Prophetic Instruction in Questioning God part2 (Habakkuk 1:1-4)

Habakkuk 1:1-4

2/9/25

Introduction

Catch-There is only one thing worse than suffering is being told that you’re actually not suffering

In the classic film Gaslight, the audience is introduced to a husband attempting to make his wife think she was losing her mind

Paula begins to witness strange things like a picture disappearing, a brooch gone missing, and the gas lights dimming.

Her husband convinces her that the incidents are either caused by her or never happened.

In the end, we learn he had murdered Paula’s aunt and developed an elaborate plan to discredit Paula to her own mind so he could freely search the house for her aunt’s jewels

The term has become popular today with examples of people telling the collegiate swimmer Riley Gaines that she was wrong to feel robbed by a man beating her.She was being judgmental and prejudice against this transgender person

She was being judgmental and prejudice against this transgender person

and it is wrong to be told not to cry over pain in your life because the joy of the lord is your strength

Habakkuk shows us both there is suffering to cry over and there are wrong things to get upset about

Review

Please remember how this book ends with

Habakkuk 3:18–19- Yet I will exult in the LORD, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation. The Lord GOD is my strength, And He has made my feet like hinds’ feet, And makes me walk on my high places. For the choir director, on my stringed instruments.

We will end in a place of trust and joy, but we have to go through this first cycle of questions and answers… then another set in chapter 2

Chapter 3 finally ends with hope reminding us that it isn’t always a straight line and a simple solution with sorrow.

So let’s see part 2 of how you must

Learn from the prophet why and how to give a proper complaint to God

1) The Prophet’s complaint shows you need Jesus (1)

Jesus is the answer to these as the coming King

2) The prophet’s complaint reveals good theology brings questions (2-3a)

Habakkuk’s directs his questions to Yahweh because he has good theology in three ways

Habakkuk knows God hears

Habakkuk knows God is in charge

Habakkuk knows he can speak to God

Now we get to:

3) The prophet’s complaints instructs you over what to get upset (3b)

Explanation

What Habakkuk sees all around him

wickedness or evil

The word means morally evil or corrupt, referring to those who damage their relationship with God

It is this sin which seperates God from people even if they are doing religious acts

Isaiah 1:12–15- …. “I hate your new moon festivals and your appointed feasts, They have become a burden to Me; I am weary of bearing them. “So when you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you; Yes, even though you multiply prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood.

He sees trouble or the source of difficulty

The same word is used for someone who is near death:

Proverbs 31:6–7- Give strong drink to him who is perishing, And wine to him whose life is bitter. Let him drink and forget his poverty And remember his trouble no more.

Destruction= being destroyed by violence

Strife= bitter conflict from violence

Deut 17:8 refers to this word included alongside homicide and assault

Contention is less severe but is the beginning of such problems because if there was no talk of frustration and anger as

Proverbs 26:20- For lack of wood the fire goes out, And where there is no whisperer, contention quiets down.

He is noticing the foundation of the violence just like James does

So, what is actually happening? (it is helpful to get some more descriptions of what Habakkuk is facing)

(it is helpful to get some more descriptions of what Habakkuk is facing)

Isaiah tells us there were evil laws being enacted which hurt the poor and defenseless among the people of Israel

Isaiah 10:1–3- Woe to those who enact evil statutes And to those who constantly record unjust decisions, So as to deprive the needy of justice And rob the poor of My people of their rights, So that widows may be their spoil And that they may plunder the orphans.

The poor, Widows and orphans do not have anyone to protect them, so the law is supposed to do that

Even today, true religion should care and get upset when these people are abused

James 1:27- Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.+

The Temple itself is filled with violence

Zephaniah 1:9- “And I will punish on that day all who leap on the temple threshold, Who fill the house of their lord with violence and deceit.

