Habakkuk "A Portrait of Arrogance"

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If you have Bibles with you, you can open them to Habakkuk.

If you need directions on how to get there, you can turn to Zephaniah.

And it's one more back.

No, honestly, just turn to Matthew and make a left and go five books.

And Habakkuk is a part of that group of minor prophets, which sadly, we don't read very often.

But this is one of the jewels in that group.

We're going to look at today, chapter 2, beginning at verse 2, and read down through verse 20.

So if you would, follow with me as I read this portion of God's inspired word of truth.

And the Lord answered me, write the vision, make it plain on tablets, so that 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 is not upright within him, but the righteous shall live by his faith.

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

His greed is as wide as Sheol, like death he has never enough.

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

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

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

For how long?

And loads himself with pledges.

Will not your debtors suddenly arise and those awake who will make you tremble?

Then you will be spoiled for them.

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

For the blood of man 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 divided 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 blood of man 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, a 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 these 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 as we enter into the study of this portion of God's word.

Father, we thank you for your word and how you reveal yourself.

We also thank you for how you reveal us to ourselves.

Your word is powerful and effective and cuts to the quick, to the very core of who we are.

As it reveals your glory and greatness, it shows the corruption that remains.

And we, as we come to study, need to see both.

We need to see ourselves.

We need to see all that we are.

But then we need to see you.

We need to see you in all that you have done for us.

So draw us deeper into the knowledge of ourselves and of you.

Father, pour out your spirits.

Use me and all the weakness of my words,

so that when all is said and done,

we will know that by your spirit we have heard from you.

And we pray in Jesus' name.

Amen.

You know, this is the second of a three-week study through this prophecy.

It's a little-known book by most of us in the Old Testament,

but it is quite appropriate for us,

especially if you are personally going through struggles and hard times,

or, you know, those hard times could be on a personal level,

but they can also be on a much broader social level.

Regardless, Habakkuk is in a similar place,

and he's going through some very difficult times,

and he's wrestling with who God is in the midst of all of this.

But he also leads us and teaches us of how we ourselves

can better face these times.

This week, as we looked last week,

we saw the beginning of this conversation,

that there's a dialogue going on here between Habakkuk,

who offers his complaints before God,

then God comes and answers him,

but answers him in ways that are totally outside of anything

Habakkuk could have expected,

and caused Habakkuk some really great turmoil.

And he goes back to God again and complains even more.

But the last time we saw him,

he enters into the ramparts,

that high place on the wall of Jerusalem,

where he is now waiting,

waiting for God to respond to him.

He wants, by faith,

he has gone to God,

and he is determined to hear from God.

And so he's waiting.

And this is the response.

This is the response that God gives to him

in light of all of his complaints

in his previous prayers.

And I think one of the things that tells us

this whole book

is that we need to beware

when there are these very obvious villains

in our lives.

And those villains,

and when we get into hard places,

when we get into

these great struggles in life,

very, very often,

and I think by far more times than not,

there are villains involved.

There is someone,

either on a broad scale,

like on a public stage,

or somebody maybe in your family,

there's someone

that we turn to

and we can see

is a true villain

and what they've done is wrong

and maybe

are really demonstrating

some evil things.

But there's a real danger

for us to have people like that.

And it's not because of the evil

that they bring upon us,

but it's the way they hide

who we really are.

Because when I have a villain,

and that villain is evil,

then my focus is there

on the villain.

That's the evil.

That's the problem.

I am the innocent victim.

They are bad

and what happens is

I then fail

to see

the real nature

of who I am.

And in many ways,

this is where Habakkuk is.

He has gone to God

and made his complaints

and in verse 13,

this is what he said.

He says,

why do you idly look

at traitors

and remains silent

while the wicked

swallows up the man

more righteous than he?

And so here's the villain.

It's the Chaldeans

and they are villains.

No doubt about it.

They are a brutal,

violent group

of people here.

And Israel,

I mean,

obviously they're more righteous.

They're God's people.

evil.

But now there's a problem.

When we begin to see

that they are the evil

and we end up

taking the eyes off

of our own hearts,

we are in danger.

So how are we to live?

How are we to live

even in light of

these villains?

I mean,

where's the difference

between them and us

if they are,

in a sense,

if we are,

well,

we could say this,

you know,

their evil

may not be expressed

so graphically,

but at the same time,

we all

have Chaldean roots.

And if that's the case,

if we are all similar,

if we all have

these same roots,

what's the difference?

Where does the difference

come in between us

and them?

Well,

the difference

is faith.

We live by faith.

Not our righteousness,

not our goodness.

We live with the knowledge

of who we are.

And we live by faith.

Faith is the antidote

to arrogance.

To arrogance.

And so,

what does faith

look like?

Well,

what we're going to do here

is in these verses,

as God responds

from verse 5

down through

verse 19,

we get a good picture

of what arrogance is

as we see this description

of the Chaldeans.

So,

what God is doing here

in his response

to Habakkuk

is he's pointing to

this,

yes,

the Chaldeans

are going to come,

yes,

they're going to carry out

my work,

but there will come

an end to them as well.

And this is what

I'm going to do.

But he describes

a people

that are

puffed up

as verse 4

describes them.

and it's some things

that we can learn

about our own hearts.

The first thing,

when we look at

arrogance,

an arrogant person

is not just someone

who boasts

about their accomplishments

or who's

openly proud

and loves

to bring attention

so much

to themselves.

An arrogant person

may also be

a wallflower,

may live in hiding

because they don't want

attention to themselves,

they don't necessarily

want to be seen,

but an arrogant person

is somebody

whose focus,

whose whole world

is on them.

They are the center.

They are

why life

exists.

They are a god

to themselves.

The arrogant man,

the arrogant woman

is one who is

self-sufficient.

They're sufficient

unto themselves,

they have the resources,

they do the work

themselves,

they are necessarily

their own savior,

they live for themselves.

And so this is

the picture

of arrogance here

that we see

in these verses.

But we have

three things

particularly

that describes

the arrogant heart.

The first one

is greed.

We see that

in verse 5

where he says,

moreover,

wine is a traitor,

an arrogant man

who is never at rest.

His greed is wide

as sheol,

like death.

He has never enough.

He gathers for himself

all nations

and collects

as his own

all peoples.

There is a hunger

in them

that is insatiable,

that they continue

to collect

more and more.

It says,

how much is enough?

Well,

always a little bit more.

Now,

one thing I want you to,

I want to point out

to you just textually here

where he says,

wine is a traitor.

Well,

some other manuscripts

and I think

are accurate

actually say,

wealth is a traitor.

If you look at

the Dead Sea Scroll

manuscripts,

that's what they say.

And it fits

the context here

much better.

Wealth is a traitor.

A traitor.

It promises things.

It promises security,

goodness,

and all these things,

but yet it will not

fulfill those promises.

Wealth is a traitor.

And I think this is

an interesting place

for, you know,

God to begin with here

in describing

the heart of the Chaldeans.

You know,

when a man determines

to live life

on his own terms

and to supply life's needs

through his own means

and methods,

that is the arrogant man.

And what we see here

is just then

an unending quest,

an insatiable hunger

to have enough.

And one of the reasons

they build up

this wealth

is to give them

this sense of security

because in the next verses

he talks about

how they want to build

their nest high

to where it's basically

unapproachable.

they used to say

back in the time

of Babylon

that the defenses

of that city

were so high

and so strong

it was impenetrable.

That there was

absolutely no risk

of invasion

by anyone

because those defenses

were so good.

But that's what wealth does.

wealth builds

security.

It builds status.

It builds

so many things

but it helps us,

it gives us

the illusion

that we can make

ourselves safe

from any threat,

any danger,

anything out there

that may cause us

harm.

but it's a terrible

illusion

because even

Babylon fell

and there is no

safe place

that's that secure.

You know,

the second pursuit

is not just greed

but it's a pursuit

of glory.

We don't see

that term glory

used as that

they're pursuing glory

but there's another term

that's repeated

and that's the word

shame.

That they are going

to,

they heap shame

on other people

but that they

are going to

experience

that same shame

even to a much

greater degree

than they brought

on others.

So,

what is that

base,

what is the meaning

of that word glory?

glory.

What glory is

is substance.

At the root

of the word

in Hebrew

the word is

weighty,

substantive.

It's something

as significance,

as value.

It's not some

trivial thing

but it's

weighty,

important.

And so there's

this hunger.

The Chaldeans

are attempting

to build

this sense

of being

important,

being

substantive

through conquering

and through

invading

all of these

nations.

And one of the

things that

you'll see here

as he goes

through and

describes

their pursuit

of glory

is how they

use other

people in

that way.

They bring

other people

to shame,

utter shame

so that

they themselves

will look

more important,

more glorious.

One of the

terms there

they'll use

particularly in

verse 15

where it talks

about them

getting other

nations drunk

so then they

can look on

their nakedness.

Basically what

that is describing

is getting

people drunk

so they can

sexually have

their way

with them

and humiliate

them in the

process.

that's what

these arrogant

Chaldeans

are doing.

The third

thing

that they're

doing and

this is really

kind of the

culmination

is idolatry

and we see

that in verse

18 and 19

it's a sad

picture.

I mean it's

kind of funny

too where

somebody,

a man,

will create

this object

and then

declare to

it,

this is come

alive.

Or they'll

take this

lifeless

rock

and say

arise

and maybe

even decorate

it up with

gold and

silver and

then they bow

down to it

as if that

thing which

they've made

in their

hands

is somehow

going to

save them.

So in

that

idolatry

one of the

things of

arrogance

is foolishness

but it's

worship.

where does

the arrogant

go to

worship?

He

worships

his own

creation,

his own

doing,

things of

his own

making,

things that

come from

himself.

That's what

he worships.

Now,

this is a

picture of

the Chaldean

villains.

the problem

comes,

those

descriptions

really apply

to more

people than

just the

Chaldeans.

And I

have a hard

time reading

those.

Let's take

them one at

a time.

Greed,

do I use

wealth to

build walls

of protection

for myself?

Yeah,

I do.

You know,

it used to

be,

and in

some ways

it still

is,

when it

came to

bill-paying

day,

Gail would

pretty much

figure that

I was going

to be in

a bad

mood.

Because

of all

the money

that went

out,

and the

little bit

of money

that remained,

happened,

and I

would think

through all

of the

contingencies,

all the

things that

might happen,

all the

things that

I would

need,

and it's

like it

didn't add

up.

And now

I'm living

in anxiety

and fear

because my

fortress is

not high

enough.

So how

much would

I need

for it to

be enough?

Well,

a little bit

more.

What

about glory?

Am I

hungry for glory?

Hungry for glory?

glory?

I have been

so convicted

by this

lately.

In fact,

just a couple

minutes ago.

I am

willing,

in order to

be seen

by you

as clever,

smart,

and funny,

I am

willing to

throw friends

under the

bus.

in front

of all

of you,

I referred

to Derek

as strange

because I

knew it

would get

a little

bit of a

laugh.

And it

may not

sound like

much to

you,

but what

I did

there was

I was

pursuing

my own

glory,

and his

did not

matter one

ounce to

me.

just like

the Chaldeans,

I am

willing to

use other

people to

give me a

sense of

status,

of weightiness,

of importance

and significance.

I've done

it time

and time

again.

I think

the theme

of my life

over the

years has

been this

hunger

to be

significant,

to be

weighty,

to be

important.

And I'll

use you

to that

end.

And that's

grief.

Which

brings me

to

idolatry.

You know,

it's just the

culmination of

all these

other two

things.

You know,

I don't

have little

statues

around my

house.

You can

come over

and look.

They're not

there.

You may

find some

Marshall stuff.

That's about

as close as

you'll get.

But what is

it that will

truly make me

happy?

How do you

fill out

this sentence?

I will be

a happy

person if...

And far

too often,

it's either

what I

accomplish,

what I

acquire,

what I

achieve?

And how

foolish is

that?

Something that

I think I

create in my

own efforts,

in my own

strength,

that I bow

down to it

and say,

give me

life.

That's what

the arrogant

person does.

It

worships.

It

worships the

work of

our hands.

It

worships

created

things that

have no

life and we

have no

power to

give them

life.

I

am

far too

much like

the Chaldeans.

And if

God's

fierce

judgment

was

deserved

by that

evil

people,

then I

cannot

remove

myself

from

deserving

that

judgment.

So

what's

the answer?

It's

faith.

faith.

It is

faith.

Faith is

not just

some

mental

acknowledgement

of certain

truths or

doctrines or

principles.

Faith is

what is the

opposite of

faith?

The opposite

of faith is

self-sufficiency.

So faith

is dependence.

Faith is

just

dependence

on another,

humble

dependence.

it is a

sense of

helplessness

and a

reaching out

of hands

to one

who can

supply

need.

Instead of

being a

life that

depends on

me and

what I

do,

it's

trusting

somebody

else.

It's

looking

outside of

my life

to find

life.

Instead

of life

being that

which centers

around me,

it's centered

around

someone else.

it's centered

around a

covenant

God in

particular.

In God's

revelation to

Habakkuk points

there's two

core aspects

of faith

that he brings

out here

that actually

give us,

that help us

learn what

faith is,

but gives us

hope.

even as we

face these

really tough

hard

circumstances.

In the

first one,

I'm going to

take them in

reverse order.

So I'm going

to start with

verse 20.

And there we

see God's

sovereign rule

where he says,

but the Lord is

in his holy

temple, let all

the earth keep

silence before

him.

keep

silent.

This is in

light of

complaining.

To keep

silent is

now coming

to that

place where

it says,

I have

nothing to

say.

This is not

me.

This is all

about you.

And what

faith is here

in the

sovereign God,

it's simply

the acknowledgement

that I

am not

God.

Of course,

you knew

that.

But why is

it so hard

for me to

figure that

out?

Faith,

you know,

I cannot

build enough

security to

bring me

peace.

I cannot

provide for

myself

adequately.

I cannot

protect

myself

from evils

in this

world.

I cannot

determine what

happens

tomorrow.

I cannot

undo what

happened

yesterday.

I am

not God.

I'm not

God for me.

I'm not

God for

anybody else.

God for

us.

And that

statement

alone takes

me out of

the center

of things.

It takes

me out

because if

I'm not

God,

then the

world does

not revolve

around me

and my

needs and

my wants

and my

agenda and

my plans.

I don't

determine.

Somebody

else does.

And that

in itself

in some

ways may

be comforting.

It may

not be.

Because if

there is a

king, if

there's somebody

else making

these

determinations,

what if

he's not

good?

Well, see, we

have hope

here because

if you see

in this

verse, it's

not just

anybody who's

in his holy

temple.

It's the

Lord.

It is the

covenant

God of

Israel.

It is the

God who

brought them

out of

slavery, out

of the land

of Egypt.

It is the

God who

carried them

through the

wilderness.

It is the

God who

planted them

in Canaan.

It is the

God who

declared that

he would be

their God,

they would

be his

people, and

he would

dwell right

in their

midst.

This

God

is the

sovereign ruler

of all

things.

And so

faith

begins

with this

humble

place

that, yes,

God rules,

but the

God who

rules

is good.

he is

for me,

his rule

is for

me.

He is

the God

of the

covenant,

a covenant

that was

fulfilled

and satisfied

through the

sacrifice

of the

Lamb of

God.

God

God.

And if

he would

do that

for me,

I think

I can

trust him.

The

second

thing

here

is God's

ultimate

glory.

Look at

verse 14.

For the

earth will

be filled

with the

knowledge

of the

glory of

the Lord

as the

waters

cover the

sea.

That

statement

says so

much.

And it

indeed

is,

it is a

huge

comfort

because

I'm made

for glory.

I was

created

for it.

I was

created by

the one

who is the

king of

glory.

I was

created in

his image.

And so

I'm made

for

significance.

I carry

the image

of my

maker.

I'm not

weighty

in myself.

I will

never be

in what I

do.

I will

never create

significance or

value than

any achievement

or any

purchase or

any position

that I

would hold.

I am

valued because

I belong to

one who

is glorious.

you know,

Habakkuk,

as he

wrote this,

he had no

idea what

was coming.

Maybe just

a glimpse,

but we can

look back.

We look back

to John

John 1:14

chapter 1

verse 14

where he

wrote,

and the

word became

flesh and

dwelt among

us.

And we

have seen

his glory,

glory as

of the only

son of

the father,

full of

grace and

truth.

What

Habakkuk

probably could

not realize

fully is

when the

glory would

fill the

earth,

the glory

would not

just be

the light

of glory,

it would

be the

glorious one

himself,

that God

would come,

not in a

cloud,

not in

fire that

the nation

of Israel

had known

in the

past,

but he

would come

in a

man,

they would

see him

face to

face,

not just

his backside

like Moses

saw in the

wilderness,

but his

face,

that the

God of

glory would

come.

And

incredibly,

the way he

came was

just the

opposite of

the way that

we seek

glory.

We want

to build

it up and

cling to

position.

He laid

aside his

position.

He laid

aside his

right to

be at the

right hand of

the Father,

to be in

that glorious

place, and

he took the

form of a

servant.

He came

to the

arrogance

to serve

glory.

And die

and die

so that we

could once

again know

real glory.

And that's

not all.

We look at

John 17

John 17:22

verses 22

and 23.

The glory

that you have

given me,

this is the

prayer of Jesus

right before he

was to die.

The glory you

have given me,

I have given

to them,

that they may

be one even

as we are

one.

I in them,

you in me,

that they may

become perfectly

one.

You see that?

You know what

glory is waiting

for us?

We are now

in Christ.

We have been

given his

glory.

The Father is

in him.

He is in us.

We are in

them.

And now this

fellowship,

unlike any

we could have

ever dreamed,

that we would

be one

with God

himself.

And then one

day we would

stand before

his face

and see

his glory

and realize

we will be

just like

him.

We are

promised

real glory.

We will be

like the

sun.

For all

that we were

made to know,

living by

faith,

rest in

those promises

so that we

don't have to

create these

things by

ourselves.

But living

by faith

means we

rest in the

one who

controls all

things and

the one who

is taking

us to

glory.

We rest.

trust.

We trust.

In your

struggles,

in your

trials,

beware the

villains.

Beware your

self-sufficient

efforts to

make things

right.

Beware your

self-righteousness

that's always in

your eyes you

look better than

they do.

Remember

that we have a

God that has

come already

as a servant.

Remember

that he has

now called us

to be that

servant.

He has paid

the ultimate

price and all

to bring us

into his

glory.

Wait.

Trust him.

and you

will be

satisfied.

Let's pray

together.

Father, we

have such a

hard time

conceiving of

these things.

We have such

a fainting

vision of what

glory it really

is.

But it's

coming.

It's coming.

Father, we

resist so

much letting

you control

things because

we're not sure

you're really

good.

But you

are.

Would you

empower us by

your spirit to

walk by faith?

Would you

empower us to

rest?

Would you

empower us to

trust you?

Father, bring

us to glory.

bring us near

that we may

know you.

And we pray

in Jesus' name.

Amen.

For more

information,

visit us

online at

southwood.org.

God bless you.

Todd-

God bless you.

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