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Well, this morning we're going
to pick up in Habakkuk chapter 1, as we've just read. And this
is the second message out of Habakkuk. And so we're going
to cover verse 12 through chapter 2, verse 1. But before we get
there, I'd like to just give a quick refresher of what we've
learned from the first message since it's been a couple of months. So Habakkuk had been crying out
to God for a period of time, we learned, prior to the writing
of this book. We're not sure how long, but
certainly it was something that he had been doing. And his complaint
in the beginning of chapter 1 was basically around the fact that
he didn't think God was hearing him, or at least so it seemed. And he was complaining about
the violence that filled the land, and national sin, and the
strife and the contentions that were just really rampant at the
time. And then he went on to highlight
four different problems in verse four. He said, one, that the
law is powerless. Two, that justice never goes
forth. And three, the wicked surround
the righteous. And four, perverted judgment
seems to be the rule of thumb of the day. So Habakkuk is painting
a very dismal picture of the state of Judah, and he's really
troubled by it. But God does finally break his
silence with Habakkuk, and he answers him. And he lets the
prophet know, he said, I do have a plan, and this is what I'm
going to do. I'm going to use the Chaldeans
as a means of correction and discipline for the nation of
Israel, or for Judah, excuse me. And so God paints a very
accurate picture of the Chaldeans, and we will see in today's message
that they are a more evil people than the people of Judah. And
so a quick and brief review of the applications we drew out
from that message in October. The first thing we learned is
that people who pray and pray continually for the church, these
are the kind of folks that we need to be. We also see what
society will look like and does look like when they lose the
fear of God. We also discovered that God is
long-suffering and he's a very patient redeemer. And then finally,
we're reminded of the power of intercessory prayer. So with
that very quick review in mind, let's go ahead and move forward
from verse 11 and begin looking at Habakkuk's second complaint. So the first section we want
to look at is verses 12 through 14. Are you not from everlasting,
O Lord my God, my Holy One? We shall not die. O Lord, you
have appointed them for judgment. O Rock, you have marked them
for correction. You are of pure eyes and to behold
evil and cannot look on wickedness. Why do you look on those who
deal treacherously and hold your tongue when the wicked devour
us? A person more righteous than he, why do you make them like
fish of the sea, like creeping things that have no ruler over
them? So Habakkuk begins this second
complaint by describing God in three ways, and he's pointing
the reader to God's character. So the first thing we notice
is that he describes God as everlasting or eternal. And he points out
that God has been and is active in the world in the past, in
the present, and in the future. God is in total control of history. And we certainly know that in
Scripture by various other references that we can look at, particularly
Psalm 90, verse 2. The second way he describes God
in his character is, my Holy One, or that God is pure. God
is incomparably holy and pure, as Leviticus 19.2 will point
out. The prophet then personalizes
this thought by using the word, my. And Habakkuk knows that he
belongs to God, and he knows that God is eternal and holy.
And so this enables him to avoid this total despair with the picture
that he has painted, while at the same time dealing with reconciling
God's holiness with God's justice. with the existence of evil. Then
the third characteristic we find is he refers to God as the rock
or a foundation. And that God is a firm foundation. He cannot be moved. God provides
security. God provides the protection and
stability. But Habakkuk doesn't really stop
there. He also goes on to use a few different words for God
in verse 12. And the first word is this word
Lord, or Jehovah. This means the existing one,
or self-existent, or the eternal one. This is the proper name
for the one true God. The second word is God, or Elohim,
which basically is the supreme God. And then finally he describes
him as holy, and I'm not even going to attempt to pronounce
the Hebrew word for that one. But we'll just say it means sacred,
holy one, or set apart. So now we can get a better understanding
of who God is and how the prophet understands who God is through
the words that he has used here. And this understanding should
shape how we view and how we respond to our circumstances,
our trials, and our difficulties. But we also notice in this beginning
part of verse 12, he also adds this little part that says, we
shall not die. And it is best to not separate
this part from the question that the prophet asks. If so, if it's
taken separately, it could lead to a misunderstanding of the
text. What the prophet is attempting to do here is he's drawing the
reader's attention to God's covenant with Abraham to preserve his
chosen people. which we know of from Genesis
chapter 12 and Genesis chapter 17. The prophet knows that God
has a covenant with his chosen people, Israel. And even though
there will be judgment and correction by a fierce and obstinate people,
the nation is still under God's protection. They will not be
completely wiped out. God will always have a remnant. He will never not have one. And then in Genesis chapter 17,
1 through 8, as referenced earlier, God speaks to Abraham and he
reaffirms his covenant. And verse 8 is significant here.
