WEBVTT 00:00:06.959 --> 00:00:12.720 This sermon was recorded at Faith Evangelical Free Church in Grand Forks, North Dakota. 00:00:22.640 --> 00:00:31.120 Thank you, choir, for that lead-in to the Old Testament prophet of Habakkuk. 00:00:32.479 --> 00:00:39.439 Thank you too to Dan Blaufus, who had a significant role to play in preparing that piece of music. 00:00:39.679 --> 00:00:45.119 Dan plays a significant role behind the scenes of many of our things, so appreciate all of that. 00:00:45.280 --> 00:00:47.200 Please take your Bible with me. 00:00:48.159 --> 00:00:51.200 Open it to the Old Testament prophet Habakkuk. 00:00:51.920 --> 00:00:57.439 If you are visiting with us, don't be ashamed to use the table of contents to find Habakkuk. 00:00:58.159 --> 00:01:01.439 Sometimes only a couple of pages in some Bibles. 00:01:01.840 --> 00:01:04.959 We're making our way through this short book. 00:01:07.120 --> 00:01:16.640 And if you haven't caught the first two sermons leading up to this morning, this might feel a little out of place. 00:01:17.599 --> 00:01:22.079 And if you don't catch the next two, it also might feel a little out of place. 00:01:22.480 --> 00:01:24.319 All of these flow together. 00:01:24.480 --> 00:01:30.640 It is one compact single unit, the book of Habakkuk. 00:01:31.200 --> 00:01:38.319 And so too the messages that we glean from them, they all flow from one to another. 00:01:41.920 --> 00:01:45.439 William Cooper sometimes wondered if God answered prayer. 00:01:49.040 --> 00:01:59.280 The popular answer to the question, does God answer prayer, is that he says yes, no, or wait. 00:02:01.760 --> 00:02:08.319 There are a few variations to that, but they generally all have the same meaning. 00:02:09.199 --> 00:02:14.319 But if I may be so bold this morning, that kind of answer is far too simplistic. 00:02:15.919 --> 00:02:32.000 For example, in Habakkuk chapter one, the prophet asked about God's inaction or his perceived inaction towards injustice, violence, and the lack of help that Habakkuk needed. 00:02:32.240 --> 00:02:36.639 He was crying out to God for him to do something, and God did nothing. 00:02:38.080 --> 00:02:40.560 He asked God for answers. 00:02:41.280 --> 00:02:48.719 He wondered why God allowed himself to appear weak, impotent, and uncaring. 00:02:50.960 --> 00:03:01.360 But God didn't answer Habakkuk with a yes or a no, or even really with a wait. 00:03:02.400 --> 00:03:18.080 God's answer to Habakkuk's prayer in Habakkuk chapter one was more like, well, Habakkuk, I'm working on a much larger scale and time frame than your finite mind can grasp. 00:03:18.719 --> 00:03:22.639 I'm doing something that you can't even begin to imagine. 00:03:22.800 --> 00:03:35.199 And so you must learn to trust that I hear you, that I know what's happening, and that I'm bringing all things to their intended conclusion. 00:03:38.639 --> 00:03:43.439 That's a hard pill to swallow sometimes. 00:03:45.039 --> 00:03:50.080 It's not exactly the kind of answer to prayer that we often hear about. 00:03:50.319 --> 00:04:04.879 Sometimes simplistic answers to complex questions are more problematic than we realize because they limit the horizon of our thinking and even more the horizon of our faith. 00:04:06.400 --> 00:04:19.360 Habakkuk processed information from his senses, from what he could see, from what he could hear, from what he could feel, and he tried to connect that sensory processing with his faith. 00:04:20.879 --> 00:04:22.879 Much like William Cooper. 00:04:24.560 --> 00:04:35.519 God's answer to the prophet's prayer stretched Habakkuk's faith and, along with his faith, all of his life horizons. 00:04:36.240 --> 00:04:51.040 He stretched the prophet's perspective to the long term, to the sovereign, eternal plan of God that did not reveal much at all about answers to Habakkuk's specific prayer. 00:04:51.759 --> 00:04:58.959 In other words, what God said in reply to Habakkuk's prayer was not at all satisfying to the prophet. 00:05:01.279 --> 00:05:19.920 So we learned then in the first part of chapter one, a vital element of the book of Habakkuk that reminds us that we must always seek God's perspective and trust, work to trust, that he is bringing all things to his determined end at the right time. 00:05:20.720 --> 00:05:33.519 He will make good use, righteous use, full use of our pain, of our sorrow, and of our uncertainty. 00:05:34.959 --> 00:05:41.360 But that requires believing that God works in mysterious ways. 00:05:43.439 --> 00:05:52.399 See, uncertainty, not knowing God's mysterious ways, is difficult for us to live with, isn't it? 00:05:53.680 --> 00:06:00.000 That uncertainty became a significant issue for the prophet Habakkuk, and he couldn't remain quiet. 00:06:00.639 --> 00:06:02.000 He got stirred up. 00:06:02.160 --> 00:06:12.639 We don't know if, beginning in chapter 1, verse 12, if his reply to God was immediate or if there was a span of time that took place in between the first prayer and the second prayer. 