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Topic: The Prophet Worrying
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Eden
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Here is an example from the Bible:
2 Kings 18
1 Now it came to pass in the third year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, that Hezekiah the son of Ahaz king of Judah began to reign.
3 And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that David his father did.
7 And the LORD was with him; and he prospered whithersoever he went forth: and he rebelled against the king of Assyria, and served him not.
13 And in the 14th year of king Hezekiah did Sennacherib king of Assyria come up against all the fenced cities of Judah and took them.
15 And Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the house of the LORD, and in the treasures of the king's house.
Up til now, this is NOT what King Hezekiah EXPECTED to happen to him in his upright walk with the LORD.
But there was a payoff coming, namely that the LORD Himself fought for Hezekiah and for Judah, and struck dead 185,000 Assyrians outside Jerusalem. And the Assyrians departed.
[b]So sometimes what happens is not what WE had expected, but the LORD knew what would happen next and what He would do later.
And of course another example is all that happened to Joseph, a good teenager, how the LORD was with Joseph, and yet Joseph was thrown in a pit in the plain of Dothan and Joseph was sold as a slave to Potiphar and Joseph was falsely accused of making a pass at Potiphar's wife, and Joseph ended up in prison until ...
The Lord made Joseph vice-Pharaoh over Egypt. All these steps were required for Joseph to become vice-Pharaoh over Egypt, but to us believers these steps may look very unexpected for now.
love, Eden
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Carol Swenson
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The Prophet Worshiping
Habakkuk 3
When Habakkuk started his book, he was “down in the valley,” wrestling with the will of God. Then he climbed higher and stood on the watchtower, waiting for God to reply. After hearing God’s Word and seeing God’s glory, he became like a deer bounding confidently on the mountain heights! (3:19) His circumstances hadn’t changed, but he had changed, and now he was walking by faith instead of by sight. He was living by promises, not explanations.
It isn’t easy to climb higher in the life of faith, but who wants to live in the valley? Like Habakkuk, we must honestly talk to God about our difficulties, we must pray, we must meditate on God’s Word, and we must be willing to experience fear and trembling as the Lord reveals Himself to us (v. 16). But it will be worth it as we reach new summits of faith and discover new opportunities for growth and service.
What took Habakkuk from the valley to the summit? The same spiritual disciplines that can take us there: prayer, vision, and faith. Habakkuk interceded for God’s work (vv. 1-2), pondered God’s ways (vv. 3-15), and affirmed God’s will (vv. 16-19).
1. Prayer: pray for the work of God (Hab. 3:1-2)
This chapter is a “prayer psalm” that may have been used in the temple worship in Jerusalem.3-1 (For the other “prayer psalms,” see Pss. 17; 86; 90; 102; and 142.) The prophet was now praying to the Lord and not arguing with the Lord, and his prayer soon became praise and worship.
He prayed because he had heard God Speak. The word “speech” means “report” and refers to what God had told the prophet earlier (Hab. 2:2-3). When we understand the will of God, we should be motivated to pray “Thy will be done.” The same God who ordains the end also ordains the means to the end, and prayer is an important part of that means. “Yet you do not have because you do not ask” (James 4:2, nkjv).
Furthermore, hearing God’s Word generates faith in the heart of the child of God (Rom. 10:17), and without faith, we can’t pray effectively (Mark 11:22-24). The Word of God and prayer must always go together (Acts 6:4; John 15:7) lest our praying become zeal without knowledge. “I used to think I should close my Bible and pray for faith,” said D.L. Moody, “but I came to see that it was in studying the Word that I was to get faith.”
He prayed because he was overwhelmed by God’s splendor. “I stand in awe of Your deeds” (Hab. 3:2, niv). He had seen a vision of the greatness of God, recorded for us in verses 3-15, and this vision left him weak and helpless (v. 16). All he could do was cry out to God.
Many people have the idea that it’s always an enjoyable experience getting to know God in a deeper way, but that’s not what the saints of God in the Bible would say. Moses trembled at Mt. Sinai when God gave the law (Heb. 12:18-21). Joshua fell on his face before the Lord (Josh. 5:13-15) and so did David (1 Chron. 21:16). Daniel became exhausted and ill after seeing the visions God gave him (Dan. 8:27; 10:11), and the vision of Christ’s glory on the Mount of Transfiguration left Peter, James, and John facedown on the ground and filled with terror (Matt 17:6). When John saw the glorified Christ, he fell at His feet as though dead (Rev. 1:17).
A plaque hanging in my study carries this quotation from A. W. Tozer: “To know God is at once the easiest and the most difficult thing in the world.” God certainly has the ability to reveal Himself to us, for He can do anything, but it’s a problem for God to find somebody who is ready to meet Him. God doesn’t reveal Himself to superficial saints who are only looking for “a new experience” they can brag about, or to curious Christians who want to “sample” deeper fellowship with God but not at too great a price.
We are the ones who make it difficult to get to know God better. “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you” (James 4:8, nkjv). “But on this one will I look,” says the Lord, “on him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, and who trembles at My word” (Isa. 66:2, nkjv). “My flesh trembles in fear of you,” wrote the psalmist; “I stand in awe of your laws” (Ps. 119:120).