And it states, Also I give to you and your descendants after
you the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan,
as an everlasting possession, and I will be their God. So we
see here this eternal view here that this land is never not going
to be their possession. Even though at times they may
have been scattered, as far as God is concerned, that land belonged
to His people because He had a covenant with Abraham to make
that so. So God has obligated Himself
to preserve His people. And he will be faithful to fulfill
that promise. And so Habakkuk is remembering
this, and he's actually reminding God of this. And though there
will soon be judgment for Judah and for their sin, they are still
chosen by God. They still remain under his protection.
And that remnant will continue for the nation of Israel. And
John Calvin, kind of in his quote here, has a good understanding
that we need to see. And he says, we now perceive
why the prophet joins together these two things. Thou art God
and we shall not die. Nor can indeed the one be separated
from the other. For when we are under the protection
of God, we must necessarily continue safe and safe forever. Not that
we shall be free from evils, but that the Lord will deliver
us from a thousand deaths and preserve our life in safety."
So after reaffirming and reassuring himself of God's character and
protection, Habakkuk now acknowledges that God is also going to be
the one who judges, and he's going to use the Chaldeans as
a means for that judgment. So in this last part of verse
12, it says, Oh Lord, you have appointed them, them being Judah,
for judgment. Oh Rock, you have marked them,
again Judah, for correction. So Habakkuk makes a point saying
that it is by God's providence that the Chaldeans are going
to be raised up to judge. And it's a critical point to
understand. Sometimes we get perplexed by
our circumstances, and it seems to contradict what we know of
God from His Word. However, in those times, we have
to remind ourselves, just as the Prophet does here, of God's
providence in our circumstances. And there's a hymn that comes
to mind when I was thinking through this, and it's a hymn called,
God Moves in a Mysterious Way. And these are the words to that
song, so let's consider them this morning. God moves in a
mysterious way his wonders to perform. He plants his footsteps
in the sea and rides upon the storm. Deep in his dark and hidden
minds with never failing skill, he fashions all his bright designs
and works his sovereign will. O fearful saints, new courage
take the clouds that you now dread. Our bid with mercy and
will break in blessings on your head. Judge not the Lord by feeble
sense, but trust him for his grace. Behind a frowning providence
he hides a smiling face. God's purposes will ripen fast,
unfolding every hour. The bud may have a bitter taste,
but sweet will be the flower. Blind unbelief is sure to err
and scan his work in vain. God is his own interpreter and
he will make it plain." So God is using adversity to
root out the sins of the people of Judah in order to restore
them as a people and the people that are the apple of his eye.
God's means of restoration are vast and sometimes painful and
difficult, but in the end, as the song states, the bud may
have a bitter taste, but sweet will be the flower. God is going
to carry out His plan of correcting and disciplining His people.
We know this because He says, you have marked them for correction.
And the King James Version uses the word ordained in place of
marked. And this is a Hebrew word sum,
which is S-U-W-M, meaning to put or to lay upon or lay violent
hands on. And this seems to be the best
understanding of the word because God has decreed to put or laid
upon his chosen people through a violent enemy and discipline
and correction. But I also like the use of the
word march because it indicates this need to revisit. And see,
God had already declared that His judgment was going to be
on Judah in 2 Kings 34. Of course, we looked at that
in the first message when we were kind of walking through
all the kings and reminding ourselves and remembering that with the
exception of one king, they all were doing evil in the sight
of the Lord. But the one bright spot was King Josiah. And so
he restored true and proper worship in the nation of Judah. And so
by doing that, God had a reprieve from the judgment that he had
already proclaimed on Judah. But that was only for a time.
