This Looks Even Worse
Habakkuk • Sermon • Submitted
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· 5 viewsGod is at work to rescue his people, but the way he does this defies the expectations of man.
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5 “Look among the nations, and see;
wonder and be astounded.
For I am doing a work in your days
that you would not believe if told.
6 For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans,
that bitter and hasty nation,
who march through the breadth of the earth,
to seize dwellings not their own.
7 They are dreaded and fearsome;
their justice and dignity go forth from themselves.
8 Their horses are swifter than leopards,
more fierce than the evening wolves;
their horsemen press proudly on.
Their horsemen come from afar;
they fly like an eagle swift to devour.
9 They all come for violence,
all their faces forward.
They gather captives like sand.
10 At kings they scoff,
and at rulers they laugh.
They laugh at every fortress,
for they pile up earth and take it.
11 Then they sweep by like the wind and go on,
guilty men, whose own might is their god!”
12 Are you not from everlasting,
O Lord my God, my Holy One?
We shall not die.
O Lord, you have ordained them as a judgment,
and you, O Rock, have established them for reproof.
13 You who are of purer eyes than to see evil
and cannot look at wrong,
why do you idly look at traitors
and remain silent when the wicked swallows up
the man more righteous than he?
14 You make mankind like the fish of the sea,
like crawling things that have no ruler.
15 He brings all of them up with a hook;
he drags them out with his net;
he gathers them in his dragnet;
so he rejoices and is glad.
16 Therefore he sacrifices to his net
and makes offerings to his dragnet;
for by them he lives in luxury,
and his food is rich.
17 Is he then to keep on emptying his net
and mercilessly killing nations forever?
1 I will take my stand at my watchpost
and station myself on the tower,
and look out to see what he will say to me,
and what I will answer concerning my complaint.
Introduction
God not only hears the cries of his people, but he is also working to save them.
God not only hears the cries of his people, but he is also working to save them.
Last week we were introduced to Habakkuk
a prophet that lived in Judah during a time when the people of God lived godless lives…
Violence ruled
Might made right
People did not obey the Law of God that was given to govern the people of God…
And Habakkuk, who was a godly man who delighted in the Law of the Lord had a problem with this…
Likely because he was suffering because of those who sinned against him in some way shape or form
But we saw that Habakkuk’s chief concern was because the people sinned, rather Habakkuk’s chief complaint to God was for God’s apparent lack of concern for the evil that was being done
That is to say, God was not protecting him or any of the other righteous people from the unrighteous
and furthermore the unrighteous were getting away with what they were doing.
So Habakkuk cried out to God…
Because while he knew with his mind that God is just
What he saw with his eyes was injustice going out unchecked by anyone…
2 O Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not hear? Or cry to you “Violence!” and you will not save?
Habakkuk accuses God of not hearing
3 Why do you make me see iniquity,
and why do you idly look at wrong?
Destruction and violence are before me;
strife and contention arise.
Habakkuk accuses God of not acting…
Habakkuk in essence said “God you do not hear me… you are doing nothing to save your people”
and then God responds
5 “Look among the nations, and see;
wonder and be astounded.
For I am doing a work in your days
that you would not believe if told.
Hab 1:5
Hab said you do not hear… and God replies… to Hab’s complaint…
so was Habakkuk rightly accusing God for not hearing? no…
5 “Look among the nations, and see;
wonder and be astounded.
For I am doing a work in your days
that you would not believe if told.
6 For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans,
that bitter and hasty nation,
who march through the breadth of the earth,
to seize dwellings not their own.
5 “Look among the nations, and see;
wonder and be astounded.
For I am doing a work in your days
that you would not believe if told.
6 For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans,
that bitter and hasty nation,
who march through the breadth of the earth,
to seize dwellings not their own.
Hab said I see all this sin being practiced and am troubled… but God you are idle…
a word that means you are doing nothing… he is accusing God of being inactive in acting justly with his world.
God’s reply is “ no Hab.. you look at the nations and see…”
Hab 1:5-6
Why this kind of response? because Habakkuk does not is not seeing things accurately… in fact he is only getting a small glimpse or all that God is doing…
“wonder and be astounded”
These words have a connotation of be terrified and afraid
Why should he be afraid?
Does it say that God is GOING to do something?
no… it says God IS doing something
While Habakkuk accuses God of being idle and inactive in his creation… God shows Habakkuk that he is already at work in saving him from the suffering that he is experiencing at the hand of sinners.
God not only hears the cries of his people, but he is also working to save them.