Habakkuk prayed because he wanted God’s work to succeed. God had told him that He was “working a work” in the world (Hab. 1:5), and now the prophet prayed that God would keep that work alive and cause it to prosper. What God was doing wasn’t the work Habakkuk would have chosen, but he accepted God’s plan and prayed, “Thy will be done.” When God revealed that work to Habakkuk, he cried out, “We shall not die!” (v. 12) Then in 2:4, God told him that the only way to live was by faith. So, when Habakkuk prayed for God’s work to stay alive, he was also praying that his own faith might grow.3-2
Finally, Habakkuk prayed because He wanted God to show mercy. The prophet agreed that the people of Judah deserved to be chastened, and that God’s chastening would work out for their good; but He asked that God’s heart of love would reveal itself in mercy. He was like Moses when he interceded for the nation at Mt. Sinai (Ex. 32) and at Kadesh Barnea (Num. 14). Perhaps Habakkuk had the promise of Isaiah 54:7-8 in mind as he prayed, and see Jeremiah 10:23-24. Certainly the Lord did show mercy to the Jews, for He preserved them in Babylon and then permitted a remnant to return to their land and establish the nation.
If, like Habakkuk, you ever become discouraged about the condition of the church, the state of the world, or your own spiritual life, take time to pray and seek God’s mercy. Charles Spurgeon said, “Whether we like it or not, asking is the rule of the kingdom.” The greatest need today is for intercessors. “And He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor” (Isa. 59:16).
2. Vision: ponder the greatness of God (Hab. 3:3-15)
The Lord isn’t likely to give us today a vision such as Habakkuk saw, but because it’s recorded in the Word, we can ponder it and let the Spirit teach us from it.3-3 God reveals His greatness in creation, in Scripture, and in history, and if we have eyes to see, we can behold His glory.3-4
God came in Splendor (Hab. 3:3-5).
According to some scholars, Mt. Paran is another name for the entire Sinai Peninsula, or for Mt. Sinai itself (Deut 33:2). Teman is usually identified with Edom. In this song, Habakkuk seems to be retracing the march of Israel from Sinai to the Promised land.
Everything about this stanza reveals the glory of God. He is called “The Holy One” (Hab. 3:3, and see 1:12), a name used in Isaiah at least thirty times. “His glory covered the heavens” (3:3) is an anticipation of the time when His glory will cover all the earth (2:14). God’s appearance was like the lightning that plays across the heavens before the storm breaks. All of creation joined in praising Him as “The earth was full of His praise.” God’s brightness was like the sunrise only to a greater degree (see Matt 17:2). “Horns” means “rays”: “rays flashed from His hand” (Hab. 3:4, niv) where His power was hidden.
Verse 5 takes us to Egypt, where God revealed His power and glory in the plagues and pestilences that devastated the land and took the lives of the firstborn (Ex. 7-12). Those ten plagues were not only punishment because of Pharaoh’s hardness of heart; they also revealed the vanity of Egypt’s gods. “Against all the gods of Egypt will I execute judgment: I am the Lord” (Ex. 12:12; Ps. 78:50). But this verse might also include the various judgments God sent to Israel when they disobeyed Him from time to time during their wilderness march.
In Old Testament times, God often revealed His glory through such judgments, but in this present dispensation, He reveals His glory through Jesus Christ. “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14, nkjv). Pharaoh wouldn’t acknowledge the truth, so he couldn’t experience the grace. The first plague of Moses in Egypt was the turning of water into blood (Ex. 7:14-25), while our Lord’s first recorded miracle was the turning of water into wine.
The Lord stood in power (Hab. 3:6-7).
Invading generals either push forward to gain ground or they fall back in retreat, but the Lord simply stood and faced the enemy unafraid. In fact, He calmly measured the earth3-5 as a sign that He possessed it. To measure something is an indication that it’s yours and you can do with it what you please. It’s also a preliminary step to action, as though the Lord were surveying the situation and estimating how much power it would take to execute His wrath on the nations. The Lord revealed His power when He shook the earth at Sinai before He delivered His law to Israel (Ex. 19:18; Heb. 12:18-21).
The nations that lay between Egypt and Canaan are typified by Cushan and Midian, two peoples living near Edom. As the news of the exodus from Egypt spread quickly through the nations, the people were terribly frightened and wondered what would happen to them when Israel arrived on the scene (Ex. 15:14-16; 23:27; Deut 2:25; Josh. 2:8-11).
God marched in victory (Hab. 3:8-15).
Habakkuk uses dynamic poetic imagery to describe Israel’s march through the wilderness as they followed the Lord to the Promised land and then claimed their inheritance. The Red Sea opened to let Israel out of Egypt, and the Jordan opened to let Israel into Canaan. The Egyptian chariots sank into the mud and their occupants were drowned, but God’s chariots were chariots of salvation. Verse 9 pictures the various battles that the Israelites fought en route to Canaan, battles that the Lord won for them as they trusted Him and obeyed His commands.
In verse 10, we move into the Promised land and see Israel conquering the enemy. God was in complete control of land and water and used His creation to defeat the Canaanites. Verse 10 describes the victory of Deborah and Barak over Sisera (Judg. 4-5), when a sudden rainstorm turned the battle-field into a swamp and left the enemy’s chariots completely useless. In Habakkuk 3:11, we have the famous miracle of Joshua when the day was prolonged so Joshua would have more time for a total victory (Josh. 10:12-13). Leading His army, God marched through Canaan like a farmer threshing grain, and His people claimed their inheritance (Hab. 3:12).
Expositors aren’t agreed as to what historical event is described in verses 13-15. This could be a picture of the nation’s deliverance from Egypt, but if it is, Habakkuk should have mentioned it earlier. God’s “anointed” would be the nation of Israel, for they were a holy people to the Lord (Ex. 19:5-8). Perhaps the prophet is referring to the various times God had to deliver His people, as recorded in the Book of Judges, and the “anointed one” would then be the judges He raised up and used to bring deliverance (Judg. 2:10-19).
