The Five Woes Series

The Five Woes

Habakkuk 2:5-20

Pastor Jefferson M. Williams

First Baptist Church Chenoa

5-26-19

Review

We have been making our way through the little Old Testament book of Habakkuk and God has been speaking to us through this prophet’s questions and cries.

Let me remind you that the name Habakkuk means “to embrace” or “to wrestle.” He wrestled with hard questions and the deep things of God and finally embraces God’s sovereignty over all.

Chapter one he begins with a series of questions. He looked around at his culture and asked why would God allow so much immorality and violence? Was God on vacation? Did He not care?

God’s answer is absolutely stunning to Habakkuk. He would use the ultra-violent, godless Babylonians to correct His idolatrous people.

Habakkuk cries out, “I object!” He agreed with God that Judah deserves judgement but, good grief, the Babylonians are so much worse! What God is planning doesn’t seem right or fair.

Habakkuk positioned himself on the watchtower and waited for God’s answer. God tells him to write the message down on tablets that a herald could run throughout the land and proclaim the message to the faithful.

What was the message? Judgement is coming for Babylonians. They would be utterly destroyed. It would happen. You can count on it. Judah was to wait in patience hope for God’s promised intervention.

Last week, we spent the entire sermon time looking at just one verse. Let’s look at that verse again:

“The enemy is puffed up - his desire is not upright; but the righteous will life by faith.” (Habakkuk 2:4)

There are two kinds of people. There are the “puffed up,” the arrogant ones that feel like they don’t like they need God. They feel no need to submit to Him or obey Him.

Then there are a the righteous. This righteousness is not in themselves. It is a gift of God in response to their faith. If we place our full faith and confidence in the perfect life (obey the law completely), perfect death, (in your place), and perfect payment for your sins (that you could never afford), He credits His righteousness to you.

You can not earn it, you do not deserve it, and you cannot brag about it. Simply out of mind-boggling love God reconciles us to Himself.

That’s the beginning of the message that Habakkuk was to write down. This morning, we will look at the rest of the message. Turn to Habakkuk 2:5-20.

Prayer

Hostage Situation

Imagine that you are taken hostage and are put into a room with several other individuals. The bad guys come to bring you some food and one of the prisoners starts laughing hysterically. The guard asked them what is so funny. The prisoner responds, “I just feel so bad for you. Truly, I feel sorry for you. Your judgement is coming. It will be swift. It will be devastating. It’s going to be bad. Everything that you have done to us is going to be done to you!”

Prisoners don’t usually lament for their captors. That’s not a normal reaction. But this message of God was designed to create survivors out of victims.

Greed is Good

“…indeed, wine betrays him; he is arrogant and never at rest. Because he is as greedy as the grave and like death is never satisfied, he gathers to himself all the nations and takes captive all the peoples. “Will not all of them taunt him with ridicule and scorn, saying…” (Habakkuk 2:5-6a)

The Babylonians were drunk on the power and ambitions of world domination. The word “betrays” actually can mean “cloak and dagger.” Wine has a habit of betraying the one who drinks too much of it.

They were arrogant and never satisfied with their last conquest. They swallowed up nations and had an insatiable appetite for destruction and death.

Gordon Gekko [Michael Douglas in “Wall Street”] could have been a Babylonian:

“The point is ladies and gentleman, that greed, for lack of better word, is good. Greed is right. Greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit.”

But make no mistake about it. God will hold them responsible. All the nations that were terrorized by them will now laugh in their face with ridicule and scorn. The mighty, invincible Babylonians will end up being a joke.

Five Woes

The message that Habakkuk was to write down contained five “woes.” A “woe” was a mocking statement that could be translated, “Alas” or “how terrible.” They are a ironic lament for the death of the wicked.

Jesus pronounced woes on the Pharisees and on the towns who did not listen to His message.

They are applicable to Babylon but also to us today when we have no words for the atrocities all around our world.

There are five laments for the “puffed up ones.” They are composed of two parts - the declaration of wrong and then the promise of impending doom.