So the book of Habakkuk, the name Habakkuk actually means one who embraces or clings. And so as you read through the book of Habakkuk, you'll see how that makes sense, how he embraces and he clings to God. Now, I've entitled this message, really, I've entitled the series of messages that I will eventually preach through this book, From Why to Worship. Because we see in chapter 1 that he begins with questioning God and asking why. But when we get to the end of the book in chapter 3, we will see that Habakkuk writes this beautiful hymn of worship. And so we'll see that transition as we go through the book. Before we get into the text though, I want to give a little bit of a brief historical background. It's really the only way to grasp what Habakkuk is dealing with. Little is known about the prophet Habakkuk. Honestly, if it weren't for this book in scripture, we probably wouldn't even know that he existed. So we don't really have a lot of information to go back on him. And so it also adds a little bit of challenge to dating the book. When was it written? Well, you read various people, you're going to get various answers to that question. But what seems most probable to me is that he ministered after the fall of Nineveh, but was prior to the Babylonian captivity that took place in the future. And he was writing this and ministering during the time of Jehoiakim. when he was reigning as king in Judah between 606 and 598 BC. So there's a great deal of history to consider, but we don't have time to go through all the details. So if you really want to get the detail of the historical background, like I mentioned in the email, look at 2 Kings chapters 20 through 25 and 2 Chronicles 34 through 36, and you will get plenty of detail. But we're going to jump in by looking at King Manasseh. King Manasseh was just a terrible king in Judah. In fact, I would say he was probably the worst king that Israel ever had, and they had some bad ones. In 2 Kings 21, 16, Manasseh's reign is summed up by the Lord in this way. Moreover, Manasseh shed very much innocent blood till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to the other, besides his sin by which he made you to sin in doing evil in the sight of the Lord. He was just terrible what he did. And when it talks about shedding blood, part of that is the fact that they were worshiping Moloch. And so they were sacrificing their children to Moloch at this time. So this was very much disturbing to God. Well, Manasseh was succeeded eventually by his son, Ammon. I would like to say that the scene changed, but it did not. He continued as his father had done. And so again, he did evil in the sight of the Lord. Then Ammon, thankfully, was only king for two years. And then his son, Josiah, took the throne. Now Josiah is the one bright spot here in this litany of kings that Israel had. He actually restored true biblical worship to the nation of Judah. God gave him peace in the whole 31 years of his reign as a result of his faithfulness. And I really do suggest you go back and read 2 Kings 22 and 23 and learn about Josiah. It really is amazing at eight years old when he took the throne and then when the Lord started using him and prompting him to return to biblical worship. Excuse me. So after Josiah's reign, his son Jehoiaz became king. And well, he had a really long tenure, it was three months, and then he was disposed of. Pharaoh took him captive and put him in prison and put Jehoiakim, Josiah's other son, as king. But he also did evil in the sight of the Lord. So we see this pattern with the kings of Israel. From Solomon all the way to Zedekiah, there's 40 kings. And I'm guessing less than five did what was right in the sight of the Lord. Every other king was described very simply as they did evil in the sight of the Lord. So there is a reason why God was saying, I'm going to be Israel's king, because he's righteous. He is holy. He can lead the people. But they rejected that. So with this brief historical background in mind, let's begin to take a look at Habakkuk. So Habakkuk was ministering during Judah's continual downward spiral of unfaithfulness, even though they were repeatedly called to repentance. There was that brief hiatus in Josiah's reign of 31 years, but overall the nation just flat refused to return and repent. The nation's hard-heartedness and continued sin against God prompted God to have this to say. And the Lord, and this is in 2 Chronicles 36, and the Lord God of their fathers sent warnings to them by his messengers, rising up early and sending them because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place. But they mocked the messengers of God, despised his words, and scoffed at his prophets until the wrath of the Lord arose against his people. And listen to this, till there was no remedy. That's amazing to be said there. Therefore, he brought against them the king of the Chaldeans who killed their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary and had no compassion on young men or virgins. on the aged or the weak, he gave them all into his hand." Habakkuk also served around the time of Jeremiah, so these two prophets were actually contemporaries, and they were part of a pretty good series that covered about 100 years of prophets that were warning and prompting the people to repent. And one little unique feature about the book of Habakkuk, of all the minor prophets, it's the only book that never addresses the people directly. All the other minor prophets do, but Habakkuk does not. It really is nothing more than a record of his conversation and back and forth with God about