WRESTLING AND EMBRACING
Habakkuk 1: 1-4
INTRODUCTION:
A. Habakkuk’s name means to wrestle or to embrace
1. The meaning of his name is about all we know
about him
2. From the book’s message that bears his name,
we know that he lived in the days shortly
before Babylon carried Judah away into
captivity
a. On the surface, these were prosperous
times in Judah-- the economy was doing well
b. As a nation, Judah had turned from God
c. God’s prophets were being ignored as they
sought to call Judah back to God
B. It was in the midst of these times that Habakkuk
wrote this book
I. HABAKKUK’S WRESTLING WITH GOD
A. Habakkuk saw the condition of Judah, a nation
claiming to be God’s favored people
1. What Habakkuk saw Judah doing was supposed
to be offensive to the nature and character
of God
a. Judah was given over to idols and all
the sexual perversion that went with idol
worship-- even murder
b. Right was not prevailing in Judah-- those
who did wrong got away with it and those
who did right were punished
c. Those who were Godly were outnumbered by
those who were wicked
d. In a nation that was supposed to be God’s
people, God’s law was ignored and ridiculed
e. What Habakkuk saw grieved him
2. Our problem today is that we are not grieved
by what we see going on in the church
a. Sin, even scandalous sin, is just as
prevalent in the church as it is in the
world
b. Often, it is the one who speaks out in
favor of Godly standards that is in the
minority
c. Not only do many churches ignore God’s
word but we now even have preachers that
ridicule it and deny its infallibility
d. Instead of being the salt and light that
practices Biblical Christianity, we have a
factious churchianity that makes no impact
on the world
B. Habakkuk was so grieved that he cried out for
God to intervene and judge His people
1. The problem Habakkuk had was wondering why God
hadn’t intervened
a. Judah was using God’s lack of action to
justify their sin
b. Habakkuk wrestled with trying to
understand how a holy God could allow such
sin
2. Even today, there are those who justify their
sin and their lifestyle by:
a. Their material prosperity
b. Their lack of problems
3. God revealed to Habakkuk that judgment was
coming
a. God revealed that He was preparing and
going to use Babylon to deal with Judah’s
sin
b. God will deal with sin, even the sin of
His people or the sin of a church
c. His delay in dealing with sin is not an
approval of it
d. His delay in dealing with sin is a
gracious opportunity to repent and get
right with God
4. How God can judge a church?
a. God can remove that church’s anointing and
spiritual power
b. God can take our material resources and
instead of blessing them and allowing them
to stretch, He can blow them away
c. God can bless a church by giving it the
leadership it wants-- teachers having
itching ears
d. God can judge a church by allowing it to
be persecuted
C. Habakkuk wanted Judah judged until he saw what it
involved
1. Then, he struggled again with God’s will--
how could God use these wicked Babylonians be
used to judge Judah
2. God was working in Habakkuk’s life to bring
him to the point where he could embrace God’s
will
a. As long as Habakkuk was in an attitude
where he wanted people punished, God
couldn’t use him to be redemptive
b. God’s will for us is that we seek to win
the lost and to restore the fallen
c. That will never happen until we see the
dire results of living a life without God
and then empathizing with those people
3. Habakkuk learned that lesson
II. HABAKKUK EMBRACED GOD’S WILL-- 3: 2
A. Instead of praying for Judah to be judged, he
now asked God to revive His work
1. To seek God to revive His people is to ask
God to bring His people back to Him
2. What God uses to revive His people
a. God will use a small faithful band of
prayer warriors to bring His people back
to Him
b. God will use His anointed Word to bring
His people back to Him-- pray that God
would anoint the preacher as he shares the
message God gives him
3. Through God’s anointed word energized by a
praying people will come:
a. Conviction that will lead God’s people to
turn from their sin
b. A vision of the Risen Christ that will
lead us to quit playing church and begin
to worship
c. A renewed love for God and a renewed joy
in serving Him
4. As the church seeks revival, we will see
fallen brothers and sisters restored to their
relationship with Christ
5. Instead of praying God avenge me, let’s pray,
revive thy work
B. Habakkuk prayed, in wrath remember mercy
1. Habakkuk realized there would always be those
who would not turn to God-- in this case,
Judah wouldn’t turn
2. There will be lost people who refuse to heed
the word and be saved
3. The person who refuses to listen to God is on
a path that will lead to heartache and
destruction
4. Even here, we are to embrace God’s will and
pray for that person-- if God doesn’t delight
in the destruction of the wicked, then why
should we?
CONCLUSION:
A. Habakkuk was grieved by what he saw in Judah but
God finally brought him to the point to where he
could be useful by praying for revival
B. God is still looking for people to stand in the
gap by:
1. Praying for revival for the church
2. Praying for the lost
