel. The Assyrians exiled the Israelites from their homeland and dispersed them all throughout the Assyrian empire, and those 10 tribes of Israel were assimilated into the Assyrian culture. They intermarried with foreigners and ceased to maintain their identify as the covenant people God had separated from the world.

The southern kingdom of Judah also had 20 kings, but not every one of them were bad. There were a few good ones who honored God and ruled according to His law, but the majority of the kings were bad. So after 344 years of sending prophets to the southern kingdom, telling them of their sins and warning them about the judgement God will bring upon them if they refuse to repent, the Lord made good on His threat. He brought judgment upon the southern kingdom, just like He had done with the northern kingdom. In 605 BC, God used the Babylonian army to begin invading and conquering the southern kingdom of Judah. And just like the Assyrians did with the people of Israel, the Babylonians exiled the Jews from their homeland and brought them to Babylon. But unlike the northern kingdom, God preserved a remnant from Judah. After 70 years of captivity in Babylon, the Lord brought a remnant of faithful Jews back to Jerusalem. The remnant began to rebuild the city, rebuild the temple, and reestablish a life of worship and service to God as His covenant people who have been separated from the world.

The book of Habakkuk was written right around 605 BC, just before the Babylonian army began to take the southern kingdom captive. This is a very important point to keep in mind as we read Habakkuk because Habakkuk didn’t know that the Babylonians were going to invade Judah. At least, he didn’t know in the beginning of the book. We know that Judah is going to be captured and exiled to Babylon, but that’s because we live 2,600 years after all of this has happened. We have the completed canon of Scripture to guide us in our knowledge and understanding of what happened back then. But Habakkuk didn’t have this privilege. The southern kingdom was in a state of deep spiritual and moral decay, so Habakkuk came to the Lord in verses 2-4 of chapter 1 and he asked, “How long, O Lord? How long will You permit Judah to continue in her sinful rebellion. How long before You withhold your fatherly discipline and correction from Your people?”

God’s answer startled Habakkuk. He said that He was raising up the brutal and wicked Babylonians to take Judah captive. This startled Habakkuk because he was well aware of what had happened to the northern kingdom when the Lord brought them into captivity. Now the Lord is saying that He’s going to bring the southern kingdom into captivity, and Habakkuk is wondering what that means for the future of Judah. We saw in last Sunday’s sermon how Habakkuk was trying to reconcile the character and nature of God with the tragedy the Lord was foretelling. And Habakkuk was trying to reconcile what seemed like the end of God’s covenant people with the promise God made to establish David’s seed upon the throne forever. So in verses 12-17 of chapter 1, Habakkuk approached God with some more questions.

He sought clarification on why the Lord would use such severe measures with His covenant people. Will the Babylonians wipe Judah out?

Habakkuk sought clarification on how the Lord could hold His tongue while the wicked Babylonians devoured those who are more righteous than them.

And Habakkuk sought the Lord’s clarification on whether the Babylonians would ever be brought to justice. After they conquer Judah, is the Lord going to allow them to just keep conquering nation after nation?

Habakkuk had some questions. So he approached the Lord with his questions. And after he had asked his questions, He said in verse 1 of chapter 2 that he’s going to take his stand as a watchman on the watchtower, actively watching to see how the Lord will answer him. And Habakkuk was confident that when the Lord answered him, He will bring correction to Habakkuk’s way of thinking. The Lord would give him a better understanding of the situation, so Habakkuk waited for the Lord’s response.

That brings us to our sermon text. Our sermon text is God’s response to Habakkuk’s second set of questions. What I want us to notice is that the Lord’s response gives hope to Habakkuk. It gives hope at two levels. First, God lets Habakkuk know that He’s not going to completely destroy His covenant people. God doesn’t give the details just yet, but He provides Habakkuk with enough information to know that Judah is going to be preserved through the Babylonian exile. And second, God tells Habakkuk in no uncertain terms that He’s going to bring judgment upon the Babylonians. He says that the wickedness of the Babylonians will be their own undoing. While the Lord will use the wickedness of the Babylonians to bring about good and necessary correction to His covenant people, God is still going to hold the Babylonians responsible for their wickedness. They’re not going to get away with it. God assures Habakkuk that His justice will prevail over the Babylonians.

