Living By Faith
HABAKKUK 2:2-20
The sermon title: ‘Learning to Live by Faith’
A. THE DIVINE ANSWER
1. The Action
a. The Command
The command: “write the vision… [2:2].
§ כְּת֣וֹב - “write” [2:2], qal imperative, ‘engrave, inscribe’;
§ חָז֔וֹן - “vision” [2:2], ‘revelation’; ‘communication from God’;
b. The Clarity
The clarity: “make it plain…” [2:2].
§ וּבָאֵ֖ר - “make it plain” [2:2], piel imperative, ‘expound’; ‘make distinct letters’;
§ הַלֻּח֑וֹת - “tables” [2:2], ‘stone tablets’; ‘boards’;
§ The letters to be used on the large white-washed stones on which the law of the Lord was to be written: “And thou shalt write upon the stones all the words of this law very plainly…” [Deu.27:8].
c. The Portable Vision
The tablets are to be easily portable: “that he may run that reads it” [2:2].
§ יָר֖וּץ - “run” [2:2], ‘dart about’; ‘swift and intense linear movement’;
§ ק֥וֹרֵא - “reads it” [2:2], ‘call, summon’; ‘read aloud’;
i. The Interpretation
To run is used of prophetic activity in Jeremiah: “I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran…” [Jer.23:21].
§ In Jeremiah, the phrase would indicate the spread of the prophetic word.
§ To “run” is also used of obedience to God’s word: “I run in the path of your commands, for you have set my heart free” [Psa.119:32].
Application
The vision is to be recorded, easily understood, and easily carried by the herald.
2. A Vision for the Future
a. The Sovereignty of God
God’s appointed time: “for the vision is yet for an appointed time…” [2:3].
§ לַמּוֹעֵ֔ד - “appointed time” [2:3], ‘designated time’; ‘season with a purpose designed by authority’;
i. God’s Promise & Appointed Time
God had set the time at which the prediction of the prophecy would come true:
§ The promise of Isaac: “Is any thing too hard for the LORD? At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son” [Gen.18:14].
§ The visions of Daniel: “Behold, I will make thee know what shall be in the last end of the indignation: for at the time appointed the end shall be” [Dan.8:19].
b. The Eschatological Focus
i. The End
The end of time: “at the end it shall speak and not lie…” [2:3].
§ לַקֵּ֖ץ - “end” [2:3], ‘finish’; ‘point of time marking the completion of duration’;
ii. The Eschatological Judgement
Later, similar phraseology was used by Daniel to refer to the time of the coming of the Messiah, when judgment would finally fall on the powers of this world and the Lord’s action against evil in all its manifestations would be made unmistakably clear:
§ The certain end: “And both these kings' hearts shall be to do mischief, and they shall speak lies at one table; but it shall not prosper: for yet the end shall be at the time appointed” [Dan.11:27].
§ The great temptation: “And some of them of understanding shall fall, to try them, and to purge, and to make them white, even to the time of the end: because it is yet for a time appointed” [Dan.11:35].
§ The future: “But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the end of the time…” [Dan.12:4].
iii. The Yearning
The vision yearns for the end: “but at the end it shall speak…” [2:3].
§ וְיָפֵ֥חַ - “speak” [2:3], hiphil imperfect, ‘to breathe out’; ‘to give witness’;
§ Although this term on occasion may mean simply “speak”, the context suggests its more vivid significance; the vision “yearns” or “pants” for the end.
§ ‘True prophecy is inspired…by an impulse to fulfil itself’ [Robertson, 170].
c. The Certainty of the Coming
i. The Certainty
The certainty of the final resolution: “though it tarry wait for it…” [2:3].
§ יִתְמַהְמָהּ֙ - “tarry” [2:3], hithpalpel imperfect, ‘to delay’; ‘to extend a period of time of any length’;
§ כִּֽי־בֹ֥א יָבֹ֖א - “surely come” [2:3], ‘to come, go’; ‘to arrive’; infinitive absolute plus qal imperfect, ‘it will certainly come’; applied to the fulfilment of prophecy: “the word of the prophet shall come to pass…” [Jer.28:9].
