Intro

Habakkuk’s a man grappling with what God is like in the face of his life experiences.

The name Habakkuk means to "embrace" or "wrestle." Habakkuk's name has everything to do with the message of the book.  Habakkuk is a righteous man who has embraced God's law, but he is wrestling with God ways. He respects God and does what is right, but it is getting him nowhere. It is the age-old wrestling match with God. "If God is good, then why is there evil in the world?" If there has to be evil, then why does it prosper at the expense of the righteous?

Who else wrestled with God – Jacob Genisis 32:24

Complaint One – Habakkuk 1:2-4
Where are You Lord? Why do you make me look at injustice?

Many believe the longsuffering of God's grace tolerates and embraces wrong.

Habakkuk begins as a frustrated prophet. He's surrounded by violence, injustice strife and evil. Israel is going to pot and it seems God is just sitting on the sidelines watching it happen. He doesn't seem to care. In his frustration Habakkuk cries out "O LORD, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear! "( Habakkuk 1:2).

The question "where is God?" assaults modern day believers. Is he in Rwanda? Why the bloodshed? Is he in Ethiopia? Why the starvation? Is he with us? Why then is life so difficult? This is the question Habakkuk is struggling with. He is surrounded by violence and perverted justice, and in his frustration cries out for help - but God doesn't seem to care.

God’s Answer- Habakkuk 1:5-11
"I'm going to raise up the Babylonians."

God may tolerate wickedness for a season, but NO longer!
 
Suffering is for the purpose of disciplining
Discipline leads to righteousness.          [Heb 12: 5-7-10-11] 

^V5And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him. ⁶For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.  ⁷If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?
¹⁰For they verily for a few days chastened [us] after their own pleasure; but he for [our] profit, that [we] might be partakers of his holiness.  ¹¹Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby

Discipline is good for the soul.                        [Ps 69: 10]
When I wept, [and chastened] my soul with fasting, that was to my reproach
God will discipline, but not beyond what we can handle.   [Ps 118: 18]
The LORD hath chastened me sore: but he hath not given me over unto death

You do not listen to chasten, you will be devoured.          [Jer 2: 30]
In vain have I smitten your children; they received no correction: your own sword hath devoured your prophets, like a destroying lion

Judgement is coming, but it will begin at the house of God. 1 Peter 4:17-19
For the time [is come] that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if [it] first [begin] at us, what shall the end [be] of them that obey not the gospel of God?  And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?  Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls [to him] in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator

Habakkuk is probably hoping for a revival, but there is not going to be one. Judgement is coming; the time for revival is over. That is scary, what if the time for revival is over today? Most of us want a revival, but God may very well send judgement instead. Are you ready for the judgement of God?

Don’t cross that line.

The judgement of God is as much a part of the New Testament as it was in the Old Testament. The judgement of God is a part of the grace of God. 

God set in judgement on the seven churches of Asia. The church at Ephesus was told 

"Nevertheless I have [somewhat] against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent. "

The church at Thyatira was judged because she allowed sexual immorality. The church at Sardis was judged for having a name for being alive but she was dead. Laodicea was judged for being lukewarm. 

It is wonderful to be in the grip of God's grace, however, we must understand God's grip of grace also reveals his gracious grip of judgement for our sins. God's grip is gracious but it is also firm. God wishes to correct the sin in our lives. Grace in no way diminishes the need of God's gracious judgement to correct and discipline his church. Why should the judgement of God upon the church today surprise us? God's gracious judgement is designed to get us back on the strait and narrow that we might be saved from our own disgrace. 

Many of us who are praying for revival may need to be preparing for the judgement of God. You may say, "I don't like the tone of this subject." That is exactly how Habakkuk felt too. 

Complaint Two - Habakkuk 1:12-2:1
"Is it just to do that? Your eyes are too pure to look on evil."

This gives rise to Habakkuk's second complaint. "How could you God? How could you raise up a nation like Bayblon to destroy a nation more righteous than them. It's not fair, it's not the sort of thing a holy God's supposed to do."

Illustration:?

Habakkuk is full of outrage because it appears to him that justice isn't being done by God in raising up Babylon to punish Israel. He can't reconcile that with the holiness and justice of God. Habakkuk's big question is "Is God Just?" Can I count on him to do the right thing?"

Seeing God’s Justice

• To See God's Justice Requires God's Perspective. Habakkuk could only see a wicked nation overpowering one more righteous than itself. But God says Babylon will be punished also v6-8.
• To See God's Justice Requires Patience. Habakkuk wanted to see justice done straight away. So do we. Habakkuk's cry "How Long, 0 Lord"(1:2) is also our cry. Habakkuk could only see a wicked nation overpowering one more righteous than itself.

