What about Babylon?
Notes
Transcript
Introduction and Review
Introduction and Review
We are studying the book of Habakkuk. To what nation is Habakkuk a prophet? Judah
Habakkuk opens up his conversation with God with a complaint about Judah. What is it? Judah is wicked and it seems like God isn’t doing anything about it.
But God answers Habakkuk that He is doing something. What exactly is God doing that will deal with the wickedness of Judah? He is raising up the Chaldeans to judge and correct Judah.
So after that, Habakkuk is satisfied, right? No! He thinks it is unfair because Babylon is far more wicked than Judah.
This is Habakkuk’s second complaint, and we left off here last week in our study. God is about to answer Habakkuk, and that is what we are going to see today.
But last week, we did not just end our session there, we took a look at an aspect of prayer that is often neglected. We looked at prayer as a conversation with God as opposed to just a voice message. We did this exercise called Immanuel Journaling. First off, what does Immanuel mean? God with us. It is one of the titles given to Jesus. As God in the flesh, He came to be with and dwell among men. He was God with us in that sense, but He is God with us in the sense that He promised never to leave us nor forsake us and to be with us to the end of the world.
We ought to pray with that understanding. When I pray with the understanding that God is with me, how might that affect my prayer time? It may cause us to wait and see how God answers us. It may cause us to deeply understand that God sees exactly what is going on in our lives and cares about it. He knows what we want and expect from the situations at hand, he knows how they affect us, and he knows the emotions we are going through.
I suspect that we often do not actively think about that. This is not a time where we are trying to guess what God’s answer to our prayer might be, it is simply a way to help us understand that God does indeed see and care for us.
I think a lot of times Christians judge God’s level of care for them or interest in them by how He answers their prayers. But meditating on the fact that He does see us and care for us even when the answer is not what we necessarily want or expect is a comforting thing.
Though some of you may have been able to get an answer to your situation, most of those that did the exercise last week probably are very aware that at the end of that prayer, you probably did not have an “answer” to your situation. But, did you come out of that prayer with something? If you were anything like me, you came out of that prayer with peace and a deeper, more active realization that God is indeed with me, and that I am not dealing with things alone.
This is the “praying yet” that we have been talking about through the book of Habakkuk.
At this time, in Chapter 2, Habakkuk is learning this principle. Though everything seems to be going wrong with his nation, though God’s answer is not what he expected it to be, we find Habakkuk in chapter 2:1 going to an area where he can both see and be alone as He waits for God to answer Him.
Before we get into God’s answer for Habakkuk, let’s review the theme verse for this book.
Theme Verse: Habakkuk 3:17-18
17 Although the fig tree shall not blossom, Neither shall fruit be in the vines; The labour of the olive shall fail, And the fields shall yield no meat; The flock shall be cut off from the fold, And there shall be no herd in the stalls:
18 Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation.
Learning to “pray yet.”
God’s Second Response
God’s Second Response
Last week we saw Habakkuk’s second complaint that was basically saying, “What about Babylon? You can’t just ignore their wickedness!”
Then, after he says his piece, he awaits God’s response that we will cover this evening.
2 And the Lord answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, That he may run that readeth it.
There are a couple of things to note here. God is telling Habakkuk to write something on stone tablets. What is something very famous that got written on stone tablets? The Ten Commandments.
What is the significance, what does it symbolize when something is etched in stone? Permanence, trustworthiness.
God is saying to Habakkuk, write this message in stone. The Babylonians are coming, but then there are some other truths that God wants Habakkuk and the nation of Judah to know for sure, and we’ll get into those in just a little bit.
But look at the verse again. It says, “So that he may run that readeth it.” There is quite a bit of disagreement on how that part should be translated. Whether it should be, “So that once someone reads it, they will flee, run away,” or if it is, “So that someone who is running past will be able to see it.” Different version will have it translated either way, however, the important part of this is that the message that God is telling Habakkuk to write needs to be clear, like a neon sign. Whether that sign is clear enough to evoke feelings of fear to make people run away, or whether that sign is clear enough to be read by someone that is running by (have you ever tried to read something while you are running? kind of difficult), either way, it needs to be clear and understandable.
