to embrace

 

Heyo, welcome back!

Over the last few weeks, we've done an overview of the whole Bible. We have walked through the overarching story and how it all points to Jesus. The next part of our semester focuses on doing different deep dives into the sections of the Bible. Last week, we started with the prophets. 

The prophets were a group of men who relayed messages from God to certain people groups during different centuries. They spoke on behalf of God to reveal His character and inform the people what was to come. The story of Jesus is all throughout these books as they prophesy about his first coming and his second coming. He has already fulfilled hundreds of prophesies, and will fulfill the rest when He comes back.

But, I digress... 

The Old Testament has seventeen prophetical books: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, & Malachi. Some prophesy to the Northern Kingdom of Israel, some to the Southern Kingdom of Judah, and still others to pagan cities like Nineveh or countries like Assyria.

Each book shows a different prophet talking on behalf of God.

...Except Habakkuk. 

Habakkuk is the story of a man who had some questions. Sound familiar? I like Habakkuk because he feels kinda like I do, and maybe like you do, too. 

Habakkuk is a resident of Judah, which is the southern kingdom of Israel after Israel split in two. Neither kingdom was faithful, per se, but Judah had 8 (ish) faithful kings as compared to Israel's 0 faithful kings. Thus, Judah's deportation into captivity comes over a hundred years after Israel's exile. 

Habakkuk is watching the decay of his nation. He watches the men and women choose the desires of their flesh over following God time and again and cries out to God in anguish. He asks good, relatable questions so God says to write them down, because one day others will ask, too. 

The book opens with Habakkuk crying out, "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. Why do You make me see iniquity, and cause me to look upon wickedness? Yes, destruction and violence are before me; Strife exists and contention arises. Therefore, the law is ignored and justice is never upheld. For the wicked surround the righteous; Therefore justice comes out perverted." (Habakkuk 1:1-3)

He's looking at his fellow countrymen, and despairing of their bad deeds. The society of Habakkuk's day is morally corrupt, heartless, and self-absorbed. No one looks out for each other, and truth is becoming more and more hard to come by. There is truly no social justice in the country of Judah as manipulation, deceit, and exploitation take the reins of the nation. (Side note: I am not going to get into the term social justice any more, but if you would like to hear a great sermon/talk about it, watch Voddie Baucham's "Defining Social Justice". He is elegant and graceful and honest and presents it insightfully.)

Nonetheless, Habakkuk is heartbroken by the state of affairs in his nation and wants an answer. God replies in verses 4-11 and essentially says, "The Babylonians are coming. They will conquer you to fulfill my punishment."

Now, Habakkuk is really wondering at God's character. Why would a good God judge a bad nation by sending a worse nation to capture them? Babylon is evil; they're vile. The prophet says, "Your eyes are too pure to look at evil, And You cannot look at harm favorably, Why do You look favorably at those who deal treacherously? Why are You silent when the wicked swallow up those more righteous than they?"(1:12-17) He knows God's character well, yet it is still incredibly difficult for him to fathom God's methods. In essence:

"You have appointed THEM to judge US?  C'mon, God, we’re bad, but not that bad."

But, like I said before, Habakkuk knows the character of God. He understands that an answer will come, for God is good and faithful, draws near to those who draw near to Him. So Habakkuk waits. "I will stand at my guard post and station myself on the watchtower; And I will keep watch to see what He will say to me, and how I may reply when I am reprimanded." (Habakkuk 2:1)

The Lord responds by essentially saying, "Write this down, because others will ask Me this question. Write this down, and you will see that I am good and always care for My people." He says that a time is coming where justice will be served, and that it will come in its own perfect timing. "For the vision is yet for the appointed time; It hastens towards the goal and it will not fail. Though it tarries, wait for it; For it will certainly come, it will not delay" (Habakkuk 2:3). His timing is perfect and beautiful and never late, even if it feels as if it might be.