However, perhaps Habakkuk was looking ahead and describing the deliverance of God’s people from the Babylonian Captivity. God brought the Medes and Persians to crush Babylon and then to permit the Jews to return to their land (Ezra 1:1-4). The image of God stripping Babylon “from head to foot” (Hab. 3:13, niv) parallels what Jeremiah prophesied in Jeremiah 50-51. Perhaps Habakkuk was looking both to the past (the Exodus) and to the future (deliverance from Babylon) and using the ancient victory to encourage the people to expect a new victory.3-6
In this hymn, Habakkuk describes his God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the God of glory who reveals His glory in creation and in history. He is the living God who makes the dead idols of the nations look ridiculous. He is the God of power who can command land and sea, heaven and earth, and therefore, He is the God of victory who leads His people in triumph.
There is no substitute for good theology, whether in our sermons or in our songs. The shallowness of some contemporary sermons, books, and songs may be the major contributing factor to the weakness of the church and the increase in “religious entertainment” in meetings where we ought to be praising God. The thing that lifted Habakkuk to the mountaintop was his understanding of the greatness of God. We need a return to the kind of worship that focuses on the glory of God and seeks to honor Him alone.3-7
3. Faith: affirm the will of God (Hab. 3:16-19)
This is one of the greatest confessions of faith found anywhere in Scripture. Habakkuk has faced the frightening fact that his nation will be invaded by a merciless enemy. The prophet knows that many of the people will go into exile and many will be slain. The land will be ruined, and Jerusalem and the temple will be destroyed. Yet he tells God that he will trust Him no matter what happens! Listen to his confession of faith.
“I will wait patiently on the Lord” (Hab. 3:16).
If Habakkuk had depended on his feelings, he would never have made this great confession of faith. If Habakkuk looked ahead, he saw a nation heading for destruction, and that frightened him. When he looked within, he saw himself trembling with fear, and when he looked around, he saw everything in the economy about to fall apart. But when he looked up by faith, he saw God, and all his fears vanished. To walk by faith means to focus on the greatness and glory of God.
One of the marks of faith is a willingness to wait patiently for the Lord to work. “Whoever believes will not act hastily” (Isa. 28:16, nkjv). Whenever we run ahead of God, we get into trouble. Abraham learned that lesson when he married Hagar and fathered Ishmael (Gen. 16), and so did Moses when he tried to deliver the Jews by his own hand (Ex. 2). “In quietness and confidence shall be your strength” (Isa 30:15).
Habakkuk could wait quietly because he knew that God was at work in the world (Hab. 1:5), and he had prayed that God’s work would be kept alive and strong (3:2). When you know that God is working in your life, you can afford to wait quietly and let Him have His way. Furthermore, God had commanded him to wait (2:3), and “God commandments are God’s enablements.” No matter what we see and no matter how we feel, we must depend on God’s promises and not allow ourselves to “fall apart” “Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him” (Ps. 37:7).
Over the years, I’ve often leaned on three verses that have helped me wait patiently on the Lord: “Stand still” (Ex. 14:13), “Sit still” (Ruth 3:18), and “Be still” (Ps. 46:10). Whenever we find ourselves getting “churned up” within, we can be sure that we need to stop, pray, and wait on the Lord before we do some stupid thing.
“I will rejoice in the Lord” (Hab. 3:17-18).
By the time Babylon was through with the land of Judah, there wouldn’t be much of value left (2:17). Buildings would be destroyed, treasures would be plundered, and farms and orchards would be devastated. The economy would fall apart and there would be little to sing about. But God would still be on His throne, working out His divine purposes for His people (Rom. 8:28). Habakkuk couldn’t rejoice in his circumstances, but he could rejoice in his God!
The prophet’s testimony here reminds us of Paul’s admonitions to Christians today: “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thes. 5:16-18, nkjv). Habakkuk discovered that God was his strength (Hab. 3:19) and song as well as his salvation (see Isa. 12:1-2; Ex. 15:2; Ps. 118:14); and therefore he had nothing to fear.
It’s one thing to “whistle in the dark” and try to bolster our courage, and quite something else to sing about the eternal God who never fails. Though his lips were trembling and his legs were shaking (Hab. 3:16, niv), the prophet burst into song and worshiped his God. What an example for us to follow! It reminds us of our Lord before He went to the cross (Mark 14:26), and Paul and Silas in the Philippian dungeon (Acts 16:19-34). God can give us “songs in the night” (Pss. 42:8; 77:6; Job 35:10) if we’ll trust Him and see His greatness.
“I will rely on the Lord” (Hab. 3:19).
If my legs were shaking and my heart pounding, I’d find a safe place to sit down and relax, but Habakkuk began to bound up the mountain like a deer! Because of his faith in the Lord, he was able to stand and be as sure-footed as a deer; he was able to run swiftly and go higher than he’d ever gone before. This is one reason why the Lord permits us to go through trials: they can draw us nearer to Him and lift us above the circumstances so that we walk on the heights with Him.
God made us for the heights. If He allows us to go into the valley, it’s so we might wait on Him and mount up with eagles’ wings (Isa. 40:30-31). “He made him to ride on the high places of the earth” (Deut 32:13). This is what David experienced when he was being chased by his enemies and by Saul: “It is God who arms me with strength, and makes my way perfect. He makes my feet like the feet of deer, and sets me on my high places” (Ps. 18:32-33).
