Faith in the Face of Serious Questions
Notes
Transcript
Habakkuk 1:12 – 2:1 - Faith in the Face of Serious Questions
Scene 1: Habakkuk got some really bad news from God; the nation was going to be invaded and conquered.
But instead of utter despair there is some hope.
Listen to Habakkuk’s words in chapter 1 verse 12.
12 O Lord my God, my Holy One, you who are eternal— surely you do not plan to wipe us out? O Lord, our Rock, you have sent these Babylonians to correct us, to punish us for our many sins.
Doesn’t it strike you that this is a somewhat strange reaction.
Your nation will be conquered.
Many will die,
Many will be exiled,
Everything will be ruined,
The nation is being punished for all of it’s evil.
But we won’t all die, some of us will survive.
So let’s praise God anyway!
Now we conservative Baptists sometimes get a bit critical of those Christians who, just praise God anyway.
We sort of think that they don’t have a real grasp of reality.
That they deny the very real pain of their or someone else’s situation.
That they carry on a bit much and that their faith is all froth and bubble with no real substance.
That they haven’t really faced the hard situations of life and instead live in denial.
Instead of asking God the hard questions and facing disappointment they expect some wonderful miraculous deliverance.
And when they don’t get it their faith is wrecked.
Scene 2: Now Habakkuk did have some pretty serious question for God;
Questions that tell us he didn’t understand all of God’s reasoning.
Have a look at verse 13 and verses 14 to 16.
How can a holy God use such a wicked people to accomplish his purposes?
How could the evil of the Babylonians be a part of God’s plan?
In verses 14 and 15 we see a description of how the Babylonians treat people.
Now we see fishing as a recreation.
Some people even kiss the fish and put them back.
But have you ever seen the actions of a commercial fishing boat.
Depending on the sort of fish being taken, it is either by net or by hook.
The fish are grabbed, sorted and processed as quickly as possible.
There is no time or thought of romanticism.
Grab the fish throw it in the bucket or over the side and move on with no thought.
Habakkuk describes the actions of the Babylonians in exactly that manner.
Each Babylonian comes after potential captives with a “hook” in his hand.
Monuments from Mesopotamia document the custom of literally driving a hook through the lower lip of captives.
Long lines of captives with hooks through their lips are depicted being hauled off to Babylon (1:15a).
In one relief from this period the major Babylonian deities are depicted dragging a net in which their captives squirm.
Habakkuk isn’t just using an illustration, he is describing actual practice.
Brutality is an inevitable ingredient of all war.
With the Babylonians, however, brutality was part of their strategic planning.
They actually boasted of their ruthlessness.
They gloated over the misery which they inflicted on others.
The oppression would be made that much worse by the sting of mockery.
How could God permit this?
How could he employ such a vicious power to punish anyone, especially the covenant people? (1:15c).
Habakkuk can see the picture in his mind of what is awaiting his nation.
Mass processing, no concern for the welfare of the individual.
And he cannot accept that such a harsh thing is warranted.
Scene 3: And in Habakkuk’s eyes there is another thing that he cannot accept.
The Babylonians don’t worship Yahweh.
They worship themselves.
They are full of pride and arrogance.
Look at verse 16.
16 Then they will worship their nets and burn incense in front of them. “These nets are the gods who have made us rich!” they will claim.
Sacrificing to the means of your prosperity was common in ancient times.
For the Babylonians, their prosperity came about by the sword.
And Habakkuk reacts very strongly to this idolatry.
Habakkuk doesn’t get it.
How can a holy God use a nation full of idolatry and pride.
A nation which worships it’s own means of oppressing others
A nation which is so harsh and cruel.
A nation which will swallow up defenseless Judah and inflict on them a far harsher punishment than Habakkuk thinks they deserve.
Scene 4: His third question was “Is there a limit, how far will they be allowed to go?”
Have a look at verse 17.
The picture here is of the Babylonian dumping out the prey he had captured in one conquest.
So that he could hurry forth to collect more victims.
Habakkuk can hardly grasp the dimensions of this disaster.
Whole nations became victims of the Babylonians’ greed for conquest.
It was a perpetual operation, one population after another.
And over and over in Habakkuk’s mind the questions kept coming.
Would God permit the ruthless slaughter of the nations to continue indefinitely?
When would God put a stop to the Babylonians’ greed for conquest?
How could He let a people continue in power when they so openly worshiped that very power as their god?
Habakkuk was confused.
Scene 5: But in the midst of his questions there was faith, Habakkuk was prepared to wait.
And that is the key to asking God those serious questions and getting a real answer.
Habakkuk records only his determination to wait for an answer; he does not tell us how long it took to come.
Probably some time elapsed between the determination to wait and the answer received in the next verse.
Habakkuk’s faith is seen in his anticipation of a response from God.
He was prepared to spend that time looking, waiting on God.
He uses a picture of a watch tower.
A high point on the wall of the city where a lookout would keep a watch for signs of an approaching friend or enemy.
And just as the lookout had to remain disciplined to be looking out rather than watching the interesting goings on in the city.
So Habakkuk needed to remain disciplined, to focus on what God was going to say rather than on what he might want to hear.
We need to ask the hard questions of God, but we need to be prepared to wait.
To take the time to really hear the answer.
And then to really accept the answer, because we won’t always like what we hear.
A response of faith, a response that will keep us walking with God says;
“Lord, I don’t like what you are telling me, but I will accept it as your sovereign will.
I don’t understand it but because I choose to trust you I know it is for the best!”
And when we have that attitude we can praise God anyway, even in the face of real hardship.