For the next several weeks, we will turn to the book of Habakkuk. Did you do your homework? Did you find it in your Bibles? By the way, there's a real good tool in the front of your Bible called the Table of Contents. And listen, I'm telling you, for a book like Habakkuk that you may read occasionally, you might forget exactly where it falls in the Minor Prophets. It is after the book of Nahum and before the book of, let me remember, on the spur of the moment, sometimes I don't. Before Zephaniah, that's correct. And for those of you that think I did not have a Sunday school teacher that made me memorize all of the books of the Bible, I did, but I have found sometimes I have to work my way around the minor prophets. So if you have that difficulty, I'm with you at times. But Habakkuk, the book of Habakkuk deals with in a general way, with the problem of injustice in the world. The prophet observed it in his land among his people. But then that question got even bigger when he hears from God. In his land among his people, evil never seemed to be punished. And the prophet asked God why there is no response To evil, what is your response going to be to the evil and suffering? Mark Dever, pastor at Capitol Hills Baptist Church in Washington, D.C., mentioned in a book he wrote, some today simply say, oh, well, that's the way the world is. Okay, if that's your response to what we've been going through the last several months in our nation, Well, that's not a good one, okay? There needs to be more provoking of the spirit. He also says, cynics today will conclude, if there is a God, I'm sure he doesn't care. Now, that's a wrong response as well. In the book of Habakkuk, we have God's prophet voicing questions that we've likely had throughout our lives and maybe particularly now. And we have God answering those questions. Now, let me give you fair warning. It may not be the answer you expect or want. It requires you to trust God and God's providence, which is in place, working things out at this very moment. Let me give you some historical context. Habakkuk was a contemporary of Jeremiah, Nahum, and Zephaniah. And this is at the end of the existence of Judah as a nation before it was exiled to Babylon. The northern kingdom of Israel had already been conquered by Assyria. Babylon was about to emerge as the new world power. They weren't a threat yet. Nebuchadnezzar would be its world leader. Habakkuk had seen, just think of this, he had seen the reforms of King Josiah. And if you read about that in Kings and Chronicles, there was a rooting out of idolatry in a major way and a reinstating of God's will, God's law on the people and in worship. Josiah died when he challenged, not at God's direction by the way, he challenged the Egyptian army. He died in that battle. His son Jehoahaz reigned three months and the king of Egypt deposed him and made his brother king and called him Jehoiakim. I believe that's who's in power, as Habakkuk writes, most likely. 2 Chronicles 36.5 says of Jehoiakim, he did evil in the sight of the Lord. Many kings have that epitaph. Jehoiakim is one of those. Habakkuk writes the book most likely about 607 BC, before Babylon came, before they were thought of even as a big threat before they came and defeated Judah and Jerusalem. He writes the book provoked in spirit, observing sin that has come back into the land, and he's crying out to God. Point one, Habakkuk is speaking, do something, God. Let's read what he says. The introduction in verse one, the oracle, which Habakkuk the prophet saw. Oracle means divine revelation of something God is about to do. Prophet, God's authorized spokesman. And notice the word saw, probably in this context, what he received and understood. It's not said to be a vision, but it's a question answer with God. So he receives it, he understands it, he saw what God was going to do. And here he cries out, verse two, how long, O Lord, will I call for help and you not hear? Look at that. I don't know if your heart has ever been there. I'm not sure mine has in the same way, certainly as Habakkuk's. But basically it's saying, Lord, and he's recalling the covenant name, Yahweh, ever existing, self-sufficient God. You don't hear my prayer for help. Because if you did hear my prayer for help, you would respond. How long will you not hear? That's what he's saying to God. And certainly he knew God's character. You who are the Lord God, compassionate, gracious, Exodus 34, 6 and 7. Slow to anger, abounding in loving kindness and truth, who keeps loving kindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression, and sin, yet he will by no means leave the guilty unpunished. Visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations. Oh, Lord, why won't you hear me? I cry out to you. Violence. Yet you do not save. The innocent, Lord, are suffering. Why do you make me see iniquity and cause me to look on wickedness? Yes, destruction and violence are before me. Strife exists and contention arises." He's looking upon a land where sin is going unpunished by God and by just law and order principles. Sin going unpunished is more and more the norm, the fabric of society. And he's crying out, Lord, your inactivity, accusing God, your inactivity is allowing wicked people to dominate Judah. Therefore the law is ignored, verse four, and justice is never upheld. So if he's saying we have a law, but it's ignored, it's not enforced, there's a breakdown, of the social order. For wicked, verse 4, for the wicked surround the righteous, therefore justice comes out perverted. The righteous rule of law, even among those who would still enact it, is compromised because the lawless among Judah have influence now and power. Coming down from the king, Jehoiakim. He was a ruthless and merciless ruler who cut up the scroll that Jeremiah made for him. He threatened the lives of