The Questioning Prophet

Habakkuk 1:2–11 ESV

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? 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. 4 So the law is paralyzed, and justice never goes forth. For the wicked surround the righteous; so justice goes forth perverted. 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!”

Introduction

We’re going to do something a little different, and I know that may be a disturbing thing in a Baptist church…but I am starting a series looking at the prophet Habakkuk. Just to give you a little refresher, that is towards the back of the Old Testament. Go to Malachi and flip back five books.

Anyways, we see a different type of prophet introduced to us in Habakkuk. In most other cases, prophets from the Old Testament received word from God and passed it on to the people. Yet here, we see a prophet passing along the concerns of the people to God. The times they were living in were definitely curious times, as Habakkuk would have lived in the last days of the southern kingdom of Judah, before it was invaded by the Chaldean and the people taken into captivity. But here we see as perfect a picture of a true human as can be seen. We see a man who could look around him and knew with no doubt that he was living in an evil and sinful world. He had prayed to God, we wrestled with whether God was listening, and later on would even question God about the events God had planned for Judah. While we don’t know much more about the prophet, we do know one thing - he was totally human, but trusted in the Lord and was troubled by the world he was living in. Habakkuk reminds us to look at the “who” when we don’t understand the “why” in life, and to trust in God’s divine plan and purpose, even when it doesn’t make sense to us.

You see, God desires communication with us, so we don’t worry unnecessarily about the things in this life we can’t control. Even if it means blunt honesty and, sometimes, even ranting and raving.

We may have even asked God questions that we have no answer for. How does a drunk get through a car wreck with no injuries when it would have killed anyone else? How come good people struggle all the time, while bad people catch all the breaks? Why do so many bad things (sickness, financial trouble, freak accidents) happen to good people? Today, I can tell you - we are not alone - we are in good company with Habakkuk, as he asks God some pretty blunt and pointed questions.

Habakkuk’s Complaint

Habakkuk 1:2–4 ESV

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? 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. 4 So the law is paralyzed, and justice never goes forth. For the wicked surround the righteous; so justice goes forth perverted.

The prophet cries out to God wanting to know how long it was going to be before God would answer his questions. Habakkuk saw what was occurring in Judah, and simply wanted to know why God would not answer him.

He had seen the restoration of Israel under King Josiah, the great awakening that had occurred. While he came to the throne at a young age, eight years old, he reigned for thirty one years. He is referred to in 2 Chronicles as a king who “did right in the eyes of the Lord”. But it wasn’t instantaneous, he reigned for 8 years before he turned to God - at the age of 16 he sought the God of his ancestor David. From the time of sixteen until the end of his reign, 23 years he led the nation of Israel to follow God, destroying the false idols, purging Israel of its disobedience, repairing the temple, and restoring Judah to the Lord. Now, Israel was falling back into disarray. Unfortunately, Josiah would be the last recorded king that “did right in the eyes of the Lord”. His successors Jehoahaz and Jehoiakim swiftly undone all that their father had done, in the eyes of God. Because of this rampant and unrepentant sin, God would send King Nebuchadnezzar to overthrow King Jehoiakim, take him to Babylon, and would eventually allow Jerusalem and Judah to be overtaken and the Israelites moved to Babylonian captivity. We have studies how this would take place in the book of Isaiah, we know they would stay in captivity for 70 years.

But back to Habakkuk, he knew God would not tolerate Israels’ sins, and he questions God as to why He would allow this unrepentant sin to continue. From these verses, we get the impression Habakkuk is literally crying out to God because of the condition of his nation, yet it seemed God was not paying attention to him. He recognized the condition of the nation, he realized the need for Israel to be punished, and wondered why God remained silent. It was not even “petty” sins, it was things he knew would destroy the basic core of their values, things that were tearing the nation apart with physical aggression, disputes, quarrels, and disagreement was becoming the fabric of the nation of Judah. Those who were righteous were oppressed, while others were living in open sin. Habakkuk was staring directly at this objectionable behavior and sin. He had enough. God, why haven’t you done something? Just answer me!

Many of us, as Christian’s have asked the same question of the United States. Lord, how long can you continue to look upon this nation and our blatant disregard to your teaching, and not punish us? We have gone from “one nation under God, indivisible” to one nation of political correctness divided from anyone who disagrees. In 1776, English historian Edward Gibbon published a 6 volume work titled “The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire” which outlined 5 major factors of the Roman fall.

The rapid increase of divorce, with the undermining of the sanctity of the home, which is the basis of society.

Higher and higher taxes; and the spending of public money on bread and circuses.

The mad craze for pleasure, sports becoming every year more exciting and more brutal.

The building of gigantic armies to fight external enemies, when the most deadly enemy, the (moral decline) of the people, lay within.

The decay of religion; faith fading into mere form, losing touch with life, and becoming impotent to guide it.