God not only hears the cries of his people, but he is also working to save them.
Habakkuk spoke wrongly about God....
God not only hears the cries of his people, but he is also working to save them.
God not only hears the cries of his people, but he is also working to save them.
Remember in v2… he accused God of not hearing…
But God reveals to Habakkuk that he does in fact hear his cries.
Just consider this for a moment… God hears your cries.... he hears your prayers…
even when it seems like he doesn’t
Habakkuk didn’t see God doing anything about all that he was crying out to him for…
But God responds to Habakkuk with a rebuke…
v. 5 “I am doing a work in your days”
So consider this… God hears you…
you have direct access to God
2 O Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not hear? Or cry to you “Violence!” and you will not save?
And it’s not just that we have access to him through prayer…
But also, God is actively participating with his creation…
We see this demonstrated all throughout Scripture…
Whether it’s the way he called Abraham out from the nations
Or his rescue of of his people from captivity in Egypt
Or his giving Israel the promise land in Joshua…
Or even his presence filling the temple of Solomon
But this is most clearly demonstrated in the incarnation of Jesus Christ
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.
14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
and it’s not only in the incarnation, but in the coming of his Spirit where he gave the Apostles the physical sign that he is dwelling among his people on the day of Pentecost…
and we have this promise
20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
God not only hears the cries of his people, but he is also working to save them.
God not only hears the cries of his people, but he is also working to save them.
Since God was doing a work in Hab’s day, this should leads us to ask, what was God doing in Hab’s day
6 For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans,
that bitter and hasty nation,
who march through the breadth of the earth,
to seize dwellings not their own.
6 For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans,
that bitter and hasty nation,
who march through the breadth of the earth,
to seize dwellings not their own.
7 They are dreaded and fearsome;
their justice and dignity go forth from themselves.
8 Their horses are swifter than leopards,
more fierce than the evening wolves;
their horsemen press proudly on.
Their horsemen come from afar;
they fly like an eagle swift to devour.
9 They all come for violence,
all their faces forward.
They gather captives like sand.
10 At kings they scoff,
and at rulers they laugh.
They laugh at every fortress,
for they pile up earth and take it.
11 Then they sweep by like the wind and go on,
guilty men, whose own might is their god!”
Let’s stop there on this nation that God is raising up…
the “Chaldeans”
who were the Chaldeans?
It’s another name used for the Babylonians
that is the nation that defeated Judah…
We can know from looking back on history that what God is revealing to Habakkuk actually came to pass
The book of Daniel is about the Israelites who were taken captive after Babylon’s destruction of Jerusalem
So, what God said would come to pass in Hab’s day we can look back in history and see that God accomplished his purpose…
but what was that purpose?
To destroy the God’s people…
do you notice a problem with this?
Habakkuk is crying out to God to be rescued and saved from those who have sinned against him and to bring justice against the wicked…
God’s response is shocking in that he is going to rescue his people by sending an enemy nation in to destroy them.
God uses surprising means to accomplish his saving purpose.
God uses surprising means to accomplish his saving purpose.
God gives us a brief history lesson by introducing us to the Chaldeans
Hab
6 For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans,
that bitter and hasty nation,
who march through the breadth of the earth,
to seize dwellings not their own.
7 They are dreaded and fearsome;
their justice and dignity go forth from themselves.
Justice and dignity are defined by God…
From the beginning it was God who defined good and evil
That was until Adam and Eve took of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil for they wanted to be like God… thus braking God’s command not to eat of the tree of knowledge of Good and evil…
And so sin entered the world… men murdered and killed
and so God gave Israel the Law
Good and evil were defined by the Law
Justice and dignity are listed laid out in God’s word
But the Chaldeans define justice and dignity for themselves instead of defining it by God’s word
and so they murder, they kill, they plunder and destroy…
Listen to the way God describes their armies
8 Their horses are swifter than leopards,
more fierce than the evening wolves;
their horsemen press proudly on.
Their horsemen come from afar;
they fly like an eagle swift to devour.
9 They all come for violence,
all their faces forward.
They gather captives like sand.
Hab 1:8-9
This is a terrifying army that is coming to destroy the people of God
Hab 5:
7 They are dreaded and fearsome;
their justice and dignity go forth from themselves.
8 Their horses are swifter than leopards,
more fierce than the evening wolves;
their horsemen press proudly on.
Their horsemen come from afar;
they fly like an eagle swift to devour.
9 They all come for violence,
all their faces forward.