00:06:12.800 --> 00:06:13.920 We don't know that. 00:06:14.240 --> 00:06:17.360 But he couldn't keep everything contained. 00:06:17.680 --> 00:06:24.720 He struggled to connect his theology, what he believed about God, with what God was telling him. 00:06:25.759 --> 00:06:28.399 That's the first section of our text for this morning. 00:06:28.639 --> 00:06:38.399 It's a section that's grounded in the fundamental human question: Am I going to trust myself or trust God? 00:06:42.000 --> 00:06:45.519 The second section is God's reply to that. 00:06:46.720 --> 00:06:50.959 These two sections teach us three principles for living a life of faith. 00:06:51.120 --> 00:06:52.800 But let's take them one at a time. 00:06:53.040 --> 00:06:58.160 First, if you have your Bible open, let's look at Habakkuk chapter 1, beginning in verse 12. 00:06:58.399 --> 00:07:02.240 I'll read that all the way through chapter 2, verse 1. 00:07:03.199 --> 00:07:05.600 This is Habakkuk speaking. 00:07:06.720 --> 00:07:10.079 He says, Are you not from everlasting? 00:07:10.480 --> 00:07:14.079 O Yahweh, my God, my holy one? 00:07:16.399 --> 00:07:17.839 We shall not die. 00:07:19.120 --> 00:07:27.040 Oh Yahweh, you have ordained them, the Babylonians, as a judgment, and you, O rock, have established them for reproof. 00:07:27.360 --> 00:07:35.439 You who are of purer eyes than to see evil and cannot look at wrong, why do you idly look at traitors? 00:07:35.839 --> 00:07:40.959 Why do you remain silent when the wicked swallows up the man more righteous than he? 00:07:43.439 --> 00:07:50.480 You make mankind like the fish of the sea, like crawling things that have no ruler. 00:07:51.600 --> 00:07:55.439 He that is the king of Babylon brings all of them up with a hook. 00:07:55.600 --> 00:08:01.439 He drags them out with his net, he gathers them in his dragnet, so he rejoices and is glad. 00:08:01.839 --> 00:08:07.920 Therefore, he he worships his net, he sacrifices to his net and makes offerings to his dragnet. 00:08:09.120 --> 00:08:13.040 For by them he lives in luxury and his food is rich. 00:08:14.959 --> 00:08:16.160 Is he then? 00:08:17.040 --> 00:08:23.600 God, do you really mean to tell me that he is to keep on emptying his net and mercilessly killing nations forever? 00:08:25.759 --> 00:08:41.279 I will take my stand at my watch post and station myself on the tower and look out to see what God will say to me and what I will answer concerning my complaint. 00:08:43.360 --> 00:08:49.039 This first section here teaches us that God's ways are not our ways. 00:08:53.519 --> 00:08:55.759 God's ways are not our ways. 00:08:56.960 --> 00:09:03.840 You may be familiar with that verse that Webb spoke of earlier from Isaiah chapter 55 and verse 8. 00:09:04.399 --> 00:09:10.799 My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are my ways your ways, declares the Lord. 00:09:11.039 --> 00:09:20.480 Habakkuk surely knew that statement because the prophet Isaiah recorded it approximately a hundred years before Habakkuk lived. 00:09:21.360 --> 00:09:25.600 Surely this prophet knew the writings of the prophet Isaiah. 00:09:26.240 --> 00:09:34.639 But that statement would have been difficult for Habakkuk because Isaiah wrote it in the context of hope. 00:09:34.879 --> 00:09:37.519 In the context of the hope of salvation. 00:09:37.840 --> 00:09:41.919 God's people needed rescue, and he was the one to rescue them. 00:09:42.080 --> 00:09:47.360 He said, Whoever thirsts, let him come to me and drink of the living waters. 00:09:49.919 --> 00:09:52.000 God was the one to rescue them. 00:09:52.240 --> 00:09:55.360 Any other so-called God would let them rot. 00:09:56.399 --> 00:10:01.120 But anyone thirsty for the living God can come to him. 00:10:01.600 --> 00:10:02.080 Why? 00:10:02.240 --> 00:10:04.639 Because his ways are not our ways. 00:10:04.960 --> 00:10:14.799 He works in ways that are not human, that are not prone to our typical ways of giving back what's been given to us. 00:10:15.039 --> 00:10:18.639 No, God is gracious to forgive those who come to him. 00:10:21.759 --> 00:10:26.879 But God's ways of being different were not hopeful for this prophet. 00:10:28.320 --> 00:10:37.120 Because God had revealed his ways of working in the world to Habakkuk, and it was disturbing and confusing to him. 00:10:38.480 --> 00:10:42.480 It was confusing because Habakkuk knew God's character. 00:10:43.279 --> 00:10:45.759 Look at verses 12 and 13 again. 00:10:46.960 --> 00:10:52.559 Habakkuk knew that God is everlasting, that he is eternal. 00:10:52.799 --> 00:10:54.879 He has no beginning and he has no end. 00:10:55.120 --> 00:10:56.399 He simply is. 00:10:58.639 --> 00:11:01.919 He's echoing Scripture. 00:11:02.240 --> 00:11:07.360 Deuteronomy 33, verse 27, the eternal God is your dwelling place. 