Habbakuk | Chapter 1:2-11 | Pastor Drew

Please stand with me as we hear the word of the Lord.

Habakkuk chapter 1, verses 1 through 11.

Habakkuk 1:1–11

Habakkuk chapter 1, verses 1 through 11.

Habakkuk 1:1–11

The oracle which Habakkuk the prophet saw, how long, O Lord, will I call for help and you will not hear?

I cry out to you, violence, yet you do not save.

Why do you make me see iniquity and cause me to look on wickedness?

Yes, destruction and violence are before me.

Strife exists and contention arises.

Therefore, the law is ignored and justice is never upheld for the wicked surround the righteous therefore justice comes out perverted look among the nations observe be astonished wonder because i am doing something in your days you would not believe if you were told for behold i am raising up the chaldeans that fierce and impetuous people who march throughout the earth to seize dwelling places which are not theirs.

They are dreaded and feared.

Their justice and authority originate with themselves.

Their horses are swifter than leopards and keener than wolves in the evening.

Their horsemen come galloping.

Their horsemen come from afar.

They fly like an eagle swooping down to devour.

All of them come for violence.

Their horde of faces He moves forward.

Father, we just thank you for this time.

We thank you for your word.

And we ask, Lord, that your Holy Spirit would speak now to us, that you would move upon us, move in us, move through us, and conform us into the image of Christ.

Good, good Father, we ask that you have your way now.

In Jesus' name, amen.

If you are visiting today or if you weren't here last week, we are beginning a four-week series on the book of Habakkuk.

Say it with me, Habakkuk.

When you say it, you've got to really express the B, all right?

Say it with me, Habakkuk.

There we go, baby.

I like that.

Baby, you did a good job on that one.

How many of you have heard a sermon or a series on Habakkuk?

All right.

Praise the Lord.

Habakkuk is unique.

I said last week, is a unique prophet.

Most of all of the other prophets.

they're speaking to the people of God.

They're speaking to the people of Israel or the people of Judah because of the split of the divided kingdom.

Most other prophets are speaking to the people.

Jeremiah is calling Israel to repent for many, many, many, many, many, many years, and they do not.

Isaiah is talking to the people of Israel who have perverted justice.

and calling them to fast.

Habakkuk.

talks to God.

Habakkuk talks to God about Israel, Judah.

Habakkuk talks to God about injustice in the world, wickedness.

As a matter of fact, it begins with an oracle.

An oracle simply means a burden.

There's only two other prophets in the A burden.

Nahum and Malachi.

A burden is something that is on the inside of you that you cannot break away from.

It is something that weighs on you and you cannot find any relief until the burden is resolved.

Some of you have jobs.

You work for organizations.

And I would say there's probably some kind of burden that connects you to your work.

You're in Ecuador.

There's something about Latinos.

There's something about South America.

There's something about injustice.

There's something that burdens you, Joel.

Tracy, you're a social worker.

You're in the work of social work.

There must be something that burdens you about people and the way in which people relate to each other, the way in which people are treated.

There must be something unique that burdens you to the call that you have.

Let me ask you a question.

Does the work that you do reflect the burden that you have?

Share that with your neighbor.

30 seconds, 30 seconds.

15 seconds.

Three seconds.

Two, one.

All right.

Who in here can say, now listen, this will not be everybody.

It will not be everybody.

Some people will have to work, and they got to make money, and they got families, and they got to work.

That's just all this is.

This is just a job for some people, right?

Some people say, no, my work is my worship, and the job that I work is actually the calling that I believe that I have in the world, right?

Some people look at this.

This is called convocational ministry.

It It's where you see your work as your job.

You see your work as your calling, I mean.

Some people are bivocational.

It's like they work somewhere in the world.

They have a secular job.

If you want to separate secular and sacred, you have a secular job.

But then you also have a burden and you serve in ministry elsewhere to deal with or to address the burden that you have.

How many of you can say right now that you have a burden for your job or the work that's pertaining to your job?

