We'll turn in your Bibles if you would to the book of Habakkuk. We are back in this series. It's been a couple of weeks. We had our pastors conference and so really excited to have Michael Barr preach while we were gone and then my good friend and roommate Peter Sample. That was neat to have him here last week. But now we're back in Habakkuk and it's been a minute and so we're going to take just a moment to to review what's going on in the world of Habakkuk, so we're gonna review for just a moment. Here's our map just the politics of what's going on right now Is that Babylon is rising to power and Assyria is decreasing in power? But Egypt doesn't like it. So they're gonna head north and try and stop Babylon. There's gonna be a battle there eventually but on the way guess where they march through Judah and and Judah doesn't exactly like that. Josiah was the king at the moment and he was a great king. I mean there's this one shining moment where there's all these reforms going on in the nation. He's an amazing king but he does go out to battle here and maybe not the best idea because in the battle he dies. And that leaves the throne. I mean, Egypt's like the Pharaoh has plans. You have time to come around and set up kingdoms here. He's interested in Babylon. So he sets up after Josiah, Josiah's son, King Jehoahaz. He's there for a grand total of three months. That's great. He doesn't do awesome. uh... the pharaoh says okay your brother to wake and he can be king and these guys are just rotten kings i mean i think uh... that the the text we read about king joy again that he if it's something like he filled jerusalem with blood like he's just a wicked king and so how back it is a profit and all this is going on right now and he sees a world filled with evil and he's questioning uh... the whole uh... Let's see. Yes, Egypt is going through here. I've got my slides mixed up. He sees Babylon rising to power, but he also sees the wickedness of his own nation. And so he's asking God, won't you discipline my own people? Like we're abandoning you. And God has a plan. He's going to use Babylon to rise to power. And Babylon did rise to power. And at this point, they haven't taken the nation captive. They haven't destroyed the temple and all that just yet. But they are paying tribute now to Babylon and not Egypt. And Habakkuk, so here's how the book's organized. He has his first complaint with God. And then, how come you're sitting idle, he keeps asking. And then God responds, He says, I'm not idle, I'm raising up the Babylonians. God says, I'm raising them up. And Habakkuk's just like, what? That's what you're doing? That's his second complaint. And we looked at that last time. Habakkuk's really struggling because God is holy. And so he's saying, okay, God, how does this work? You're holy and you can't just let sin run rampant. But then you say you're raising up the wicked Babylonians to come and discipline us like doesn't that count as letting sin run rampant. And so like these things can't mix together. And so he's confused he's upset. He ends by saying I will take my stand. This is back to verse 1. I will take my stand at my watch post and station myself on the tower and look out to see what he God what he will say to me. And what I will answer concerning my complaint. He sets this really good example for us. He's confused and upset at God. And when you're upset at God, when you have problems with God, take your problems about God to God and let him teach you. And that's what he does. And so God is going to respond. And that's what we're going to look at tonight. God responding to Habakkuk, wondering how can you be holy and raise up an evil nation to do your work? And God's going to answer that. That's what really next time we'll look at Habakkuk's prayer of praise. That's how the book ends. So it's this conversation you see. But really tonight we're looking at God's second reply. Second time God has replied to Habakkuk. Habakkuk, he's going to give Habakkuk a vision. And Habakkuk is supposed to write the vision down. It's verses, if you have your Bibles open, Habakkuk chapter 2, it's verses 4 through verse 20. But before God gives that vision, he is like, here's the vision coming. But first, I've got some instructions for what you're supposed to do to that vision with that vision. And that's verses two and three. And so here's what it is, God's instructions regarding the vision he's about to give. Let's read those verses. Habakkuk chapter two, starting in verse two. And the Lord answered me. Write the vision and make it plain on tablets so he may run who reads it. For still the vision awaits its appointed time. It hastens to the end. It will not lie, meaning deceive. If it seems slow, I love this verse, if it seems slow, wait for it. It will surely come. It will not delay. Habakkuk has kind of been railing against God. How come you're idle? How can you do this? And God is so patient with Habakkuk. He doesn't come