Jeremiah and his scribe, Baruch, and killed another prophet. So Habakkuk is saying, we need an intervention. But God, you're silent. Why do you tolerate wrong among your chosen people? Perhaps God, or perhaps Habakkuk had in mind a revival of God's law and order. Another reformer like Josiah. But Habakkuk saw the dishevel of the culture as he prayed for it. And what he saw contradicted what he understood about God and God's holiness and God's justice. Now I want you to understand something. Habakkuk had a very high view of God or he wouldn't have prayed with such questions. God, you're righteous, you're holy, do something, do something. Well, we come to point two, God answers. And God says, I am, I am doing something. Look among the nations, verse five, observe, be astonished, wonder, these are plural imperatives, you and others with you, look, observe, be astonished, wonder, and the imperatives indicate urgency, as in, look now, because I am doing something in your days. You would not believe it, or you would not believe if you were told. I am at work, Habakkuk, in a way you would not believe if anyone other than me told you. If someone other than God would have come up to Habakkuk, even another prophet probably, and told him what God was about to tell him, that Babylon was going to conquer Judah, the prophet would have thought God would not do that. He would not use a people that we have heard are that violent, that lawless. And besides, Babylon is not a threat to us, he might have thought. One of the helpful lessons from the book of Habakkuk for us all is that God does know what is happening worldwide. I mean, look at his answer. I am doing something in your days. So if we're wondering what's happening to our world, well, God is saying, I am doing something in your days. He's not aloof. He's not oblivious to wickedness. He's not uncaring of its effects in his time and in his way for Habakkuk and for this world judgment. will come, look at verse six. For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans, or Babylonians as we more commonly refer to them. They will be my arm, in other words, to punish the wickedness of Judah. Now they were located to the east in the land occupied by modern Iraq today. I'm raising them up, that fierce and impetuous people who marched throughout the earth to seize dwelling places which are not theirs." So God will answer violence with a violent and greedy world power. Verse seven, they are dreaded and feared. Their justice and authority originate within themselves. Notice that. They make their own laws as it suits Their thirst for power and possessions and violence and terror are the result. And that is a pattern that sadly, but truly we see throughout history. Man's desires shape his view of truth. And if he wants to say God, his view of God in a way that he is for free to pursue his desires by any means. The Holocaust was an example of that. Forced slavery, an example of that. Chop in Seattle and the occupied territory in DC, if it's still intact, is an example of that. God is clear in scripture that he has used other nations in the past to punish Israel, but Habakkuk is thinking the pagan bloodthirsty Chaldeans, Well, God doesn't stop in verse seven. He continues to recite their credentials. Look at them. Their horses are swifter than leopards and keener than wolves. Notice the animals that are mentioned, leopards and wolves. In the evening, their horsemen come galloping, their horsemen come afar. They fly like eagles swooping down to devour. What do you see in common with leopards, wolves, and eagles? Well, they are fast, powerful, hungry, effective hunters, and they hunt. It's what they're made to do, and that's what they do well. In the sudden appearance of spear-carrying horsemen and mounted bowmen, we're going to cause great fear on the land of Judah. Verse nine, all of them come for violence. So there's no chance for peace talks. Their horde of faces moves forward. There's no hope of defense. They collect captives like sand. All of us have been on the beach, played with sand in a bucket. Like grains of sand, many in number will be captive. They mock at kings and rulers are a laughing matter to them. They laugh at every fortress and heap up rubble to capture it. Well, there were some that thought Jerusalem would never be captured. But these are fearless people. They're underrated. They'll do whatever is necessary to succeed. A method of defeating a walled city like Jerusalem was to form a ramp of stone and dirt. And from what I understand, they would climb that ramp behind a wheeled We'll just call it a war machine from which they would shoot directly as they got close enough to the defenders on the wall, and they would come in and overtake the city. They would not be stopped. Verse 11, then they will sweep through like the wind and pass on. Their momentum is unstoppable, God is saying. But, verse 11, don't miss this. God knows what he's doing. He knows who they are, but they will be held guilty. They whose strength is their God. God will providentially use the Babylonians, a sinful people, to accomplish his will and then hold them guilty for what they have done. And all sin will be punished. Now, if that's a new thought to you, it should not be if you are a reader of the Bible. God providentially uses sinners in the accomplishment of his will. We know this to be true in the scriptures here and elsewhere. Joseph's brothers sold him into slavery because of jealous hatred. And when they faced him in his position of power that he rose to in Egypt, they feared his reprisal because they had sinned against him. They had done evil. And in that moment, they were evil. But Joseph says to them in Genesis 50 verses 19 and 20, do not be afraid for am I in God's place as for you, you meant evil against me. Listen to what he says, but God meant it for good. in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive. God providentially uses sinners in the accomplishment of his will. Think of Pharaoh of Egypt. Pharaoh of Egypt was a wicked man that God used. And in Romans 9, verse 17, Paul writes, for the scripture says to Pharaoh, for this very purpose, I raised you up to demonstrate my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed throughout the whole earth. God providentially uses sinners in the accomplishment of his will. The greatest example of this is in the crucifixion of Jesus. Acts 2.22 and following. Men of Israel, listen to these words Peter preaches. Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through him in your midst. Just as you yourselves know this man delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, note that, you nailed to a cross, that was wicked, by the hands of godless men, they were wicked, and put him to death. And a part of that wicked plan that God providentially used just to give you a detail of it, was Judas' betrayal of Jesus for 30 pieces of silver, which in remorse, he threw into the temple, which money was used to purchase Potter's Field. Why did this come to my mind? Because I am going through the 2020 Faith Challenge. And we read this week in Matthew 27, nine and 10, that which was spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled. They took the 30 pieces of silver, the price of the one whose price had been set by the sons of Israel and they gave them for the potter's field as the Lord directed me. So let us be amazed, let us be humbled, let us be assured of God's detailed providence and his use of the wicked in his plans. Amen? Solomon gives the principle of God's sovereign province in Proverbs 16, verse four. Amazing verse. Proverbs 16, four. You know, I apologize for not giving you in the outline the references. I did not think we had room for all of that, but I see that we did, so I'm gonna start doing it again. Proverbs 16, verse four. The Lord has made everything, for its own purpose. I agree with that. But here's where you trust God. Even the wicked for the day of evil. God's providence embraces the evil going on in our world at this very moment. Now, that's a statement I make by faith. I cannot explain all of it. I don't know all of the evil going on or how God is going to use it. And Habakkuk, as a prophet of God, is saying, Well, we're gonna see what he says next week. It didn't sit right with Habakkuk, okay? That God would use a more sinful people than Judah to punish Judah's sins. That's what he's crying out to God about, but you're gonna use them? That's his dilemma. And so he pushes back, and then God answers him again. And we'll start looking at that next week. The implications, let's look at them. I think I've written down four. Number one, humble yourself in the sight of the Lord. By that I mean in this passage, take honest questions and doubt to God. It's what Habakkuk gives us an example of. To face honest questions and doubt, here's what I mean, in communion with God. To voice them in prayer, not to just stew about them in our heart apart from communion with God. G. Campbell Morgan writes, a great value of this book is that it reveals a man who, in the presence of this problem, stated it to God rather than made it the occasion of unbelief. You know, we talk in life about giving someone the benefit of the doubt. That better be a given toward God. If you have doubts about it, you better give Him the benefit of the doubt and find out where you need to be thinking. We bring our doubts. We wait on Him for understanding that, listen, may or may not come. But we lean not on our own understanding. Well, God received the question, Lord, how long? Why? That is, how can God's patience with evil be consistent with his holiness? So the humble yourself in the sight of the Lord means can you receive God's answer? Can you live by faith if that's a question in your heart? One writer said, a sovereign God has the incontestable prerogative of dealing with the wicked in his own time and way. I'm gonna read it again, see if you agree with it, see if you can make it a matter of faith in your heart. A sovereign God has the incontestable prerogative of dealing with the wicked in his own time and way. And I would say along with that, whether we perceive it or not, God is working out his purposes. God in his providence is always at work. God, how long? Why don't you do something? And God's answer to him, I am. I am doing something. What's his answer today? I am doing something. I read this week, Psalm 131. And in there is this statement, O Lord, My heart is not proud, nor my eyes haughty, David, praying, nor do I involve myself in great matters or in things too difficult for me." Wow. Some of the thoughts that we have about what's happening or what's about to happen, they're going to be too difficult for us to figure out. But it's right for us to turn to God with them. It's right for us to spread them out before Him Look for wisdom, look for understanding, but always trust Him. Believers, throughout these last days that, according to Scripture, we've been living in and continue to live in, we'll be grieving, but we ought to be provoked in spirit over evil in the world, over drug and sex trafficking, over ruthless violence, over immorality of every kind. And we will ask, how long, Lord? And we will pray, Maranatha, Lord Jesus, come. Peter declares, and it's helpful. Well, of course it's helpful. That was a stupid thing to say. It's timely for what we're talking about here, 2 Peter 3.9. The Lord is not slow about his promise of Jesus' return and judgment to come. as we think about sin in our land. The Lord is not slow about his promises. Some count slowness, but is patient towards you, not wishing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance. So that's one