Surely Not??? Series

Surely Not???

Habakkuk 1:12 – 2:1

Habakkuk 1:12 (NLT)

O Lord my God, my Holy One, you who are eternal—is your plan in all of this to wipe us out? Surely not! O Lord our Rock, you have decreed the rise of these Babylonians to punish and correct us for our terrible sins.

…But You’re Different Lord

- The god of the Babylonians

- Their own strength

- Their own might

- The Lord God

- Eternal

- Holy

- In control

• Even of the Babylonians

Habakkuk 1:13 (NLT)

You are perfectly just in this. But will you, who cannot allow sin in any form, stand idly by while they swallow us up? Should you be silent while the wicked destroy people who are more righteous than they?

…Are You sure?

- Current conditions

- Judah was a wicked society

• Violent

• Lawless

• Oppressive

- A bleak forecast

- The Babylonians were worse

…I Don’t Get It!!!

- God is Holy and Righteous

- He cannot tolerate evil

- He does not allow wickedness to go unpunished

- God is using the wicked to do His will

- The wickedness of the Babylonians would be the

correcting instrument of the Lord

Habakkuk 1:14-16 (NLT)

Are we but fish to be caught and killed? Are we but creeping things that have no leader to defend them from their enemies? [15] Must we be strung up on their hooks and dragged out in their nets while they rejoice? [16] Then they will worship their nets and burn incense in front of them. "These nets are the gods who have made us rich!" they will claim.

…Have You Considered

- The Catastrophic Results

- The people of Judah would be decimated

- A trophy of conquest

- God would be denied His glory

-The Babylonians would worship their own strength

• God did not defend the people of Judah

Habakkuk 1:17 (NLT)

Will you let them get away with this forever? Will they succeed forever in their heartless conquests?

…Are You Going to Allow This?

- The run of evil

- Does it ever end?

- The rewarding of wickedness

- Does evil win out over good in the end?

Habakkuk 2:1 (NLT)

I will climb up into my watchtower now and wait to see what the Lord will say to me and how he will answer my complaint.

In a Place to Listen

- The best vantage point

- There are many distractions

• Distraction interferes with clear hearing

- A posture of expectation

- Habakkuk expected the Lord to respond

• He didn’t want to miss anything

- A posture of patience

- Habakkuk was willing to watch and wait

When You Don’t Understand

- Watch

- Wait

- Listen

**Powerpoint available on request