The great British expositor G. Campbell Morgan said, “Our joy is in proportion to our trust. Our trust is in proportion to our knowledge of God.”3-8 As the hymn paraphrase of this passage puts it:
Though vine nor fig-tree neither
Their wonted fruit shall bear;
Though all the fields should wither,
Nor flocks nor herds be there;
Yet God the same abiding,
His praise shall tune my voice;
For while in Him confiding,
I cannot but rejoice.
Habakkuk teaches us to face our doubts and questions honestly, take them humbly to the Lord, wait for His Word to teach us, and then worship Him no matter how we feel or what we see.
God doesn’t always change the circumstances, but He can change us to meet the circumstances. That’s what it means to live by faith.
Posts: 6787 | From: Colorado | Registered: Dec 2007
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Carol Swenson
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The Prophet Watching and Waiting
Habakkuk 2
This chapter reports an experience Habakkuk had that is similar to one recorded by Asaph the psalmist in Psalm 73. Like Habakkuk, Asaph was bewildered at the providential working of God in this world: he was disturbed because the wicked seemed to be prospering while the righteous were suffering. Like Habakkuk, he reasoned with God, and then, like Habakkuk, he gave God the opportunity to reply.
“When I thought to know this,” he wrote, “it was too painful for me, until I went into the sanctuary of God” (Ps. 73:16-17) There in the sanctuary he found God’s answer to his problem, and his sighing was turned into singing.
Let’s join Habakkuk on the watchtower, which was his sanctuary, and listen to what the Lord said to him. When God did speak to His servant, He gave him three responsibilities to fulfill.
1. Write God’s vision (Hab. 2:1-3)
The prophet saw himself as a watchman on the walls of Jerusalem, waiting for a message from God that he could share with the people. In ancient days, the watchmen were responsible to warn the city of approaching danger, and if they weren’t faithful, their hands would be stained with the blood of the people who died (Ezek. 3:17-21; 33:1-3). It was a serious responsibility.
The image of the watchman carries a spiritual lesson for us today. As God’s people, we know that danger is approaching, and it’s our responsibility to warn people to “flee from the wrath to come” (Matt 3:7). If we don’t share the Gospel with lost sinners, then their blood may be on our hands. We want to be able to say with Paul, “Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men” (Acts 20:26, nkjv).
You get the impression that Habakkuk was fearful of what the Lord might say to him because of His servant’s “complaint” But the Lord graciously answered Habakkuk and gave him the vision he needed to turn his worrying into worshiping. This vision included not only the words in Habakkuk 2, but also the revelation of God’s glory recorded in 3:3-15. When you behold the glory of God and believe the Word of God, it gives you faith to accept the will of God.
We wouldn’t be studying this book today had Habakkuk not obeyed God’s orders and written down what God had told him and shown him. This writing was to be permanent so that generation after generation could read it. It was also to be plain, written so that anybody could read it, and it was to be public so that even somebody running past the tablets on display could get the message immediately.2-1 Habakkuk wasn’t the only person in Judah who needed this message, and it was his obligation to share it.
The revelation God gave was for a future time and about a future time. While the immediate application was to the end of the Babylonian Captivity, the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews interpreted it to refer also to the return of Jesus Christ led by the Holy Spirit, he changed “it” to “He” and applied it to our Lord. “For yet a little while, and He that shall come will come, and will not tarry” (Heb. 10:37). Along with the scoffers Peter wrote about, some readers might ask, “Where is the promise of His coming?” (2 Peter 3:3ff) and God’s reply is, “Wait for it! It will surely come!” A discouraged Jew in Babylonian exile might ask, “Will the Lord come and deliver us?” and the answer is, “Yes! Wait for Him!”
2. Trust God’s Word (Hab. 2:4-5)
The contrast here is between people of faith and people who arrogantly trust themselves and leave God out of their lives. The immediate application was to the Babylonians.
The sinner.
The Babylonians were “puffed up” with pride over their military might and their great achievements. They had built an impressive empire which they were sure was invincible. The words of Nebuchadnezzar express it perfectly: “Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for a royal dwelling by my mighty power for the honor of my majesty?” (Dan. 4:30, nkjv)
But Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians aren’t the only ones puffed up with pride and self-sufficiency. This is the condition of most of the people in today’s society who belong to the world and live for the world. The Apostle John warns us against “the pride [vain glory] of life” that belongs to this present evil world system which is against God and without God (1 John 2:15-17).
Besides puffing them up, what else does pride do to people? It twists them inwardly, for the soul of the unbeliever is “not upright,” which means his inner appetites are crooked and sinful. He delights in the things that God abhors, the things God condemns in the five “woes” in this chapter. One of the chief causes of the corruption in this world is what Peter calls “lust” (2 Peter 1:4), which simply means “evil desires, passionate longing.” Were it not for the base appetites of people, longing to be satisfied but never satisfied, the “sin industries” would never prosper.
Pride also makes people restless; they’re never satisfied (Hab. 2:5). That’s why they’re given over to wine, never at rest, never satisfied. They’re constantly seeking for some new experience to thrill them or some new achievement to make them important. Pride makes us greedy. The Babylonians weren’t satisfied with what they had; they coveted even more land and wealth, and therefore set their course to conquer every nation that stood in their way. More than one king or dictator in history has followed this resolve, only to discover that it leads to disappointment, ruin, and death.
The just.
