Majors In The Minors - Part 6 - Habakkuk

I want to take our attention to our next minor prophet and uh that we're going to be talking about tonight. Um the prophet and I'm going to say this right, Habacook. I looked that up earlier today and I was committed to getting that pronunciation right. So Habacook it is. Uh we know very little about the prophet personally. Um even the meaning of his name is debated. Um it's often associated with the idea of an embrace or one who embraces. Um Habacook is one of a few prophets who mainly talks to God. Found this interesting rather than for God. And that's that's important. Um most of the prophets in the Bible, if you you know have studied the Bible for any length of time, um you remember um a statement of thus sayeth the Lord.

Um we find in our reading of the book of Habac um that there is this beautiful dialogue that goes between goes on between the prophet and God and we just happen to be listeners of that dialogue. Habac appears to be writing during the violent transition from Assyrian domination to Babylonian domination of the people of Judah. probably around the late 600s to very early 500s BC. Judah is spiritually and politically deteriorating and an even more terrifying empire is on the rise in the east and the name of that empire is Babylon. In the midst of all this sin and injustice, we have the prophet Habac looking up to Jehovah God with great question and bewilderment, seemingly asking, "Where are you, God?

Where are you, God?" And before I go any further, you know, pastor often says church is a good place to be honest in. Um, how many of us can say that we have we've uttered those words? Yeah. >> Where are you, God? when where we find ourselves in an unthinkable situation or environment and God seems to be nowhere to be found is often times when such questions come to our mind. I love reading through this book and and I highly recommend I know it's probably said of of any, you know, of these minor prophets, but I highly recommend that you read through this book. It's just three chapters, but you will see one theme after another powerful spiritual truths that honestly um can be easily applied to the various situations that we might find ourselves in.

And so we talk about questioning God. And this is something that does come up in the first chapter. Habac 1:es 1-4 and I'll read it says the burden which the prophet Habac saw verse two oh Lord how long shall I cry and you will not hear even cry 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 for the wicked surround the righteous, therefore perverse judgment proceeds. At the very beginning of this chapter, verse one, the prophet uses the word burden.

And I find it interesting because in pastor's recent study of the book of Malachi, that same word is used, the word burden. The passage, as we've read, goes on to explain how distraught the prophet is by what he sees in Judah, complete and utter lawlessness. And so he decides to question Almighty God. And I want us to kind of pause here because when we think about questioning God, I don't know about you, if you've been raised in in church or if you've been in church for any period of time and you've been taught about the nature of God and how to view God and to reverence him, questioning God kind of sounds a little, I don't know, little bold maybe, but we see that's what's happening here at the ve very beginning of this book a a a questioning of Almighty God, but it's juxtaposed with this idea of reverencing him as well.

It's not questioning for questioning's sake. You see, the prophet Habacook is not questioning God from a place of selfish motives. There is something about having a burden for righteousness that injects legitimacy into our questions. The psalmist declares that righteousness and justice are the foundation of our God's throne. So when we seek him with this mindset, we are petitioning God for what he favors and not what simply bothers us. Because you see, if I am the standard, if what simply bothers me is what I go to God with, it's not enough. I must look into his word and that must be the judge. That must be the ultimate says so. That is what the prophet is doing here.

He is understanding. He is realizing, wait a second, God, you are a God of justice. You are a God of order. But all I see is lawlessness. All I see is chaos. All I see is sin. How many of us, whether we turn on the news or just wake up and open our eyes, we realize that's the state of our world today. And honestly, it's discouraging. If we're truthful about it, it's frightening. It can even be depressing. So, one of the first truths that come out in our study of this book, if we're asking ourselves a question, we must ask ourselves, what motives am I approaching God with? I think this is why it's so paramount for us to get in the word of God on a regular basis.

We talk about that a lot around here. Truthfully, what happens is when you read the word of God, the word of God reads you. Hebrews 4:12 says, "The word of God is living and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit and joints and marrow, and is a discerner. It's a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." As the first chapter of Habacook goes along, we get a response from God that basically tells the prophet, "Don't worry, I'm going to work and in such a way that you would not believe it even if I told you." This is what he says in chapter 1:es 5.

Now, if Habac just stopped there and said, "Okay, great, God. You got it. I'll let you handle it." That might have been fine. But God goes on to tell him of his plan to use Babylon, an even more wicked nation than Judah, to punish Judah. Talk about, "Be careful for what you ask for." Habac then responds in essence, "Lord, surely this can't be how you're going to deal with Judah." Instead of getting the answer he expected, God's response leaves him with an even bigger question. Have you ever prayed about something only to find that God's answer raised more questions than it resolved? If you've walked with God for any period of time, you know this is often the dance that we find ourselves in.

