"The Just Shall Live by Faith"

Good morning, church. Would you turn with me to the book of Habakkuk? That's page 737 in the Pew Bible.

737. Habakkuk is a book that helps us wrestle with God when we're in the midst of troubled times.

The book is structured around two complaints and a prayer. And in the first complaint, Habakkuk wrestles with God because he doesn't see evidence of God's justice in the world.

There's wickedness and unrighteousness, destruction and violence. Judah itself is filled with exploitative rulers, and it seems like God isn't doing anything.

And God's answer to that complaint that we saw last week was that his justice was indeed going to come. He was going to send the Chaldeans, the Babylonians, to judge evil.

And that brings us to Habakkuk's second complaint, which is what we're looking at today.

Habakkuk wrestles again with God, questioning how a righteous God could use such unrighteous means to bring about his purposes.

How could God use evil Babylon to punish his own people? That doesn't seem just at all.

So let's read together Habakkuk's complaint, and then we'll take a look at God's response.

This is Habakkuk chapter 1, starting in verse 12.

Habakkuk 1 · chapter mention

And we'll read the whole way through the end of chapter 2 to see all of God's response.

Habakkuk's second complaint begins like this. He says,

Are you not from everlasting, O Lord my God, my Holy One? We shall not die.

O Lord, you have ordained them as a judgment, and you, O Rock, have established them for reproof.

You who are of purer eyes than to see evil and cannot look at wrong,

why do you idly look at traitors and remain silent when the wicked swallows up the man more righteous than he?

You make mankind like the fish of the sea, like crawling things that have no ruler.

He brings all of them up with a hook. He drags them out with his net.

He gathers them in his dragnet so he rejoices and is glad.

Therefore, he sacrifices to his net and makes offerings to his dragnet.

For by them he lives in luxury and his food is rich.

Is he then to keep on emptying his net and mercilessly killing nations forever?

I will take my stand at my watch post, station myself on the tower,

and look out to see what he will say to me.

And what I will answer concerning my complaint.

And the Lord answered me.

Write the vision.

Make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it.

For still the vision awaits its appointed time.

It hastens to the end. It will not lie.

If it seems slow, wait for it.

It will surely come.

It will not delay.

Behold, his soul is puffed up.

It's not upright within him.

But the righteous shall live by his faith.

Moreover, wine is a traitor, an arrogant man who's never at rest.

Greed is as wide as Sheol.

Like death, he never has enough.

He gathers for himself all nations and collects as his own all peoples.

But shall not all these take up their taunt against him with scoffing and riddles for him and say,

Woe!

Woe to him who heaps up what is not his own.

For how long?

And loads himself with pledges.

Will not your debtor suddenly arise?

And those awake who will make you tremble?

Then you will be spoiled for them.

Because you've plundered many nations, all the remnant of the people shall plunder you.

For the man of blood and violence to the earth, to cities and all who dwell in them.

Woe to him who gets evil gain for his house, to set his nest on high, to be safe from the reach of harm.

You have devised shame for your house by cutting off many peoples.

You have forfeited your life.

For the stone will cry out from the wall and the beam from the woodwork respond.

Woe to him who builds a town with blood and founds a city on iniquity.

Behold, is it not from the Lord of hosts that people's labor merely for fire and nations weary themselves for nothing?

For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.

Woe to him who makes his neighbors drink.

You pour out your wrath and make them drunk in order to gaze at their nakedness.

You will have your fill of shame instead of glory.

Drink yourself and show your uncircumcision.

The cup in the Lord's right hand will come around to you.

And utter shame will come upon your glory.

The violence done to Lebanon will overwhelm you.

As will the destruction of the beasts that terrified them.

For the man of blood and violence to the earth, to cities and all who dwell in them.

What profit is an idol when its maker has shaped it?

A metal image, teacher of lies.

For its maker trusts in his own creation when he makes speechless idols.

Woe to him who says to a wooden thing, awake to a silent stone arise.