Amen.

What is it for you Rusty, what is the burden that you carry?

Rusty is a history teacher, history professor.

What is the burden, Rusty, for you that you carry in the work that you do?

The burden of helping Christians understand how we have been shaped by our history.

Who else?

Who else in here?

Who else raised their hand and says that their job?

Sarah.

Sarah, what would you say is for you?

What is your job?

What do you do as you're calling?

And why?

You work with youth?

She works with youth, and the burden is that they have a place to belong.

One more, one more, one more.

Somebody raise their hand.

Austin, Austin, my brother Austin.

What is it that you do?

He don't want CAD designers cutting corners.

That's a good burden to have.

because there's people in operating rooms that need some help and I know I've been cut on a few times in my life and I don't need that operating room to be off or some things in that room to be off because I need everything to be precise as much as possible within the power of humanity.

Habakkuk has a burden.

His first burden is unto the Lord.

Habakkuk is a prophet.

A prophet's responsibility is to call the people of God to repentance, to point the people of God or point people to God.

If you are someone who has this gift or you are somebody who desires to call people to God, would you raise your hand?

There it is.

You may have a prophetic gifting.

There's a gift of prophecy and that's what this is about.

But Habakkuk is a prophet who has a burden.

And this burden runs deep.

This whole book of Habakkuk is really a poem or a prayer of lament.

Many psalms, you can read the book of Psalms, particularly the Psalms of Lamentation, and you'll see some similarities in how they're written versus the way in which Habakkuk writes his book or writes this oracle.

Habakkuk begins with this burden.

This burden is so heavy that when he begins his prayer, he says, how long Back in his burden is so great that he only sees an answer to crying out to God, to talking to God.

Now, we should do both, right?

We should talk to people and talk to God, and we should talk to people about God, and we should, the role of a priest is to talk to God about the people.

The role of the prophet is to talk to the people about God.

He's a prophet who is talking to God in this prayer.

And this burden is so great.

He says, why do you make me see iniquity and cause me to look at wickedness?

Yes, destruction and violence are before me.

Strife exists and contention arises.

He is for four verses pleading with God his case.

He is complaining to God.

See, a prophet has no problem talking to God and calling God out because Habakkuk knows that God throughout history knows that he is a good God who has good gifts for his children.

He is a covenant-keeping God that says that I will be your God and you will be my people.

And some people say, I can't talk to God.

I feel guilty if I question God.

I want to alleviate some of that for you today.

Is that it's alright to actually call God out a little bit.

It actually is an example that you have a relationship with God.

Because otherwise, if you ain't talking to God, you might not have a relationship with God.

So I want to tell you that some of that stuff that you've heard, some of that old traditional stuff that you heard, don't question God.

Habakkuk questions God.

And you can too.

But you better be ready for God's answer.

You better be ready.

for what God has to say.

God is a God who listens.

But when he talks, we better have ears to hear.

Habakkuk is burdened.

He talks about the things that he's facing.

His complaint is how long he, in verse 3 it says, wickedness through violence and injustice.

There's something about this wickedness that's taking place that's bothering him.

This is a not here, but it's a wickedness that is bothering him.

It's causing evil and injustice upon the people.

And so there's his complaint number one.

In the first complaint, he's calling out the challenges.

In verse number three, he says, wickedness through violence and injustice.

Habakkuk is having a hard time understanding that God is good when wicked and injustice and evil seem to be prevailing.

He's having a hard time believing that God is good.

Have you ever had a question for God?

Have you ever had a hard time believing that God is good based on what you see?

Welcome to the club.

Welcome to the club.

In 2018, I've seen four murders in about five weeks.

One of them was my best friend's brother I had to do his funeral.

And then there were retaliations and revenges that took place back and forth from both sides to where four more people got killed in the midst of one murder.

Even a murder that happened last year is connected to the same murder that happened with my best friend's brother.

It's what happens when people are hurting and they don't know how to work through their hurt and their pain and their trauma and they think that revenge for revenge is an answer but it's just a broken concept of an eye for an eye which is not about revenge.

