Hab 1:1
Habakkuk Complains to the Lord
The following is the message1 which God revealed to
Habakkuk the prophet:2
(Guzik)
Hab 1:1-2:1
HABAKKUK 1 – THE PROPHET’S PROBLEM
A. The first problem: “How long, O Lord?”
1. (Hab_1:1) Habakkuk and his burden.
The burden which the prophet Habakkuk saw.
a. The prophet Habakkuk: We don’t know much about the
prophet Habakkuk from any other book in the Bible.
Since he prophesied the coming Babylonian army and its
destruction of Judah, he prophesied some time before that
invasion. Many think that Habakkuk ministered sometime
during the reign of King Johoiakim, perhaps around the year
607 B.C.
i. It’s hard to say with certainty when Habakkuk prophesied.
Since he speaks of God raising up the Babylonians
(Hab_1:6), we can guess that he wrote in the 25-year period
between the time when Babylon conquered Nineveh and the
Assyrian Empire (612 B.C.) and the time when Babylon
conquered Jerusalem (587 B.C.).
ii. We don’t know how old Habakkuk was when he gave this
prophecy, but it is likely that he lived during the time of
godly king Josiah (640 to 609 B.C.) and then gave this
prophecy during the reign of one of Josiah’s successors.
Habakkuk knew what it was like to live during a time of
revival, and then to see God’s people and the nation slip
into lethargy and sin. “Habakkuk had a problem. He had
lived through a period of national revival followed by a
period of spiritual decline.” (Boice)
b. The burden which the prophet Habakkuk saw:
Habakkuk had a burden – not only in the sense of a
message from God, but also in the sense of a heavy weight.
It was heavy in its content, because Habakkuk announced
coming judgment on Judah. It was also heavy in its source,
because Habakkuk deals with tough questions he brings to
God and God’s answer to those questions.
i. The name Habakkuk is derived from the Hebrew verb
“embrace.” His name probably means, “He Who Embraces”
or “He Who Clings.” It is an appropriate name for both the
prophet and the book, because Habakkuk comes to a firm
faith through grappling with tough questions.
ii. The prophet: “This title is rare in book headings (see
Hag_1:1; Zec_1:1), and is taken by some to indicate that
Habakkuk was a professional prophet, one who earned his
living serving as a prophet at the Temple or court, unlike
Amos ( cf. Amo_7:14).” (Baker)
2. (Hab_1:2-4) Habakkuk asks God why He seems to delay
judgment.
O LORD, how long shall I cry, and You will not hear? Even cry
out to You, “Violence!” and You will not save. Why do You
show me iniquity, and cause me to see trouble? For
plundering and violence are before me; there is strife, and
contention arises. Therefore the law is powerless, and justice
never goes forth. For the wicked surround the righteous;
therefore perverse judgment proceeds.
a. Even cry out to You, “Violence” and You will not
save: Habakkuk looked at the violence and injustice
around him in the nation of Judah. He wondered where God
was, and why God did not set things right.
b. Why do You show me iniquity, and cause me to see
trouble? This is an excellent question. Why does God allow
us to see iniquity and trouble, in our self or in others?
i. Why God allows us to see iniquity in our self.
· To keep us humble
· To make us submissive in the hour of trouble
· To make us value salvation all the more
ii. Why God allows us to see iniquity in others.
· To show us what we might have been ourselves
· To make us see the wickedness of sin, that we might pass
by it and hate it, and not indulge in it ourselves · To make us
admire the grace of God when He saves sinners
· To set us more earnestly to work that God can use us to
save others and extend God’s kingdom. “Ah, my brethren,
we need to know more of the evil of men, to make us more
earnest in seeking their salvation; for if there be anything in
which the Church is lacking more than in any other matter,
it is in the matter of earnestness.” (Spurgeon)
c. Iniquity . . . trouble . . . plundering and violence . .
. strife . . . contention . . . the law is powerless . . .
justice never goes forth . . . perverse judgment
proceeds: Habakkuk sees trouble and sin everywhere, from
personal relationships to courts of law. This distresses him so
much that he cries out to God and asks God why He doesn’t
set things straight.
i. Habakkuk deals with the questions that come up when
someone really believes God, yet looks around them and the
world doesn’t seem to match up with how God wants it.
Habakkuk sees it – especially remembering the prior times of
revival under King Josiah – and asks, “Lord, why are you
allowing this?”
ii. “This prophecy deals with the problems created by faith;
and with the Divine answers to the questions which express
those problems.” (Morgan)
B. God’s answer to the first problem.
1. (Hab_1:5-6) God’s astounding work: bringing the
Babylonians to judge Judah.
“Look among the nations and watch; be utterly astounded!
For I will work a work in your days which you would not
believe, though it were told you. For indeed I am raising up
the Chaldeans, a bitter and hasty nation which marches
through the breadth of the earth, to possess dwelling places
that are not theirs.”
a. Be utterly astounded: God tells the troubled prophet,
“Don’t worry about it. Look at the surrounding nations and
from them will come a nation that will be My instrument of
judgment on sinful Judah.”
b. I will work a work in your days which you would not
believe: We understand the idea of something “too good to
be true,” but that isn’t what God is talking about here. This
is something “too bad to be true,” a work of judgment so
astounding that Habakkuk would have a hard time believing
it.
c. I am raising up the Chaldeans: When the Babylonians
(the Chaldeans) eventually came against Judah, they
came as sent by the LORD. It wasn’t that they themselves
did not want to come, but God allowed their sinful desire to
conquer Judah to come to fruition. If God had not allowed
them to do it, they never could have conquered Judah and
exiled God’s people out of the Promised Land.
