Habakkuk 2

Perspective ~ faith watches

Pray

Intro

√ Perspective ~ faith watches

In chapter 1…”Perplexity ~ faith wavers” we found the prophet Habakkuk boldly registering his complaints with God.

“Why do you make me look at injustice?”

“Why do you tolerate wrong?”

“Why are you silent while the wicked swallow up the righteous?”

Now we him in chapter 2 waiting for God’s reply…

He recognized that he needed God’s perspective as his own perspective was muddled by his prejudice and limited vision.

So, he waits silently for God to answer.

Ap. How’d you do this week listening for God to speak?

I think you’ll find chapter 2 to be an encouragement to your prayer life because we find that God does answer Habakkuk…

…he just had to stop talking long enough to listen to God!

Watch (vs. 1)

Hab. 2:1 I will stand my watch

And set myself on the rampart,

And watch to see what He will say to me,

And what I will answer when I am corrected.

√ Watch

Habakkuk was sure that God would answer his prayers and made himself ready to hear from God by…

Watching ~ that is, he gave his full attention to the Lord so that when God spoke he wouldn’t miss His voice.

Isolation ~ he got away by himself (rampart ~ high on the outer wall) so that he would not be distracted while waiting on God.

Expectation ~ he was confident that God would speak!

Humility ~ he knew that his complaints had missed the mark and that once God spoke that he would understand God’s plans and recognize that he was wrong in his conclusions.

So, we find Habakkuk like a watchman straining his eyes to see what God might show him, and listening to what God might speak to him.

Ap. Productive prayer time

Most of us struggle to have a productive prayer time.

It’s not that we don’t pray, we just don’t pray well!

Vs. 1 gives us a great model for making our prayer time more productive.

Set aside time when you can focus your attention on the Lord.

Get alone and remove anything that might distract you from your purpose.

Pray and listen with expectation ~ God had promised to answer, do you really believe Him?

Be humble and open to God’s correction, sometimes we don’t hear because we don’t want to hear the truth!

If we put these simple steps into practice I think you’ll find that your prayer time is more productive, more satisfying, and that your love for the Lord will increase as a result of closer fellowship with Him.

Write (vs. 2)

Hab. 2:2 Then the LORD answered me and said:

“Write the vision

And make it plain on tablets,

That he may run who reads it.

√ Write

When God finally does speak He instructs Habakkuk to write the vision on tablets.

That is, God’s answer is not for Habakkuk alone, rather it is meant to be proclaimed throughout the land so that all the righteous may know and understand God’s plans for the future.

The vision as recorded in the rest of chapter 2 describes God’s future judgment upon Babylon…

…the very nation that He was about to use to judge His own people!

God’s promise to in His time bring judgment upon Babylon would be an encouragement to Habakkuk because it demonstrates God’s fairness.

That is, He wasn’t just going to judge the wicked in Judah, He would in His timing judge all the wicked of the world.

That knowledge helped Habakkuk to understand why God would use a wicked pagan nation as the instrument of His judgment on Judah.

Wait (vs. 3-5)

Hab. 2:3 For the vision is yet for an appointed time;

But at the end it will speak, and it will not lie.

Though it tarries, wait for it;

Because it will surely come,

It will not tarry.

Hab. 2:4 “Behold the proud,

His soul is not upright in him;

But the just shall live by his faith.

Hab. 2:5 “Indeed, because he transgresses by wine,

He is a proud man,

And he does not stay at home.

Because he enlarges his desire as hell,

And he is like death, and cannot be satisfied,

He gathers to himself all nations

And heaps up for himself all peoples.

√ Wait

“For the vision is yet for an appointed time;

But at the end it will speak, and it will not lie.

Though it tarries, wait for it;

Because it will surely come,

It will not tarry.” ~ vs. 3

Every prophecy requires some degree of patience.

That is, when God predicts the future…

…you have to wait until the future arrives!

Some prophecies come to pass quickly, like Jesus’ prediction that Peter would deny that he knew Him.

Other prophecies aren’t fulfilled until thousands of years have passed, like the vision of the “time of the end” given to Daniel.

So it is with the prophecy of Babylon’s destruction, it will come because God said it would, but Habakkuk would have to wait for God’s timing.

Ex. Waiting for God’s judgment of Babylon

I’m fairly certain that if Habakkuk could have had it his way that he would have destroyed Babylon immediately!

But, God had a plan to work out before He brought His judgment.

The people of Judah had to experience 70 years of captivity in Babylon during which God gave the land of Israel its Sabbath rest (2 Chron. 36:21)…

…and time to cure those captives of the idolatry that got them into the mess they were in.

