Habakkuk 3:16-19 Sermon
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Introduction
Introduction
Has God shown Himself to you in a way that causes you to worship even if fear is present and loss is before you?
Has God shown Himself to you in a way that causes you to worship even fear is present and loss is before you?
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Has God shown Himself to you in a way that causes you to worship even fear is present and loss is before you?
A family member in hospice?
A
A pending lawsuit?
A court date?
Job loss?
A
Treatment for cancer?
A husband/wife leaving home?
Bills piling up you can’t pay?
A child that is losing their way?
When was the last time you were afraid? Worried? Heartbroken? In despair?
Do you remember the anxiety? The heart pounding and the mind racing with thoughts. Making your heart heavy, full with stress and fear.
We all have had moments of sudden or pending tragedies where we felt heaviness and anxiety.
Maybe thats some of us right now.
For some situations like this, they often prompt questions.
Why is this happening?
Why is God allowing this to happen?
Or why me? When is this going to end? When is this going to change?
But these situations are those that end up bringing up from deep within us what is truly there.
Has God shown Himself to you in such a way that even in pain you exalt and praise?
That even in the midst of pending tragedy and loss, you can say blessed be the name of the Lord?
Would you worship even when fear is present and loss is before you? What is it that is left when pain and fear fill sits deep in the heart?
A person going through such pain and fear does not need the removal of pain and fear but what they need is the reminder or we can say the installment of who God is.
Because it is that reminder, the truth about who God is, that will transcend any pain and fear you go through.
God is not about removing fear and pain, though He can and has done that in our lives, more importantly, God is about installing in us the truth of who He is.
This is where worship comes from and this is what the prophet experiences in our text today.
Background
Background
In the book of Habakkuk, we have seen things about God which I would ask us here today; what about God has been shown to us in the book of Habakkuk that would cause us to worship?
In the book of Habakkuk, we have seen things about God which I would ask us here today; what about God has been shown to us in the book of Habakkuk that would cause us to worship?
1: First what we see in this book is God speaking personally to the prophet through an oracle for His people’s sake.
The oracle which Habakkuk the prophet saw.
God was showing the prophet through an oracle or we can say a prophecy, what was going to happen because of their turning away from Him.
What we have to understand here is that God is speaking. Clearly and directly to the prophet about bringing about judgement because of sin. Which is what this book is.
This reveals God as the revelator of the oracle given so that His people would know the purpose of His judgement against them.
2: Second, The book begins with the prophet asking the question of how long will God not hear the cries for justice.
There are moments where the prophet is asking of God’s silence when it came to the evil that the prophet saw presently and the evil he saw coming through the prophecy.
But, clearly we have read and seen that God is not silent. He spoke loud and clear about what He was going to do.
This reveals God as responding loud and clear to His people.
3: We see God’s first response where He spoke of sending the Babylonians to chasten the people of God because of their sin.
Here, we see that God does not tolerate sin. Especially from His own people. He does punish sin. But with His own people, He will not destroy them. Even though they deserved that and much more.
Here, we see God bringing discipline because of their sin. Showing that He cares eternally about His people.
4: The prophet continued to respond by asking a second set of questions about God punishing the Babylonians.
God responds with answering loud and clear that yes, they will be punished. So much that the people of God should be grateful for what God is doing to them through the Babylonians rather than being the Babylonians who will be destroyed and not spared.
Here, we see the mercy of God on His people while pronouncing no hope on those who He allows to exile His people.
5: God reveals details about why He will bring destruction and ruin to them who are bringing destruction and ruin to God’s people.
This reveals that God does not leave sin unpunished because He is just and holy.
What about God has been shown to us in the book of Habakkuk that would cause us to worship?
It shows us that:
God, in redemptive history, has revealed Himself to the prophets and today we have His word to show us who He is.
God is not silent. He has spoken loud and clear to us about evil and judgement. God responded because He loves His people.
God will punish the evil doer and bring discipline to His people.
God has given specifics as to what causes His wrath and judgement. And He has shown His mercy on His people when they have sinned against Him.