2. (Hab_1:7-11) The strength and speed of the Babylonian
army.
“They are terrible and dreadful; their judgment and their
dignity proceed from themselves. Their horses also are
swifter than leopards, and more fierce than evening wolves.
Their chargers charge ahead; their cavalry comes from afar;
they fly as the eagle that hastens to eat. They all come for
violence; their faces are set like the east wind. They gather
captives like sand. They scoff at kings, and princes are
scorned by them. They deride every stronghold, for they
heap up earthen mounds and seize it. Then his mind
changes, and he transgresses; he commits offense, ascribing
this power to his god.”
a. They are terrible and dreadful: Habakkuk wondered
where God’s judgment was against sinful Judah. The LORD
lets him know that the judgment will indeed come, and
when it comes through the Babylonians it will be terrible
and dreadful.
b. He commits offense, ascribing this power to his
god: When the Babylonians overwhelm the land of Judah,
they will wrongly give the credit to their false gods. The
LORD they would do this before it ever happened.
C. The second problem: “Why do it this way, O LORD?”
1. (Hab_1:12-17) Habakkuk wonders why God would use a
nation more wicked than Judah to bring judgment on Judah.
Are You not from everlasting, O LORD my God, my Holy One?
We shall not die. O LORD, You have appointed them for
judgment; O Rock, You have marked them for correction. You
are of purer eyes than to behold evil, and cannot look on
wickedness. Why do You look on those who deal
treacherously, and hold Your tongue when the wicked
devours a person more righteous than he? Why do You make
men like fish of the sea, like creeping things that have no
ruler over them? They take up all of them with a hook, they
catch them in their net, and gather them in their dragnet.
Therefore they rejoice and are glad. Therefore they sacrifice
to their net, and burn incense to their dragnet; because by
them their share is sumptuous and their food plentiful. Shall
they therefore empty their net, and continue to slay nations
without pity?
a. Why do You look on those who deal treacherously:
Habakkuk was first troubled that there was no judgment
against Judah; God answered by telling him judgment was
on the way. Now Habakkuk is troubled by the agent of
judgment, the Babylonians – who were an even more wicked
people than the people of Judah.
i. It would be like crying out to God about the state of the
church in America, and hearing God respond by saying, “I’ll
fix the problem by a Communist invasion of America.” We
would say, “Wait a minute LORD – the problem is bad, but
your cure is worse than the disease!”
ii. Some people face crisis times like this all the wrong way.
They withdraw from the church and from fellowship and they
pull back into a little spiritual corner. Others give up on God
altogether. Lloyd-Jones guides us to a better response: ·
Stop to think – before talking about it, think about it ·
Restate basic principles – As you think about the problem,
don’t begin with the problem. Go back further to basic
principles about God and His dealing with man
·
Apply the principles to the problem – now, think about your
problem in light of these basic principles ·
Commit the matter to God in faith – whether you know what
to do or not b. You are of purer eyes than to behold
evil, and cannot look on wickedness: This is even more
problematic to Habakkuk because he knows the character of
God. Since he understands the holy character of God, he is
more troubled than ever as to why God would judge wicked
Judah by exalting even more wicked Babylon.
c. Shall they therefore empty their net, and continue
to slay nations without pity? Habakkuk wonders how
long God will allow the Babylonians to continue their cruel
conquest of nations. It is as if God’s people are conquered as
easily as fish in a net.
i. “Easily we are taken and destroyed. We have no leader to
guide us, and no power to defend ourselves.
Nebuchadnezzar is here represented as a fisherman, who is
constantly casting nets into the sea, and enclosing
multitudes of fishes; and being always successful, he
sacrifices to his own net.” (Clarke) 2. (Hab_2:1) Habakkuk
resolutely waits for God’s reply.
I will stand my watch and set myself on the rampart, and
watch to see what He will say to me, and what I will answer
when I am corrected.
a. And watch to see what He will say to me: Habakkuk
has raised two important questions to God, yet he asks both
with a great attitude. He anticipates an answer from God
and is willing to watch – that is, wait for it. Often when we
question God we don’t expect Him to answer, but Habakkuk
does. Other times we not only expect God will answer, but
we demand that He answer, and answer according to our
schedule. Habakkuk approaches this with the right attitude.
i. “How often God’s answers come, and find us gone! We
have waited for a while, and, thinking there was no answer,
we have gone our way but as we have turned the first corner
the post as come in. God’s ships touch at our wharves; but
there is no one to unload them . . . It is not enough to direct
your prayer unto God; look up, and look out, until the
blessing alights on your head.” (Meyer)
b. And what I will answer when I am corrected:
Habakkuk’s attitude is also right because he expects God to
correct him. From this we see that Habakkuk didn’t ask God
this question because he thought God was wrong and had to
explain Himself. He asked it because he knew that he was
wrong and needed to be corrected. His questions were his
invitation to God saying, “God, I don’t understand what you
are doing, but I know that you are right in all things. Please
speak to me and correct me.”