00:11:08.639 --> 00:11:12.639 We can go on to other passages like Psalm 90, verse 2. 00:11:12.799 --> 00:11:23.919 Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, before Genesis 1.1, from everlasting to everlasting, you are God. 00:11:26.320 --> 00:11:28.240 Habakkuk knows his theology. 00:11:28.399 --> 00:11:30.240 Habakkuk knows his God. 00:11:30.480 --> 00:11:36.879 He knows that a couple of chapters later in Psalm 93, the psalmist said, Your throne is established from of old. 00:11:37.120 --> 00:11:38.240 How old? 00:11:39.120 --> 00:11:40.399 Everlasting. 00:11:41.200 --> 00:11:44.000 He knows that his God is eternal. 00:11:44.559 --> 00:11:46.000 Habakkuk knows this. 00:11:46.240 --> 00:11:46.960 He believes it. 00:11:47.200 --> 00:11:48.639 He trusts in it. 00:11:50.639 --> 00:11:56.080 If you look at the second part of verse 12, he knows that God is the righteous judge. 00:11:57.120 --> 00:12:06.399 Like Abraham of old in Genesis 18, 25, when God said he was going to wipe out Sodom and Gomorrah, and Abraham knew, hey, my nephew and his family are down there. 00:12:06.480 --> 00:12:08.399 God, you're going to take care of them, right? 00:12:09.919 --> 00:12:14.159 Abraham said, Will not the judge of all the earth do what is right? 00:12:14.879 --> 00:12:17.440 Habakkuk believes that. 00:12:23.200 --> 00:12:30.399 He knows Psalm 7, verse 11, that says, God is a righteous judge who feels indignation every day. 00:12:45.519 --> 00:12:47.200 Psalm 18, verse 31. 00:12:47.919 --> 00:12:50.159 Who is God but Yahweh? 00:12:50.559 --> 00:12:53.600 And who is a rock except our God? 00:12:56.639 --> 00:12:58.879 Habakkuk knows his Bible. 00:12:59.200 --> 00:13:04.799 And not only does he know his Bible, he knows what his Bible says, and he knows how that Bible applies to his life. 00:13:05.039 --> 00:13:13.519 He understands Psalm 78, verse 35, that Israel remembered that God was their rock and the Most High God was their redeemer. 00:13:15.679 --> 00:13:22.240 He knows this, he understands it, and we see him processing through what he believes to be true about his God. 00:13:22.399 --> 00:13:34.720 But Habakkuk sounds more and more like the psalmist in Psalm 42 that says, I say to God, my rock, why have you forgotten me? 00:13:37.840 --> 00:13:38.639 Ouch. 00:13:41.919 --> 00:13:46.639 So do you see how Habakkuk is looking at his world and his circumstances? 00:13:46.799 --> 00:13:54.720 He's taking in information from his senses and he's trying to line it up with what he knows to be true. 00:13:55.840 --> 00:13:58.559 And he's struggling to line it up. 00:13:59.759 --> 00:14:01.600 I know you're eternal. 00:14:02.240 --> 00:14:04.080 I know you judge sin. 00:14:04.639 --> 00:14:07.360 And I know that you are our rock and our redeemer. 00:14:07.519 --> 00:14:15.759 I know these things, but God, that doesn't completely help because it feels like you've forgotten me. 00:14:20.639 --> 00:14:25.519 Like many of us, Habakkuk the prophet knows his Bible and understands his theology. 00:14:25.600 --> 00:14:30.000 And in his mind, that should mean that he can comprehend God's ways. 00:14:31.279 --> 00:14:35.919 But God, in essence, says, not so fast, Habakkuk. 00:14:38.159 --> 00:14:39.840 Look at verse 13. 00:14:40.159 --> 00:14:43.360 Habakkuk knows God's sovereignty. 00:14:45.200 --> 00:14:48.240 He knows that God is sovereign over sin and evil. 00:14:49.600 --> 00:14:52.480 He knows that God is sovereign over the righteous. 00:14:52.720 --> 00:15:03.919 He knows that God is sovereign over the created order in verses 14, 15, 16, even over the sin and abuse of God's created order. 00:15:04.000 --> 00:15:10.639 He says, listen, God, you've made mankind in comparison to you like the fish of the sea. 00:15:10.799 --> 00:15:21.679 And yet you have ordained this foreign ruler to come along like a fisherman who just throws out his net and drags us all in just to get rid of us, just to consume us and live off of us. 00:15:21.840 --> 00:15:24.080 And he gets fat and rich over us. 00:15:24.559 --> 00:15:25.200 Really? 00:15:29.200 --> 00:15:36.320 Habakkuk knows that God is so great that humans are mere fish in the sea or even creepy crawlies on the ground. 00:15:37.039 --> 00:15:42.480 I use creepy crawlies on purpose because Proverbs says that even the locusts have a king. 00:15:42.720 --> 00:15:47.759 So it's something smaller and more simple than locusts. 00:15:49.279 --> 00:15:55.759 Habakkuk knows that God has ordained the Babylonians to be like the fishermen in the sea. 00:15:56.080 --> 00:16:01.360 He knows that God is sovereign over Babylon's worship of his fishing net. 00:16:01.840 --> 00:16:07.039 That's an image of his power, of his strength to overwhelm the nations. 00:16:07.600 --> 00:16:13.519 He knows and believes that God is the mighty creator, the righteous judge, the sovereign ruler of the universe. 00:16:13.759 --> 00:16:16.000 This is the prophet's theology. 