The DISCONCERTING DILEMMA Of DIVINE INACTION--II
—Habakkuk 1:2b(1:1-4)
Key Words—
•Difficult/Disturbing/Disorienting/Disconcerting/Perplexing/Uncertainty/Unsettling.
•Dilemma/Predicament/Quandary/Situation.
Attention:
One of our mechanically-gifted members told me that he had fixed, restored, or updated, & installed a ‘steering linkage’ to one of his cars. The short comment that he had about it—as he hung his head— was, “It didn’t work.” I don’t know how many parts were involved in reinstalling the particular linkage, but there are probably 6, 8 to 10 main parts, some of which are themselves composed of multiple parts. When assembled, it is crucial that they work in tandem with one another, & with & around other parts of the car. If there is even one part that is faulty, or is attached wrongly, or rubs against something that it should not rub against—so that it binds, or overheats or causes something else to overheat or wear, when there’s not enough clearance—then the entire linkage will fail.
•Mechanics deal with those types of problems all day long. And a good mechanic will do everything within his/her power to find & resolve the problem.
•People who are not mechanics just expect to hop in their car, take the wheel in hand, & effortlessly steer....They don’t attempt to resolve a problem with the steering, EXCEPT to take it to a conscientious mechanic!
*Having said that, While your vehicle is in the shop, you can get anxious. And you can ‘dream up’ all manner of ‘fanciful excuses’ as to ‘Why’ your vehicle isn’t ready yet—& MOST of the ‘dreamed up’ excuses are aimed at the supposed negligence of the mechanic(s) involved!
In a similar vein, there are multiple things at play in the execution & outworking of God’s sovereignty. There are many things you may not realize, puzzling things that ONLY God is qualified to resolve. God is the designer, so it is up to you & me to trust Him with His creation & kingdom.
Need:
Most of us at times, have questioned:—Why God doesn’t do something’ about whatever malady, or affliction, or trouble, or distress we’re facing.
As Christians, we can allow those things to become disorienting, unsettling, & disconcerting to our faith in God thru Christ.
Habakkuk was a prophet of God, who faced the disconcerting/unsettling dilemma of Divine inaction towards His people, Judah.
Divine ‘inaction’ presents an unsettling dilemma for God’s people.
How is Divine inaction unsettling?
4 fabrications that EITHER: accentuate the dilemma,—OR—that muddy/confuse/obscure the answer/explanation of God’s inaction.
*First & foremost it must be said, that it is a FACT that God is neither inactive, nor is He negligent, nor indifferent to your plight!*
*God’s seeming ‘inaction/inactivity’ is actually a ‘human perception’ problem!*
•That is, unless a person’s ‘limited perception’ of reality is overcome by the Spirit of God, such people will continue to muddy the waters of God’s reality!
A ‘FABRICATION’ is—“The action or process of manufacturing or inventing something.” For our purposes here, a ‘fabrication’ is a misleading attempt to make sense of what might be perceived as God’s inaction.
Previously we found that
A fabrication forged thru Divine inaction is An Unsettling...
1. ‘INATTENTION’ To PERSONAL PLIGHT(:2a)
Today we’ll find that:
2—Another fabrication forged thru Divine inaction is An Unsettling...
‘REFUSAL’ TO SAVE(:2b)
Explanation:(:2b)Indifference
:2b—“...Even cry out to You, “Violence!” And You will not save.”
Habakkuk “cries out” specifically to YHWH regarding the “violence” that is ravaging the land of Israel.
And it is apparent to Habbakuk that despite the fact that “violence” rather than godliness now characterizes the promised land, God does still refuses to act! God does “not save” His people!
YHWH CAN “save”, but He has chosen to “not save.”
*The same scenario in which Habakkuk lived & ministered in the Southern Kingdom of ‘Judah’, had been previously played out before, thru the Northern Kingdom of ‘Israel.’
And due to ‘spiritual negligence’ by the Northern Kingdom of ‘Israel’, the Northern Kingdom was exiled from their God-granted land, by the pagan nation of Assyria in 722/721BC!
In our current Habakkuk passage, we see that God is doing a similar thing! He is in the process of turning ‘Judah’ over to their own sin.
Rom. 1:18-22, 24-32—“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness & unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power & Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, & their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools,”..... “Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, & worshiped & served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, & receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.”
And THAT is a situation that leaves Habakkuk—a righteous man—in dire straits.
He is surrounded by people who have turned away from God, & intentionally live-out their sinfulness, having turned away from God.
God’s giving Judah up—Turning His back to their cries—allowing sinful man to fester in the consequences of their own sins, leaves Habakkuk, & any other righteous people, to bear-up under the pressure of living in the midst of, & with the peripheral damage & fallout of: Unrighteousness-at-large, giving it the freedom to run-it’s-course, & allowing the unrighteous to have the way they demand, without God’s intervention!
Mk. 3:28-30—Jesus —“Assuredly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, & whatever blasphemies they may utter; but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation”-- because they said, “He has an unclean spirit.”
“Cry out”—qez zaw-ak'—Qal Imperfect 1st Common Sing.—1) To cry, cry out, call, call for help—1a) (Qal)--1a1) To call(to one's aid), 1a2) To cry, cry out(in need). Strong—To shriek(from anguish or danger); by analogy(as a herald)--To announce or convene publicly; a primitive root.