Hab 1:2 How long, LORD, must I cry for help?
But you do not listen!
I call out to you, “Violence!”
But you do not intervene!3
Hab 1:3 Why do you force me to witness injustice?4
Why do you put up with wrongdoing?5
Destruction and violence confront6 me;
conflict is present and one must endure strife.7
Hab 1:4 For this reason the law lacks power,8
and justice is never carried out.9
Indeed,10 the wicked intimidate11 the innocent.12
For this reason justice is perverted.13
Hab 1:5 The Lord Reveals Some Startling News
“Look at the nations and pay attention!14
You will be shocked and amazed!15
For I will do something in your lifetime16
that you will not believe even though you are forewarned.17
Hab 1:6 Look, I am about to empower18 the Babylonians,
that ruthless19 and greedy20 nation.
They sweep across the surface21 of the earth,
seizing dwelling places that do not belong to them.
Hab 1:7 They are frightening and terrifying;
they decide for themselves what is right.22
Hab 1:8 Their horses are faster than leopards
and more alert23 than wolves in the desert.24
Their horses25 gallop,26
their horses come a great distance;
like a vulture27 they swoop down quickly to devour their
prey.28
Hab 1:9 All of them intend29 to do violence;
every face is determined.30
They take prisoners as easily as one scoops up sand.31
Hab 1:10 They mock kings
and laugh at rulers.
They laugh at every fortified city;
they build siege ramps32 and capture them.
Hab 1:11 They sweep by like the wind and pass on.33
But the one who considers himself a god will be held
guilty.”34
Hab 1:12 Habakkuk Voices Some Concerns
LORD, you have been active from ancient times;35
my sovereign God,36 you are immortal.37
LORD, you have made them38 your instrument of
judgment.39
Protector,40 you have appointed them as your instrument of
punishment.41
Hab 1:13 You are too just42 to tolerate43 evil;
you are unable to condone44 wrongdoing.
So why do you put up with such treacherous people?45
Why do you say nothing when the wicked devour46 those
more righteous than they are?47
Hab 1:14 You made people like fish in the sea,
like animals in the sea48 that have no ruler.
Hab 1:15 The Babylonian tyrant49 pulls them all up with a
fishhook;
he hauls them in with his throw net.50
When he catches51 them in his dragnet,
he is very happy.52
Hab 1:16 Because of his success53 he offers sacrifices to
his throw net
and burns incense to his dragnet;54
for because of them he has plenty of food,55
and more than enough to eat.56
Hab 1:17 Will he then57 continue to fill and empty his
throw net?58
Will he always59 destroy60 nations and spare none?61
Hab 2:1 I will stand at my watch post;
I will remain stationed on the city wall.1
I will keep watching, so I can see what he says to me
and can know2 how I should answer
when he counters my argument.3
Hab 2:2 The Lord Assures Habakkuk
The LORD responded:4
“Write down this message!5 Record it legibly on tablets,
so the one who announces6 it may read it easily.7
(Guzik)
Hab 2:2-20
HABAKKUK 2 – GOD JUSTIFIES HIS JUDGMENT
A. The proud rebuked.
1. (Hab_2:2-3) Preparation for the answer: how to publish
the vision.
Then the LORD answered me and said: “Write the vision and
make it plain on tablets, that he may run who reads it. For
the vision is yet for an appointed time; but at the end it will
speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it;
because it will surely come, it will not tarry.”
a. Write the vision and make it plain: God told
Habakkuk to record this “question and answer” time for the
benefit of others – that he may run who reads it.
Habakkuk’s revelation wasn’t just for himself, but also to
edify others. Those who read it would make rapid progress
(may run), but they couldn’t make this progress if
Habakkuk did not make it plain.
i. Habakkuk first had to see the vision. The preacher cannot
make anyone else see what he does not see for himself.
ii. Habakkuk then had to make it known. The preacher must
do what he can to make the word of God known, and make it
known in as many ways as possible.
iii. Habakkuk had to make it known as permanently as
possible – he was told to write the vision. The preacher
must do what he can to make a permanent impact on his
listeners.
iv. Habakkuk had to make it plain. “I have sometimes
thought that certain ministers fancied that it was their duty
to make the message elaborate, to go to the very bottom of
the subject, and stir up all the mud they could find there, till
you could not possibly see them, nor could they see their
own way at all . . . They tell people all the difficulties they
have discovered in the Bible, – which difficulties most of
their hearers would never have heard of unless their
ministers had told them.” (Spurgeon)
v. Habakkuk had to make it practical – that he may run
who reads it. It doesn’t say, “that he who runs may read
it,” but “that he may run who reads it.” The running – the
activity and progress – comes forth from God’s word.
b. For the vision is yet for an appointed time:
Habakkuk spoke to an age beyond his own. The Babylonian
conquest would not be evident in his own day, but in the
future.
2. (Hab_2:4-8) God knows how to deal with the proud.
