Questions and Answers?

Habakkuk 1:1-2:5 November 8, 2020 A SILENT Heaven is the greatest mystery of our existence. The events of this past week have been unsettling, confusing, and downright irritating. Many who prayed diligently for a huge outpouring of support for Pres. Trump were disappointed in the closeness of the vote. Others prayed just as diligently for former Vice President Biden to win and were likewise disappointed. Where is God in the midst of this kind of event? Manasseh - Amnon - Josiah - Manasseh - a godless, ruthless king; Amnon - his son so far from God his own servants put him to death; Josiah - an 8 yr old who inherits s kingdom rotting from the inside out; as a young adult Josiah leads a religious awakening sparked by the recovery pf the OT book of Deuteronomy; Josiah who dies in a needless battle; Josiah's sons - one taken captive by Pharaoh, another installed as king by Pharaoh, and finally his descendants are captured by the Babylonians HABAKKUK The prophet is one with all those persons who fervently pray for peace in our world and who experience only war, who pray for God's good to come on earth and who find only human evil. But he is also one with every soul who has prayed for healing beside a sickbed only to be confronted with death; with every spouse who has prayed for love to come into a home and then found only hatred and anger; with every anxious person who has prayed for serenity but then been further disturbed and agitated."* HABAKKUK 1:1-4 HABAKKUK 1:5-11 "In this vivid description of a seemingly unstoppable power, one of Habakkuk's great theological themes begins to surface: Evil has within itself the seed of destruction. Babylon will not have the last word after all, for within the empire are self-destructive traits: greed (1:6), cruelty (1:7), arrogance and self-sufficiency (1:7), haughtiness (1:10), and blasphemy (1:11)."* Habakkuk 1:1-2:5 November 8, 2020 A SILENT Heaven is the greatest mystery of our existence. The events of this past week have been unsettling, confusing, and downright irritating. Many who prayed diligently for a huge outpouring of support for Pres. Trump were disappointed in the closeness of the vote. Others prayed just as diligently for former Vice President Biden to win and were likewise disappointed. Where is God in the midst of this kind of event? Manasseh - Amnon - Josiah - Manasseh - a godless, ruthless king; Amnon - his son so far from God his own servants put him to death; Josiah - an 8 yr old who inherits s kingdom rotting from the inside out; as a young adult Josiah leads a religious awakening sparked by the recovery pf the OT book of Deuteronomy; Josiah who dies in a needless battle; Josiah's sons - one taken captive by Pharaoh, another installed as king by Pharaoh, and finally his descendants are captured by the Babylonians HABAKKUK The prophet is one with all those persons who fervently pray for peace in our world and who experience only war, who pray for God's good to come on earth and who find only human evil. But he is also one with every soul who has prayed for healing beside a sickbed only to be confronted with death; with every spouse who has prayed for love to come into a home and then found only hatred and anger; with every anxious person who has prayed for serenity but then been further disturbed and agitated."* HABAKKUK 1:1-4 HABAKKUK 1:5-11 "In this vivid description of a seemingly unstoppable power, one of Habakkuk's great theological themes begins to surface: Evil has within itself the seed of destruction. Babylon will not have the last word after all, for within the empire are self-destructive traits: greed (1:6), cruelty (1:7), arrogance and self-sufficiency (1:7), haughtiness (1:10), and blasphemy (1:11)."* HABAKKUK 1:12-17 "But you can't be serious! You can't condone evil! So why don't you do something about this? Why are you silent now? This outrage! Evil men swallow up the righteous and you stand around and watch!" (Habakkuk 1:13, The Message) Habakkuk 2:1 - 4 Look at God's answer: a). the answer is to be clearly written down, accessible to all who are seeking. b). the answer is for a time not yet. Another scholar observes: "The world is not as God intended it, and God is setting it right. God's purpose cannot be thwarted (cf. Isa 55:10-11); it is speeding toward its completion. Indeed, those actions of God that seem to reverse his march toward his goal-as the Babylonian conquest of Judah seemed to Habakkuk to reverse that march (1:12-17)-may not be reversals at all but integral parts of God's purpose to save his earth. Certainly Luke (21:24), Paul (Rom 9:22-24), and the author of 2 Peter (3:9) were sure that was true."* c). God's answer to Habakkuk - is simple. TRUST ME, live by faith. In uncertain times, when pressed between godless enemies and our own longing for justification, like Habakkuk: We learn to wait. We learn to trust. . But in the uncertainty of the circumstances of world history Habakkuk lived as you and I can live - by faith in the Son of God who loves us, gave Himself for us, was raised by the power of God, and is coming to take us to be with Him for eternity. HABAKKUK 1:12-17 "But you can't be serious! You can't condone evil! So why don't you do something about this? Why are you silent now? This outrage! Evil men swallow up the righteous and you stand around and watch!" (Habakkuk 1:13, The Message) Habakkuk 2:1 - 4 Look at God's answer: a). the answer is to be clearly written down, accessible to all who are seeking. b). the answer is for a time not yet. Another scholar observes: "The world is not as God intended it, and God is setting it right. God's purpose cannot be thwarted (cf. Isa 55:10-11); it is speeding toward its completion. Indeed, those actions of God that seem to reverse his march toward his goal-as the Babylonian conquest of Judah seemed to Habakkuk to reverse that march (1:12-17)-may not be reversals at all but integral parts of God's purpose to save his earth. Certainly Luke (21:24), Paul (Rom 9:22-24), and the author of 2 Peter (3:9) were sure that was true."* c). God's answer to Habakkuk - is simple. TRUST ME, live by faith. In uncertain times, when pressed between godless enemies and our own longing for justification, like Habakkuk: We learn to wait. We learn to trust. . But in the uncertainty of the circumstances of world history Habakkuk lived as you and I can live - by faith in the Son of God who loves us, gave Himself for us, was raised by the power of God, and is coming to take us to be with Him for eternity. * Barker, K. L. (1999). Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah (Vol. 20, pp. 294-295). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers. * Barker, K. L. (1999). Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah (Vol. 20, p. 303). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers. * Barker, K. L. (1999). Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah (Vol. 20, pp. 294-295). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers. * Barker, K. L. (1999). Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah (Vol. 20, p. 303). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers. * Barker, K. L. (1999). Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah (Vol. 20, p. 324). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers. * Barker, K. L. (1999). Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah (Vol. 20, p. 324). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers. --------------- ------------------------------------------------------------ --------------- ------------------------------------------------------------