And so I sometimes ask God through these times of these funerals that I do, God are you here?

Where are you at?

What is going on?

Why so much?

And why is it a particular population that seems to be enduring gun violence in America?

You're not going to tell me that there are certain people who are just more sinful than other people.

Sin is a universal issue amongst all of humanity.

there's a problem somewhere else.

So the first thing he says, there's an issue with wickedness through violence and injustice.

The second thing he says is, uh-oh, verse 4, he says, therefore the law is ignored.

The law is ignored.

This is not about state law.

This is not about about federal law.

This is not about local law.

He says the Torah.

The Torah is neglected.

The Torah is the teaching that the Jewish people had the first five books of the Old Testament is known as the Torah, the teachings of Yahweh.

He's not talking about the law.

He's talking about the law of God has been neglected.

Where does he get this?

This is verse 4.

And why would he say this?

Let's go to the slide.

I think there's an old word from a man named Moses that writes something in Deuteronomy.

Deuteronomy chapter 11.

Deuteronomy 11 · chapter mention

It should be right here.

He says 26 through 27.

See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse.

The blessing, if you listen to the command Keep going.

Next slide.

By following other gods which you have not known.

Israel's story throughout history is They continue to want to worship idols, pagans.

They continue to turn away from Yahweh, much like we turn away from God today.

And we find ourselves in the same dilemma.

This is repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat.

You tired of hearing that?

God is too.

God is also tired.

God is also John is tired and quiet and silent because it shows that he laments and he cares.

Those of you who remember Revelation, John is also pulling on Habakkuk.

You'll see some similarities in Revelation and Habakkuk, the oracles, the burdens, a vision, a pock, the lip of writing.

Very, very similar.

You'll see references to the horsemen here.

You'll also see references of the New Exodus pointing back to the Old Exodus.

John is also pulling on Habakkuk.

So the Torah is neglected.

The word of God, the commandments of God are neglected.

He promises blessing if we follow them, and he promises a curse if we don't.

So when life is not working out for you, don't go blaming God.

He's already given us the blueprint.

Either you aren't following the commandments or somebody here in relationship is not following the commandments and now it's creating chaos.

And then just imagine when you get a few of these people in positions where they have authority over other people, just imagine now we're talking about systems of chaos that exist.

Corruption.

It happens because sinful people exist.

In governments, in organizations, in businesses, in churches, in any religious institution you want to talk about put it there I'm talking about that too corruption exists because sinful people exist and sinful people even in the name of God exist and create even more corruption so we have wickedness and we have a neglect of the Torah now God has already told us blessing and curse choose you this day who you will serve.

The third part of this, or actually one more verse, Psalm 19, it says this, the law of the Lord is perfect.

If you were a prayer Tuesday morning, I'd use this psalm for our prayer time.

We were praying for personal renewal.

Psalm chapter 19, the law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul.

Psalms 19 · chapter mention

The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.

The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing The heart, the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.

The chaos that's going on in our country, in our world, in your lives, in your home, in your community, in our city, in our state.

My question is, do we see that the precepts of the Lord are right?

And that they're pure?

And if so, then we can see clearly.

If not, if we want to question or challenge it or disobey it, guess what?

You got to take what comes with it.

Don't come talking about Pastor Drew.

Don't come talking about AAA.

No.

You, you, you.

God, God, God.

Obey, obey, obey.

So if we can't see clearly because of God's word, then we're definitely ain't going to be able to see clearly or hear clearly when God speaks.

So then Habakkuk, because his posture is one of humility and he is talking to God, he is crying out to God, he is burdened, he is in conversation with God even in the midst of this chaos.

The next part.

There's a third piece here.

Wickedness, Torah, and then Oh man.

This is here in verse number four.

It says, This is an issue with leadership.

Why would you say that?

Why would you say that this is a leadership issue?

Oh, man, I can tell you.