“Behold the proud, his soul is not upright in him; but the just
shall live by his faith. Indeed, because he transgresses by
wine, he is a proud man, and he does not stay at home.
Because he enlarges his desire as hell, and he is like death,
and cannot be satisfied, he gathers to himself all nations
and heaps up for himself all peoples. Will not all these take
up a proverb against him, and a taunting riddle against him,
and say, ‘Woe to him who increases what is not his; how
long? And to him who loads himself with many pledges’?
Will not your creditors rise up suddenly? Will they not
awaken who oppress you? And you will become their booty.
Because you have plundered many nations, all the remnant
of the people shall plunder you, because of men’s blood and
the violence of the land and the city, and of all who dwell in
it.”
a. Behold the proud: Habakkuk wondered why Babylon – a
nation even more sinful than Judah – would be used to bring
judgment to Judah. In answering the prophet, God first
assures him that He sees the proud, and knows that his
soul is not upright in him.
i. Pride is everywhere and takes all manner of shapes.
· Here is the rich man, proud of what he has
· There is the poor man, proud of his “honor” in having less
· Here is the talented man, proud of what he can do
· There is the man of few talents, proud of his hard work
· Here is the religious man, proud of his religion
· There is the unbeliever, proud of his unbelief
· Here is the establishment man, proud of his place in society
· There is the counter-cultural man, proud of his “outcast”
status
· Here is the learned man, proud of his intelligence and
learning
· Here is the simple man, proud of his simplicity
ii. “If there is a sin that is universal, it is this. Where is it not
to be found? Hunt among the highest and loftiest in the
world, and you shall find it there; and then go and search
amongst the poorest and the most miserable, and you shall
find it there. There may be as much pride inside a beggar’s
rags as in a prince’s robe; and a harlot may be as proud as a
model of chastity. Pride is a strange creature; it never
objects to its lodgings. It will live comfortably enough in a
palace, and it will live equally at its ease in a hovel. Is there
any man in whose heart pride does not lurk?” (Spurgeon)
iii. Pride can be especially dangerous among the people of
God. Once a man came to John Bunyan after a sermon and
told him what a fine sermon he preached. “You’re too late,”
Bunyan answered. “The devil told me that before I stepped
down from the pulpit.” Satan can tell the praying brother to
be proud of his ability to pray, the growing brother to be
proud of his growth, and even the humble brother to be
proud of his humility.
iv. “Wherever pride is found, it is always hateful to God.
Why! pride is even hateful to men. Men cannot bear a proud
man; and hence it is that a proud man, who has any sense
left, often sees that it is so, and he therefore tries to affect
manners of modesty. He will seem to be humble, when he
really is not, if he has the suspicion that all about him will
dislike him if they know him to be proud. But God cannot
bear pride; it is a part of his daily business to put down the
proud.” (Spurgeon) b. But the just shall live by his faith:
In contrast to the proud, there are the just. The principle
of their life is faith, instead of pride that looks to self. True
faith looks outside of self unto the LORD God, while pride
always looks to self.
i. This brief statement from the prophet Habakkuk is one of
the most important, and most quoted Old Testament
statements in the New Testament. Paul used it to show that
the just live by faith, not by law. Being under the law isn’t
the way to be found just before God, only living by faith is.
ii. If you are declared just – that is, approved – before God,
you have done it by a relationship of faith. If your life is all
about living under the law, then God does not find you
approved.
iii. In Hebrew, the important part of the verse has only three
words: “the justified man,” “by his faith,” and “will live.”
Every word in Hab_2:4 is important, and the Lord quotes it
three times in the New Testament just to bring out the
fullness of the meaning
·
Rom_1:17 is the commentary on the justified man – “The
just shall live by faith”
·
Heb_10:38 is the commentary on faith – “The just shall live
by faith”
·
Gal_3:11 is the commentary on the Christian life – “The just
shall live by faith”
iv. Before his bold declaration of the truth of the gospel,
Martin Luther was an Augustinian monk. As a monk he went
on a pilgrimage to Rome and as he crossed the Alps he fell
deathly ill. As he lay sick he felt great turmoil, both physical
and spiritual, and a verse that had previously touched him
came to mind: The just will live by his faith, from Hab_2:4.
When Luther recovered he went on to Rome and did the
tourist things that all the pilgrims did. One day he came to
the church of Saint John’s Lateran, where there is a staircase
said to be from Pilate’s judgment hall.
It was the custom of pilgrims to climb this staircase, but
never on their feet – they painfully climbed a step at a time
on their knees, saying prayers and kissing the steps where is
was thought the blood of Jesus fell. Luther came to this place
and starting doing just as all the pilgrims, because the pope
promised an indulgence to all who climbed the steps on
their knees and said the prayers. As he did this, Luther
remembered the words from Habakkuk: The just will live by
his faith. It is said that when he remembered this he
stopped, stood up, walked down and went straight home to
Germany. Some say the Reformation began on those stairs.
v. “Before those words broke upon my mind I hated God and
was angry with him because, not content with frightening us
sinners by the law and by the miseries of life, he still further
increased our torture by the gospel. But when, by the Spirit
of God, I understood those words – ‘The just shall live by
faith!’ ‘The just shall live by faith!’ –
then I felt born again like a new man; I entered through the
open doors into the very Paradise of God.” (Luther, cited in
Boice)
vi. We are called to live by faith, and nothing else.