Much like the sons of Eli who were abusing the temple in 1 Samuel 2

the priests were given specific parts of the animals to eat

But the priest’s servant… probably the sons took the a fork pot luck style and took whatever came up to be their portion

1 Samuel 2:16–17- If the man said to him, “They must surely burn the fat first, and then take as much as you desire,” then he would say, “No, but you shall give it to me now; and if not, I will take it by force.” Thus the sin of the young men was very great before the Lord, for the men despised the offering of the Lord.

They were robbing people and God

The fat was supposed to be burned first as “an aroma pleasing to the Lord” (Lev. 3:5).

Hophni and Phinehas insisted on taking the meat with the fat still on it, stealing the Lord’s portion

Jeremiah says lying was common even among neighbors in Israel

Jeremiah 9:3–4- “They bend their tongue like their bow; Lies and not truth prevail in the land; For they proceed from evil to evil, And they do not know Me,” declares the LORD. “Let everyone be on guard against his neighbor, And do not trust any brother; Because every brother deals craftily, And every neighbor goes about as a slanderer.

Ezekiel said the princes themselves were engaging in violence and destruction and needed to repent before the coming of the true King

Ezekiel 45:9- ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, “Enough, you princes of Israel; put away violence and destruction, and practice justice and righteousness. Stop your expropriations from My people,” declares the Lord GOD.

William Blaikie thus summarizes: “Men of corrupt lives at the head of religion, who are shameless of their profligacy, have a lowering effect on the moral life of the whole community.”

Where the leaders go, goes everybody else

Illustration point- We need to get upset about the right things

This becomes very clear in today’s world of easy offense

It is easy to picture a courtroom where an accusation is made of wrong

The problem is that is easy to become desensitized to false accusations in our world

Too often there are fake accusations:

 A 2017 Dutch study of 57 proven false allegations revealed eight different motives: material gain, alibi, sympathy, attention, regret, a disturbed mental state, relabeling, and revenge.

In October 2018, five Pennsylvania high school girls admitted to targeting a boy with false sexual assault allegations. The reason: They didn’t like him. By the time of the girls’ confession, though, the boy had been fired from his job, endured multiple court appearances, and been placed in juvenile detention and on house arrest.

Or how often is the accusation simply, you did violence against me because you offended me

But if we allow these wrongs to desensitize us to the evils of the world that we no longer cry out violence or wrong, we are are forgetting the justice of God

So, may the prophet teach you that there are things to get upset about

Application

Men

I find it interesting that I talked to a number of the women last week about comfort… and the ability to cry to God

But not many guys, though I know we suffer too

But perhaps we have a different response because we want to take actions, we should defend the innocent and fight injustice

Even Proverbs ends with the call of King Lemule to

Proverbs 31:8–9- Open your mouth for the mute, for the rights of all who are destitute. Open your mouth, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and needy.

Which of us would not fight to protect our wives, sisters, daughters

But what do you do when you have no power… what do you do when you fight and lose

Or what should be the first thing we do to fight

Brothers, we must pray!

The armor of God, which is such a manly passage ends with this

Ephesians 6:18- With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints,

Bible scholar AT Robertson wrote “Satan trembles when he sees The weakest saint upon his knees.

So men, may I encourage us to do something about the problems we see… Let us pray!

Moms

You are teaching your kids what is wrong in this world

Do not just allow the answer of God is in control mean you do not teach your kids there are evil things happening in this world

You are to show them there are things God says are wrong

And He will judge, even if it seems like people are getting away with it for a hile

All of us must proclaim to ourselves and others there is wrong things happening in this world

But may we never forget repentance is always available if an evil person turns away from sin and toward God

Isaiah 55:7- Let the wicked forsake his way And the unrighteous man his thoughts; And let him return to the Lord, And He will have compassion on him, And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon.

Trans: And while you may look at the US government and complain, but Israel had the very law of God!