Now for the contrast “The just shall live by his faith” (v. 4b; see Rom. 1:17; Gal. 3:11; Heb. 10:38). This is the first of three wonderful assurances that God gives in this chapter to encourage His people. This one emphasizes God’s grace, because grace and faith always go together. Habakkuk 2:14 emphasizes God’s glory and assures us that, though this world is now filled with violence and corruption (Gen. 6:5, 11-13), it shall one day be filled with God’s glory. The third assurance is in Habakkuk 2:20 and emphasizes God’s government. Empires may rise and fall, but God is on His holy throne, and He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
“The just shall live by his faith” was the watchword of the Reformation, and they may well be the seven most important monosyllables in all of church history. It was verse 4, quoted in Romans 1:17, that helped to lead Martin Luther into the truth of justification by faith. “This text,” said Luther, “was to me the true gate of Paradise.”
Justification is the gracious act of God whereby He declares the believing sinner righteous and gives that believing sinner a perfect standing in Jesus Christ. The “just” person isn’t someone who has met all of God’s requirements by means of good works, “For by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified” (Gal. 2:19; see Rom. 4:5). “For if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain” (Gal. 2:21, nkjv).
Our Lord’s Parable of the Pharisee and the Publican makes it clear that no amount of religious effort can save a lost sinner (Luke 18:9-14). We can’t justify ourselves before God because we stand with the whole world, guilty and condemned before His throne (Rom. 3:19). All we can do is put saving faith in Jesus Christ and His work on the cross, because that is the only way to be saved. “Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 5:1).
The victory.
We are not only saved by faith (Eph. 2:8-9), but we are instructed to live by faith. “And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith” (1 John 5:4, nkjv). Faith is a lifestyle that is just the opposite of being “puffed up” and depending on your own resources. Habakkuk knew that difficult times were coming to the people of Judah, and their only resource was to trust God’s Word and rest in His will.
Living by faith is the major theme of the Book of Hebrews (Heb. 10:38), for in that book the phrase “by faith” is found over twenty times. To live by faith means to believe God’s Word and obey it no matter how we feel, what we see, or what the consequences may be. This is illustrated in Hebrews 11, the famous “by faith” chapter of the Bible. The men and women mentioned in that chapter were ordinary people, but they accomplished extraordinary things because they trusted God and did what He told them to do. It has well been said that faith is not believing in spite of evidence; it’s obeying in spite of consequence, resting on God’s faithfulness.
3. Declare God’s judgment (Hab. 2:6-20)
To the faithful Jews in the land, God would be a refuge and strength (Nahum 1:7; Ps. 46), but to the godless Babylonians invading the land, He would be a judge and eventually punish their sins and give them what they deserved. In this “taunt song,” God pronounces “woe” upon five different sins, all of which are prevalent in the world today.
Self-ambition (Hab. 2:6-8).
Of itself ambition can be a good thing, but if it motivates people to be greedy, selfish, and abusive, it’s a very bad thing. “It has always been my ambition to preach the Gospel where Christ was not known,” wrote Paul (Rom. 15:20), and God honored that holy ambition. Paul also wrote, “Therefore also we have as our ambition … to be pleasing to Him” (2 Cor. 5:9, nasb), an ambition all of us ought to imitate.
The Babylonians were consumed by selfish ambition and they stopped at nothing to acquire wealth and expand their kingdom. They had hoards of stolen goods, plundered from helpless people. God warned them that the owners of this wealth would one day rise up to condemn them and collect what was due.2-2 Then the Babylonians will become the victims! Of course, this happened when the Medes and the Persians invaded Babylon and overthrew Belshazzar (Dan. 5). Babylon plundered other nations and she herself was plundered. Babylon had shed rivers of blood, and her blood was shed. It’s a basic law of the universe that eventually we reap what we sow.
Covetousness (Hab. 2:9-11).
According to Ephesians 4:28, there are three ways to get wealth: you can work for it, steal it, or receive it as a gift. Stealing is wrong because the eighth commandment says, “Thou shalt not steal” (Ex. 20:15). The Babylonians took land that wasn’t theirs in order to build an empire that glorified them and assured them safety. Their goal was security, like the eagle’s nest on the high mountain crags. Of course, this was a false security; because no individual or nation can build walls high enough to keep God out.
What will be the consequences of this covetousness? Instead of having houses and families that bring honor, they will have disgrace and shame and will eventually lose their lives. “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” (Mark 8:36) The very materials in their expensive houses would testify against them, for they were plundered from helpless people. James used a similar image when he warned the rich that the wages they owed their laborers would witness against them at the judgment (James 5:1-6).2-3
It’s likely that some of the covetous Jews felt the sting of this rebuke, for they were amassing fortunes by exploiting the poor and using that money to build expensive houses. (See Amos 3:15 and 6:11.) The prophets often rebuked the rich because they lived in luxury while the poor suffered. Jesus warned His disciples, “Take heed and beware of covetousness” (Luke 12:15), and that warning is valid today. “Thou shalt not covet” may be the last of the Ten Commandments (Ex. 20:17), but if we’re guilty of covetousness, we’re in danger of breaking the other nine!
Exploitation of people (Hab. 2:12-14).
Babylon was built by bloodshed, the blood of innocent victims. It was built by prisoners of war, slave labor that was exploited to the fullest extent. Babylon was proud of what she had built, but God said it wouldn’t last, because it was only fuel for the fire. The city of Babylon was an architectural marvel, but their great projects were for nothing. It’s all gone, and today, if you want to see what Babylon was like, you have to visit a museum.