So let’s take a closer look at these two aspects of the Lord’s response to Habakkuk. Notice that when the Lord begins responding to Habakkuk, He begins by giving instruction. He tells Habakkuk to make a record of what’s being revealed to him. Look at verse 2…

“Write the vision and make it plain on tablets…

Why is the Lord telling Habakkuk to write the vision on tablets? What purpose does this serve? “That he may run who reads it.”

Then in verse 3, the Lord add a time marker. He doesn’t say exactly when the people who read the vision will be made to run, but He lets Habakkuk know that it’s not too far in the future…

For the vision is yet for an appointed time; but at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.

Realize, at the time God was speaking to Habakkuk, Habakkuk was the only person who knew that the Babylonians were about to invade Judah. Everybody else in Judah was eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day the Babylonians arrived. The Lord knew that His people were going to be taken by surprise. And He knew that when their lives were turned upside down, they were going to be asking the same type of questions that Habakkuk was asking in chapter 1. So before any of this happened, the Lord told Habakkuk to write the vision on tablets so when the time comes that the people are searching for answers, they can read the vision and be made to run with endurance.

We learn from this, brothers and sisters, that our Lord knows the hardships and trials we’re going to experience before we ever experience them. And because our Lord is compassionate, He providentially supplies the resources we need for running the race with endurance. Either He supplies the needed resources in the moment, as He did when He commissioned ravens to bring bread and meat to Elijah every morning and evening, or He supplies the needed resources ahead of time so that they’re waiting for us, as we see Him doing with Judah here in our sermon text. Because our Lord is compassionate, He providentially supplies the resources His people need to run the race with endurance.

And it’s not just the Lord’s compassion that moves Him to supply for His people’s needs, it’s also an act of His grace. Realize, Habakkuk wasn’t the first prophet God sent to Judah. He had sent other prophets; prophets who warned the people, explaining to them that they can avoid the chastisement of God if they would just humble themselves in repentance and submit to the Lord’s commands. But the people wouldn’t listen. They rejected God’s prophets. So now the Lord is going to make them experience His chastisement.

But even in the face of Judah’s stubborn rebellion, God is still showing His compassion to them. He knows that if Habakkuk were to speak His truth to them right now, they’d reject Habakkuk like they rejected all the other prophets. So God instructs Habakkuk, “Write the vision on tablets so that when their hearts are ready to receive it, they’ll be able to read the vision I’m giving to you right now and be made to run the race with endurance.”

Brothers and sisters, the Lord does the same thing for you and me. Even in situations where we bring God’s chastisement upon ourselves—when we resist God, when we ignore His commandments, when we’re reluctant to repent, when we’re unwilling to listen to His truth—even in situations where we bring God’s chastisement upon ourselves, He is gracious to us. He still has compassion on us. He still provides the resources we need to run the race with endurance. And He providentially supplies those resources at the very time we need them.

Are you aware of this grace, dear friends? Have you experienced this grace? Are you able to recognize the ways God has equipped you to run through the challenges and hardships in your life? And are you able to see the Lord’s timing in bringing you His resources when you most need them?

As has already been noted, when Judah is taken captive by the Babylonians, they’re going to experience a lot of violence and wickedness. They’re going to be forcibly driven from their homes. And this is going to impact their ability to worship God. Not only are the Jews going to be at a great distance from the holy temple in Jerusalem, but the city and the temple are going to be destroyed. You might be thinking, “Yeah, well, I’m not sure the destruction of the temple was such a big deal to the people of Judah because they were in a state of serious spiritual decay in 605 BC. Their hearts were not in the right place. They had been neglecting the true worship of God. So I don’t think they really has a high regard for the temple when the Babylonians invaded Judah.”

That’s true. But don’t forget how tragedy has a way of turning God’s wayward people back to the Lord. Don’t forget that pain and suffering have a way of making us seek the mercies of God in ways that we wouldn’t do if times were better. When the Babylonians began deporting the Jews into Babylon, that was a wakeup call for the Jews. It got their attention. They suddenly found themselves in a foreign land. And as each additional deportation arrived in Babylon, they would tell news of what was happening back in Judah.

In 587 BC, a deportation arrived in Babylon with the news that the temple had been destroyed. This was devastating to any Jew who had any semblance of faith in God. Why? Because the temple was the place where God met with His people. It was where worship occurred. It was where the penitent would bring their sacrifices and the priest would offer them up as a sweet smelling aroma to the Lord. The Jews in Babylon, therefore, would have been saying to themselves, “The Lord is dealing with us according to our sins. The fact that we’re in this foreign land is tangible evidence that we’re under divine judgment for breaking the conditions of the covenant God made with us. Yet where can we go to be reconciled with God? We can’t go to Jerusalem. There’s no temple for us to bring our sacrifices to. There’s no hope for us. We’re stuck between a rock and hard place!”