Ap. Waiting on God

Like Habakkuk I find myself growing impatient with God to bring about His final judgment on the wicked and the establishment of His Kingdom on earth.

However, I’m reminded by God’s words to Habakkuk…

…”wait for it”, that He has a perfect time to bring it all to pass.

There are people still to be saved, miracles still to be done, and plans that God is working out that would be terminated if I had my way and brought an end to the wicked today!

√ Waiting in faith

In the midst of the present turmoil in Judah, and then during the dark days of the Babylonian invasion and captivity, Habakkuk and the other righteous Jews would have to trust that God was still in control.

“But the just shall live by his faith.” ~ vs. 4

That is, even when they looked at horrific destruction that Babylon would bring…

Leveling every fortified city in Judah

Breaking down the walls of Jerusalem

Burning the Temple, the palaces and homes of Jerusalem

Killing thousands of people and carrying off the rest captive

And it seemed as if God had abandoned them, they would need to live by faith that God would work it all out for good in their lives.

Ap. The just shall live by faith

This little verse is quoted by the writers of the New Testament three times!

Reminding us that God’s people will always have to walk by faith…

…trusting God’s providence and promises even when we can’t see them with our eyes.

To live without faith is to live like the Babylonians and all proud people who trust in themselves and their own strength rather than in God.

The blessing though are found by those who live by faith because they have come to believe that God alone can navigate them safely through this life and into eternity.

√ Wine

In vs. 5 God reveals the Achilles’ heal of the Babylonians, their love for wine!

“Indeed, because he transgresses by wine”

Historically the Babylonians were said to love wine and we find a number of examples of their excessive drinking in the Scripture…

Esther chapter 1 ~ king Ahasuerus threw a huge party where the wine flowed abundantly for 7 days! It was in part because the king had drunk so much wine that he ordered queen Vashti to come out before his drunken friends.

But the worst example of their love for wine and it’s subsequent ill effects is the account of Belshazzar’s impudent decision to drink from Temple cups and toast his gods.

While they were drunk the great city of Babylon fell to the Medo-Persians army without a fight!

So, vs. 5 has a prophetic edge to it as it predicts Belshazzar’s sin and the subsequent judgment of Babylon by God.

Woe (vs. 6-20)

√ Woe!

In vs. 6-20 God describes in detail the judgment that He planned for Babylon.

He announces it through five “woes” each meant to describe the grief and terror that the Babylonians would experience when God’s judgment came.

The 5 woes are written in the form of a song, more specifically a “taunting song”…

“Will not all these take up a proverb against him,

And a taunting riddle against him”

Literally it should read…

“Will not all of them take up against him a taunt-song”

God’s prediction is that all the nations whom the Babylonians conquered will one day watch as Babylon falls and at that time they will sing a song and mock the nation who once saw themselves as invincible.

1^st Woe ~ vs. 6-8

Hab. 2:6 “Will not all these take up a proverb against him,

And a taunting riddle against him, and say,

‘Woe to him who increases

What is not his—how long?

And to him who loads himself with many pledges’?

Hab. 2:7 Will not your creditors rise up suddenly?

Will they not awaken who oppress you?

And you will become their booty.

Hab. 2:8 Because you have plundered many nations,

All the remnant of the people shall plunder you,

Because of men’s blood

And the violence of the land and the city,

And of all who dwell in it.

√ 1^st woe ~ plundered

Beginning with Nabopolassar, Nebuchadnezzar’s father, the Babylonian Empire had rampaged through the Middle East, parts of Greece and Egypt plundering the nations.

They conquered dozens of nations in the process as they expanded the Empire and stripped each nation of all the treasures they possessed.

Then they placed heavy tributes (taxes) on the nations they conquered and thereby extorted them.

But, God foretold a day when the nations Babylon had conquered would rise up in rebellion and plunder the Babylonians!

Ap. Historical fulfillment

The Babylonian Empire fell to Cyrus the Great as he led the combined armies of the Medes and the Persians against Babylon.

The powerful armies of Babylonia were routed without a arrow being fired!

They were so confident in their army and the walls of the city that they neglected to post a guard and partied with Belshazzar.

Cyrus simply diverted the Euphrates river that formed a mote around the city and under the cover of night sent his troops in under the water gates (slides 1-2).

Once inside the city they assassinated Belshazzar and took over the kingdom!

Later Cyrus granted the Jewish captives freedom and allowed them to return to Judah and even sent back the treasures that the Babylonians captured!

2^nd Woe ~ vs. 9-11

Hab. 2:9 “Woe to him who covets evil gain for his house,

That he may set his nest on high,

That he may be delivered from the power of disaster!

