Minor Prophets - Habakkuk

Sermon Notes, July 24, 2016 PM

Minor Prophets with A Major Message

Habakkuk

Steve W. Reeves

INTRODUCTION:

A. When I was a boy there was a program on television every Saturday that I would not

    miss. It wasn’t “Bugs Bunny,” “Road Runner,” or even “Johnny Quest (although those

    were some of my favorites). It was “Studio Wrestling” on Channel 13 hosted by Lance

    Russell and Dave Brown.

    1. The wrestlers had names like Jerry Lawler, Tojo Yamamoto, Bill Dundee, and

       Gorgeous George.

    2. They would smack each other, throw each other, kick each other, bite each other

       and you never knew what would happen next.

    3. Do you realize that wrestling is mentioned in the Bible?

       a. Genesis 30:8 - Rachel said, “With mighty wrestling I have wrestled with my

           sister, and I have indeed prevailed.”

       b. Genesis 32:24-25 – “Then Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him

           until daybreak. ²⁵ When he saw that he had not prevailed against him, he

           touched the socket of his thigh; so the socket of Jacob’s thigh was dislocated

           while he wrestled with him.” Hosea referred to this in Hosea 12:4.

       c. Others wrestled with God in different ways.

           1.) Jesus wrestled with doing His Father’s will in the garden of Gethsemane –

               Matthew 26:29 - “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not

               as I will, but as You will.”

           2.) Paul and Barnabas “wrestled” with one another regarding John Mark in Acts

               15:39.

           3.) Paul wrestled in prayer with God asking Him to remove his “thorn in the flesh”

               in 2 Corinthians 12:7-9.

    4. As we consider “Minor Prophets with a Major Message,” I want to look at a

       prophet who wrestled with God spiritually. His name is Habakkuk.

I. THE PROPHET AND HIS TIMES

    A. There are several prophets about whom we know very little.

       1. Joel is one of these. Micah is another. Habakkuk is yet another.

       2. What we know about Habakkuk comes from the book that bears his name.

           a. His name means, “to embrace.”

           b. From chapter 3 of his book we detect that he is familiar with the temple and

               with musical terms. This leads to speculation that he was one of the temple

               singers or perhaps a priest.

           c. He also identifies himself as a prophet in 1:1.  

    B. I think Habakkuk lived around 628 to 605 B.C.

       1. Habakkuk wrote about the impending invasion of Judah by the Babylonians.

       2. We know that the stage for this invasion was set as Babylon defeated the

           Egyptians and Assyrians at the battle of Carchemish in 605 B.C. Pharaoh

           Necho of Egypt had come into power in Palestine and was trying to help the

           Assyrians fend off the Babylonians. He underestimated the military might of the

           Babylonians and Nebuchadnezzar prevailed. 

       3. These were the final years of Jerusalem and Judah. Manasseh had been a

           wicked king. He was succeeded by good king Josiah who sought to institute

           reforms. After Josiah’s death there were Jehoiahaz, Jehoiakim and

           Jerhoiachin (the last two were weak vassals of the Babylonian king).

       4. Habakkuk wrote at the same time as Jeremiah, Nahum and Zephaniah.

    C. As much as any prophet, Habakkuk tells us how God uses nations to accomplish

       His purposes.

       1. Like her sister Israel to the north, Judah had been involved in idolatry and

           immorality. Israel was defeated in 722 by the Assyrians. Judah would hang on for

           another 136 years but would ultimately be overthrown by Babylon in 586 B.C.

       2. It was the invasion of the Babylonians which Habakkuk wrested with.

       3. In this book of three chapters we will see how Habakkuk wrestled with God in

           chapter 1. In chapter 2 we will notice how he waited and watched for God to

           work. Finally, in chapter 3 we will see how his wrestling, watching and waiting led

           him to worship God.

