Where Are You, God?

Introduction

Bible Reading Plan (Vision cast with it- why the NT- three parts of the Bible- what points us TO JESUS, WHAT SHOWS US JESUS, and what INSTRUCTS US IN HOW TO LIVE!

Happy New year!

Sermon Series Introduction

2 Corinthians 12:7–10 CSB

7 …Therefore, so that I would not exalt myself, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to torment me so that I would not exalt myself. 8 Concerning this, I pleaded with the Lord three times that it would leave me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore, I will most gladly boast all the more about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may reside in me. 10 So I take pleasure in weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and in difficulties, for the sake of Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Main Point: God is sovereign over all nations, rulers, and situations.

Body

As we kick off our new series looking at Habakkuk, let me invite you to look at verse 1 with me! Habakkuk 1:1 gives us THE introduction to this book!

Habakkuk 1:1 CSB

1 The pronouncement that the prophet Habakkuk saw.

There we go. That’s the introduction!

It’s not very long is it? We don’t see a date written, a location written, there’s no description of what’s going on, there’s no information about who Habakkuk is.

Fortunately for us, we do know the answers to a few of these things, so we can get a more full picture of the setting.

First, where does Habakkuk take place?

Throughout the short book of Habakkuk, we see Habakkuk prophesying about the kingdom of Judah which is the souther kingdom of Israel.

In 1 Kings 12, Solomon has passed away and his son Rehoboam reigns. Rehoboam ignores Godly advice and listens to sinful, rash advice. The nation of Israel splits into two parts at that moment.

The Northern Kingdom appoints a man named Jeroboam to lead them. Jeroboam immediately leads the people of the Northern Kingdom- known as Israel- away from God!

He is fearful that if his people go to the temple in Jerusalem then they will stop following him!

So, Jeroboam builds two golden calves- this is similar to what Israel does in the wilderness- and tells the people to worship them.

The Northern Kingdom runs STRAIGHT AWAY FROM GOD! There is a very short revival of sorts under King Jehu, but even Jehu does not stop the idol worship- he just punishes the priests who lead it!

The Northern Kingdom was financially wealthy, but spiritually bankrupt! This led to their destruction in 722 B.C. by the Assyrians. The Assyrians took the Israelites into exile and SCATTERED them around the empire.

The Southern Kingdom on the other hand was less financially welathy, but they followed God for longer; however, over time they turned from God and they began to worship idols.

This is the setting of Habakkuk- he’s ministering to the Kingdom of Judah towards the end of their independence as they have turned completely from God.

The book is commonly dated to be written between 609-605 B.C.

There are two events that give us those dates- first, in 609 B.C. a group of people rebels against the Assyrians and overthrow them. This group is called the Chaldeans, or the Babylonians!

Quickly they gain power and eminence over the what we would call the Middle East today. In 605 B.C. the Babylonians, led by Nebuchadnezzar, come to Judah and take away much of their independence.

They leave the king on the throne, but they require that he pays a substantial tribute- think of a tax to retain his throne- to them. This is a big turning point in World History where Egypt is no longer a power and Babylon, then Persia, then Greece, and Rome all replace them.

There’s something else that happens in 605 B.C. Nebuchadnezzar takes away many young men from the royal household of Judah. This includes DANIEL!

Now, what about Habakkuk? This is a great question and here’s the honest answer- no one is quite sure who he is.

He probably was a priest. But according to an apocryphal Jewish book he may have been a man who was flown to Babylon by an angel and fed Daniel while he was in the lions den.

We don’t need to give much credence to that story because the narrative it’s from reads more like a Harry Potter spin-off book than scripture.

It’s pretty clearly not true.

Here’s what I want us to understand- Habakkuk the person- is not the point of this book. See, in some ways Habakkuk represents all of us.

The why of Habakkuk is simple- Habakkuk has questions. He doesn’t understand where God is or what God is doing. He thinks that Yahweh has abandoned Israel and has forgotten them!

Habakkuk is upset about that!

And here’s the truth- we all have questions of God at some point in life and we all wonder WHERE GOD IS at times. In fact, you may be here this morning having questions about who God is or where God is!

Habakkuk gives us an important example of bringing those questions to God and he writes down what God says in response.

Habakkuk is organized around 3 prayers and then God’s answers to the first two and then Habakkuk’s PSALM OF PRAISE that ends this short book.

So with that setting in mind, let’s look at Habakkuk’s first prayer, or first set of questions.

As we read these, I want you to listen for the 4 questions and 8 complaints that Habakkuk brings to God.

Habakkuk 1:2–4 CSB

2 How long, Lord, must I call for help and you do not listen or cry out to you about violence and you do not save? 3 Why do you force me to look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrongdoing? Oppression and violence are right in front of me. Strife is ongoing, and conflict escalates. 4 This is why the law is ineffective and justice never emerges. For the wicked restrict the righteous; therefore, justice comes out perverted.