· Some Christians live by devotions
· Some Christians live by works
· Some Christians live by feelings
· Some Christians live by circumstances
Each of these is meaningless and perhaps dangerous
without faith.
c. He enlarges his desire as hell, and he is like death,
and cannot be satisfied: God sees the proud man and
how the proud man cannot be satisfied. The one who is
declared just by faith is satisfied, but the proud man keeps
grasping.
d. Because you have plundered many nations, all the
remnant of the people shall plunder you: Here, God
assures Habakkuk that He knows how to deal with nations
like Babylon. He promises the Babylonians that just as they
plundered many nations, so one day others would
plunder them. The Babylonians were perfect examples of
the proud who set themselves against those who are
declared just by faith – and Habakkuk could take comfort in
the fact that God would deal with them.
i. “The immediate value of the word was the Habakkuk
learned that God’s employment of the Chaldeans did not
mean the permanent power of this evil people.” (Morgan)
B. Four woes to silence sinful man.
1. (Hab_2:9-11) Woe to the greedy.
“Woe to him who covets evil gain for his house, that he may
set his nest on high, that he may be delivered from the
power of disaster! You give shameful counsel to your house,
cutting off many peoples, and sin against your soul. For the
stone will cry out from the wall, and the beam from the
timbers will answer it.”
a. Woe to him who covets evil gain for his house: God
addresses the greedy man, and tells him that he is ripe for
judgment. The greedy man does his best to protect himself
(set his next on high), yet all his best will come to
nothing.
b. You . . . sin against your own soul: The greedy man
thinks in terms of nothing but gain, but ends of losing his
own soul. Jesus’ parable in Luk_12:16-21 is the perfect
example of the greedy man who sins against his own soul.
c. For the stone will cry out from the wall: Habakkuk
pictures a beautiful house built by a greedy man, and the
very stones of the house cry out from the wall against the
man’s greed.
2. (Hab_2:12-14) Woe to the violent.
“Woe to him who builds a town with bloodshed, who
establishes a city by iniquity! Behold, is it not of the LORD of
hosts that the peoples labor to feed the fire, and nations
weary themselves in vain? For the earth will be filled with
the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover
the sea.”
a. Woe to him who builds a town with bloodshed: The
LORD is not only displeased with the greedy, He also
pronounces a woe against the violent.
b. The earth will be filled with the knowledge of the
glory of the LORD: The violent man thinks that his might
makes right, so he feels free to abuse others for his gain. As
a correction and a rebuke, the LORD reminds the violent
man of His ultimate triumph.
3. (15-17) Woe to the drunk.
“Woe to him who gives drink to his neighbor, pressing him to
your bottle, even to make him drunk, that you may look on
his nakedness! You are filled with shame instead of glory. You
also; drink! And be exposed as uncircumcised! The cup of
the Lord’s right hand will be turned against you, and utter
shame will be on your glory. For the violence done to
Lebanon will cover you, and the plunder of beasts which
made them afraid, because of men’s blood and the violence
of the land and the city, and of all who dwell in it.
a. Woe to him who gives drink to his neighbor . . . You
also; drink! Through the prophet Habakkuk, the LORD
rebukes both the drunk and those who promote
drunkenness. Though they think that alcohol makes them
feel good, God rightly says they are filled with shame
instead of glory.
i. In Eph_5:18 Paul calls drunkenness dissipation;
drunkenness is a waste of resources that should be
submitted to Jesus. John Trapp writes of drinking “all the
three outs” – “that is, ale out of the pot, money out of the
purse, and wit out of the head.” (Trapp’s commentary on
Gal_5:21) ii. The damage of drunkenness goes beyond the
act itself and into what it effects in lives and families. Yearly
in the United States alcohol is responsible for almost
100,000 deaths (25,000 by drunk drivers alone), 6 million
non-fatal injuries, and more than $100 billion in economic
losses such as unemployment and loss of productivity.
b. The cup of the Lord’s right hand will be turned
against you: The drunk and those who promote
drunkenness loved their own cup full of drink; now God
promises a cup for them, a cup of judgment and just
recompense for their sin.
4. (Hab_2:18-20) Woe to the idolater.
“What profit is the image, that its maker should carve it, the
molded image, a teacher of lies, that the maker of its mold
should trust in it, to make mute idols? Woe to him who says
to wood, ‘Awake!’ To silent stone, ‘Arise! It shall teach!’
Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver, yet in it there is no
breath at all. But the LORD is in His holy temple. Let all the
earth keep silence before Him.”
a. Woe to him who says to wood, “Awake!” : Having
dealt with the greedy man, the violent man, and the drunk
now God speaks to the idolater – who treats inanimate
objects as if they had life and intelligence.
b. In it there is no breath at all. But the LORD is in
His holy temple: In contrast to lifeless idols, the LORD is
alive and well in His holy temple. The folly of the idolater
will be exposed by the majesty of the living God.
i. Through it all, the point is proven. Habakkuk couldn’t
understand why God would judge a sinful nation (Judah) by
an even more sinful nation (Babylon). Yet God reminds
Habakkuk of His own wisdom and strength, and of His
ultimate triumph over the wicked. God knew that Babylon
was filled with the proud, the greedy, the violent, the drunk,
and the idolater – and the LORD knew how to deal with them
all.