They gather captives like sand.
10 At kings they scoff,
and at rulers they laugh.
They laugh at every fortress,
for they pile up earth and take it.
11 Then they sweep by like the wind and go on,
guilty men, whose own might is their god!”
God describes their speed… faster than leopards
their ferocity… crueler than wolves
Their aim… like an eagle that flies looking for something to devour and eat
10 At kings they scoff,
and at rulers they laugh.
They laugh at every fortress,
for they pile up earth and take it.
Describes the way they look at other kings and kingdoms
they don’t listen to the authority of other kings and rulers
Why? Because they are their own authority
And when opposed by these kings and kingdoms, the Chaldeans dominate and destroy
These kingdoms and fortresses are a joke to the Babylonians
11 Then they sweep by like the wind and go on,
guilty men, whose own might is their god!”
even though the Chaldeans are ordained by God… they do not worship God
God uses surprising means to accomplish his saving purpose.
God uses surprising means to accomplish his saving purpose.
And God knows that these people are also guilty… just like those who Habakkuk has already complained against
and despite this, God is going to use this violent, lawless, powerful and arrogant nation that worships itself to punish God’s people.
This would have been shocking news to Habakkuk and his original audience
and it may be shocking to us today as well…
But this isn’t the only time we see God using surprising means to save his people
For the cross too while it looks like defeat for God would be God’s means to save his people.
But do not be offended by God way of saving and even sanctifying his people…
18 For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written,
“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”
Listen to the way that Habakkuk responds to God’s word…
12 Are you not from everlasting,
O Lord my God, my Holy One?
We shall not die.
O Lord, you have ordained them as a judgment,
and you, O Rock, have established them for reproof.
God has just defined the character quality of the Chaldeans…
now Hab defines the quality of the character of God
Hab 1:12-
EVERLASTING… that is to say God has no beginning or end
he was the one at the beginning who created everything with a word
He is the one at the end of all things who knows the final outcome of history…
He is Everlasting
He is LORD -
Notice how Lord is in all caps?
Thats different than capital L and lowercase o-r-d
when you see LORD the biblical writers are refering to the special name of God revealed to moses at the burning bush
YHWH
13 Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” 14 God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I am has sent me to you.’ ”
Put shortly… he exists… lives and breaths and has life… unlike all the false gods of Babylon and the false gods of the nations today
Hab says God is HOLY
that is to say - pure… he has no sin in him
he is without fault
unlike you and me… God is perfect
his ways are perfect
his plans are perfect
there is no one like him
He his holy
And then he says We shall not die?
this is a confusing statement when God just told Hab that he is sending an army to kill and destroy the people of Judah…
But what Habakkuk is recalling is that God is a covenant keeping God…
He has made a covenant - w/Noah
covenant - agreement to be their God
to protect them
to sustain them
to keep them and not kill him
w/Abraham
And w/David
And being that he is Everlasting, LORD, and Holy… he says Hab knows that God will keep his word…
12 Are you not from everlasting,
O Lord my God, my Holy One?
We shall not die.
O Lord, you have ordained them as a judgment,
and you, O Rock, have established them for reproof.
LORD and Rock… covenant and protecting God
Ordained - established - that is he planned it… it is God’s purpose - that is God is sovereign not only over Israel… but even over those who hate God… and are enemies of God… God is in control over everything all living things… and not just the living things, but the things that have no breath...
That means God is sovereign over even sickness and disease…
Judgment- reproof…
that is to say the Chaldeans are God’s response to the sin of Judah...
God punishes sin
This is who God is…
who he is according to his word
who he is as Habakkuk knows him
and who God is as we know him as well…
But then Hab continues to wrestle
Because what he knows about God doesn’t seem to line up with what he sees God doing through the Chaldeans
13 You who are of purer eyes than to see evil
and cannot look at wrong,
why do you idly look at traitors
and remain silent when the wicked swallows up
the man more righteous than he?
Sure Judah was bad… but Babylon is even worse…
and you are using this far more wicked nation to punish your people?? This makes no sense to Habakkuk
God’s work to save his people often times makes no sense to man.
God’s work to save his people often times makes no sense to man.
Your sin will be judged based on God’s righteous decree that is given in his word.
Why doesn’t this make sense?
Because Hab knows that God should be punishing the Chaldeans even more than he should be punishing Judah…
And then Hab uses the imagery of a fisherman to illustrate his complaint
God doesn’t compare your righteousness to the righteousness of those around you…
And he did
14 You make mankind like the fish of the sea,
like crawling things that have no ruler.