3 For the vision is yet for an appointed time, But at the end it shall speak, and not lie: Though it tarry, wait for it; Because it will surely come, it will not tarry.
It’s not going to happen immediately. But it won’t be long. Habakkuk was written sometime between 610 and 605 BC, and the Babylonians invaded Judah in 597 BC. So, around 12-ish years after Habakkuk was written. It did not take long for this to begin to happen. The final invasion and deportation of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar would be in 586 BC.
We need to remember that God is patient. What Habakkuk sees as inactivity at the beginning of the book, is actually God giving time for Judah to repent.
But What about Babylon?
But What about Babylon?
God does answer the question for Habakkuk. It is an assurance for the remnant of Judah, but it is a warning for Babylon, specifically Nebuchadnezzar.
4 Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: But the just shall live by his faith.
His soul, Nebuchadnezzar’s soul, is lifted up in him. He is prideful, and that is something that can be seen in the book of Daniel as well.
But on the contrary, God is telling Habakkuk, the just shall live by faith. This part of the verse is the caveat of verses 2-3 that say, “Judgment is coming, the Babylonian empire is coming. Not now, but it will be soon. And based off of God’s description of the Chaldeans in chapter 2, it is going to be total and complete, with the understanding that God has promised to always leave a remnant of Israel.” So, judgment is coming, and it is going to be harsh, BUT, the just shall live by his faith.
The proud and presumptuous souls like Nebuchadnezzars will not last, but those that trust in God, the righteous, the just, shall live by faith, will be preserved by their faith.
This is not saying that Judah was just, it was not. But it is a call for Judahites to repent even when they see themselves under God’s judgement.
This principle here stated in Habakkuk 2:4 is one that is repeated in the New Testament. Romans 1:17
17 For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.
This is part of the Apostle Paul’s detailed exposition of justification by faith alone.
11 But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith.
Again, Paul is reiterating that justification is by faith, not by works.
So, in His pronunciation against Babylon, God makes sure that the Judahites know how they are to live when this happens, but then God proceeds to pronounce some woes on Babylon and any that follow their ways.
5 Yea also, because he transgresseth by wine, He is a proud man, neither keepeth at home, Who enlargeth his desire as hell, And is as death, and cannot be satisfied, But gathereth unto him all nations, And heapeth unto him all people:
6 Shall not all these take up a parable against him, And a taunting proverb against him, and say, Woe to him that increaseth that which is not his! how long? And to him that ladeth himself with thick clay! [Stealing and plundering]
7 Shall they not rise up suddenly that shall bite thee, And awake that shall vex thee, And thou shalt be for booties unto them? [They will one day get plundered as well.]
8 Because thou hast spoiled many nations, All the remnant of the people shall spoil thee; Because of men’s blood, and for the violence of the land, Of the city, and of all that dwell therein.
9 Woe to him that coveteth an evil covetousness to his house, That he may set his nest on high, that he may be delivered from the power of evil! [A warning against coveteousness]
10 Thou hast consulted shame to thy house By cutting off many people, And hast sinned against thy soul. [The sins that they had committed are very damaging to their soul]
11 For the stone shall cry out of the wall, And the beam out of the timber shall answer it. [Their own house that they are building (empire) will cry out in shame for what they are doing.]
12 Woe to him that buildeth a town with blood, And stablisheth a city by iniquity! [A warning against murder and immorality]
13 Behold, is it not of the Lord of hosts That the people shall labour in the very fire, And the people shall weary themselves for very vanity? [The Babylonians are working hard to get and get and get. They get wealth and power and territory. They do terrible things and build magnificent structures (Nebuchadnezzar’s hanging gardens were one of the seven wonders of the ancient world), but it is all for nothing because they do not do it for God, they do not recognize Him, and in the end it will all be empty, taken from them, and ultimately destroyed. The great walls around Babylon, where are they now? Did they protect against the Medes’ and Persians? Nope. The hanging gardens? We only know about them in writing, they have been gone for thousands of years. Vanity.]
