The Righteous shall live by Faith (Habakkuk 1:1-2:5)

Introduction

My guess is that except for some of the children in this room, at this point in life most here have had at least a moment of life where their world has felt shattered and everything crumbling around them at this point in life. Moments that break you from either the wrong done to you or the wrong you see happening in the world in which we live.

For even around us, there is the injustice of abuse. Either parents who abuse their children or a spouse abusing their spouse. There is the injustice of human trafficking around the world that continues to seemingly increase to every corner of the earth. There is the injustice of innocents being killed in the midst of military conflict.

But there is more crumbling around. There are the millions of innocent lives that are taken and not given the chance to live through abortion. There are wars popping up around the world, left and right because of various turmoils. There is the increase of gang violence within every major city and then some. There is the spread of drugs that wreck individuals and families. And whats more, these are just some of the things around us in the world in which we live. And we hear of them more easily because of 24/7 news coverage. No wonder anxiety is at an all time high around us. But as Christians, how are we to take all of this? How are we to respond when the world feels to be crumbling around us?

That’s what I want to talk to us about this morning as we begin a new study through the book of Habakkuk. Habakkuk is what is known as a Minor Prophet in the Old Testament. It is one of twelve. These are called Minor Prophets, not because of their lack of importance, but because of their being short in length.

We turn here in the Old Testament, because we here at Land O’ Lakes Bible Church believe that all scripture is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness (2 Tim 3:16). And Habakkuk does just that, it trains us to know how to respond by faith when then things feel to be crumbling.

Therefore I ask that you take out a copy of the Bible and open with me to the book of Habakkuk. If you need, please feel free to use your table of contents to find it. And if you do not have a Bible, you would be helped by pulling out the Red Bible in the seat in front of you. And you can find Habakkuk beginning on page #933 there.

While you are turning there, let me give us a little background on this book. It is written by the prophet Habakkuk who we know little about outside of his name being mentioned in the opening verse of this short book of prophecy. This book, unlike most of the books of prophecy fails to give us any details to the specific time and period it was written. For no kings of Israel or Judah are mentioned here. And yet, from the context of the letter it is estimated that this letter was likely written sometime between the years of 609 and 605 B.C. And the reason for this time period is that it was likely just after the reign and reformation of King Josiah who led Israel into faithfulness before his untimely death in battle. But following his death, his son, Jehoiakim reigned. And Jehoiakim did not follow in his father’s footsteps, he was an evil king. A King who stands alone from the rest, for while many kings in Israel’s history persecuted the prophets, only one killed a prophet, Jehoiakim. Therefore if Jehoiakim is reigning, there is then much injustice going on in Israel from the king and the people. It is also shortly after this time that Israel was lead into captivity into Babylon by the Chaldeans. This then would put Habakkuk a contemporary to that of Jeremiah and Zephaniah.

This is the setting of the prophecy that we enter into this morning. Now, in our call to worship this morning, we heard Habakkuk declare that he will rejoice in the Lord and take joy in him. But before he can get there, he struggles with doubt in the midst of increasing injustice around him. But instead of turning and talking about God, Habakkuk turns to God to make his concerns known to him, in lamenting this injustice. This is then how we will work our way through Habakkuk for the next three weeks. This morning we will work our way through Habakkuk 1:1-2:5 and consider the two conversations between YHWH and Habakkuk as we consider the righteous shall live by faith. Next week, we will cover Habakkuk 2:6-20 and the Woes coming to the wicked and how ultimately God’s glory will prevail. And then in 2 weeks, we will close with looking at Habakkuk 3:1-19 and how Habakkuk chooses to fear and trust God. There is where we are going, therefore let us now dive into this remarkable and incredibly helpful book for us. Hear the word of the Lord from Habakkuk 1:1-2:5…

Here is what I think is the main idea of Habakkuk 1:1-2:5, When the world seems to be crumbling around us, we must live by faith, trusting that our God is at work to bring about his righteousness. We are going to unfold this in four points: (1) A Cry for Justice (Habakkuk 1:1-4), (2) A Call to Look (Habakkuk 1:5-11), (3) A Cry of Confusion (Habakkuk 1:12-2:1) and (4) A Call to Wait (Habakkuk 2:2-5).