15 He brings all of them up with a hook;
he drags them out with his net;
he gathers them in his dragnet;
so he rejoices and is glad.
16 Therefore he sacrifices to his net
and makes offerings to his dragnet;
for by them he lives in luxury,
and his food is rich.
Any of you like to fish?
Is catching a fish, killing the fish and eating the fish a sin?
Hab 1:14
of course not…
But is catching a man, killing a man and profiting from that a sin?
Hab
yes…
And this is the case that Hab is laying out before the LORD
That people made in the image of God are being treated like lesser things in creation… fish
And that them being killed by these wicked people is being permitted by God
and not only that, but the wicked murdering people are living in luxury because of their sin… and they even worship their might and power…
This makes no sense to Habakkuk… and yet
God’s work to save his people often times makes no sense to man.
God’s work to save his people often times makes no sense to man.
But Hab is not the only one to think that God’s plan for salvation doesn’t make sense
Take Peter for example
God’s work to save his people often times makes no sense to man.
God’s work to save his people often times makes no sense to man.
21 From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. 22 And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.” 23 But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”
Peter confessed that Jesus was the Christ - the one that Israel has been waiting for to save them…
but when Jesus told Peter that the way he would save his people would be by going to the cross Peter rebuked him…
But Peter’s rebuke came as a result of setting his mind not on God’s plan, rather he was setting his mind on the ways of man
And the reality is we do the same thing all the time:
21 From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. 22 And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.” 23 But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”
24 Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. 26 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?
Matt 16:21
any time we choose luxury, comfort, and even saving our life over following Jesus no matter what the cost we set our mind on the things of man instead of the tings of God…
In sending the Chaldeans to punish sin and to save the righteous, God is teaching us an important lesson.
And that is this:
God’s work to save his people often times makes no sense to man.
God’s work to save his people often times makes no sense to man.
17 Is he then to keep on emptying his net
and mercilessly killing nations forever?
God will you always allow this to be the way things are?
Is this your final plan?
Is this how you punish sinners is by exulting more wicked people than those who you are punishing
because if so, Habakkuk is saying in effect that being destroyed by the Chaldeans looks even worse than the first complaint of being surrounded by the violence among his own people
So listen to how Hab rests his case
1 I will take my stand at my watchpost
and station myself on the tower,
and look out to see what he will say to me,
and what I will answer concerning my complaint.
The righteous will cling to God’s word even in the middle of their uncertainty.
The righteous will cling to God’s word even in the middle of their uncertainty.
Habakkuk is not fully satisfied by God’s response to his first complaint
so he cries out to the Lord a second time
And he waits upon a second response
And while often times we may not understand the ways of God
and the answers that he provides, we see in Habakkuk the practice of the righteous
and that is this:
4 “Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him,
but the righteous shall live by his faith.
8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.
9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.
God is at work to rescue his people, but the way he does this defies the expectations of man.
but all the same when our expectations are not met, when we are surprised by the plans of God, and even unsure or that which is to come…
we cling to the promises of God that are given in his word.
We saw in that God not only hears our cries, but he is actively working a plan to save his people even when they do not realize it. How does knowing this reality comfort you today?
In Habakkuk doubts that God hears him and is doing anything about his suffering. God reveals in v.5 that he not only hears him but is at work even in that moment to save Habakkuk from the violence that he is experiencing.
Even today we might be afraid of many things that we see around us. It might be sickness, it might things in our family, or stresses in school that produce fear in us that cause us to cry out to God. But the people of God can take comfort in knowing that God hears our cries and is even at work now to finish the work of salvation that he has begun.
Does the way that God saves his people confuse you even today? Please explain
Often times the gospel is confusing. The way God responds to sin defies the wisdom of the wise. Especially when we consider that God saved his people by sending his Son to die. Death does not look like victory to the rest of the world, just as sending the Chaldeans to punish the wicked that surrounded Habakkuk did not seem like fitting way to rescue the righteous. And this is exactly what God did to save his people. The death of Jesus is the only way that can have life.
Further reading: Matthew 16:21-26
What is the correct way to respond to God amidst our confusion, doubt, and uncertainty?
In we have Habakkuk demonstrate his response in three different ways:
- Habakkuk goes to what he knows about God that has been revealed in Scripture.
- Habakkuk cries out to God in prayer a second time.
- Habakkuk waits on the word of God
How does seeing Jesus Christ crucified model the strange way that God saves his people that defies our expectations?
Further reading: