Hey Gang,
We continue this week in our series on the Minor Prophets and their messages from God in the Old Testament. Last week we looked at Nahum's message of God's judgment on Nineveh and the Assyrian Empire. This week we hear from Habakkuk message of faith and it begins with a familiar question or two.
“I have learned that faith means trusting in advance what will make sense only in reverse.” - Phillip Yancey
Life Goal
Notice how active trust is; then let God show you what to do about the rough situations you face.
Lesson Summary
The question of why the wicked prosper is not new. As believers, we often wonder why God allows our enemies to prosper while we are barely getting by. Therefore, all of us can relate to the complaints of injustice that Habakkuk brought to God. The Book of Habakkuk affirms that God has everything under control and that He does what He promises. He is still on the throne and will punish the wicked. We can place our faith and confidence in Him.
From innocent childhood queries to complex university discussions, life is filled with questions. Asking how and why and when, we probe beneath the surface to find satisfying answers. But not all questions have answers wrapped and neatly tied. How do we deal with these questions?
- Some choose to live with their doubts, ignoring them and moving on with their life.
- Others become cynical and hardened.
- Others reject those options and continue to ask questions, looking for answers.
Habakkuk was a man who sought answers. Troubled by what he observed, he asked difficult questions. Habakkuk saw a dying world, and it broke his heart. Why is there evil in the world? Why do the wicked seem to be winning? He boldly and confidently took his complaints directly to God. And God answered – with an avalanche of proof and prediction.
- “How long, O Lord, must I call for help, but you do not listen? Or cry out to You, ‘Violence!’ but you do not save?” (1:2)
As chapter two begins, Habakkuk declares that he will wait to hear God’s answers to his complaints. Then God begins to speak, telling the prophet to write His answer plainly so that all will see and understand.
- It may seem, God says, as though the wicked triumph, but eventually thay will be judged, and righteousness will prevail.
- Judgment may not come quickly, but it will come. God’s answers fill chapter two.
- Then Habakkuk concludes his book with a prayer of faith and triumph.
- With questions answered and a new understanding of God’s power and love, Habakkuk rejoices in who God is and in what He will do.
Timeline of the lesson:
1. 627 B.C. – After the death of Ashurbanipal the Assyrian Empire began to decline and loses control of its vassal states.
2. 640-609 B.C. – King Josiah of Judah threw off Judah’s vassal status and implemented religious reforms as well as increasing amounts of political freedoms.
3. 609 B.C. – The revival is cut short when Josiah dies trying to stop the Egyptian army from helping the Assyrians fight the Babylonians. After a brief rule by Jehoahaz, the Egyptians put Jehoiakim on the throne and he chose evil.
4. 605 B.C. – When the Babylonians defeated the Assyrians and Egyptians at the Battle of Carchemish, they subdued Judah and surrounding nations. Habakkuk knew Babylonian invasion was imminent.
5. 612 – 588 B.C. - Habakkuk prophesied between the fall of Nineveh (the capital of Assyria) in 612 B.C. and 588 B.C. before Judah’s fall in 586 B.C.
6. Habakkuk experienced the uplifting revival of King Josiah as well as the wickedness of Josiah’s son Jehoiakim. That God appeared unconcerned about ongoing wickedness in Judah disturbed Habakkuk.
7. Babylon would become the new dominant world power.
8. Habakkuk asked how long he must call for help. Or why does God allow evil to go unpunished in Judah?
I asked you to think about our nation this morning as we listen and read Habakkuk's concern and prayer for the wickedness that had become the norm of Judah. Remember what Billy Graham said on Larry King Live years ago, "If the Lord doesn't punish the United States of America for her sins, then He's going to have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah." I read where the President of the United States wanted to change our national anthem to "I'd like to teach the world to sing" and CNN's Piers Morgan told Rick Warren that not only does our constitution need to be amended, but that the Bible should be amended as well.
Why would we think that if God dealt with individuals and nations in the Old Testament the way He did that He wouldn't deal with us the same way today? Maybe He already has and is.