at him with fire and fury, but he has this patience as he responds. A couple of instructions that Habakkuk is supposed to do. Number one, he's supposed to write down the vision. And so we saw in verse two, he said, make it plain on tablets. That's interesting because sometimes the prophets are writing on parchment or scrolls. In fact, you see that sometimes, you see a king that's like burning the scroll of the prophet. This is different. You're supposed to write this on tablets. Is there another story in the Bible where God comes and gives big instructions on tablets? Think about Moses and the commandments. It kind of says something about whatever this vision I think is going to be. It's kind of saying this is a big deal. So write it on tablets and then it says here's why I make it plain so that he may run who reads it. What on the world does that mean that he may run who reads it. Well the idea is that the person who hears it would run like a messenger. to spread the word. So write it on tablets so people can see it and then others take the message and run with it and spread the message. Jeremiah 23 kind of shows that for you. Notice how running is kind of identical to prophesied. God's condemning prophets that he didn't send. I did not send the prophets, yet they ran. I did not speak to them, yet they prophesied. OK, so can you see in verse two so that he may run? Read this. It's basically saying being a prophet. So people will see this message I'm going to give on the tablets and then they're going to spread the word. So, number one, he's supposed to write it down, verses 2 through 20. Second, he's supposed to be patient. That's instruction number two, be patient. Listen to the end of verse 3. If it seems slow, wait for it. It will surely come, it will not delay. Here's what the vision is going to be, just kind of spoiler alert. By the way, Habakkuk, I'm going to discipline Babylon. Yeah, I'm raising them up to discipline Judah, but I'm going to judge them for their wickedness as well. And I love what God's saying. It's like he's saying, you know what, Habakkuk, sometimes the things that I'm doing in the world seem slow. Does that ever happen with you? Boy, that happens with me sometimes. I'm like, I see the evil in the world and I'm like, uh, hello. Like I'm looking at the window. God, aren't you going to do anything about this? I love that God just sometimes sets us, you know, if it seems slow, if my justice seems slow to you, that's going to happen sometimes, but wait for it. Wait for it. If it were to go, if it seems slow, wait for it. It will surely come. The justice will surely come. It will not delay. In other words, if it's the right time, it won't be missing for the judgment. This is something Habakkuk really needed here because he's blaming God, you're being idle, you're being idle, you're not doing anything. From our perspective, sometimes it seems like God isn't doing a thing. I think that's kind of the same thing as Habakkuk. He looks around and sees the evil around him. He's like, God, you're not doing anything. God says, I know sometimes it seems slow. And God does not lie. Did you see that in verse 2? If it hastens to the end, it will not lie. God is a God who cannot lie. Titus tells us, in Numbers tells us. So these are the instructions about the vision. Number one, write it down so that people can see the message and take it on. Interestingly, there's a verse in the vision that is quoted three times in the New Testament. Other people are taking the words of Habakkuk that God's going to say, and they're running with it like messengers, Paul and author of Hebrews. OK, here's let me just give you an overview of the vision. So again, God, Habakkuk says, God, how come you're not? How can you raise up an evil nation? And God basically saying, And I know the Babylon is wicked. I know that. I'm not just going to let them off the hook. It's kind of like it would be one thing Habakkuk if I was just going to raise them up and discipline Judah and then let them off the hook and never bring any justice to them. That would be unjust. But that's not what I'm doing. And here in this chapter 2 is God explaining here's why this fits with my holiness. I'm not just turning a blind eye on sin. I will bring justice to those Babylonians. Here's the thing. And just kind of pause here. We have to understand something about the justice of God. We want justice on my timetable. Like as I look at wicked rulers around the world and and wicked people in leadership, I go like, God, I need justice today. God will bring justice to every sin. There's no such thing as a sin that God does not punish. But God has the right as God to execute justice on his timetable. The fact that sometimes God's waiting to execute justice like he's waiting to bring on the Babylonians doesn't mean he's unjust. I think that just this is a hang up for a lot of people. A lot of people like I can't believe in God because I see the wickedness