thing that's going on. God is saving souls. And then just a little later down in that chapter, chapter three, verse 15 of second Peter, regard the patience of our Lord as salvation. Amen. Amen. Yes, all sin will be judged. How long, O Lord? I see it, it grieves my heart, especially when the innocent are affected, killed, used. We humble ourself in the sight of the Lord. Number two, acknowledge God as Lord overall. Now this is all over the book of Habakkuk as well. The fact that he can just, I'm gonna use the Chaldeans and use them. God's work on earth, here's what I mean by that. God's work on earth does not have boundaries that it cannot cross. That's important to realize in context, historically, because in that day, in the ancient Near East, they assumed that each nation had their God, and that God was in charge to the boundaries of that nation. Well, no, that's not right with the one who created the heavens and the earth. He is sovereign over the entire earth. He used the Philistines, did he not? He used the Assyrians with the Northern Kingdom of Israel. He's going to use the Babylonians. And then he'll use Cyrus the Mede and so forth. Number three, trust God's justice. He cares about his righteousness and judgment to come. Trust his judgment, verse 11. of chapter one again, then they will sweep through like the wind and pass on. But they, the Babylonians, will be held guilty. They whose strength is their God. Listen, this is important. No one's sin escapes God's justice. It might seem that way. It seemed that way in Peter's day, or Peter talks about the last days and people mocking, where's the promise of his coming? They needed to hear and we need to hear today. No one's sin escapes God's notice. Romans chapter one, verse 18, the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against, three letter word, important, all ungodliness and unrighteousness. Not just some of it. Not just what he notices, all ungodliness and unrighteousness will be satisfied with regard to God's wrath in one way or another. Romans 3.22, there's no distinction. All have sinned, fall short of the glory of God. So we all have to be concerned about this. So we ask the question, is there any hope for you? Is there any hope for me? And the answer is yes. Paul goes on, being justified as a gift by his grace through the redemption, which is in Christ Jesus, whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in his blood through faith, that is his death on the cross, his shedding of blood, propitiated, satisfied the wrath of God against sin. And we appropriate that by faith, through faith. This was to demonstrate God's righteousness, because in the forbearance of God, he passed over the sins previously committed. They weren't judged right away. For the demonstration, I say, of his righteousness at the present time, so that he would be, and he always is, just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. So the one who has faith in Jesus can look to the cross and know God's Wrath has been satisfied there. This is in the category of trusting God's justice. His wrath, I trust that it's been satisfied there. But the one who does not look to the cross must know that when Jesus returns, his wrath will be satisfied then. So as we see and mourn sin in the world, as we contemplate our own sin, we must live by faith, trusting God's justice, praying that more souls would look to Christ and have salvation, but knowing that Jesus will come to judge and God's righteous, holy person will be satisfied. So fourthly, be warned. Be warned. Paul uses God's reply to Habakkuk here as a warning to unbelieving Jews in Acts chapter 13 on his first missionary journey. He says there in chapter 13, verse 40 of Acts, Therefore take heed so that the thing spoken of in the prophets may not come upon you Behold, you scoffers, and marvel, and perish. He's quoting Habakkuk chapter one. For I am accomplishing a work in your days, a work which you will never believe, though someone should describe it to you. So notice what Paul does. He goes back to this passage and uses it as a warning. Just as Habakkuk was thinking, nothing's happening, Lord. Something is going to happen. Paul uses that response of God to the unbelieving Jews. Something's going to happen. And so we, church, we, I, pastor, sound the warning. There is a certain future. for all who reject Jesus as Savior and Lord, a certain future. Let me read it to you. The Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels and flaming fire, dealing out retribution to those who do not know God, to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power. Listen, if your heart, if your spirit has been provoked by things in the world, let us, like Habakkuk, pray honestly about that, but let us hear God's answer. He is accomplishing what he will accomplish in our day and time. We don't know exactly what that is. I don't. And yet we trust him. And at the same time, we warn others. We warn others. Let's pray together. Father, I wanna thank you that you're Your wrath toward my sin, past, present, future, has been completely paid for by Jesus, whom you graciously sent as my Savior and my Lord. Father, I'm disturbed by things in our nation and around the world. I long for Jesus to come back and make all things right. A righteous judgment of sin. But at the same time, Father, I thank you that in your patience you are saving souls. And I pray for any in this room right now who are unsure of where they stand before you. This is a day. of salvation. I pray that they would turn to Christ, trust the Savior that you sent. Save their soul, draw them, I pray. And Father, help us in our times of uncertainty to keep coming to you with a humble heart and to learn from you. Use the book of Habakkuk in our hearts through these summer weeks. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.