Of course, as we know, that when Josiah was killed, the next king
did evil in the sight of the Lord, and so they were right
back where they were. And so God is still going to carry out
the judgment against them. This is the point and goal of
discipline. To correct, to refine, and to
restore his children as a holy people. The means of correction
may be harsh, but God's faithfulness, His grace and His mercy will
still be present. I love the last line of verse
2 of chapter 3 of Habakkuk. The verse reads, if you want
to look across the page, Oh Lord, I have heard your speech and
was afraid. Oh Lord, revive your work in
the midst of years. In the midst of the years make
it known, and I just love this line, in wrath remember mercy. Now in verse 13 we see that it
states, you are of pure eyes and behold evil and you cannot
look on wickedness. Again Habakkuk is reminding himself
and the reader of the character of God. God is pure and he is
clean both morally and ethically. He also directs us to the fact
that God is perfectly holy and as a result he cannot behold
evil. In A.W. Tozer, in his book, The Attributes
of God, he points out that we have evil in our lives that permeates
every aspect of our hearts, of our memories, and of any unconfessed
sin, and so on. The Prophet, in this second complaint,
is reminding himself, as well as us, of the fact that God is
also just. God has no other option but to
exercise His justice. The justice of God cannot be
separated from Him because it's part of His very nature. And
so this phrase, you are of pure eyes and to behold evil, and
cannot look on wickedness, might be restated this way. You, O
Lord, are just because you are God, and God because you are
just. But we have a problem to deal
with here in the text. And this is a problem that Habakkuk
is dealing with. And it's reconciling God's holiness
and God's justice. Now, I will tell you right up
front, we are not going to answer that completely this morning.
But here we go. How can we make sense of God
intentionally using a more evil people to discipline and to correct
His people, the ones that He has chosen, and bring them back
to repentance and restoration? We can probably rephrase this
question like this. God, if you are holy and pure
and just, how can you justify using a wicked nation like Babylon
to judge and take captive your chosen people? What comes to
my mind is actually Genesis chapters 1 through 2 and 3. Very familiar
chapters to us. It's the account of God creating
this world and everything that we see, and it records the account
of the fall of Adam and Eve. And if you remember in the first
message that I spoke in Habakkuk, we realized that God has the
authority specifically over creation. And so we see this idea again
here. It's important to remember who
owns the deed and the title to this world and all that is in
it. And Genesis 1-1 makes that very
clear to us. In the beginning, God created
the heavens and the earth. So he owns it all. And then the
remainder of chapters 1 and 2 describe all that God created, and He
called it good. And then in chapter 3 we have
the account of the fall of Adam and Eve, and the results that
follow. So God had to intervene all the
way back then. with Adam and Eve. And it's actually
the first time in Scripture where we see redemption being brought
out in Genesis chapter 3 verse 15. And so ever since then, God
has continually been at work to engineer circumstances that
will redeem, correct, and restore His people. And over the millennia,
God has proved to be quite creative in how He goes about accomplishing
this. So we are God's creation and
it's not the other way around. And so God created all there
is, does he not have the right not to mention the authority
to utilize his creation as he sees fit? Well, Isaiah chapter
29 verse 16 shed some light on this. Surely you have things
turned around. Shall the potter be esteemed
as the clay? For shall the thing made say
of him who made it, he did not make me? Or shall the thing formed
say of him who formed it, he has no understanding? Let me
kind of illustrate it to you like this. If I construct a workbench
for my shop, then I will have a design in my mind and I'm going
to go ahead and build it according to my design. What say does the
wood and the materials that I use have in creating that workbench?