Here’s the four questions that Habakkuk asks:

How long must I call for help and God doesn’t listen?

How long must I cry out about violence (evil) and you don’t save me?

God, why don’t you fix injustice in the world?

God, why do you allow sin to go on?

Those are questions that we can understand. There’s really two categories of questions in that- first, PERSONAL questions- why don’t you help ME, and then a group of SOCIETAL QUESTIONS!

Really these first two questions are Habakkuk asking, “GOD, WHERE ARE YOU IN MY LIFE”

He’s saying, “God, here’s my trial, where are you? Why won’t you fix it? Why won’t you make this better? Why won’t you help? Why won’t you turn your ear to HEAR ME?”

And if we’re honest, that sounds like us so often!

We ask this same set of questions- we ask, “GOD WHY ARE YOU LETTING THIS BAD THING HAPPEN IN MY LIFE?”

And it’s not just us! It’s our world!

Pew Research did a study about the demographic known as “Nones”- this is people who identify with NO RELIGION!

They found that roughly 67% of this growing demographic say that they don’t believe in God because they are skeptical that there could be a god- and one of the most common objections that this raises is “Why would a good God let this bad thing happen?”

It may not be worded quite that way, but that’s one of the most common objections that we face in evangelism.

I’ve heard it framed like this- “Why would God allow sickness? Why would God allow pain? Why would God take my brother, sister, mom, or dad? Why would God allow this person to abuse me?”

This is really what Habakkuk is asking!

God, where are you in my life!

And listen- we can all know James 1:2-4 is true and that God uses the testing of our faith to help us GROW, but that doesn’t necessarily make it EASIER in that hard moment!

And it leads us to the second type of question.

Habakkuk also asks these societal questions- “God, why is SOCIETY LIKE THIS?”

Let’s just speak honestly- there was injustice in Habakkuk’s day and there is injustice in our day today.

That doesn’t define our politics or our identity to say that. It’s the truth and it should break our hearts. People take advantage of other people, people hurt people, people wrong people; this is fundamental to why we NEED THE GOSPEL!

And that is all INJUSTICE! If we deny that there is injustice in the world then we are denying that we need Jesus!

For Habakkuk, he was brokenhearted wondering WHY GOD DOESN’T FIX INJUSTICE and why God TOLERATES SIN!

And I just want to be up front Cornerstone- this is the question of many young believers.

1/4 of Gen-Z Christian’s (think 15-30 year olds) biggest concern is caring for the socially marginalized and the poor! Basically, what that means is that for 1/4 of Gen-Z, they ARE ASKING THE SAME QUESTION AS HABAKKUK!

If we want to be a church, if we want to be PEOPLE, who reach this generation, then we have to wrestle with this question too! We have to ask ourselves- “WHY DOES GOD ALLOW THIS?”

And Cornerstone, this is what I love about Habakkuk! It’s relatable. He’s asking questions that we ask. He’s got concerns that we have. He has things he’s thinking through that we think through!

Now, God is going to answer him, but first, Habakkuk has 8 complaints that he brings to God!

Habakkuk says the following: ““Oppression and violence are right in front of me. Strife is ongoing, and conflict escalates. 4 This is why the law is ineffective and justice never emerges. For the wicked restrict the righteous; therefore, justice comes out perverted.”

This is what Habakkuk sees every day! He sees oppression and violence- he sees the PEOPLE OF GOD taking advantage of one another. He sees strife- fighting and conflict that escalates and grows more serious every day!

This was a political pressure cooker! People were angry! I mentioned the critical 605 BC attack earlier- here was the fundamental issue that the Israelites were asking- “Should we continue paying tribute to Egypt and being supported by them, or do we anger the Egyptians and pay tribute to this far off kingdom of Babylon?”

There was no prayer going into that decision; just anxiety. It was a political pressure cooker and it spilled over into the rest of life- people hated one another for their views on the alliances.

It was a chaotic time!

Conflict and strife were EVERYWHERE!

Sound of Music- Anschluss example

Then Habakkuk talks about the law. The law isn’t being followed. Instead of keeping peace, the law seems to be causing more fights.

And then Habakkuk says something really convicting- “The wicked restrict the righteous; therefore, justice comes out perverted.”

Habakkuk observes that the RIGHTEOUS- the people who follow God- are being trumped by people who don’t care but have more power.

The unjust; the wicked, have taken advantage of people and they have gained positions of power where they continue to take more advantage of people.

This was a theme for the Israelites from this point in time on. During the inter-testamental time period, so the time between Malachi and Jesus being born) the priesthood ceased to be religious and became a political office, with the title of high priest being bought and sold even!

This shift is already taking place! The people are less interested in God and are more interested in trying to push their own agendas!

Let me summarize these first four verses in one sentence- “Where are you, God?”

