Exploring Habakkuk: Understanding God's Judgment and Faith

Hello and welcome to the Middletown Baptist Church Podcast, where we are proclaiming the truth to the world.

My name is Pastor Josh, and I want to thank you for listening to this podcast.

I hope that this podcast can be a blessing to you and strengthen you in the word of God.

Now, come along.

Let's look into the Bible and see what God has for us here today.

All right, well, let's go ahead and get into our Bible study here this evening.

If you have your Bibles, turn there with me to Habakkuk Chapter two.

I know that's not a passage of scripture that we go to quite frequently.

If you want to know where Habakkuk is, it's after Nahum and before Zephaniah.

And for some of you, like, that doesn't help me at all either.

It's there in the Old Testament, considered to be a minor prophet, not minor in in purpose, but minor in size.

And so this is one of those books of the prophets.

So I'll give you a few moments there to find Habakkuk.

For some of you, you guys just cheat and get on your phones, and that's okay.

As long as it's you're reading your following, that's a good thing.

But either way, we're in Habakkuk Chapter two.

And I appreciate that you're here this evening.

And two weeks ago, we started the study in the book of Habakkuk.

And I know that it's been a few weeks, and I know that sometimes we have a lot between our.

Our services, and so there might be some things that are clouding your memory.

So what is Habakkuk all about?

Habakkuk is a prophet.

And remember what a prophet is.

In the Old Testament, a prophet is someone who is proclaiming the truth of God to God's people.

Again, you have to remember at the time of the Old Testament and even the time of the New Testament for that matter, you don't have the complete canon of Scripture.

You don't have all the 66 books finished and complete.

And so the way God would speak to his people would be that he would speak through a prophet.

And that word prophet or prophecy, just means to speak forth truth.

And so Habakkuk is called by God to speak forth the truth to his people, specifically the people there in Israel who were going to be facing judgment.

So Habakkuk has a message to tell God's people, and that is a message of judgment, that if they continue on this path of sin, that God would judge them for that sin and bring a judgment upon the land.

Now, Habakkuk actually starts this book with a question.

And really the book of Habakkuk itself is a lesson on how we can ask God questions.

And there's this phrase that I've been really growing in, in.

In this study, and I think it's a helpful phrase.

The question is, is can we question God?

And I think that we should not question God in his character, but we are allowed to ask God questions.

And there's a biblical way to ask God questions.

And we see that throughout the Bible.

But here in the book of Habakkuk, we definitely see a good example of asking God in a way that's honorable, authentic, respectful.

There's a way to ask God questions.

Now, does God always answer our questions?

Not always.

We see instances in Scripture where God does not answer the questions of his people.

There's times where God does answer the question, but it's not the answer that people want to hear.

And that's in some ways how Habakkuk is in chapter one.

So chapter one, Habakkuk says, God, I'm looking around me and all I see is evil.

All I see is violence.

All I see is rebellion.

Why are you letting this happen?

Why aren't you judging them?

Why aren't you taking care of this?

Why aren't you changing their hearts?

And God answers him and says, I am.

I'm going to judge them.

And I'm going to judge them by sending the Babylonians or, or here we see the Chaldeans.

It's the interchangeable phrase there.

The Chaldeans or the Babylonians.

And he says, I'm going to bring the Babylonians to judge God's people.

And Habakkuk has a problem with that because now Habakkuk says, God, why aren't you judging the people that are sinning?

Now God answers him, and he's not happy with God's answer and how he's doing it.

And sometimes that's how we are in our own life.

We ask God to do something, and when God does his.

His work, we get upset because we don't like it, how it goes about.

And that's how Habakkuk is.

He says, God, why would you send the Chaldeans?

These people are prideful.

They're arrogant, they're.

They're sinful.

They're worse than the Israelites.

And basically God answers him by saying, hey, I'm God.

I'm the one that.

That can do anything I want.

And in this case, I'm going to judge the Babylonians just as I'm going to judge the Israelites.

But it's God's prerogative on who he uses for his judgment.

And so he says, I'm going to use the Babylonians.

And you have to basically be okay with that.

But when Habakkuk asked this question, we're going to see his response not to God's answer, but his response in waiting.

And so we pick up in verse one of chapter two, this is where we left off last time.

So Habakkuk asked the main question, God, why aren't you judging?

God says, I will judge.

It'll be the Babylonians.

And basically Habakkuk asks the second question, why are you using the Babylonians?

Why would you do that, God?

It doesn't make sense to me.

And, and so this is where he's at.

He's asked the question.

And what does it say he does here in verse one, he says, I will stand upon my watch and set me upon the tower and will watch to see what he will say unto me.

So, so this is that waiting period.