Psalm 137 is one of the newest psalms in the psalter. What I mean by “newest” is that it’s one of the last psalms to be written. Whereas most of the psalms were written by David or his contemporaries, Psalm 137 was written during the time of Babylonian captivity. It begins with a lament: “By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept when we remembered Zion.”

Zion is Jerusalem. Psalm 137 is describing how the exiled Jews were sitting in Babylon, weeping because of their separation from Jerusalem. And because we understand what Jerusalem meant to these exiled Jews, we understand that they were lamenting their perceived separation from God. The psalm goes on to describe how…

…those who carried us away captive asked of us a song, and those who plundered us requested mirth, saying, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”

And how did the Jews respond when the Babylonians asked them to sing one of the joyful songs of Zion? They said to themselves, “How shall we sing the LORD’s song in a foreign land?”

This is a rhetorical question. The Jews were saying to themselves, “We cannot sing the Lord’s song because we’ve been separated from the place where we’re able to meet with God. Not only are we six hundred miles away from the holy city, but the city has been destroyed… and the holy temple has been destroyed. So we have no way of approaching God. And we have no way of offering sacrifices to God. Which means, we have no way of being reconciled with God. We’re stuck in this foreign land, separated from God. There’s no hope for us.”

It’s at this time, when the Jews had reached this state of brokenness and desperation, having come to the sobering realization that there’s nothing they can possibly do in their own strength to possess the joy and laughter of the Lord’s song in their hearts, that God appointed for the vision written by Habakkuk to make them run in hope and perseverance. What does that vision say? What is it about this vision that will give hope to the broken and downtrodden people of God? Look at verse 4 of our sermon text…

“Behold the proud, his soul is not upright in him; but the just shall live by his faith.

Notice the contrast the Lord is making in this verse. He’s contrasting the Babylonians with Judah, and He says the Babylonians “proud.” Consider for a moment: what’s the opposite of proud? It’s humility, right? But that’s not how God describes Judah in verse 4. He describes Judah as “just.”

Verse 4 is a parallelism. A parallelism is a common literary feature in Hebrew literature, and one of its strengths is the ability to convey a lot of rich information with just a few words. In verse 4, we have a contrasting parallelism which means the keys terms are showing a contrast between the Babylonians and Judah. But the brilliance of this literary device is that the contrasting term is not stated, but implied. It’s the responsibility of the reader to supply the appropriate contrasting term. So when God says that the Babylonians are proud, He’s implying that Judah is humble. And when God says that Judah is just, He’s implying the Babylonians are unjust. And when God says that the Babylonian’s soul is not upright in him, He’s implying that Judah’s soul is upright in him. And when God says that Judah will live by faith… what is He implying about the Babylonians? That they will die by faith? Or that they will live by a lack of faith? What’s the contrast to living by faith?

The Lord uses the remainder of chapter 2 to supply His answer to this question. The short answer is that the Babylonians will perish in their sin. The long answer begins at verse 5 and ends at verse 20. We’ll take to look at the long answer in just a minute, but let me first call your attention to how this vision served as an encouragement to the exiled Jews in Babylon.

When the exiled Jews read the vision that Habakkuk recorded on the tablets, they would have seen this contrast God is making between the Babylonians and Judah. And they would have been extremely encouraged to learn that God is still favorable toward them. Likewise, they would have been extremely encouraged to learn that God is opposed to the Babylonians. So to the Jews who read and believed the vision the vision recorded by Habakkuk, their belief would have been accounted to them as righteousness. Just as Genesis 15:6 says that Abraham believed in the LORD and God accounted it to him for righteousness, so it was for the Jews in Babylon who believed in the Lord.

They didn’t have a full comprehension of the gospel of salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ Jesus alone. They were still under the “tutor” that was bringing them to Christ; they were still under the ceremonial law that was showing them Jesus Christ in types and shadows. So they didn’t have the fullness of revelation that’s contained in the New Testament. Nevertheless, the gospel of Jesus Christ had been preached to them through types and shadows. And the gospel of Jesus Christ had been preached to them in the vision Habakkuk recorded on the clay tablets. So for everybody who believed the gospel that had been preached to them, God accounted it to them for righteousness. As is says in verse 3 of our sermon text, at the time appointed by God, this vision spoke to the people of God and it made them run. If gave the exiles hope. It gave them courage. It gave them endurance. But most of all, it gave them life.