the nation of Israel. So let's begin looking at these first four verses. This is Habakkuk's first complaint, and let me read those again. The burden which the prophet Habakkuk saw. Oh Lord, how long shall I cry and you will not hear? Even cry out to you violence and you will not save. Why do you show me iniquity and cause me to see trouble? For plundering and violence are before me. There is strife and contention arises. Therefore, the law is powerless, and justice never goes forth. For the wicked surround the righteous. Therefore, perverse judgment proceeds. So Habakkuk begins with the phrase, the burden which Habakkuk saw. So this word burden basically means a load, a lifting, utterance or oracle. And some of your versions, if you're not using the New King James, may use the word oracle. Although personally, I like the word burden better. And secondly, it says that the prophet Habakkuk saw. So this word is to mean perceive or to look as a seer. To put it simply, Habakkuk had a vision, was given a vision. And we know that it was a vision because if you look at chapter two, verse two, it starts out with, then the Lord answered me and said, write the vision. So this is a vision that God had given Habakkuk and it was a burden to him. And that's why I like that word burden over Oracle. That's just my personal preference there. So then Habakkuk begins in verse two with his lament. He says, oh Lord, how long shall I cry and you will not hear? Why do you show me iniquity and cause me to seek trouble? So in the Old Testament, we have numerous examples of lamenting from godly men. And so, for example, David in Psalm 13, he says, how long, O Lord, will you forget me forever? How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart daily? How long will my enemy be exalted over me? And then we see an example from Jeremiah in chapter 12. Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why are those happy who deal so treacherously? So have you ever felt like this? Have you ever felt like you're kind of questioning God and His faithfulness to you? Well, if you're honest, yes, we have. But you know, that's okay. Because God knows that we have questions. God knows that we don't always understand what he's doing. And so he's not afraid for you to question him. In fact, in a way, he kind of welcomes that because he wants us to communicate with him honestly and openly. He knows our feelings anyway. So we really don't have a reason not to. Like I said before, the book of Habakkuk is this journal, if you will, this conversation between He and God. Some of you might actually keep a diary or write a journal. And so if you do, do you not write honestly in there what you're feeling, what you're thinking? It's a safe place to write down those things because that's your diary, your journal. You're not handing it out to be read by anybody. It's just a place to vent maybe in some cases. That's what God wants us to do with him. He wants us to communicate that honestly and openly with him. And so Habakkuk is doing just that. Now, the one way we can possibly get into trouble when we question God is when we're dealing with the intent of our heart. Are we questioning God's authority or showing a lack of faith? If so, then that questioning would be sinful and inappropriate. So let me give you some examples. In Luke chapter 1, you know, it's the Christmas story. And it begins with the accounts of Gabriel coming to Zechariah and to Mary. And he's going to announce to them both that they're going to have sons. But what's interesting is both of their responses are very different. Zacharias' response was one really questioning God's authority over creation. He says, hey, we're both old and we're advanced in years. There's no way that that's going to happen. So the angel told him, well, you know, I stand in the presence of the Lord. This is his word to you. It's going to happen. And to show you that that's true, you're going to be mute until the child is born. Then Mary, Gabriel comes to Mary and says, hey, you're going to have a son. And trust me, if there's one person who didn't really understand everything that was going on, it would have been Mary. I mean, she asked a legitimate question. How can I have a son? I'm a virgin. Gabriel explains how all that's going to take place. And Mary's response is, well, let it be to me according to your word. What a difference in a response. So these examples show us that we need to be mindful about how we question God. He's not afraid of our questions. He wants us to talk to him honestly, but he expects us to have faith. He expects us to trust him and not to question his authority. Now, Habakkuk has been praying for some time about this, and we know this because he starts with, how long? So there's obviously been this point, a period of time that he has been praying about the condition of the nation of Judah. And he begins with saying, how long shall I cry and you will not hear? I mean, we've done the same thing. How many times have we prayed and we're like, Lord, are you even listening to me? But sometimes we pray much like this, like it's a fast food restaurant's drive-through. We pull up to the speaker, we place our order, we run around to the window, we get what we need and we drive off. Well, God can work that way, okay? And He has worked that way, but primarily that's not how God operates when we're praying and seeking His will. He knows the right time to provide an answer to you or to change your circumstances. That's God's business. I remember, I wasn't going to say this, but it just comes to my mind. I remember my dad was