Hab 2:3 For the message is a witness to what is decreed;8
it gives reliable testimony about how matters will turn out.9
Even if the message10 is not fulfilled right away, wait
patiently;11
for it will certainly come to pass — it will not arrive late.
Hab 2:4 Look, the one whose desires are not upright will
faint from exhaustion,12
but the person of integrity13 will live14 because of his
faithfulness.15
Hab 2:5 Indeed, wine will betray the proud, restless
man!16
His appetite17 is as big as Sheol’s;18
like death, he is never satisfied.
He gathers19 all the nations;
he seizes20 all peoples.
Hab 2:6 The Proud Babylonians are as Good as Dead
“But all these nations will someday taunt him21
and ridicule him with proverbial sayings:22
‘The one who accumulates what does not belong to him is as
good as dead23
(How long will this go on?)24 —
he who gets rich by extortion!’25
Hab 2:7 Your creditors will suddenly attack;26
those who terrify you will spring into action,27
and they will rob you.28
Hab 2:8 Because you robbed many countries,29
all who are left among the nations30 will rob you.
You have shed human blood
and committed violent acts against lands, cities,31 and
those who live in them.
Hab 2:9 The one who builds his house by unjust gain is as
good as dead.32
He does this so he can build his nest way up high
and escape the clutches of disaster.33
Hab 2:10 Your schemes will bring shame to your house.
Because you destroyed many nations, you will selfdestruct.
34
Hab 2:11 For the stones in the walls will cry out,
and the wooden rafters will answer back.35
Hab 2:12 The one who builds a city by bloodshed is as
good as dead36 —
he who starts37 a town by unjust deeds.
Hab 2:13 Be sure of this! The LORD who commands armies
has decreed:
The nations’ efforts will go up in smoke;
their exhausting work will be for nothing.38
Hab 2:14 For recognition of the LORD’s sovereign majesty
will fill the earth
just as the waters fill up the sea.39
Hab 2:15 “You who force your neighbor to drink wine40 are
as good as dead41 —
you who make others intoxicated by forcing them to drink
from the bowl of your furious anger,42
so you can look at their genitals.43
Hab 2:16 But you will become drunk44 with shame, not
majesty.45
Now it is your turn to drink and expose your uncircumcised
foreskin!46
The cup of wine in the LORD’s right hand47 is coming to
you,
and disgrace will replace your majestic glory!
Hab 2:17 For you will pay in full for your violent acts
against Lebanon;48
terrifying judgment will come upon you because of the way
you destroyed the wild animals living there.49
You have shed human blood
and committed violent acts against lands, cities, and those
who live in them.
Hab 2:18 What good50 is an idol? Why would a craftsman
make it?51
What good is a metal image that gives misleading oracles?
52
Why would its creator place his trust in it53
and make54 such mute, worthless things?
Hab 2:19 The one who says to wood, ‘Wake up!’ is as good
as dead55 —
he who says56 to speechless stone, ‘Awake!’
Can it give reliable guidance?57
It is overlaid with gold and silver;
it has no life’s breath inside it.
Hab 2:20 But the LORD is in his majestic palace.58
The whole earth is speechless in his presence!”59
Hab 3:1 Habakkuk’s Vision of the Divine Warrior
This is a prayer of Habakkuk the prophet:1
(Guzik)
Hab 3:1
HABAKKUK 3 – THE PROPHET’S PRAYER
A. Seeking revival from the God of all power.
1. (Hab_3:1-2) A plea for revival.
A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet, on Shigionoth. O LORD, I
have heard your speech and was afraid; O LORD, revive Your
work in the midst of the years! In the midst of the years
make it known; in wrath remember mercy.
a. A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet: The first two
chapters of Habakkuk give us the prophet’s “question and
answer” time with God. Now that God has answered
Habakkuk, the prophet brings a prayer to close the book.
b. O LORD, revive Your work in the midst of the
years: Habakkuk simply prays for revival. He knows how
God once worked and how His people once responded, and
Habakkuk wants to see that again.
i. The prayer of Habakkuk shows us that revival is a work of
God, not the achievement of man. There is something man
can and must do for revival – simply cry out to God and
plead for His reviving work.
ii. Notice the prayer: revive Your work. Often, my prayer is
really “revive my work,” but I must have a heart and mind
for God’s work, far bigger than my portion of it. “Shake off
all the bitterness of everything that has to do with self, or
with party, and now pray, ‘Lord, revive thy work, and if thy
work happen to be more in one branch of the church than in
another, Lord, give that the most reviving. Give us all the
blessing, but do let thine own purposes be accomplished,
and thine own glory come of it, and we shall be well content,
though we should be forgotten and unknown.’“ (Spurgeon)
iii. At the same time, this must be a personal prayer: “LORD,
revive me.” We too often blame the church for sin,
corruption, laziness, prayerlessness, lack of spiritual power,
or whatever – and we forget that we are the church.