II. HABAKKUK WRESTLED (Chapter 1).

    A. Chapter 1 is an unfolding discussion between Habakkuk and God.

       a. Habakkuk wrestled with the evil and violence he saw in the world.  

       b. Verses 1 – 4 is Habakkuk’s initial outcry followed by God’s first response in

           verses 5-11.

       c. In verses 12 – 17 Habakkuk replies to God.

    B. In his cry to God Habakkuk says, “How long, O Lord, will I call for help,
       And You will not hear? I cry out to You, “Violence!” Yet You do not save.
           ³ 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.
           ⁴ Therefore the law is ignored and justice is never upheld. For the wicked surround

       the righteous; therefore justice comes out perverted.”

       1. Habakkuk doesn’t hold anything back.

       2. He sees wickedness, violence and iniquity. There is strife and contention. He

           wonders, “Why doesn’t God do something?”      

       3. He says to God, “If I can see this why can’t you?”

       4. How often have you thought, “I wonder how much longer God is going to allow

           this world to go on?”  How often have we wondered, “Is God oblivious to what is

           happening in the world?”

    C. God replied to Habakkuk by saying He had a plan. In verse 5 he says, “Be

       astonished! Wonder! Because I am doing something in your days you would not

       believe if you were told.”

       1. God’s plan was greater than anything Habakkuk could imagine.

       2. “If God ever whispered in our ear he would blow our brains out the other side.”

       3. God is going to raise up the Chaldeans (Babylonians). They are fierce and

           impetuous.

       4. Beginning in verse 7 God told Habakkuk, “They are dreaded and feared;
           Their justice and authority originate with themselves. ⁸ “Their horses are swifter

           than leopards and keener than wolves in the evening. Their horsemen come

           galloping, their horsemen come from afar; they fly like an eagle swooping down

           to devour. ⁹ “All of them come for violence. Their horde of faces moves forward.
           They collect captives like sand. ¹⁰ “They mock at kings and rulers are a laughing

           matter to them. They laugh at every fortress and heap up rubble to capture it.
                 ¹¹ “Then they will sweep through like the wind and pass on. But they will be held

           guilty, They whose strength is their god.”

           a. There had never been an army as fierce as the Babylonians were. They were

               exceedingly powerful and cruel.

           b. If you are familiar with the Civil War you will recall how the Union laid siege to

               cities cutting off food supplies. This was done in Vicksburg and Petersburg.

               Many people died of starvation. This was one of the tactics used by

               Nebuchadnezzar.

    D. Habakkuk wrestled with this. He did not understand how God could use an

       unrighteous nation to chastise His people.  

       1. Judah was bad enough.

       2. The Babylonians were the worst, most vicious pagans of them all.

       3. Why would God use pagans to discipline His people?  In verse 13 he says, “Why

           do You look with favor on those who deal treacherously? Why are You silent

           when the wicked swallow up those more righteous than they?”

       4. Never forget that God uses nations – even unrighteous nations – to accomplish

           His will.          

III. HABAKKUK WATCHED GOD AT WORK (Chapter 2).

    A. When you wrestle with God what should you do? Chapter 2 opens with

       Habakkuk’s willingness to stand guard and watch and wait on God..

       1. I appreciate Habakkuk’s willingness to do this.

       2. People always get in trouble when we grow impatient and don’t wait on God.

           Remember Abraham and the promise of a child?       

    B. As Habakkuk waited and watched he had a vision.

       1. God told him to write what he saw and post it publicly.

       2. The remainder of chapter 2 is what Habakkuk saw and wrote.

       3. God used this vision to tell Habakkuk he should not worry about the pagan

          Babylonians. God would take care of them in his own way at the proper time.

    C. In 2:4 – ““Behold, as for the proud one, His soul is not right within him; But the

       righteous will live by his faith”

       1. This passage is used by Paul throughout the book of Romans.

       2. What does it mean to be “just?” It means to be right before God. Paul says

           that our righteousness, like Abraham’s, is a result of our obedient faith in the

           Lord (see Romans 3-5).  