praying for my brother and having a really just a struggle with it. And finally, the Lord said, hey, don't give me a time frame. I know what I'm doing. You know, when dad finally just released himself from that, Then we saw an amazing miracle take place in my brother's life. But you have to take your hands off it. You got to trust the Lord that he's going to be able to do what he needs to do. Our responsibility is to ask, to seek, and to knock, as Matthew 7 tells us. And then we wait on God to answer. One thing to consider, though, is if you're praying and you just kind of feel like your prayers are hitting the ceiling and you're not being heard, it is an opportunity to examine ourselves and to see, is there any unconfessed sin in our lives? Because if there is, that has to be dealt with before that communication and that relationship can be restored. And so that would be my one caution. Sin will always disrupt communication between you and the Lord. So if you find that to be the case, repent of that sin. And as 1 John 1, 9 reminds us, if you will repent, He will be faithful to forgive. So Habakkuk has been praying and he's crying out to the Lord. The interesting thing here is that word cry, it actually means that he is shouting and screaming at God at this point. So that kind of tells us that he's been praying about this for a while and he's kind of getting a little bit annoyed with the fact that he's not getting any answers. And so this is what's happening. And so that's what that word means in the Hebrew. But don't misinterpret the fact that he's yelling and screaming here. He's not complaining about the people per se. And George Hutchinson has a good way of putting that. And he mentions that the complaint shouldn't be thought of as hatred towards God's people, but rather, and I quote, zeal for God's honor, hatred of sin, and pity towards the oppressed. So the revival of King Josiah's day was not that far removed from Habakkuk's time period. In fact, Habakkuk actually lived during Josiah's reign, so he actually experienced the revival. But now Judah has come full circle from total rebellion and depravity to revival and restoration back to total depravity and rebellion. So in verse three, we see, why do you show me iniquity and cause me to see trouble? for plundering and violence are before me, and there is strife and contention arises." So he's describing what he's seeing. He's watching this plundering take place. He's watching and seeing all this violence that's taking place in the land. And it's interesting, that word violence comes up repeatedly in the book of Habakkuk. So that tells you when you see something repeated in Scripture, there's emphasis there. So the violence of the land was not good. He refers to strife, which means that there are disputes and there's quarrels, there's lawsuits taking place, contentions, which is discord and brawling going on. Now, I'm not reading you the newspaper this morning, but does that not sound like the 21st century? Solomon was right, there is nothing new under the sun. Then we move on to verse four, therefore the law is powerless, justice never goes forth, for the wicked surround the righteous, therefore perverse judgment proceeds. So Habakkuk outlines four problems that he identifies. So let's take a minute to look at these four problems. So the first one, the law is powerless. Well, the law he's referring to is the law that was handed down through Moses. So it's the first five books of the Old Testament. He's also basically saying that this patience of God, this lack of response to His prayer has emboldened the people to continue to sin. They don't see any consequence for their actions, so they just continue to sin and actually get worse. And those few who actually were righteous, they're getting drowned out by the wicked. And they were not able to, or maybe they didn't even dare to, show up and try to affect the culture or stand in the gap, as Ezekiel 22, 30 states. Habakkuk is also saying, look, that revival of Josiah's day is now just gone. The book of the law that was found and read back in Josiah's day that transformed everything has now just been put aside and thrown out. He's not happy about this. The second problem, he says, is justice never goes forth. Well, simply, if the law of God is ignored and rejected, justice is impossible. So the real issue here is the authority of God's word. When there's continued rejection and contempt of the authority of God's word, it will always pave the path towards wickedness and sin. And then he's referring again to the fact that bad people are seemingly allowed to carry on without any consequences. The third problem is the wicked surround the righteous. So this perverseness that was taking place in Habakkuk's day, and we see it in our own, just surrounds the righteous. This crowd mentality works to destroy anyone who would be willing to stand up and call for repentance and biblical morality to be restored. It seems that few are willing to stand up and fight for what is right. But just remember this. The Christian may always be outnumbered, but God is always the majority. And so we can trust in that and God will act in his time in his way. And the fourth problem says that the perverse judgment proceeds. Well, the best way I could find to really sum up this statement is found in Isaiah chapter 5, verse 20, where it states, woe to the one who calls evil good and good evil. I mean, we see that today everywhere you look. You can just find your own examples, but everything is turned literally on its head. Here's another quote from Hutchinson. It is a