THE POOR OLD LADY, I THOUGHT SHE’D DIE
This morning I should like to discuss with you the Book of Habakkuk as it applies to the crime and corruption which exist in North America. In order to get us into the feeling of the Book of Habakkuk, I would like for you, for a few minutes, to think of how you would complete some statements about law and order. I shall not ask you to express your answers, but I would like you to think about them. Your answers may be serious or humorous. Here are the incomplete statements which I would ask you to complete.
There ought to be a law against .......
They ought to enforce the laws against .....
There ought to be stricter laws against .....
There ought to be much more severe punishments for the following
crimes: ..........
They ought to ban ........
Your first response may be: They ought to ban preachers like Pastor Barton who are always asking questions. And you may be serious or you may be joking. I shall warn you that I am leading you down a garden path. But don’t worry. I shall not leave you there to die. For a minute or two, think about these incomplete statements.
My sermon this morning will be an overview of the Book of Habakkuk. There will be six points to the overview and therefore six points to the sermon. Eventually I shall read the whole first chapter. I shall not spend as much time on chapters 2 and 3.
1. FIRST, WE HAVE THE OUTRAGE OF HABAKKUK, THE PROUD LEGALISTIC PHARISEE. 1:2?4
(Hab 1:2 NIV) How long, O LORD, must I call for help, but you do not listen? Or
cry out to you, "Violence!" but you do not save?
(Hab 1:3 NIV) Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrong?
Destruction and violence are before me; there is strife, and conflict abounds.
(Hab 1:4 NIV) Therefore the law is paralyzed, and justice never prevails. The
wicked hem in the righteous, so that justice is perverted.
Let me suggest to you that Habakkuk’s outrage shows a Pharisaical spirit in at least four ways.
First, Habakkuk believes like a Pharisee that the primary solution to his nation’s problems and the primary solution to the world’s problems is found in the law of Moses. At this point Habakkuk makes no mention of faith, faith in the Messiah, faith in the covenant of promise given to Abraham. His primary concern is not for the sinner. His primary concern is not for redemption and grace. His primary concern is that sinners be punished for breaking the law. And he is suggesting that if this were done, the nation’s problems would be over. Habakkuk’s outrage could be summed up in these very un-Biblical words: "Where sin abounds, law and judgment must much more abound."
Habakkuk is like a Pharisaic legalist. Actually, Habakkuk’s primary concern is for himself. He wants everybody to obey the law so that he can live in a well?ordered society. You see, law?breakers are a bother to all of us fine, upstanding, law?abiding citizens. We have to pay for the police to catch them, the courts to convict them, and the prisons to house them once they are convicted. And if people break the law and get away with it, often our insurance rates go up. You see, when sinners get away with sin, it is perfect people as Habakkuk and we who have to suffer for their sins. Retirees who worked hard for their pension plans have to pay when the welfare system is abused. It is just not fair.
Secondly, Habakkuk is proud like the Pharisee in his relationship to God. Habakkuk thinks that God is doing a rather poor job of running the universe. Habakkuk calls God to account for not answering his prayers, for not dealing with violence, for not punishing people for breaking the law. It is obvious that Habakkuk thinks that if he had the power God has, and if he were in control of the universe, he would do a much better job than God. If God were a politician, it does not appear that He would get Habakkuk’s vote. Interestingly enough, God does not respond by saying to Habakkuk: I commissioned you as a prophet to promote justice in the country. I commanded you to teach people My Word. I commanded you to lead people in righteousness. Why are you doing such a poor job? Why are there so many problems in the land? How long will I have to put up with such ineffective prophets as you? When are you going to start doing what I told you to do? How long must I put up with such ineffective help? God is much more patient with Habakkuk than Habakkuk is with sinners.
Thirdly, Habakkuk like a Pharisee separates himself from sinners. He is proud in his attitude to other people. He does not identify himself as a sinner, but as a righteous person who is fed up with sinners. He is praying like the Pharisee: I thank God that I am not like the oppressive, money-hungry; corrupt leaders in my country of Judea. And I thank God that I am not like those wicked, barbarous Babylonians. He is not praying like the publican: God be merciful to me, the sinner. He thinks of himself as a very righteous child of God and servant of God, whose primary responsibility is to tell God to wake up and do something about all the evil in the world. He is suggesting that he is a very dutiful child of God, and that most other people are sinners who should be clobbered.
