Where Are You God?

Introduction:

Just when you thought that you had heard all you wanted to hear about Christians and the COVID19 pandemic, I found three more message to submit to you. However, what makes these different is that they happened a very long time ago and are therefore timeless and not COVID19 specific.

We’ve all experienced what it is like to cry out to God on behalf of a loved one, or praying for the church that somehow God would awaken the church and they would get back on track and make the first things, first things. The infiltration of our contemporary culture into the life and purpose of God’s covenant community causes us to leave our primary posts and venture into issues of same sex marriages, homosexuality, abortion, etc., etc., etc. And we find ourselves crying out, “ Oh Lord, How Long?”. So where are you God? Do you care?, are you tuned in?

This is the setting to which the prophet Habakkuk, a young contemporary of Jeremiah, is called to prophecy. Habakkuk is writing during a time when the 10 northern tribes of Israel had been dispersed by the Assyrians some 100 years earlier in 722 BC, and the new world power was now the Babylonians (Chaldeans). The Babylonians gained particular prominence when during the great battle of Charchemish in 605 BC, they soundly defeated Pharaoh Neco and his Egyptian army who were allied with the Assyrians.

This was a time when Jehoiachim, the son of the great king/reformer, Josiah, was reigning, but unlike his father, he had reverted back to paganism and idolatry. It is in this context that Habakkuk addresses God. As the letter opens, we read the phrase, “Oh Lord, how long...”, as Habakkuk complains to God...

Text: Habakkuk 1:1-2:1

Main Idea: God is actively working even if it seems He is silent and absent.

1. Habakkuk’s First Accusation Against God (v. 1:2-4)

Note: in verse 1, the word oracle is often a technical term for a prophecy of judgment against a foreign nation.

a) Habakkuk accuses God of not hearing his cry (v. 2)

He is assuming that God is not hearing because nothing is changing (you will not save)

b) Habakkuk accuses God of not seeing what he sees (v. 3)

It’s as if he is saying that God is staring off into space and looking past the destruction and violence

c) Habakkuk accuses God of being powerless to stop injustice (v. 4)

God’s law which is supposed to justly condemn wickedness seems to be powerless against its onslaught.

God seems at least indifferent and inactive.

Note: Habakkuk’s complaint/prayer is not unlike our own. How often have we complained to God with regard to sin around us, particularly in the church. Our own struggles with the flesh, marriages on the rocks, immorality even in the church, all seeming to continue with an increased immunity to the counsel of God’s Word.

2. The Lord’s Response to Habakkuk (v. 1:5-11)

a) The Lord declares that he IS doing an unbelievable work (V. 5)

The inference here is that God is always working whether we see it or not.

Our idea of God working is that he works in a way that we think he should work

b) The Lord declares that he IS using the godless (the Chaldeans) to bring judgment (v. 6)

This is astounding since God, the sovereign one can do what he wants with whomever He chooses

c) The Lord declares that he IS using their (the Chaldeans) own evil wills to perform His purpose (v. 7-11)

God uses the natural way of man and creation to accomplish His will

We have seen this throughout scripture:

Joseph and his brothers (Gen 50:19-20)

Genesis 50:19–20 ESV

19 But Joseph said to them, “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? 20 As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.

Job and Satan

Peter being sifted (Lk 22:31)

Luke 22:31–32 ESV

31 “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, 32 but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.”

Paul and his thorn in the flesh (2 Cor 12:7-9)

2 Corinthians 12:7–9 ESV

7 So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

The Crucifixion of Jesus (Acts 2:23)

Acts 2:23 ESV

23 this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.

This is a comfort in that we know that evil is not out of control, but it is in the control of the sovereign hand of God, and in the end, God’s good purpose will be manifested!

3. Habakkuk’s Second Accusation Against God (v. 1:12-2:1)

a) Habakkuk accuses God of not knowing His own character, and forgetting His covenant people (v. 12-13a)

How often do we accuse God of not being God because what is going on does not seem to line up with His character (ex. God is love, merciful, gracious, longsuffering, and faithful, but certainly not wrathful or judgmental)

We become presumptuous in our evaluation of what God is or is not apart of. If we become comfortable, God is in it, if we have to endure hardship, He can’t be a part of that right?

b) Habakkuk accuses God of treason by allowing the unrighteous Chaldeans to swallow up His covenant people (v. 13b)

Habakkuk somehow thought that perhaps God was grading on a scale, and His covenant people were obviously more righteous then the Chaldeans.

God is being accused of violating the very foundation of His on theocracy. The monarchy, which was to be understood as a co-regency where God Himself was ruling through the monarch.

Allowing someone else to be in control, was in essence saying that He would no longer rule His people, thus in a form of treason, given them into the hands of another ruler.

Maybe Habakkuk is thinking, “How about a revival, like in the days of King Josiah”, wouldn’t that be better then destruction?

c) Habakkuk accuses God of allowing the unrighteous deeds of the Chaldeans to continue without His judgment (v. 14-17)

Sometimes the unrighteousness around seems to continue without any sign of ending...to make matters worst, the unrighteous become arrogant as a result.

Habakkuk, thinking he has a good case, waits to see how God will respond (2:1).

So What?

Are we guilty of putting God on trial because things are not happening the way we think they should?

Just because there seems to be nothing happening, does not mean God is not working. God is always pro-actively working, never too soon or too late.

Does the difficult understanding of God’s use and control over evil cause you to trust him or anger you? The truth is, if evil was running out of control, we have a greater problem then if God is using it for His purposes.

Next week we will answer the question, “How then should we live?”