§ לֹ֥א יְאַחֵֽר - “not tarry” [2:3], ‘remain’; ‘to take longer’;
§ לֹ֣א יְכַזֵּ֑ב - “not lie” [2:3], ‘communicate what is not true’;
ii. The Response
The appropriate response: “though it tarry wait for it…” [2:3].
§ חַכֵּה - “wait” [2:3], piel imperative, ‘continue to be in a certain state until an expected event’;
§ A confident expectation: “I will wait upon the LORD, that hides his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him” [Isa.8:17].
§ A call to wait with patience for God to act as he sees fit: “For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, what he hath prepared for him that waits for him” [Isa.64:4].
Application
Habakkuk needed to learn to wait; God’s time is not man’s time.
§ Habakkuk was living ‘between the times’; between the promise and the fulfilment.
§ Habakkuk was to wait in faith for God to act. He was assured that judgment on evil would surely come.
3. The Problem
a. The Immediate Problem
Undoubtedly, the immediate problem that oppressed Habakkuk was the Babylonian oppression of Judah:
§ The initial problem was the oppression of the faithful remnant by the unfaithful in Judah: “spoiling and violence are before me…” [1:2].
§ The initial question was to do with the silence and apparent inactivity of God: “O Lord, how long shall I cry…” [1:2].
§ The second and ongoing problem has to do with God’s answer and the judgment to be brought by the Babylonians: “for, lo, I will raise up the Chaldean…” [1:6].
b. The Age-Long Problem
The problem posed by Babylon was only a particular instance of the age-long problem of the existence of evil and how it will be dealt with by the God of righteousness and holiness:
§
c. The Solution
i. The Immediate Solution
Judgment came on Babylon when the Persians under Cyrus captured their city at the end of October 539BC.
§ This brought relief to the exiled Judeans who were then permitted to return home and rebuild their city.
ii. The Ultimate Solution
This deliverance from the Babylonians is an anticipation of the final deliverance when the spiritual Babylon is ultimately overthrown:
§ The destruction: “Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen…” [Rev.18:2].
§ The judgment: “Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! For in one hour is your judgment come” [Rev.18:10].
§ The promise: “the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly” [Rom.16:20].
d. The Expectation
The expectation expressed in [2:14] shows that he too was looking, not only for an immediate resolution of the problem of evil, but for the ultimate solution also: “for the earth shall be filled with the knowledge…” [2:14].
§ הָאָ֔רֶץ - “earth” [2:14], ‘the surface of the earth where humankind lives’;
§ תִּמָּלֵ֣א - “filled” [2:14], niphal imperfect, ‘have a quantity of space filled with a mass or collection’;
§ לָדַ֖עַת - “knowledge” [2:14], ‘to possess information’;
§ כְּב֣וֹד - “glory” [2:14], from the basic meaning of ‘to be heavy, weighty’; ‘honour, splendour’;
Application
4. The Biblical Revelation
a. The LXX
i. The Reading
It appears that the LXX translation of this verse has modified the thrust of Habakkuk’s prophecy by focussing the vision on the coming of a person: “wait for it; it will surely come…” [2:3].
§ Al-hKex - “wait for it” [2:3], piel imperative with third masculine singular suffix, ‘continue to be in a certain state until an expected event’; the noun “vision” [2:3] is masculine singular;
§ יָבֹ֖א - “it will come” [2:3], third person masculine singular, ‘to come, go’; ‘arrive’;
§ u`po,meinon auvto,n - “it will come” [2:3],
ii. The Pre-Text Support
Support for this rendering may be seen in the dependence of Hab.2:3-4 on Gen.15:6-7].
§ Abraham’s belief in God had a very specific focus in that ancient context. He believed God respecting the promise of a “seed” [Gen.15:4-5], and so faith was reckoned as righteousness.