It is obvious that Habakkuk does not have the identification with sinners which Moses had when he said to God, as recorded in Exodus 32:31?32:
(Exo 32:31 NIV) So Moses went back to the LORD and said, "Oh, what a great sin
these people have committed! They have made themselves gods of gold.
(Exo 32:32 NIV) But now, please forgive their sin--but if not, then blot me out
of the book you have written."
It is obvious that Habakkuk does not have the identification with sinners which Nehemiah had as he prayed, as recorded in Nehemiah 1:5?7.
(Neh 1:5 NIV) Then I said: "O LORD, God of heaven, the great and awesome God,
who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and obey his commands,
(Neh 1:6 NIV) let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer
your servant is praying before you day and night for your servants, the people
of Israel. I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father’s
house, have committed against you.
(Neh 1:7 NIV) We have acted very wickedly toward you. We have not obeyed the
commands, decrees and laws you gave your servant Moses.
It is obvious that Habakkuk does not have the identification with sinners which Job had when he said, as recorded in Job 42:5?6:
(Job 42:5 NIV) My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you.
(Job 42:6 NIV) Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes."
It is obvious that Habakkuk does not have the identification with sinners which Isaiah had, when he said, as recorded in Isaiah 6:5:
(Isa 6:5 NIV) "Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty."
Eventually Habakkuk will come to a stance like that. But at this point Habakkuk is being very Pharisaic in separating himself from sinners.
Fourthly, at this point Habakkuk, like a proud Pharisee, understands little about faith, love, grace and mercy. And God is going to give Habakkuk such a lesson in the deficiencies of legalism that Habakkuk will see the riches of God’s mercy, love and grace. Habakkuk will realize that the covenant of promise with Abraham, established through faith not law, is the solution to the problem.
Eventually Habakkuk will see that God is not primarily in the business of punishing sinners but of saving them; that God is not willing that any should perish, but that through faith all should come to eternal life.
2. THE TEMPORARY ANSWER OF GOD TO HABAKKUK’S OUTRAGE. 1:5?11
HABAKKUK 1:5?11
(Hab 1:5 NIV) "Look at the nations and watch-- and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told.
(Hab 1:6 NIV) I am raising up the Babylonians, that ruthless and impetuous people, who sweep across the whole earth to seize dwelling places not their own.
(Hab 1:7 NIV) They are a feared and dreaded people; they are a law to themselves and promote their own honor.
(Hab 1:8 NIV) Their horses are swifter than leopards, fiercer than wolves at dusk. Their cavalry gallops headlong; their horsemen come from afar. They fly like a vulture swooping to devour;
(Hab 1:9 NIV) they all come bent on violence. Their hordes advance like a desert wind and gather prisoners like sand.
(Hab 1:10 NIV) They deride kings and scoff at rulers. They laugh at all fortified cities; they build earthen ramps and capture them.
(Hab 1:11 NIV) Then they sweep past like the wind and go on - guilty men, whose
own strength is their god."
God’s temporary answer to the problem which bothers Habakkuk is to use the proud wicked Babylonians to punish the hypocritical Judeans, to use a godless people to punish His chosen people. And throughout the course of history, this has been how God has dealt with His own people.
COMPARE ISAIAH 10:5?12.
COMPARE THE HOLOCAUST.
3. THE THIRD POINT IN OUR OUTLINE IS THE DISSATISFACTION OF HABAKKUK WITH GOD’S TEMPORARY ANSWER.
HABAKKUK 1:12?17
(Hab 1:12 NIV) O LORD, are you not from everlasting? My God, my Holy One, we will not die. O LORD, you have appointed them to execute judgment; O Rock, you have ordained them to punish.
(Hab 1:13 NIV) Your eyes are too pure to look on evil; you cannot tolerate wrong. Why then do you tolerate the treacherous? Why are you silent while the wicked swallow up those more righteous than themselves?
(Hab 1:14 NIV) You have made men like fish in the sea, like sea creatures that have no ruler.
(Hab 1:15 NIV) The wicked foe pulls all of them up with hooks, he catches them in his net, he gathers them up in his dragnet; and so he rejoices and is glad.
(Hab 1:16 NIV) Therefore he sacrifices to his net and burns incense to his dragnet, for by his net he lives in luxury and enjoys the choicest food.