I've asked God a question, and I'm going to wait to hear what God has to say.

I'm open to hear what God has to say.

So he's asking a real question.

We know that he's asking from a right spirit because he's waiting for the answer.

Sometimes we ask God questions and we're not really willing to hear the answer.

We ask it almost in a statement form.

But what he has said here is, God, I don't understand.

Explain this to me.

I will wait for you to give me that answer.

And it might be in God's timing, it might be immediate or it might take some time, but this is really where we see his heart.

Here at the end of verse one, he says in what I shall answer when I am reproved.

Meaning this.

I.

I'm ready to be corrected.

I.

I'm ready to be told that I'm thinking improperly.

So what can we take about this in.

In our own lives?

We can.

We can take this lesson that when we see things in a way that we don't understand, when we're confused, when it seems like God is doing something wrong in our minds and in our hearts, it's not that God has done wrong, it's that we're seeing it from the wrong perspective and that we need to change our perspective, we need to change our hearts.

And so when we come to God, we say, God, this doesn't seem to make sense.

But I know that you are good.

I know that you are holy.

I know that you are just.

I know that you love me.

So teach me why I'm seeing this from the wrong perspective.

Show me where I'm wrong.

That's essentially what Habakkuk is saying.

He says, I'm going to wait for God's answer and be ready to change where God has me to change.

And I think that's the proper understanding of when we come to God with questions like, lord, I don't like what you're doing.

I don't understand what you're doing.

I wouldn't do it that way, but I'm sure that I'm the one that's wrong.

So teach me where I need to change and what I need to change in my perspective on your work.

And so that's where Habakkuk is.

And I think that's how all of us have to be when we do come to ask God questions.

God loves us.

He's a loving father.

And every loving father wants to have his children come ask questions in an authentic way.

We looked at Psalm 13.

Psalm 13 is a great.

A great outline of how to ask God questions.

You come to God with these big authentic questions.

You go through that period of time where you explain to God what you're feeling like.

You might say, God, I don't feel like you're watching me.

God, I don't feel like you love me.

God, I feel alone.

Why do I feel alone?

Why are you doing this?

But then in Psalm 13, it comes around to the point where he says, but I know that your mercy is good.

I know that you are loving.

And so you go back to what you know about God and his character, and then you end in worship.

And that's really what Habakkuk is going to do.

We're going to see that same outline played out here in the book of Habakkuk.

Come with a real question.

Share with God how you're feeling.

He already knows how you're feeling.

But then recognize who God is in his character, and then worship him and praise him for that goodness.

So we're going to see God's answer to Habakkuk here.

Why God are you using the Babylonians, these prideful people, to judge Israel?

I don't understand this.

Well, here it is.

And the Lord answered me and said, write the vision and make it plain upon the tables or the tablets that he may run that readeth it.

God does not answer probably the way that Habakkuk was expecting.

What does God tell him immediately?

God tells Habakkuk to write this down, to record this question and answer session.

He says, hey, write down what you're experiencing right now.

Why?

So that other people can hear the truth.

And it says there at the end of verse two, that he may run that readeth it, meaning the person can flee this bad way of living, this prideful way of living.

So basically, what he's saying here to to Habakkuk is use this time of questioning as an opportunity to teach others what it means to know Christ and to know repentance.

And so Habakkuk's revelation here wasn't just for himself.

This wasn't all about him, even though it did relate to him specifically.

It was also about strengthening others.

And that's how we have to see these times of questioning and answering when it comes to our relationship with God, as God is revealing to us certain things in our life when we're going to him with these hard questions and when God's working in our hearts and when God's changing our life, and when God's sometimes bringing conviction and sometimes even in some cases, confusion for us and our human minds that we are to learn lessons from him so that we can point other people to those lessons, so that we can strengthen others.

And you see that happening there at the end of verse two, he says, write what you're experiencing down so that other people can be challenged, so that other people can be strengthened.

And so those who read this later on can make progress, so that they can move forward.

And if Habakkuk didn't write this down, it would have been just for him.

And then we see here, he says, make it plain, make it clear.

I think this is a great outline for preachers, like, as God is bringing forth to you truth.

And, and so, you know, as.

As I'm studying scriptures, as any pastor or preacher is studying the scriptures, we are to proclaim what we are learning, what we are struggling with other people.

And it says there, make it plain so that people can change.

Make it clear.

And that's what he's telling Habakkuk.

Make your vision clear here, make this lesson clear.

And so Habakkuk first had to see the vision of God, the leading of God, the teaching of God, because the preacher cannot make anyone else see the truth if the preacher himself hasn't seen the truth.

