1. Welcome to Grace!
âSee, the enemy is puffed up;
his desires are not uprightâ
but the righteous person
will live by his faithfulnessâ
Habakkuk 2:4
5. Habakkuk 1:5-11
⢠Godâs response, vv. 5-11
â Warning, v. 5
âLook at the nations and watchâ
and be utterly amazed.
For I am going to do something in your days
that you would not believe,
even if you were told.
6 I am raising up the Babylonians âŚâ
⢠Four âwake upâ words
⢠God purposefully at work
⢠Swiftly
⢠Unexpected source
7. Habakkuk 1:5-11
⢠Godâs response, vv. 5-11
â Warning, v. 5
â The unexpected instrument, v. 6a
â Hereâs what youâve got coming, vv. 7-11
8. 1. A nation bitter and impetuous
2. Taking possession of dwellings not theirs
3. Autonomous
4. Swift
5. Violent
6. Irresistible
7. Self-deifying
9. Habakkuk 1:5-11
⢠Godâs response, vv. 5-11
â Warning, v. 5
â The unexpected instrument, v. 6a
â Hereâs what youâve got coming, vv. 7-11
⢠Lessons to learn
â Godâs ways are often obscure to us
10. Habakkuk 1:5-11
⢠Godâs response, vv. 5-11
â Warning, v. 5
â The unexpected instrument, v. 6a
â Hereâs what youâve got coming, vv. 7-11
⢠Lessons to learn
â Godâs ways are often obscure to us
⢠His âinactionâ
11. Habakkuk 1:5-11
⢠Godâs response, vv. 5-11
â Warning, v. 5
â The unexpected instrument, v. 6a
â Hereâs what youâve got coming, vv. 7-11
⢠Lessons to learn
â Godâs ways are often obscure to us
⢠His âinactionâ
⢠His unexpected responses to prayer
12. Habakkuk 1:5-11
⢠Godâs response, vv. 5-11
â Warning, v. 5
â The unexpected instrument, v. 6a
â Hereâs what youâve got coming, vv. 7-11
⢠Lessons to learn
â Godâs ways are often obscure to us
⢠His âinactionâ
⢠His unexpected responses to prayer
⢠His unusual agents
13. Habakkuk 1:5-11
⢠Godâs response, vv. 5-11
â Warning, v. 5
â The unexpected instrument, v. 6a
â Hereâs what youâve got coming, vv. 7-11
⢠Lessons to learn
â Godâs ways are often obscure to us
⢠His âinactionâ
⢠His unexpected responses to prayer
⢠His unusual agents
â Godâs ways are often misunderstood
14. Habakkuk 1:5-11
⢠Godâs response, vv. 5-11
â Warning, v. 5
â The unexpected instrument, v. 6a
â Hereâs what youâve got coming, vv. 7-11
⢠Lessons to learn
â Godâs ways are often obscure to us
â Godâs ways are often misunderstood
â History is under Godâs control
15. Habakkuk 1:5-11
⢠Godâs response, vv. 5-11
â Warning, v. 5
â The unexpected instrument, v. 6a
â Hereâs what youâve got coming, vv. 7-11
⢠Lessons to learn
â Godâs ways are often obscure to us
â Godâs ways are often misunderstood
â History is under Godâs control
â History follows Godâs plan
16. Habakkuk 1:5-11
⢠Godâs response, vv. 5-11
â Warning, v. 5
â The unexpected instrument, v. 6a
â Hereâs what youâve got coming, vv. 7-11
⢠Lessons to learn
â Godâs ways are often obscure to us
â Godâs ways are often misunderstood
â History is under Godâs control
â History follows Godâs plan
â History follows Godâs timetable
17. Habakkuk 1:5-11
⢠Godâs response, vv. 5-11
â Warning, v. 5
â The unexpected instrument, v. 6a
â Hereâs what youâve got coming, vv. 7-11
⢠Lessons to learn
â Godâs ways are often obscure to us
â Godâs ways are often misunderstood
â History is under Godâs control
â History follows Godâs plan
â History follows Godâs timetable
â History leads to Godâs Kingdom coming
1:1-4 Habakkukâs first complaint1:5-11 Godâs response1:12-2:1 Habakkukâs second complaint2:2-20 Godâs (lengthier) response3:1-19 Transformed, Habakkuk worships in awe and wonderHabakkukâs first complaint was of the lawlessness of his times, the violence in his society and the effects of the absence of the fear of God.His two big cries to God were: âWhy?â and âHow long?âWe know what thatâs like, donât we?So where are we going this week?
