Habakkuk 2:2-4
Notes
Transcript
Habakkuk 2:2-4
Habakkuk 2:2-4
Chart
Hab 1:1-4 Review
2 Questions
How Long
Why
2 Results
Law is ignored
Justice is perverted
Chart
Hab 1:5-11 Review
- The Lord has been working
- The Lord is sending Babylon
- The Lord’s response is terrifying
- The Lord is reminding Judah of the covenants
Primarily of Deut 28 and the curses for disobedience
Josiah found the book of the Covenant - 622 BC
Land Grant - Abrahamic
Suzerain Vassal Treaty - Mosaic
Deut 28-30 lays out the outcomes
God has answered Habakkuk’s cry of injustice with a statement that more injustice is coming.
Chart
Hab 1:12-2:1 Review
- He is struggling to reconcile reality with truth
- He falls back on what he knows
- He has allowed his perspective to be limited by time
13 Your eyes are too pure to approve evil, And You can not look on wickedness with favor. Why do You look with favor On those who deal treacherously? Why are You silent when the wicked swallow up Those more righteous than they?
16 “Then in the fourth generation they will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet complete.”
5 “It is not for your righteousness or for the uprightness of your heart that you are going to possess their land, but it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord your God is driving them out before you, in order to confirm the oath which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Habakkuk is not aligned with the Lord’s perspective, with the Lord’s timeframe
- Waits on the Lord
- Habakkuk expects correction
Chart
Offshoot of where we’ve been and we’re just going to tackle verses 2-4 today
2 Then the Lord answered me and said, “Record the vision And inscribe it on tablets, That the one who reads it may run. 3 “For the vision is yet for the appointed time; It hastens toward the goal and it will not fail. Though it tarries, wait for it; For it will certainly come, it will not delay. 4 “Behold, as for the proud one, His soul is not right within him; But the righteous will live by his faith.
Let’s Pray
Remember where we ended last week:
1 I will stand on my guard post And station myself on the rampart; And I will keep watch to see what He will speak to me, And how I may reply when I am reproved.
Habakkuk’s humility
2 Then the Lord answered me and said, “Record the vision And inscribe it on tablets, That the one who reads it may run.
Hopeful?
I would like to add a note here, that from this point forward in Habakkuk, there are several divergent opinions. I will call these out as I get to them
First, there is redundancy in the beginning. BEHOLD
“Jesus answered and said” - predominantly in Matthew, Luke, and John
Second, It is a command to “WRITE!” - Singular
Habakkuk 2:2 (NASB95)
2 Then the Lord answered me and said, “Record(!) the vision And inscribe(!) it on tablets, That the one who reads it may run.
Third
English vs Hebrew - what is the intent of this verse?
This is a peculiar verse - First Divergence
2 Then the Lord answered me and said: “Write the vision And make it plain on tablets, That he may run who reads it.
2 The Lord answered me: Write down this vision; clearly inscribe it on tablets so one may easily read it.
2 And then God answered: “Write this. Write what you see. Write it out in big block letters so that it can be read on the run.
2 And the Lord answered me and said, Write the vision and engrave it so plainly upon tablets that everyone who passes may [be able to] read [it easily and quickly] as he hastens by.
2 Then the Lord said to me, “Write my answer plainly on tablets, so that a runner can carry the correct message to others.
2 And the Lord answered me and said, “Write a vision, and clearly in a tablet, in order that the one who reads might pursue the things.
Baer - Only used 3 times in Scripture
Deuteronomy 1:5 (NASB95)
5 Across the Jordan in the land of Moab, Moses undertook to expound this law, saying,
Deuteronomy 27:8 (NASB95)
8 “You shall write on the stones all the words of this law very distinctly.”
Deut 28-30 - the Conditional Outcomes of the Covenant
Deut 31-34 - Moses counsel, song, blessing, anointing of Joshua, and Death
This word bookends Moses’ explanation of the law which is Deuteronomy
Then it appears here in Habakkuk
Habakkuk 2:2 (NASB95)
2 Then the Lord answered me and said, “Record the vision And inscribe it on tablets, That the one who reads it may run.
Make the intent of what I’m going to show you, easily understood, clearly expounded
God is not adding terror to the scene, he is expressing the need for clarity for understanding, not just legibility
Habakkuk 2:2
2 And Yahweh answered me and said, “Write(!) the vision, clarify(!) upon a tablet, in order that one may pursue a deeper understanding.
Habakkuk 2:2 (NASB95)
2 Then the Lord answered me and said, “Record the vision And inscribe it on tablets, That the one who reads it may run into it.
Fourth, subjunctive, may pursue, may run into it
Understanding takes effort from the reader
It has been made clear, but it still needs to be understood
3 “For the vision is yet for the appointed time; It hastens toward the goal and it will not fail. Though it tarries, wait for it; For it will certainly come, it will not delay.
Still concerned with the vision - Oracle that Habakkuk saw from Hab 1.1 and Habakkuk’s expectation in Hab 2.1
However, the vision cannot hasten or delay, nor can it tarry, thus it is appropriate to read “the vision” and recognize that this is representative of God’s work or the fulfillment of the vision that will certainly come.