It has no say. I can build it any way I see
fit. And then if I see that it needs
some adjustment or an addition to it, I can do it. Again, the
workbench has nothing to say about it. But I build it the
way I want to build it so I can use its fullest capacity. You
see, and that's what God is trying to do with His people. He wants
to redeem them and bring them back so He can use them and use
us at our fullest capacity. So God is justified in his choice
to use people more evil than another to discipline incorrect. God's purposes is to establish
and use his people at the greatest potential for his glory, for
our good, and to accomplish his will in the world. And the most
important point to remember here is this, that God is concerned
with protecting His glory. Notice what Zechariah chapter
2 verse 7 and 8 tells us. It says, Up, up, flee from the
land of the north, says the Lord, for I have spread you abroad
like the four winds of heaven, says the Lord. Up, Zion, escape
you who dwell with the daughter of Babylon. For thus says the
Lord of hosts, he sent me after glory to the nations which plunder
you, for he who touches you touches the apple of his eye." So he's
concerned for his glory. And there are many other scriptures
that we could reference communicating the same thing. The problem of
reconciling God's justice with His holiness will always be an
issue we grapple with. We will never fully grasp the
wisdom of God in this. And so it's always good for us
to remember again from Isaiah what he had to say in chapter
55, a very familiar passage. For my thoughts are not your
thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord. For as the
heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your
ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts." So what then should
be our response? I believe George Hudsonson provides
an excellent application to this, and it's actually in blue in
the bottom of your bulletin if you want to follow along. It
is the duty and will be the care of all the godly to justify God
and to clear him from any imputation, though their weakness cannot
see through all the deep mysteries of his providence about his church
and her enemies. And for that end, they should
prevent the language of misbelief and temptation with something
of faith. Therefore, the prophet, in the midst of the dark mists,
begins with this as an unalterable ground. Whatever his heart may
say, God is of pure eyes and to behold evil and cannot look
upon iniquity. But we can't forget that God
would eventually deal with the Babylonians. They didn't escape
his wrath. And so it is today. The wicked
seem to prosper while the church appears to barely tread water
at times. But God is still on the throne,
and he will one day avenge his bride. In the meantime, however,
God is working to have a pure and spotless people. And as we
move on to the second part of Habakkuk's complaint, he uses
a metaphor of the fishermen. And that's number two in your
bulletin. And that's verses 14 through 17. Why do you make men
like the fish in the sea, like creeping things that have no
ruler over them? They take up all of them with
a hook. They catch them in their net. They gather them in their
dragnet. Therefore they rejoice and are
glad. Therefore they sacrifice to their
net and burn incense to their dragnet. Because by them their
share is sumptuous and their food plentiful. Shall they therefore
empty their net and continue to slay nations without pity?"
So Habakkuk provides this metaphor. And it's really not hard to piece
the things together. King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon
is the fisherman. And the fish, they're all the
nations that King Nebuchadnezzar has been capturing and taking
captive during his reign of terror. And of course Judah, at some
point in the future from this writing, will be one of those
fish, if you will. And the illustration shows us
of a skilled fisherman, one that is able to locate fish and capture
them in his nets. And so Habakkuk is using this
metaphor to show how prolific the king of Babylon was and how
efficient he and his army are at defeating and capturing those
he wishes to conquer. And Nebuchadnezzar does so without
any conscience whatsoever, but totally out of pride. Habakkuk also tells us in this
text that the Babylonian army, they're just happy about it too.
They're happy about it because of their great success. You and
I would be much the same if we were winning, quote-unquote,
at everything we seem to touch. However, this so-called success
is only a temporary thing as God has already determined Babylon's
ultimate destiny. So in verse 16 we see what we're
just describing, that the Babylonians are giving praise and sacrifice
to their nets. It's interesting to me that the
Babylonians, in this text and looking over the course of time
in history, how man just gives glory and praise to objects that
really have no ability to accomplish anything on their own. And so
basically what we see here is the Babylonians have made their
nets an idol. And what value do we have in
idols? Well Habakkuk also answers that
question in chapter 2 verses 18 and 19, which gives us a very
clear picture of the prophet of an idol. What profit is the
image that its maker should carve it, the molded image, a teacher
of lies, that the maker of its mold should trust in it to make
new idols? Woe to him who says, wood, awake,
to silent stone, arise, it shall teach. Behold, it is overlaid
with gold and silver, yet in it there is no breath at all."
