Certainty in the Face of Mystery Part 2 | Habakkuk 1:12-2:20

As has been already said, actually prayed from this pulpit this morning by Michael,

these are the words of God and we want to hear from God this morning. So

before we get into our text, why don't we come to our God and ask for his help.

Father, you are the one who tells us that your word never comes back void. So this morning as we

gather around your word, we ask that you would please hold Christ high in our midst

and minister to us by your Holy Spirit. We ask for this in Jesus name, Amen.

One of the things that I love about Armidale is the many different Christian ministries that have

prayerfully considered how to reach this wonderful place with the good news of Jesus Christ.

And I mention this because when I first came to Armidale and started to meet some of the brilliant

people who are on the ground here, I was under the impression that there was a ministry in our city

called Habakkuk. And I thought to myself, what a wonderful ministry because as we've seen in this

book so far, if you were here last week, a ministry with that name, well it gives the impression that

that's a place that you can go and be open and honest about all the things that's on your heart,

where you can go and speak about what's on your mind because that's exactly what we saw Habakkuk

do with God last week. Well I was quickly corrected that the place that I was thinking about

wasn't called Habakkuk but have a cuppa, which has now come to be known as under his wings.

However, even though I got the name wrong, as I've come to know the people who run that ministry,

that's exactly what they're out to achieve and do. They're about getting people who are in dire

circumstances to the right place to meet with the right person so they can pour their heart out and

say what's on their mind, lament over the things in their life and do it in the context of being

led to the good news of Jesus Christ. It's a wonderful ministry under his wings done right

here in our city. Now I'm saying all of this because that's exactly what we were encouraged in

last week when Tom took us through the first part of the first chapter of this wonderful book

that we have before us this morning. It's there in one sense at least, we learnt that we have

a God who isn't aloof out there somewhere in the universe, unaware of all our trials and tribulations

but is so personal with his people that we're invited to boldly come before the throne of

grace and speak to him about everything that's going on in our lives. Why? Well, we're told by

the Apostle Peter it's because God cares for us. That's right, the creator of the universe, the one

who created time, who is eternal and sovereign over all things, not only invites us but welcomes

all his people to come to him and cast our cares upon him. Why? Well, it's as I just said, it's

because God cares for us and that's exactly what we saw last week with our prophet, Habakkuk,

a child of God, a man in the covenant community going to his God and pouring his heart out to the

only person in the universe who could really do something about what he was seeing around him.

Now for Habakkuk, there were some serious things that he took to the throne of grace, namely the

sin of God's own people. That's what we saw last week, this prophet who's like a go-between between

man and God's people, he cried out to God about how long he was going to have to wait before God

did something about all the wickedness that he was witnessing in his nation. And I just want to say

that I love that about the prophet Habakkuk because what we have here in this book is an example

of a man who not just laments over the people of God but somewhat intercedes for them, who cries

out to God about all the wrong that he sees. In other words, he didn't just sit around thinking

and complaining to himself and others about all the evil and injustice that he was witnessing

but took all his burdens and anger before God in the prayer closet. What a great example to us now

here in the church, a great example of when we see things going on with people in the worldwide

church. Well how do we deal with it? We take it to God in prayer. Now he didn't use the exact words

that Jesus gave us but it certainly rings of may your kingdom come and your will be done on this

earth as it is in heaven. That was essentially Habakkuk's complaint. The will of God, the law

was not being followed by God's own people and because of that there was wickedness and injustice

that had spread through the covenant community like gangrene. In other words, God's word was

not being obeyed in any sense and it was causing God's very people to be ineffective and perverted.

To say it plainly, Judah had put a bowl over the light that they were meant to shine to the nations

and Habakkuk was furious. Now as I said before, God is not aloof out there in the universe,

not in any sense and we saw that last week as God replied to our prophet essentially saying,

not only do I see what's going on Habakkuk but I actually have a solution for all of this

and that solution is the raising up of a nation that's even more lawless and infected with sin.

That's right. God had not ignored the sin of his people in any sense but had a solution and that

solution for the time being at least, well it was an even greater sinful nation that was on their way

to sweep through the nation of Judah and deal with God's very own people. So with that said,

with that context and that understanding, let's go through our text this morning.