in the world. And so therefore God can't be good. He can't be a holy God. So like I can't believe in God. But like listen. God doesn't have to do his justice on your timetable. He will bring justice. And that's, I think, a big part of the lesson from this book. God's saying, if it seems slow, wait. It won't delay. It will come at the right time. Now, this actually raises a big question, and you have to ask the question in order to understand the next couple of verses. If judgment is coming, and it is, who can live through God's judgment. Here's the thing. Judgment is coming. It's coming. It comes in history like it would eventually come to Babylon. God would judge. But it also comes at the end of time when Christ returns. If judgment is coming, if God's going to pour his wrath out on the earth, who in the world can live? Who can survive that judgment of God? Think about Habakkuk today. Judah is going to be disciplined for their wickedness. And Babylon's going to be judged for their wickedness. And like, who does that leave? Who's not going to be judged by God? Who exactly does get to live? And here's where we find the answer. It's really the next point. God will judge the wicked, but the righteous will live. Look at verse four. Who exactly does get to live? Behold, his soul is puffed up. It is not upright within him, but the righteous shall live. by his faith. God's just judgment is coming on the world. And who is going to live? Who can survive? It's the righteous. These are the ones who live because of their faith, by means of their faith. This verse, like I said, Paul quotes it in Romans and Galatians, and then the author of Hebrews quotes it. One of the commentaries I read this week said it took just about three books of the Bible to unpack this one book, this one verse, I should say. This is the big question of life God's judgment is coming. How can you escape and the New Testament writers are saying here's how You escape you live when you come to God and trust in him and believe him Okay, so verses four and five they're trying they're saying this God judges the wicked but the righteous will live and The first part of verse 4 talks about his soul is puffed up. I think it's talking about the Babylonians here. Remember they said their God is their strength. They're puffed up. They're arrogant. Then look at verse 5. It kind of describes an arrogant man. It says his greed is as wide as Sheol. It says like death he never has enough. He gathers for himself all nations and collects his own as his own all peoples. In other words, Babylon's going around and they're like, yeah, I'm going to take your stuff and your stuff and your stuff and we're just going to be in charge. That's the wicked man. They're going to be judged but the righteous will live only when they come to God in faith. And so question for you. God's judgment is coming at the end of history. God's judgment is coming and it's coming for your sin and my sin. Will you survive that judgment only comes living only comes when you come to him in faith. OK. Babylon does not repent. They don't come to God in faith. And so the rest of the chapter is describing, here's what's going to happen to Babylon, Habakkuk. Justice is coming to them. I'm not letting them off the hook. The rest of the chapter is actually, it's like a taunt. It's a taunt. Look at verse 6. Shall not all these take up their taunt against him, the men of Babylon, with scoffing and riddles for him, and say... Okay, it's going to go on from there. There's this five-fold taunt against Babylon. It's an interesting genre in scripture, taunt poetry. God is saying, all of these will taunt you. Who are all these? Look back at verse 5, it's all the nations, all the people that Babylon had consumed. All of them will taunt you. Each taunt starts with the word or includes the word woe. And that word woe is important. It can mean like warning or watch out. But you can also translate it. Ha. Funny. That's one of the ways you can translate that word. Ha. And it's kind of a mocking. It's a you're going to get what's coming to you. Babylon. Verse 6 says they're going to give all the nations that were consumed by Babylon the days coming. They're going to be the ones scoffing and giving riddles to the Babylonians. OK. So let's look at each. Taunt here First one is this the Babylonians who plundered would themselves be plundered Look at the rest of verse 6 woe to him who heaps up. What is not his own? Babylonians they're doing doing this right there stealing everybody's stuff for how long and loads himself with pledges will not your debtors suddenly arise and those who Awake who? And those awake who will make you tremble then you will be spoiled for them Because you have plundered many nations all the remnants of the people shall plunder you Babylon for the blood of man and violence to the earth to cities and to all who dwell on them. I So Babylon, they came and they just took whatever they wanted, they