Brothers and sisters, you and I live in the appointed time of Habakkuk’s vision. You and I are living in the time when reading and believing the vision will make us run with endurance. Let me illustrate this point by turning your attention to the New Testament letter written to the Hebrews. The “Hebrews” were first-century Jewish Christians living under the New Covenant. They were no longer under the tutor of the ceremonial law; they were living in these last days when God has spoken to us by His Son, as it says in Hebrews 1:2. They had the clear revelation that Jesus purged our sins and sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, as it says in Hebrews 1:3. Yet these Jewish Christians were contemplating going back to Judaism. The persecution against them had been so intense for so long that it would be a lot easier to just walk away from the faith. So this letter to the Hebrews was written to them, persuading them not to give up.

In the tenth chapter, the author of this letter was reminding them how they had already endured a lot of persecution because of their faith in Jesus Christ. He reminds them how they joyfully accepted the plundering of their goods, the confiscation of their homes, and being reproached and mistreated. He reminds them that they were able to endure this persecution in the past because they knew they had a better and enduring possession for themselves in heaven. But now these Jewish Christians had grown weary. The author of the letter calls their attention to fact in 10:36, saying…

For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise.

What’s the promise he’s referring to? It’s the promise written in Habakkuk 2:2, that whoever believes the vision Habakkuk recorded will be made to run with endurance. The writer to the Hebrews then quotes Hebrews 2:4, reminding his readers that the just shall live by faith. Then he illustrates this point in chapter 11 by giving some examples of saints who successfully persevered through their trials by faith. And in chapter 12, the writer returns to the point he made at the end of chapter 10 by applying the promise that’s contained in Habakkuk’s vision. He writes in verses 1 and 2, “Therefore… let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.”

Brothers and sisters, the promise in Habakkuk’s vision was not just for the exiled Jews in Babylon, it was also for the Hebrew Christians living in the first century. And it’s not just for the Hebrew Christians living in the first century, it’s for you and me living here in the 21st century, as well. That’s exceedingly good news because we grow weary in our Christian walk, as well. You might be experiencing your own version of weeping by the rivers of Babylon. You might be telling yourself that you cannot sing the Lord’s song because of all the grief and sorrow that’s presently in your heart.

Or you might be experiencing your own version of persecution because of your faith in Christ. You may not have had you house confiscated from you, but you may have had other things taken from you. You may have been skipped over for promotion opportunities at work. You may have been rejected for certain academic programs. Or you may have family members who have turned against you because of your faith in Christ.

Dear Christian, if you’re losing hope because you’re growing weary of taking up your cross and following Jesus, then you have need of endurance. You need to be encouraged by the promise that has been written for you by Habakkuk. You need to be reminded that the just shall live by faith. Because this promise will make you run with endurance the race that is set before you. How so? By pointing you to Jesus who is not only the author of your faith, but He’s also the finisher of your faith. Or to put in the words of Philippians 1:6, we are “confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.”

Because we live in the time appointed for Habakkuk’s vision, we can personalize the contrast God is making in Habakkuk 2:4. This is not just a contrast between Babylon and Judah, this is a contrast between the enemies of God and the children of God. The enemies of God are proud, unjust, their soul is not upright in them, and they will perish in their sins. But you, dear Christian, have been saved by God’s grace. You’ve been made humble by God’s grace. You’ve been justified by God’s grace. Your soul has been made upright by God’s grace. And you have been given the gift of faith by which you have eternal life!

What makes this present life difficult is that we live between the already and the not yet. You already possess eternal life. You already possess Christ Jesus and all His benefits. And Jesus has already ascended to His throne from where rules on high as the King of kings and Lord of lords. But we do not yet see all things in subjection to Him. We do not yet see all His enemies made His footstool. So we groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. We eagerly wait for all things to be made right at the return of Jesus. But until that time, we need perseverance. We need endurance. So we remind ourselves, and we remind one another, that the just shall live by faith. That’s the promise of Habakkuk’s vision. The just shall live by faith. And we take courage in the knowledge that the enemies of God are not getting away with their wickedness. While it might appear for a brief window of time that the wicked are succeeding, Habakkuk’s vision informs us that they’re going to perish in their sins. In the “long answer” that I reference a few minutes ago, God pronounces five woes upon the Babylonians. But remember, this isn’t just about the Babylonians. The Babylonians happened to be the original recipients of these woes, but what we’re reading here applies to every enemy of God in every age from the time of the Babylonians until Christ’s return.