great height of a land's guiltiness when judges and courts of justice become corrupt. Of course, with the recent Supreme Court nomination and confirmation, we've heard a lot about our courts lately. And are we not disturbed at what's happening in our court system today? So these standards that have been passed down for generations are now just totally turned on their heads, they're totally abandoned, and they're perverted to such a way that they are just unrecognizable. So what I've described is the culture that the Prophet is living in, and he's very disturbed about this, and so he is crying out to God for answers, and for justice, and for restoration. So are there any applications that we can draw from these first four verses? And I think there are three that I want to highlight this morning. The first one, which we take from verse two in the words, how long. We are to continue in fervent prayer and intercession for our culture, for our nations, and for its leaders. We should pray for the church that it would restore biblical teaching and call people to repentance and salvation. Paul exhorts us in 1 Thessalonians to pray without ceasing. We don't know how long Habakkuk was praying, but we know that it was for a period of time. But we also know he prayed with great passion. The second application I think we can make is that this complaint that Habakkuk has is actually an indication of God's patience with his people amid their rebellion. It's the same way that God acts today. So Hutchison puts it this way, the patience of God towards his sinful church and people does far surpass the patience of the best of men. For when the prophet is weary and about to fall into impatience because of God's long suffering, yet the Lord was not weary to wait upon them. We'll talk a little bit more about this in a little bit. And the third application that I believe we see here is that when men lose the fear of God, society will always fall into grievous sin and rebellion, and ultimately will result in violence. Do we not live in a violent society? Where's the fear of God in America? We've removed it. The other thing to mention here is that the church needs to regain the fear of God as well. And so be praying for this. Now we move on to the Lord's reply in verses 5 through 11. So in verse five it begins, look among the nations and watch, be utterly astounded, for I will work a work in your days which you would not believe though it were told to you. So God begins his reply with these three imperatives. Look, watch, be utterly astounded, Now, in the Hebrew, these words, but particularly, be utterly astounded, is stressing community involvement. So God is actually not just replying to Habakkuk here. He's replying to the whole kingdom of Judah, saying, look, watch, and be utterly astounded. but he's also communicating to Habakkuk, you asked for an answer, I'm gonna give it to you, but you're really gonna have a hard time wrapping your head around it because you would not believe it though I were to tell you. Now, there's a little bit of humor here as well, because God says, you won't believe me if I told you, then he turns around and says, and by the way, I'm gonna tell you, and he begins to describe what he's going to do. Then he says in verse 5, for I am raising up the Chaldeans. Notice the words, I am raising up. The Chaldeans are also known as the Babylonians. They didn't get to be this strong and powerful on their own. It was actually God raising them up because he was going to use them as a means of judgment for the southern kingdom. Now, you have to remember, the nation of Israel at this time was separated into two different kingdoms. You had the northern kingdom, Israel. They had already been taken captive by the Assyrians. And then you had the southern kingdom, Judah. Their captivity will be forthcoming. Walt Kaiser makes a couple of observations concerning this text. And they're both ironies. So the first one is this, the Babylonians lawlessness is used to show Judah's lawlessness. And then the Babylonians violence is used to show Judah's violence. So if you remember back when we talked about King Manasseh, I read that text to you about how his brain was summed up. I mean, that is what Kaiser's picking up on here, is that this violence in the land, this lawlessness in the land, God is using the Babylonians and the very same traits to judge Judah, or will be using them. So then God goes on to describe the Chaldeans in four ways in verses 6 through 11. So verses six and seven. For indeed, I am raising up the Chaldeans, a bitter and hasty nation, which marches through the breadth of the earth to possess dwelling places that are not theirs. They are terrible and dreadful. Their judgment and their dignity proceed from themselves. So the first way that God describes the Chaldeans is their disposition. They're bitter. They're hasty. They're terrible. They're dreadful. They're self-absorbed. We don't know anybody like that in our day, do we? So anyone who will not stand in awe of God when He speaks will most certainly reap judgment. They are going to feel that terrible, dreadful Chaldeans, if you will, and they will faint under that sentence. God is righteous in punishing sin and the corruptness of His people and His judges. And as we see here in Habakkuk, he is willing to use people even more evil than his people to accomplish the task. Always remember this, God uses means. And so this is the means in which he is going to use in Judah's life. The second way he describes them is in verse 8. Their horses are also swifter than leopards and more fierce than evening