00:16:16.480 --> 00:16:25.200 And it's grounded in Scripture and it's observed throughout Israel's history, and he cannot now grasp how God's character aligns with God's actions. 00:16:26.159 --> 00:16:27.759 They don't line up. 00:16:31.200 --> 00:16:34.399 And my friends, you know exactly what this is like. 00:16:35.039 --> 00:16:39.120 If you've ever questioned God about your life or your world. 00:16:40.639 --> 00:16:44.399 If you've ever asked God, where are you as a Christian? 00:16:44.639 --> 00:16:46.639 God, why are you not acting in my life? 00:16:46.799 --> 00:16:47.440 God, why are you? 00:16:50.960 --> 00:16:55.279 You might even feel guilty because you know your theology. 00:16:56.159 --> 00:16:57.279 You know your God. 00:16:57.840 --> 00:17:06.720 You know that scripture says this, but because God's ways are not your ways, you're left to wonder with some kind of uncertainty. 00:17:09.519 --> 00:17:28.400 Now the complaint in Habakkuk 2, verse 1, and Habakkuk 1, verse 17, reveals that the prophet knows his theology. 00:17:29.839 --> 00:17:41.440 But sometimes God's ways are so beyond ours that our limited understanding of an infinite God cannot satisfy our desire to make sense of life. 00:17:46.559 --> 00:17:54.799 And when you cannot make sense of life, but you know who your God is and what your God is like, that generally results in one of two things. 00:17:55.279 --> 00:18:02.160 Like William Cooper, you either try to escape it or you turn to God. 00:18:11.759 --> 00:18:17.759 God is so far beyond our comprehension, friends, that even a proper theology isn't enough. 00:18:20.000 --> 00:18:22.799 Even our prayers feel unanswered at times. 00:18:23.039 --> 00:18:25.519 That's the narrative behind the book of Job, right? 00:18:25.920 --> 00:18:29.680 Job believed in God and believed rightly. 00:18:30.400 --> 00:18:39.680 Job's theology was correct, but he desperately wanted an audience with his maker to understand why things were the way they were. 00:18:42.000 --> 00:18:48.400 On the other hand, Habakkuk already has an answer from God that doesn't answer his questions and concerns. 00:18:48.640 --> 00:18:52.000 He's gotten an answer to his prayer that is neither yes, no, or wait. 00:18:52.160 --> 00:18:53.920 It's entirely different. 00:18:54.160 --> 00:18:59.440 It's Habakkuk, my ways are not your ways. 00:19:02.799 --> 00:19:07.440 Habakkuk's understanding of God was spot on. 00:19:10.480 --> 00:19:15.920 He was knowledgeable and able to think about God in relation to his world. 00:19:16.559 --> 00:19:21.279 Our theology should be as robust as Habakkuk's. 00:19:22.319 --> 00:19:33.759 But having a robust theology and a complete understanding of Scripture and living in a finite fallen world does not mean that you will have all the answers. 00:19:35.519 --> 00:19:40.799 We must remember that God cannot be reduced to human terms or human understanding. 00:19:40.960 --> 00:19:50.319 And sometimes we need to let go of needing to make sense of circumstances and situations that don't make sense. 00:19:53.519 --> 00:20:02.160 Now, as with the first prayer in chapter 1, God was not obligated to respond to Habakkuk's second complaint. 00:20:03.839 --> 00:20:08.000 Habakkuk maybe even seems to indicate that a response may not come. 00:20:08.160 --> 00:20:10.960 He says, I'm going to stand on the watchtower and wait and see. 00:20:11.200 --> 00:20:12.960 Maybe it'll come, maybe it won't come. 00:20:13.039 --> 00:20:14.400 What is my response going to be? 00:20:14.559 --> 00:20:17.359 He's sort of preparing himself for the worst. 00:20:18.240 --> 00:20:20.400 Okay, God gave me a response the first time. 00:20:20.480 --> 00:20:21.359 I don't understand it. 00:20:21.440 --> 00:20:23.119 What am I going to get this time? 00:20:25.359 --> 00:20:28.880 But God's not obligated to respond to Habakkuk, is he? 00:20:29.440 --> 00:20:36.880 And God is not required to fill us in on the nuances of his purpose and plan for us. 00:20:39.759 --> 00:20:49.519 We will be helped if we understand that much about God is far beyond us, because God is infinitely beyond our understanding. 00:20:51.359 --> 00:21:06.559 Because God's ways are not our ways, because they are beyond us, we must learn that living with human limitations requires faith in a trustworthy God whose character does not change. 00:21:10.079 --> 00:21:13.359 Habakkuk knew this is my God. 00:21:13.920 --> 00:21:16.000 His character does not change. 00:21:17.279 --> 00:21:18.880 So what do we do with that? 00:21:19.359 --> 00:21:23.359 We go on to the second portion of our text, beginning in verse 2. 00:21:26.000 --> 00:21:27.039 Chapter 2. 00:21:27.359 --> 00:21:28.960 And Yahweh answered me. 00:21:29.279 --> 00:21:30.640 Notice the quotation marks. 00:21:30.720 --> 00:21:32.000 Here's God's answer. 00:21:33.519 --> 00:21:35.759 Habakkuk, write the vision. 