Habakkuk has taken his hurt and his pain to God for some time, apparently.Today we get to grips with Godâs response âŚ
Preparatory to unveiling His response to all this injustice the Lord warns ominously the extent of the trouble of judgement that His people will now see, v. 5Now, God is no alarmist or sensationalist.This is all for real.The situation is ACTUALLY serious ⌠and thatâs what Godâs word to Habakkuk is stressing here âŚFour âwake upâ words come piling in to alert these people:Look!Watch!Be utterly amazed!Wonder! (Not in NIV ⌠canât see why unless the translators were just getting embarrassed by the frequency of âwow!â â words by this point.)There is no preamble to this announcement of coming calamity.No formula like âthe Lord answered me saying, âŚâThe speaker just changes and the switch is made from singular to plural ⌠God is directly addressing the people AND their prophet.Now, whatâs happening here is that the prophet and people are being called upon â during a time of violence, slaughter and suffering right up close and personal in their very own experience â to consider what is going on not just in their own street but on the world scene, at a cosmic level.The prophet and the people must open up their perspective on events to consider the Divine purpose in it all.âLook at the nations ⌠for I am going to do somethingâIf you were a secularist, the forthcoming Assyrian invasion was just going to be an example of outstanding human brutality.It would make no sense.It would be purposeless, meaningless, pointless brutality.But the prophet is being called upon to understand that Israelâs God is the Sovereign Lord of His people AND of the heathen and to grasp the extent and the intent of the sovereignty of God.A TERRIBLE judgement is coming on the remnant of Godâs own people ⌠and GOD is the One Who is bringing it.I (says God) am the One doing this.WHEN is God doing this?Really very, very swiftly.âIn your daysâ.The way people work is that they live expecting everything to go on pretty much the same regardless of how they misbehave, regardless of the extent to which they rebel against God.The way God works is that He takes complacency like that by surprise.When I was a lad the old people used to say: âweâll never see it happenâ or ânever in OUR dayâ ... Stuff like that.And Habakkukâs being told ⌠âYâknow â you WILL.âNot only would the timing cause surprise, but the source of this calamity is going to be really surprising too.V. 6a âI am raising up the BabyloniansâAnd when they see it they will have terrible trouble believing it ⌠believing that God would ever DO that!Now, how often do we hear that?!âIâd like to think that God wouldnât âŚââMY God wouldnât do anything like that âŚâAnd thatâs going to be exactly the situation with the Jews and the Assyrians ⌠âsomething ⌠that you would not believe even if you were told.â
Next God identifies to Habakkuk the surprising instrument Heâs raising up to bring about this judgement.Slide is Assurbanipal riding and hunting (relief carving from the north palace of Nineveh, ca. 640 BC, now at the British Museum - London)The really astonishing thing, the immensely hard thing to accept, is that Godâs people are going to be over-run for their wickedness by a pagan people far more wicked than they.Itâs almost as if God were saying âyou want it wicked? Hereâs wicked for you â taste THIS!âO. Palmer Robertson: âThe prophet Habakkuk had prayed, hoping for some form of purging of the wicked element of the nation. But the Divine response speaks of such an utter devastation that even greater puzzlement will grip the mind of the pious prophet.âThe rapid and unexpected rise to power of the Babylonians is quite remarkable.In twenty years they conquered the old capital of Assyria in 614 BC, Nineveh in 612, Harran in 610 and rout the armies of Pharaoh Neco King of Egypt in 605.Robertson: âThey became the rulers over Babylonia, Assyria, Syria, Palestine and Egypt, when twenty years previously they hardly were known to exist. Yet their energy disipated almost as rapidly, so that they were easily overcome by Cyrus King of Persia in 539, just in time to fulfil the prophecy of Jeremiah concerning Israelâs return in seventy years (Jeremiah 29:10).âThe Lordâs control of the nations of this world is so great that He orders their rise and fall according to, and as the means by which, His plans and purposes are fulfilled.
Finally God characterises with as many as twenty explicit details the coming force of Divine judgement and retribution for the sin Habakkuk has cried out about.I asked you last week to notice this: God is not EVER doing nothing.He may be doing something we can aspire and look forward to.He may be doing something He should but we hoped he never would.He may be doing something we donât want to hear about because knowing about it too far in advance is frankly going to scare the pants off us!But He is never doing nothing, He is always doing something, and whatever it is that Heâs doing the just shall ALWAYS live through it by faith.It is NOT what weâd want, but it is by the sort of means that surprise human beings the most, the sort of thing we simply cannot understand or make sense of, the sort of thing we LEAST expect from our God, that He exceeds our wildest dreams.And in the terrifying circumstances that are about to be unleashed upon the wayward rebellious people of Judah and her kings ⌠God is doing something that moves history forward along its course, preparing the people and the landscape for the coming of the authentic Saviour King.Hereâs what it most surprisingly looks like âŚ
1. Robertson: âBecause of a spirit of bitterness over life, its inhabitants act with irrational cruelty and disruptiveness.âAnd they are impetuous ⌠acting on impulse and without taking time to sort out the facts ⌠so all the people they conquer suffer injustices.2. Deut. 6:10-11 promised exactly this to Israel ⌠could it be that the Babylonians were about to step straight in and take over the role once occupied by Godâs people?!3. v. 7 âThey are a feared and dreaded people;    they are a law to themselves    and promote their own honor.âHereâs a paradox!The Almighty God, Who is adamant that He will not share His Glory with another, raises up a nation whose basic policy is that it stands on its own and that it is totally self-determining without reference to the Almighty in any matter of faith or conduct.They will NOT look to God for any external criterion of righteousness but will determine what is right and wrong âfor themselvesâ!Itâs honour it will attribute to itself and its own efforts.This great memorial to self will declare indebtedness for its military achievements to no-one but itself.4. Alacrity: v. 8Itâs not that there will be a second chance, or a phasing in period, or anything of the sort.Godâs justice (once declared) is not only a big surprise to sinners, but swift.5. Violent, v. 9Godlessness often accuses God and His people of scandalous violence.Habakkuk had already (1:2) complained against his own people for violence, but now he was about to witness them getting to feel what itâs like to be subject to unrestrained violence unleashed.6. Irresistible, v. 10 âThey mock kings    and scoff at rulers.(U)They laugh at all fortified cities;    by building earthen ramps(V) they capture them.âThe powerful kings leading the buffer states around Israel that usually soaked up invadersâ aggression before they reached Israel and Judah were NOTHING to these invaders.The fortifications and earthworks like Ahabâs fortifications to his chariot city at Megiddo were of no use: âThey capture themâ ⌠leaving Israelâs former strengths in the hand of the enemy to become a thorn in Israelâs side.7. Self-deifying, v. 11âThen they sweep past like the wind(W) and go onâ    guilty people, whose own strength is their god.âThis people that God has raised up to punish and correct Israelâs idolatries DEIFIES itself!â ⌠whose own strength is their God.âNow, if that sense of self-sufficiency doesnât characterise our age, our culture, our government ⌠I donât know what does.