14 For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, As the waters cover the sea. [But one thing that will always be and always last is this: the earth will be full of God’s glory.]
15 Woe unto him that giveth his neighbour drink, That puttest thy bottle to him, and makest him drunken also, That thou mayest look on their nakedness! [God announces a fourth woe against the unrighteous because of their unfaithfulness and immorality. He accuses them, in verse 15, of persuading others to join their cause and engage in their corrupt activities. The text literally says that they make their neighbours drink, ‘so that he joins with your rage’.]
16 Thou art filled with shame for glory: Drink thou also, and let thy foreskin be uncovered: The cup of the Lord’s right hand shall be turned unto thee, And shameful spewing shall be on thy glory. [Such people will not be filled with glory; instead they will be sated with shame and disgrace (2:16). The apostle Paul puts it this way: ‘They glory in their shame’ (Phil. 3:19). In discussing these types, God employs an imperative, ‘Drink!’ followed by two emphatic particles—literally, ‘indeed, you!’ He is telling the unrighteous to drink up and to fill themselves with their wicked ways. In this way, God is giving them over to their wickedness.]
17 For the violence of Lebanon shall cover thee, And the spoil of beasts, which made them afraid, Because of men’s blood, and for the violence of the land, Of the city, and of all that dwell therein.
18 What profiteth the graven image that the maker thereof hath graven it; The molten image, and a teacher of lies, That the maker of his work trusteth therein, to make dumb idols?
19 Woe unto him that saith to the wood, Awake; to the dumb stone, Arise, it shall teach! Behold, it is laid over with gold and silver, And there is no breath at all in the midst of it.
This last woe is a woe unto the Babylonians, but also a woe to the Judahites. They trust in other God’s. If you read Jeremiah, it is clear that they worship God in the Temple but they worship false gods elsewhere.
So in all of this that Babylon is doing and as Babylon assimilates nations to its culture, again, that practice we get to see in the first few chapters of Daniel, the message here for the just is this: Be strong in the Lord. Stay faithful. Don’t fall for these things. Don’t get sucked in and dragged under by Babylon.
Why? What hope is there if everything is going south like that?
20 But the Lord is in his holy temple: Let all the earth keep silence before him.
Our hope is that the Lord is in his holy temple. He is in control. He is still in charge. He is still God. He is still holy. He still sees and knows and understands and cares about us. He is still on His throne.
And you might say, “Mike, didn’t the temple get destroyed?” And the answer is, “Yes.” The Babylonians destroyed the Temple in Jerusalem in 586 BC. They set fire to it and to the walls of Jerusalem and destroyed them. This led to the exile of many of Judah’s remaining leadership to Babylon and it is during this time that Daniel and his friends are taken captive into Babylon.
But the answer is also, “No.” The temple referred to in Habakkuk 2:20 is not the temple in Jerusalem. It is the temple in heaven. It is the temple that Isaiah saw.
1 In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. [We know this is not Isaiah having a vision of the temple in Jerusalem because of what is said in the following verses.]
2 Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.
3 And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: The whole earth is full of his glory.
4 And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.
This is the same temple/throne room that John saw in Revelation 4:8
8 And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.
God is always on His throne. He is always in control. Which is why, after this utterance from God, Habakkuk sings a song of praise.
A Song of Praise
A Song of Praise
No more complaints from the prophet. Even though he may not understand, something has been made abundantly clear to him, and should be abundantly clear to us - God is in control! God is still the God of our salvation. God is still holy, and the wicked will never overcome Him; quite the contrary, God is so powerful that He even uses the wicked to accomplish His will.
To finish up, let’s just read through the praise that Habakkuk has in chapter 3. Habakkuk 3
This is the “praying yet...” example.
1 A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet upon Shigionoth. [Shigionoth, sung with great emotion.]
2 O Lord, I have heard thy speech, and was afraid: O Lord, revive thy work in the midst of the years, In the midst of the years make known; In wrath remember mercy.