§ This blessing of seed finds its full meaning only in terms of a salvation or God’s people accomplished by a singular saving hero [cf.Gen.3:15; Gal.3:16].
b. New Testament
i. Hebrews
The words of Habakkuk pointed to Jesus according to the writer of Hebrews; the promise that Habakkuk’s vision will certainly be fulfilled becomes a promise of the certainty of the second coming of Christ:
§ The writer to the Hebrews underscores this explicitly messianic perspective by rendering the next phase in Habakkuk with the definite article: “the one who is coming will come and will not delay” [Heb.10:37].
§ o` evrco,menoj- “one who is coming” [10:37], definite article nominative masculine singular and participle present middle or passive, ‘to come, go’; ‘to arrive, appear’;
§ The need of the context: “you have need of patience, that, after you have done the will of God, you might receive the promise” [Heb.10:36].
§ The danger: “now the just shall live by faith; but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him” [Heb.10:38].
§ The confidence: “we are not of them who draw back to perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul” [Heb.10:39].
ii. 2Peter & Prophecy
The danger of being influenced and overcome by the innate scepticism of fallen human nature:
§ The scepticism: “where is the promise of his coming? For since the father’s fell asleep…” [2Pet.3:4].
§ The unexpectedness: “the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night…” [2Pet.3:10].
§ Against this scepticism must be set the promise of Jesus: “and will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly” [Luk.18:7-8].
Application
By viewing Habakkuk’s prophecy in this way, the writer to the Hebrews has not interjected an element foreign to the prophecy, even though he does make personal that which originally was stated in an impersonal way.
§ God had told Habakkuk that if the vision should tarry, he must wait patiently.
§ Now, in a new covenant context, the same admonition applies to those who suffer, not seeing the promises of God realised immediately for them. They too have need of patience [Heb.10:36].
B. THE ATITUDE OF THE OPPRESSOR
1. The Oppressor
Two opposed attitudes to God and his promises are set in contrast.
a. Self-Exaltation
The self-exaltation of the oppresors: “Behold, his soul which is lifted up…” [2:4].
§ נַפְשׁ֖וֹ - “soul” [2:4], ‘the inward self’;
§ עֻפְּלָ֔ה - “lifted up” [2:4], ‘to be inflated’; ‘be puffed up’; ‘to swell’; ‘a state of false pride, haughtiness, arrogance’;
§ Presumption: “But they presumed to go up unto the hill top: nevertheless the ark of the covenant of the LORD…” [Num.14:44].
§ The term is related to the word for tumours with which the Philistines were afflicted: “he smote the men of the city, both small and great, and they had emerods in their secret parts” [1Sma.5:9].
b. Lack of Uprightness
The lack of integrity of the oppressors: “not upright in him…” [2:4].
§ לֹא־יָשְׁרָ֥ה - “not upright” [2:4], ‘to go straight or direct in the way’; ‘do right, be upright, i.e., be just and in a right state or association to a compelling standard, as a figurative extension of a straight object not twisted or crooked’;
§ The probable sense: ‘it is he whose soul is not upright within him that is inflated’;
i. Interpretation of the Term
While the Akk. vb. eseru occasionally expresses the literal sense of “(cause) to go straight,” it usually is used in a figurative, more precisely, an ethical sense, meaning to be/keep in order, to be/make successful, to be righteous/upright, to act rightly, to do justice (AHw, 254; CAD 4:352-63; cf. TDOT 6:464).
§ The adjs. isaru lisartu alludes to that which is in order, i.e., “right” in the sense of just and fair, and “normal” in the sense of “regular” (AHw, 392; CAD 7:224; TDOT 6:464).
§ The nominative mî/esaru(m) means justice, equity, righteousness—hence the norm according to which gods, kings, and humankind should conduct their affairs (AHw, 659; CAD 10/2:117-18).
§ According to Bottéro (1987, 221) kittu (truth, righteousness, stability) expresses the objective and firm norm to which actions (even laws) should conform; mesaru, on the other hand, indicates the adherence to this norm in terms of attitudes and actions that are equitable and just. It characterizes the integrity of an upright person and the fairness of the decisions of a just king, e.g., the laws of Hammurabi are described as dinat mesarim, just laws.
ii. God’s Standard
The idea of “upright” characterises conduct that is in accord with the requirements of God: “If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight…” [Exo.15:26].