The prophet’s complaints reveals the law’s weakness (4)

Explanation

Torah is the Hebrew word for Law

It is found in Exodus-Deuteronomy

It is the code of laws included the commandments (Ex. 20:1-17),

the ordinances stipulating the Israelites' social life (21:1--23:33),

and those directing Israel's worship (25:13-1:18)”

According to orthodox Jewish tradition, there are 613 commandments in the law of Moses. These are divided into 248 affirmative laws and 365 negative laws"

some may want to civil, criminal, social and cultic (or ritual) law, but there is nothing in the bible that clarifies these categories and even the strongest proponent will say it is hard to separate these

But James says there is no division

James 2:8–10- If, however, you are fulfilling the royal law according to the Scripture, “YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF,” you are doing well. But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all.

Or Galatians says it comes as a packet:

Galatians 5:3 “And I testify again to every man who receives circumcision, that he is under obligation to keep the whole Law

Every part of the law needed the others

But Habakkuk sees the law is paralyzed

The NASSB word for ignored means stunned or incapable of acting normally

If the Law is the standard of God, justice is the application of that standard

Leviticus 19:15- ‘You shall do no injustice in judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor nor defer to the great, but you are to judge your neighbor fairly.

but justice is not being applied

The reason is given at the end- The majority is wicked

They are able to gather around the righteous person

Righteous doesn’t need to mean a perfect person because Genesis 6:9 said Noah was a righteous man

Yes, Ecclesiastes 7:20 “There is not a righteous man on earth who does what is right and never sins.”

But a righteous man obeyed the law to have his sins clean by offering sacrifice.

But the righteous are outnumbered by the power of the wicked who are twisting the law

Because the law requires enforcement from people

It has been said, "A law without a penalty is only good advice."

The weakness of the law is our sinful hearts see it and fight against it

Romans 7:7–11 NASB95

7 What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? May it never be! On the contrary, I would not have come to know sin except through the Law; for I would not have known about coveting if the Law had not said, “You shall not covet.” 8 But sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind; for apart from the Law sin is dead. 9 I was once alive apart from the Law; but when the commandment came, sin became alive and I died; 10 and this commandment, which was to result in life, proved to result in death for me; 11 for sin, taking an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me.

Good king Josiah was killed in battle with Pharaoh Neco in 609 B.C

King Jehoiakim (Josiah’s son) ruled corruptly (as Neco’s vassal) during the time of Habakkuk’s prophecy

Jehoiakim insisted on a luxurious cedar palace.

Because he actually could not afford such luxury, Jehoiakim hard forced his people to labor on his extravaganza without pay

The prophecy God made about kings in 1 Sam have come true as the king has become a taker

Like the temptation to walk on the stay off the grass sign, he read God’s laws and ignored them

And In Jeremiah 36 we read how he cut up the scroll Jeremiah made from him and threatened the prophet’s life

Jeremiah 36:24–26- Yet the king and all his servants who heard all these words were not afraid, nor did they rend their garments. ….And the king commanded Jerahmeel the king’s son, ….to seize Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet, but the LORD hid them.

Like a

Thus the king and his princes who are to enforce the law are instead revealing its weakness- they are violating it

Illustration point- The law is weak because it cannot change the hearts of the crowd

Too often we think the majority has given a mandate to the elected offical... Isn’t it interesting how All the great injustices of history have been committed in the name of unchecked and unbridled “majority rule.”

Senator James A. Reed, of Missouri said: “The majority crucified Jesus Christ; the majority burned the Christians at the stake; the majority established slavery.”

Jesus the great judge said:

Matthew 7:13–14- “for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. “For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.

Why are we surprised then to find even the majority of people looking at the good commands from God and saying… Nope, I will not obey

Application

So if the law was so weak a bad king can paralyze it what is the purpose of the law then?

what is the purpose of the law then?

The Mosaic Law revealed and exposed sin

Romans 3:20 “For through the Law comes knowledge of sin.” “Its purpose was to inform humankind of their sinfulness"

Romans 5:20 “And the Law came in that the transgression might increase.”