God is gracious. He preserves His people even in the midst of bringing about judgement. While He does not leave sin go unpunished, He will bring His own people to Himself.
This is what God has shown to us of Himself in this book.
So how does this compel worship in us today?
Have you come to truly believe that God has shown Himself to the prophets?
Have you truly believed that sin causes the judgement of God to come to pass?
Have you come to believe in the reality of the great day of the Lord? Where He will finally bring to an end the evil doer and sin?
Do you truly believe that God will preserve you to the end? No matter what lies before you?
Do you really believe what this book is and is saying?
If you do, then you have reason to worship!
If all of what we have seen in this book about God is true then there is no reason why we should hold back our worship.
In fact, I believe that there is an answer from God that will completely with all assurance, give the believer a response that no matter the situation, will be honorable and full with joy.
We should fear the Lord!
We should remember that even in times of despair, with no earthly resources, we can exult and rejoice in Him!
And most importantly, we should know that the Lord is our strength. And that He will strengthen the believer, even when faced with consequences!
That is the love of God!
1: The Prophet’s Fear (v.16)
Outline
Background
Background
Which is what the prophet does at the end of this book.
It shows us that yes God has brought about judgement when His people sinned. But we also see mercy following judgement. Which should cause us to worship because He will always preserve His people.
That no matter the evil and judgement, God deserves always to be worshipped.
Outline
Outline
Outline
Outline
1: The Prophet’s Fear (v.16)
2: The Prophet’s Loss (v.17)
3: The Prophet’s Gain (v.18-19)
He heard and his inward parts trembledHe heard and his lips quiveredHe heard and decay entered his bonesHe heard and trembled in his placeYet, He waits quietly for distress to come upon the invaders
1: The Prophet’s Fear (v.16)
1: The Prophet’s Fear (v.16)
I heard and my inward parts trembled, At the sound my lips quivered. Decay enters my bones, And in my place I tremble. Because I must wait quietly for the day of distress, For the people to arise who will invade us.
What did the prophet hear?
First, we have to remember that this portion of Scripture is a prayer.
After God had revealed His disfavor and judgement on the Babylonians, the prophet responded with fear.
A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet, according to Shigionoth. Lord, I have heard the report about You and I fear. O Lord, revive Your work in the midst of the years, In the midst of the years make it known; In wrath remember mercy.
Habakkuk 3:
What the prophet heard terrified him. He heard of God’s judgement which I believe to be what is missing in the pulpit today.
He heard of God’s judgement
The reason why many people in the visible church live worldly with no fear of God’s judgement, its because men have abandoned the reality of God’s judgement against sin.
Criminals do not look for police. Sinners do not look for a God who judges sin.
Its not the message you’d want to preach if your concerned only with packing your church with people.
But this is who God is. He does judge. He is a judge and He will deal with sin.
This reality of God’s judgement being revealed to the prophet made him fearful.
The prophet went from asking questions to the position of prayer and worship after hearing of God’s judgement.
The prophet was humbled to prayer and worship.
That God
2: The Prophet’s Exchange (v.17-18)
a. He heard and his inward parts trembled.
a. He heard and his inward parts trembled.
I heard and my inward parts trembled, At the sound my lips quivered. Decay enters my bones, And in my place I tremble. Because I must wait quietly for the day of distress, For the people to arise who will invade us.
Habakkuk 3
a. He heard and his inward parts trembled
a. He heard and his inward parts trembled
The KJV reads it as, “When I heard, my belly trembled.” Which gives us more insight as to the meaning to what the prophet was saying.
David J. Clark and Howard A. Hatton wrote “A Translator’s Handbook on the Book of Habakkuk” where they said this:
“Translators should avoid any expression like this which makes it sound as if Habakkuk had a sudden attack of diarrhea!”
The prophet heard of the judgement of God and it shook him to the core.
He feared because he heard from God about what He was going to do because of their sin and idolatry.
b. He heard and his lips quivered
b. He heard and his lips quivered
He heard and his lips quivered
The KJV
A translation reads it as “My lips quivered at the voice.”