And so Habakkuk has to go through this trial, we would call it maybe a crisis of belief moment, so that he can lead Other people, when they face those questions and when they face those doubts, I wish I could get up here and tell you, and I've heard preachers do this, and maybe they're telling the truth, but I wish I could get up here and tell you I've never doubted, I've never questioned.

Everything has been so clear in my life.

I've known every step of the way what God is doing, but that is not the truth.

There's times in my life, maybe in your life that you're confused.

Maybe there's cloudiness, maybe you're not sure why God is allowing you to go through this trial, or maybe why God has taken this out of your life or added this to your life.

And.

And there's times in our life where we do have to come and we do have to wrestle with those hard things.

And so what God is telling Habakkuk is, Habakkuk, it's not all about you.

It's not even all about Israel.

It's about all those people.

For.

For in this time period in his country.

We'll read this.

And hey, maybe Habakkuk didn't even understand that people, you know, thousands of years later would be studying this on a Wednesday night, right?

And so that's the amazing thing that we're seeing here, that God is saying, hey, make it known, make it clear.

You have to understand this process so that other people can understand this process.

And so Habakkuk is told to make it known.

A preacher and all of us, by the way, can preach the truth of God.

A preacher has to proclaim the truth of God that they are obtaining in their own life.

And so that's what he's saying here in this case.

And so he says, make it plain, make it permanent as possible, and really make it practical.

Make it practical.

He says, hey, so.

So at the end of verse two, he says, make it so that when they read this, that they can run, that they can progress, that they can move, that they can change.

Make it.

Make it to a place where people can see the need to change.

And remember in context, Habakkuk is talking to Israel, who.

They're living a life of sin.

They're living a life of rebellion to God.

So the change would be that they would turn back to God in revival.

And so the whole purpose of all of this is so that the message can be proclaimed, so that people can change, so that people can move, so that people can turn their hearts back to the Lord.

And that's really what all preaching should Be all preaching should eventually get to a place where there's a call to action, where there's a place to say, you know what, I need to turn my heart to Christ in this.

I need to turn my life over to the truth of God in this.

And so that's what he's saying here.

Preach it in such a way that, that there is, there's activity, that there's, that there is a choice, that there's a decision that needs to be made.

Verse 3 Here he says, for the vision is yet for an appointed time.

So he says basically the time has not come for judgment yet.

There's still time.

There's not a guarantee on how long that's going to be.

But this message that is being preached to you right now is going to be a message that needs to be preached later.

Preach it now so that people later can benefit from this message.

And, and so Habakkuk is speaking for God for an age beyond his own.

The Babylonians come in later on, right in the future.

It doesn't happen in Habakkuk's lifetime.

And you might say, what's the point in that?

The point in that is that things that we're doing now, yes, they do impact today.

But the things that we are doing in our lives and learning from the Lord are not only going to impact today, but they're going to impact the next generation and maybe a generation after that.

And if God terries generations and generations and generations to come, like I can tell you this in my own life and my own testimony that decisions that were made in the 1950s are, are impacting my life today.

And what do I mean by that?

Well, I, I'm, I'm a first, second, third generation Christian.

So my grandfather was led to Christ as an adult man.

And I don't have a lot of time, but if I had more time, I would explain to you the whole story.

It's an amazing story.

There was a pastor who knew my grandfather prior to his salvation.

He got saved, he went off to Bible college, he invited my grandfather to church.

And my grandfather was a little bit standoffish with that.

But anyway, time progressed.

My grandfather got saved and then my dad was born in that church and my dad got saved and I was born in that church and I got saved.

And it was because of a decision of a man that was willing to impact my grandfather that, hey, I'm able to be a believer today.

And I don't know why and how that all plays out in the grand scheme of eternity, but I do know that decisions that I'm making today, decisions that you are making today will impact those around you today, but they can impact generations to come.

And who knows what that is?

I do know that there is a classic story of.

I think it's like one Sunday school teacher who led one person to Lord, who led one person to Lord, eventually came down and that person was got saved at a conference.

And it was Billy Graham.

And of course, you guys know his ministry.

And so again, you just never know the impact of what one decision will be.

So Habakkuk has that told to him, like, this is coming for a time that is in the future.

But then he says this in verse three, but at the end, it shall speak and not lie, meaning this.

It's all going to come around.

What I am telling you will.

Will come to pass.

This is going to be true.

And so he says, hey, this is not a lie.

This is the truth.

This is the final word.

Though it tarry, wait for it, because it will surely come.

It will not tarry.

And so what God is essentially telling Habakkuk is as things go the way that it goes, it will come to pass, as judgment will come to pass.

And it's the same thing with preaching.

Like, if I'm preaching to somebody and we take a timeless truth from Scripture, hey, you're not the exception.

