Habakkuk

Habakkuk

Read Hab 1:1-5

Why was Habakkuk afraid?

He needed a word from God because of his burden

He needed faith to cling to at this time when the nation was in terrible violence

Like Habakkuk, we question His ways and His timings

Why are you doing something Lord?

When will you move your hand and deliver us?

Yet His ways are above our ways

God’s wisdom is far greater than our wisdom

Abraham and Sarah had to wait for the promise, but they too got impatient

Moses asked, how long shall I have these people murmuring people?

How much longer must we be in this wilderness?

We can protest and ask ‘how long’

But God’s timing is always perfect

Even in Rev 6 we see the redeemed in heaven ask ‘How long O Lord until you avenge our blood’

We are an impatient lot aren’t we?

But God’s ways and timing are a mystery to us

If we knew how and when God would move then he would cease to the mysterious God that He is

We would get bored; instead we look and wait in anticipation wondering how He will do it this time

How will He deal with this situation?

That’s the excitement of knowing Him!

We cannot comprehend His grace

Here the prophet is calling out for answers but gets none

He wanted God to deal with the problem there and then

What would happen if God didn’t delay and dished out the justice on the world?

2 Pet tells how God in the days of Noah waited while Noah built the ark

He could have saved Noah and destroyed the people long before he did

But His grace gave them every opportunity to repent and turn from their ways

And how in the time of Abraham and Lot, God would have held back judgement from Sodom and Gomorrah if the people had repented

2 Peter 2:9 ... the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the Day of Judgment

Waiting for God, is not always easy

For ourselves and for others it means we have to trust Him and have confidence in Him

Why didn’t the people listen to the prophets?

And even today, people don’t want to read passages about judgement and sin

Perhaps they were uncomfortable and are uncomfortable with the message of sin

For many, they’ve hardened their hearts

They insisted on ‘feel good’ messages instead of the truths of the Word

They were convinced that they were not under judgement

They saw the sin of everyone else but not their own

How many point the finger at another when a message is spoken?

It’s for so and so... not me

So and so needed to be here to hear this today.....

The book of Habakkuk was for them there and then, but not us today we hear

We have to accept all scripture

The life and message of the prophets are to listen to the voice of God and follow Him

Chap 1:1 tells us, the burden Habakkuk saw

God delays to answer at times to test our faith

Habakkuk speaks against the people

It is heavy and burdensome

The message of God isn’t always easy to bear

Why does God lay a heavy burden on him or at times on us?

We don’t think it fits in with the nature of God when Jesus said that we should take our burdens to Him

But Habakkuk’s name means to cling to God

He calls out to God

The message wasn’t to be watered down

He was doing his duties in the temple when the vision came

The vision was what God was going to do

He was to write it down

God will fulfil it in His time

A time of Judgement, yet grace holds it back at this moment

The judgement is certain, the timing is unknown

There was a disregard for holiness

He was troubled that the culture he lived in was preoccupied with violence

They became de-sensitised to it

A generation like those that preceded the flood

Restless for things and wanting new things, material things

Why does God put up with this?

One word, Grace

Habakkuk is crying out for deliverance, why?

Because this prophet cared for the people and he loved the presence of God

So why was God silent?

Why give Habakkuk this burden?

He gives the righteous a burden so they have a heart for the sinner and have compassion on them

God was breaking this man’s heart so he would pray for the people

He lived in a lawless society

There was social strife

More laws and legislation were introduced, but it didn’t help

Things just got worse

Judah with all their political correctness