Remember that this was an oracle. The prophet is seeing and hearing this from God.
His lips quivered at the sound of God speaking of His judgements.
c. He heard and decay entered his bones
c. He heard and decay entered his bones
Examples of this term can be found in
An excellent wife is the crown of her husband, But she who shames him is like rottenness in his bones.
A tranquil heart is life to the body, But passion is rottenness to the bones.
What does this mean?
Bones are the framework of the body.
If the bones are rotten then the body cannot be supported.
It is equivalent to saying, “My body goes limp at what I have heard.”
What the prophet heard caused so much fear that it was like his bones decaying and becoming brittle.
Which essentially speaks of not being able to stand which is the proper response to God’s judgement.
Which is missing today in the visible church.
d. He heard and trembled in his place
d. He heard and trembled in his place
Or it can read “I trembled where I stood.” Again, it was because of what he had heard about God.
Was this an appropriate response by the prophet?
This is important because of the error many make about God’s love.
Many have quoted
There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love.
This verse begs the question. Fear what? The prior verse gives us the answer.
By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world.
There is no fear for the believer on the day of judgement which is when God brings about the final judgement on the world.
This is what love being perfected in us means. That while God may bring about judgement, with the believer, He will preserve them at the end. Even on the day of judgement.
So the believer does not live in fear of the day of judgement, they should live as those that are loved by Him.
But this does not mean to ignore His warnings.
The New Testament is full of warnings to believers pertaining to sin.
God will deal with sin. Even when a believer sins.
God will not destroy the believer or cast them out but He will bring correction to them if found to sin against Him.
Examples like the warnings to the seven churches in the book or Revelation.
God spoke to the churches and gave them warning.
So is this the right response from the prophet? Yes.
Does this mean that the prophet did not believe in God’s love? No.
It was because of God’s love that this was happening to him and the people of God.
God’s love preserves the believer in the midst of Him bringing about His judgement. Even when it is against them.
We have Noah’s flood, the plaques of Egypt and the exiles as examples.
Note: Is it right for a believer to be fearful of God?
So this was an appropriate response.
The warning to the seven churches as an example.
When hearing of God’s judgement, the prophet does what should be done according to what God said about Himself in
“But the Lord is in His holy temple. Let all the earth be silent before Him.”
The prophet heard and trembled in His place:
e. Yet, He waits quietly for distress to come upon the invaders
e. Yet, He waits quietly for distress to come upon the invaders
Which is what it means when Habakkuk says “Because I must wait quietly for the day of distress, For the people to arise who will invade us.Because I must wait quietly for the day of distress, For the people to arise who will invade us.”
He goes from wanting to know what God would do to the invaders to waiting quietly.
The prophet was humbled.
He was humbled at the majesty of God. The judgement of God.
It made him quiet before the Lord. Which is what will happen to all of creation because the Lord sits in His holy temple.
In fear of the Lord, the prophet waits quietly for the day of distress to come upon them who are causing distress to God’s people.
In the prophet’s fear he waits on the Lord’s justice.
Which by the way, should be our first response when facing great fear and loss.
The prophet then turns from the fear he experiences to those things that people held valuable.
Things that people in this time period and region found security in.
Though fig trees will not blossomThough no fruit will come from the vineThough the olive will yield and the fields produce no fruitThough the flock will be cut off from the fold and no cattle will be in the stallsThe prophet chooses to exult and rejoice in God
2: The Prophet’s Loss (v.17)
2: The Prophet’s Loss (v.17)
Though the fig tree should not blossom And there be no fruit on the vines, Though the yield of the olive should fail And the fields produce no food, Though the flock should be cut off from the fold And there be no cattle in the stalls,
The prophet goes through a list of what they would lose because of the judgement coming.