Some of these sound familiar! The highest rates of divorce were in the 60’s and 70’s. After WW 2, federal tax rates were as high as 70% and stayed there until the 80’s. We’re still at 37% today, compared to 7% in 1913. North American sports revenues are at a projected $ 75.7 billion, almost doubling since 2000. Since 1973, we have been in a steady state of moral decline, from the legalized murder of unborn babies, to the integration of evolution and suppression of creationism, and the deliberate removal of God from our schools and government. Finally, we have a millennial generation, born from 1981 until 1996, where those claiming to be Christian dropped below 50% (49%) compared to 84 % for the greatest generation, 76% for Boomers, and 67% for Gen Xers. Church, we are following the same pattern of decline as Rome. And, we, as Christians are just like Nero, fiddling while our country burns. But my concern is this, do any of us recognize the dire condition our nation is in How many Habakkuk’s , Isaiah’s, Jeremiah’s are out there today, crying out and feeling as though God is not listening? How any of us recognize God is still working to complete His plan for this world, despite all we see going wrong? While Habakkuk cried out to God in desperation, and complained to God that He wasn’t listening or answering, God allowed him to see there was a divine plan.

God’s Response

Habakkuk 1:5–11 ESV

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!”

Oh Christian, how many times have we been on our knees in prayer over something that we did not think God had heard or had acted on ONLY to have Him whisper “Not only have I heard, but I have a plan”? Oh church, even when things seem to be falling down all around us, and while we may not understand the dire place we find ourselves in, God already has an orchestrated plan in place that will fulfill His divine will. We can never forget that.

God speaks to Habakkuk - “look around, I’m getting ready to doing something so grand you wouldn’t believe me even if I told you”. God then revealed His plan to Habakkuk - the Chaldeans (southern Babylonians) were being groomed for a period of time to overtake Judah. Not only does God tell the prophet He is grooming a pagan nation to take His chosen people captive, He then describes just how terrible they are to Habakkuk! They’re bitter - hostile, they will tear things to pieces without even thinking , and they do it with military precision and will pass over the whole nation, taking possession of all the land I will allow and destroy everything in their path. Oh not only that, but they terrorize people as they come through, everyone they come in contact with are afraid of them, and they do all of these things without worrying about anyone punishing them, holding them accountable, and they have no dignity - they are not respected by anyone. And they’re PROUD of it!

Now that God has given Habakkuk a glowing description of the Chaldeans, He then goes on to describe just HOW they were going to overtake them. Describing their horses as being faster than cheetahs, they’re more hungry for power than the wolf that has starved all day waiting on prey at night, and nothing stops them, those horsemen are coming proudly at full gallop. And get this, they’re not coming to be your buddies, they’re violent - they WANT to fight! Notice the description, they take captives like sand. Elsewhere we see sand being used to mean innumerable amounts. They’re coming to get you ALL! And, to top it off, they don’t care, nothing scares them!

Folks, have you ever thought the reason God may not answer your question is because you don’t want to know the answer? I think of the line in “A Few Good Men” when Jack Nicholson looks at Tom Cruise and boldly proclaims “The Truth! You can’t handle the truth!”. As we see in the upcoming weeks, Habakkuk has a response to God about the truth that has been revealed. This wasn’t what he was expecting to hear! God simply wanted Habbakuk to understand there was more than what we see in the present, God wants us to look beyond what we see around us and know He is already working towards the future. While the answer God have him was not what not what he expected to hear, it was God’s will and plan for a nation that had turned their back on Him. Church, what is the difference between the United States and Israel? Israel is God’s chosen people - to carry out the future plans for the end-times. The United States isn’t even seen to be a contributing factor in the end-times. Instead of us asking God to reveal to us what His plan is for the United States, it may be a better plan for us to fall on our knees and beg God to forgive our nation for turning our back on Him. You see, the only way Israel ever overcame it’s sins was to repent. Church, can I tell you today, we as a NATION need to repent and turn back to God!

Closing

What if we, as Americans, heard the words of Ezekiel 7:8 spoken to us?

Ezekiel 7:8 ESV

8 Now I will soon pour out my wrath upon you, and spend my anger against you, and judge you according to your ways, and I will punish you for all your abominations.

We can see the condition of Israel during the time of Habakkuk, and what was the one thing God wanted the nation to do? Do you think God wanted to punish His people? No! He simply wanted them to turn back and obey Him. But He knew because of sin, that it would take more to get their attention.

Maybe God is sparing us an answer to prayers because we can’t handle the answer. Maybe we have been so busy we fail to take time to “be still” and hear God. Maybe we have allowed other things in life to take place of our worship with God. Maybe God is simply waiting for us to turn back and obey Him.

Godly change within our nation does not rely on who is in positions of power. Godly change within our nation does not rely on denominations, associations, or conventions. Godly change within our nation starts with each of us, individually and intentionally seeking Him.

John 3:30 ESV

30 He must increase, but I must decrease.”

But just like Habakkuk, we need to be prepared for God’s answer to our prayers and petitions. It’s hard for us to give up control of our lives, but for God to be effective in our lives, we must decrease. Then we will not be seeking answers for the immediate needs - the problems we see right now - but will be looking for God’s plans for the future for us individually,as a nation, and as believers.