If you have your Bibles with you it would be very handy because we'll be in a lot this morning

but look with me at verse 12. This is Habakkuk coming to God again in a second prayer saying,

Lord are you not from everlasting? My God, my Holy One, you'll never die. You Lord have appointed

them to execute judgment. You my rock have ordained them to punish. So notice this,

notice what Habakkuk reveals of God in his prayer. He reveals that God knows exactly what's going on

with his people and Habakkuk even shows, he shows us that because of the sin of his people,

he even shows, he shows us that because of the very nature of God, he is sovereign over not just

his own people but the entire world to the point that he's able to raise up a Gentile nation,

being the Babylonians to punish Judah. To say it simply, Habakkuk praises God that he's eternal

he's sovereign, the ruler of nations, the king of kings, the Lord of lords and that he can do

whatever he wants not only with but also in his creation. We see that in verse 12. Habakkuk praises

God for his awesome wonder that he's both totally sovereign over all history and also totally

involved in all history. But it's here that we see our prophet start to seriously wrestle with

something in his own understanding of who God has revealed himself to be. Verse 13, your eyes are

too pure to look on evil, you can't tolerate wrongdoing. Why then do you tolerate the treacherous?

Why are you silent while the wicked swallow up those more righteous than themselves?

Hear that. God is sovereign but he's also holy and that's what Habakkuk is trying to wrap his

head around here. On the one hand God isn't ignoring sin but on the other hand he's raising

up an even more sinful nation to deal with the sin of his own people. You can hear the clogs ticking.

Habakkuk's in the prayer closet going thank you Lord that you're eternal, that you're sovereign,

that you're not ignoring any of this that's going on with your people, that you have a plan to deal

with this, to get things back on track. But wait Lord, you're holy, you can't stand the works of

the wicked, you can't tolerate the treacherous ways of people and wicked they are. Look at how

Habakkuk illustrates the Babylonians in verses 14 through to 17. You've made people like the fish of

the sea, like the sea creatures that have no ruler. The wicked foe pulls them up with his hooks,

he catches them with his net, he gathers them with his drag net and he rejoices and is glad.

Therefore he sacrifices to his net and burns incense to his drag net for by his net he lives

in luxury and enjoys the choicest food. Is he to keep on emptying his net, destroying nations without

mercy? Well in other words and to put a more modern spin on it, Habakkuk laments that God's

people are like sitting ducks and wandering sheep without a shepherd and that the wicked are going

to come along and easily wipe them out. So much so it's going to be like shooting fish in a barrel.

Look at what else he has to say about the wicked. He says that they fill their nets to the brim so

much so that they empty them and start again and because it comes at such ease for them it's like

the favor of the universe is on their side and so they look to the tools of the trade as their very

gods that bless them with all that they're doing. And so the question becomes in the mind of our

prophet, are these wicked people going to get away with that forever? Well I don't know about you

church but this tension that we're seeing with our prophet here might not be so far removed from our

own prayers in the prayer closet right? I mean we couldn't be any further in time and geography

from the world of Habakkuk but don't we wrestle with the very same tension that our prophet has

here? I mean on the one hand we praise God that he is indeed so personal and so involved in his

creation. That's a biblical truth that should bring us so much peace and joy. God is not like some

distant deity out there who has made a clock, who then wound it up and then just left it so that it

could tick along without any personal involvement. No, we know that our God is personally involved

in his world because not only does he tell us that he is and we see it clearly here with the

rise of the Babylonians in his hand in history but we also see it in the way that he tells us

to come and speak to him and ask that things might change in his world. Ask that his kingdom come

and his will be done. Ask that our sin would be forgiven. Ask that the Lord of the harvest

might send out workers. The list goes on and on and on and the sovereign eternal God of the universe

tells us to do that because he's personally involved in his creation and wants his people

to come to him and ask for things so that he might do them. He is personally involved in his creation.