When I was a seminary student in Chicago, one of our classes did just that: we visited a museum to see the exhibit on Babylon. I recall how impressed I was with the model of the city, marveling that such magnificent walls and gates and buildings could be constructed in those ancient days. But my wonder turned to disgust when I recalled that the city was built with slave labor and that the soul of one of those slaves meant more to God than all the buildings put together.
In contrast to the shame and infamy of Babylon, God promised that His glory would one day cover the earth (v. 14). The “glory” of Babylon didn’t last, but the glory of the Lord will abide forever. Certainly the Lord was glorified when Babylon fell before her enemies in 539 b.c. (see Jer. 50-51), and He will be glorified when the Babylon of the last days is destroyed, that final great world empire that opposes God (Rev. 17-18). When Jesus Christ returns and establishes His kingdom, then God’s glory will indeed cover the whole earth (Isa. 11:1-9).2-4
The fall of “Babylon the great” is a reminder to us that what man builds without God can never last. The exploiter will eventually lose everything, and man’s “utopias” will turn out to be disasters. We can’t exploit people made in God’s image and expect to escape God’s judgment. It may take time, but eventually the judgment falls.
Drunkenness and violence (Hab. 2:15-17).
This repulsive picture can be interpreted both personally and nationally. While the Bible doesn’t demand total abstinence, it does advise and warn against the evils of strong drink (Prov. 20:1; 21:17; 23:20-21, 29-35; Rom. 13:13 ; Gal. 5:21; 1 Thes. 5:7). Drunkenness and sensual behavior often go together (Gen. 9:20-27; 19:30-38; Rom. 13:11-14).
But the word “neighbor” could also refer to a neighboring nation that was “intoxicated” by Babylon’s power and made naked before Babylon’s invading armies. In Scripture, drinking a cup of wine can be a picture of judgment (Jer. 25:15ff), and nakedness sometimes speaks of the devastating effects of military invasion (Isa. 47:1-3).
However, what Babylon did to others, God would do to her. Babylon had been a golden cup in God’s hands (Jer. 51:7), and He had used her to chasten the nations, but now God will give her a cup to drink that will bring her to ruin (see Rev. 16:19).2-5 She will be ashamed as other nations look on her nakedness. Divine retribution will be hers: the violence she did to others will be done to her; as she shed the blood of others, her blood will be shed; and as she destroyed the lands of other nations, so her land will be devastated. The glory of God will cover the earth, but Babylon’s “glory” will be covered with shame. The picture is that of a repulsive drunk, vomiting all over himself, and it isn’t a very pretty picture.
It’s worth noting that God mentions the way the Babylonians abused trees and animals (Hab. 2:17, niv), suggesting that the soldiers wastefully chopped down trees and killed cattle to use both the wood and the meat for their war effort. God also mentions His concern for animals in Jonah 4:11, so check the references there (chap. 2). You wonder how many birds and animals lost either their lives or their homes because of this policy. See Deuteronomy 20:1-20 for Israel’s policy on war supplies.
Idolatry (Hab. 2:18-20).
Sad to say, the people of Judah were also guilty of this sin, for during the declining years of the kingdom, they worshiped the gods of the other nations. All the prophets cried out against this flagrant violation of the second commandment (Ex. 20:4-6), but the people refused to repent.
What is idolatry? Romans 1:25 gives the best answer: worshiping and serving the creature instead of the Creator. It started with Lucifer who said, “I will be like the Most High” (Isa. 14:14), and it entered humanity when Satan tempted Eve with, “You will be like God” (Gen. 3:5, nkjv). It’s the popular philosophy of the world that man is the highest thing in the universe and can pull himself up by his own bootstraps to any level he chooses. “Glory to man in the highest!”
Not only is idolatry disobedience to God’s Word, but it’s also foolish and useless. Of what value is a god made by a man? It’s much more reasonable to worship the God who made the man! (See Rom. 1:18ff.) Not only is the idol useless (see Ps. 115), but it does definite evil by teaching lies (Hab. 2:18) and giving people false confidence that the dumb idol can help them. For a heart-breaking example of this kind of foolish reasoning, read Jeremiah 44.
Idols are dead substitutes for the living God (Ps. 115). Whatever people delight in other than God, whatever they are devoted to and sacrifice for, whatever they couldn’t bear to be without, is an idol and therefore under the condemnation of God. Most people in civilized countries don’t worship manmade images of things in nature, but if the above definition is correct, modern society has its idols just as the Babylonians did.
Famous people are the “idols” of millions, especially politicians, athletes, wealthy tycoons, and actors and actresses. Even dead entertainers like Marilyn Monroe, James Dean, and Elvis Presley still have their followers. People may also worship and serve man-made things like cars, houses, boats, jewelry; and art. While all of us appreciate beautiful and useful things, it’s one thing to own them and quite something else to be owned by them. Albert Schweitzer said, “Anything you have that you cannot give away, you do not really own; it owns you.” I’ve met people who so idolized their children and grand-children that they refused to let them consider giving their lives for Christian service.
Social position can be an idol and so can vocational achievement. For some people, their god is their appetite (Phil. 3:19; Rom. 16:18); and they live only to experience carnal pleasures. Intellectual ability can be a terrible idol (2 Cor. 10:5) as people worship their IQ and refuse to submit to God’s Word.
