The Blindness In Misinterpreting God’s Way-3

The BLINDNESS In MISINTERPRETING GOD’s WAY--III

—Habakkuk 1:6a(:5-11)

Attention:

Have you ever experienced realistic artwork done with chalk on cement walkway.

It’s made to appear 3-dimensional.

To the person walking down the sidewalk or in the town-square, the artwork has the look of real water, or a deep hole, or steps descending.

In an amazing way, such artwork is ‘deceptive.’ So that when they are well done, they can be really ‘disorienting’, & make you ‘take a second look’ at the picture on the ground. They can make you sidestep the chalk ‘hole’ in the ground, so you won’t fall in & get hurt. They can make you jump over the chalk ‘water’ so you won’t get wet. They can make you avoid the chalk ‘fence’ so that you won’t bump into it. They can make you gingerly avoid using the chalk ‘steps’, so you won’t fall down the false stairs.

Such Unexpected encounters in our day-to-day movements, can cause us to miss the true nature & significance of our surroundings.

Likewise, anyone who misinterprets God’s way, is easily blind-sided by the true significance of God’s actions & inactions.

Need:

Lives fall apart.

Girlfriends & boyfriends break up.

Husbands & wives divorce.

Children die in their youth.

Loved ones become addicts & turn on their closest family members.

Dreams become unattainable & quashed.

Careers are stolen by others & lost to greed.

Health gravitates into infirmity.

And death is unavoidable.

*Some people misinterpret all those heartaches of life, & blame God.

And those who are so blinded, regularly misinterpret God’s way.....

....They can easily become disenchanted with God, with the Church at large, & with the local church....!Dangerous Territory!

People who misinterpret God’s way, succumb to the false belief that everything that doesn’t ‘go their way’ is either, not from God at all, OR that God is mad at them for no apparent reason. They have the audacity to think God is illogical & impulsive!

They succumb to the false belief that their life here on earth, should be lived at ease, & in the freedom that ‘THEY personally’ have come to ‘expect’ thru their experience as Americans.

Earlier in the book of Habakkuk in verses :1-4, we found that:

Some fabrications forged thru ‘Divine inaction’ are An Unsettling...

1. ‘INATTENTION’ To PERSONAL PLIGHT(:2a)

2. ‘REFUSAL’ TO SAVE(:2b)

3. ‘CONTENTION’ In The LAND(:3)

4. ‘ABSENCE’ Of JUSTICE(:4)

And, the last time we were in Habakkuk, we were in verses :5-11, & found that:

Misinterpreting God’s way, blinds you to...

1. A SUFFOCATING INSULATION(:5)

TODAY, we’ll continue that theme in verses :5-11 by noting that:

2—Misinterpreting God’s way, ALSO blinds you to...

*The EXTREME REACH Of GOD’s COMPASSION(:6a)

Explanation:(:6a)God’s solution

1:6a—“For indeed I am raising up the Chaldeans,...”

YHWH God’s solution to Judah’s independence from God, will be thru His “raising up the Chaldeans.”

•“Chaldea” refers to a land area recognized as being controlled by “the Chaldeans.” “The Chaldeans” were part of ancient Sumer(‘tower of Babel’ fame). Sumerians were “Chaldeans.”

•Abraham was from “Ur of” “the Chaldeans”(Gen. 11:28, 31)

•“The Chaldeans” were those whose land comprised the modern area we know as Iraq & included western Iran. “Chaldean” land minimally encompassed land from the head of the Persian Gulf in the south, to the area between the Euphrates & Tigris rivers—AKA--‘The Fertile Crescent’ or the ‘cradle of civilization.’

“The” particular “Chaldeans” of concern in Habakkuk’s prophecy, were the Babylonians. Babylonia was a city-state which had gained political sway over & among the other tribes of “Chaldeans.” The Assyrians were not of Chaldean ancestry, but at one point in history, they held political & military control over “the Chaldeans.”

Beginning in verse :6b & extending thru verse :11, YHWH-God describes in brief, the mentality, the attitude, & the drive which “the Chaldeans” would execute towards Judah.

Argumentation:

Gen. 18:20-33—“And the LORD said, “Because the outcry against Sodom & Gomorrah is great, & because their sin is very grave, “I will go down now & see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry against it that has come to Me; & if not, I will know.” Then the men turned away from there & went toward Sodom, but Abraham still stood before the LORD. And Abraham came near & said, “Would You also destroy the righteous with the wicked? Suppose there were fifty righteous within the city; would You also destroy the place & not spare it for the fifty righteous that were in it? Far be it from You to do such a thing as this, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be as the wicked; far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” So the LORD said, “If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes.” Then Abraham answered & said, “Indeed now, I who am but dust & ashes have taken it upon myself to speak to the Lord: “Suppose there were five less than the fifty righteous; would You destroy all of the city for lack of five?” So He said, “If I find there forty-five, I will not destroy it.” And he spoke to Him yet again & said, “Suppose there should be forty found there?” So He said, “I will not do it for the sake of forty.” Then he said, “Let not the Lord be angry, & I will speak: Suppose thirty should be found there?” So He said, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.” And he said, “Indeed now, I have taken it upon myself to speak to the Lord: Suppose twenty should be found there?” So He said, “I will not destroy it for the sake of twenty.” Then he said, “Let not the Lord be angry, & I will speak but once more: Suppose ten should be found there?” And He said, “I will not destroy it for the sake of ten.” So the LORD went His way as soon as He had finished speaking with Abraham; & Abraham returned to his place.”