>Habakkuk: God’s Perspective of the World
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A Sermon by Dr. Bob Griffin, Teaching Elder at Sovereign Grace Church
I. QUESTIONS ABOUT PRAYER
A. UNDERSTANDING THE WORLD OF 600 BC
Hab 1:1 The message of doom that burdened the prophet Habakkuk.
>>1. ABOUT THE PROPHET
>>2. ABOUT THE PEOPLE
B. PLEADING FOR DIVINE INTERVENTION
>>1. WHY DOESN’T GOD ANSWER MY PRAYER?
Hab 1:2-3 Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and You will not hear? Or cry to You of wrong, and You will not deliver? Why do You allow me see iniquity when You look indifferently at wrong? Destruction and wrong surround me; strife and contention abound.
>>2. WHY DOESN’T GOD DO SOMETHING TO CONTROL EVIL?
Hab 1:4 So the Law seems paralyzed, and justice never happens. Wickedness hems in the righteous, so any judgment given is corrupted.
II. RESPONSE FROM GOD
A. RECOGNIZING THE ANSWER IS COMING
>>1. GOD IS WORKING EVEN IF WE DON’T UNDERSTAND
Hab 1:5 “Look at the nations and watch; wonder and be astounded. For I am doing something in your day that you won’t believe even if you were told.
(also Jer 5:9, 12)
>>2. GOD IS ANSWERING PRAYER
Hab 1:6 For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans, that angry and swift nation, who march across the breadth of the earth, to occupy other people’s lands.
B. KNOWING GOD WILL BRING JUSTICE ON LAWBREAKERS
>>1. GOD’S RESPONSE TO PRAYER IS NOT WHAT WE EXPECT
Hab 1:7-9 They are dreaded and feared; they are a law to themselves, promoting their own standards. Their horses are swifter than leopards, fiercer than wolves hunting at night; their horsemen push proudly ahead. Their horsemen come from remote places; they cover the landscape like an eagle eager to consume. Their intent is wholly for plunder; they always look for more, like a windstorm off the desert.
>>2. GOD CAN CHOOSE ANY METHOD TO JUDGE SIN
Hab 1:9a-11 They sweep up exiles like sand. They ridicule kings, laugh at political leaders, and mock every fortress, as they make ramps and batter it down.
Finally, the wind changes and they move another direction in their desires; their own might is their god!”
III. QUESTIONS ABOUT THE FUTURE
A. ACCEPTING GOD’S PLAN
>>1. GOD IS JUDGING THROUGH BABYLON
Hab 1:12 Lord, aren’t You eternal, O my God, my Holy One? We won’t perish.
Lord, You have ordained them to execute judgment, and You, O Rock, have established them for punishment.
>>2. HOW CAN GOD TOLERATE AN EVEN MORE WICKED NATION?
Hab 1:13 Your pure eyes cannot look on evil nor endure wrongdoing. Why, then, do You tolerate the hidden agenda?
Why do You remain silent when the wicked swallows up those more righteous than he?
B. MAINTAINING INTEGRITY AND FAITH
>>1. WILL THIS JUDGMENT CONTINUE FOREVER?
Hab 1:14-17 You make humanity as if fish in the sea, like sea creatures that have no leader. They pull all of them up with hooks, catching them in nets; they gather them in a dragnet; and so celebrates and is happy. Then they sacrifice to the net and burn incense to the dragnet; for by their net they live in luxury with abundant food.
Will they just keep on emptying the net and heartlessly destroying nations forever?
>>2. HOW SHALL WE THEN LIVE?
Hab 2:1 I will take my stand at my watch and station myself on the tower and look out to see what He will say to me, and what I will answer after I’m corrected.
(also I Cor 4:2; Job 42:5-6; Is 55:8-9)
QUESTION #1 – Where is GOD when I pray?
QUESTION #2 – Why doesn’t GOD deliver me from trouble?
QUESTION #3 – If I (as a human) can see evil, why doesn’t GOD seem to see it?
QUESTION #4 – Can’t eternal GOD do anything He wants?
QUESTION #5 – If GOD hates evil, why does He tolerate evil people?
QUESTION #6 – How can GOD bring an even more evil solution to an already evil situation?
QUESTION #7 – How long, GOD, is this going to last?
The QUESTION we should end with is “What am I going to do? What sort of life will I live? How deep is the reality of my faith? Can I cling to God, even when I don’t understand or even know the answers?