He answers prayers, which means on the other hand that all the wicked and evil that we see in this

world, all the pestilence, war, murder, disease, earthquakes and economic troubles, all the stuff

going on with the nations and in our personal worlds right now. That's all under his sovereign

hand as well. And so as we go to the prayer closet and see the things of this world, well

on the one hand we know that God is very much in control and we can rejoice in that

and we know that he listens to the prayers of his people. But on the other hand we might wrestle

with the knowledge that all is in his control and wonder why he doesn't seem to be doing anything

and when he does, why it doesn't quite fit the way that we would go about it. We might even wonder,

will this wickedness and the wicked go on like this forever? Well that's our prophet's dilemma

here. He sees God as totally sovereign and eternal. He sees God as not aloof out there in the

universe but personally involved in his creation. So much so that he is not just a prophet,

but a prophet who is involved in his creation. So much so that Habakkuk wrestles with the very fact

that God is going to deal with things in the way that he is. That's the tension that we have here

and I love that Habakkuk is wrestling this way with God. However what he does next is brilliant.

He kind of has this serious tension in his understanding of God in the so-called prayer

closet but then notice what he says. I'll go stand my watch and station myself on the ramparts.

I'll look and see what he has to say to me and what answer I'm to give to this complaint,

chapter two verse one. In other words Habakkuk was so confident that God had heard his prayer

that he was now going to wait on the Lord which is a massive theme in our Bible. Wait on the Lord

for his answer. Such a wonderful faith shown to us here in the face of mystery. We read on,

the Lord replied, write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run

for the revelation awaits an appointed time. It speaks of the end it will not prove false.

Though it linger, wait for it. It will certainly come and will not delay.

I heard it said the other day that with the rise of the newspaper in the Victorian era

that when England used to sneeze Europe got a cold. Yet now because of the rise of the internet

when America sneezes the world gets pneumonia and that's what God wants Habakkuk to do here.

He wants in effect the nation of Judah to catch what has been said to him personally.

Now as you heard last week God he used to speak by the prophets at different times and in various

ways and that's what we're seeing here. God had spoken to his man and he wants Habakkuk to publish

clearly what had been revealed so that Judah could clearly understand what God had to say to them.

Because it was paramount that they got his revelation. What did God want to tell his people

through the prophet Habakkuk? Well there's two things that we're going to look at this morning.

First he wants to tell them about the enemy and second he wants to tell him wants to tell them

about what will happen to the enemy. So first who is the enemy and second what will happen to the

enemy? So first who is this enemy? Well we read about them clearly in verses four through to five.

See the enemy is puffed up his desires are not upright but the righteous person will live by his

faithfulness. Indeed wine betrays him he's arrogant and never at rest because he's as greedy as the

grave and like death is never satisfied. He gathers to himself all the nations and takes captive

all the peoples. Okay so there's a couple of subheadings for you note takers out there

under this first point of who the enemy is and we need to see this before we move on. It has to do

with the language of what God has revealed. See we might automatically cast our minds to this being

exclusively about the Babylonians versus the Hebrews and that this revelation was not just

about the Hebrews and that this revelation was essentially God saying to his people

that the Babylonians that I'm raising up well they're like this. But I want us to take note

of the broadness of the language here. Yes God is speaking about the Babylonians in one sense

however we might ask the question why was Habakkuk driven to his knees in the first place?

Well it was because God's own people had abandoned the law and become a wicked nation.

That's what we see in the opening verses of this book. Habakkuk was driven to the prayer closet

because he saw the law being ignored and conflict and strife escalating more and more among his own

people. So it's not like the Hebrews are totally innocent here. Now Habakkuk was living in a wicked

nation among wicked people. In other words no one was innocent. God's covenant nation had abandoned

the law and was oppressing their own people. So Habakkuk he cries out to God. So we might say

that the application of the language around the enemy here well it's broader than just the

Babylonians. Something else that I want you to know church what is the enemy like? Well it's

the enemy is set in contrast to those who live by faith right? That's what we see in verse four.

The enemy is proud and his desires are not in accordance with the will of God.

In other words they not only reject the word of God but they desire what's contrary to it

and thus they are described as being not upright which is to say they're crooked in the way that

they live. That's further described in verse five there. Well compare that with the righteous person.

Well that's the person who has faith in God and his revelation and actually does something about it.

He lives not by his fishing net but by his faith or faithfulness as the NIV puts it.

