WEBVTT 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:02.799 Welcome to Christ the Redeemer Church of Marietta. 00:00:02.959 --> 00:00:04.400 My name's David Russ. 00:00:04.879 --> 00:00:10.000 I'm filling in for our pastor Russ Masterson while he's on sabbatical. 00:00:10.480 --> 00:00:24.079 We're very we've made a commitment as a congregation to allow him and his family this time every year to go off and be with themselves, and so we're we're praying this will be a refreshing season for them, and of course we look forward to their return. 00:00:25.280 --> 00:00:30.800 Well, if you're like me, 2020 has really seemed like a disaster movie so far. 00:00:31.280 --> 00:00:37.920 And there's a scene in a disaster movie that I think well illustrates a key principle from today's passage. 00:00:38.240 --> 00:00:46.159 In 2005, Steven Spielsberg made an updated version of the science fiction classic War of the Worlds by H. 00:00:46.240 --> 00:00:46.320 G. 00:00:46.479 --> 00:00:47.200 Wells. 00:00:47.359 --> 00:00:54.479 And in this movie, Ray Farrier, played by Tom Cruise, and no, I didn't think I'd ever use Tom Cruise in a sermon illustration. 00:00:54.719 --> 00:01:07.040 Ray Farrier, played by Tom Cruise, has taken his kids to his ex-wife's house, and in a scary scene at night, this giant airplane comes and crashes right out in front of their house. 00:01:07.280 --> 00:01:13.280 And Ray is concerned that his daughter, Rachel, is going to get completely undone by the scene of devastation. 00:01:13.519 --> 00:01:15.920 So here's what he says, hopefully this will work. 00:01:16.079 --> 00:01:18.480 Here's what he says when he's taking her out to his car. 00:01:52.000 --> 00:02:01.120 There are times when our senses tell us that we're in a situation that's messed up beyond belief or comprehension, and we can feel hopeless. 00:02:01.439 --> 00:02:09.439 But in those times, if we put our eyes on, focus on someone outside ourselves, we can make it through. 00:02:09.919 --> 00:02:13.599 We're continuing a series in an Old Testament book of Habakkuk. 00:02:13.759 --> 00:02:16.879 And I've gotten blamed for taking us through this book. 00:02:16.960 --> 00:02:18.479 It's not completely my fault. 00:02:18.639 --> 00:02:21.120 It was a group decision, it wasn't just me. 00:02:21.439 --> 00:02:24.479 And we've had this whole discussion about how to even pronounce it. 00:02:24.639 --> 00:02:31.360 Okay, so I cheated and I asked a Jewish friend of mine, and he told me that I guess in Hebrew it's kind of something like Habakkuk. 00:02:31.919 --> 00:02:34.400 But I'm going to stick with Habakkuk. 00:02:35.360 --> 00:02:39.360 The Jewish prophet Habakkuk probably wrote this book around 600 BC. 00:02:39.680 --> 00:02:55.439 And at that time, the nation of Judah was sandwiched in between two superpowers: Egypt to the south, which was a threat to Judah, but wasn't really harassing them all that much, and Assyria to the north, who was both vicious and ambitious. 00:02:55.680 --> 00:03:00.240 And then in 605 BC, something unprecedented and something huge happened. 00:03:00.400 --> 00:03:07.919 The Babylonians defeated, decisively defeated, both the Assyrians and the Egyptians in a battle. 00:03:08.159 --> 00:03:12.240 Now, given their history, this probably seemed like good news to the Jewish people. 00:03:12.400 --> 00:03:14.800 But as we'll see, it was anything but. 00:03:15.360 --> 00:03:22.719 Inside Judah, the righteous reign of Josiah had been replaced by the wicked reign of his son Jehoiakim. 00:03:22.960 --> 00:03:28.319 And Habakkuk was grieved by the wickedness that he saw around him, and he poured out his grief to God. 00:03:28.479 --> 00:03:31.599 And this was what uh in the message that Brian gave two weeks ago. 00:03:31.680 --> 00:03:32.960 That's what that was about. 00:03:33.280 --> 00:03:36.639 And uh God's response was absolutely shocking. 