§ Actions that are pleasing to God: “And Balak said unto Balaam, Come, I pray thee, I will bring thee unto another place; peradventure it will please God that thou mayest curse me them from thence” [Num.23:27].
§ Behaviour that conforms: “And thou shalt do that which is right and good in the sight of the LORD: that it may be well with thee…” [Deu.6:18].
§ God has given man the ability to recognise the divine law: “Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions” [Ecc.7:29].
§ In contrast to the qyDIx', righteous (H7404), who will live by his faith [Hab.2:4], it is said of the reckless that his desires (literary, ‘soul’) are not upright (hr:v]y:), as is illustrated by his greed, arrogance, and unjust gain (TDOT 6:470-71).
c. The Septuagint
The Septuagint renders differently: “if he draws back, my soul is not well-pleased with him” [Hab.2:4].
§ u`postei,lhtai- “draws back” [2:4], subjunctive aorist middle, ‘a conscious retreating from a position’; ‘withdraw’;
§ ouvk euvdokei/ h` yuch, mou evn auvtw/- “my soul” [2:4], ‘to take pleasure or delight in’;
i. Hebrews
These words applied in Hebrews 10:38-39 to those who give up their patience and faith because the promise is so long being fulfilled:
§ As a result, they incur eternal ruin: “but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. But we are not of them that draw back to perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul” [Heb.10:38-39].
Application
2. A Further Description
The divine declaration reverts back to the arrogant.
a. The Wine Drinker
The oppressor drinks wine excessively: : “yea also, because he transgresses by wine…” [2:5].
§ בּוֹגֵ֔ד - “transgresses” [2:5], qal participle, ‘be unfaithful’; ‘commit adultery’;
§ כִּֽי־הַיַּ֣יִן - “wine” [2:5], ‘fermented grape juice’; ‘drunkenness’;
§ The fact that the Babylonians indulged in wine is well-documented in the ancient writers and can be evidenced in the scene from Belshazzar’s court [Dan.5].
b. The Arrogant
The oppressor is arrogant: “he is a proud man…” [2:5].
§ יָהִ֖יר - “proud” [2:5], ‘arrogant’; ‘proud and high-minded’;
§ The only other occurrence denotes the one who swaggers and boast: “The proud and arrogant man-- "Mocker" is his name; he behaves with overweening pride” [Pro.21:24].
c. The Insatiable Appetite
The oppressor’s desire is insatiable: “who enlarges his desire as hell…” [2:5].
§ לֹ֣א יִנְוֶ֑ה - “keeps” [2:5], ‘to rest, abide’;
§ הִרְחִ֨יב - “enlarges” [2:5], hiphil perfect, ‘be wide’; ‘make large’;
§ נַפְשׁ֗וֹ - “his desire” [2:5], ‘inner self’;
§ כִּשְׁא֜וֹל - “as hell” [2:5], ‘sheol, Hades, grave’;
§ כַמָּ֙וֶת - “death” [2:5], ‘physical dying of the body’;
§ לֹ֣א יִשְׂבָּ֔ע - “cannot be satisfied” [2:5], ‘to have one’s fill’; ‘to be in a state of physical contentment’;
§ The grave is depicted as swallowing up every living thing and never having enough: “Hell and destruction are never full; so the eyes of man are never satisfied” [Pro.27:20].
d. Desire for Worldwide Dominion
The oppressor longs for worldwide dominion: וַיֶּאֱסֹ֤ף - “gathers” [2:5], ‘collection of mass to one place’;
§ כָּל־הַגּוֹיִ֔ם - “all nations” [2:5],
§ יִּקְבֹּ֥ץ - “heaps unto him” [2:5], ‘to assemble’;
§ כָּל־הָעַמִּֽים - “all people” [2:5],
Application
C. THE ATTITUDE OF THE FAITFHUL REMNANT
1. The Righteousness
The faithful remnant: “but the just…” [2:4].