So we see here that idols are just useless objects. And think about it. Nets need
to be thrown and spread into the sea by someone. Nets need
to be retrieved and brought back into the boat by someone. Nets
need to be emptied of their contents by someone. And nets need to
be cleaned by someone. So tell me, what can a net do
on its own? Well, the answer is really obvious,
but clearly we're also seeing that the Babylonians are convinced
that there is a spiritual and godlike characteristic to their
nets. But lest we be too critical,
we today have our own idols, and many times we do not even
see them or realize it, or maybe we just choose not to. So notice the reason the Babylonians
are worshiping their nets. And it says in the verse, because
by them their share is sumptuous and their food is plentiful.
That word sumptuous is just like saying it's large, it's great,
and it's lavish. They believe their nets are responsible
for the catch. But really a good fisherman knows
where the fish are. Well, I want to try to make a
connection here with a passage from Luke chapter 5, verse 4
through 11, when Jesus told Peter to cast his nets out for a catch. Now, we don't have time to turn
there and read the whole passage, so let me just summarize it here.
Jesus had just finished teaching by the lake of Gethsemane when
he instructed Peter to launch out in the deep and to drop his
nets. Well, Peter answered him and just kind of, I don't want
to say protested, but he just said, look, we fished all night.
We haven't caught a thing. We didn't even get a nibble.
However, Peter still did as instructed, and he caught so much fish, he
ended up having to get people on the shore to help him get
the fish in. And so after all that was done,
and Jesus told his disciples, his astonished disciples, to
not be afraid, because going forward they would now be fishers
of men. And so this connection that I'm
trying to make here is between God raising up the Babylonians
and granting them success to teach Judah a lesson, and Jesus
giving Peter and the disciples success, to teach them a lesson. So notice, God is the one who
provides. God is the one who withholds
to accomplish his purposes. In both these text passage and
the Luke passage, we see the redemptive nature of God. In
Habakkuk, God is using the success of a pagan nation to bring his
chosen people back to himself. And in the Luke passage, God
is going to use his disciples to bring many to faith and repentance. And then in verse 17, we kind
of see this wash, rinse, repeat process going on. God allows this evil pagan nation
to ravage the land and conquer people after people. And it will
just continue until God accomplishes His plan. And so verse 17 shows
us, they shall therefore empty their net and continue to slay
nations without pity. So let's not lose sight of verse
6 of chapter 1, where God had answered Habakkuk in his first
complaint to say, for indeed I am raising up the Chaldeans.
God is responsible for Nebuchadnezzar's and Babylon's success, not the
nation, not the people. Because there is a limit that
God will not allow the Babylonian people to cross. He has already
established boundaries and they are not going to be changed.
So an application I think we can draw from this is that success
comes from God, not from us. We need to consider, though,
what true success looks like. We, as people, we tend to attribute
it to people who have wealth or position, and they travel
in the right circles, you know, they're just well-connected.
This may be the case, this may be a true thing, but I want to
point out that success most often shows up in the lives of people
who live their lives in the shadow versus the limelight. Their needs
are met. They don't have great wealth,
but they're provided for, and they provide for people as they
can, even though that provision may be very small. But they honor
God with their lives, and He uses them, often quietly, but
nonetheless greatly. And another thing to consider
with this is when it's all said and done, and we stand before
the judgment seat of Christ, our works are going to be tested
by fire. And it's the ones that make it through the fire that
are going to show success. Everything else is going to be
burned up and discarded. So in conclusion this morning,
let's take a moment and remind ourselves of where we've come.