None of us are the exception.

None of us can thwart the plan of God.

So if God talks about the law of sowing and reaping, we can't run away from that, okay?

The idea is that what we sow, we will reap.

And so that's a principle to teach.

And it's not like, hey, that's my principle.

I didn't come up with that principle.

That's a principle from the word of God.

And so what God is saying here is like, hey, you can do whatever you want to do.

You can try to fight against this prophecy, you can try to come up with your own plans, you can try to come up with your.

Your own religion, your own schemes.

But ultimately the word of God is going to come to pass.

And.

And so I think that's important for us to understand as well when it comes to those questions that we're having, because it doesn't really matter where we're at in questioning God.

God, God is still God.

And we can't stop his plan from coming to pass, though we can do everything that we can to stop what he's doing.

It's going to come to pass.

So.

So think about it this way.

There were people specifically, you know, the enemy.

Satan was trying to stop the plan of God to happen when it came to the redemption of Jesus Christ.

But yet, no matter what was happening, and we know that through the temptation.

Right, Read Matthew, chapter four.

Right.

Satan was trying to do everything he could to get Jesus not to do what God wanted him to do.

And that's why Jesus was seeking after the will of the Father.

And it's the same thing with us in our own lives.

So we have to understand that God is, is on the throne still, and there's nothing that we can do to stop his ultimate judgment that's going to happen in this world.

So look at verse number four with me, because verse number four is, is, is a, so, so, so important.

Why is this so important?

Because I, I would say that this passage of Scripture, specifically verse four, is one of the most quoted verses in all of the New Testament.

And we're going to look at that here in a few moments, some of you, maybe even when I read this verse, will recognize it from another place in the New Testament.

This is the verse, whether you agree with all of his theology or not.

I don't agree with all of his theology, but Martin Luther, if you know anything about the Protestant Reformation, this was the verse that Martin Luther read and recognized that was, it was being taught wrong.

Like the, the, the people are not saved by their works, they're saved by their faith.

Okay, so this is the verse that, what, the first time we see this verse actually stated in Scripture, and then it's quoted again many times.

So look at it there with me, verse four.

Behold, his soul, which is lifted up is not upright in him.

Now he's making a reference here to, to the proud.

And, and so what he's saying here is like, those that are proud are never going to find salvation.

And so he's actually referencing Israel and specifically Babylon.

He says, Babylon is a prideful nation.

You guys are a prideful nation.

He's talking to Israel there.

He says, habakkuk, Israel's prideful.

Babylon's prideful.

But he says here his soul, which is lifted up, is not upright in him.

And so Habakkuk wondered why Babylon, who was prideful, who was more sinful than Judah, would be used to bring judgment against Judah.

And what God is basically answering Habakkuk in is this.

Hey, I'm going to assure you, Habakkuk, I know how prideful Babylon is.

And their pride will be judged.

We see in the New Testament a theme that, that God will resist the proud and give grace to the humble, that he will tear down the proud and build up the humble.

And so that's the same principle that we see here in verse four, he's talking about the prideful.

And that first part of verse four, he's describing the, the broad spectrum of pride.

And, and there's a lot of areas where people are prideful.

So there are people who are prideful in what they have.

Maybe it's riches or maybe it's power or maybe it's whatever control.

That, that is something that is a catalyst to pride in many people's lives.

And a lot of times we think that only people that have things can be prideful.

But actually we know that even people without things can be prideful.

So for, for example, you know, someone who has less in their life materially might see their, their struggle as that object of pride in their life.

You know, like, well, I'm, I'm a good person because, look, I don't have all those things that other people have.

It's kind of like, you know, the principle of the, the love of money is the root of all different type of evil.

Some people think that's only for people who have a lot of money.

But the Bible says that someone who has a little bit of money can love that money, right?

Because they're trying to hoard it.

And so the idea here is as I think a lot of times for people that, you know, well, I'm not that type of person, so I'm not prideful.

The Bible says that all of us are susceptible to pride.

It was the, the root of the original sin, lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes and the pride of life.

And so all of us to some degree, are going to struggle with that area of pride in our life.

And so, you know, you have someone who's talented is proud of their talents.

Okay, now I'm naturally talented.

I mean, playing sports, there were, there were individuals who just, they didn't have to practice.

They were just the best at everything they did.

So the temptation for that person would be that they are prideful in their talent, their natural talent.

What about the person, though, that wasn't naturally talented?

Well, maybe he would be prideful in his hard work, right?

I, I, I, I went out there and practiced all day, every day.

I'm prideful in what I did in that.

So, so again, you can see how pride can come from every different angle.