Point#1: A Cry for Justice (Habakkuk 1:1-4)

Habakkuk 1:1…

The intro to this short prophecy is greatly lacking, and yet greatly telling. It is an oracle received by Habakkuk the prophet. But there is something underlying this that we in our English translations cannot see. And that is what we see translated as oracle or pronouncement or prophecy depending on our English translations. All of these are good translations, but there is an underlying word play with a double meaning. While it certainly is an oracle, a prophecy, the underlying Hebrew word מַּשָּׂא֙ also means load, burden, bearing.

This prophecy, the oracle then that Habakkuk has seen and is recording for us then is to be understood as something weighty and heavy. It is literally burdening his soul, causing him much turmoil. And it is this that he now begins to let us in on the vexation within his soul.

Habakkuk 1:2…

If we read this too quickly, we can miss what Habakkuk is doing here. We can mistake Habakkuk as one who is faithless instead of faithful. As stated in the introduction, Habakkuk here is not talking negatively about God, he is going to YHWH, the great I AM. He is making his complaint known to YHWH, because of his faith in YHWH. It is because Habakkuk trusts YHWH to be a God to hear that he is stunned that YHWH seems to not hear his cries for help. It is not as if Habakkuk has cried out once, but perpetually been crying out to the LORD and nothing but silence to this point. And so Habakkuk here cries out in lament asking why his God who he trusts to be a God who hears doesn’t seem to hear and respond.

Furthermore, Habakkuk is crying out about violence that is taking place there in Israel among those who were called by the law of God to not be violent. And yet YHWH doesn’t seem to care. For he has not come to stop the violence and deliver the innocent. YHWH has not come to save his people. And because of these, Habakkuk laments, how long will this be, how long will this go on with no answer, with no salvation?

Furthermore, Habakkuk wants to know why he sees such wrong taking place. Verse 3…

Habakkuk is zealous for God’s righteousness. He is zealous for peace to be among God’s people. And yet all that he sees is violence and strife and contention among the people of Israel, even that of its leaders. Verse 4…

Did you catch that? Habakkuk feels that there is so much violence, so much iniquity, so much wrong, that he feels as if the law of God that is to guide the whole of Israel, that it in all its perfection, is paralyzed, unable to move and work so that justice can never come about. That justice is perverted. That is corrupted, confused, turned crazy and wrong. This is the burden laid on Habakkuk’s heart and soul in the midst of the evil that has consumed the people of Israel, the people that are to be guided by God’s law.

And while we have not the same law that is to guide us, we are very much a people that are created in the image of God and created to desire justice. Therefore when we see the things of this world, we too should rightly feel as Habakkuk feels. How long can this be? How long will God remain silent before coming out to heal all that is broken?

How long will violence around us increase? How long will the abusing of children and spousal abuse be tolerated? How long will violence in the streets and schools go on? How long will innocent children be caught up in gang cross-fires keep happening? How long will evil prevail?

We like Habakkuk are right to feel burdened by these acts of injustice and violence, this level of brokenness. But we must not use this to complain about God to others, we must follow Habakkuk’s lead and take our laments to God in asking, how long O Lord? How long will it be before the King returns and sets all things new? How long will you leave this world in its brokenness? For it is this cry of lament, this cry for justice that is a cry of faith. Our cry, “Come Lord Jesus (Rev 21:20).” And we must keep calling until the Lord answers, for he will answer in do time.