(Hab 1:17 NIV) Is he to keep on emptying his net, destroying nations without mercy?
In the opinion of Habakkuk God’s temporary solution seems worse than the original problem. Habakkuk’s original problem was the oppression and corruption of some political and religious leaders in Jerusalem. When God has finished answering Habakkuk by punishing the wicked leaders in Jerusalem, Jerusalem will be full of godless Babylonians, punishing not only the religious and political leaders in Judaea,
but destroying the temple and killing everybody in sight. And then offering sacrifices to their pagan gods for their victory over the people of Yahweh.
It is a little like the story of the little old lady who swallowed the fly. Have you heard the story? It goes like this.
There was an old lady who swallowed a fly. The poor old lady, I thought she’d die. The same old lady swallowed a spider. Imagine a spider way down deep inside her. But she swallowed the spider to catch the fly. The poor old lady, I thought she’d die.
The same old lady she swallowed a bird. Now that’s absurd, swallowing a bird. But she swallowed the bird to catch the spider. Imagine a spider way down deep inside her. But she swallowed the spider to catch the fly. The poor old lady, I thought she’d die.
The same old lady swallowed a cat. Imagine that, swallowed a cat. But she swallowed the cat to catch the bird. Now that’s absurd, swallowing a bird. But she swallowed the bird to catch the spider. Imagine a spider way down deep inside her. But she
swallowed the spider to catch the fly. The poor old lady, I thought she’d die.
The same old lady swallowed a dog. Now that’s being a hog, swallowing a dog. But she swallowed the dog to catch the cat. Imagine that, swallowed a cat. But she swallowed the cat to catch the bird. Now that’s absurd, swallowing a bird. But she swallowed the bird to catch the spider. Imagine a spider way down deep inside her. But she swallowed the spider to catch the fly. The poor old lady, I thought she’d die.
The same old lady swallowed a cow. I don’t know how, but she swallowed a cow. She swallowed the cow to catch the dog. Now that’s being a hog, swallowing a dog. But she swallowed the dog to catch the cat. Imagine that, swallowed a cat. But she swallowed the cat to catch the bird. Now that’s absurd, swallowing a bird. But she swallowed the bird to catch the spider. Imagine a spider way down deep inside her. But she swallowed the spider to catch the fly. The poor old lady, I thought she’d die.
The same old lady swallowed a horse. She died, of course.
The story of the little old lady who swallowed a fly illustrates Habakkuk’s problem with God’s temporary solution. There are all sorts of self?righteous people in this world who are complaining to God all the time about some individual or some nation whom these self?righteous people think God should punish. And the major way God punishes a sinful nation in the normal course of human history is to wait until that nation becomes corrupt enough and weak enough and another nation becomes strong enough and then to use the second nation which may be much more godless to punish the first.
But when God uses one nation to punish another nation, righteous individuals within both nations suffer as the result of the war. And human beings are so stupid, that they cannot develop the strength and weaponry to punish other people as quickly as some self?righteous people would like them punished.
Moreover, generally nations are becoming more and more corrupt; and weapons are becoming more and more destructive; so everybody, saints and sinners alike, suffer more. And the godless punishing nations seem to get away with murder.
Moreover, God’s main business is not to punish sinners, but to save them. The law brings punishment and death. But God is not interested primarily in punishment and death. He is interested primarily in life and salvation. And life and salvation do not come through the law of Moses. Life and salvation come through faith, and grace, and mercy.
You see, the solution to the little old lady’s problem is not to kill her with worse things than the fly, but to save her by something which can destroy the fly without making her situation worse. And that is what the Cross of Christ does for the world. It doesn’t punish sinners with worse sinners. It gives life to sinners by faith.
Habakkuk just did not understand God’s basic purposes in the world. God did not send the Babylonians primarily to punish the unrighteous in Judea and Jerusalem, but primarily to prepare Judea and Jerusalem for the Messiah, for Jesus, Who would save His people from their sins, Who would remove the curse of the law, Who would treat
Jerusalem not primarily as a place for Gentiles to destroy, but as a center for His church to reach out into the Gentile world with the message of eternal salvation by faith in the
Messiah.
The New Testament puts it this way:
(John 3:16 NIV) "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
(John 3:17 NIV) For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
(John 3:18 NIV) Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.