And that's what's being taught here is that anyone who exalts themselves is going to be on, on God's, you know, judgments and God is going to judge them for their pride.

So pride can be dangerous among obviously the unsaved because that leads to unbelief, right?

So it's pride that brings people to a place where they're not going to come to Christ.

But I would even say that even within the church, even within believers, pride can seep in and cause great issues.

And so there was a quote that I read said wherever pride is found, it is always hateful to God.

And we don't often think about that.

Our pride is hateful to God, but that's really the product.

When I'm exalting myself, I'm not exalting God.

So it's, it's rejecting God, it's rejecting our need for God.

And therefore it's disrespectful, it's hateful to God.

And so pride is, is, is, yes, it's hateful to others.

It's self exaltation.

And so what we can see here in this case is that God, it resists that.

But then who does he receive?

The people that do good.

Well, we're going to see what he says here.

He says, but the just, the just in this case would be those who are justified, those who are, are seen righteous.

The just shall live by his faith.

So, so I, I think there's a common misnomer that in the Old Testament, people were saved by their works.

People were saved by keeping the law, people were saved by the sacrifices.

We really never see that in the Old Testament.

Even in the Old Testament, we see that it was through faith that people found salvation.

If you want to know more about that commentary, you can read chapter 11 of the book of Hebrews.

It tells us that by faith all these individuals found salvation.

And so even here in the book of Habakkuk, we see that it's faith in God that brings people to that place of righteousness, the place of being justified before God.

Now that term justified just literally means to be declared righteous.

And so it doesn't say here that the person is righteous because of his good works.

It doesn't say this person, these people are righteous because of their, you know, traditions.

It says that they are righteous because they're living by faith.

And so in, in contrast to the proud you have those who are in faith.

Now to have faith, we have to be humble, right?

Because to, to come to a place of faith, we have to recognize that we cannot do what we need to do in our lives.

We cannot save ourselves.

And so to have faith in God means to humble ourselves and say, I need Him.

So if someone said, you know, I don't need forgiveness, I don't need God, but I'm still a Christian, do you see the disconnect there?

Right?

Because to be a Christian means I need God, I need his salvation.

I need what Jesus Christ did for me.

And so to live in pride is to live with a lack of faith.

Well, it's a lack of faith in God.

It's a faith in ourselves really is what it is.

Right?

If I have pride, I believe that I can do it.

So it's faith in me.

And faith in me is always going to fail.

But when we reject that pride and say, I can't do it, God can do it.

And that's faith.

And so you could look at it from, from the contrast of pride and faith.

And that's really what he's saying here.

So true faith looks to the Lord, pride looks to self.

And so this brief statement here in the Book of Habakkuk is one of the most important and most quoted passages of Scripture.

You be familiar with Paul's writings.

Paul uses this phrase quite frequently, talking about the just shall live by faith and not the law.

You can see that in the book of Galatians, Galatians, chapter three.

I want you to see some of these references because I think it's important to connect the dots between the Old Testament and the New.

So if you go to Galatians chapter three, and if you know anything about the book of Galatians, Paul is making a case for faith, basically making a case for our need for Christ.

It's not about the law, it's about Christ.

It's not about the flesh, it's about the Spirit.

So in the book of Galatians, Galatians chapter three, Paul is making his case.

And he gets the verse number 11.

And he says, but that no man is justified by the law.

In the sight of God, it is evident for that the just shall live by faith.

And so he quotes.

He quotes Habakkuk 2, 4.

So he says, it's clear that someone cannot save themselves in the law.

No one can be perfect.

Therefore the just shall live by faith.

Another passage of Scripture that we see that quoted in is Romans, Romans chapter 1, verse 17.

And I find this so interesting.

This has happened to me, just happened to me last time I preached on Sunday night.

So I preached about something on Sunday morning.

I said that Paul's theme was, I am ready.

And we read Romans Chapter one.

He says, I am ready to preach the gospel.

That's Romans 1:15.

And then we were looking in the Book of Acts and Paul says, I am ready to go to Jerusalem, to be in bonds and to die for my faith.

So I was like, wow, I didn't even plan that when I started the study in Acts, you know, months and months and months ago, I didn't plan for those two to come together.

Well, just so happened that.

It's not just so happened.

I believe it's by God's divine providence.

But here in Habakkuk Chapter two, we're preaching the just shall live by faith.

Guess what I'm preaching on this Sunday?

Romans 1:16 and 17.

The just shall live by faith.

And that's exactly what Paul says in Romans 1:17.

For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith.

As it is written, the just shall live by faith.

And so in Romans Chapter one, Paul is building this case of the Gospel being the center of everything that we do.

