A SEEING FAITH
Habakkuk 2:1-20
S: Understanding God
Th: Where is God when things go wrong?
Pr: WE CAN HAVE CONFIDENCE IN GOD.
?: Why?
KW: Explanations
TS: We will find in our study three explanations of why we can have confidence in God.
The ____ explanation of why we can have confidence in God is He is…
I. MERCIFUL (4)
II. MORAL (14 [5-19])
III. MAJESTIC (20)
RMBC 17 February 02 AM
INTRODUCTION:
When you ask a question, what do you want?
I know what I want.
I want an answer!
Not only that, I am so fussy that I like to have the right answer as well.
ILL Notebook: Answer (Family Feud)
Many of us have seen the TV game show, “Family Feud.” Here are some actual, but not so good, answers from contestants who have appeared on that game show:
Name something a blind person might use: a sword
Name a bird with a long neck: a penguin
Name something that floats in the bath: water
Name a number you have to memorize: 7
Name something that flies that doesn’t have an engine: dishes
Name a famous bridge: the bridge over troubled waters
Name a continent: Italy
Name an animal you might see at the zoo: a dog
Name a kind of ache: a pancake
and, finally…
Name a part of the body beginning with ’N’: knee
TRANSITION:
When we were introduced to Habakkuk last week, we discovered that he was looking for an answer from God.
As he watches the faithlessness of his homeland, he wonders why God doesn’t change it.
So, Habakkuk complains about God’s seeming lack of concern
But…
1. Context: When Habakkuk complains about God’s inactivity, God gives him an answer that distresses him even more.
God says He is going to send the wicked nation of Babylon as an instrument of judgment.
This is not the answer Habakkuk was looking for.
In fact, he finds it hard to believe that God would use an even more sinful and evil people to establish His righteousness.
For Habakkuk, this seems inconsistent.
It doesn’t make sense.
But he doesn’t give up on God.
2. Habakkuk learns to wait on God when he does not understand him (1, Proverbs 3:5).
He says:
I will stand at my watch and station myself on the ramparts; I will look to see what he will say to me, and what answer I am to give to this complaint.
The watch is a military term.
Habakkuk considers himself a watchman that looks far off.
He is getting on the ramparts, the high places, to get a better perspective.
At this point, he is reserving any more comment until he understands.
For, as confusing as he thought God’s inactivity was, His proposed activity is even more confusing.
So Habakkuk has come to the conclusion that not all workings of God can be understood by our own reasoning.
He would agree with Solomon when he wrote:
Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding…
Habakkuk has moved to the towers to get himself above and away from the distractions.
He is no longer talking; instead he is listening.
He is no longer arguing; instead he is submitting.
So…
3. God responds to Habakkuk’s wait with the instruction to write (2-3).
Then the LORD replied: “Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it. For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay.”
God wants this answer to be permanently recorded, because future generations are going to need it.
God says, “Mark my words! Mark it down!”
His last statement is interesting for He says literally, “Though it delay…it will not delay.”
And it simply means this.
Though the timing is not ours…it is not a delay in God’s timing.
What seems like a delay to us, is not to Him.
He is in control.
These are not random circumstances.
So Habakkuk becomes convinced that…
4. WE CAN HAVE CONFIDENCE IN GOD.
So, as we continue our consideration of the prophet of Habakkuk…
5. We will find in our study three explanations of why we can have confidence in God.
OUR STUDY:
I. The first explanation of why we can have confidence in God is He is MERCIFUL (4).
“See, he is puffed up; his desires are not upright—but the righteous will live by his faith…”
God gives a contrast here.
Babylon thinks that they are powerful, but in reality they are foolish.
For…
1. God wants us living by faith.
It is not what you do that puts you in right standing with God.
We cannot be good enough.
Instead, we are to live a life of dependence on God.
We make it by faith.
We make it living in the assurance of God’s grace.
When Habakkuk was complaining about the faithlessness of his homeland, he discovered an important aspect of God’s character.
For…
2. When we are not living by faith, God, in His mercy, will go to extraordinary means to get us there
God is always working for our best.
The truth is, however, that when God works for our best, it is often a very painful process.
ILL Notebook: Discipline (Alligator)
Some years ago on a hot summer day in south Florida a little boy decided to go for a swim in the old swimming hole behind his house. In a hurry to dive into the cool water, he ran out the back door, leaving behind shoes, socks, and shirt as he went. He flew into the water, not realizing that as he swam toward the middle of the lake, an alligator was swimming toward the shore.
His mother — in the house was looking out the window — saw the two as they got closer and closer together. In utter fear, she ran toward the water, yelling to her son as loudly as she could. Hearing her voice, the little boy became alarmed and made a U-turn to swim to his mother. It was too late. Just as he reached her, the alligator reached him. From the dock, the mother grabbed her little boy by the arms just as the alligator snatched his legs.
That began an incredible tug-of-war between the two. The alligator was much stronger than the mother, but the mother was much too passionate to let go. A farmer happened to drive by, heard her screams, raced from his truck, took aim and shot the alligator.
Remarkably, after weeks and weeks in the hospital, the little boy survived. His legs were extremely scarred by the vicious attack of the animal. And, on his arms, were deep scratches where his mother’s fingernails dug into his flesh in her effort to hang on to the son she loved. The newspaper reporter who interviewed the boy after the trauma, asked if he would show him his scars. The boy lifted his pant legs.