wolves. Their chargers charge ahead. Their cavalry comes from afar. They fly as the eagle that hastens to eat." So he's describing the fact that they're mighty. They got fast horses. They're mean and fiercer than evening wolves. Their infantry goes forward, not just in strength, but in just speed. And they're able to just absorb all these kingdoms along their way. Again, we go back to the fact that God has raised these folks up. He has given them this power to do this. The third way that we see God describing them is their motive, and we see that in verses 9 and 10. They all come for violence. Their faces are set like the east wind. They gather captives like sand. They scoff at kings, and princes are scorned by them. They deride every stronghold, for they heap up earthen mounds and seize it. So the motive is of violence and insolence. They're scoffers, they're mockers, they don't have any respect for anyone. So God again is using a violent and insolent people to punish His people who are also violent and insolent. And so something to point out here, Judah's sinful traits, are actually the same sinful traits that the Babylonians are portraying, but they're exaggerated. And God is making a point by doing that. And so it kind of takes us back to Walt Kaiser's two ironies again, of the Babylonians' lawlessness and violence is being used to show Judah's lawlessness and violence. And then the fourth way we see God describing the Babylonians is their instability in verse 11. Then his mind changes and he transgresses. He commits offense ascribing this power to his God. So this word mind here actually is spirit or disposition or communicating like an uncontrollable impulse. The word bipolar comes to mind to me when I read that. And Adam Clarke has this take on the part where it says, then his mind changes. And I quote him, this is thought to relate to the change which took place in Nebuchadnezzar, when a beast's heart was given to him, and he was driven from the dwellings of men. And this was because of his offending, his pride and arrogance, and his attributing all his success to his idols. And I think that's a good observation by Clark there. And certainly you can read about Nebuchadnezzar in the book of Daniel. So by way of application of these verses, maybe these verses strike a chord with you this morning. You know, God said He was raising up the Chaldeans. Could it be that like the nation of Israel, you're feeling effects of oppression or someone else's bitterness towards you? Well, consider these words from Paul David Tripp's daily reading, taking from New Morning Mercy's dated October 16th. He begins with, the difficulties of your life are not in the way of God's plan. They are a tool of it. They are crafted to advance His work of grace. He goes on to say, what is God doing? And I should mention this is actually in your bulletin written in blue. What is God doing in the here and now? He is employing the difficulties of life as tools of grace to produce character in you that would not grow any other way. So your trials are not a sign God has forgotten you or is being unfaithful to his promises. Rather, they stand as a reminder that he is committed to his grace and will not forsake it. It, grace, will complete its work. Don't question God's goodness. Look at your trials and see grace. Behind those difficulties is an ever-present Redeemer who is completing his work. God is not excusing the Chaldeans in any way here. They are going to feel his judgment and wrath in due time. However, God is always concerned about his people, Israel and us as his children in our day. He wants them to be honoring him and walking in his ways. So God will always pursue that which is his own, and he will pursue it with passion, and fervently. It's a good thing to remember that it is a kindness from God to break us. He will not break a man and leave him broken, but will heal him and make him more into his own image. Christ is always drawing us to himself. And so by way of conclusion this morning, I also want us to see how Christ can be seen in the book of Habakkuk, and particularly in these verses. When we think of the state of our country in the world, it is natural to have the same complaints that Habakkuk had in his day. We also tend to be very impatient like Habakkuk when answers are not coming or slow in coming. However, we do need to remember that these delays or see these delays through the eyes of Christ. So there's two ways I want to point out that I think we see Christ this morning in these words. First, as a patient redeemer. The delay in answering Habakkuk's repeated words for Judah shows us about Christ's long-suffering and patience in salvation. Judgment is never God's first choice. Romans 2, 4 puts it this way. Or do you despise the riches of his goodness, forbearance, and long-suffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance? So his patience is always given an opportunity for us to repent. The second example is Christ as our intercessor. He is at this very moment, Christ, is at this very moment sitting at the right hand of the Father, praying and interceding for you and for me. Just as Habakkuk was interceding for Judah, Christ is interceding for us. So be encouraged this morning, knowing that you are being prayed for by God Himself, even at this very moment. God is going to accomplish His will in your life and my life. And we know that because from a very familiar passage of Scripture, Philippians 1.6, you can probably quote it in your head, being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it. until the day of Jesus Christ.