And he says, at the center of the Gospel is this truth that the just, the righteous shall live by faith and not by their works.

And so that's another case where this is quoted.

Another passage of Scripture where this is quoted is Hebrews chapter 10, verse 38.

And again he says in this verse now, the just shall live by faith.

But if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.

So he's talking about that push forward in faith like don't doubt, don't hesitate.

And so there's that.

So much of our faith, so much of our whole relationship with Christ is based around this principle of the just living by faith.

And so it's such an important verse.

It's a really neat a thing to see.

Even in the Old Testament, this idea that God was still from the very beginning preaching about faith in him.

So we are called to live by faith and nothing else.

Some Christians live their Christian life based in, hey, you know, everything's centered around my devotion life.

What I'm reading in the Bible, and that is so important.

I'm not downplaying what we read in the Bible, that it's a necessity for Christian growth.

But it doesn't matter how much you read in the Bible, if you have no faith in God, it's just another book, right?

Some people have faith in their works.

And again, works are good things.

I think.

I think we are saved to work, but those works outside of faith are just works.

They're nothing.

Some people in the Christian life have have they lived their life around their feelings?

And feelings and emotions are a good thing.

I don't believe we're called to be robots.

But again, if everything that we do is in our emotional sense, we're missing the point because our faith is in vain.

Then Christians sometimes live by circumstances, sometimes live by their condition of how their day is going.

You know, we don't just say that God is good when everything's going our way.

You know, that's.

That's sometimes what we as Christians in our culture today will do, Right?

God is good.

We'll praise him because everything's good.

I have a testimony.

I got a raise at work.

God is good.

But how many times have we, and this is.

I'm preaching to myself tonight.

How many times have we, when we're in the midst of a trial, say, God is good?

Amen.

Thank you, Lord, for this difficulty.

I mean, we don't say that.

That's foreign to us because that isn't a type of Christianity that is palatable for the average person.

Because we're taught in our society that if we believe in God and we trust in him, that everything will go the way that we want.

But that's not what the Bible teaches.

It's the just shall live by faith.

And so sometimes what happens is, is that to.

For faith to be a real thing, it has to be tested.

It has to be tested, and no one wants to talk about this, and that's okay.

And I used to be very superstitious, okay?

I would be always afraid to talk about this kind of stuff.

I'd be like, well, if I talk about testing my faith, that means God's going to test my faith.

And I got to be careful about that.

We need to be wise, and we don't need to be prideful about this, but we do need to just clearly and comfortably talk about what the Bible says.

And so the Bible very clearly says that there will be tests of faith.

Okay?

So is God Is.

Is God truly the one that we are putting our trust in?

And so there's going to be times in our life where we are tested.

Going back to the book of Habakkuk, Habakkuk is being tested in his faith.

Why?

Because God is doing things that don't make sense to him.

Basically, Habakkuk is being told that his people are going to be destroyed by their enemies.

That would not be something that would be comfortable to talk about.

Because now, remember, Habakkuk has to go to his people if he's obedient.

To God.

He's got to go to his people and say, guys, if we don't change our hearts, God is going to send the Babylonians to kill us.

And they're going to say, well, who are you?

You're not all part of us.

Get away.

But, but what God is telling Habakkuk to do is do a very difficult thing.

And so not only is Habakkuk's personal faith being tested, but even his public faith, right, he's got to come and now proclaim this to all those people that are around him.

And so there's going to be private tests of faith.

And those private tests of faith are always going to be manifested sometimes in a public way.

So, so the way that I deal with things in my personal life will be manifested by the way that I deal with things in the public square.

So, so what does that mean?

That means this.

If I don't trust God in private, I'm not going to be able to do those things that are going to publicly profess my faith to him.

So like, if I'm struggling with trusting God and eventually it becomes something that other people are aware of, my testimony can affect other people around me.

So if I get up and say all day, trust God, trust God, he is good, he's perfect.

He's the one that loves us.

And, and then when I'm tested in a trial and I go, well, God doesn't love me anymore.

Then, then everything that I've said has been discredited because I have been professing something that is not real to me.

And so Habakkuk is being tested in this.

And, and so God says, hey, the prideful trust themselves, the righteous trust in the Lord.

And, and that's really what it boils down to.

And that's, and that's in many sense, in many ways the gospel.

And so he goes a little bit further here and he continues to talk about this, this prideful people that, that he's eventually going to judge.

So it says in verse five, yea, also because he transgress, transgresseth by wine, he is a proud man.

So it speaks to this idea that he's abusing and he, he's using one man as a personification for everyone who struggles with pride.

So he said, if that makes sense to you guys, he's using like an example of one person to demonstrate what all people deal with in the area of pride.