00:03:36.800 --> 00:03:44.400 God's response to all this injustice is that he's gonna use the Babylonians who had defeated both Egypt and Assyria. 00:03:44.560 --> 00:03:49.439 He's gonna use the Babylonians to destroy Jerusalem and destroy the temple. 00:03:50.000 --> 00:03:56.319 Now, uh in last week's passage, we heard from Brad, Habakkuk is just completely dumbfounded. 00:03:56.400 --> 00:03:58.000 He's like, What are you talking about? 00:03:58.159 --> 00:04:00.319 How can a good God allow this to happen? 00:04:00.560 --> 00:04:02.879 Like, like, what on earth is up here? 00:04:03.280 --> 00:04:10.879 And this week, we're gonna look in Habakkuk chapter 2 at God's response to Habakkuk's grief. 00:04:11.120 --> 00:04:22.079 God assures Habakkuk that he will judge Babylon, and in the middle of talking about judgment, he gives some beautiful promises to Habakkuk, to the Jewish nation, and to us. 00:04:22.879 --> 00:04:25.600 So let's start with verses two through four. 00:04:25.839 --> 00:04:28.720 Verses two through four of Habakkuk chapter two. 00:04:29.439 --> 00:04:35.600 And the Lord answered me, Write the vision, make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it. 00:04:35.839 --> 00:04:38.319 For still the vision awaits its appointed time. 00:04:38.560 --> 00:04:40.879 It hastens to the end, it will not lie. 00:04:41.040 --> 00:04:43.040 If it seems slow, wait for it. 00:04:43.120 --> 00:04:45.439 It will surely come, it will not delay. 00:04:46.000 --> 00:04:50.319 Behold, his soul is puffed up, it is not upright within him. 00:04:50.560 --> 00:04:54.079 But the righteous shall live by his faith. 00:04:54.720 --> 00:04:59.439 In verses two and three, God tells Habakkuk to write the vision down. 00:04:59.680 --> 00:05:06.079 Israel as a land is going to be devastated for a long period of time, beyond Habakkuk's lifetime. 00:05:06.319 --> 00:05:12.800 And God wants to make sure that Habakkuk has recorded his promises so that future generations can benefit. 00:05:13.120 --> 00:05:23.680 God needs to equip Israel through Habakkuk with a foundation of trustworthy promises so that Israel as a land can make it through this long and perplexing season of devastation. 00:05:24.000 --> 00:05:33.439 This overarching theme, trust that God's promises will eventually be fulfilled, forms the backdrop to our passage, and it leads to our first point. 00:05:33.759 --> 00:05:38.879 Our faith journey begins and ends with trust in God's faithfulness. 00:05:39.120 --> 00:05:43.199 Our faith journey begins and ends with trust in God's faithfulness. 00:05:43.519 --> 00:05:47.759 Habakkuk 2.4 says, the righteous shall live by his faith. 00:05:48.000 --> 00:05:52.560 This is a very important and well-traveled Bible verse, as we're about to see. 00:05:52.800 --> 00:05:59.600 The word faith here comes from a Hebrew root amunah, which means firmness or certainty. 00:05:59.759 --> 00:06:02.160 It's where we get the word amen from. 00:06:02.959 --> 00:06:14.240 In verses 2 and 3, God reminds Habakkuk that his promises are trustworthy, and our firmness or certainty in those promises leads to life. 00:06:14.560 --> 00:06:17.600 This verse is a lot like Genesis 15, 6. 00:06:17.839 --> 00:06:25.439 Genesis 15, 6 says, Abraham believed the Lord and he counted it to him as righteousness. 00:06:25.680 --> 00:06:29.759 The word believed in Genesis is a form of Amunah. 00:06:29.839 --> 00:06:31.759 It's the same word used in Habakkuk. 00:06:32.000 --> 00:06:38.079 So Genesis says Abraham had certainty in God and it was counted to him as righteousness. 00:06:38.319 --> 00:06:42.480 Habakkuk is saying the righteous will live by his certainty. 00:06:42.720 --> 00:06:50.000 Abraham started his faith journey with a trusting faith in God, and God counted it to him as righteousness. 00:06:50.240 --> 00:06:57.199 Habakkuk is saying, when you're in that righteous state, the way you continue is with a trusting faith in God. 00:06:57.439 --> 00:07:00.160 So the two verses are counterparts of each other. 