Can this teach?

Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver and there is no breath at all in it.

But the Lord is in his holy temple.

Let all the earth keep silence before him.

Let's pray together.

Father, would you be with us now as we take a few brief moments to consider this message that you spoke to Habakkuk so many years ago.

And continue to speak to us today through your Holy Spirit, by your word.

Grant us understanding that we might grasp these things and live in light of their truth.

Pray this in Christ's name.

Amen.

So here then we have Habakkuk's second complaint.

This is chapter 1, verse 12 through 2, 1.

And then we have God's long response in chapter 2, verses 2 through 20.

You'll remember in chapter 1, verse 6, Habakkuk had heard of God's plan to use the Chaldeans,

that is to use the Babylonians, to bring justice upon evil Judean rulers.

But hearing that message now in our passage, the prophet's even more perplexed than he was at first.

How can a good God use evil Babylon to punish his own people?

Habakkuk is finding it difficult to reconcile God's character with his actions.

Look again at verse 12.

Here in verse 12, Habakkuk correctly affirms the many attributes of God.

God is eternal.

God is holy.

God is even powerful and sovereign over the nations, appointing them to do his will.

Habakkuk's even confident in what God's character means for God's people.

Knowing God to be eternal and holy and sovereign, Habakkuk says,

we shall not die.

But in light of all this, there's still a problem.

The prophet cannot understand why God would use the seemingly more evil nation of Babylon

to punish the seemingly less evil nation of Judah, God's own people.

Look at how he states this in verse 13.

He says,

You who are of purer eyes and to see evil and cannot look it wrong,

why do you idly look at traitors and remain silent when the wicked swallows up the man more righteous than he?

And make no mistake, Babylon was an unjust and fearsome nation.

Habakkuk here pictures them like an ancient fisher with a hook and a net,

just dragging humans off into exile as easily and as violently as fish would be dragged out of the sea and hoisted onto land.

And then to make it worse,

the Babylonians turn around and they worship their nets, as it were,

which is to say they worship their own power and wealth.

And Habakkuk ends by saying,

Is he, that is the Babylonians,

is he then to keep on emptying his net, God,

and mercilessly killing nations forever?

In other words, God,

this is how you're going to bring about justice?

Through them?

Shouldn't God's instrument for the accomplishment of his purpose

reflect something of his own purity and righteousness?

The Babylonians display the same evil qualities as those against whom they were executing God's judgment.

The Judean rulers at the time of Habakkuk were very wicked,

and yet the Babylonians were wicked on an even greater scale.

It seemed as if the cure was going to be far worse than the disease.

And that didn't make any sense at all.

And indeed, many of God's ways don't seem to make sense in this life.

We often see the wicked prosper and the righteous suffer.

We often see one unjust system or government collapse,

only to be replaced by one that's even more unjust.

And in the midst of it all,

we can feel like fish in a net,

just being dragged against our will

through the waves of human greed and selfishness.

And it seems like there's never an end in sight.

How can God allow this to go on?

How can God use and allow such evil things when he is righteous?

Well, God's answer to Habakkuk

and God's answer to our own questioning hearts

comes in two halves in his response.

On the one hand, God reminds Habakkuk

that evil will never ultimately prosper

because God is still providentially orchestrating history

for his own righteous purposes.

We actually see this in the second part of chapter 2.

We're going to look at that first.

That's verses 5 through 20

where God pronounces five woes upon Babylon

in Habakkuk 2, 5 through 20.

God's reminding Habakkuk here

that evil isn't going to ultimately prosper,

that he is still providentially orchestrating history

for his own righteous purposes.

So he gives Habakkuk a preview of the woe

that is the ultimate sorrow and judgment

that is coming upon those who ignore God

and who multiply injustice and evil,

regardless of the plan that they might play

in the unfolding of history.

As we scan over these five woes,

we see that the first woe is a woe to the empire builder.

And the second woe is a woe to the exploiter.