He says he transgress us or sins by wine, meaning he's not able to have self control.

He's not able to be able to take things in a way that is godly, but he goes and he feeds his flesh.

He is a proud man, neither keepeth at home.

So what that means is like privately, he's not able to have discipline.

He's not able to be.

Be in a place of.

Of care and concern to the things of God who enlarges his desire as hell and is as death and cannot be satisfied.

So this speaks of this idea that God sees the proud man in the sense that he can never be satisfied.

So someone who is characterized by pride is always going to be insatiably after something, whether it's wine, whether it's materialism, whether it's illicit relationships, whatever it is, it's just always going to be something that he's going after.

And so God says, hey, you know what?

That, that person is not someone who's living by faith.

That is someone who's trying to satisfy themselves.

And they're always grasping, they're always wanting.

They're not satisfied by God.

They're not satisfied by the things of God.

So here in this case, he says, hey, that's, that's the person who's prideful.

It says, but gathereth unto him all nations, and heapeth.

Excuse me, and heapeth unto him all him, all people shall not all these take up a parable against him and a taunting proverb against him, and say, woe to him that increaseth that which is not his, how long?

And to him that layeth himself with thick clay shall they not rise up suddenly that shall bite thee and awake that shall vex thee, and thou shalt be for booties unto them, because thou has spoiled many nations, all the remnant of the people shall spoil thee because of men's blood for the violence of the land and of the city and all that dwell therein.

So what is he talking about here?

Essentially what he's doing is he's describing Babylon.

He's describing that, hey, even though I'm using Babylon as a tool for judgment, they're still going to face their judgment.

And he's describing the way that they go after people and they, they want more, and they want more, and they're never satisfied.

So here I would say God is answering Habakkuk's question by saying this.

Hey, I God, I'm God.

I'm assuring you, Habakkuk, that I know how to deal with prideful people.

I know how to deal with Babylon.

I'm going to deal with them properly.

And he promised that the Babylonians would, would, yes, they would take over a lot of nations, but one day someone would conquer that.

And so he's saying the Babylonians are perfect examples of prideful people who are trusting in themselves.

They're not living by faith.

And so basically, Habakkuk, don't worry, they're going to get theirs too.

That's what he's saying.

He's like, don't worry Habakkuk, they're not going to get away with what they're doing.

I'm, I'm using them as a tool for judgment because I can, because I'm God.

But it's not like they're going to get away with it.

Everyone who lives in rebellion to God will eventually, at some point in time, face judgment on this side of eternity or right?

And we know that there's something one day called the Great White Throne Judgment seat.

We know that as Christians we're going to face something called the Bema seat, which means we're judged for our works and how God's going to reward us for that.

And thankfully none of us that are believers in Jesus Christ are going to face the Great White Throne.

But those who do not believe in God, whether they were successful on this earth or not, if they were rebellion to God, they will face God's judgment there at the end.

And so that's what God is assuring Habakkuk of is like, hey, no one's getting away with this.

I'm going to eventually make all things right.

And I think that's what we have to do in our own questioning to God is like, God, why did you allow this to happen?

God, why are you allowing these people to get away with this?

Why are you allowing me to go through this struggle?

I think at the end, and I know this isn't something that we want to hear all the time, is that first of all, we're not the center of the universe.

We are obviously cared for by God, but we are not the focus of the eternal scheme of God, the eternal plan of God.

But at the end of the day, God is going to make all things right.

God is going to judge those that are who are with him in faith.

And we can't think of it in such a short sighted model.

So sometimes we think about it from the day that we're in or the week that we're in, or even if we're like farsighted out, you know, 70, 80, 90 years.

But the Bible speaks of eternity, right?

And so instead of thinking about it from the perspective of A human being who's limited to a certain amount of time.

Think about it from the perspective of eternity, that God is going to make all things right.

And what we're doing here isn't just for the here and now, but it's for eternity.

And that's.

That's really.

I think, one of the best helps that we can have when it comes to confusion and questions in our life.

It's.

It's having that eternal perspective, knowing that I'm not living for the here and now.

I'm living for eternity.

I'm living for that day where I'm going to see my Savior face to face.

I'm living for that day where I'm going to be with him forever.

I was talking to someone recently, and I said, you know, what's the greatest gift of salvation?

And, you know, the.

The person was like, everlasting life.

And I'm like, yes, but I think that sometimes we forget that the greatest gift is we're going to be with our Savior forever.

And I think that.

That we missed that.

Yeah, I get to live forever, right?

Because everyone would want that.

You know, I'm not going to hell.

That.

That's great.

But really, if you look at scripture, the greatest joy, the greatest blessing of salvation is that I get to be with my Savior forever.