3 God came from Teman, And the Holy One from mount Paran. Selah. His glory covered the heavens, And the earth was full of his praise. [From verses 3-15, Habakkuk recounts some of the high moments in history from creation, to the Exodus, to the entering of the promise land. Of course, we need to understand that how he is saying things is poetic, as this is a song. See if you can catch the themes as we read.]
4 And his brightness was as the light; He had horns coming out of his hand: And there was the hiding of his power. [3-4 creation]
5 Before him went the pestilence, And burning coals went forth at his feet. [5-10 the exodus]
6 He stood, and measured the earth: He beheld, and drove asunder the nations; And the everlasting mountains were scattered, The perpetual hills did bow: His ways are everlasting.
7 I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction: And the curtains of the land of Midian did tremble.
8 Was the Lord displeased against the rivers? Was thine anger against the rivers? Was thy wrath against the sea, That thou didst ride upon thine horses and thy chariots of salvation?
9 Thy bow was made quite naked, According to the oaths of the tribes, even thy word. Selah. Thou didst cleave the earth with rivers.
10 The mountains saw thee, and they trembled: The overflowing of the water passed by: The deep uttered his voice, And lifted up his hands on high.
11 The sun and moon stood still in their habitation: At the light of thine arrows they went, And at the shining of thy glittering spear. [11-15 conquest of the promised land]
12 Thou didst march through the land in indignation, Thou didst thresh the heathen in anger.
13 Thou wentest forth for the salvation of thy people, Even for salvation with thine anointed; Thou woundedst the head out of the house of the wicked, By discovering the foundation unto the neck. Selah.
14 Thou didst strike through with his staves the head of his villages: They came out as a whirlwind to scatter me: Their rejoicing was as to devour the poor secretly.
15 Thou didst walk through the sea with thine horses, Through the heap of great waters.
16 When I heard, my belly trembled; My lips quivered at the voice: Rottenness entered into my bones, and I trembled in myself, That I might rest in the day of trouble: When he cometh up unto the people, he will invade them with his troops. [The coming judgment is still scary. But...]
17 Although the fig tree shall not blossom, Neither shall fruit be in the vines; The labour of the olive shall fail, And the fields shall yield no meat; The flock shall be cut off from the fold, And there shall be no herd in the stalls: [Lev. 26 and Deut. 28 give these things as part of God’s covenant with Israel - blossom of the fig tree, fruit on the vines, olives from the olive trees, bountiful harvests, and herds of cattle - but even if God were to go back on His word, even if God stripped everything away that He said he would give… yet...]
18 Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation.
19 The Lord God is my strength, And he will make my feet like hinds’ feet, And he will make me to walk upon mine high places. To the chief singer on my stringed instruments. [hind- female deer (esp. red deer) whose footing is secure in the craziest of terrains. Though everything may be rocky, God gives us sure footing when we walk with Him by faith.]
Though the resolution in the end was probably not what Habakkuk had in mind in chapter 1, things do resolve for him. This praise that he gives is not forced or coerced. It is genuine, despite the fact that the situation hasn’t changed. What has changed for Habakkuk?
No matter what, God is a God who sees everything, knows and understands us intimately, and cares about it all. He is in control.
Discussion
Discussion
Babylon tried to make all the nations it conquered assimilate into Chaldean culture. In what areas does the world try to make Christians conform? How does it do this?
Can you think of some current examples where evil seems to run rampant without any intervention from God?
Babylon ultimately did fall, but it was 70 years following the Jewish captivity. How does this fact underline the patience of God to punish?
When evil seems to run unchecked, what should God’s people do?
Can you give other examples from the Bible where someone resolved things in their lives by prayer? Do you have any examples when resolution was found through prayer in your life? Would you like to share?
How is that God’s faithfulness in the past can be an encouragement for us in the present?
If God took everything from you, could you still bring yourself to worship Him? How can we get into this mindset?
