Habakuk 1-2

Introduction-

My goal is to unpack portions of these passages for your benefit and ultimately for God’s pleasure and glory in your life.

Stand Firm On The Truth Of Scripture- the Gospel (Habakkuk 1:1-4)

Habakkuk 1:1–4 (ESV)

“The oracle that Habakkuk the prophet saw. 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.”

Not only is the morality of the world in decline, but in many churches, denominations, and Christian traditions truth and justice are being perverted.

Not just in word, but in deed. The law is paralyzed and justice is perverted when the people of God live contradictory to Scripture.

If you have faith in Christ, you are called to be faithful to Christ (Habakkuk 2:4)

Habakkuk 2:4 (ESV)

4 “Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him, but the righteous shall live by his faith.

Contrast between the Chaldeans/ Babylonians and faithful Israel.

We are saved by faith, to live according to our faith. Meaning that we are to be faithful to God’s Word and not our sinful fleshly desires.

Galatians 2:20

“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

Sins…

In the midst of moral decline and even devastation those who belong to the Lord by faith in Christ live according to their faith. You can trust God (Habakkuk 2:14)

Habakkuk 2:14 (ESV)

14 For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.

Things on earth will not always be this way. There is a coming day where the entire earth will be filled with God’s glory. Meaning no more sin and lawlessness, instead there will be peace. Isaiah pointed to this coming through Christ- the root of Jesse.

Isaiah 11:9–10 (ESV)

9 They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. 10 In that day the root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal for the peoples—of him shall the nations inquire, and his resting place shall be glorious.

Like Habakkuk says there is an appointed time for everything that God does. God is sovereign, and He has purposed and planned out what is unfolding in Habakkuk’s day and in our day. We can trust God. Christ has come, we have the deposit of the Holy Spirit as the guarantee of our salvation and our future inheritance. So, the situation you are facing and struggling with- you can trust God. The hurt you are praying for healing from- you can trust God. The future you are wrestling and confused over- you can trust God. The discouraging decline of our culture- you can trust God. Christ has come, and Christ will come again!

God is actively working in your life and in the world (Habakkuk 2:20)

Habakkuk 2:20 (ESV)

20 But the Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him.”

This goes back to Habakkuk’s prayer at the beginning- wondering when the Lord will act. God’s response to our prayer and to our world is not because He can’t see or doesn’t know what is happening.

Psalm 11:4 (ESV)

4 The Lord is in his holy temple; the Lord’s throne is in heaven; his eyes see, his eyelids test the children of man.

Micah 1:2 (ESV)

2 Hear, you peoples, all of you; pay attention, O earth, and all that is in it, and let the Lord God be a witness against you, the Lord from his holy temple.

You can probably identify with Habakkuk in his prayer to the Lord. “O Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not hear?”

With all of your questions and doubts, you should bring them to God. He hears them, and He is not silent. Garth Brooks influenced my generation with the idea that God doesn’t answer prayers- and that an unanswered prayer is a gift… Habakkuk tells us something better and true- God answers, but he does so in his appointed time. Your prayers are not ignored, your prayers are not failing. God is faithful to His purpose and His promise. He is working for your good even in the hard and discouraging circumstance and events. Unlike the idols of Babylonians or the Assyrians who came before that- God is no silent- He speaks, He see’s all, and He is active. Like Frances Schaeffer said God is there and He is not silent.

Come to God and listen through His revelation, the Bible. Come and learn of who He is and how HE works. Come learn of his purposes and His promises.

Stand Firm on the truth of Scripture without compromise

Life faithful to God by believing what He has said

Remember that you can trust Him.