Justice and righteousness go hand in hand throughout Scripture.

Do you know what the king's job, his role was?

Anybody?

Take a guess.

What is the Old Testament kings?

What was their role?

What is their responsibility?

To see that Israel does right in God's eyes, but to exercise justice.

and fairness in a righteous way.

Justice is the action.

Righteousness is the character.

If you're not righteous, you won't be able to execute fair justice.

So we go back to Jeremiah 22.3.

Thus says the Lord.

Jeremiah is talking.

He says, Thus says the Lord, Do justice and righteousness and deliver the one who has been robbed from the power of his oppressor.

Also, do not mistreat or do violence to the stranger, the orphan, or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place.

Leadership has a responsibility, particularly kings, Old Testament kings.

Now remember, Yahweh told Israel that y'all don't need a king, man.

You don't need a king.

You're looking around at all these pagan nations around you.

You're looking around.

They got kings.

They're raising up kings.

I'm telling you, you don't need a king.

They kept saying, give us a king.

Give us a king.

And God being good, you know, God will give you over to that thing you desire, right?

you know, God will give you over to it.

So finally, Yahweh says, all right, y'all want king?

Here you go.

We're going to give you Saul.

Saul started out pretty good, but quickly the brother didn't end well.

He gave him Saul.

Saul started off good, ended bad.

Then he gives them David.

David starts out good, and he ends good, but in between, man, he had some issues that he had to work through.

Thank God that he finishes good.

He starts out but he had some issues along the way.

Then we get down to David's son, Solomon.

Man, he starts out great.

But then, Yahweh tells him not to intermix, not because of ethnicity, which that's part of the racist history of America, by the way.

He told him not to intermix with these women because they were worshiping these foreign and pagan gods.

And if he began to mix with them, then he would soon begin to worship their gods.

Solomon ends his life.

He doesn't end well.

After Solomon, there's another divide.

Now there's a divide between the north and south kingdom, Israel and Judah, right?

Now, let me just tell you something.

Judah is where Habakkuk comes in.

There's a king named Josiah.

He's actually a pretty good king.

He's a righteous king.

He is about the Torah.

He's about following the laws and the commandments of God.

He's a righteous man, but he dies.

And man, when he dies, it's like all of the history is slapped together.

And what happens is people who begin well don't finish well.

Some people don't start well.

They don't end well.

And there's only a couple who begin bad and finish well.

Out of all 20 of the kings for the tribe of Judah, 20 of them, only five of them began well and finished well.

Only five began well and finished well.

What does that say about us?

Why do we need spiritual renewal?

Why do we need renewal, period?

It's because we start intermixing with pagan religions or other beliefs that are contrary to the way of God.

We start mixing with ideologies, political ideologies that are of this world, and I'm talking right or left.

You start mixing with those ideologies, then you put a little bit of Jesus in it, right?

You put a little bit of Jesus and because somebody who says something racist perpetually and continually all of a sudden holds a Bible on TV, this is our guy.

Don't trip, because the other side did the same thing.

There's a woman all of a sudden standing with the Bible on TV, representing the other party, and all of a sudden, they're a righteous person.

And all of a sudden, our little Jesus feelings get down.

Oh, they love God, man.

They love God.

That's my person.

Again, God told Israel, you don't need a king.

But we continue to prop up our idols.

even in the name of God.

And we wonder why we are in the state that we are in today as a church in America.

We wonder why the church has lost credibility.

It's because of idolatry.

Repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat, replay, replay, replay.

And these are the people who are supposed to be the people of God.

On Israel's side, when they split, zero out of 19 of their kings, zero out of 19, after the divided kingdom, Judah and Israel separate northern, southern kingdom, 19 of them.

19 out of 19 kings in Israel's history, not one, not one, zero, begin well and finish well.

Zero! Which leads them into captivity to the Assyrians.

The disobedience after Josiah eventually leads them to captivity to This is here.

Corruption only begets more corruption.

Revenge only begets more revenge.

