Habakkuk 1-2

Habakkuk’s Hang-upsThe Scroll of the Twelve

January 27, 2013

Have you ever struggled?

• Struggled to trust God in light of national circumstances?

• Struggled to trust God in light of personal struggles and circumstances?

• Struggled to reconcile what the Bible says about God’s character and nature with what He is doing/allowing to happen in the world?

• Habakkuk is writing for you and I.

Meet Habakkuk

• Little is known of Habakkuk personally

• He was a pre-exilic prophet from Judah

• Probably writing between 609-605 BC

• Habakkuk has a conversation with God

• Jonah failed to sympathize with God

• Habakkuk couldn’t understand what God is doing

• Habakkuk is a man, in the context of Israel, who struggles to reconcile what he sees in the world with what he knows of God

• God has a conversation with Habakkuk.

Signs of the Times

• “oracle” – lit. a burden

• Habakkuk opens up right away: “How long, O LORD, will I call for help, And You will not hear?”

• He then describes the times in which he was living:

• Violence, iniquity, wickedness, destruction, strife, contention

• All systems had failed: the law ignored, justice never upheld/perverted

• Ever been here?

God Responds (1:5-11)

• The God of the Universe responds

• “Look! Observe! Be astonished! Wonder!”

• God tells Habakkuk that He is doing something He would NEVER believe, if God weren’t to tell him

• God responds to Habakkuk’s question

• He is raising up the Chaldeans (Neo-Babylonians) to discipline Israel

• fierce, impetuous, greedy, dreaded, set their own standards

• They are violent, take captives like a man scoops up sand

• “Their strength is their god”

• They will be held accountable

A Whole New Problem (1:12-17)

• Did you ever ask a question, even the right question, and not get the answer you had hoped for?

• He wanted God to intercede in a painless way.

• This was worse than he had hoped.

• Habakkuk responds with what he knows of God’s Character

• Do you know God? Know what He is like?

• “from everlasting” – eternal

• Holy – “righteous, completely other”

A Whole New Problem (1:12-17)

• “You cannot look upon or approve evil!”

• Habakkuk is shocked, outraged! “Why would you use them?!”

• Habakkuk sees the sin of Israel, and knows it is awful, but the Chaldeans were much worse! How does that work?!

• Their actions are despicable, they destroy, kill, steal, pervert justice.

• Worst of all, they worship themselves and their own power

• How can you bless them by letting them have your way?

Habakkuk at the Guard Post

• Habakkuk 2:1 completes Habakkuk’s second set of questions

• He likens himself to a watchman, vigilantly awaiting God’s answer to his question

• “reproved” could be translated “answered” or “response”

• Note the way in which Habakkuk deals with his confusion

• He takes it to the Lord.

The Lord Answers Again

• The Lord tells Habakkuk that His answer to the questions is to go out to everyone.

• The Lord tells Habakkuk, and all of the righteous to wait

• “Wait” is an answer that we often dislike

• Things are going to get worse…

• Habakkuk 2:4• In light of the

difficult times ahead God tells Israel that the “the just will live by faith.”

• Galatians 3:11

The Indictment

• If Habakkuk 2 doesn’t make us uncomfortable about the society in which we live we simply are not paying attention

• Greed, lust of every kind, never satisfied

• Habakkuk 2:6-7• Woe to the nation

that makes itself “rich” with borrowed money

• With consumer, corporate and national debt at all time highs, this is a terrifying reality.

Violence

• Violence is mentioned six times in this short 3 chapter book

• The Chaldeans, like the Assyrians were a culture that glorified violence in every form

• A culture that is in love with violence will reap only destruction and the judgment of God

• The worship of strength and power

• Are we uncomfortable yet?

A Beautiful Prophecy

• Habakkuk 2:14 is a treasure nestled within the wasteland of human sin

• We look forward to the time when the knowledge of God will fill the whole earth

• This is looking forward to the Millennial Kingdom

• Far from the delusions that we will “fix” the world, we wait upon the Lord to do His will and complete His plan

Drunkenness and Idolatry

• Humanity regularly abuses alcohol to achieve its ends of selfishness and perversion

• In all dispensations, at all times, this behavior is abhorrent to the Lord

• The Lord’s final indictment upon the Chaldeans is their rampant idolatry

• An idol is anything that usurps God’s rightful place in our cultures, thoughts and consciousness

• They are empty.

The Point

• Habakkuk 2:20 is a fitting close to these two chapters

• While the whole world is going haywire, the Lord is not threatened by any of it

• Neither are His plans frustrated by human choices

• In the end all of the earth will stand silent before Him

• Excuses will not be offered, and all will finally be held accountable for their choices

• The earth will be silent before Him.

Application

• Trust in The Lord – When life seems confusing, and we cannot imagine what He is doing

• Trust in The Lord – When everything in the world seems to be careening towards hate and destruction

• Trust in The Lord – As the only hope for this world, and live by faith in all things

• 1 Corinthians 15:3-4• Our faith from the

start to finish is wrapped up in the person and work of Jesus Christ – Trust Him.