Still Waiting...

I Dont Get It

Still Waiting…

for an answer

Hook

The Prophet tosses out a second complaint to God “It is still happening - I will wait for your answer, God”

And God answers…Habakkuk asks some tough questions and God answers but Habakkuk is not happy with the evasive and hopeless answer that God gave so he returns to the lamenting and one single question.Are you not from everlasting? In the eyes of the nations of Israel and Judah - “from everlasting” invokes the concept of all powerful!

It is important to note how we ended the last message -

Habakkuk 1:11 ESV

11 Then they sweep by like the wind and go on, guilty men, whose own might is their god!”

Habakkuk begins this new complaint with a comparison of sorts:

He just mentioned that the Chaldeans (Babylonians) are “guilty men, whose might is their own god.”

Then he says - this about our God.

Habakkuk 1:12–2:1 ESV

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.

Prophets often compared themselves to the watchmen of the city - those who would stand at their post and watch for impending danger or arrivals of various dignitaries in order to warn of inform those who needed to know in order for them to act.

Habakkuk saw himself as a watchman for the people of Israel - He felt like he was watching and waiting for a message from God to deliver it to the people.

Habakkuk’s Questions - 1:12-14

His question invokes the character traits of God

Everlasting (a reminder of God’s eternal state - we all imagine “forever” going forward but here Habakkuk says “from everlasting” meaning from times past.)

Lord (Master)

Holy (vs 13 sort of points out what His Holiness implies)

The Rock (immovable, reliable and secure)

He reminds God that He is the Creator (vs 14)

Habakkuk’s Analysis - 1:15-17

Switches to Nebuchadnezzar - as the one who captures the “fish that are mankind and the nations”

vs 16 - Nebuchadnezzar worships not the Creator of the fish but his own power to catch the fish

His power is established through his dominance and through the servitude of those conquered.

Another Question in the analysis - Does he get to go on doing this with no checks or balances? Does he continues with no accountability?

This is so frustrating to Habakkuk that he finds himself at a point of deciding he needs more from God in the answer. He actually says, “Fine - I’ll wait.”

Habakkuk’s Challenge 2:1

In the challenge of chapter 2 verse 1 -

Habakkuk 2:2–5 ESV

2 And the Lord answered me: “Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it. 3 For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end—it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay. 4 “Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him, but the righteous shall live by his faith. 5 “Moreover, wine is a traitor, an arrogant man who is never at rest. His greed is as wide as Sheol; like death he has never enough. He gathers for himself all nations and collects as his own all peoples.”

God’s Response - 2:2-5

“to a whining prophet”

vs 2 - record this - log this away

vs 3 - I am trustworthy - I will follow through in my time (not yours)

Study the Character of God

Knowledge of the Holy - AW Tozer