Hab. 2:10 You give shameful counsel to your house,

Cutting off many peoples,

And sin against your soul.

Hab. 2:11 For the stone will cry out from the wall,

And the beam from the timbers will answer it.

√ 2^nd woe ~ pride

The Babylonians used the plunder they captured to build magnificent cities with high walls and incredible defenses that they were sure no one could defeat.

They saw themselves like eagles in a “nest” (vs. 9), high above their enemies! (Slides 3-4)

Yet, as we saw in the previous verses their pride led to their downfall because they were overly confident in the walls they had built.

Their sin was that they trusted in their own ingenuity and power to protect them rather than trusting in God!

“Unless the LORD guards the city,

The watchman stays awake in vain.” ~ Psalm 127:1

Pride always proceeds the fall of both individuals and nations.

Ap. A sober warning!

We Christians in America should never fall prey to the false belief that our powerful military can protect us!

September 11, 2001 proved that no matter how powerful we are, no matter how ingenious our weapons…

…we cannot defend against every evil.

We ought to place our trust in God alone and pray that the servants of Allah would not be victorious in their desire to bring greater harm to our nation.

3^rd Woe ~ vs. 12-14

Hab. 2:12 “Woe to him who builds a town with bloodshed,

Who establishes a city by iniquity!

Hab. 2:13 Behold, is it not of the LORD of hosts

That the peoples labor to feed the fire,

And nations weary themselves in vain?

Hab. 2:14 For the earth will be filled

With the knowledge of the glory of the LORD,

As the waters cover the sea.

√ 3^rd woe ~ Bloodguilt

Another sin for which God was bringing judgment upon Babylon was that they built their great cities, palaces and temples with the lives of slaves.

Like most of the ancient peoples, the Babylonians used the peoples they captured for their work projects.

They mistreated these slaves and simply used them until they died.

Ex. Wonders of the Ancient World

Ever wonder how the ancient peoples of Egypt and other nations moved such huge stones without the aide of modern equipment?

With the lives of slaves!

Some have estimated that when Herod the Great built the fortress palace of Masada that over 10,000 slaves died in the process!

So, God foretells a time when the knowledge of Him will cover the earth replacing the bloody kingdom built by the Babylonians.

Ap. His Kingdom

The Millennial Kingdom will wash the earth of all the violence of mankind to such a degree that nothing of the kingdoms of men will be left! (ref. Daniel 2)

4^th Woe ~ vs. 15-17

Hab. 2:15 “Woe to him who gives drink to his neighbor,

Pressing him to your bottle,

Even to make him drunk,

That you may look on his nakedness!

Hab. 2:16 You are filled with shame instead of glory.

You also—drink!

And be exposed as uncircumcised!

The cup of the LORD’S right hand will be turned against you,

And utter shame will be on your glory.

Hab. 2:17 For the violence done to Lebanon will cover you,

And the plunder of beasts which made them afraid,

Because of men’s blood

And the violence of the land and the city,

And of all who dwell in it.

√ 4^th woe ~ Lust

Here the Lord rebukes the Babylonians for their barbaric and inhumane treatment of others.

They are pictured here as perverts who would force their captives to drink so that they could then take advantage of them and expose them to shame.

The Lord promises that they will receive the same treatment from Him when He brings judgment upon them!

Ap. White Throne judgment

What men think is hidden, the evil they did in the dark, the murders they committed to hide their wickedness, and the perverse thoughts of their minds will all be exposed at the White Throne judgment!

“And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books.” ~ Rev. 20:12

One more reason to give your life to Christ as He alone can erase the charges against you!

5^th Woe ~ vs. 18-20

Hab. 2:18 “What profit is the image, that its maker should carve it,

The molded image, a teacher of lies,

That the maker of its mold should trust in it,

To make mute idols?

Hab. 2:19 Woe to him who says to wood, “Awake!’

To silent stone, ‘Arise! It shall teach!’

Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver,

Yet in it there is no breath at all.

Hab. 2:20 “But the LORD is in His holy temple.

Let all the earth keep silence before Him.”

√ 5^th woe ~ Idolatry

The last sin for which God will bring judgment upon Babylon is that they rejected Him and worshipped idols!

Babylon is where idolatry began ~ the tower of Babel, or as they called it, the “gateway to god”.

Babylon was given over to the worship of a multitude of Gods.

Worse is that God in His grace made Himself known to Nebuchadnezzar through the testimony of Daniel and by visions…

…yet after his death his descendants led the Babylonians back into the worship of their false gods.

Ap. Idolatry is still with us!

Atheism is the worship of Man, Wicca is one of the fastest growing religions in America, and even many Christians have been seduced from the worship of God to the worship of self.

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