God's Answer - Habakkuk 2:2-20
"I am just."

God answers the prophet's complaint by reassuring him that the Babylonians would get theirs too. How many times do we feel that judgement is too long in coming? But it will happen; as sure as God exists. The scary part is that the wickedness of the wicked can be used by God to discipline his children. Waiting for them to get theirs holds little consolation when we are the ones being judged by God. 

In answering Habakkuk's complaint, God assures him of his punishment for the Babylonians. God will punish all wickedness, but before God comes in judgement upon his children he is going to allow the wickedness of the wicked to punish his children. God describes the wickedness of the Babylonians and pronounces judgement upon them. 

The key verse in Habakkuk is 2:4b: "...the just shall live by his faith". This great statement is repeated three times in the New Testament (Romans 1:17; Ga1atians 3:11; Hebrews 10:38).

Again God's answer to Habakkuk is to calm his fears. He assures him that what he's going to do will be just. Israel will be punished for her sin, but so will the Babylonians.

The Revelation of God’s Justice

i. In History 

God shows that he is just by relaying the basic principle of justice that he works by - the punishment should fit the crime. So the one who plunders will be plundered (v6-8); the one who builds a realm through injustice will find the walls cry out against him (v9-11). By this principle both Israel and Babylon are judged.

ii. At the Cross

The place we see God's justice most clearly though is at the crossWhenever we are tempted to think that God is unjust, or that we are being unfairly treated, we need to revisit the cross and note how committed to justice God is.  God withheld no fury for sin.  Nor did he show any mercy for his son.

Habakkuk's Prayer - Habakkuk 3
A focus on the faithfulness of God.

Habakkuk had determined to live by faith in God's sovereignty. What do we do today when things go awry in the church, when things don't go the way we think they should? Do we hold out on God? Do we refuse to serve? Do we refuse to give? Do we look for another congregation? We have so many floating Christians that never seem to be able to stay anywhere very long? Do we refuse to be faithful to God when things don't go our way? Do we have the heart to pray for God's people asking the Lord to remember mercy and grace in his wrath? Habakkuk understood his need to be faithful right where he stood. Habakkuk was committed to working it out. 

The Struggle for Faith 

We often have a hidden agenda In our relationship with the Lord. We say if God is God then...I won't be struck by a lingering illness, I won t bury any of my children, it will rain so I can plant a crop." When things don't go according to our agenda our faith is rocked. But what does real faith look like? Habakkuk 3:17,18 shows us.

The Character of Real Faith. Let's God be God 

The person with real faith doesn't say "If God is God then..." They say "God is God and so I'll trust him." We see this attitude in other places notably in Job and in the account of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.

The Path to Real Faith - Testing

It's no surprise that Habakkuk's confession of faith comes at the end of a period of struggle. Faith puts on muscle through testing. See this in Heb 11:32fL

The Basis of Faith - The Faithfulness of God 

The Basis of Faith is the faithfulness of God. In chapter 3, Habakkuk recalls the great deeds of God in the past (v3-7 God's coming in the Exodus and at Mt Sinai; vs-15 The destruction of the Egyptian Army) and asks him to renew those deeds in the present crisis. In his difficulty Habakkuk looked hack at the faithfulness of God. We are to do the same. When we do we see an even more impressive sign of his faithfulness-the cross

The book ends with Habakkuk's prayer focusing on God's faithfulness. He thinks back on God's awesome deeds of the past:

the coming of Yahweh to their rescue in Egypt and at Sinai (v3-7), and his defeat of the Egyptian army in the Red Sea (v15). He is reminded that God has always been faithful to his people and will continue to be faithful in the present crisis. This confidence gives rise to one of the most moving expressions of faith and trust in the whole bible. (Habakkuk 3:17,13).

Think of all those who decided to be faithful as the judgement of God came upon his people from Babylon. Think of those who suffered through God's judgement as Babylon over ran Jerusalem. Jeremiah and Daniel were there when judgement came, and they were not alone. They remained faithful. Standing alone when outnumbered is a lonely experience. Elijah felt as if he were the only faithful one left, but God told him that there were 7,000 who had not bowed their knee to Baal. It is comforting knowing God knew the name of each of the seven thousand. 

In our day of religious confusion, the only thing we may have left is to make a personal commitment to remain faithful to God as he disciplines the church.