The third woe is a woe to the arrogant slave driver

who would use humans like capital to build up wealth.

The fourth woe is a woe to the demoralizer.

And the fifth woe is a woe to the idolater.

And these woes reveal God's judgment,

not just upon the Babylonians,

but upon any human power

that sets itself up against God's reign and rule.

The reality is every generation will see kingdoms

that achieve a measure of temporal earthly success.

From the tower builders of Babel

to the empire builders of Rome,

down to the nation states of today.

Every generation will see kingdoms

that achieve temporal earthly success.

And God may even use some of these earthly kingdoms

to achieve his purposes.

Consider God used the Tower of Babel

and the scattering of their languages

to populate the earth

and to spread them out, which was his will.

God used the Pax Romana during the Roman Empire

as a time when communication and travel

was very easy to spread the gospel.

God continues to use different nation states

and political movements

to seemingly advance some of his purposes.

God still can do that.

But none of these earthly kingdoms

will ultimately prevail or escape God's judgment.

God's righteousness will triumph in the end.

God's glory.

And it is his glory

that will cover the earth

like the waters cover the sea.

It was once said that the sun never set

on the British Empire.

But friends, that was just a parody

and at times even a mockery

of God's glory

that will truly cover the earth

like the waters cover the sea.

And any nation or political movement

who thinks that they're going to spread their glory

and bring in a reign of peace and justice

will be surprised on the last day

when it collapses.

So what God wanted Habakkuk to see

and what he wants us to see

is that the prophet lived

in between the times.

Habakkuk lived between the already

and the not yet.

Already God's kingdom had begun to take shape.

Already God's kingdom was on the move.

We were seeing glimpses of his righteousness,

his justice, his mercy, his advance.

But it was not yet fulfilled and completed

all the way.

The rise and fall of earthly empires,

the seeming prosperity of the wicked,

the seeming confusion of God's purposes and plans.

God wanted Habakkuk to see

that none of that was the last word.

Yes, Babylon would be an instrument in his hands,

but they too would face judgment.

Yes, God might use them for a short time

to achieve his purpose,

but they too would fall

before his perfect justice.

It would not be their glory

that covered the earth.

It would be God's glory.

And this promise of worldwide glory,

of God's glory covering the earth,

that was a promise that God

would one day fulfill

and will one day fulfill

in Jesus Christ.

Philippians 2 says that one day

every knee will bow in heaven and on earth,

and under the earth,

and every tongue confess

that Jesus Christ is Lord

to the glory of God the Father.

You see, it's not through earthly empires

that God's glory will spread.

It is in Christ's sinless life,

his sacrificial death,

his victorious resurrection,

and his vindicating reign,

that is how God's righteousness

is finally revealed

to all humanity over all the earth.

So for the church today,

we too need to hear

what God says to Habakkuk.

The kingdoms of this world

are not everlasting.

They will fall.

Even when God chooses to use

an unrighteous instrument

for his purposes,

that doesn't mean they will escape

his ultimate justice.

One day,

every knee will bow to Christ.

One day,

woe will come

upon all who choose

to exploit others

or worship false gods

or ignore God's commands.

And the only way

to safely come through

God's judgment

is to willingly

bow our knees to Christ

and confess him as Lord.

You know, friend,

perhaps today you enjoy

privilege

or power

or success

of some kind.

But you know,

in the end,

none of those things

will save you.

Being highly educated

won't save you.

Being a citizen

of a certain country

won't save you.

Even doing lots

of good deeds

won't save you.

Perfect justice

is coming.

God's righteousness

will prevail.

And the only thing

that will save us

is the righteousness

of Christ.

In Jesus Christ,

God became a human being

and he lived the life

that you and I

should have lived.

And he died the death

that we deserve to die.

So that God's justice

could be satisfied

and so that we could

be accepted

on the basis

of his works

and not our own.

That is the only way

to escape

God's coming

perfect justice

and to stand

before God

in a right relationship

with him.