§ וְצַדִּ֖יק - “just” [2:4], ‘just’; ‘righteous’; ‘conformity to a standard’;
§ In the case of Israel, the ‘norm’ or ‘standard’ is the terms of the covenant relationship with God.
§ The “righteous” are those who in heart and conduct are in true covenant relationship with God and what he requires.
a. A Judicial Standing
Questions of right and wrong were habitually regarded from a legal point of view as matter to be settled by a judge: “if there be a controversy between men, and they come unto judgement, that the judges may judge them; then they shall justify the righteous and condemn the wicked” [Deu.25:1].
§ The term “righteousness” ‘takes its origin in the forensic sphere, and makes its home in the law of God’ [Robertson, 176].
§ The Just God: “Wilt thou also disannul my judgment? Wilt thou condemn me, that thou mayest be righteous? [Job.40:8].
§ The righteous is not to be put to death: “Keep thee far from a false matter; and the innocent and righteous slay thou not: for I will not justify the wicked” [Exo.23:27].
§ The Just judgement: “the Lord looked down from heaven upon the children of men…there is none that does good, no, not one” [Psa.14:1-3].
b. The Faithful Remnant
The justified of Habakkuk 2:4 are the ‘justified by faith’:
§ The echo of the pretext: “Abram believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness” [Gen.15:6].
i. The Promise of God
There is no thought that this “righteousness” has come about by intrinsic merit or achievement on their part. It is the result of divine intervention and renewal: “I will put my Spirit within you and move you to follow my decrees…” [Eze.37:27].
§ God’s righteousness is his salvation: “my righteousness shall be forever, and my salvation from generation to generation” [Isa.51:8].
§ It is in this divinely appointed righteousness that Zion is ultimately established: “in righteousness shalt thou be established…” [Isa.54:14], and all the Lord’s people are counted righteous: “thy people also shall be all righteous…” [Isa.60:21].
§ It is achieved through the work of the Lord’s Righteous Servant: “by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many” [Isa.53:11].
c. The New Testament
Habakkuk taught us that when judgment comes the just shall live by his faith. And when that seed comes to full flower in the New Testament, we see that the reason the just live by faith is that the just are justified by faith [Piper].
ii. Justification by Faith
Paul uses these words as the basis of the New Testament doctrine of justification by faith:
§ Introduction to the Romans: “for therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, the just shall live by faith” [Rom.1:17].
§ The message to the Galatians: “but that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, the just shall live by faith” [Gal.3:11].
iii. The Basis
The heart of the gospel is that the righteousness which God requires comes by faith, and it is possible for us sinners to have it because Christ died for our sins.
§ The redemption: “They are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as an expiation by his blood, to be received by faith” [Rom.3:24f.].
§ Faith: “Having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1).
§ The righteousness of Christ: “this righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe” [Rom.3:22].
Application
Paul takes their meaning to be ‘the one who is righteous by faith will live’, and in Galatians 3:11 and Romans 1:17 he cites them as basic text for the gospel of justification by faith, illustrating them by the example of Abraham who “believed the Lord, and the Lord reckoned it to him as righteousness” [Gal.3:6; Rom.4:3].
§ The faith that is reckoned to believers as righteousness, according to Paul, is “faith in Jesus Christ” [Gal.2:16; Rom.3:22, 26], because he is the one in whom God has brought saving grace near to them.
2. The Life of the Righteous
a. The Life
The life of the righteous: “the just shall live…” [2:4].
§ יִחְיֶֽה - “live” [2:4], qal imperfect, ‘to be alive’;
§ To “live” [2:4] means more than physical survival! Life in scripture involves enjoying the full blessing of a covenant relationship with God: “All the commandments which I command thee this day shall ye observe to do, that ye may live, and multiply, and go in and possess the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers” [Deu.8:1].
§ This “life” [2:4] is enjoyed through obedience to God’s command: “In that I command thee this day to love the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the LORD thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it” [Deu.30:16].
b. The Faithfulness / Steadfast Trust
The faithful life of the righteous: “but the just shall live by his faith” [2:4].