00:07:00.399 --> 00:07:09.439 Now my Jewish friend pointed out, there's an interesting commentary, the official commentary that the Jewish people have for the Old Testament is called the Talmud. 00:07:09.519 --> 00:07:13.759 And in the Talmud, there's a commentary in there about this verse. 00:07:14.160 --> 00:07:17.519 In the Old Testament, it turns out, there are, we think of Ten Commandments. 00:07:17.600 --> 00:07:19.519 There's actually 613 commandments. 00:07:19.680 --> 00:07:23.120 613 thou shalt's and thou shalt nots in the Old Testament. 00:07:23.279 --> 00:07:30.800 And the scholars in the Talmud say that Habakkuk has taken those 613 and condensed it down to one. 00:07:31.040 --> 00:07:34.000 The righteous shall live by his faith. 00:07:34.879 --> 00:07:39.680 In the New Testament, Paul quotes this verse when he's talking about the gospel. 00:07:40.079 --> 00:07:51.759 In Romans 1:17, Paul says, In the gospel, the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, as it is written, the righteous shall live by his faith, quoting Habakkuk. 00:07:52.240 --> 00:07:58.079 Through the gospel, when we trust in Christ's finished work on the cross, our sin is placed on Jesus. 00:07:58.240 --> 00:08:01.680 And Jesus' perfect righteousness is given to us. 00:08:02.079 --> 00:08:05.680 And Paul is saying that idea is not a novel or new idea. 00:08:05.839 --> 00:08:07.839 We actually see that in the life of Abraham. 00:08:08.000 --> 00:08:11.120 Abraham had faith, and it was counted to him as righteousness. 00:08:11.279 --> 00:08:15.600 We have faith in Christ, and we receive Christ's perfect righteousness. 00:08:16.000 --> 00:08:21.600 This verse in Habakkuk, as quoted in Romans, has actually had a profound impact on history. 00:08:21.839 --> 00:08:27.839 There was a Roman Catholic monk who struggled for years with what does it take to be righteous before God? 00:08:28.000 --> 00:08:31.920 And he read the words quoted here: the righteous shall live by his faith. 00:08:32.080 --> 00:08:34.879 And those words rang like a bell in his head. 00:08:35.120 --> 00:08:38.000 Like Jewish scholars, he found this verse to be central. 00:08:38.159 --> 00:08:40.080 The monk was Martin Luther. 00:08:40.240 --> 00:08:46.159 And this verse from Habakkuk, as quoted in Paul, arguably launched the Protestant Reformation. 00:08:46.480 --> 00:08:51.759 Martin Luther would later say, in the same moment, the face of the whole of Scripture became apparent to me. 00:08:51.919 --> 00:08:56.639 This passage from Paul became to me the very gate of paradise. 00:08:57.039 --> 00:08:58.480 Notice what God is saying. 00:08:58.639 --> 00:09:01.039 The righteous shall live by their faith. 00:09:01.279 --> 00:09:05.200 He's not saying the righteous will live by good deeds or by courage. 00:09:05.440 --> 00:09:12.080 The key to life is a trust or a confidence in someone outside ourselves. 00:09:12.480 --> 00:09:20.559 In this passage, the ones who are full of self-courage and confident action are the Babylonians, whom God is about to destroy. 00:09:21.200 --> 00:09:25.279 God's discourse to Habakkuk continues in what's called a taunt. 00:09:25.600 --> 00:09:28.799 Five woes pronounced against Babylon in judgment. 00:09:29.039 --> 00:09:34.720 Habakkuk had wondered how a good God could use an evil enemy like Babylon to punish Israel. 00:09:34.799 --> 00:09:38.799 And part of the answer here is that God acknowledges that the Babylonians are evil. 00:09:39.039 --> 00:09:43.519 And I'm going to skip down to the third woe in verses 12 through 14. 00:09:44.159 --> 00:09:46.000 Verses 12 through 14. 00:09:46.399 --> 00:09:50.720 Woe to him who builds a town with blood and founds the city on iniquity. 00:09:50.960 --> 00:09:58.000 Behold, is it not from the Lord of hosts that the people labor merely for fire and the nations wear themselves for nothing? 00:09:58.399 --> 00:10:06.000 For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. 