00:21:36.720 --> 00:21:42.160 Make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it. 00:21:42.559 --> 00:21:45.359 For still the vision awaits its appointed time. 00:21:45.519 --> 00:21:47.759 It hastens to the end, it will not lie. 00:21:48.480 --> 00:21:51.039 If it seems slow, wait for it. 00:21:51.279 --> 00:21:53.920 It will surely come, it will not delay. 00:21:56.480 --> 00:21:59.359 Behold, his soul, the Babylonians. 00:22:00.319 --> 00:22:02.240 His soul is puffed up. 00:22:02.480 --> 00:22:04.559 It is not upright within him. 00:22:05.359 --> 00:22:08.400 But the righteous shall live by his faith. 00:22:08.720 --> 00:22:13.440 Moreover, wine is a traitor, an arrogant man who is never at rest. 00:22:14.079 --> 00:22:18.799 His greed is as wide as Sheol, like death, he has never enough. 00:22:19.200 --> 00:22:23.599 He gathers for himself all nations and collects as his own all peoples. 00:22:24.720 --> 00:22:32.799 Shall not all these take up their taunt against him with scoffing and riddles for him and say, Woe to him who keeps up what is not his own. 00:22:33.119 --> 00:22:34.400 For how long? 00:22:35.519 --> 00:22:37.839 And he loads himself with pledges. 00:22:38.799 --> 00:22:45.599 Will not your debtors suddenly arise and those who awake who will make you tremble? 00:22:46.160 --> 00:22:48.640 Then you will be spoiled for them. 00:22:49.440 --> 00:22:59.519 Because you have plundered many nations, all the remnant of the people shall plunder you, for the blood of man and violence to the earth, to cities, and all who dwell in them. 00:22:59.759 --> 00:23:06.000 Woe to him who gets evil gain for his house to set his nest on high to be safe from the reach of harm. 00:23:06.880 --> 00:23:11.200 You've devised shame for your house by cutting off many peoples. 00:23:11.440 --> 00:23:18.720 You have forfeited your life, for the stone will cry out from the wall, and the beam from the woodwork will respond. 00:23:20.480 --> 00:23:24.720 Woe to him who builds a town with blood and founds a city on iniquity. 00:23:25.279 --> 00:23:32.640 Behold, is it not from the Lord of hosts that peoples labor merely for fire and nations weary themselves for nothing? 00:23:33.759 --> 00:23:39.119 For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. 00:23:39.759 --> 00:23:42.400 Woe to him who makes his neighbors drink. 00:23:42.720 --> 00:23:46.640 You pour out your wrath and make them drunk in order to gaze at their nakedness. 00:23:46.880 --> 00:23:50.079 You will have your fill of shame instead of glory. 00:23:50.319 --> 00:23:52.960 Drink yourself and show your uncircumcision. 00:23:53.119 --> 00:23:58.400 The cup in the Lord's right hand will come around to you, and utter shame will come upon your glory. 00:23:59.279 --> 00:24:05.279 The violence done to Lebanon will overwhelm you, as will the destruction of the beasts that terrified them. 00:24:05.440 --> 00:24:10.160 For the blood of man and violence to the earth, to cities, and all who dwell in them. 00:24:13.599 --> 00:24:14.880 What profit? 00:24:15.920 --> 00:24:17.920 What gain is an idol? 00:24:19.440 --> 00:24:21.359 When its maker has shaped it? 00:24:21.759 --> 00:24:24.559 A metal image, a teacher of lies. 00:24:25.039 --> 00:24:32.480 For its maker trusts his own creation when he makes speechless idols. 00:24:33.200 --> 00:24:41.680 Woe to him who says to a wooden thing, wake up! And to a silent stone, arise. 00:24:44.240 --> 00:24:47.279 Can this wooden or stone thing teach? 00:24:48.160 --> 00:24:50.319 Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver. 00:24:50.400 --> 00:24:52.240 There's no breath in it at all. 00:24:54.799 --> 00:24:57.279 But Yahweh is in his holy temple. 00:24:58.319 --> 00:25:01.839 Let all the earth keep silence before him. 00:25:04.079 --> 00:25:10.960 Here's our second principle from this struggle in the heart of the prophet. 00:25:12.160 --> 00:25:16.720 God's response to the prophet encourages us to guard our hearts. 00:25:18.000 --> 00:25:21.119 Because there's only one sovereign judge. 00:25:22.079 --> 00:25:23.359 And it's not me. 00:25:24.720 --> 00:25:25.680 Or you. 00:25:49.519 --> 00:25:54.559 But God will be as faithful to his word as God is as faithful to himself. 00:25:55.359 --> 00:25:59.440 God is everlasting, and in his everlastingness, he is always faithful. 00:25:59.519 --> 00:26:06.319 And if he is always faithful to himself, he will always be faithful to his word, no matter how long you must wait. 00:26:07.920 --> 00:26:14.559 God will be perfectly faithful to his word as he is perfectly faithful to his character. 00:26:14.799 --> 00:26:20.000 And if you struggle to see his faithfulness, be patient. 00:26:22.319 --> 00:26:26.000 You know, we must be careful to handle the word of God accurately. 00:26:26.640 --> 00:26:36.160 For example, Jeremiah's promise that God had a wonderful future in mind for his people was not written to modern graduates. 00:26:37.279 --> 00:26:44.640 That is, God does work out all things for good according to his purpose for those who are called according to his purpose. 