God ended His reply to Habakkuk by giving a third assurance: “But the Lord is in His holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before Him” (Hab. 2:20; see Ps. 11:4). The first assurance focused on God’s grace (Hab. 2:4), and the second on God’s glory (v. 14). This third assurance focuses on God’s government: God is on the throne and has everything under control. Therefore, we shouldn’t complain against God or question what He’s doing. Like faithful servants, we must simply stand and listen for His commands. “Be still, and know that I am God” (Ps. 46:10).
Seeing the vision of God and hearing the voice of God made a tremendous difference in Habakkuk’s life. As he grasped the significance of the three great assurances God gave him, he was transformed from being a worrier and a watcher to being a worshiper! In the closing chapter of his book, he will share with us the vision he had of God and the difference it made in his life.
Posts: 6787 | From: Colorado | Registered: Dec 2007
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Carol Swenson
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The Prophet Worrying
Habakkuk 1
One of the modern “Christian myths” that ought to be silenced says that when you trust Jesus Christ, you get rid of all your problems.
You don’t.
It’s true that your basic spiritual problem—your relationship with God—has been solved; but with that solution comes a whole new set of problems that you didn’t face when you were an unbeliever, like: “Why do good people suffer and evil people prosper?” or “Why isn’t God answering prayer?” or “When I’m doing my best for the Lord, why do I experience the worst from others?”
Christians who claim to be without problems are either not telling the truth or not growing and experiencing real life. Perhaps they’re just not thinking at all. They’re living in a religious dream world that has blocked out reality and stifled honest feelings. Like Job’s uncomfortable comforters, they mistake shallow optimism for the peace of God and “the good life” for the blessing of God. You never hear them ask what David and Jesus asked: “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?” (Ps. 22:1; Matt. 27:46)
Habakkuk wasn’t that kind of a believer. As he surveyed the land of Judah, and then watched the international scene, he found himself struggling with some serious problems. But he did the right thing: he took his problems to the Lord.
1. “Why is God so indifferent?” (Hab. 1:2-11)
Being a perceptive man, Habakkuk knew that the kingdom of Judah was rapidly deteriorating. Ever since the untimely death of King Josiah in 609 b.c., his religious reforms had been forgotten and his son and successor Jehoiakim had been leading the nation closer to disaster. (If you want to know what God thought about Jehoiakim, read Jer. 22:13-19.)
The prophet’s concern (Hab. 1:2-3).
Habakkuk’s vocabulary in this chapter indicates that times were difficult and dangerous, for he uses words like violence, iniquity, grievance (misery), spoiling (destruction), strife, contention (disputes), and injustice. Habakkuk prayed that God would do something about the violence, strife, and injustice in the land; but God didn’t seem to hear. In verse 2, the first word translated “cry” simply means “to call for help,” but the second word means “to scream, to cry with a loud voice, to cry with a disturbed heart” As he prayed about the wickedness in the land, Habakkuk became more and more burdened and wondered why God seemed so indifferent.
The basic cause (Hab. 1:4).
The nation’s problems were caused by leaders who wouldn’t obey the law. “Therefore the law is paralyzed, and justice never prevails. The wicked hem in the righteous, so that justice is perverted” (v. 4, niv). The rich exploited the poor and escaped punishment by bribing the officials. The law was either ignored or twisted, and nobody seemed to care. The courts were crooked, officials were interested only in money, and the admonition in Exodus 23:6-8 was completely unheeded.
The Lord’s counsel (Hab. 1:5-11).
God answered His servant and assured him that He was at work among the nations even though Habakkuk couldn’t see it.1-1 God gave Habakkuk a revelation, not an explanation, for what we always need in times of doubt is a new view of God. The Lord doesn’t owe us any explanations, but He does graciously reveal Himself and His work to those who seek Him.1-2
What God was doing was so amazing, incredible, and unheard of, that even His prophet would be shocked: God was planning to punish the Jews by using the godless Babylonians! They were a “ruthless and impetuous people” (v. 6, niv), “a feared and dreaded people” who were a law unto themselves and afraid of nobody (v. 7, niv). Their only purpose was to promote themselves and conquer and enslave other peoples.
The Lord then used a number of pictures from nature to describe the Babylonians and how they treated people. Their horses had the speed of leopards and the ferocity of wolves, and their troops swooped down on their prey like vultures. Their army swept across the desert like the wind and gathered and deported prisoners the way a man digs sand and ships it to a foreign land.
Could anything stop them? Certainly God could stop them, but He was the one who was enlisting their aid! Nothing human could hinder their progress. The Babylonians had no respect for authority, whether kings or generals. (One of their practices was to put captured kings in cages and exhibit them like animals.) They laughed at gates and walls as they built their siege ramps and captured fortified cities. They worshiped the god of power and depended wholly on their own strength.
Habakkuk learned that God was not indifferent to the sins of the people of Judah. The Lord was planning to chasten Judah by allowing the Babylonians to invade the land and take them into exile.1-3 This wasn’t the answer Habakkuk was expecting. He was hoping God would send a revival to His people (see 3:2), judge the evil leaders, and establish righteousness in the land. Then the nation would escape punishment and the people and cities would be spared.
However, God had warned His people time and time again, but they wouldn’t listen. Prophet after prophet had declared the Word (2 Chron. 36:14-21), only to be rejected, and He had sent natural calamities like droughts and plagues, and various military defeats, but the people wouldn’t listen. Instead of repenting, the people hardened their hearts even more and turned for help to the gods of the nations around them. They had tried God’s long-suffering long enough and it was time for God to act.