Point#2: A Call to Look (Habakkuk 1:5-11)

After verse 4, we have a shift in who is speaking that is unmarked. The narrative moves from Habakkuk speaking to YHWH to YHWH speaking to Habakkuk. Habakkuk is simply recording it in the 2nd person plural form as it is form him and the nation of Israel. Verse 5…

YHWH calls Habakkuk and the people to look! To look to the nations and see that God is not idle. He is not idle, but working. Working in a work that will cause the people to be astounded, that is dumb-founded. A work that they would not believe. A work involving the nations.

When we are tempted to think that God seems idle, we must think again. For God is not an idle God. YHWH is not only the one who created the earth and all that it is in it, but our Triune God is holding all things together and is at work to make it all new again. So even when the LORD is quiet, we must not taken silence for idleness. We must learn to look more carefully to see all the ways that our Triune God is working. For at any given time, our God is doing a million different works, even if we cannot see them.

In Habakkuk’s day, the astounding work that YHWH was doing was the work of raising up one of the nations to appoint for his purposes. Verse 6…

In the midst of Israel’s violence, in the midst of their paralyzing the law with their wickedness, YHWH was going to raise up the Chaldeans, this bitter and hasty nation, to come against them. A nation who would march up and seize that which belonged to others. Notice the descriptions of this nation, verses 7-11…

This wicked nation, YHWH has declared to bring against Israel as a means of judgment against them in the midst of their own wickedness and injustice and violence.

In this declaration of his work, the LORD shows that he is a God who is sovereign, not just over Israel, but all nations, even that of the most violent nations whose belly is their own god. For the Lord will use this hasty and evil nation for his purpose. He allows them to pursue that which their sinful hearts desire of sweeping through and plundering other peoples, seizing all that they desire. But it will all be for his purposes.

Also in this declaration of work, YHWH shows that he is a God who will not let his law be paralyzed, his judgment will reign down, even if it is through a foreign nation. The unjust will not thrive for long.

Beloved, this should give us hope and encouragement. Our weary hearts should be strengthened by this news, that God is doing a work! For just as he was at work to raise up those Chaldeans for his purposes, God is doing a work in our day.

The LORD Almighty is at work even now calling sinners to repentance and belief in Jesus. Our God is at work in the work of sanctification of every believer in this room and to the ends of the earth. He is at work through the Spirit to conforming us more and more to the image of Jesus, the beloved Son. Our God is at work in making his name famous among the nations, for he is moving the nations even now for his purposes. Consider the massive amounts of refugees who have entered here in the United States over the last 20 years. There are refugees from the nations of Iran, Iraq, Somalia, Burma, Nepal, Senegal, and many more who have come to the United States for various reasons. And some of these have been placed in cities where there are many working among internationals to declare the gospel.

I can personally testify to having worked with Kurdish men from Iraq who have found refuge in the US and had the opportunity to share the gospel with them, all because the LORD moved the nations. Our God is doing a work that would astound us if we would simply look and see. If we would look and see how he is working just how he has proclaimed he would, slow and steadily out of the abundance of his steadfast love.

Yet, as we hear that God is a God who is not idle and doing a work that we would not believe in moving the nations for his purposes, we might still be confused, much like Habakkuk. For Habakkuk was confused in hearing that God was doing a work involving this wicked and vile nation of the Chaldeans.

Point #3: A Cry of Confusion (Habakkuk 1:12-2:1)

Verse 12…

Habakkuk appeals to the holiness of God and the wonder of how someone so holy could use this nation as his instrument of judgment. How he the rock of their hope and refuge, could establish such an unstable nation for this judgment and reproof against them. And he continues, verse 13…

Again, Habakkuk turns and appeals to God’s character in this 2nd complaint. He asks how can he who is so pure look at these traitors with idleness. How can he use them to judge and swallow up Israel who is more righteous than these Chaldeans? For as bad as Israel is, they are righteous in comparison to these Chaldeans. And yet, their righteousness is failing compared to the righteousness of God.

