Habakkuk 2:1-20

Watching the Woes of the Wicked

Introduction:

Plural Noun Proposition: In Habakkuk 2:1-20, the Lord answers the concerns of the prophet with TWO truths about the heart of man

I. The Righteous Shall Live By Their Faith (vv 1-5)

Habakkuk 2:1–5 “I will take my stand at my watchpost and station myself on the tower, and look out to see what he will say to me, and what I will answer concerning my complaint. And the Lord answered me: “Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it. For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end—it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay. “Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him, but the righteous shall live by his faith. “Moreover, wine is a traitor, an arrogant man who is never at rest. His greed is as wide as Sheol; like death he has never enough. He gathers for himself all nations and collects as his own all peoples.”

As the righteous live by their faith, they take the right posture before God…

a. The Righteous Take the Right Posture (v 1)

Habakkuk 2:1 “I will take my stand at my watchpost and station myself on the tower, and look out to see what he will say to me, and what I will answer concerning my complaint.”

After Habakkuk’s cry for understanding at the end of chapter 1, the prophet positions himself as he waits for God’s answer to him.

I will take my stand at my watchpost and station myself on the tower

This posture that Habakkuk takes is one of anticipation at God bringing him an answer from above.

The picture is given of a watchman climbing a tall tower in order to look out at a great distance, this was common in the Old Testament writings. Watchmen were very important to the kingdoms of the earth. Their eagle eyed awareness served to watch, to warn, and to protect.

2 Samuel 18:24 “Now David was sitting between the two gates, and the watchman went up to the roof of the gate by the wall, and when he lifted up his eyes and looked, he saw a man running alone.”

2 Kings 9:17 “Now the watchman was standing on the tower in Jezreel, and he saw the company of Jehu as he came and said, “I see a company.” And Joram said, “Take a horseman and send to meet them, and let him say, ‘Is it peace?’ 

You know watchman were like a ring doorbell , but with a telescopic camera. “Rings” and you’re like who’s that! Oh it’s just an armadillo.

I remember when my older sons were in highschool playing football. We would be way up in the stands trying to see them. They were so tiny out there. I always wished I had binoculars. We were always straining to look over the field even though we weren’t sure which ones were our sons.

In the same way, Habakkuk stations himself way up on the tower in order to take his watchpost, straining to look for an answer to God.

What kind of posture does God receive from you after you pray?

Is it kind of like, “In Jesus name…Amen. What’s for lunch?” Or in your heart and mind, are you positioning yourself spiritually to receive an answer from God? Expecting the Lord to answer…in his own time of course.

John 16:24 “Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.”

Matthew 21:22 “And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.”

Mark 11:24 “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”

1 John 5:14 “And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.”

Are you looking out to see what he will say to you? Like Habakkuk?

He continues…and look out to see what he will say to me, and what I will answer concerning my complaint

The complaint he is referring to is found in Habakkuk 1:12–17 “Are you not from everlasting, O Lord my God, my Holy One? We shall not die. O Lord, you have ordained them as a judgment, and you, O Rock, have established them for reproof. You who are of purer eyes than to see evil and cannot look at wrong, why do you idly look at traitors and remain silent when the wicked swallows up the man more righteous than he? You make mankind like the fish of the sea, like crawling things that have no ruler. He brings all of them up with a hook; he drags them out with his net; he gathers them in his dragnet; so he rejoices and is glad. Therefore he sacrifices to his net and makes offerings to his dragnet; for by them he lives in luxury, and his food is rich. Is he then to keep on emptying his net and mercilessly killing nations forever?”

The idea here is that he is going to both wait for the Lord’s answer and also try to figure out the problem himself

Not only do the righteous that live by their faith take the right posture but they are also prepared by God for his revelation or his answer…

b. The Righteous are Prepared by God (vv 2-3)

Habakkuk 2:2–3 “And the Lord answered me: “Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it. For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end—it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay.”

The Lord answered Habakkuk, like he answered Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel

Isaiah 8:1 “Then the Lord said to me, “Take a large tablet and write on it in common characters, ‘Belonging to Maher-shalal-hash-baz.’”

Isaiah 30:8 “And now, go, write it before them on a tablet and inscribe it in a book, that it may be for the time to come as a witness forever.”

Jeremiah 30:2 ““Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Write in a book all the words that I have spoken to you.”

Ezekiel 37:16 ““Son of man, take a stick and write on it, ‘For Judah, and the people of Israel associated with him’; then take another stick and write on it, ‘For Joseph (the stick of Ephraim) and all the house of Israel associated with him.’

God tells Habakkuk to prepare for his message to Judah. He tells him to write down what I’m about to tell you, clearly…so that those who read it may run.

It was the custom in Habakkuk’s time and place to erect tablets, probably of wood, in public places, so that notices of general interest and importance could be fixed to them. This method of publication is still common in Asia, particularly China.

Hutchinson doesn’t have a lot of billboards. But California has tons. Left side of the highway, right side of the highway. Eat here! Buy this! Call this number! Especially on the way to Las Vegas. Hotels and gambling and show signs litter the sides of the roads. Trying to grab your attention as you cross over the state lines from California to Nevada. Most of the time you just ignore them…but every once in a while one will catch your eye! All you can eat rib eye $1.99 24 hours! You’re like yeah, that’s a good billboard. That’s where we’re going to eat, as soon as we get into town we’re running there!

The signs are used to grab your attention and to point you to where they want you to go, in the same way, the word of God is a sign, to grab your attention and point you to where you need to go…Christ.

You see there is only one option when you read the word of God…you either run to it or you run from it.

The interesting thing though, in our text God says so that “he may run who reads it”

Habakkuk is to take this clear message, prepared by God, and record it so that those that run to it, will take the good news from it and run to tell others, the good news that God will be merciful…in the same way, this is the call for all those who know and love God. Take what is written, the Bible in your hands, run to it and read it, then take the good news to the lost sheep. That Jesus Christ is Lord, He came as the Lamb of God, to take the sins of all those who believe and pay for them with his blood, with his life. Thereby reconciling you to God. Satisfying the just penalty of death for sins as your substitute. And if you will only humble yourself, repent and believe in the name of Jesus and believe that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved…saved from the wrath of God himself…

But what exactly is the good news that will be written by Habakkuk and read by Judah? That’s next…

We see that as the righteous live by faith, they position themselves and God prepares their hearts for his word, and then the righteous receive God’s word…

c. The Righteous Receive God’s Word (vv 4-5)

Habakkuk 2:4–5 ““Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him, but the righteous shall live by his faith. “Moreover, wine is a traitor, an arrogant man who is never at rest. His greed is as wide as Sheol; like death he has never enough. He gathers for himself all nations and collects as his own all peoples.”

Proverbs 27:20 “Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied, and never satisfied are the eyes of man.”

Sheol and Abaddon relate to death and perishing in Hebrew

In these verses God reveals the character of the Chaldeans, the Babylonians. They were filled with pride, inspired by evil desires, deceived by wine and greed, and they devoured innocent peoples and nations like a shark eats fish. And just like Prov 27:20, and just like the grave and death, Babylon is never satisfied with its destruction and persecution of nations. They are puffed up (prideful), their soul is not upright by only evil

II. The Unrighteous Shall Die By Their Failure (vv 6-20)

a. Woe for plundering violence (vv 6-8)

b. Woe for prideful hearts (vv 9-11)

c. Woe for persecuting people (vv 12-14)

d. Woe for perilous shame (vv 15-17)

e. Woe for perfidious idolatry (vv 18-20)