Lets Meet Habakkuk
!!
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INTRODUCTION
1:1 This is the message
that the prophet Habakkuk received from the LORD in a vision.
Thus it is we are introduced to this book penned by the prophet with a crooked name. Like the other minor prophets the message of Habakkuk is relevant to our day and just as neglected !
No he is not dealing with the Antichrist or a Great Tribulation as some commentators suggest, but with problems he faced in his own day . Problems we stll face today. He is the prophert who waits and watches for God to solve his dilemma. And that word W-A-I-T will provide our outline
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(1) THE WORRY HE EXPERIENCED
(1:2-2:1)
The righteous were suffering. The wicked were prospering. And even that was not his main problem. For God in His Heaven was silent to the cries of His people.
1:2 How long, O LORD, must I call for help? But you do
not listen! "Violence!" I cry, but you do not come to save. 3 Must I forever see this
sin and misery all around me? Wherever I look, I see destruction and violence.
I am surrounded by people who love to argue and fight. 4 The law has become paralyzed and useless,
and there is no justice given in the courts. The wicked far outnumber the
righteous, and justice is perverted with bribes and trickery.
The heavens were as brass. While godly Jews were being oppressed and even killed by their fellow country-men, God seemingly turned a blind eye.
.
But God does eventually answer Habakkuk and aggravates his problem.
1:5
The LORD replied, "Look at the nations and be amazed! Watch
and be astounded at what I will do! For I am doing something in your own day,
something you wouldn't believe even if someone told you about it. 6 I am raising up the
Babylonians to be a new power on the world scene. They are a cruel and violent
nation who will march across the world and conquer it. 7 They are notorious for their cruelty.
They do as they like, and no one can stop them. 8 Their horses are swifter than
leopards. They are a fierce people, more fierce than wolves at dusk. Their
horsemen race forward from distant places. Like eagles they swoop down to
pounce on their prey.
9 "On they come, all of them bent on violence. Their hordes advance like a wind from the desert, sweeping captives ahead of them like sand. 10 They scoff at kings and princes and scorn all their defences. They simply pile ramps of earth against their walls and capture them! 11 They sweep past like the wind and are gone. But they are deeply guilty, for their own strength is their god."
The prophet is assured that God is aware of Judahs sin and that He will raise up the Babylonians to punish them !!
Habakkuk is horrified ! How,Lord, he demands, can you use such a ferocious, ungodly people ? After all, they are even more sinful than the Jews !! He argues with the Lord .
1:12 O LORD
my God, my Holy One, you who are eternal--is your plan in all of this to wipe
us out? Surely not! O LORD our Rock, you have decreed the rise of these
Babylonians to punish and correct us for our terrible sins. 13
You are perfectly just in this. But will you, who
cannot allow sin in any form, stand idly by while they swallow us up? Should
you be silent while the wicked destroy people who are more righteous than they?
14
Are we but fish to be caught and killed? Are we but creeping
things that have no leader to defend them from their enemies? 15
Must we be strung up on their hooks and dragged out in their nets while
they rejoice? 16 Then they will worship their nets and
burn incense in front of them. "These nets are the gods who have made us
rich!" they will claim.
17
Will you let them get away with this forever? Will they succeed
forever in their heartless conquests?
2:1 I will climb up into my
watchtower now and wait to see what the LORD will say to me and how he will
answer my complaint.
A WATCHTOWER
Note verse 13 again. Here is the flaw in the prophets argument. . The Jews had more light than the Babylonians concerning how to behave. The Jews had the prophets and the Scriptures. And the greater the light sinned against, the greater the punishment !
(Mark 6:11)
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More than one commentator points out that this should be a warning to Christian nations those who once had a Christian heritage and have long since abandoned it maybe we will see the day when God raises up a nation to punish them .
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(2) THE ANSWER HE
RECEIVED ( 2:2-8)
2:2 Then the LORD said to me, "Write my answer in large, clear
letters on a tablet, so that a runner can read it and tell everyone else. 3
But these things I plan won't happen right away. Slowly,
steadily, surely, the time approaches when the vision will be fulfilled. If it
seems slow, wait patiently, for it will surely take place. It will not be
delayed.
(a)God says the wicked will be punished !!
Babylonia will face Gods wrath as surely as wicked Judah.
(b) But not necessarily immediately ! ( 2:3)
History records that a century later the Medes and Persians combined to conquer the Babylonian Empire.
(c ) In the meantime , believers are exhorted to keep trusting !! Ultimately wickedness will be punished and righteousness will be rewarded. (2:4)
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(3) THE INDICMENTS HE PRONOUNCED !! ( 2:9-20)
2:4 "Look at the
proud! They trust in themselves, and their lives are crooked; but the righteous
will live by their faith. 5 Wealth is treacherous, and
the arrogant are never at rest. They range far and wide, with their mouths
opened as wide as death, but they are never satisfied. In their greed they have
gathered up many nations and peoples. 6 But the time is
coming when all their captives will taunt them, saying, `You thieves! At last
justice has caught up with you! Now you will get what you deserve for your
oppression and extortion!' 7 Suddenly, your debtors will
rise up in anger. They will turn on you and take all you have, while you stand
trembling and helpless. 8 You have plundered many
nations; now they will plunder you. You murderers! You have filled the
countryside with violence and all the cities, too.
