BO12 | Habakkuk

INTRODUCTION

Continue series through the Minor Prophets.

The book of Habakkuk …

… is written to the southern kingdom of Judah.

Habakkuk is written as the enemy of Israel, Assyria, is about to fall to a mighty new empire, the Babylonians.

The Babylonians would grow as a threat to the people of God in Judah and eventually conquer Judah and carry its kings and people into exile.

You might remember Babylon as the captor of the prophet Daniel.

Or the enemy who destroyed Jerusalem during the prophetic ministry of the prophet Jeremiah.

Habakkuk is written as that great and fearsome empire, Babylon, is rising to power.

The outline of Habakkuk is one of the most interesting outlines in scripture.

It comes in the form of two questions, or more accurately, complaints spoken by Habakkuk …

… and two answers by the Lord.

The Lord then pronounces five woes …

… then Habakkuk closes the book with a prayer in the form of a psalm.

I have found Habakkuk to be a very intimate and human psalm.

It deals with some of the most difficult questions that plague the heart of any faithful man or women …

… in the midst of tumultuous days and unrighteous peoples.

Achtemeier Habakkuk is a book for all faithful people, of whatever era, who find themselves living “in the meantime”—in the time between the revelation of the promises of God and the fulfillment of those promises—in the time between their redemption, when God made his purposes clear, and the final time when that divine purpose will be realized in all the earth. As such, Habakkuk is a book from faith for faith.

Habakkuk is written for a people who still cry out in faith …

… your kingdom come, your will be on earth as it is in heaven.

PRAY

7:00

HABAKKUK’S FIRST COMPLAINT: WHY IS THERE NO JUSTICE?

Read Habakkuk 1:1-4

This isn’t just a question …

… it is an honest, heartfelt accusation.

Psalm 13:1–2 (ESV) How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?

test

Psalm 74:10–11 (ESV) How long, O God, is the foe to scoff? Is the enemy to revile your name forever? Why do you hold back your hand, your right hand? Take it from the fold of your garment and destroy them!

test

Revelation 6:9–10 (ESV) When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne. They cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?”

The writers of scripture are often concerned with the interplay between two realities.

That it is the fool who says in his heart, “There is no God (Psalm 14:1),” …

… who “flatters himself in his own eyes that his iniquity cannot be found out and hated (Psalm 36:2).”

And the open-eyed, clear minded, question …

… in view of the pressing reality of injustice and iniquity surrounding us …

… “How long?”

The Lord will bring down justice from heaven …

… but why has it not yet come?

Look again at Habakkuk’s complaint.

v2 - will you not hear?

v2 - will you not save?

v3 - why look idly at wrong?

It is the agnostic doubt that plagues even the faithful.

v4 - Justice seems upside down.

Instead of the law surrounding and putting and end to injustice …

… the righteous are surrounded

… and justice is perverted.

You’ll not that the Lord does not argue with Habakkuk's complaint.

There is a reasonableness, a genuine righteous concern, to the prophet’s cry.

But it is also the question from the perspective of a finite man.

He asks not because he does not believe, but because he cannot see.

He can only see what is before him, the wickedness …

… he cannot yet see with his eyes what can only be seen with the eyes of faith.

And so, the Lord gives the prophet vision …

… an answer to his question that he is not prepared for.

17:00

The Lord’s First Answer: Look! Justice by the Babylonians!

Read Habakkuk 1:5-6

The Lord has seen the iniquity of the people of Judah.

He has seen that they have neglected his law and perverted his justice.

And so he will raise up and send a the great Babylon army to put and end to the waywardness of Judah.

Let’s just say that this was not the answer Habakkuk was looking for.

Habakkuk is concerned for the violence and iniquity that he sees in Judah …

… and the answer is the Babylonian’s justice?

Read Habakkuk 1:9

The iniquity of Judah will be snuffed out …

… BY THE ARMIES OF A PAGAN LAND

… who themselves are “guilty men, whose might is their god!”

20:00

APPLY

I think one of the most powerful applications of this first exchange between Habakkuk and the Lord is that …

… there is an answer to the question, “How long?”

The Lord has number the days of iniquity.

He will put an end to the days that the people of faith will suffer destruction and violence.

The question “how long” is both righteous and good.

It is the expected question of finite man.

But the gift of the Lord, who is infinite and holy, is to call the righteous not only to righteousness, but to faith.

The question “how long” is good, but it is also true that we may not be prepared for the immediate answer.

… next complaint …

22:00

HABAKKUK’S SECOND COMPLAINT: JUSTICE? BUT, THE WICKED SWALLOWS UP THE MAN MORE RIGHTEOUS THAN HE?