And listen, there’s a takeaway from this section.

Takeaway #1- Bring Your Questions to God.

Somewhere along the line we’ve lost touch with the fact that we can bring our questions to God. I think that it probably comes from a place of us not wanting to cross a line or doubt God.

But the solution to doubt isn’t to pretend it isn’t there. The solution to doubt is to bring it to God.

Think about it like this- if your car stops running, the solution isn’t to say, “Oh that’s weird. Sounds strange. Who cares!” Instead, you bring it to a mechanic!

If you need a solution, you don’t just say, “Let’s pretend I don’t.” Yet that’s what we do with God! We say, “I have this question. Well, I don’t want to question God, so okay, let me push it down.”

NO! BRING IT TO GOD! BRING YOUR QUESTIONS AND YOUR COMPLAINTS TO GOD!

Listen, we serve a REALLY BIG GOD!

Habakkuk is a great example of this. Habakkuk brings his questions to GOD!

But, here’s the tradeoff- you can absolutely bring your questions to God, but you have to be ready for God to answer!

In Habakkuk, in Job, in David’s life, throughout scripture, people ask questions of God and GOD ANSWERS!

But, God’s answer isn’t always what people want to hear.

Here’s the thing- we can and we should bring our questions to God. But, just be ready! Be ready that GOD WILL ANSWER AND GOD’S ANSWER IS FINAL!

We’re going to see this throughout Habakkuk! Habakkuk does’t like what God says, but he understands that GOD’S ANSWER IS FINAL!

So let me challenge you- what questions do you need to bring to God? The holidays can bring these up as we reflect on people that we’ve lost, changes over the last year, good things, hard things, what we are looking ahead to this next year. Let me just challenge you- it’s ok to bring your questions and YOUR DOUBT to God! Just know that God will answer!

EXAMPLE OF GIDEON! (Don’t put God to the test- is about putting ourselves in pursposefully bad situations! It IS NOT SAYING THAT WE SHOULD NOT BRING OUR QUESTIONS TO GOD! It’s saying- if you jump off of Mount Everest without a parachute, don’t say, “OK GOD! SAVE ME!”)

So listen, BRING YOUR QUESTIONS TO GOD! IF YOU HAVE PLACED YOUR FAITH IN JESUS, THEN YOU HAVE A PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD! ASK YOUR QUESTIONS! THAT’S PART OF A HEALTHY RELATIONSHIP!

Let’s see how God answers Habakkuk!

Habakkuk 1:5–11 CSB

5 Look at the nations and observe— be utterly astounded! For I am doing something in your days that you will not believe when you hear about it. 6 Look! I am raising up the Chaldeans, that bitter, impetuous nation that marches across the earth’s open spaces to seize territories not its own. 7 They are fierce and terrifying; their views of justice and sovereignty stem from themselves. 8 Their horses are swifter than leopards and more fierce than wolves of the night. Their horsemen charge ahead; their horsemen come from distant lands. They fly like eagles, swooping to devour. 9 All of them come to do violence; their faces are set in determination. They gather prisoners like sand. 10 They mock kings, and rulers are a joke to them. They laugh at every fortress and build siege ramps to capture it. 11 Then they sweep by like the wind and pass through. They are guilty; their strength is their god.

Look at God’s answer! And I want to be clear- God is answering the questions that Habakkuk is asking, even though at first glance it may not seem that way.

God starts by saying that “I am doing something in your days that you will not believe when you hear about it.”

God IS MOVING, GOD IS WORKING! HABAKKUK IS SAYING, “GOD, WHERE ARE YOU?” God is saying, “I AM MOVING, BUT YOU WON’T BELIEVE WHAT I’M ABOUT TO DO EVEN IF I TOLD YOU!”

What if that is the case for us? We cry out to God and we say, “God, where are you? Why don’t you do something?”

And God is saying to us, “I am moving, but you wouldn’t believe what I’m about to do, EVEN IF I TOLD YOU!”

If I’m honest, I know that throughout my life there have been seasons of my life where I wouldn’t have believed what God would tell me He was doing!

But God then tells Habakkuk what He is doing!

God is raising up the Chaldeans- the Babylonians- to punish Judah for their sins.

In verses 6-11, God lists 21 characteristics of the Babylonians.

Let me read them to you- I’ve put some of these in my own words:

The Babylonians are:

Bitter

Impetuous

They march long distances

They take what isn’t theirs

Fierce

Terrifying

Their views of justice comes from themselves

They define justice and sovereignty by what suits them- they believed that their kings heard directly from their gods in a way that no one else did. Therefore, their king could define morality and direction.,

Their chief god, Marduk, was a warrior who had overthrown the other gods. As such, that was a big part of their view of justice; they sought out war as an act of worship basically!