So this is the first part

of God's answer

to Habakkuk.

When his ways

seem inscrutable

and when we can't

understand how

a just God

could be at work

in an unjust world,

God reminds Habakkuk

and us that we aren't

at the end of the story yet.

That his justice

will be vindicated

and will be seen.

And living in light

as we are

of the New Testament,

seeing what God

has done

and is doing

in Christ,

we know that God's justice

will ultimately

be demonstrated

because we've seen it

happen in Christ

and we have the promise

that he will fulfill it

in the future.

So this leads us

to the second thing

that God wants

Habakkuk to know.

First,

they have to know

that evil isn't going

to ultimately prevail

but second,

this means that

God's people

are called

to live

by faith.

We see this

in verses 2-4

of chapter 2.

Habakkuk says,

And the Lord answered me,

write the vision

and make it plain

on tables

so he may run

who reads it

for still the vision

awaits its appointed time.

It hastens to the end,

it will not lie.

If it seems slow,

wait for it.

It will surely come,

it will not delay.

There God is saying,

look,

the time of justice

is coming,

write it,

publish it,

hold on to it.

If it seems slow,

wait for it,

it is coming.

And then he says

in verse 4,

before,

behold,

his soul is puffed up,

it is not right within him.

He's sort of looking

at a hypothetical person

who doesn't trust God,

like the Babylonians.

But then in the second half

of verse 4,

he says,

but the righteous

shall live

by their faith.

Though the timing

of God's just purposes

may seem slow,

God reminds Habakkuk

that it is surely coming.

And although some

will remain puffed up

with pride,

God's people are called

to live

not in pride,

but in faith.

That is,

we're called

to trust God

and to keep

on holding on

to his goodness

and his righteousness

even in trying

and troubled times,

even when God's ways

are not clear.

Habakkuk says,

the righteous,

God's people,

this is how they're

to live in this

in-between time,

through faith,

trusting God.

But keep in mind,

this path

of trusting God,

it's not a sort of path

of just blind faith,

right?

It isn't just

wishful thinking.

No,

what Habakkuk

invites us into

is a deep-rooted

trust

in the eternal,

providential,

ever-present

God.

We're called

to trust

in God

and who God's

revealed himself

to be.

You know,

on the one hand,

what Habakkuk

seems to want

in this second complaint,

what he seems to want

is just a quick answer

to his perplexing

circumstances.

God,

help me sort this out.

But you know,

that's not what God

gives him.

He doesn't give him

a quick answer.

Instead,

what God invites

Habakkuk into

is a deeper knowledge

of God himself

to trust him.

It's a lot like

the book of Job,

you know.

You know,

you remember

the story of Job.

Job was sort of

the wealthiest man

of his day.

But then suddenly

he loses everything.

Loses his wealth,

he loses his family,

he loses his physical health.

And for many chapters,

Job wrestles with God.

And then Job's friends

wrestle with him.

And many of Job's

questions to God,

you know,

they remain unanswered

by the end of the book.

But the amazing thing

about Job

is that whereas Job

doesn't get answers,

what he does get

is God himself.

God reveals himself

to Job

in the midst

of his suffering

as sovereign,

as wise,

as good.

And for Job,

that is enough.

In the end,

Job says,

I humble myself

before you, God,

and I remain silent.

I trust you.

And is it interesting

that here in Habakkuk

we read at the end

of chapter 2,

but the Lord

is in his holy temple.

Let all the earth

keep silence before him.

Things may be going

completely,

to our perspective,

chaotically

in the world around us.

But the Lord

is in his holy temple.

Let all the earth

keep silence before him.

Consider what the temple

meant for God's people

in the Old Testament.

The Lord is in his temple.

Consider what the temple

meant.

You know,

the temple was the place

of God's symbolic presence

in their midst.

But it wasn't just that.

It wasn't just sort of

the place where God

dwelled.