You see, when God sent His Son into the world, He knew that what the world needed was not more laws, but more love; not more of Moses, but more of Jesus; not more rules and regulations, but more spiritual resources for putting into practice the rules and regulations which existed since creation; not more condemnation, but more justification; not more death, but more life; not more Pharisaism, but more freedom in Christ; in short, not more condemnation, but more salvation, more faith, more grace, more mercy, more forgiveness. And what it needed then, it needs now. So, instead of giving the world more of what it doesn’t need, let us give it more of what it does need.
4. IN THE FOURTH PLACE WE HAVE THE PREPARATION OF HABAKKUK FOR BEING REBUKED.
HABAKKUK 2:1?3
(Hab 2:1 NIV) 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.
(Hab 2:2 NIV) Then the LORD replied: "Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it.
(Hab 2:3 NIV) 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.
Notice that Habakkuk is not your normal Pharisee. Habakkuk is a Pharisee like the Apostle Paul who is prepared to be shown that Pharisaic legalism is religious garbage.
Thinking that the world can be saved by more laws, and by more rules and regulations, is religious garbage. What God is going to reveal to Habakkuk is so important that it should be written down so that everyone may read it and understand it. Unfortunately even after nearly 2000 years of Christian heritage, most non?Christians and many professing Christians do not understand the basics.
Go out on a street corner and ask fifteen people why they think that they will go to heaven when they die; and probably the majority will say:
I am trying my best.
I am as good as the next guy.
I go to church.
I have been baptized.
I am trying to keep the Ten Commandments.
The majority will probably give an answer that indicates that somehow or other they are trusting in something other than faith in Christ.
Religious garbage.
5. IN THE FIFTH PLACE WE HAVE THE REBUKE OF GOD AND THE ETERNAL ANSWER OF GOD TO THE PROBLEMS OF THE WORLD.
HABAKKUK 2:4
(Hab 2:4 NIV) "See, he is puffed up; his desires are not upright - but the righteous will live by his faith--
God virtually says to Habakkuk: Habakkuk, you in your pride do not understand the first thing about My way of salvation. If you think that the most important thing that I can do is to stop violence by punishing the ungodly; if you think that I should punish them, but let you go free; then you just do not understand My way of salvation. What makes you think that I should punish others and not punish you? Do you think that you are so much better than those hypocritical leaders in Jerusalem? Do you realize what it is in you that makes you different from those hypocritical leaders? Do you think that you would be any better than they are if it were not for My grace to you, and your faith in Me, which grace and faith I gave you as a gift? Habakkuk, you are just oozing with pride and a proud desire for vengeance. And as long as you have that proud spirit, you are demonstrating that you do not understand the first thing about the basics of salvation.
Habakkuk, let Me give to you just one principle. Write it down. Make sure that everyone can read it. Write it in letters large enough that even if a person is running he may read it. People are going to need this principle seven hundred years from now. They are going to need it in the first century of the Christian church. They are going to need to rediscover it again at the time of the Protestant Reformation. They are going to need it again in the twentieth and the twenty-first century to combat Armstrongism and Seventh Day Adventism and all those other cults which somehow trust in the law of Moses. The whole world needs to keep this principle in the forefront of their thinking at all times. So, get it straight; very straight.
The just shall live by faith.
The only way to be a righteous person, the only way to survive the judgments of God, in the course of human history, and after human history is over, is by faith in Jesus Christ, which is a gift from God, not of works, lest any man should boast. In the meantime I am going to keep using nations to punish one another, so that the nations will see that such a method does not make the situation tremendously better.But hang in there. After the Babylonians have punished the Judeans; and after the Medo?Persians have punished the Babylonians; and after the Greeks have punished the Medo?Persians; and after the Romans have punished the Greeks; the age of faith will come in the Person of the Messiah. In the meantime, no matter what happens, just rejoice in Me and in My salvation. And quit complaining about all the trials and troubles you have because other people sin against you. Just remember your own sinful pride, and be thankful for My mercy; because it is of My mercy that you yourself are not consumed, completely obliterated. The fact that you are alive today is not the result of your law-keeping. Your life is entirely dependent upon the faith which I have given to you.