    D. The impending condemnation of the Babylonians.

       1. In verse 5 he God said they will become intoxicated on their own success

           like a drunkard with wine. Do you remember the story from Daniel 4 when

           Nebuchadnezzar boasted of his success and God forced him to live as a

           beast of the field? The worst mistake any nation can make is to think their

           military might alone can save them.

       2. In verse 6 God said a time would come when people would taunt Babylon. ‘Woe

           to him who increases what is not his— For how long— And makes himself rich

           with loans?’ Verse 8 says, “Because you have looted many nations, All the

           remainder of the peoples will loot you— Because of human bloodshed and

           violence done to the land, To the town and all its inhabitants.”

           a. As we read this we are reminded how “what goes around comes around.”

           b. Paul said it like this in Galatians 6:7 – “God is not mocked for whatsoever a

               man sows that he shall also reap.”  

       3. Verses 9 through 11 says that the Babylonians have built themselves up by

           tearing others down (sounds like American politics). It will all come crashing

           down upon them.    

       4. Verses 12 – 14 pronounce woe on Babylon because it had been built up with

           bloodshed and violence. Habakkuk reminds us that God’s justice will come

           upon those who practice such lawlessness.

       5. Verses 15 – 17 says that God is going to repay them for their violence against

           their neighbors. Vss. 16 - 20 - “You will be filled with disgrace rather than honor.
           Now you yourself drink and expose your own nakedness. the cup in the Lord’s

           right hand will come around to you, and utter disgrace will come upon your glory.
                ¹⁷ “For the violence done to Lebanon will overwhelm you, and the devastation of

           its beasts by which you terrified them, because of human bloodshed and

           violence done to the land, to the town and all its inhabitants.”

    E. Pay close attention to the closing section of chapter 2 where we find a startling

       contrast between the lifeless idolatrous gods of the Babylonians and the Sovereign

       God Yahweh of Israel.       

       1. In verses 18-19 God said that the Babylonian’s gods will not save them. “Woe to

           him who says to a piece of wood, ‘Awake!’ To a mute stone, ‘Arise!’ And that is

           your teacher? Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver, And there is no breath at

           all inside it.”

       2. Notice the contrast with verse 20 - “But the Lord is in His holy

           temple. Let all the earth be silent before Him.”

       3. This was God saying, “I am sovereign.”

IV. HABAKKUK WORSHIPPED GOD (Chapter 3)

    A. The realization of God’s justice and sovereignty leads Habakkuk to worship.

       1. He prays – vs. 1. Notice the reference to Habakkuk “the prophet.” “Shigionoth” is

           somewhat obscure but appears to be a musical term of some type.

       2. He prays for revival – vs. 2 – “O Lord, revive Your work in the midst of the years,

           in the midst of the years make it known.” See also Psalm 71:20; 85:6; 119:37,

           88,107, 154,156,159, 143:11.

       3. Throughout this chapter Habakkuk worships through prayer and praise for the

           wondrous works of God.

    B. His worship culminates with the climactic expression of faith in verses 17-19.

           Though the fig tree should not blossom and there be no fruit on the vines,
           Though the yield of the olive should fail and the fields produce no food,
           Though the flock should be cut off from the fold and there be no cattle in the

           stalls, ¹⁸ Yet I will exult in the Lord, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation.
                ¹⁹ The Lord God is my strength, and He has made my feet like hinds’ feet,
           And makes me walk on my high places.”

           a. Hinds feet – are the feet of a sure footed deer on a steep mountainside.

           b. Even when the world is filled with violence and turmoil you can trust in the

               steadfastness of God.

CONCLUSION:

A. What are you wrestling with? Is there conflict with another person? Are you

    Wrestling with feelings of doubt? Are you wrestling with physical infirmities? Are you,

    like Habakkuk, wrestling with God?

B. There is a solid rock amid the shifting sand of life, Habakkuk needed to understand

    that God is sovereign in the midst of a tumultuous world.  This joyful realization

    caused him to break forth in words of glorious triumph.

C. Oswald Chambers wrote, "We have to pray with our eyes on God, not on the

    difficulties." Amen!