What I want you to see in each of these five woes is how the Lord frustrates the plans of His enemies. With each woe is a punishment that the Lord brings upon the wicked.

The first woe begins in verse 6 of our sermon text and it centers on the Babylonians’ greed. It tells how they multiply their wealth through theft, injustice, and violence. But in an unexpected reversal, God says in verse 7 that the victims of their schemes will rise up and turn the tables on the Babylonians. “Because you have plundered many nations, all the remnant of the people shall plunder you,” God says in verse 8. This reminds us of Ezekiel 18:12–13…

If he has oppressed the poor and needy, robbed by violence, not restored the pledge … 13 If he has exacted usury or taken increase—shall he then live? He shall not live! If he has done any of these abominations he shall surely die; his blood shall be upon him.

The second woe begins in verse 9 and tells how the Babylonians are attempting to establish a dynasty. But because of their commit to unrighteousness, they give evil and shameful counsel to the members of their own house, or to the members of their own government. This leads to internal strife and conflict., and the dynasty soon crumbles from within.

The third woe begins in verse 12 and is similar to the second. It describes how the Babylonians build cities and towns with bloodshed and iniquity, yet the Lord assures that their toil is in vain and their cities will soon go up in smoke. This reminds us of Psalm 127:1…

Unless the LORD builds the house, they labor in vain who build it; unless the LORD guards the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.

The fourth woe begins in verse 14 and tells of how the Babylonians gain pleasure by shaming and humiliating other people. God informs them that they’re going to be shamed and disgraced when He forces them to drink from the cup of His wrath. This reminds us of Psalm 35:26…

Let them be ashamed and brought to mutual confusion who rejoice at my hurt; let them be clothed with shame and dishonor who exalt themselves against me.

The fifth and final woe begins in verse 18. It depicts the Babylonians’ devotion to idols and how they seek guidance from dead wood and mute stone that are overlaid with gold and silver. The reminds us of Deuteronomy 32:17 and Leviticus 17:7, which tell us that the guidance the wicked think they’re receiving from their idols is really the instruction of demons. So just as the Lord did with wicked king Ahab, He causes His enemies to be led into chaos and confusion by demonic spirits who teach lies.

Now, some of you might be thinking that this “long answer” God is giving in verses 5 through 20 is pretty heavy stuff. And it is! It’s describing how the Lord frustrates His enemies’ plans and ultimately visits His wrath upon them. But don’t miss the point in all of this. This is in response to Habakkuk’s question about why the Lord lets the wicked succeed. What God is saying in His response is, “I’m not letting the wicked succeed. They will bear the punishment for their sins when I’m done using them for My righteous purposes.”

Habakkuk was not the only person to wonder why the wicked succeed. And Habakkuk was not the only person who wondered why the Lord seems to take so long in bringing justice to His enemies. In every generation of God’s people, these questions have been asked. And in every generation of God’s people, the God’s promise in Habakkuk’s vision remains true. The wicked shall perish in their sins, but the just shall live by his faith. Look at how our sermon text ends. Look what it says in verse 20…

“But the LORD is in His holy temple. Let all the earth keep silence before Him.”

When it says, “let all the earth keep silence before Him,” it’s not saying that His children cannot ask the type of questions Habakkuk asked in chapter 1. No, the Lord invites us to ask those questions. He wants us to come to Him when we’re tired, concerned, and confused. When the prophets of God say, “Let all the earth keep silence before Him,” this is an indication that the Lord is about to bring judgement. We see this, for example, in Zephaniah and Zechariah. So the point of emphasis at the end of God’s response to Habakkuk is for us to be patient. We live between the already and not yet. God will take care of His enemies according to time He appointed. We don’t need to concern ourselves with that. And in contrast to what the Lord is going to do to His enemies, He had given eternal life to His children. If you believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ, then you already possess that eternal life. It’s yours and nobody can take it away. So lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily ensnares you, and I run with endurance the race that is set before you, looking unto Jesus Christ, who is the author and finisher of your faith.