From Oppression to Submission

You know what, guys, I’m tired. I’ve been here only a few short weeks, and it’s got to me. I’ve got a job I love, but its appetite is insatiable; there is always more to be done, and it seems as if it’s taking from me just about all I have to give. My family, God bless them, I love them, but they also have expectations of me, making demands of me as soon as I walk in the door after a long day at the office.

Where is the rest, the reprieve, where’s the Justice? The problem is when I feel entitled to something; treatment, status, privilege, control, or ownership, it’s because I’ve put myself on the judgment seat—I become self-righteous. This is really a great segway as we head into the Ecclesiastes series next week, a guy who had and experienced everything, but what really separates privilege from entitlement—is gratitude. We’ve really got an unending list of reasons to be upset, to be angry, and filled with a sense of entitlement. A question that is, perhaps, more helpful—more faithful, and the only real hope we have for hope itself, is, how many reasons do we need to be grateful? That’s a question, I think, that Habakkuk struggled with too, and as we wrap up the series, I think it’s pertinent to take a look back; what’s the big idea trying to be communicated here?

Habakkuk is somewhat unique amongst other prophetic works in that it isn’t a proper prophesy, no oracle address, containing, instead, a dialogue between the prophet and God. Like the book of Jonah, Habakkuk presents an account of a conflict between the Lord and his prophet. In the first two chapters, Habakkuk argues with God over how he views God’s ways, appearing unfathomable if not unjust.

Habakkuk’s first complaint (1:2–4): why does the evil in Judah go unpunished? God answers (1:5–11): the Babylonians will punish Judah.

This leads to Habakkuk’s second complaint (1:12—2:1): how can a just God use wicked Babylonia to punish a people more righteous than themselves? To which God’s answer (2:2–20): Babylonia will be punished, and faith will be rewarded.

Habakkuk is kind of the Jeremiah of the South, but instead of the weeping prophet, you’ve got a proper southerner. He calls out God! So, at this point in history, Israel, the northern kingdom, has been taken into exile.

Habakkuk, like Obadiah and Nahum, is now prophesizing the same thing to Judah, the kingdom to the south and the area in which Jerusalem resides.

Having received replies in a way not unlike Job, Habakkuk responds with a beautiful confession of faith, which we see in chapter 3.

v2: Lord, I have heard the report about you; Lord, I stand in awe of your deeds.

Revive your work in these years; make it known in these years.

After asking for manifestations of God’s wrath and mercy, as Israel has experienced in the past, he concedes with a confession of trust and joy in God.

Also, in your wrath, he says, in v2, remember mercy!

You might even notice this third chapter punctuated with “Selah,” a musical interlude, indicating this is worship. To the unbelieving ear, what an odd thing to celebrate, to sing about, am I right?

Three characteristics are celebrated in the songs, a retelling of God’s relationship with His people, from the exodus to their deliverance. I don’t think it’s manipulative either. He isn’t trying to ease God’s hand but to convince himself and encourage others with the reminder of who their God is.

In the first song, vv3-9,Habakkuk recounts the effects of God’s powerful activity. The plagues that visited their enemies in the presence of Israel’s delivering God, the violent shakings of the earth, so much so that the mountains tumbled downward. This highlights God’s tangible, visible, unmistakable miraculous workings; and shows God as sovereign over creation.

The second song, found in vv9-13, describes God’s victories, highlighting his dominion over natural forces and use of celestial weapons. The crossing of the Red Sea, the crossing of the Jordan, the triumph of Elijah over the 450 prophets of Baal, and God’s response to Joshua’s prayer that the sun stop in the sky, lengthening the day his warriors would drive the Canaanites from Gibeon while God “hurled huge hailstones from heaven.”

In the third song, vv13-15, God is portrayed as Israel’s Almighty Deliverer. Focusing on the redemptive actions of God to his people, He is seen moving in great fury against the enemy, defeating them, disarming them, and sometimes, as in v14, destroying them with their own weapons. The poetic imagery recounts what God said he’d do but also lines up with what God has done throughout history.

I mentioned I’ve been busy, burnt out, overworked, and underpaid. Can anyone resonate with that? Well, I came home the other night, and of course, I had this sermon to write. I’m frustrated because I don’t have an illustration, some way to relate the point of the passage to daily life with insight, or application, to have a point. And, of course, when I sit down to study, work and parse, I hear crying.

Come to find out, my children had misbehaved, the culmination of quite a bit of misbehaving actually, and earned themselves an early bedtime. While they were upset, my wife had exhausted herself reasoning with them, saying this is one night, so on and so forth; they just kept on crying.

Realizing this wasn’t working, I came in; though frustrated, I sat down beside them and told them both, “I love you. This is the repercussion, you earned it, but even in your punishment, you’re my buddies.” As I left them in their beds, their tears dried up. All the reasoning in the world wasn’t going to change how they felt, but their trust in me did. You see, that’s what happened to Habakkuk through chapters one and two; he let out his frustration. And God didn’t smite him. He knows our hearts and desires a relationship. When you’re mad at someone, it’s certainly not because you’re indifferent; it’s because of your love for that person that you allow your emotions to be so shaken. And God isn’t some child whose ego drives his response. He responded lovingly and patiently, “I love you. This is the repercussion, you earned it, but even in your punishment, you are my children.”