Douglas Moo says, “The Mosaic Law specified in detail God's will for his people Israel, thereby increasing their responsibility and the seriousness of the matter when they failed to meet that responsibility

The law provides Examples to learn from

1 Corinthians 10:1-11 “Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction.”

Israel’s failures to obey God in the Exodus and beyond are examples for us

We see what happens to disobedience

And we can apply that to commands Jesus gives

Romans 15:4 “For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, that through perseverance and the encouragement of, the Scriptures we might have hope.”

We get to see how merciful and long-suffering our God is to a people who ignore his kind law that is meant to help

Don’t you think he’ll be kind to us?

The law provides leads to Christ

Galatians 3:23–25- But before faith came, we were kept in custody under the law, being shut up to the faith which was later to be revealed. Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.

The Mosaic Law was always a temporary guardian for Israel until Christ came

And still today it holds standards up that are not enforced

We are not to stone disobedient children or those who practice homosexuality

But the weight of its commands are meant to break your heart so you call out to Christ

Kids… you may see all that your parents expect of you and you should cry out… I can’t do it

And the response is yes… that is why you need Jesus

It is not loving to lower than standard, but show you the one who kept it

Today, Christian, you are not under this weak law

The Bible explicitly declares that the Christian believer is not “under law.”

Romans 6:14- For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace.

The New Testament teaches that believers have died to the Mosaic Law

Romans 7:4- Therefore, my brethren, you also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ, so that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God.

Jesus fulfilled the demands of the laws

He did everything right according to God’s law and became the very sacrifice it was all pointing to

Remember, the law showed how we each fail and provided the need for sacrifice

This is the sacrifice that was once given in Jesus that we need:

Hebrews 9:28- Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him.

But that doesn’t mean God doesn’t have standards for right and wrong anymore

Because the New Testament speaks of the law of Christ being even higher

Gal 6:2 is our memory verse and James 1:25 speaks of the law of liberty

And the New Testament is full of commands from Jesus including Matthew 28’s call to teach all HE commanded

It includes the command to love and the power of the Holy Spirit to do what he says

Galatians 5:13–14- For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, “YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.”

Galatians 5:16- But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.

If you are Moral person… you cannot be good enough

There is no set of rules or daily discipline that can make you or keep you right with God

Israel proved that the perfect law does not make a perfect people

You need to come to the end of your day with all your successes and failures and say

I’m never going to do enough, and that’s ok because Jesus is enough

Do not create a standard you can keep, but trust in the one who kept God’s standard

If you are Weak hearted… believe you cannot be condemned enough

The law will strike you

God who graciously use even your suffering to reveal your sin

For Habakkuk, he used this evil in his face to show him the righteous live by faith

What will God show you?

Perhaps it is that your are more sinful that you ever imagined

But God’s forgiveness for you is bigger than you could imagine

So repent, confess, and trust him

Therefore

Since we have seen (Cohesion)- We’ve seen these 2 lessons from the prophet regarding how to lament

Realize the evils you see show how we need Jesus

Realize your complaints exist because of your good theology

Recognize that there are truly wrong things with the world

Recognize that the law cannot do enough what a savior who changes the heart

We know we must (Resolution)- Be lamenters in this evil world

One of the biggest arguments raised by atheists against God is the problem of evil

There cannot be an all powerful God and so much evil in this world goes the objection

And personally it is one of the strongest against every view form of God rather than the truth of Christianity

Christ is the ultimate answer- no other religion has their God being ultimately good and just while also suffering

“where was God when my child was suffering… the same place where he was when his son was suffering”

Jesus said come to me all you weary.. I will give you rest

So We go on this journey of joy, taking the evil problems we see to Jesus

He is strong enough to handle them

Closing prayer

Lord, we believe, help our unbelief

May we pray to you in all that we need, for your glory oh God, amen.