Pray for personal revival and diligently search yourself:
· Check your conduct – does your walk glorify the LORD as it
should? How about your private conduct, which only the
LORD sees?
· Check your conversation – is your speech profane or
impure? Do you talk about Jesus with others?
· Check your communion – are you living a growing, abiding
life with Jesus?
c. In the midst of the years make it known: Habakkuk
longs for God to do a work that is evident to everyone as a
work of God. He prays that revival would be known at a
definite time and place (in the midst of the years), not
just as an idea in someone’s head.
d. In wrath remember mercy: Habakkuk prays knowing
well that they don’t deserve revival, so he prays for mercy.
The idea is, “LORD, I know that we deserve your wrath, but
in the midst of your wrath remember mercy and send
revival among us.”
i. “Sorrowfully, not wishing to be an accuser of the brethren,
it does seem to me that considering the responsibilities
which were laid upon us, and the means which God has
given us, the church generally, (there are blessed
exceptions!) has done so little for Christ that if ‘Ichabod’
were written right across its brow, and it were banished from
God’s house, it would have its deserts. We cannot therefore
appeal to merit, it must be mercy.”
(Spurgeon)
ii. “O God, have mercy upon thy poor church, and visit her,
and revive her. She has but a little strength; she has desired
to keep thy word; oh, refresh her; restore to her thy power,
and give her yet to be great in this land.”
(Spurgeon)
2. (Hab_3:3-15) The power of God on behalf of His people.
God came from Teman, the Holy One from Mount Paran.
Selah. His glory covered the heavens, and the earth was full
of His praise. His brightness was like the light; He had rays
flashing from His hand, and there His power was hidden.
Before Him went pestilence, and fever followed at His feet.
He stood and measured the earth; He looked and startled
the nations. And the everlasting mountains were scattered,
the perpetual hills bowed. His ways are everlasting. I saw
the tents of Cushan in affliction; the curtains of the land of
Midian trembled. O LORD, were You displeased with the
rivers, was Your anger against the rivers, was Your wrath
against the sea, that You rode on Your horses, Your chariots
of salvation? Your bow was made quite ready; oaths were
sworn over Your arrows. Selah. You divided the earth with
rivers. The mountains saw You and trembled; the
overflowing of the water passed by. The deep uttered its
voice, and lifted its hands on high. The sun and moon stood
still in their habitation; at the light of Your arrows they went,
at the shining of Your glittering spear. You marched through
the land in indignation; You trampled the nations in anger.
You went forth for the salvation of Your people, for salvation
with Your Anointed. You struck the head from the house of
the wicked, by laying bare from foundation to neck. Selah.
You thrust through with his own arrows the head of his
villages. They came out like a whirlwind to scatter me; their
rejoicing was like feasting on the poor in secret. You walked
through the sea with Your horses, through the heap of great
waters.
a. His glory covered the heavens, and the earth was
full of His praise: As Habakkuk prays for revival he begins
to praise the God who brings revival. In this song of praise
(punctuated by several expressions of Selah, as in the
Psalms) Habakkuk glorifies the power and majesty of God.
i. It is good to praise God like this, and God’s people need to
do more of it. It is good to praise God because . . .
· Because it gives appropriate honor and glory to God
· Because declares God’s specific works
· Because it teaches and reminds us of who God is and what
He has done
· Because it places man in proper perspective under God
· Because it builds confidence in the power and works of God
b. You went forth for the salvation of Your people, for
salvation with Your Anointed: As Habakkuk remembers
how God has saved in the past, it makes him full of faith for
what God can do right now and in the future. He also
declares that salvation is brought with Your Anointed –
and the LORD’s anointed is none other than the Messiah,
Jesus Christ.
B. The triumph of the prophet’s faith.
1. (Hab_3:16-18) Knowing God’s strength, Habakkuk can
trust the LORD even in a crisis.
When I heard, my body trembled; My lips quivered at the
voice; rottenness entered my bones; and I trembled in
myself, that I might rest in the day of trouble. When he
comes up to the people, he will invade them with his troops.
Though the fig tree may not blossom, nor fruit be on the
vines; though the labor of the olive may fail, and the fields
yield no food; though the flock may be cut off from the fold,
and there be no herd in the stalls; yet I will rejoice in the
LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation.
a. When I hard, my body trembled: Habakkuk shows the
proper response of man under the sovereign power of God.
He recognizes his own weakness and low standing before
this God of all majesty and power.
b. He will invade him with his troops: The prophet
remembers that the Babylonians are coming, and that this
God of sovereign power and majesty is directing their work
against Judah.
c. Though the fig tree may not blossom, not fruit be
on the vines . . . yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will
joy in the God of my salvation: In almost a vision,
Habakkuk sees the Judean countryside desolate, perhaps
from the invading Babylonian army or perhaps from natural
calamity. In the midst of this almost complete loss,
Habakkuk can still rejoice in the LORD.
i. He knows that this God of majesty and power is not
diminished because man faces difficult trials. Sometimes we
think, “If God is so great and powerful, how come I am going
through a hard time?” Habakkuk knew this was the wrong
question and the wrong attitude. Instead, he says: “I know
you are strong and mighty, and if we are in desolate
circumstances it is because we deserve it. I will praise You
still, and even rejoice in You.”
