Covenantal Confusion: Habakkuk 1:1-2:5

Movement 1: Ponder how God’s Prophet is perturbed: 1:1-4

· Habakkuk is upset: 1

Habakkuk, a contemporary of the prophet Jeremiah, is upset. As a prophet, he begins a dialogue with His God. He is upset about waiting for justice. He is upset with all of the injustice that he is witnessing. Habakkuk likely ministered during the time of Jehoiakim’s reign over Judah. He followed his father Josiah, who was one of the better kings of Judah, and his brother Jehoahaz. Jehoiakim was a terrible king. He did evil in God’s sight (2 Kings 23:37). He alone killed one of God’s prophets (Jeremiah 26:20-23). He was arrogant and an oppressor of the poor and innocent (Jeremiah 22:13-19). He rejected God’s Law and led his people to do likewise (Jeremiah 36:21-26; 26:7-19).

Habakkuk asks, “O LORD, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not hear? Or cry to you ‘Violence!’ and you will not save?” (1:2). He sees iniquity and violence. He sees the law disregarded, and justice never comes. He wonders why God stands back and allows all this to continue. In the back of the prophet’s mind must be curses promised in Deuteronomy 28:15-68. Israel and her king had breached God’s covenant through idolatry and injustices; Habakkuk now wondered why the curses had not come. Habakkuk had apparently never heard the saying, “Be careful what you wish for.”

· Applications:

o It is godly to be angry over injustice

o America isn’t the right parallel for Israel in this context. God’s people in the Old Testament was an ethno-national entity. Israel has found its fulfillment in Jesus and His Church. The Church is transnational. The injustice spoken of here is injustice amongst God’s people. What are some injustices within the church?

§ Ignorance: Christians don’t know what God has said.

§ Negligence: Christians neglect to know or do what God has said.

§ Apathy: Christians don’t care about what God has said.

§ Rebellion: Christians actively reject and rebel against what God has said.

Movement 2: Ponder how God’s Answer is perplexing: 1:5-11

· God is doing an unbelievable work: 1:5

God replies by saying that He is about to do something unbelievable. He is going to use the relatively unknown empire Babylon to judge his people. Egypt and Assyria are the superpowers of the ancient near east at this point in history. However, the virtually nonexistent Babylon would rise and dominate both. Who could have predicted it? God. They were a bitter, terrifying, powerful, violent, cruel, and idolatrous nation. In all their terrible might, they were sent by God to enact justice on Judah. Habakkuk has gotten an answer to his complaint. God’s justice was coming. Would he like the answer?

· God is bringing judgement to his people with Babylon: 1:6-11

o They are bitter: 6

o They are terrifying: 7

o They are powerful: 8

o They are violent: 9

o They are cruel: 10

o They are idolatrous: 11

· Application:

o God disciplines his people: Revelation 1-3

o God’s ways are mysterious

§ Babylon

§ Assyria

§ The nations in Judges

o Grace often comes through judgement

Movement 3: Ponder how God’s Prophet is puzzled: 1:12-2:1

· Habakkuk is puzzled because of what he understands about God: 1:12-13

· Habakkuk is puzzled because of God’s instrument of Judgement: 1:14-17

o They are cruel: 15

o They are idolatrous: 16

o They are unabating: 17

· Habakkuk expects that God will answer him: 2:1

Before voicing his concerns about God’s chosen instruments, Habakkuk appeals to God’s character. He is eternally faithful. Thus His people shall remain. He is sovereign, so He appoints the Babylonians as a tool to judge His wayward people. He is just and pure. These attributes of God provoke a question: 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?” In other words, how could God use a less righteous people like the Babylonians to judge a more righteous people like Judah? At its worst, Judah is still better than Babylon in Habakkuk’s eyes.

Habakkuk then describes the evil of the Babylonians, summarizing what God Himself has said about them. They are cruel and idolatrous. They took over the Assyrian practice of piercing the bottom lips of their captors with a hook and stringing them together. If not that, then they drug them in nets. Worse yet, they rejoice and gloat over the whole spectacle. On top of the cruelty, they sacrifice to their own power and dominance.

All this wickedness, and they are allowed to live in luxury and eat plenty. Indeed, it seems there is no end to their wickedness and plundering. Habakkuk wonders how long they will go on in this way. Will God allow the wicked to live while they kill, capture, and mock His people? Habakkuk readies himself to receive the LORD’s answer and possibly rebuke. He waits and prepares his own reply. He had asked God a question. God answered him. He then complained about God’s answer. He likely expects a swift rebuke. Instead, God in grace and mercy humors his troubled prophet.

· Application:

o Take your concerns about the world and the church to God in prayer

o Find answers to your concerns in His word

o Accept his answers even when you don’t like them

Movement 4: Ponder how God’s Answer is persevere: 2:2-5

· God tells Habakkuk to write and wait: 2:2-3

· God tells Habakkuk that the unrighteous trust in himself the righteous trust in God: 2:4

God tells Habakkuk to wait and write the vision down that God has given him. He must make it clear and plain, so those who read it will understand. Much like the ten commandments coming from the finger of God (Exodus 31:18; 32:15-16), Habakkuk is to produce a written record of what God has showed him. The vision itself will not come to fruition for some time. Verse 4 itself summarizes the vision that is filled out in the remainder of chapter 2. Babylon will not be allowed to be a terror of the nations forever. Their pride will lead to their own destruction.

Moreover, the people of God, who have been justified by faith (Genesis 15:6), shall live by that same faith. The faith that justifies the sinner initially continues, and sanctification and life come through it. In a word, faith in Christ is the foundation for justification and the power of sanctification (See Romans 1-5 and Galatians 3:11 for faith justification and Romans 6-8 and Hebrews 10:37-38 and 11 for faith and sanctification). The wicked man who trusts in himself shall die. The justified man who trusts in God shall live. The way life is received initially is the way by which it is received continually, namely by faith.

However, the Babylonians who are drunk on their own arrogance, whose greed is more demanding than drunkard's need for more drink, continue to seek power and glory in wickedness. As we will see next week, their arrogance will lead to devastation, much like the drunkenness of the drunkard.

· God tells Habakkuk that Babylon’s role is temporary: 2:5

· Application:

o God is at work even when we don’t understand it

o God expects that we trust him to work out the details

o Trust God even when you don’t understand everything