6. IN THE SIXTH PLACE, WE HAVE THE RESPONSE OF HABAKKUK, THE MAN OF TRUE CHRISTIAN FAITH, PATIENCE AND JOY.
In Habakkuk 3:17?18 we have the response of Habakkuk, the man of Christian faith, patience and joy. Before I read Habakkuk’s response, I want to read again Habakkuk’s attitude at the beginning of the Book, so that you may see the tremendous contrast between a person who believes that law is the way of salvation and a person who comes to realize that faith is the way of salvation.
Habakkuk 1:2?4
(Hab 1:2 NIV) How long, O LORD, must I call for help, but you do not listen? Or cry out to you, "Violence!" but you do not save?
(Hab 1:3 NIV) Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrong?
Destruction and violence are before me; there is strife, and conflict abounds.
(Hab 1:4 NIV) Therefore the law is paralyzed, and justice never prevails. The wicked hem in the righteous, so that justice is perverted.
HABAKKUK 3:17?18
(Hab 3:17 NIV) Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls,
(Hab 3:18 NIV) yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior.
Habakkuk 2:4 is quoted more often in the New Testament than almost any other Old Testament verse. You can see why. In the face of a rigid Pharisaism, which proudly put
forth the law of Moses and their traditions concerning the law of Moses as the answers to the world’s problems, Jesus and His apostles presented the Christian way of faith, mercy, grace, joy and patience as the answer to the world’s problems.
What would you put in this blank?
Where sin abounds, BLANK must much more abound.
The Pharisees, and Habakkuk before he was rebuked; and Paul, before he was converted, put law and punishment. Jesus, and Paul, and Habakkuk, after he was rebuked, put faith, grace, mercy, love, patience, forgiveness, joy; in short, the Gospel of the Messiah, the Gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. You can see why Paul used Habakkuk 2:4 as one of his main texts for his letter to the Romans and his letter to the Galatians. Habakkuk was an Old Testament Paul. Habakkuk, before he was rebuked, thought that his Pharisaical spirit was what the world needed. God showed Habakkuk that his Pharisaical spirit was religious garbage, and that what the world needed was faith in the Messiah, Christ. Paul, before his conversion, thought that what the world needed was his Pharisaical spirit. God showed Paul that his Pharisaism was religious garbage, and that what the world needed was faith in the Messiah, Christ.
How about us?
You will not find a law to meet every problem of life. And for every law you do find, some sinner like you or me will find ten loopholes in the law. But for every problem of life you can find God’s grace, mercy, love, patience, forgiveness, and joy. And you will be able to say with Habakkuk what Habakkuk says in Habakkuk 3:17?18.
(Hab 3:17 NIV) Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls,
(Hab 3:18 NIV) yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior.
God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. Our primary task is not to condemn the world, but to convert the world. Our primary task is not legislation, but redemption. Our primary message is not law, but grace. Our primary task is not to tell people that they are going to be punished, but that they can be forgiven. Our primary task is not to communicate the wrath of God upon all non?Baptists, but to communicate the mercy of God for all,
even proud Baptists who will repent. God did not use the Babylonians primarily to bring punishment to the Judeans but to bring redemption to the world. At the beginning of the Book Habakkuk is virtually saying: Lord, how long is it going to be before you punish sinners? At the close of the Book he is virtually saying: Lord, whatever You must do to my country and me to use me and others to save sinners, in Your grace and love do it.
And give me the faith to endure, and the love and mercy to reach out to a world that needs to believe in You.
How about us? Are we crying out to God, saying: God, when are You going to do something about all the crime and corruption in this nation? Perhaps God is saying to us: When are you going to start obeying My great commission? When are you going to say to Me, as Habakkuk virtually said? Lord, whatever it takes to get me to be a better ambassador of Your Gospel; even if it means losing everything I own; even if it means suffering intensely for the sake of righteousness; even if it means that some godless country would take over North America; even if it means that my own country and my own personal possessions would be completely destroyed; even if it means that this nation would become a shambles, never to rise again; Lord, please, by Your grace,
do it for Your Name’s sake and for Your kingdom’s sake.
If you are a Habakkuk Chapter One Pharisaical type of Christian, every little annoyance which comes along will make you angry with people and angry with God. You will be continually complaining about our permissive society and how it is going to the dogs.
If you are a Habakkuk Chapter Three type of Christian, no matter what happens, you will rejoice in God. And instead of complaining that the world is going to the dogs, you will be going to the dogs, human dogs like you and me, to win them to Jesus Christ, Who came into the world to save sinners.