“Violence”(See :3, 9)—omx khaw-mawss’—Noun Masc. - Common Masc. Sing. Absolute—1) Violence, wrong, cruelty, injustice. Strong—Violence; by implication--Wrong; by metonym--Unjust gain.?From—omx khaw-mas’—To be violent; by implication--To maltreat; a primitive root.
“Save”—evy yaw-shah'—Hiphil(causative) Imperfect—1) To save, be saved, be delivered;; 1b) (Hiphil)--1b1) To save, deliver, 1b2) To save from moral troubles, 1b3) To give victory to. Strong—a primitive root; properly--To be open, wide or free, i.e. by implication--To be safe; causatively--To free or succor.?Greek = wsanna— Oh save!; Hosanna(i.e. hoshia-na), an exclamation of adoration.
Argumentation:
*Again(See :1-2a)—Isa. 59:1-2—“Behold, the LORD’s hand is not shortened, That it cannot save; Nor His ear heavy, That it cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, So that He will not hear.”
Isa. 56:1-2—“Thus says the LORD: “Keep justice, & do righteousness, For My salvation is about to come, And My righteousness to be revealed. Blessed is the man who does this, And the son of man who lays hold on it; Who keeps from defiling the Sabbath, And keeps his hand from doing any evil.””
*Joel 2:32—“And it shall come to pass That whoever calls on the name of the LORD Shall be saved. For in Mount Zion & in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance, As the LORD has said, Among the remnant whom the LORD calls.”
•Acts 2:21—Peter quoted the prophet Joel when he said,—“And it shall come to pass That whoever calls on the name of the LORD Shall be saved.’”
•Rom. 10:12-13—Paul also quoted the prophet Joel, saying,—“For there is no distinction between Jew & Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. For “whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.”
Rom. 11:25-29—“For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: “The Deliverer will come out of Zion, And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob; For this is My covenant with them, When I take away their sins.” Concerning the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but concerning the election they are beloved for the sake of the fathers. For the gifts & the calling of God are irrevocable.”
Ps. 18:16-19.....“He sent from above, He took me; He drew me out of many waters. He delivered me from my strong enemy, From those who hated me, For they were too strong for me. They confronted me in the day of my calamity, But the LORD was my support. He also brought me out into a broad place; He delivered me because He delighted in me.”
Acts 4:12—of Jesus’ name—“Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
Rev. 6:1, 9-11—Now I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals; & I heard one of the four living creatures saying with a voice like thunder, “Come & see.”..... “When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God & for the testimony which they held. And they cried with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy & true, until You judge & avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” Then a white robe was given to each of them; & it was said to them that they should rest a little while longer, until both the number of their fellow servants & their brethren, who would be killed as they were, was completed.”
*Eph. 2:4-10—“But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ(by grace you have been saved), & raised us up together, & made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, & that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”
Illustration:
Just about every week, we have to pick up trash out of the parsonage yard! It’s usually just a few things, but it always ‘burns-my-gizzard’! “VIOLENCE!” We wonder, “Why on earth would somebody throw that in our yard?” We think, “How is it possible for people to live with themselves, being so incredibly thoughtless?” There are way too many callous people, who can lay their head down at night & sleep in peace, after disgracing themselves at the expense of others! I say, Lord, Save me from them!
I console myself by remembering:—Most people without Jesus, just don’t care about anybody but themselves. They are people who don’t care if they put THEIR responsibilities on somebody else’s shoulders!
And why would anyone drop their dead tires in the ditches around here? Who DOES that?! It amazes my wife & I that there are so many tires tossed out in random places!
I could & do, cry out to God, “VIOLENCE!” Please stop this nonsense in the name of Jesus Christ!.....
But I know as those words are in my mouth, that the “VIOLENCE!” done to me, all plays into the present working of the Kingdom of God simultaneously intersecting freewill.....
We all live in the midst of people lost to Jesus, who live with the only freedom that they will ever experience within the short timespan of their lifetime in this passing world! ‘REFUSAL’ TO SAVE
Application:
?Have YOUR Fabrications(failed attempts to make sense of God’s inaction) accused God of An Unsettling ‘REFUSAL’ TO SAVE to bring about deliverance?
?Are YOU a Fabricator of false accusations toward God?
CONCLUSION:
Visualization:
Reinstallation of the repaired steering linkage...sadly, “It didn’t work.”
We can ‘dream up’ all manner of ‘fanciful excuses’ as to ‘Why’ our vehicle isn’t out of the shop yet. And as most of our ‘dreamed up’ excuses are aimed at the supposed negligence of the mechanic(s) involved!
Likewise, there are many ‘unperceived’ & highly intricate processes that are at work with the execution of God’s sovereignty. But we dare not accuse Him of negligence or malice or indifference, or inability, etc., etc.!
Action:
A fabrication forged thru Divine inaction is An Unsettling...
2. ‘REFUSAL’ TO SAVE(:2b)
1. ‘INATTENTION’ To PERSONAL PLIGHT(:2a)
Pt.#2b only! presented 10/27/2024am to:
Salem Baptist Church
1618 Salem Rd.
Bennettsville, SC 29512
