God is Not Silent (Hab 1:5-12)

Big Idea

Tension: How does God respond to Habakkuk’s complaint about God’s seeming absence when he does not save, when he makes Habakkuk see iniquity, and when his Word and justice does not go forth?

Resolution: God responds that he is not silent by using the Chaldeans to judge Israel.

Exegetical Idea: God responds to Habakkuk’s complain about God’s seeming absence when he does not save, when he makes Habakkuk see iniquity, and when his Word and justice does not go forth by using the Chaldeans to judge Israel.

Theological Idea: Though God’s will is hidden in history, it is revealed in Christ.

Big Idea: Though God’s will is hidden in history, it is revealed in Christ.

Sermon

Introduction: How do we make sense of what God is doing in our lives?

Though God’s will is hidden in history

Though God seem silent, he is not (vs. 5); He is a rock and in control (vs 12)

Chaldeans

God rose them up (6)

March across the earth (Zeph 1:14)

Dreaded and fearsome (7)

They move with speed, ferocity, pride, devouring (8)

They come to throw the world into disarray (9)

They mock those who oppose them (10)

Then they move right along as if nothing had happened (11)

Direct answers to Habakkuk’s question (12b)

Look (5)

Violence for violence (9)

If Israel will not listen to God’s word, it will be accomplished through them (7)

God used a wicked tool to accomplish his righteous purposes (11)

God gave Habakkuk a glimpse into what normally would be hidden, what we call God’s hidden will.

God uses all things to accomplish his purposes and we don’t always get to know what those purposes are.

God often uses imperfect means to accomplish his good purposes to thwart the wisdom of the wise (1 Corinthians)

Sometimes God’s hidden will brings salvation (Cyrus)

Sometimes God’s hidden will brings judgment

Sometimes God’s hidden will is meant to give us time to repent (Rom 2:4)

God uses all things for the good of those who love him (Rom 8:28)

God’s will will never be for you to disobey his Word (Tim)

God will often bring temptations into our life to get us to choose Him (Abraham and Isaiah)

So then, are we just doomed to trust in a God who never shows us himself, who never reveals himself?

It is revealed in Christ

God is from everlasting to everlasting (Psalm 90): God’s unchanging nature

Oh LORD my God (Personal Title)

My Holy One (Confession of God’s Superiority & Uniqueness)

Both of these converge in Christ: The love of God and the Holiness of God

The Holiness of God means that the only way God can forgive us for our sins is if somebody paid the debt for us. This is why Christ is called again and again the holy one of God.

The love of God means that Christ himself chose to pay our debt. In this is love not that we loved him, but that he loved us and gave himself up for us.

We shall not die

The just shall live by faith

What is God’s will for me?

That I should know, love, and follow Christ.