ii. Rejoice in the LORD . . . joy in the God of my
salvation: With desolate circumstances like he just
described, Habakkuk can find no joy in the fig tree or in the
vines or in the fields or flock; yet God is unchanged. He
can still rejoice in the LORD, because He is unchanging.
iii. Habakkuk didn’t just practice positive thinking and shut
out the idea of the barren fig tree and the empty cattle
stalls. Instead, he saw those problems for what they were
and remembered that God was greater than them all.
d. Benjamin Franklin – who was not a Christian, though he
had great respect for the Bible – used Hab_3:17-19 to
confound a group of sophisticated, cultured despisers of the
Bible. When he was in Paris he heard this group mocking the
Bible, and mocking Franklin for his admiration of it. One
evening he came among them and said that he had a
manuscript containing an ancient poem, that he was quite
impressed by the poem and he wanted to read it to them.
When he read Hab_3:17-19, his listeners received it with
praise and admiration – “What a magnificent poem!” they
said, and wanted to know where they could get copies.
Franklin told them to just look in Habakkuk chapter 3.
2. (Hab_3:19) Knowing God’s strength, Habakkuk can trust
God for strength.
The LORD God is my strength; He will make my feet like
deer’s feet, and He will make me walk on my high hills. To
the Chief Musician. With my stringed instruments.
a. The LORD God is my strength: Habakkuk can only
properly pray this after he prayed the prayer of faith in the
previous verses. He rightly declared that his strength was
not in fig trees or vines or fields or flocks, but only in the
LORD
God.
i. We might even say that what we praise is our strength. If
by his words, life, or heart a man lives to praise his own
achievements and resources, that those are his strength. If
by words, life, or heart one praises a person or an idea, then
those are his strength. We demonstrate that the LORD God
is our strength when we praise Him.
b. He will make my feet like deer’s feet: Habakkuk
thought of the deer running about on the high hills, never
losing a step and never falling. More than that, the deer
positively dance and leap on the hills – they are full of life
and joy. So the prophet declares, “God will set my steps that
firmly and lively also. As I trust in Him, He will not allow me
to slip or fall, and I will do more than merely plod along – I
will skip about with life and joy.”
Hab 3:2 LORD, I have heard the report of what you did;2
I am awed,3 LORD, by what you accomplished.4
In our time5 repeat those deeds;6
in our time reveal them again.7
But when you cause turmoil, remember to show us mercy!8
Hab 3:3 God comes9 from Teman,10
the sovereign11 one from Mount Paran.12 Selah.13
His splendor covers the skies,14
his glory15 fills the earth.
Hab 3:4 He is as bright as lightning;16
a two-pronged lightning bolt flashes from his hand.17
This is the outward display of his power.18
Hab 3:5 Plague goes before him;
pestilence19 marches right behind him.20
Hab 3:6 He takes his battle position21 and shakes22 the
earth;
with a mere look he frightens23 the nations.
The ancient mountains disintegrate;24
the primeval hills are flattened.
He travels on the ancient roads.25
Hab 3:7 I see the tents of Cushan overwhelmed by
trouble;26
the tent curtains of the land of Midian are shaking.27
Hab 3:8 Is the LORD mad at the rivers?
Are you angry with the rivers?
Are you enraged at the sea?28
Is this why29 you climb into your horse-drawn chariots,30
your victorious chariots?31
Hab 3:9 Your bow is ready for action;32
you commission your arrows.33 Selah.
You cause flash floods on the earth’s surface.34
Hab 3:10 When the mountains see you, they shake.
The torrential downpour sweeps through.35
The great deep36 shouts out;
it lifts its hands high.37
Hab 3:11 The sun and moon stand still in their courses;38
the flash of your arrows drives them away,39
the bright light of your lightning-quick spear.40
Hab 3:12 You furiously stomp on the earth,
you angrily trample down the nations.
Hab 3:13 You march out to deliver your people,
to deliver your special servant.41
You strike the leader of the wicked nation,42
laying him open from the lower body to the neck.43 Selah.
Hab 3:14 You pierce the heads of his warriors44 with a
spear.45
They storm forward to scatter us;46
they shout with joy as if they were plundering the poor with
no opposition.47
Hab 3:15 But you trample on the sea with your horses,
on the surging, raging waters.48
Hab 3:16 Habakkuk Declares His Confidence
I listened and my stomach churned;49
the sound made my lips quiver.
My frame went limp, as if my bones were decaying,50
and I shook as I tried to walk.51
I long52 for the day of distress
to come upon53 the people who attack us.
Hab 3:17 When54 the fig tree does not bud,
and there are no grapes on the vines;
when the olive trees do not produce,55
and the fields yield no crops;56
when the sheep disappear57 from the pen,
and there are no cattle in the stalls,
Hab 3:18 I will rejoice because of58 the LORD;
I will be happy because of the God who delivers me!
Hab 3:19 The sovereign LORD is my source of strength.59
He gives me the agility of a deer;60
he enables me to negotiate the rugged terrain.61
(This prayer is for the song leader. It is to be accompanied
by stringed instruments.)62