heaped up riches, but then they load themselves up with pledges. In other words, if stealing everybody's stuff wasn't bad enough, then they go around and say, oh, and by the way, you owe us a little bit more too. So they're heaping up pledges. But the day is coming, God's saying the day is coming when all those people you did that to, they're gonna rise up and quote, you will be spoil for them because you have plundered many nations, all the remnant of the peoples will plunder you. First, taunt. Babylonians, they plundered, but they're going to be plundered. And this happens, by the way, in history. Second, woe or taunt. The Babylonians are storing up shame for themselves. See, they thought they were storing up glory for themselves. In all their efforts, in all the things they're doing, they think they're building glory for themselves. They're really just storing up shame for themselves. Look at verse 9, 10, and 11. Woe to him who gets evil gain for his house, to set his nest on high, to be safe from the reach of harm. You have devised shame for your house by cutting off many peoples. You have forfeited your life, for the stone will cry out from the wall and the beam from the woodwork respond. Babylonians had stolen from other nations to go and build their own building projects here. It looks like they've stolen Great stones from other places and great beans or wood from other places They brought it back poetically here to build their own nests and they're thinking no one can get us That word nest made me think of remember Hitler's Eagles nest and It's it's this amazing Retreat in the Alps and Hitler would retreat here And just there's these incredible windows. I didn't get a picture of it but there's all their pictures of the Allies when they come through and They're just throwing a party at this Eagles nest because they captured it kind of a little Illustration kind of what's going on here the Babylonians they're bringing they're stealing Stone and beams from other nations bringing it back and they're building their own nests in Babylon, but but what's gonna happen to them? They're gonna be destroyed themselves. In fact, look at that last verse is really interesting. The stone will cry out from the wall It's kind of like the very stones that you stole against other people to build your stuff is gonna bear witness against you It's gonna cry out from the wall the beams The beam from the woodwork will respond and So, they think we're building glory for ourselves. They're building shame for themselves. Second, taunt. Third, taunt or woe. The violent efforts of the Babylonians will come to nothing. Verses 12, 13, and 14. Woe to him who builds a town with blood and founds a city on iniquity. Behold is it not from the Lord of hosts that people's labor merely for fire and Nations weary themselves for nothing for the earth will be filled. Oh this can't rush this for the earth will be filled With the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea They had built Babylon had built their Empire on blood They think we are getting ahead in life and But, you know, the reality is they maybe were at the top of the ladder for a little moment in history, but all their success just went up in smoke. Another translation rendered, verse 13, as be sure of this, the Lord of heaven's armies has decreed the nation's efforts will go up in smoke. Their exhausting work will be for nothing. I think that's the idea of you're working for fire. Well, how long does a fire last? About a day. I love how the comment here, the Lord of hosts, just kind of thrown in like, oh yeah, by the way, the guy who actually has a host of angel armies at his back, like he's the one who's bringing your efforts to nothing. The phrase from verse 14 comes up in Isaiah as well. Isaiah 11 says, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters covers the sea. You know the day is coming. Jesus is going to come back and he's going to make a new heaven and a new earth and you won't miss the glory of the Lord like like any more than a fish in the middle of the sea can miss the ocean. Like that's how you can't miss the glory of the Lord when God makes a new heaven a new earth like it's going to be everywhere. So you think Babylon Babylonians that you're bringing up glory for yourself. Well, guess who's really going to get the glory? Your efforts come to nothing but God's efforts last. Next theme is very similar to this. The Babylonians will receive shame instead of glory. Verse 15, 16 and 17. Woe to him who makes his neighbors drink. You pour out your wrath and make them drunk in order to gaze at their nakedness. You will have your fill of shame instead of glory. Drink yourself. and show your own circumcision. The cup of the Lord's right hand will come around to you. Utter shame will come upon your glory. The violence done to Lebanon will overwhelm you. Lebanon, probably a way of describing Israel, the people of Israel. The violence done to Lebanon