3: The Prophet’s Resolve (v.19)
a. The fig trees will not blossom
a. The fig trees will not blossom
FIG—First mentioned in Gen. 3:7. The fig-tree is mentioned (Deut. 8:8) as one of the valuable products of Palestine. It was a sign of peace and prosperity (1 Kings 4:25; Micah 4:4; Zech. 3:10). Figs were used medicinally (2 Kings 20:7), and pressed together and formed into “cakes” as articles of diet (1 Sam. 30:12; Jer. 24:2).
Easton’s Bible Dictionary on Fig Trees
First mentioned in .
The fig-tree was spoken of in as valuable in Palestine.
It was referred to as a sign of peace and prosperity (; ; ).
Figs were also used for medicinal purposes.
Because of God’s judgement what was valuable then would be taken.
Safety and prosperity would be removed and what was used for medicinal purposes would not be found.
Showing God’s judgement because of their rebellion and sin against Him.
b. Fruit will not come from the vine
b. Fruit will not come from the vine
This was mentioned as the loss of wine.
The Westminster Bible Dictionary Vine
Vine, the well-known valuable plant (Vitis vinifera), very frequently referred to in the Old and New Testaments and cultivated from the earliest times. The first mention of it occurs in Gen. 9:20, 21. The vines of Palestine were celebrated both for luxuriant growth and for the immense clusters of grapes which they produced (Num. 13:23, 24; Isa. 16:8–10; Jer. 48:32). From the abundance and excellence of the vines of Palestine this plant is the subject of frequent metaphor in the Scriptures. To dwell under the vine and fig tree is an emblem of domestic happiness and peace (1 Kings 4:25; Mic. 4:4).
Vines were well-known and were referenced much in the Old and New Testaments.
It was first mentioned in , .
The vines of Palestine were celebrated both for luxuriant growth and for the immense clusters of grapes which they produced (, ; ; ).
The vine along with the fig tree was a sign of happiness and peace (; ).
This was another way of God revealing His judgement because of their rebellion and sin against Him.
c. The olive will yield and the fields produce no fruit
c. The olive will yield and the fields produce no fruit
A Handbook on the Book of Habakkuk Habakkuk 3:17–18
“Olives” gave oil which was used for cooking and lighting, and the lack of this oil would be a serious inconvenience.
No oil for cooking and no light for their lamps. Again, a sign of God’s judgement because of their rebellion and sin against Him.
d. The flock will be cut off from the fold and no cattle will be in the stalls
d. The flock will be cut off from the fold and no cattle will be in the stalls
This would mean no meat, no wool which meant no clothes, no milk and no cattle to farm.
God was taking everything from them as an act of judgement because of their rebellion and sin against Him.
This would mean total economic disaster.
This is what is left when one is left only to the judgement of God.
This is what is left when one is left only to the judgement of God.
There is only loss. What was found to be a sign of prosperity, security and happiness would be taken.
Note: This is what is left when one is left only to the judgement of God.
Has God shown Himself to you in a way that causes you to worship even if fear is present and loss is before you?
When everything, even the bare necessities are taken? What is it that is left?
Many have wrongly used the reality of God being a provider in that they neglect the reality of God being the taker.
He said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, And naked I shall return there. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.”
He said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, And naked I shall return there. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away....
He said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, And naked I shall return there. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.”
He said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, And naked I shall return there.
Just as God can provide what you need. He can take away what you think you need.
We see clearly that God is taking away what they needed to eat and to wear. God was removing the bare necessities from them.
But what was God reason for doing this?
I remembered when Jesus spoke of not worrying about what to eat and wear in .
Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’
“For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? “Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? “And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life? “And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. “But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! “Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ “For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. “So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Though this judgement being brought to God’s people wasn’t about getting them to a place of not worrying, we know that the cause of removing these things was idolatry.
That being the case it seems that what God wanted as the result is what the prophet did at the end of our text.
Which is the prophet’s gain!
How does this compel worship in us today?
Have you come to truly believe that God has shown Himself to the prophets?
Have you truly believed that sin causes the judgement of God to come to pass?
Have you come to believe in the reality of the great day of the Lord? Where He will finally bring to an end the evil doer and sin?