All this to say there's an essence of the psalmist's words ringing here which reveal in

Psalm 1 which we heard early this morning that there are only two ways to live. One way is

egocentric prideful rejecting our creator's revelation and thus walking in a crooked and

perverse way. Heeping up sin upon sin and never being satisfied. That's the wicked. That's the

enemy of God over against the faithful one who puts their trust in God and in his word and walks

in accordance with the straight and narrow way. That's the blessed one. Doesn't that bring to

mind the words of Paul to the Philippians when he said do everything without grumbling and arguing

so that you may be blameless and pure children of God who are faultless in a crooked and perverse

generation among whom you the people of God shine like the stars of the world. How? Well by holding

firm to the word of life. Philippians 2 14 to 16. So Habakkuk, well he's getting an answer to his

prayer here. That is to reveal to others and that's that God is sending a proud and arrogant nation,

the Babylonians to deal with them and as we've seen anyone who is puffed up and arrogant, anyone

who rejects God and his ways is really God's enemy. Even and hear this even if you belong to

the Hebrew nation. Now the one who receives the word of God and lives out their faith is righteous

before God's eyes. But there's more. That's the first thing. That's who the enemy is.

But what about the problem of evil in this world? What about the people who are the enemy of God?

Will wickedness and the wicked go on forever?

Well to that we get a resounding no. And that's the second thing God reveals here. The wicked

and in fact all wickedness will come under the judgment of God and they won't endure forever.

Verse 6. Will not all of them taunt him with ridicule and scorn? Now if we're going to be

consistent here this morning we want to take this all of them language not just as the oppressed

Jews and nations who have been gobbled up by the Babylonians. However that's certainly one way to

understand it and interestingly Babylon will become an example of what happens to any nation

and people that sets itself up against the people of God and God himself. But if we're going to be

consistent in our view here then what's being said is for the benefit of anyone at any time who has

been oppressed by the wicked and thus wondered if the lawless will get away with it forever.

Well this is what God has to say. First woe to those who have planned plotted and played out

their wicked schemes on others. They will eventually fall prey to their own devices. It's like it says

here in verses 6 to 8 those who plunder those who pillage will themselves come to ruin. In other

words it won't go on forever. Every evil person and on a larger scale every world empire that

ruins others will come to ruin itself. So as Jesus said those who live by the sword will die by the

sword. We certainly see that in the narrative of history don't we? Judah was indeed a man of

power. Judah was indeed plundered by the Babylonians. However in turn Babylon was wiped out by the

Persians, Greece, by Rome, Rome by barbarian tribes. The list goes on and on and on and it will go on

until the appointed time when God will judge the nations. Anyone who plunders and pillages others

well it will come down on their heads one day. Second woe to those who find their security in what

they've unjustly built. We see that in verses 9 through to 11 and that's a theme that runs all

throughout the Bible. Those who collect and store up treasures on this earth and find security in

things that they have made dishonestly maybe from ripping off others and stealing from them.

Well their foolishness will testify against them one day. No house that is built upon the sand

will last forever. It will be shown for what it is. Third woe to the cruel and we see this in verses

12 through to 14. Anyone who treats other people's lives as cheap will come to nothing. Every single

human being is made in the image of God and is precious to our creator and so those who are

are violent against them and build their own empires on the backs of others and cause people

harm only fuel the fire of their own judgment. Verse 13 is clear they will come to nothing.

Fourth woe to the immoral. It's right there in verses 15 through to 17. God does not turn a

blind eye to those who exploit others in any which way. God hates the sin of those who encourage

others to act in obscene ways especially when their victims have been manipulated and then abused

and taunted. God's words clear those people will come to shame and disgrace. Fifth and the final woe

belongs to the idolatrous. Verses 18 to 19. Now what God is saying here is that all idols that

are carved by the hands of mere men well they're utterly useless and we might look back into the

ancient world and think well I don't burn incense and carve out little wooden figures and sit and

pray to things but all of those things are only a product of a crooked heart and so though we might

not see those things so much in our western world the point is clear anything other than God that

we put our trust and hope in that replaces our faith in God well it's become a functional saviour

and that functional saviour will be shown for what it is one day and that's no saviour at all.