We ask one question and then it leads to another question. And this is sometimes where I think our faith is growing. Wrestling with God. Habacook reminds us that God's ways are often exceeding of our own understanding. As scripture says in Romans 11:34, "Who has known the mind of the Lord?" who has known it. If you look all throughout scripture, especially the Old Testament, you'll see the prophets, the authors of these books, just in complete awe of the God that they serve, falling as dead, even sometimes before his very presence. Sometimes God doesn't answer every question we have. Instead, he gives us a greater glimpse of who he is, his wisdom, his justice, his sovereignty, and his faithfulness.

We may not walk away with every explanation we want, but we can walk away with a deeper confidence in the God who holds the answers. Let's notice too that Habac isn't just saying, "Oh, God, don't punish Judah and just stop there." No, he balances the tension between that and the idea of using a more wicked nation than Judah to handle judgment. This is a fair question that we must ask. God, how can you punish wickedness with more wickedness? The scripture reveals another important truth. God's use of Babylon doesn't equal his endorsement of Babylon. The fact is, we sadly live in a greatly fallen and destitute world. But in spite of that, God uses all things, even things that are fallen, to accomplish his will.

And I'm reminded of just the nature of us as human beings. You know, um, if you think about our nature, we don't do don't do nuance or balance or wrestling with tension very well. How many of you have maybe gotten in a discussion or even in a debate with someone and you know you try to be objective and that person try tries to be objective but as you go along you kind of see your bias you kind of see where you lean on a certain subject and so it's very understanding as we're reading this text how it would have made perfect sense for Habac just to say Lord no no no No, no, no. Don't judge Judah.

Don't punish them. But it's amazing his position that he says, "Wait a second. You're going to punish Judah with an even with a more evil nation?" His motives are right. As we go along in chapter two, we find that this prophet, this amazing prophet has a character unlike any other. He says in chapter 2 verse one, I will stand my watch and set myself on the rampart and watch to see what he God will say to me and what I will answer when I am corrected. when I am corrected. What a picture of spiritual maturity that is. The prophet is teaching us that it's okay to ask hard questions of God, but prayer isn't just about talking.

It's also about listening and waiting. And this is often very difficult for us. It's often very difficult for the person you're looking at because I, Nathan, won it yesterday. And I'm sad that God didn't really seek my advice on the matter. Verses 3 and 4 of the second chapter says, "For the vision is yet for an an appointed time, but at the end of it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tearries, wait for it because it will surely come. It will not tarry. Behold the proud. His soul is not upright in him. But the just shall live by his faith. There's so much spiritual food here. God is not telling us to wait and be patient.

not only telling us to just be wait and patient and be patient, but he's giving us a picture of what willful impatience often looks like. And there's a name for it. It's called pride. Pride is saying, "I know better, Lord. I can wait, but let me inform you of what makes sense and how things should be. We don't necessarily say these words, but I think sometimes if we're honest, subconsciously as we go about our day, we make decisions, maybe decisions that are not exactly aligned with his will and and his word. That's really what's coming up. It's pride. God is also showing us what waiting on him is tied to. It's our faith. That passage that I just read, it ends with the just or the righteous shall live by faith.

This verse in Habac will later be quoted by Paul in Romans 1:17 and Galatians 3:11 and then by the author of Hebrews in Hebrews 10:38. We also find in Hebrews that without faith, the author says it's impossible to please God. The truth here is righteousness equals faith. At a certain point, our faith must become louder than our questions. This is the sign of spiritual maturity for every believer. Spiritual maturity isn't the absence of questions. It's when our confidence in God's character becomes greater than our need to have every question answered. Job didn't get all the answers to his questions, but he grows in trust. Abraham obeys without knowing all the details. And though he laments, the psalmist often moves from lament to confidence.

The takeaway here is that in all the questions we should cry out, Lord, increase my faith. If anything, let my questions paint a bigger picture of how big you are and how little I am. how your ways exceed my ways and your thoughts exceed my thoughts and how ultimately you have everything under control. Another principle found in chapter 2 is how this chapter leads up to the end of it. God is speaking of the various woes or accusations he has against Babylon. greed, unjust gain, building cities through violence, humiliating and abusing other nations, the practice of idolatry. And then he says in verse 20 of this chapter, the Lord is in his holy temple. Let all the earth keep silence before him.

This is telling us that God is ultimately a God of justice, a God who has the final word. I feel like the more that I realize that he's in control, the more I am available to have him to do what he wants to do in my life. The psalmist declares in Psalm 46:10, "Be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations. I will be exalted in the earth. I have to understand this that he's God and I'm not. The final chapter, chapter 3 of Habac ends in such a an amazing and profound way like us. The prophet goes from understanding God to trusting in him and then no matter and then saying no matter what I will worship you God worship you.