Do you truly believe that God will preserve you to the end? No matter what lies before you?
Do you really believe what this book is and is saying?
If you do, then you have reason to worship!
If all of what we have seen in this book about God is true then there is no reason why we should hold back our worship.
Which is what the prophet does at the end of this book.
That no matter the evil and judgement, the fear and loss, God deserves still to be worshipped.
Which means that there is a choice that needs to be made!
3: The Prophet’s Gain (v.18-19)
3: The Prophet’s Gain (v.18-19)
The Lord is his strengthThe Lord made his feet like hind’s feetThe Lord makes him walk on high places
3: The Prophet’s Gain (v.18-19)
Though the prophet saw the loss of all the things they had,
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.
a. The prophet chose to exult and rejoice in God
a. The prophet chose to exult and rejoice in God
Though the fig tree should not blossom, The prophet chose to exult and rejoice in God.
Though there be no fruit on the vines, The prophet chose to exult and rejoice in God.
b.The Lord is his strength
b.The Lord is his strength
Though the yield of the olive should fail, The prophet chose to exult and rejoice in God.
Though the fields produce no food, The prophet chose to exult and rejoice in God.
Though the flock should be cut off from the fold, The prophet chose to exult and rejoice in God.
Though there be no cattle in the stalls, The prophet chose to exult and rejoice in God.
Has God shown Himself to you in a way that causes you to worship even if fear is present and loss is before you?
Even if God would take everything from us, what would be left?
Church family, what is left is Him.
And your strength to endure will be Him.
b.The Lord is his strength
b.The Lord is his strength
18 Yet I will exult in the Lord, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation. 19 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.
God can and has taken things from His people like food and clothes. But there is one thing that He will never remove from the believer.
Himself.
Remember the condition of the Babylonians?
Though God points out their wordly strength, He also points out their spiritual bankruptcy.
11 “Then they will sweep through like the wind and pass on. But they will be held guilty, They whose strength is their god.”
Who would you rather be?
The ones who have wordly victory and prosperity?
Or those who are being exiled, taken from their home and separated from their families? Those who’s possessions are taken. Their livelihood stripped from them?
The ones who have wordly victory and prosperity are they who’s strength is their god. Which is a false god which makes them that will receive from God His judgement.
Would you want to be those who have worldly victory and prosperity but would have the Lord say to you,
16 “You will be filled with disgrace rather than honor. Now you yourself drink and expose your own nakedness. The cup in the Lord’s right hand will come around to you, And utter disgrace will come upon your glory.
Or would you want to be those that have everything taken away from them? Those that can face great loss and suffering and say, The Lord is my strength.
In a time where the prophet felt like his bones were rotting, in a time where everything, even their food, clothes and livelihood would be taken, the truth at the end of the day is that the Lord is their strength!
c. The Lord made his feet like hind’s feet and The Lord makes him walk on high places
c. The Lord made his feet like hind’s feet and The Lord makes him walk on high places
A similar passage can hep us with understanding this.
33 He makes my feet like hinds’ feet, And sets me upon my high places.
A Handbook on the Book of Habakkuk Habakkuk 3:19
hinds are female deer and can run very swiftly. Some species of deer can also climb steep and rocky places safely.
Psalm
Hinds are female deer that can run swiftly even up into the mountains.
This is an expression of how God makes His people strong even in the midst of suffering and judgement.
He will preserve His people.
d.The Lord makes him walk on high places
d.The Lord makes him walk on high places
Philippians 3
7 But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ.
Has God shown Himself to you in a way that causes you to worship even if fear is present and loss is before you?
Note: this was an oracle of God shown to the prophet.
To be more specific, Has God shown you Jesus Christ, in a way that causes you to worship even if fear is present and loss is before you?
He can make your feet like hinds feet. He will take you to the high places.
The high place is knowing that though everything is lost and everything is wrong and hard.
Yet,
Yet I will exult in the LORD, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation. The Lord GOD is my strength.
I will rejoice in the God of my salvation.
19 The Lord GOD is my strength,
New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995), .