You can hold on to that stuff if you want to.

I can see clearly what's going on in the world.

because I am in tune with what goes on in my own heart.

I am in tune with my own sinfulness.

I am in tune with my own brokenness.

I am in tune with my own selfishness.

I am in tune with my tendency to stray away from God by chasing after other idols.

I am in tuned and inclined when people hurt me to want revenge.

I am in tuned and inclined that when I feel like I'm being taken advantage of or treated unjustly.

I want to power up and I want to take power into my own hands and now begin the person who now inflicts injustice but call it justice.

I am in tune with my own heart and my own sinful desires.

Are you in tune with your own heart and your own sinful desires and motives?

Because if you're not, you're going to have a problem with God's response.

God responds.

And he says, look, Look among the nations, observe, be astonished.

Wonder, because what I'm about to do, you would not believe it if you were told.

God wants to make it clear that the way that he addresses and punishes the people of Judah is by allowing a people who are more wicked, more sinful, more unjust than they are, to take them over.

Is God good?

Some of the plight in some of the situations that we're in right now, we might not want to hear this, but I got to say it.

Some of the situations that we find ourselves in are because God has given you over to it.

God has raised up that thing that you worship other than him, and he's allowed that thing to take dominion over you.

Wonder why you're not interested in the things of God?

Wonder why you're not passionate about the things of God?

Wonder why you're angry and bitter, lethargic, apathetic about the things of God?

Because God is good, and he will never force you to do anything that you want to do, but he will simply give you over to it.

That's part of God's goodness.

part of God's judgment in the world is that God will use another nation to overtake another nation because they're rebellious and disobedient.

Now here's the catch.

He says that I'm going to raise up the Chaldeans, which is the Babylonians, by the way.

There's a king named Nebuchadnezzar.

You've heard the story.

This is what he's talking about.

It actually happens to where they take over Judah.

and they bring them into captivity.

God actually says, I'm going to show you.

This is what I'm going to do.

He says they're dreaded and feared.

Their justice and authority originate with themselves.

This is back to humanism.

We're either going to serve God or we're going to serve ourselves.

And in serving ourselves, we'll find a God that we can worship that will cater to what we want.

we'll find a Jesus in America that will cater to what we want, and we'll say, here's Jesus' values.

No, really what it is is those are your values that are detached from Jesus, but you want Jesus to be part of your values, and so you bring those values in with Jesus and say, here's Jesus' values.

No, those are your values.

And this is why many of us live in such dilemma and tension, particularly in this political season.

It's because we found ourselves worshiping another god.

And really what it is, just like Judah, justice and authority has originated within them.

Has justice and authority originated within you?

Do you treat people based on the way that you feel about them or the way that you think about them?

Or do you treat people according to the way that God calls us to treat people because God is God and we are not?

Do you forgive?

Do you think it's an option to extend grace as a Christian?

It can be an option.

Just no longer call yourself a Christian.

Because that's false witness.

That's not who God is.

So if you want to withhold grace and mercy and forgiveness, that's fine.

Say that's me and that ain't got nothing to do with this is me.

This is what I'm doing.

God has told you to do something.

All of a sudden you're mad at something.

You're mad about something, someone.

And what happens even in our anger, even with the church, y'all, even with the church and some of the anger that we have with the church, that can become an idol in itself because we have to be able to differentiate what is God and what is not and when we can't we bow down to a false God and we cater around our bitterness we worship these things that we can't forgive the hurts that we've been through and I'm not telling you to overlook your hurts but what I am telling you is that can you see Jesus can you see the resurrected king or can you only see what you think is right justice does not begin and end with humans justice begins and ends with God So at the end of this, verse 11, next week we'll talk about the second complaint.

He says, they will sweep through like the wind and pass on, but they will be held guilty.

They whose strength is their God.

Is your strength your God?

is your might, is your education, your money, your physical strength, your looks, your ministry, your position, your title.

Is that your God?

Because if it is, you'll have a hard time worshiping the one true king.