00:10:06.879 --> 00:10:13.279 Babylon is pridefully building their city with bloodshed, that is, with plunder and slave labor. 00:10:14.159 --> 00:10:17.759 This is implicit contrast to Jerusalem, which is about to be destroyed. 00:10:17.919 --> 00:10:19.600 God's people will be trampled down. 00:10:19.759 --> 00:10:23.360 God's power is going to seem limited, but that's not the last word. 00:10:23.840 --> 00:10:30.240 Verse 14 says, For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. 00:10:30.399 --> 00:10:32.159 And this leads to our second point. 00:10:32.399 --> 00:10:40.240 While we don't see it today, the world will someday be filled with an awareness of God's greatness and presence. 00:10:41.120 --> 00:10:48.080 Glory here is a Hebrew word kavod, and it comes from a root meaning weight or weightiness. 00:10:48.480 --> 00:10:53.200 So the glory of the Lord includes his greatness, his majesty. 00:10:53.440 --> 00:11:00.559 In context, God is letting Habakkuk know that he's unmistakably sovereign over history and over the nations of the world. 00:11:00.720 --> 00:11:06.960 You see, in 600 BC, Babylon was a magnificent city, probably the largest in the world at that time. 00:11:07.120 --> 00:11:24.159 And yet, in short order, God would judge the Babylonians, overthrow the city of Babylon, and so the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, in the sense that the known world will see God's greatness over and above the Babylonians. 00:11:24.799 --> 00:11:37.200 Now we see a great city like Babylon, or a large, successful business, or a huge house, and we're tempted to be impressed by its greatness, and maybe even tempted, as the Babylonians were, to do whatever it takes to build it up. 00:11:37.519 --> 00:11:45.200 But it's when we see God's greatness that we see how short-lived and small our earthly accomplishments. 00:11:45.600 --> 00:11:49.759 However, in the New Testament, an even richer meaning of this verse emerges. 00:11:50.080 --> 00:12:04.159 In a passage that directly echoes Habakkuk, Paul in 2 Corinthians 4, 6, says, For God, who said, Let light shine out of darkness, has shown in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God. 00:12:04.399 --> 00:12:06.559 The same phrase is in Habakkuk. 00:12:06.879 --> 00:12:10.399 But how does God give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God? 00:12:10.639 --> 00:12:11.919 By destroying a city? 00:12:12.240 --> 00:12:12.559 No. 00:12:13.039 --> 00:12:18.240 He gives the light of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 00:12:18.720 --> 00:12:26.879 The knowledge of the glory of God will really fill the earth in Jesus, in his person, in his finished work, and in his salvation. 00:12:27.200 --> 00:12:39.039 God's glory is made visible when he destroys and judges evil kingdoms like the Babylonians, but even more so when the God of the universe steps down into human history to save his people. 00:12:39.279 --> 00:12:47.200 Through the church, Jesus is in the process even now of filling the earth with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord. 00:12:48.080 --> 00:12:54.879 God continues his taunt of Babylon, and in the fifth woe, in verses 18 through 20, he talks about Babylon's idolatry. 00:12:55.360 --> 00:13:00.399 What prophet is an idol when its maker has shaped it, a metal image, a teacher of lies? 00:13:00.720 --> 00:13:05.120 For its maker trusts in his own creations when he makes speechless idols. 00:13:05.440 --> 00:13:10.159 Woe to him who says to a wooden thing, awake, to a silent stone, arise. 00:13:10.480 --> 00:13:11.600 Can this teach? 00:13:11.919 --> 00:13:16.399 Behold, it's overlaid with gold and silver, and there is no breath at all in it. 00:13:17.279 --> 00:13:20.559 But the Lord is in his holy temple. 00:13:20.799 --> 00:13:23.679 Let all the earth keep silence before him. 00:13:24.480 --> 00:13:33.840 Babylon worships a slew of idols who can't talk, and yet these so-called gods will seem to have triumphed over God's people when Jerusalem and the temple is destroyed. 