For the Israelites,

the temple was the place

where God provided

atonement for his people.

It was where the sacrifices

happened

for the atonement

of their sins.

So the temple then,

it wasn't just God's holiness

that was revealed,

his holy presence,

but also his mercy

was on display there.

God's holiness

and mercy

were shown to them

in the temple.

And we're told,

in Hebrews,

we see this,

and also there's echoes

of this in the Old Testament

as well,

that the earthly temple

was just a sort of

figure of God's heavenly temple

where his holiness

and his mercy

were on infinite display.

The Lord is in his

holy temple.

And it is faith,

it is trust,

in this God,

the holy and merciful God,

that Habakkuk calls us to.

And we are called to trust

that this God,

the holy and merciful God,

unfolds all things,

even the difficult

and inexplicable things,

according to his wise

and compassionate purposes.

You know,

this part of Habakkuk

reminds us somewhat

of Psalm 73.

Do you remember Psalm 73?

In Psalm 73,

the psalmist kind of struggles

to reconcile

what he sees on the one hand,

which is the prosperity

of the wicked,

and on the other hand,

God's apparent inactivity.

The psalmist sort of sees

all these unrighteous people

prospering,

and God seems to do

nothing about it

as they get richer

and richer and richer

through evil and injustice.

But then in verse 17

of Psalm 73,

the psalmist,

he says,

he goes to the sanctuary,

to the temple,

and he realizes

what the end will be.

In the temple,

the psalmist is assured

of God's providential rule

over all things

and that the wicked

will not ultimately prevail.

God will be merciful

and righteous.

He will vindicate himself

and his people.

Now, friends,

can we find that assurance today?

Can we, like Habakkuk,

see God in his holy temple

and be silent before him

in trusting faith?

Can we, like the psalmist

in Psalm 73,

behold God in the sanctuary

and be assured

that his mercy

and justice will prevail?

Well, you know,

we don't have the temple

anymore, do we?

But we do have something better.

Because we know the one

who fulfilled the temple.

We know the one

that the temple

merely prefigured.

Because Jesus Christ,

God's Son,

is God's ultimate temple.

When Jesus said

in John's Gospel,

destroy this temple

and in three days

I will raise it up,

he was saying

that in his own person,

in his own body,

he was the true temple.

He was the true place

where God's holiness

and mercy were realized.

Destroy this temple,

Jesus said,

and in three days

I will raise it up.

What was Jesus

talking about there?

Well, he was looking ahead

to the cross

and to the empty tomb.

And today,

when we look to the cross

and when we look

to the empty tomb,

when we behold God

in the incarnate sanctuary,

in the true temple,

the crucified

and risen Jesus,

you see,

then our faith,

friends,

isn't just blind faith

or wishful thinking.

Then it's faith

in who God really is.

And it's a sure faith.

And it's a certain faith.

And it's a persevering faith.

And this is the assurance,

this is the trust

that can see us through

the most trying times.

Romans 8, 31 through 32

says it best.

Paul says,

What shall we say then

to these things?

If God is for us,

who can be against us?

He who did not spare

his own son

but gave him up

for us all,

how will he not also

with him

graciously give us

all things?

Paul looks to Christ,

sees his circumstances.

We're like sheep

led to the slaughter,

Paul says.

And yet he can look

at Christ and say,

no.

If God did not spare

his own son,

how will he not also

with him

graciously give us

all things?

God's justice

and mercy

will,

they must prevail.

Faith in the God

who provided

his only son,

that is the foundation

for living with confidence

and hope

in a fallen world

filled with many trials

and tears.

others.

And you know,

it's only through faith

that we can live.

The Apostle Paul

will quote this verse

from Habakkuk 2.4

when talking about

the very heart

of salvation.

When talking about

the very heart

of our salvation,

Paul will say,

it's not by works

that we're saved.

It's not by our own

good deeds.

He says,

the righteous live

by faith.

Don't you remember Habakkuk?