§ בֶּאֱמוּנָת֥וֹ - “by his faith” [2:4], with third masculine singular suffix, the basic root is ‘firmness, certainty, durability’; ‘faithfulness, steadfastness, trustworthiness’;
§ God is trustworthy: “He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he” [Deu.32:4].
§ It is also applied to man and his steadfastness: “But thou shalt say unto them, This is a nation that obeys not the voice of the LORD their God, nor receives correction: truth is perished, and is cut off from their mouth” [Jer.7:28].
§ Having been brought into a right relationship with God, the righteous then serve him: “then shall you return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serves God and him that serves him not” [Mal.3:18].
c. The New Testament
The writer to the Hebrews is concerned to stress the importance of persevering in faith: “now the just shall live by faith; but if any man draws back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him” [Heb.10:38].
§ The catalogue of the faithful in the following chapter is used to encourage steadfastness and trust in difficulty: “By faith, Abel offered unto God…” [Heb.11:4ff].
§ A life of faithfulness to God is the evidence of genuine faith: “for in Jesus Christ neither circumcision avails any thing, nor uncircumcision, but faith which works by love” [Gal.5:6].
§ Steadfastness in faith is a grace that produces good works and must not be confused with the good works it produces.
i. Paul & Romans
In Romans, ‘faith serves as the origin of righteousness in justification, and as the framework for the continuation of righteousness in sanctification.
§ The apostle then develops this twofold role of faith as originally presented in Hab.2:4, dealing with the faith that receives the gift of justification if Romans 1-5, and the faith that receives the gift of sanctification in Romans 6-8.
§ Thus Paul offers a well-balanced gospel in his development of his theme that ‘the justified by faith shall live by his steadfast trust’.
ii. Habakkuk & The New Testament
Habakkuk, it is argued, is rather focussing on the human characteristic of ongoing reliance on God’s promise, and emphasising that there is no answer that can be given to the problem of evil but the faith that waits for divine intervention and anticipates the final resolution of the tension that God will ultimately achieve.
§ While אֱמוּנָת֥וֹ includes both faithfulness and faith, the quality emphasized in this context is that patient and confident waiting upon God to act, which is called for in the application of the text in Hebrews 10:36-39.
§ The alleged discrepancy between faith and faithfulness is not as substantial as it may appear at first sight. Both look to the active intervention of God to restore what was lost by mankind in the fall.
§ Paul is not contradicting Habakkuk, but focussing on the presupposition that is integral to the trust to which he refers. Scripture does not know of a true faith that is without subsequent faithfulness; or of a true faithfulness that is not the product of genuine faith.
§ Both look outwith man to God as the sole resolver of the human predicament, and both involve surrender to his requirements and his way from beginning to end.
§ Faithfulness, that is, constancy throughout the varied circumstances of life, is inextricably liked with faith, that is, an ongoing reliance upon God and his provision. [Mackay, 203].
Application
The righteous exercise faith by putting their trust in God and his covenant promises.
§ It is of this that Habakkuk and the faithful had to be reminded so that they would be able to persevere in the difficult time they were in.
§ The imperfect tense of “live” [2:4] points to ‘habitual actions’, ‘actions in progress’; continuation in trust alone can assure continued possession of the gift of life.
§ As in the Pentateuch, obedience is set forth as the way of life [Lev.18:5; Deu.30:6], so here אֱמוּנָת֥וֹ toward God is the righteous person’s life.
§ ‘The righteous person is the one who maintains loyalty to God in spite of all discouragements and continues to trust in him even when the outlook is most unpromising’.
§ In Hebrews 10:38 the words are applied to those who steadfastly look for the coming of Christ, when their faith will win them eternal life.
Habakkuk was not to wait with folded hands and bated breath for this to happen. He was to live a life of faithfulness. The summons is from speculation to action, from questioning to conduct, from brooding to duty.
This whole attitude and way of living is in direct contrast to that of the “arrogant” [2:5].