00:13:34.080 --> 00:13:35.759 But that's not the last word. 00:13:36.000 --> 00:13:40.399 Verse 20 says, The Lord is in his holy, that is his heavenly temple. 00:13:40.639 --> 00:13:42.879 Let all the earth keep silence before him. 00:13:43.200 --> 00:13:44.879 There's an implicit irony here. 00:13:45.039 --> 00:13:52.399 The Babylonians were making these silent idols, and yet they themselves would be silent before the God of the universe. 00:13:52.720 --> 00:13:54.720 But not just the Babylonians. 00:13:54.960 --> 00:14:00.639 Those who trust and love and worship God like Habakkuk will also be silent. 00:14:00.960 --> 00:14:07.519 A reverent and respectful silence, but also a humble and patient and trusting silence. 00:14:07.759 --> 00:14:12.240 Habakkuk doesn't need to complain or doubt or even pour out long prayers. 00:14:12.559 --> 00:14:18.559 He can rest, knowing that God will intervene in history to deliver his people. 00:14:18.799 --> 00:14:20.480 And that leads to our last point. 00:14:20.799 --> 00:14:29.519 God's unshakable presence in his heavenly temple tells us that we can confidently trust in God's purposes even when we don't understand his ways. 00:14:29.759 --> 00:14:46.159 Habakkuk was seeing the future, that God would use Babylon to destroy Jerusalem, and then God would destroy Babylon, and that God would preserve his people, prompting them in exile to write down not only Habakkuk's words, but most of what we now call the Old Testament. 00:14:46.559 --> 00:14:54.480 God preserved his people, and in the midst of them, he sent his son to earth in the final and fullest expression of his love. 00:14:54.720 --> 00:14:59.919 I don't know how much that Habakkuk can see, but his trust in God was not misplaced. 00:15:00.639 --> 00:15:02.799 In our day, we're tempted to despair. 00:15:02.960 --> 00:15:05.679 The world we've known seems to be a thing of the past. 00:15:05.919 --> 00:15:12.559 In the midst of illness and a craving for social justice, our senses seem to be telling us that God is not in charge. 00:15:12.799 --> 00:15:17.200 Like Habakkuk, we need to trust and rely on God's promises. 00:15:17.519 --> 00:15:22.399 We may need a season of silence and awe and trust that God will intervene. 00:15:22.639 --> 00:15:28.240 We may also need a season of action, with God's promises supplying us the courage to act. 00:15:28.720 --> 00:15:30.559 We don't know what will happen next. 00:15:30.879 --> 00:15:33.279 We have no idea what will happen next. 00:15:33.519 --> 00:15:35.679 But we do know how this story ends. 00:15:36.080 --> 00:15:44.240 The Lord is in his holy temple, and the earth will be filled with a knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. 00:15:45.600 --> 00:15:46.879 Let's pray. 00:15:49.120 --> 00:15:59.039 Father God, I thank you for Habakkuk, for your faithful prop prophet, who recorded the bad news as well as the good news. 00:15:59.279 --> 00:16:04.720 A prophet who faithfully did as you told him and wrote down your promises. 00:16:05.120 --> 00:16:13.360 And we thank you that we have those precious promises made more sure by your son coming to earth and dying for our sins. 00:16:13.759 --> 00:16:20.480 And in our day, in our season of confusion and despair, we feel helpless. 00:16:20.639 --> 00:16:22.639 We feel like things are out of control. 00:16:23.039 --> 00:16:27.440 And they are out of our control, but they're in your control. 00:16:28.159 --> 00:16:35.440 We pray that we can look at your promises and look on your face and look at the face of Christ and in them see your faithfulness. 00:16:35.759 --> 00:16:47.440 And that you would convey us through this season of despair until we all come to that day when the knowledge of the glory of the Lord fills the earth as the waters cover the sea. 00:16:48.080 --> 00:16:48.559 Amen.