Habakkuk 1:12

Habakkuk’s first complaint is based upon God’s own revelation.

He is asking how long not because he believes the Lord is unrighteous, but because he believes the Lord IS righteous!

He is only surprised that the Lord has not already executed justice.

Habakkuk’s second complaint presses further into what he knows about the Lord.

He is righteous! He is holy!

v13 - “cannot look at wrong”

And yet, the Lord is going to use the Babylonians to execute his justice?

Read Habakkuk 1:13b

Surely the Lord has more to say …

… and so (v2:1) Habakkuk takes his stand in the watchtower to wait for the Lord.

25:00

The Lord’s Second Answer: The righteous shall live by his faith.

Habakkuk has gone from a deep, anguished question of “how long?” …

… to a dazed and confused question of “how can this be?”

What is needed?

Habakkuk along with all those who wait on the Lord need revelation!

Read Habakkuk 2:2-3

The Lord is still the Ruler over of all kingdoms and the refuge of all the faithful.

His will will be done.

His purpose will be executed in all the earth.

Read Habakkuk 2:4

This is one of the most important verses in scripture and we ought to take care to understand it.

It is quoted or referenced three times in the New Testament …

… and becomes central to understanding grace.

The faithful will live because he is righteous.

We have twisted the scriptures into a man-centered, self-righteous righteousness.

How do you prove that you’re faithful?

How do you prove that you ought to live?

How do you earn the spot of refuge in the Lord?

You prove you’re faithful by your righteousness.

Who are the righteous?

They are those who live.

Who are those who live?

Who are those who the Lord will both bless AND keep.

Who will the Lord preserve in the day of trouble?

Who will the Lord pass over on the day of judgement?

… when the horse and its rider crash into the city?

Is it not those who trust in the Lord for their rescue?

It is the Babylonians who are puffed up.

It is the Babylonians whose soul is upside down.

The righteous are those who live by faith not by their own strength or even their own righteousness.

30:00

APPLY

Luke 18:7–8 (ESV) And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

We are right to cry out to the Lord!

We are right to join Habakkuk in all his questions.

And, as we receive the Lord’s answer, we are right to trust in the Lord.

Where our eyes do not see nor understand …

… to gain the sight that is provided by faith alone.

Faith is, in light of revelation’s answers to questions we cannot answer with our own eyes or our own reason …

… the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1).

Faith takes hold of the glories of heaven and drags their reality into the moment of calamity.

35:00

HABAKKUK’S PSALM

The remainder of chapter 2 is a list of five woes pronounced upon both Babylon and upon all those who will not trust in the Lord.

The Lord promises both that:

1. Babylon will be judged

2. The purpose of the Lord for Judah will not be thwarted (Habakkuk 2:14)

Then in chapter three Habakkuk records a psalm for the righteous …

… that is for those who have cried out to the Lord in the midst of wickedness

… that they might be strengthened in faith and so live.

This psalm helps the community to work out that faith by which the Lord declares they will be saved.

Habakkuk 3:2-7

The Lord is on the move, bringing his justice.

v2b - Habakkuk asks for mercy …

… even as pestilence and plague and all manner of judgement goes before the Lord (v5ff).

Habakkuk 3:8-16

v13 - all of this is for the sake of salvation

v16 - The people of faith are the people who wait upon the Lord.

Habakkuk 3:17-19

Faith in action.

40:00

APPLY

The justice of the Lord is coming.

All those who know and believe the Word of the Lord have questions.

I am thankful this morning that the deepest questions of my soul …

… are the very questions the Lord has put into the lips of his prophets.

You heard that, right?

He has not only given us answers …

… he has also given us words for our questions.

He has even given us songs to sing.

It is the Lord’s justice, not ours.

Who would have dreamt of sending wicked Babylon as the just judgment upon the people of Judah?

Who would have dreamt of sending the righteous Son of God to suffer the judgement due to sinners in their place?

Satisfied in You (by The Sing Team) So when I′m drowning out at sea And Your breakers and Your waves crash down on me I′ll recall Your safety scheme You're the one who made the waves And Your Son went out to suffer in my place And to tell me that I′m safe

Psalm 42:5 (ESV) Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.

Faith! We live by trusting the Lord.

Both that he will judge.

And that he will save.

Romans 1:16–17 (ESV) For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”

There is righteousness.

This is the righteousness of our Redeemer, Jesus Christ, who has been revealed from heaven.

We, the Redeemed, live by faith in Christ and his gospel.

What does faith look like?

Rejoice in the Lord!

45:00