Habakkuk complains about the condition of Judah and the fact
that he's been crying out about this for some time, and about
how the land has been filled with violence. And God replied
to his complaint, informing Habakkuk of his plan to use the Chaldeans.
Then Habakkuk communicates his second complaint, which we've
just walked through. And as far as this little book is concerned,
this was the last recorded complaint of Habakkuk. It seems he has
said his piece almost like he's kind of over it at this point
and exasperated. And so the prophet kind of concludes
here with being a little bit stoic. He's preparing to be reproved
or corrected. I kind of get a sense Habakkuk
knows he's maybe come close to crossing the line with God in
his complaint. So listen what the prophet concludes
with his remarks. Verse 1 of chapter 2, I will
stand by watch and set myself on the rampart and watch to see
what he will say to me and what I will answer when I am corrected.
So Habakkuk is going to stop talking and he's going to just
take up a position, if you will. Notice he's going to stand his
watch. And this word means to stop or to be still and to cease. The word watch also indicates
that he's doing his duty by guarding and keeping and preserving. So
these are both military terms. And he goes on to say he's going
to set himself on a rampart. In other words, he's placed himself
in a strategic place so he can observe and listen for God to
reply. However, Habakkuk just isn't
waiting to hear from God again, but contemplating how he's going
to respond to God when God corrects him. I find this really kind
of interesting, because it almost gives a feel like the prophet
preparing his remarks even before God speaks to him to defend himself. It's really kind of an interesting
tension in the text at this point. But here's the application. Habakkuk
stopped complaining and stopped talking. He prepared and set
himself in a place to wait and listen for God to speak to him
and instruct him. And so often we are prone to
pray and do all the talking. We ask our questions, we complain
about stuff, and we have our list of requests, and on and
on and on we go. All the while, God can't get
a word in edgewise because we just won't stop talking. So when
was the last time you sat silently listening for God's instruction
or direction? Let me ask you this, how much
heartache and frustration would we have avoided if we had just
stopped talking and listened? We live in a fast-paced world.
Everything's expected to be instantaneous. And this is our world. But God
has not changed. He is the same yesterday, today,
and forever. And He is not controlled by a
clock. Something maybe I should learn,
as my wife will tell you. God will work in His time. And
He's always going to be on time. He's not going to be early, and
He's not going to be late. Now with the new year approaching,
we find hope in the fact that God is already in our future.
He has already ordered his plans for us and he will accomplish
them. Just like here with Habakkuk. God told Habakkuk what he's going
to do. That's all future. But even though
God was going to carry out this judgment that was going to result
in a 70 year captivity, God was still with his people and still
going to bring them back. Same with us today as we end
2018 and move into 2019. Let's not go into 2019 with fear. God is already there. Some of
our circumstances, we just may carry them into 2019. We may
come across new circumstances. Some of them may not be the best.
But from God's perspective, they are the best because He only
acts in our lives for our good and for His glory and for no
other reason. So we have to learn to look at
our circumstances from a different perspective, and that is from
an eternal perspective. But I want to end our time this
morning with a very familiar passage that we read, really,
every Christmas. But I think it kind of bridges
between our old year and new year, and it's Isaiah chapter
9, verses 6 and 7. For unto us a child is born,
unto us a son is given, and the government will be upon his shoulder.
And his name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting
Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government
and peace there will be no end. Upon the throne of David and
over his kingdom to order it and to establish it with judgment
and justice from that time forward even forever. The zeal of the
Lord of hosts will perform this. Let's pray.
From Why To Worship 2 - Habakkuk's Charge
Series From Why To Worship - Habakkuk
Habakkuk cries to the Lord to explain and fulfill His promises for His people in the face of impending disaster
| Sermon ID | 1319654160 |
| Duration | 34:50 |
| Date | |
| Category | Sunday Service |
| Bible Text | Habakkuk 1:12 |
| Language | English |
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