Emphasis is on God’s timing
Habakkuk 2:3 (NASB95)
3 “For the vision is yet for the appointed time; It hastens toward the goal and it will not fail. Though it tarries, wait for it; For it will certainly come, it will not delay.
“the appointed time”
Appointed Time of Sarah’s birth Gen 18.14
14 “Is anything too difficult for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, at this time next year, and Sarah will have a son.”
God’s appointed times of the feasts
2 “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘The Lord’s appointed times which you shall proclaim as holy convocations—My appointed times are these:
God’s eschatological time
19 He said, “Behold, I am going to let you know what will occur at the final period of the indignation, for it pertains to the appointed time of the end.
Daniel’s 70 7s - Messiah and Tribulation
Repeated twice more in Daniel 11, regarding the tribulation period
There are several time references in this verse as well
Habakkuk 2:3 (NASB95)
3 “For the vision is yet for the appointed time; It hastens toward the goal and it will not fail. Though it tarries, wait for it; For it will certainly come, it will not delay.
We’ve seen this emphasis of divine timing previously, but here is made stronger by the significant repetition of terms
Habakkuk 1:5 (NASB95)
5 “Look among the nations! Observe! Be astonished! Wonder! Because I am doing something in your days— You would not believe if you were told.
Remember this element of divine timing from last time
Hab 1.13 - Gen 15.16 and Deut 9.5
This element of divine timing deals with Judah’s sin being complete, it has nothing to do with Babylon’s righteousness or lack thereof
Emphasis on its achievement
Habakkuk 2:3 (NASB95)
3 “For the vision is yet for the appointed time; It hastens toward the goal and it will not fail. Though it tarries, wait for it; For it will certainly come, it will not delay.
There is an expectation that this will be difficult to hear and one may want to deny its immediate fulfillment
Command
Habakkuk 2:3 (NASB95)
3 “For the vision is yet for the appointed time; It hastens toward the goal and it will not fail. Though it tarries, wait(!) for it; For it will certainly come, it will not delay.
This command is second person singular, God is telling Habakkuk to continue to wait
Before we move one, note the parallels in this verse:
It hastens - it tarries
It will not fail - it will certainly come
wait for it - it will not delay
These couplets setup the pairs following in verse 4 continuing the poetic style of this discourse.
4 “Behold, as for the proud one, His soul is not right within him; But the righteous will live by his faith.
“Behold”
the Proud One - who is it? Judah and Babylon
Second Deviation is how to translate the first half of this - LXX is way different
38 But My righteous one shall live by faith; And if he shrinks back, My soul has no pleasure in him.
It is the same person as the righteous - characteristic of response to the vision coming
These are two different responses to the vision, Pride and Faith
4 “Behold, as for the proud one, His soul is not right within him; But the righteous will live by his faith.
Hermeneutical Guesswork
His soul is not right within him - Has no integrity, spirit is not pleasing, Will not continue on the path, He is not doing well in bearing the image of God.
CONTRASTED
“the righteous will live by his faith”
A few observations:
1. The righteous already has faith
what does righteous mean
We often hear of justification by faith, believe in Jesus for eternal life. This is something we discuss a lot here as it is a pillar of our statement of faith. This is true, but there is nothing in the context to state that this is regarding justification before God? So what does it mean to be righteous? For this lets work backwards and turn to a passage where this is quoted in the new testament to see if we can shed some light.
15 So, for my part, I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “But the righteous man shall live by faith.”
So what does Paul mean when he says “gospel”? We have confiscated some words in Christianity, this is one of them
16 on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus.
31 because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.”
15 So, for my part, I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome. 16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “But the righteous man shall live by faith.”
Paul’s gospel isn’t just believe in Jesus for eternal life, but it includes sanctification, not as a requirement to get into heaven, but to get the fulfillment of the promises set before us.
For in Paul’s gospel, the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, by the life of the believer. This is bearing the image of God well. To be the glory of God, the fulfillment of the purpose of God’s people, is to be transformed and transform others into His character.
35 Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward.
36 For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised.
37 For yet in a very little while, He who is coming 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.
39 But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul.
Reward
Endurance
He who is coming will come!
My soul has no pleasure in him
Judgment seat of Christ
Expectation is that there is a judgment of works coming (BABYLON)
3 “For the vision is yet for the appointed time; It hastens toward the goal and it will not fail. Though it tarries, wait for it; For it will certainly come, it will not delay. 4 “Behold, as for the proud one, His soul is not right within him; But the righteous will live by his faith.
Judgment is coming
We cannot escape it
How does this affect how we live?
24 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.
This is a faith statement, eternal position, justification before God, eternal security
There is a judgment of works
10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.
This is a works statement, eternal condition, sanctification before God, eternal reward
4 “Behold, as for the proud one, His soul is not right within him; But the righteous will live by his faith.
Takeaways:
1. God’s word is understandable
2. It takes effort to understand God’s word
3. How we respond to God’s word matters