00:26:44.880 --> 00:26:53.119 But Jeremiah's promise of a wonderful future for his people was written to the Jewish exiles in Babylon, not to you and me. 00:26:54.720 --> 00:27:03.200 So God's word may be for specific times, such as when Babylon overtook Judah and the Persians, then later defeated the Babylonians. 00:27:04.880 --> 00:27:17.039 But no matter when it is directed to or to whom it is directed, God's word, God's promises, God's assertions will be proved genuine and will be fulfilled. 00:27:17.279 --> 00:27:23.039 But God's people may need to wait patiently to see them fulfilled. 00:27:24.240 --> 00:27:32.880 Patience is required for a life of faith, especially in a fallen world. 00:27:34.240 --> 00:27:38.960 So resist the urge to doubt God's timetable. 00:27:40.160 --> 00:27:41.279 It's hard. 00:27:41.599 --> 00:27:42.240 I know. 00:27:44.400 --> 00:27:46.400 But look at what God says. 00:27:47.279 --> 00:27:54.480 If you trust my word, if it seems slow, wait for it. 00:27:55.359 --> 00:27:56.880 It will surely come. 00:27:57.440 --> 00:27:58.720 It will not delay. 00:27:58.960 --> 00:28:03.039 It may feel like a delay in your timetable, it is not in God's timetable. 00:28:03.359 --> 00:28:08.400 Trusting that God will keep his word in his time requires faith. 00:28:08.559 --> 00:28:14.160 Friends, we may struggle to see God's character on display in our lives. 00:28:14.400 --> 00:28:22.640 If you struggle to see God's character, what you know to be true about your God, if you struggle to see that on display in your life, wait patiently for him. 00:28:24.000 --> 00:28:30.799 You may struggle to see how your current circumstances and the situations in your life are being worked out for good. 00:28:31.119 --> 00:28:34.160 Be patient and wait on your Lord. 00:28:35.519 --> 00:28:39.279 Now God begins to speak about ancient Babylon in verse 4. 00:28:39.599 --> 00:28:48.480 That proud and powerful ancient people are then contrasted with those who live by faith. 00:28:49.200 --> 00:28:53.680 And when they live by faith, they live out life faithfully. 00:28:55.119 --> 00:29:00.400 In that contrast, we find that God discerns the basis of our actions. 00:29:03.200 --> 00:29:09.920 And he understands are we doing those things by faith in him or by trust in ourselves? 00:29:10.559 --> 00:29:15.039 All throughout this section, we see all that's bad about Babylon. 00:29:15.279 --> 00:29:17.839 They're proud, they're arrogant, they're evil. 00:29:18.319 --> 00:29:31.440 Everything that they've gained, they've done by trusting in themselves, by trusting in their power, by trusting in their strength, in their armies, by trusting in their wealth, in their position. 00:29:34.319 --> 00:29:39.920 Habakkuk is this little tiny little prophet looking at that and saying, Yeah, God, but what about us? 00:29:40.240 --> 00:29:41.359 What about me? 00:29:43.440 --> 00:29:47.200 And in essence, God says, Habakkuk, you know this. 00:29:48.319 --> 00:29:51.519 The one who trusts me will live by faith. 00:29:55.359 --> 00:30:04.160 We find that God desires people to fear Him, to trust Him. 00:30:05.200 --> 00:30:12.079 Verses four and five involve wordplays describing how God sees people. 00:30:13.039 --> 00:30:19.519 Some live by faith in Him and so live out that faith by faithfully following and trusting Him. 00:30:19.680 --> 00:30:25.359 Others, though, pridefully trust in themselves and become puffed up, greedy, and overbearing. 00:30:25.599 --> 00:30:30.480 They refuse to acknowledge God and they worship whatever gives them their power. 00:30:30.799 --> 00:30:35.759 But underneath that, we begin to see that Habakkuk's theology was correct. 00:30:36.799 --> 00:30:41.680 Back in chapter one, Habakkuk was asking God, God, do you see? 00:30:42.480 --> 00:30:44.720 Do you really see what's going on? 00:30:44.880 --> 00:30:46.160 Do you really see my world? 00:30:46.319 --> 00:30:47.759 Do you really see my situation? 00:30:47.920 --> 00:30:50.160 And God says, Yes, Habakkuk. 00:30:50.880 --> 00:30:53.039 I see all the way to the heart. 00:30:54.000 --> 00:31:00.400 I see all the way to discern whether somebody is trusting in themselves or they're trusting in me. 00:31:01.519 --> 00:31:04.960 I see the difference between the righteous and the unrighteous. 00:31:05.119 --> 00:31:09.599 I know the heart of those who trust me and the heart of those who trust themselves. 00:31:09.839 --> 00:31:12.559 I can and do distinguish the difference. 00:31:13.759 --> 00:31:17.519 And there's an opportunity there for us. 00:31:19.759 --> 00:31:27.920 As God's people in the place of Habakkuk, let us be fearful of trusting ourselves. 