I. HONEST QUESTIONS – HABAKKUK 1:1-3, 13; 2:1
1 The oracle that Habakkuk the prophet saw.
Habakkuk’s First Prayer
2 How long, Lord, must I call for help and You do not listen or cry out to You about violence and You do not save? 3 Why do You force me to look at injustice? Why do You tolerate wrongdoing? Oppression and violence are right in front of me. Strife is ongoing, and conflict escalates.
13 Your eyes are too pure to look on evil, and You cannot tolerate wrongdoing. So why do You tolerate those who are treacherous? Why are You silent while one who is wicked swallows up one who is more righteous than himself?
Habakkuk Waits for God’s Response
2 I will stand at my guard post and station myself on the lookout tower. I will watch to see what He will say to me and what I should reply about my complaint.
What questions did Habakkuk ask God? What’s honest and good about these questions?
- Habakkuk had a unique role. Most prophets spoke for God to people. Habakkuk spoke to God for the people.
- Don’t be afraid to ask God honest questions. What answers do you hear God giving you in the process?
What other questions did Habakkuk ask?
- Habakkuk pointed out that though the Jewish people had been disobedient, Babylonian invaders were much more wicked.
- Contribute to goodness around you, rather than worsen the evil. What good can you contribute at work, home or church?
Can you think of a time when you felt the same way Habakkuk felt? What are some honest questions you have for God today?
- Habakkuk wrestles with silence of God while the wicked prosper and good ones agonize. He was perplexed by the injustices he experienced in Judah under the reign of Jehoiakim.
- Everyone gets riled thinking about a certain unjust one prospering while a kind one languishes. The feelings are okay. We should find way to be righteous anyway, knowing that it’s the only solution that works.
How do you think Habakkuk asked his question? What’s the difference between waiting on God for answers to questions and demanding answers from God? Does our stance and attitude matter?
- Its okay, even important to be comfortable in asking God hard questions. But it won’t work to boss Him, to presume we know more, or to use questions to refuse to do what God has commanded. Not only is it rude, it’s foolish. We need a holy fear and a teachable spirit, a respect that shows worship.
- Approach God reverently and wait silently to hear what He has to say.
II. DIVINE RESPONSES – HABAKKUK 1:5-6; 2:4-6
God’s First Answer
5 Look at the nations and observe— be utterly astounded! For something is taking place in your days that you will not believe when you hear about it. 6 Look! I am raising up the Chaldeans, that bitter, impetuous nation that marches across the earth’s open spaces to seize territories not its own.
4 Look, his ego is inflated; he is without integrity. But the righteous one will live by his faith. 5 Moreover, wine betrays; an arrogant man is never at rest. He enlarges his appetite like Sheol, and like Death he is never satisfied. He gathers all the nations to himself; he collects all the peoples for himself.
The Five Woe Oracles
6 Won’t all of these take up a taunt against him, with mockery and riddles about him? They will say: Woe to him who amasses what is not his— how much longer?— and loads himself with goods taken in pledge.
Has God ever answered your questions?
What did God plan to do?
- Chaldeans were Babylonians. The Chaldeans would rage against Judah and ultimately destroy the city of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. This pain was a consequence of misbehavior. Other pain is not: its part of this imperfect world or due to someone else’s misbehavior.
- When we deserve punishment or correction, how can we complain about the kind of “rod” God uses on us?
- I don't think Habakkuk expected God to answer this way - we never do either. Why would God use a nation more evil than Judah to punish Judah?
Habakkuk wanted to know, how long would evil prevail? Why was Babylon chosen to punish Judah? What answers did God have for these good questions?
- God did not remain silent. He promised the sins of Judah would be punished by Babylonians.
- Watch for places God is already poking good into dark situations around you. Ask how to participate in adding goodness.
- Judah would be punished for their own misbehavior. Egypt, a world power for centuries, would be crushed almost overnight. Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrian empire, would be so completely ransacked that people would forget where it had been.
- Although God used Babylon against Judah, he knew Babylon’s sins and would punish it in due time. The Babylonians would rise to power.
- God’s answer to Habakkuk was the same answer he would give us today, “Be patient! I will work out My plans in My perfect timing.” Live by faith.
- It isn’t easy to be patient, but it helps to remember that God hates sin even more than we do. Punishment of sin will certainly come, God told Habakkuk, “Wait for it.”
- To trust God fully means to trust Him even when we don’t understand why events occur as they do.