Now we might think,

man,

is Paul kind of

quoting that out of context?

I thought Habakkuk 2.4

was about persevering

in trying times.

Now he's saying

it's about justification

by faith.

But Paul sees

that it's the same,

it's two sides

of the same coin.

It's trusting God

above all else.

Faith isn't just

the path

to persevere

in trying times.

Faith's the only way

to embrace God's

saving grace

in the first place.

So as we wrap up then,

how about you, friend?

Perhaps you're here,

you're a Christian

and you look around

at the world

and you maybe look

at your own life

and maybe you don't see

much evidence

of God's righteousness,

of God's goodness,

of God's mercy,

of God's faithfulness.

Habakkuk is here

to remind us

to keep trusting

God.

His righteousness

will prevail.

His kingdom

will come.

It might not be clear

how or when,

but we can know

it will.

And how can we have

that kind of assurance?

We consider

the true temple

of God,

the Lord Jesus Christ.

God's faithfulness

and as we ask,

as we ask

with Habakkuk,

can God use,

how could God use

unjust instruments

to accomplish

His just purposes?

Is God losing control

when the wicked

seem to prevail?

When as believers

those questions

crop up in our hearts?

Friends,

we look to the cross.

Have you considered

that the cross

was the most unjust

and wicked act

ever perpetrated

by human beings?

We literally

killed

the Lord

of life.

But through

this unjust

and wicked act,

God sovereignly

brought about

forgiveness

and justification

and salvation

for all

who believe.

look to the cross

and trust

that God

is working

all things

for good

for those

who love Him

and are called

according to His purpose.

Perhaps you're here

and you're not a Christian

and you know,

friend,

the invitation

is actually

the same for you.

It's a call

to trust.

It's a call

to faith.

The righteous

shall live

by faith,

Habakkuk says.

And you know,

the funny thing is

when you think about it,

we all place our faith

in something,

right?

I guess at the end

of the day,

the question isn't

whether we believe

or not,

whether we have faith

or not.

The question is,

what do we put

our faith in?

What do we put

our trust in?

Is there a worthier

object of your trust

than Jesus Christ?

Who else loved you

enough to die for you?

Who else is willing

to forgive you

and restore you

and bless you

though you've done

nothing to deserve it?

You can try to earn

God's favor

or work for your salvation

or try to sort of

build a righteousness

on your own

so you have something

to offer back to God,

but it won't work.

Your best efforts

can't sustain

the weight

of your whole life

and they certainly

won't sustain

the weight

of God's perfect justice.

But Jesus can

and he's done it

for you.

So trust him.

Trust him

and you will

live,

God says.

Let's pray.

Father, hearing

Habakkuk's call,

your call

through Habakkuk

to live

in faith,

we at times

feel like

the man

who came to Jesus

with the son

who was suffering

and who said

to Jesus,

Lord, we believe.

Help our unbelief.

So in these

quiet moments here,

we look to you,

Lord Jesus,

saying,

help our unbelief.

We know you're good.

We know you're righteous.

We need your spirit

to come

to strengthen our faith

once again

as kingdoms rise

and kingdoms fall,

as the unjust

and the wicked

seem to prosper,

as we get so confused

who to trust,

which end is up?

Lord, recalibrate us,

realign us

to you.

And would we walk

in faith

and trust in you?

God,

and as we do so,

we pray

that we would experience

the great gifts

of faith,

that trusting you

in trying times,

we would find joy.

We would find peace.

We would find

perseverance.

We would find

compassion for others.

We would find wisdom.

Lord,

and as we walk

in this way,

we pray

that it wouldn't be us

who get the glory,

who get the praise.

Lord,

we don't need people

to look at us

and say,

my,

how stable they are.

No,

God,

we want people

to see you

and how stable

you are

and how good

you are

to all

who come to you.

Lord,

indeed,

our hope

is built

on nothing less

than Jesus'

blood

and righteousness.

amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.