And so sometimes we are called to wait, for "Behold, as for the proud one, His soul is not right within him; 

But the righteous will live by faith." (Habakkuk 2:4)

  • The righteous will live by faith that He is faithful. (2 Timothy 2:13)


  • The righteous will live by faith that a Messiah is coming. (Genesis 3:15)


  • The righteous will live by faith that Christ's sacrifice was once for all. (Romans 6:10)


  • The righteous will live by faith that God is sovereign and His timing is perfect. (2 Peter 3:9)

Babylon might conquer and capture Judah for a time, but they will not be victorious. They will not have the final word, because that has always belonged to God. Everyone will be held accountable for their actions, but they must come in their time. 

The next section addresses the social injustice perpetrated by Babylon with five "Woe!" statements:

  • Woe to those who oppress/who are never satisfied (6)


  • Woe those who gain through evil (9)


  • Woe the violent, those who hurt others (12)


  • Woe to those who exploit others (15)


  • Woe to those who worship things other than God (18-19)

Babylon is evil. They are vile. They do not care for their people, or for anyone else either. And, yet, for a time, God uses them to judge His holy people. God uses them to teach Judah about Himself, because though they are evil and wreak havoc:


"But the Lord is in His holy temple.

Let all the earth be silent before Him.”

(Habakkuk 2:20)


Ok, now it's really easy to retroactively read this and say, "Yeah, God was right. All of that happened." And we see that it did in books like Daniel, Ezekiel, Lamentations, and Esther. We look back on it with a cushion of time and say that that seemed bad but God ultimately figured it out.


Let's not forget that this was a two-sided conversation. Let's not forget that Habakkuk was a member (son, brother, friend, father) of the nation about to be judged. Let's not forget that in a few short years he would be carried off into the exile God about which god spoke to him. Let's not forget that though he was righteous he was likely not exempt from the punishment. 


So how does Habakkuk respond? First, with a plea. "Lord, I have heard about You and I fear. O Lord, revive Your work in the midst of the years, In the midst of the years make it known; 


In wrath remember mercy." (Habakkuk 3:2). 


We can be well assured that Habakkuk was deeply acquainted with God's character as he begs that God may carry out both wrath and mercy simultaneously. He knows that they are both within the nature of God, and both can be brought about at the same time through the power of God. We also understand that he was deeply acquainted with his brothers and countrymen in the cry for mercy.


What does he mean by "revive your work", though? The next verses expand upon this. In 3:3-7, he talks about God appearing to the people, and it is reminiscent of Exodus 19-20, when God appears to Moses on Mount Sinai. He is filled with glory, radiant, and everything is full of His splendor. The Bible Project says, "When the Creator shows up to confront [His corrupted creation], everyone will be paying attention." He refers back to the first exodus from Egypt (and specifically the Red Sea) in order to prophesy about a second exodus which will deliver the world: "You went forth for the salvation of Your people, For the salvation of Your anointed. You smashed the head of the house of evil to uncover him from foot to neck." (Habakkuk 3:13).


Thus, the righteous will live by faith that He will be victorious.


Habakkuk's name means "to embrace". When things got tough, Habakkuk turned to God rather than turning his back. Habakkuk approached God and embraced His promises. Habakkuk was given hard answers, but the book ends with Him praising God. The book ends with Habakkuk praising and trusting the Lord, because at the end of the day, no matter the pain or hardship or confusion, God is good and He is faithful, and the righteous will live by faith. (Habakkuk 2:4). 


The prophets are not unrelatable, disconnected, old dudes. They are men with broken hearts speaking about broken nations to a God who does not break promises. Habakkuk was an upright man in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, whose deepest desire was to see a society restored to right standing with its Lord. And, even when he realized that he would have to wait for that fulfillment, he could only fall on his face to worship, because he knew the character of His God.


Lord, break our hearts for what breaks yours. 


Lord, in wrath remember mercy, for we know that you can do both.


Lord, we eagerly await the consummation of the church in your second exodus.


Let us be faithful even and especially when man is fickle, foolish, and foul. 



"Yet I will triumph in the Lord,

I will rejoice in the God of my salvation.

The Lord God is my strength,

And He has made my feet like deer’s feet,

And has me walk on my high places."

Habakkuk 3:18-19


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