will overwhelm you, as will the destruction of the beast that terrified them. For the blood of man and violence to the earth, to cities and all who dwell in them. In the Bible, sometimes wrath is portrayed as drink that's in a cup. And so, like God pours out, or like the bowls of wrath. Jesus says, let this cup pass from me. Well, here, it's like the Babylonians, they have their own cup of wrath that they're pouring out on the other nations. And other nations are made, they're forcing other to, you pour out your wrath and make them drunk, verse 15. Other nations are drinking the cup of their wrath and they're being humiliated. But what goes around comes around. God's wrath will come to Babylon. Verse 16, the cup in the Lord's right hand will come around to you. Utter shame will come upon your glory. So they did violence to other nations, but that will come back to them. Fifth and final taunt, the Babylonians who trusted in idols will have no one to guide them. Verse 18, 19, and 20, to finish the chapter. What profit is an idol when its maker has shaped it, a metal image, a teacher of lies? For its maker trusts in his own creation when he makes speechless idols. Woe to him who says to a wooden thing, awake, to a silent stone, arise. Can this teach? Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver. There is no breath at all in it. But the Lord is in His holy temple. Let all the earth keep silence before Him." Foolish Babylonians. I mean, they're making their own idols. Got a rock here. You got a chunk of wood over there. They carve them up. I love how God asks, can this teach? Like, can this really guide you? I love how God takes pride in the kind of God He is. He takes pride in the fact, like, I'm a God who guides. I'm a God who teaches. It's almost like God is offended here. Like, you're going to this thing to teach you and guide you? I'm the one that's good at this. I'm the one that teaches and guides. When you look to a rock for guidance, surprise, surprise, you're not going to get much guidance. The chapter ends, though, with this verse. It's just boom, like mic drop, kind of. Those idols, I mean, they're nothing. But the Lord is in His holy temple. Let all the earth keep silence before Him. Those idols are nothing, but God exists, and His temple exists, and He's in His temple. And the right response is awe and silence before God. Do you hear what God's saying to Habakkuk? Habakkuk is saying, God, how can you just let their wickedness run rampant? And God responds, I'm not. It might seem slow. My justice might seem slow to you. And if it does, wait, because it's not going to be late. Babylon did fall you can read about it in 539 BC Cyrus defeated the nation of Babylon after Babylon came a new empire the Medes and Persians Everything God says did come true So here's God's response to Habakkuk Next time is a beautiful chapter Habakkuk has complained to God. He brought his problems about God to God He allowed God to teach him and mold his perspective on God and then he's gonna sing the song of prayer and praise to God next week, but For now a couple application points God's judgment does come it does come it comes in the middle of history it came to Babylon it comes to different people like Hitler other people throughout history and But it also comes when God judges the entire world. Part of what we do as Christians is we are to warn people that this judgment is coming. There are some people sometimes we want to witness to the world and we just kind of tiptoe around and I get like sometimes people like enjoy just yelling at the other side and so we don't want to do that. Sometimes we just avoid, though, the reality that God's wrath is coming against sin. Part of what we are to do is to warn the world. But there's a difference between warning people and yelling at people. I heard that quote somewhere in the last week. I can't for the life of me remember how I heard that. So if somehow someone's watching online and I stole that from you, OK. There's a difference between warning and yelling at people. Let's not yell at people because we like to yell at people. But a heartfelt warning that says God's judgment against sin is coming. How do you escape? How can anyone escape? And the verse that's quoted so many times in the New Testament is this, the righteous will live by faith. And that same message is true today. God's judgment comes. But if you will turn to Him in this repentant faith, you will live. So, will you live when God's judgment comes? Second thing is this just got sometimes it looks like God's being idle. Sometimes it looks like God's not bringing justice. Don't let that trip you up. God has the right to bring justice on his timetable. And like Habakkuk, it's good for us to say, OK, God, you can do things in your own time and in your own way. Let's pray. God, we thank you for your word. Thank you that you do bring justice and we can trust you in that. We pray this all in Christ's name. Amen.