We sit here thinking that things are pretty bad and wishing God would step in and sort things out.We can easily find ourselves fretting and binding about His apparent inactivity ⌠we just donât see what is going on behind the scenes.God doesnât need our help â I know that sometimes seems strange to us â and He certainly (as the fount of ALL wisdom) isnât going to be needing our advice.In fact, I rather suspect that having things cleared up for him and made plain in the way they are in this passage highlights to Habakkuk the blessing of God leaving a LOT of things obscured from us.Particularly difficult for us is the idea that then forms âŚ
⌠of Godâs inaction.But God is NEVER doing nothing.Heaven is busy.Earth is busy in sin, violence and self-destruction.The Creator and Sustainer of the universe is busy, not just in holding back the forces of chaotic destruction, but also in steering the whole of history to its resolution, redemption and restoration in Christ.He may look inactive.He is busy!(And THAT ⌠resolving, redeeming and restoring ⌠is what He is doing)
And then we have problems with the obscurity of His answers to our prayers.Oh boy!Habakkuk hadnât been praying for the Babylonians to be raised up.Perhaps heâd thought God might send another good King to reform the way Josiah had, or lead Judah to recover fallen Israel and restore a revitaliised united monarchy.God is NOT our servant.We are HIS servants.He lives in the highest place, sits on the highest throne, sees everything clearly and rules accordingly.Faith is called for from us ⌠not least in the light of some of His MOST unexpected answers to prayer.
And then there are the people He uses âŚ
Little wonder, given the way His was are so far above our ways that His ways are so little understood.In fact, because He is active and is not understood, He is very often MISunderstood.
The fact remains that â despite our misunderstanding â history is under Godâs control, and because of that it always ⌠surprising though it is ⌠follows Godâs plan
Here is the answer to Habakkukâs âwhy?â
And here is the answer to Habakkukâs âHow long?â!History ALWAYS follows Godâs timetable and Godâs land and God is STEERING it for a particular purpose âŚ
Whatâs happened here is that Habakkuk has poured out a bitter complaint to God about the duration and the apparent lack of purpose that underlies the awful effects of the sinful rebelliousness of Godâs people in his time.GODâs people, you understand, not the nations ⌠not the nations but Godâs people who have simply adopted the ways of the Nations in place of the ways of God taught in His Word.Habakkuk has set out on his journey with God over this vexed issue of why God allows departure from His truth, injustice and violence to prevail.But Godâs response hasnât been what Habakkuk anticipated.God simply agrees and reveals that JUDGEMENT not mercy is coming.Itâs going to be harder to take than the nationâs excesses.Itâs going to call for far more investment in faith.An awesome Divine response to the trouble Habakkuk sees hovers on the horizon of history ⌠as God sees the problem even more profoundly, even more seriously than this highly perplexed prophet.Godâs resolution of the problem and answer to Habakkukâs prayers naturally, then, seems overwhelming.In effect, the underlying message of the book is going to turn out to be that a maturing faith trusts perseveringly in Godâs ways of establishing justice and righteousness on earth ⌠and that His ways are not our ways.Habakkuk WRESTLES with the burden of submitting to an utterly new concept of the Lordâs purposes among Israel and the nations.God is interacting with His people and leading them forwards in ways that are utterly contrary to anything theyâve come previously to expect ⌠and the challenge is for the ârighteousâ to continue to live by faith through that.Tell me thatâs not a challenge that we are not also facing, and then I might accept this ancient prophecy is irrelevant to 21st century Western Christian experience ⌠but somehow I think Iâm going to be safe coming back to Habakkuk next week!