And then, with obvious pride, he said to the reporter, "But look at my arms. I have great scars on my arms, too. I have them because my Mom wouldn’t let go."
You and I can identify with that little boy.
We have scars, too.
Some of those scars are from our own foolishness and because they are unsightly, they cause us deep regret.
But some wounds are because God, in His mercy, has refused to let go.
He will go through extraordinary means to get us where we need to be, even if it is painful.
II. The second explanation of why we can have confidence in God is He is MORAL (14 [5-19]).
“For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.”
God desires to reveal Himself.
As we know Him better, we discover He is holy.
1. When we know God, we understand His standard.
He is a holy God and He rightly condemns sin.
Throughout this section we find the description of sin as it is practiced and lived by the empire of Babylon.
God is telling Habakkuk that He knows they are bad.
They are evil.
And yet, God’s own people were on the very same path.
God has to stop them, discipline them, and get them back where they belong, to living by faith.
They need to be a people that live by faith.
So…
2. God reveals the faithless path that Judah is on…
It is a path of…
2.1 Greed (5-8)
Babylon is never satisfied.
It is always gathering and collecting for itself.
It makes itself rich by carrying out material pursuits in a way that shuts out all other concerns.
It is also a path of…
2.2 Injustice (9-11)
It is interesting to note that the road from righteousness to wickedness is full of people who are outraged by the sin around them.
And yet they are still characterized by injustice because they tolerate the sin that is within them.
They not only sin against others; they also sin against themselves.
This is the type of injustice that is spoken of here.
It is the breaking of one’s own inward moral code.
It is also a path of…
2.3 Violence (12-13, 17)
Babylon is in rebellion against God.
They rebel against creation with a bent on tearing down rather than building up.
In establishing control, they will use any means to demonstrate their domination.
The path is also one of…
2.4 Sensuality (15)
We find here a description of hearts that are adrift with sexual permissiveness.
There exists a carelessness of sexual activity, instead of seeing it in its proper sacred place.
Finally, the path is one of…
2.5 Idolatry (18-19)
Babylon was serving the creature instead of the Creator.
They sought their own substitute which demonstrated their own ignorance of reality.
It was a god of their own making.
It was a god in their own image.
While Babylon is going to have its day with Judah, it is not the end of the story.
Yes, they were deliberate failures when it came to God’s standards, but they too would learn that…
3. Sin does not go unpunished (16).
ILL Notebook: Sin (Get Away?)
Years ago, some bank robbers in Montreal committed the deed, then turned their car around to go home. Trouble was they backed the car into a snow bank and left a perfect imprint of their license number. The police met them at home.
Sin does not go unpunished.
And this is the message that God has for Babylon (v. 16).
“You will be filled with shame instead of glory. Now it is your turn! Drink and be exposed! The cup from the LORD’s right hand is coming around to you, and disgrace will cover your glory.”
Their own sin will find them out.
God is going to have the final word!
III. The third explanation of why we can have confidence in God is He is MAJESTIC (20).
Note the end of God’s message to Habakkuk:
“But the LORD is in his holy temple; let all the earth be silent before him.”
1. God is very present.
God is very present and very much in charge.
In him we live and move and have our being.
And though we may try to shut him out by ignoring His purposes or live on with unrepentant sin, the fact remains that He is the With-us God.
So this is why we must realize…
2. Worship is for God alone.
We continue to be creative in searching for answers to life.
We pray to statues and watch the stars for answers.
We depend on good luck charms and consult Ouija boards.
Then we call the psychics for even more answers.
Perhaps, we are more spiritual and we follow certain preachers religiously.
Perhaps we emulate entertainers or sports figures.
Perhaps it is pleasure that we really worship or the accumulation of things with the thinking that, “He who dies with the most toys wins.”
If you wander in your worship, realize that God is in his holy temple.
The Lord our Creator, our Redeemer, and the self-existent, everlasting, un-caused cause lives.
No one makes Him.
He is not a conceived and developed concept.
He is not controllable or manipulated.
And He cannot be ignored.
In majesty, He reigns.
Worship is for God alone, even when we don’t understand Him.
APPLICATION:
So…when it’s not going the way we expected…
1. …it is time to trust.
It is time to live by faith.
For…this is how the just live.
They live by faith.
Lisa W comes now to share about her faith and the confidence she has in her relationship with God.
ILL Testimony:
When it’s not going the way we expected…
2. …it is no time for compromise.
Though Satan tempts us to do otherwise, when pain comes, it is not time to give up.
We don’t give in to his temptation.
We live by faith and we live by God’s standards.
When it’s not going the way we expected…
3. …it is time to open our hearts and listen.
The Lord works to make us holy.
And as He does that very thing, we find Him worthy of our trust.
Habakkuk went to the ramparts to wait on God.
He went there to listen to God, to see if He would speak.
He did.
He still does.
So, be confident, even if you don’t understand God, and listen.
BENEDICTION: [Counselors are ]
Be confident in God for He is merciful…He wants us to know Him, love Him and serve Him—and He provides the way—the just shall live by faith.
Be confident in God for He is moral…He will not let sin go unpunished—and though it may seem He is delaying His justice, it is no delay for Him—He is working it out in His time.
Be confident in God for He is majestic…He reigns as the King of kings and the Lord of lords—so let us be silent before Him and listen.
Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.