How are we to live in what appears to be a world of injustice?
- Things may stay bad for a while, but God will give specific insight as to how we are to live when calamity is upon us.
- Living by faith is found in the Old and New Testaments. Habakkuk 2:4 is quoted by Paul in both Romans 1:17 and Galatians 3:11.
- God gave a principle that relates in any situation.
- Stay faithful when the bottom falls out. Judah would face awful times when Babylon invaded, but history of the Jews will show that those who walk in faith would survive.
- The wicked Babylonians trusted in themselves and would fall; but the righteous live by their faith and trust in God.
- Verse 2:4 has inspired countless Christians.
- Christians must trust that God is directing all things according to His purposes.
The life of faith means to:
- Listen to the truth of God.
- Lean on the timing of God.
- Live with your trust in God.
Just as you trust in God for your salvation ... trust in God in the midst of your suffering.
III. HUMAN ACTIONS – HABAKKUK 3:2, 17-19b
2 Lord, I have heard the report about You; Lord, I stand in awe of Your deeds. Revive Your work in these years; make it known in these years. In Your wrath remember mercy!
17 Though the fig tree does not bud and there is no fruit on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, 18 yet I will triumph in Yahweh; I will rejoice in the God of my salvation! 19 Yahweh my Lord is my strength; He makes my feet like those of a deer and enables me to walk on mountain heights!
Despite hard circumstances, what was Habakkuk’s response toward God’s message?
- The word “awe” in this verse also means fear.
- What circumstances are you struggling with today? Ask God to show you what to do about these. Does He want you to find a person to help? Research? Write possible solutions or what?
- Habakkuk praised God for answering his questions. Evil will not triumph forever; God is in control, and He can be completely trusted to vindicate those who are faithful to Him. We must wait patiently for Him to act.
Think of a time when you lost something precious, something you truly needed. Maybe it was your sight or hearing. Maybe it was a family member or the family member of someone close to you. Maybe it was a job. How did God enable you to walk through that time? How is He still enabling you? Why is He our sure foundation? How could you be part of God’s provision?
- Verses 3:17-19 tell us that crop failure and the death of animals would devastate Judah. But Habakkuk affirmed that even in the times of starvation and loss, he would rejoice in the Lord. Habakkuk’s feelings were not controlled by the events around him but by faith in God’s ability to give him strength. When nothing makes sense, and when troubles seem more than you can bear, remember that God gives strength. Take your eyes off your difficulties and look to God.
Habakkuk saw what God had in store and he concluded:
- God is awesome.
- God is full of wrath.
- God is full of mercy.
- How long will we play the blame game?
- Adam and Eve.
- We choose to sin or else God would be responsible.
- James 1:14 says, "But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust." We are responsible for our own choices.
- When King David was confronted by Nathan the prophet about his sin with Bathsheeba, he said, "I have sinned against the Lord." This is exactly what each of us needs to do! Accept personal responsibility for our sin. Stop blaming parents, inherited tendencies, family upbringing, your environment, economic deprivation, lack of education, poor health, or your friends. Admit your own sin against God and throw yourself on the mercy that God will give you through Jesus' death on the cross. This is what real faith looks like.
Habakkuk had asked God why evil people prosper while the righteous suffer. God’s answer: they don’t, not in the long run. We cannot see all that God is doing, and we cannot see all that God will do. But we can be assured that He is God and will do what is right. Knowing this can give us confidence and hope in a confusing world.
Yancey's quote in the beginning of the lesson: “I have learned that faith means trusting in advance what will make sense only in reverse.”
- Think of a rear-view mirror on a car. There are times when we need our faith to be like that mirror, showing us the purpose of the truths we know and the principles we stand on. We’ve seen the value of living by God’s guidance; it makes sense to keep going forward with that plan. What are some examples of times you can look back on in life, when God moved or answered, to move forward?
Prayer of Commitment: Lord, I don’t want to be a person of faith just when all is well. Therefore, increase my faith that I may be faithful to You in all situations, because I know for a surety that You will never forsake me. Amen.
This is an insightful lesson this week with answers to questions we all have from time to time - pay close attention to God's answer.
See you on Sunday!
In His Love,
David & Susan
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