We hear that term often mentioned in church and I know like many other terms it can just be thrown around and and we don't exactly understand or appreciate the weight behind that term. When you look and understand what worship is, not only in this book, but when we take the entire word of God as a whole, we first understand that worship is the ultimate overflow of trust. In this worship, Habac remembers God's mercy. Habacook 3:2 says, "Oh Lord, I have heard your speech and was afraid. Oh Lord, revive your work. In the midst of the years, in the midst of the years, make it known." And then he says, "In wrath, remember mercy." Isn't that so beautiful?

In wrath, remember mercy. True worship does three things for us. To begin with, it helps us to grow our understanding of God's nature. The prophet doesn't ignore or rebuke God's sense of justice. He simply says to God, while you're judging, remember your mercy. And that honestly is is a tough thing to say because it would have been a lot easier just to say, Lord, why don't you just kind of quit with all this judgment thing that you do? You seem to do so well. Just mercy. But he says, "While you're judging, I understand that you're a just God. I understand that you're a holy God. I understand that you're a sovereign God. Remember your mercy."

This is what our prayer should be. We should acknowledge that our God is a just God. He is a holy God, but he's also a merciful God. And I'm thinking about even times too where we may have people that we interact with or or maybe even full-blown enemies. Our prayer should not just be Lord give him whatever. Give him full justice. Sometimes justice is called for. But we find in this verse the proper position of our heart should be that Lord in the midst of your justice please find mercy for them. Because the truth is if we got God's full wrath of justice as we are all deserving of, we wouldn't be here. Secondly, worship will cause us to focus on what God has already done rather than the problem in front of us.

I'll say it again. Worship will cause us to focus on what God has already done rather than the problem in front of us. Habacook speaks of God's glory filling the earth, mountains trembling, the sun and the moon standing still, God marching to save his people. But here's the challenge for us. When you don't know what God is doing now, remember what he has done before. We have to become like the prophet Jeremiah and recall to our mind it is the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed because his compassions they fail not. Great great is thy faithfulness oh God. True worship thirdly refle reflects complete surrender. In Habac chapter 3 17- 18 it says though the fig tree may not blossom nor fruit beyond the vines though the labor of the olive may fail and the fields yield no food.

Though the flock may be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord. I will joy in the God of my salvation. The prophet has nothing left to do but to let everything go and to give it to God. And it's interesting too as we read through those verses, you you see that he is speaking of things like fruit and vines and fields. At this time, the people lived in an agrarian culture. And so what came to mind was when he's saying, "Let the crops fail. Let the fields fail. Let all food be gone. I'm not turning around. My faith is in the God of my salvation.

He truly is saying, "This is it." And I'm thinking about myself, how I live in a world each and every day where I wake up and I say, "Oh, God, I I surrender. I I give it my all." And there's so much distraction. It's not an excuse, but the context is that if I'm truly giving my all, am I or can I say it from the same position that the prophet Habac is saying? He didn't have all the same conveniences and all the same technologies that we are so fond of. He says, "No, let everything fail." And when he's talking about this culture where everything they have comes up and they grow it, they just don't go to some some store and buy it off the shelf.

Let it all fail. Burn the ships as it said. I am not turning around. Is that our prayer? It's a tough question to ask. But this is what the prophet is saying to us in his text. Regardless of what has been and what will come, our prayer has to be that we will trust in the name of the Lord. And so as we close, I know we're kind of ending a little early tonight. We can stand. Life absolutely throws us curveballs and leaves us with questions directed towards God. It's very understandable. But as we grow in our Christian walk, let there be a desire to let the questions lead us to a deeper understanding and appreciation for God's greatness and his faithfulness.

And let it lead us to a place of worship where we focus on him and leave everything at his feet in complete trust and surrender. Let's pray. Lord Jesus, I thank you, oh God, for your precious word. Lord, I thank you, oh God, for all that you have to show us, Lord, in your word and how you have spoken to us here tonight, God. Lord, I ask, oh God, that our prayer be as we leave this place tonight, Lord, that we walk in such a way that pleases you, oh Lord, that even in our questions, oh God, we find a way, Lord Jesus, to recognize and appreciate your sovereignty, oh God, your holiness, oh God, and the fact that you have everything under control, oh God.

We ask, oh Lord Jesus, that you move in every situation, every circumstance, oh Lord, that is on the minds and hearts of your people, oh God. And Lord, regardless of what we find ourselves in, oh God, let us find a place of worship, oh God. A place where we can seek you each and every day, oh God, and know you for who you are, oh God. For you love us, oh God. And Lord, you will lead and guide us into all truth, Lord, as we continue to follow after you, Jesus. We ask, oh Lord, that you be with each and every person as we make our way home tonight, oh God. And we'll continue to get continue to give you all the praise, glory, and honor that's due to your name.

In Jesus name we pray. Amen.