Their horses are swift (abnormally fast- this is true- they used lighter chariots than the Egyptians which meant that they could travel further and faster than any other nation)

They are fierce

They come from distant lands- this means that they have a large empire.

Given that Babylon had JUST REBELLED, this was saying something! This was God saying that HE WAS IN CONTROL!

They fly like eagles looking to devour

They come to do violence

Their faces are determined

They take many prisoners (they are powerful)

They mock kings- because they know they’ll conquer them!

They think that other rulers- other nations- are a joke

They laugh at enemy fortresses because they can easily conquer them

They build siege ramps and destroy fortified cities quickly- which was super rare!

They sweep through the land like wind- quickly and completely; they are unstoppable!

You can’t really stop the wind- snow fences- can stop some of the blowing snow, but they can’t stop the wind in Wyoming! You can slow it, but you can’t STOP IT! The same is true with the Babylonians

But then when we get to our next two characteristics there is a sudden shift!

They are GUILTY!- GOD HAS ALREADY DECREED THIS! THE BABYLONIANS ARE GUILTY OF BREAKING GOD’S LAW!

Their strength is their god- they worship themselves!

Let’s take a second and connect how these 21 characteristics of the Babylonians are an answer.

Habakkuk had been saying, “God, what are you going to do?”

God replied with- “I’m sending the Chaldeans; an evil people in their own right to conquer you and bring you into exile.”

Here’s the thing- this isn’t what Habakkuk wanted. Habakkuk had, “send us a new king” in mind, not, “Conquer us and take us into exile.”

But God’s sovereign plan was to bring His people into exile as a direct consequence of their actions.

Don’t miss this detail- God makes a covenant with Israel about the promised land.

Deuteronomy 4:25-31 shows us this promise- if Israel leaves God, then God will remove them from the promised land until they repent and turn back to God!

God has warned Israel for so long and now God is JUSTLY JUDGING!

God answers Habakkuk. It just isn’t the answer that Habakkuk wants.

The same is true in our lives. God answers us, but that doesn’t always mean that it is the answer that we want.

And listen there’s two takeaways from God’s answer that I want to leave us with today that DRAW OUR EYES TO THE TRUTH THAT WE SEE IN HABAKKUK 1:1-11!

Takeaway #2- God’s Plan Will Bring Us Closer to Him!

Gospel- TRACE IT THROUGH THE EXILE, HOW GOD BRINGS THEM BACK, how they disobey again (don’t worship God- Haggai), how God saves them again, how they disobey again (end up seeing the temple desecrated by Antiochus IV Ephiphanes), how God saves them again, how they disobey again and find themselves under roman rule.

This is all brokenness and pain- it is a result of sin (define sin)

But there’s a hope in brokenness:

HOW GOD SAVES THEM AND THE WORLD FOREVER THROUGH THE BIRTH, LIFE, DEATH, AND RESURRECTION OF JESUS!

HOW ARE WE SAVED? Romans 6:23

Romans 6:23 CSB

23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

PUT YOUR FAITH IN JESUS TODAY! GOD’S PERFECT PLAN WILL ALWAYS BRING US CLOSER TO HIM!

Takeaway #3- God’s Power is Clear in Our Hardest Times

Habakkuk teaches us such an important lesson. When life gets hard, God isn’t gone; GOD IS MOVING!

And I really want to challenge us with that today.

Think about 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 that we read at the start of our service!

Paul is given a thorn in the flesh and he prays for a LONG TIME- that’s what he communicates when he says that he pleaded three times for it to be taken away- that God would remove it!

But God says no! God says, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is perfected in weakness.”

That’s really the answer that God has given to Habakkuk! God says, “Habakkuk, My power is perfected; or made clear in weakness! I’m doing this so that you see ME AND RETURN TO FOLLOWING ME!”

It’s like Romans 8:28

Romans 8:28 CSB

28 We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.

Or Genesis 50:20

Genesis 50:20 CSB

20 You planned evil against me; God planned it for good to bring about the present result—the survival of many people.

God uses these different HARD THINGS AS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR GROWTH FOR US to REFOCUS OUR EYES ON GOD!

Let me challenge each of us- we’ve seen that we can bring our questions to God, and we know that God will answer, but we also know that God’s plan is best.

So, what does it look like for us to live each day with this in mind?

I’d challenge that it isn’t us just never caring about anything; instead, it’s us switching what we focus on!

Let me challenge us to each make this our New Year’s Resolution.

Rather than focusing on anxiety and the cares of the world, it’s us FOCUSING ON DOING WHAT GOD CALLS US TO DO- LIVING OUT THE GREAT COMMISSION!

This year, let’s resolve that WE ARE GOING TO GO AND MAKE DISCIPLES, FOCUSING ON GOD, AND TRUSTING HIS PLAN, rather than being caught up in OUR FEARS AND ANXIETIES THAT CAN PARALYZE US!