2. “How could God be so inconsistent?” (Hab. 1:12-17)
As far as Habakkuk was concerned, God’s first answer hadn’t been an answer at all. In fact, it only created a new problem that was even more puzzling: inconsistency on the part of God. How could a holy God use a wicked nation to punish His own special people?
The holiness of God (Hab. 1:12-13).
The prophet focused on the character of God, as Jonah had done when he disagreed with what God was doing (Jonah 4:2). “Men of faith are always the men who have to confront problems,” wrote G. Campbell Morgan, for if you believe in God, you sometimes wonder why He allows certain things to happen. But keep in mind that there’s a difference between doubt and unbelief. Like Habakkuk, the doubter questions God and may even debate with God, but the doubter doesn’t abandon God. But unbelief is rebellion against God, a refusal to accept what He says and does. Unbelief is an act of the will, while doubt is born out of a troubled mind and a broken heart.
Habakkuk’s argument with God is a short course in theology, and he started with the obvious fact of the holiness of God. The Babylonians were far more wicked sinners than the people in Judah, so, how could God use such evil idolatrous Gentiles to punish His own chosen people? Yes, His people deserved punishment, but couldn’t God find a better instrument? Would this mean the end of the nation? No, for “we shall not die” (Hab. 1:12). God had purposes to fulfill through the Jewish nation and He would preserve His people, but they would experience painful trials.
The prophet needed to remember two facts: (1) God had used other tools to chasten His people—war, natural calamities, the preaching of the prophets—and the people wouldn’t listen; (2) the greater the light, the greater the responsibility. Yes, the Babylonians were wicked sinners, but they were idolaters who didn’t know the true and living God. This didn’t excuse their sins (Rom. 1:18ff), but it did explain their conduct. The Jews claimed to know the Lord and yet they were sinning against the very law they claimed to believe! Sin in the life of a believer is far worse than sin in the life of an unbeliever. When God’s people deliberately disobey Him, they sin against a flood of light and an ocean of love.
Habakkuk reminded God that He was eternal, and therefore knew the end from the beginning and couldn’t be caught by surprise. He was the Mighty God (“Rock,” niv) who had all power and never changed. So, what about His covenants with the Jews? What about His special promises? As a holy God, He couldn’t look with approval on sin (Hab. 1:13); yet He was “tolerant” of sin in the land of Judah and “silent” as the Babylonians prepared to swallow up His people! Habakkuk wanted God to say something and do something, but God was silent and seemingly inactive.
Keep in mind that this wasn’t simply a national problem to Habakkuk, or a theological problem; it was a personal problem as he cried out, “My God, my holy One” (v. 12, niv). National and international events were affecting his personal walk with God, and this concerned him greatly. But wrestling with these challenges is the only way for our “faith muscles” to grow. To avoid tough questions, or to settle for half-truths and superficial pat answers is to remain immature, but to face questions honestly and talk them through with the Lord is to grow in grace and in the knowledge of Christ (2 Peter 3:18).1-4
The helplessness of people (Hab. 1:14-15).
After presenting his case on the basis of the holiness of God, Habakkuk argued from the viewpoint of the helplessness of the people (vv. 14-15). Judah could never survive an attack from the savage Babylonians. To the Babylonians, life was cheap, and prisoners of war were expendable. People were like fish to be hooked or sea creatures to be trapped.
How could God allow His weak people to be invaded by such a heartless and ruthless nation? Of course, the false prophets in Judah were saying, “It can’t happen here” (see Jer. 6:14; 8:11; 14:13ff), but their blind optimism would soon be exposed as lies. For forty years, the Prophet Jeremiah warned the people of Judah and begged them to turn back to God, but they refused to listen. What Judah needed wasn’t great military strength but obedient faith in God.
The haughtiness of the enemy (Hab. 1:16-17).
The prophet’s third approach was to point out the way the Babylonians lived and worshiped. Their god was power (see v. 11) and they trusted in their mighty military machine (“their net,” vv. 16-17) and worshiped the gods of power and violence. The Babylonians were “puffed up,” (2:4, niv) with arrogance and self confidence. How could God honor them by giving them a victory over Judah? God was filling their net with victims, and the Chaldeans were emptying the net by destroying one nation after another (1:17, niv).
Habakkuk could have said more about the abominable religion of the Babylonians. They believed in a multitude of gods and goddesses, with Bel as the head of their pantheon. Anu was the god of the sky, Nebo the god of literature and wisdom, and Nergal was the sun god. Sorcery was an important part of their religion, including honoring Ea, the god of magic. Their priests practiced divination and consulted omens, all of which was prohibited by the law of Moses. It seemed unreasonable that the Lord would allow such spiritually ignorant people to conquer Judah, the land that housed His own temple.
Habakkuk finished his defense and waited for God to speak. Like a servant, he stood waiting and watching (2:1), wondering how God would respond to his “complaint” The answer God gave is recorded in chapter 2.
But before we listen to God’s encouraging reply, we must pause to examine our own hearts. Are we fully yielded to God and willing for Him to have His way with us and with those whom we love? There’s nothing wrong with wrestling with the problems of life and seeking a better understanding of God’s will, but we must beware lest we start debating with God and trying to change His mind.
We admire Habakkuk for being an honest man and wanting God to spare the people he loved. We want to imitate him in his openness and sincerity and in his willingness to wait for God’s answer. But we want to remember what Paul wrote to the believers in Rome:
Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!
For who has known the mind of the Lord?
Or who has become His counselor?
Or who has first given to Him and it shall be repaid to him?
For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen.
(Rom. 11:33-36, NKJV)
(Wiersbe)
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