Extremely heavy stuff. God's revelation, God's words to God's people and we could spend so much

more time on this however I'm aware of our time this morning and so I want to end by saying this

though we've seen our prophets struggle to keep in tension the sovereignty of God and the way that

he is going to deal with sin one thing is made clear in all of this and it's so important that

we see it it's so important God is not just speaking about a particular nation and people here

this isn't just the Babylonians and Jews on view here but God revealing through his eternal word

that though we might not understand all the mysteries of the universe and God's way of

dealing with things though we might not understand all the wicked empires that come and go all the

lawless people in this world that seem to be doing so great all the evil that seems to prevail at

every turn well through it all we must remember this the righteous will live by their faith

that is so important that you hear that this morning brothers and sisters God's response to

Habakkuk's prayer to his struggle to his complaint and lament is that God is not unaware about it all

not indifferent not aloof but is going to deal with it all however though we might not see it clearly

or understand it all our end remember this the righteous one will live because they have faith

in God and that's exactly what the apostle Paul draws on in his explanation of how one should

ultimately come to be saved you see we're told in the book of Romans that because of the holy

justice of God all sin is going to be punished one day that's what the holiness and the justice

of God demands that all sin is punished however we have a massive problem all people are guilty

all people are guilty of breaking the law of God of being somewhat included in those woes

that we just heard we have a massive dilemma on our hands as no one is righteous before God

and worthy to be punished worthy of the judgment and wrath but this is the good news of the Lord

of Judgment and Wrath but this is the good news of Jesus Christ says Paul in Romans 3 28 it's this

a person is justified by faith hear that a person is made in total right standing

with God by who they trust in that's Paul's argument in the first three chapters of the

book of Romans one cannot be right standing justified justified never sinned before God

except by faith and faith alone in him so it's a little wonder that Paul draws directly on what

Habakkuk reveals here and drives home what has always been true for the people of God over the

two testaments the righteous will live by faith Romans 1 17 church for those in the old it was to

look forward and for us in the new we look back to the cross of Jesus Christ this was and is and

always will be God's solution to the problem of wickedness in this world God's wrath was poured

out upon all wickedness of humanity at Calvary so that God's holy justice and merciful love might

be both demonstrated and satisfied and the good news is this all those who trust in that sacrifice

will be justified so we might say in the fullness of God's revelation the righteous will live by

faith in Jesus Christ church it's by faith that we are saved and it's by faith that we live

but might I also say a great expression of our faith is in the way in which we pray see we

observe an incredible thing with Habakkuk his faith and his trust caused him to get to the

so-called prayer closet and cry out and so here in these verses that we have seen this morning

might I say that when not if when we see the effects of wickedness either out there in the

world in the church or even in our own lives don't run from but run to the God of heaven

he is sovereign over all the earth says verse 20 and yet as we've also seen he not only hears

our prayers he answers them now we might not understand everything that's going on we might

not like God's timing or even fully comprehend his ways but here in our passage this morning

in God's words to us we see that though we might not understand everything we were invited to come

to the one who knows exactly what's going on and exactly what he is doing with and in his creation

and brothers and sisters no more clearly do we see this than in the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ

and how God determined to use lawless people to nail his perfect son to a cross so that the

problem of our wickedness could be ultimately dealt with it's because of God working sovereignly

sovereignly over and in history that we can now approach him in his holiness so church let's learn

to wrestle with God in the prayer closet to be consistent in going to him with all our concerns

all our laments all our questions that's the invite from the king of heaven and all the earth to anyone

who has put their trust in Christ and lives by that wonderful gift of faith and know this

whatever is going on in your world whatever is going on in my world in the world we are told by

the one who is in control of it all that there will come a day when all wickedness

will be swallowed up in victory and the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory

of the Lord as waters cover the sea like these words from the apostle Paul encourage us all this

morning therefore since we have been justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus

Christ we have also obtained access through him by faith into this grace in which we stand and we boast

in the hope of the glory of God let's come to our great God in prayer now

father we began our time this morning by asking

that our Lord and Savior would be held high among our among us this morning

that by the work of your spirit through the word that you would draw all manner of people

to our Lord and Savior

father we are in various and varying degrees of life in this room at the moment

some of us are questioning some of us may be angry some of us incredibly hurt

some of us with our heads so spun around that we can't make heads or tails of anything

but father as we hear your word proclaimed this morning you were the one who invites us to come

to you father might we see that for what it is that we are welcomed that we are not a nuisance

that you love your people

father we don't want to become a church that abandons your word we don't want to be a church

that puts a bowl over the light that is here so father we ask for wisdom and guidance that you

would lead us all the days of our life and that Christ would be preached boldly from this place

father we thank you for your work in Jesus name amen