00:31:29.839 --> 00:31:32.000 Remember Peter walking on the sea? 00:31:35.519 --> 00:31:46.480 Moses deciding that the right thing was to hit the rock with his staff instead of speaking to the rock. 00:31:48.880 --> 00:31:53.119 Ananias and Sapphira, who thought that they could lie to God and get away with it. 00:31:55.759 --> 00:32:08.559 It's especially easy for our hearts to shift to sinful places when we question God's character because our perspective is centered on our world, on our circumstances, or on our senses. 00:32:10.480 --> 00:32:18.880 And Habakkuk's in that middle place, struggling with what he knows to be true, with what his senses are gathering in and trying to discern the right way to go. 00:32:18.960 --> 00:32:24.960 And God is telling him, Habakkuk, the right way to go is to trust me because my ways are not your ways. 00:32:27.200 --> 00:32:30.000 And yes, Habakkuk, I know your heart. 00:32:30.640 --> 00:32:33.440 I can tell if you're truly trusting me. 00:32:33.920 --> 00:32:38.799 Whereas Babylon is an example of all who have faith in themselves. 00:32:39.279 --> 00:32:43.920 Verses 6, 7, and 8, they use others to build themselves up. 00:32:45.920 --> 00:32:51.839 God says, Habakkuk, you need to know that in the end, Babylon's going to have everything taken away from them. 00:32:53.359 --> 00:32:58.960 Verses 9, 10, and 11, they act sinfully against others for their own benefit. 00:33:00.480 --> 00:33:05.920 But Habakkuk, you need to understand that even the creation will serve as a witness against them and their sin. 00:33:07.599 --> 00:33:10.640 They don't do anything that isn't noticed. 00:33:11.279 --> 00:33:13.680 Verses 12, 13, 14. 00:33:14.400 --> 00:33:28.079 Babylon is an example of those who trust in themselves to fill up the earth with their glory, but the realization will someday come to them that God's plan is to fill the earth with his glory, not theirs. 00:33:29.519 --> 00:33:32.559 Are you going to put your trust in them or in me? 00:33:34.240 --> 00:33:42.720 Verses 15, 16, 17, another woe that comes to Habakkuk against Babylon. 00:33:43.039 --> 00:33:47.839 Those who revel in the shame of others will be shamed by God's judgment. 00:33:49.920 --> 00:33:51.839 God will not be mocked. 00:33:54.079 --> 00:34:03.440 Babylon reaped what she sowed, and so will all whose faith is not in Christ, but who trust themselves or something other than God. 00:34:04.480 --> 00:34:08.079 Because that kind of faith, God says, is idolatry. 00:34:11.039 --> 00:34:16.559 Those who trust in themselves are foolish idolaters. 00:34:17.440 --> 00:34:19.360 So, friends, be discerning. 00:34:21.679 --> 00:34:28.800 Guard your heart by seeking to understand in what or in whom am I trusting? 00:34:29.920 --> 00:34:32.239 We are easily self-deceived. 00:34:32.559 --> 00:34:39.760 We think we are so advanced in our modern age that we wouldn't think of bowing down and worshiping a little image, right? 00:34:40.159 --> 00:34:41.679 We're beyond that. 00:34:42.960 --> 00:35:07.920 Well, we might believe that a piece of wood or a piece of precious metal is not worthy of our worship, but we must discern our own hearts and minds to see if we are deceiving ourselves by trusting in our riches, in our comfort, in our work ethic, in our family, or any other created thing, and so trampling down the glory of God, trampling it in the dust like Babylon did, and worshiping something else in its place. 00:35:08.239 --> 00:35:15.119 And if that is us, then we are putting ourselves in the shoes of Babylon, who will face all of the judgment that God brings. 00:35:16.400 --> 00:35:18.480 Or we trust in God alone. 00:35:18.800 --> 00:35:26.800 So God is contrasting here those who trust in Him and live by faith with those who trust themselves. 00:35:30.079 --> 00:35:35.599 Those who trust something other than God will face the just wrath of God against their idolatry. 00:35:36.800 --> 00:35:40.239 Habakkuk was concerned by God's response. 00:35:40.559 --> 00:35:41.280 He's struggling. 00:35:41.519 --> 00:35:43.840 Says, okay, God, I understand who you are. 00:35:44.000 --> 00:35:46.079 I understand that you're sovereign, you're omnipotent. 00:35:46.159 --> 00:35:48.559 You can even use evil people like Babylon. 00:35:48.719 --> 00:35:49.679 I get that. 00:35:52.400 --> 00:35:55.119 But God, how can you do that? 00:35:56.000 --> 00:35:58.960 Yeah, we have sin, but we're not that sinful. 00:35:59.519 --> 00:36:04.000 Yes, I understand you must judge all sin, but we're not as bad as the Babylonians. 00:36:04.079 --> 00:36:06.159 We don't do those kinds of things. 00:36:06.320 --> 00:36:08.639 I'm not that kind of a sinner, God. 00:36:10.639 --> 00:36:17.199 God is assuring the prophet here that all sin will be addressed. 00:36:18.880 --> 00:36:19.760 Trust him. 00:36:21.440 --> 00:36:24.320 His ways are not our ways. 00:36:25.119 --> 00:36:31.119 The penalty of sin will be dealt to all idolaters who refuse to trust in God genuinely. 00:36:32.000 --> 00:36:36.559 Habakkuk could trust in the justice of a holy God. 00:36:39.119 --> 00:36:46.719 See, God is reminding him of a character trait, a quality that he didn't mention, his justice. 