But Habakkuk is struggling to see this part. He acknowledges the holiness of God, that he cannot look on evil, but fails to see the need for the people to be refined, to be laid lowed and humbled. Which is why the people of Israel must be drug out. Verses 15-17…

Habakkuk grasps what will happen when the Chaldeans come, that the people of Israel will be captured and drug out as fish caught in a net, as crawling critters are caught. And this causes him much angst. For he fears that there will never be mercy when this comes.

We like Habakkuk might often be confused at how God is at work and chooses to work. But we must remember something about God in his holiness and purity, we do not see how he sees. We are not those of such holiness and purity that we can see the full picture and plan. And therefore while we certainly should continue to turn to God and cry out to him, both in our complaint and confusion, we must be patient on God to act according to his character and for his purposes. And this is what Habakkuk finally chooses to do, he stands to wait. Habakkuk 2:1…

Habakkuk has aired his complaint and he now looks to see how the LORD will answer his complaint.

Point#4: A Call to Wait (Habakkuk 2:2-5)

Habakkuk 2:2…

This heavy, burdensome prophecy is to be recorded. It is to be written in the most simple language where all may understand it. From that of a child to that of someone running quickly past in a hurry may grasp it with but a glance. What is Habakkuk to make plain? He is to make plain that YHWH will not tolerate injustice, and that he is at work to bring Israel’s sin against them by bringing the foreign nation, the Chaldeans against them. This is the judgment for their wickedness. But the vision is not yet, it is coming. Verse 3…

The coming of the judgment will certainly come, but it may seem slow to Habakkuk and those with him crying out against injustice. Yet they can be certain the vision will come. It will come at the time it is appointed by God. It will not delay according to God’s time table. Therefore Habakkuk must wait patiently on the LORD.

And the same must be applied to us. We are an impatient people. We grow impatient, wondering why God has not acted more quickly than he has. We get so caught up looking when will the end come, when will these things happen instead of waiting on the Lord’s promised events. Waiting with patience and trust that the LORD in his due time will act according to each and everyone of his promises.

For is this not the call of faith? That the righteous will live by faith? Verse 4…

The saying that the righteous shall live by faith is the pinnacle of the gospel, that is the good news of Jesus Christ. For this from Habakkuk 2:4 is quoted three times in the New Testament. Twice by the Apostle Paul:

Romans 1:17 “17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.””

Galatians 3:11 “11 Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.””

And then by the author of Hebrews:

Hebrews 10:37–38 “37 For, “Yet a little while, and the coming one will come and will not delay; 38 but my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.””

In saying the righteous shall live by faith then it is a call to trust God! To trust God to be the God who hears, who works, who brings about justice. To trust that God will not let the wicked escape, that they will be judged accordingly by he who is holy and just! For even here in the first part of verse 4, we see this coming judgment. We see that all who are puffed up, that are not upright within that in their greed they will be swallowed up by Sheol. For this is where verse 5 comes in…

Friend, do we believe that God will actually do this? For this is the call for us to enter righteousness, it is to recognize God for who he is and believe that he will act accordingly. That he will judge the wicked and show mercy to those who humble themselves before him and live dependently on him. Do we believe this is true and put our only trust in this message? This message that we work to make as clear and plain as possible for all to understand? The message of the gospel!

Friend, if you have not yet believed at this point. Friend, I beg you to see that the only hope in life and death is that of Christ Jesus! For God has done a work that you would not believe in the sending of his beloved Son Jesus to come and live the righteous life that we couldn’t and to die the death we deserve in order to free us from the guilt of sin and death. We simply must believe this truth and to live as those who are no longer under the bondage of sin, but as those who have been purchased by Christ! Friend, if you would believe this news this morning, friend, by your faith you can enter life. Won’t you believe today?

And for those who have already believed. Beloved, we must hear the continued call to live by faith. That because of our faith we have already been declared righteous in Christ. And because of this, we can be assured that the work that God has began, he will complete. He will make all things new, just as he is making us new in Christ. He will bring about his justice on the world, where all things are right again! Let this truth lead us to a deeper faith in our Holy God, let it lead us to worship him more deeply!

Let’s pray…