Understanding how God works is not our job. Trusting Him is.

Thinking about what had taken place reminded me of Habakkuk’s trust. My stress over preaching began to dwindle as I realized, like Habakkuk, I wasn’t convincing God of his faithfulness but reminding myself, recounting his past faithfulness. The list of reasons to be upset will never end, but you only really need one reason to be grateful.

The takeaway is more about what happens within us, our gratefulness, experiencing God’s peace and joy, versus bitterness when we grow from a faith of perplexity and doubt to the height of absolute trust in God our Father.

You may be more familiar with Habakkuk’s northern contemporary, Jeremiah. This was the same occasion about which the infamous, often memorized verse 29:11 addresses; “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.””

Now that verse has a context, but it’s also true today. It’s not simply descriptive of a certain time and place; it’s prescriptive, true of the loving relationship our God has with his children, the relationship through which he chose to reveal himself to us. And he does it time and time again.

Jesus highlights this in his ministry. In the Parable of the Prodigal Son, the younger son asks for his inheritance and departs from his father’s house. The elder son remains at home, yet he does not walk in perfect harmony with his father; anger and bitterness settle within him.

When his brother comes home, the firstborn struggles to rejoice. The Southern Kingdom of Judah is like the firstborn, who is obedient, never abandoning the father. The kingship rested with him. Judah carried the lineage of the great kings David and Solomon. Judah remained closer to the Lord and His ways, even though their hearts were far from Him; thus, the Northern Kingdom of Israel is like the younger son. Jeremiah tells us in great detail that neither Israel nor Judah were perfect. Both had evil in their hearts. But Israel went out first and “sowed their wild oats,” choosing other gods and foreigners. Sounds, to me, a lot like the younger son who committed many sins in a foreign land.

In his parable, Jesus instructs those who would listen not to be angry, bitter, or slow to forgive when their brother returns from sin. Instead, that they prepare their hearts to receive their brothers with gladness, thanksgiving, and joy!

In our Scripture today, the prophet Habakkuk finds his reason to find joy. For us, today, the death of Jesus on the cross created a way for those outside of the House of Israel to be brought back into a relationship with the Father. God wants the prodigal child to return, to come back home. Just like the best robe and the signet ring that the father gives to his son in the parable, the death of Jesus clothes us in righteousness and makes us sons.

In the New Testament, Paul quotes Habakkuk twice, first in Romans 1:17 and then again in Galatians 3:11, both emphasizing the importance of living by faith and being able to say, “yetI will rejoice in the Lord.” Paul learned from Habakkuk that Peace and joy don’t come from circumstance but from God.

You would think that the ability to choose is a good thing, right? It makes us captain over our own destiny, fills our need for self-sufficiency, and expresses our independence to the world. You might assume that the more choices we have, the better the options we have, resulting in greater satisfaction; getting exactly what we want is the secret to happiness! But that’s not what’s happened. As it turns out, we’ve found that as our options have continued to increase, our everyday decisions becoming more complex and overwhelming, from buying a home, to choosing a career, a health plan, and a partner, to the mundane choices of deciding which of the 82 shades of white to paint your living room.

It seems as if, through behavioral studies, researchers have confirmed that being overwhelmed with choice is actually harmful to psychological, biological, and emotional well-being. It’s a source of regret, depression, and anxiety over missed opportunities, and it plants unrealistically high expectations within us, depleting our mental energy and reducing our willpower and efficiency.

Look, I’m not saying you should be happy in every situation you find yourself in, don’t hear that.

What I am saying is that if you haven’t found joy, changing your situation won’t give it to you. Because at some point, choice goes from being accommodating and liberating to intimidating and debilitating. Trust isn’t about control; in Habakkuk’s situation, control was the enemy of trust. He didn’t find joy until he relinquished the control that had led Judah to where they were in the first place.

The ‘ifs’ and ‘whens’ may happen, but there will always be reasons to be discontent. This is why we can’t base our joy on the circumstances that surround our lives; joy is completely independent of our circumstances, whether they be good or bad. Are you able to rejoice in the Lord no matter the circumstance? If you have His peace and His joy, you are!

Habakkuk’s closing words are vastly different than his opening ones. In contrast to his harsh questions and accusations, the prophet now surrenders to God’s purposes for Israel and the nations. Habakkuk learned that understanding how God works was not his job— but trusting him was. We, too, can rejoice, no matter the circumstances; we can trust, no matter the outcome; we are complete in Jesus alone and in His steadfast love and faithfulness. We, too, can say, “yet I will rejoice in the Lord.”

God didn’t negate repercussions, remove punishment, or even prevent future wrongdoing, but he equips us to endure it with trust that we are loved.

In closing today, I ask that we each take a moment to consider where God is asking for trust in our lives. This may be hard, so I’ll reword it a little; what in our lives gives us unrest or discontent? Remembering that Joy doesn’t come from circumstance, how many reasons stand between you and gratefulness this morning? Because even when things seem chaotic, God is still in control; even when things get tough, God wants what’s best for us. You only need one reason to be grateful, and that is Christ crucified.