00:36:47.679 --> 00:36:50.239 He talks about his eternality. 00:36:50.480 --> 00:36:53.519 He talks about his everlasting nature. 00:36:53.760 --> 00:37:03.039 He talks about his omniscience, knowing the righteous and the sinful, and God says, Yes, yes, Habakkuk, put all of that together and understand I am a just God. 00:37:03.280 --> 00:37:13.679 Babylon will not get away with their sin and rest in that, Christian, as your soul contends with the sin that appears to run rampant in your world. 00:37:15.440 --> 00:37:25.840 Trust that your just God knows and sees the pride, the arrogance, the idolatry, and the power of self flaunting itself before God. 00:37:26.159 --> 00:37:27.440 Be patient. 00:37:27.920 --> 00:37:31.679 If God's justice seems slow, wait for it. 00:37:32.320 --> 00:37:33.920 It will surely come. 00:37:34.800 --> 00:37:36.320 But guard your heart. 00:37:36.639 --> 00:37:43.039 Guard your heart lest you be led away from simple faith and daily trust in the sovereign judge. 00:37:43.199 --> 00:37:52.400 Isaiah wrote, Isaiah wrote that Israel had forgotten the God of her salvation and had not remembered the rock of her refuge. 00:37:53.440 --> 00:37:55.360 Israel forgot that. 00:37:56.239 --> 00:38:04.880 And so if she forgot, there's a chance that we might fail to remember those warnings. 00:38:07.440 --> 00:38:10.400 You see, my friends, God is a jealous God. 00:38:12.559 --> 00:38:20.639 He will not have his people or his world ultimately consumed by idolatry. 00:38:21.840 --> 00:38:28.960 God will not have his people or his world ultimately consumed by the worship of something or someone other than himself. 00:38:31.840 --> 00:38:37.840 And anyone who trusts in something other than the one true God will pay the price at the right time. 00:38:39.599 --> 00:38:42.079 And so we come to verse 20. 00:38:44.079 --> 00:38:46.400 Yahweh is in his holy temple. 00:38:47.360 --> 00:38:50.719 Let all the earth keep silent before him. 00:38:51.440 --> 00:38:53.119 Here's our last principle. 00:38:54.480 --> 00:38:56.079 Guard your mouth. 00:38:57.519 --> 00:39:00.159 Because God is sovereignly present. 00:39:02.559 --> 00:39:07.679 Verse 20 seems at first glance like an odd conclusion to God's response to Habakkuk. 00:39:07.760 --> 00:39:09.119 It's kind of strange. 00:39:10.800 --> 00:39:14.880 The prophet argued that God's character didn't match his actions. 00:39:15.360 --> 00:39:18.639 What Habakkuk believed didn't match what he could see. 00:39:19.679 --> 00:39:21.599 He wasn't disbelieving. 00:39:22.400 --> 00:39:25.280 He was trying to make it all make sense. 00:39:25.519 --> 00:39:33.599 And so God showed Habakkuk that his character would care for the righteous and the evil in the right way at the right time. 00:39:33.760 --> 00:39:37.440 It may not be in Habakkuk's way, it may not even be in Habakkuk's lifetime. 00:39:37.599 --> 00:39:40.239 It may not be in your way or in your lifetime. 00:39:40.400 --> 00:39:42.159 But he will be faithful to himself. 00:39:42.559 --> 00:39:47.199 He will be faithful to his word, so you can trust him and walk by faith. 00:39:48.320 --> 00:40:06.000 If we go back to the beginning of Habakkuk, we see, we see that Habakkuk's uncertainty and his confusion began when he looked at his life through his own eyes rather than through God's perspective. 00:40:06.719 --> 00:40:19.840 The last sentence then of chapter 2 comes full circle with the reality that we are tempted to forget that God is present when we only see our circumstances. 00:40:24.320 --> 00:40:41.280 If all you thought about, if what was consuming in your life is the immediate difficulty you are facing today, you would eventually begin to doubt whether or not God was there. 00:40:45.119 --> 00:40:55.280 If you're struggling to figure out how does this match up with who God is, with what God says, you will eventually get to the place where you wonder, where is God? 00:40:57.039 --> 00:41:05.119 We are tempted to forget that God remains worthy of our trust when all we can see is our present situation. 00:41:06.079 --> 00:41:13.199 We are tempted then into idolatry when we trust our senses more than we trust our God. 00:41:14.880 --> 00:41:17.760 And God reminds us that He is God. 00:41:18.239 --> 00:41:19.199 We are not. 00:41:26.320 --> 00:41:33.440 So when we wonder where God is, if God is present, if He is here, if we ask, where are you? 00:41:33.599 --> 00:41:36.320 our answer must be, He is present. 00:41:37.840 --> 00:41:39.119 He is present. 00:41:40.400 --> 00:41:42.000 He is never absent. 00:41:44.639 --> 00:41:46.320 God is never absent. 00:41:47.199 --> 00:41:49.039 He is never on vacation. 00:41:51.039 --> 00:41:53.599 He's never taking a weekend at the lake. 00:41:54.800 --> 00:41:56.880 He's never in the bathroom. 00:41:58.239 --> 00:41:59.920 He's never napping. 00:42:01.360 --> 00:42:03.599