A series of woes ( K.J.V.) fall from Habakkuks lips.
(a) Woe because of their greed.
2:9 "How
terrible it will be for you who get rich by unjust means! You believe your
wealth will buy security, putting your families beyond the reach of danger. 10 But by the murders you committed, you have shamed your name
and forfeited your lives. 11 The very stones in the
walls of your houses cry out against you, and the beams in the ceilings echo
the complaint.
(b) Woe because of their violence.
2:12 "How
terrible it will be for you who build cities with money gained by murder
and corruption! 13 Has not the LORD Almighty promised
that the wealth of nations will turn to ashes? They work so hard, but all in
vain! 14 For the time will come when all the earth will
be filled, as the waters fill the sea, with an awareness of the glory of the
LORD.
(c ) Woe because of their cruelty
2:15 "How terrible it will be for
you who make your neighbors drunk! You force your cup on them so that you
can gloat over their nakedness and shame. 16 But soon it
will be your turn! Come, drink and be exposed! Drink from the cup of the LORD's
judgment, and all your glory will be turned to shame. 17 You
cut down the forests of Lebanon. Now you will be cut down! You terrified the
wild animals you caught in your traps. Now terror will strike you because of
your murder and violence in cities everywhere!
(d) Woe because of their idolatry.
2;18 "What have you
gained by worshiping all your man-made idols? How foolish to trust in something
made by your own hands! What fools you are to believe such lies! 19 How
terrible it will be for you who beg lifeless wooden idols to save you. You
ask speechless stone images to tell you what to do. Can an idol speak for God?
They may be overlaid with gold and silver, but they are lifeless inside.
But,
says Habakkuk, God will have the last laugh !
.. ( 2:14, 20)
2: 20
But the LORD is in his holy Temple. Let all the earth be silent before
him."
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(4) THE TRUST HE DISPLAYED (3:1-19)
This last chapter reveals Habakkuk singing a song of praise. He has moved from Worry to Worship. His sighing has given way to singing.
In poetic imagery he describes God saving His people from Egyptian bondage ( in the days of Moses) and affirms that He can still save His people.
3:1 This
prayer was sung by the prophet Habakkuk:
3:2 I have heard all
about you, LORD, and I am filled with awe by the amazing things you have done.
In this time of our deep need, begin again to help us, as you did in years gone
by. Show us your power to save us. And in your anger, remember your mercy.
3
I see God, the Holy One, moving across the deserts from Edom and
Mount Paran. His brilliant splendor fills the heavens, and the earth is filled
with his praise! What a wonderful God he is! 4 Rays of brilliant light flash from
his hands. He rejoices in his awesome power. 5 Pestilence marches before him; plague
follows close behind. 6 When he stops, the earth shakes.
When he looks, the nations tremble. He shatters the everlasting mountains and
levels the eternal hills. But his power is not diminished in the least! 7 I see the peoples of Cushan and Midian trembling in terror.
8 Was it in anger,
LORD, that you struck the rivers and parted the sea? Were you displeased with
them? No, you were sending your chariots of salvation! 9 You
were commanding your weapons of power! You split open the earth with flowing
rivers! 10 The mountains watched and trembled. Onward
swept the raging waters. The mighty deep cried out, lifting its hands to the
LORD. 11 The lofty sun and moon began to fade, obscured
by brilliance from your arrows and the flashing of your glittering spear.
12
You marched across the land in awesome anger and trampled the
nations in your fury. 13 You went out to rescue your
chosen people, to save your anointed ones. You crushed the heads of the wicked
and laid bare their bones from head to toe. 14 With
their own weapons, you destroyed those who rushed out like a whirlwind,
thinking Israel would be easy prey. 15 You trampled the
sea with your horses, and the mighty waters piled high.
16
I trembled inside when I heard all this; my lips quivered with
fear. My legs gave way beneath me, and I shook in terror. I will wait quietly
for the coming day when disaster will strike the people who invade us.
So even though I may not live to see it , says Habakkuk , I know that ultimately Babylon shall be judged and God will save those who trust in Him. So I sing
3:17 Even though the fig
trees have no blossoms, and there are no grapes on the vine; even though the
olive crop fails, and the fields lie empty and barren; even though the flocks
die in the fields, and the cattle barns are empty, 18 yet I will rejoice in the LORD! I
will be joyful in the God of my salvation. 19 The Sovereign LORD is my strength! He
will make me as surefooted as a deer and bring me safely over the mountains.
(For the choir
director: This prayer is to be accompanied by stringed instruments.)
Do I hear an Amen ! ?