I get to.

I get to dwell with Him.

I get to.

I get to be in his presence.

And.

And that's a really amazing thing to think about.

And when we think about it from that perspective, it really changes the way that we deal with those minimal things that we're facing here on this earth that may seem very big in the moment.

For Habakkuk, this was life or death.

But at the end of the day, in the grand scheme of eternity, God says, hey, I've got it under control.

And so God doesn't give him the answer that he wants.

He gives him the answer that he needs to hear, though, that, hey, look, I have the right to use Babylon as my judgment, but don't worry, they're going to be judged as well.

And so what does this look like practically for us?

Well, it could be this.

God, why are you allowing this to happen to me?

And that person over there just getting to do what they want to do, having joy?

Well, first of all, we don't know what's going on in their life.

We don't know what's going on behind the scenes.

We don't.

We don't.

And this is all recorded in Psalm 73.

It's a good passage.

Of scripture to talk about this.

But basically God is going to make all things right one day.

And, and I, I've struggled with this.

I've looked at people who are not doing things right and say, you know, why, why are they getting away with this?

Why does it seem like they can be successful?

Why does it seem like they're not going through trials?

Ultimately, what we have to understand is that they're in rebellion to God.

You go back to verse four.

That is the person whose soul is lifted up, it's not upright in him.

That's a prideful person.

That's a person who's in rebellion to God.

And so ultimately God is going to make things right.

And so that's the answer to Habakkuk.

I'm going to make things right.

And so then we're going to look at this next week.

God then starts explaining to Habakkuk, basically four different individuals, four different types of people, I should say that that are characterized in their sin.

So he talks about the greedy, he talks about all these different ones that, that we'll talk about.

We'll break those down.

And so he goes, woe to those that covet.

Woe to those who are in awe that, that are violent.

He talks about people who build a town with blood and all that.

So we're going to talk about the next week and we're going to see how God really sees sin.

And we need to know that.

We need to know how God views sin and rebellion.

Because if we see God just viewing rebellion and sin as, hey, you know, try not to do that, guys, it's not really the best thing to do.

That's like, you know, it's okay, but, you know, that's not how God sees sin.

God is repulsed by sin.

Now, God is gracious, but God cannot look upon sin and condone sin.

And that's the beauty of the gospel.

God sent his only begotten son for us who knew no sin.

But we, we as Christians need to understand the gravity and the destruction of sin and how God actually views.

Because when we see it through that lens, we're a lot less likely to love it and to, to wallow in it and be in it for, for a long time.

So one of the things that I try to help people with and I've tried to help even, yeah, I see it way in my own life is I, I want to see this sin that I'm drawn to as, as how God sees it.

And, and I think that that helps us when it comes to fighting Those things in our life.

So anyway, that's.

That's a part of chapter two in Habakkuk and asking God questions.

And I think that.

I think actually it would be spiritually healthy for us to ask God more questions.

Sometimes we just assume we know what God's doing.

And, you know, I think that a lot of times we can get in trouble when we assume the heart of God.

And so I would say, ask God.

And one of the things.

One of the things that we.

What do you do when you don't know what to do?

Like, maybe you're at a point in your life, or maybe you have been in the point in your life, or maybe it will be at a point in your life where you're thinking, I have no idea what I should do in this situation.

Well, the Bible gives us an answer of what to do.

James, James, chapter one says, if any, you lack wisdom, ask God.

Ask God for wisdom.

And I think that so many times it's such a simple thing, but we forget about that.

Just go to God and ask him for wisdom and what to do in the situation.

And that's asking God a question.

But God wants us to ask questions.

Look at Matthew, chapter seven.

Ask and you shall receive.

You know, they're.

They're.

And.

And we know that there were people in the.

In Scripture that asked God the wrong question.

Remember the lawyer that comes to Jesus in Matthew 22, and it says that he was asking Jesus a question to tempt him.

Okay?

So we don't want to do that.

We don't ask God questions to tempt him or to question his character.

But it is a point in time where we need to ask God questions for clarity.

And sometimes God will answer, and then sometimes he won't answer, and then we've got to be okay with that.

And, And I think that that's.

That's important.

And like some of you that have had children understand that principle.

There's times where in love, you.

You need to give your children answers, and there's times in love where you don't need to give your children answers.

And that's okay because you're the parent and you know what's best.

And God's the greatest father and he knows what's best for us.

And I'm trying to work through that right now because I.

If maybe some of you are not like this.

For me, I.

I have in my mind how everything should be.

And if everything's that way, I'm a happy person.

I'm a happy camper.

When everyone's doing what I think they should do.

If everything in the world is the way that I want it to be when my plans are being fulfilled, but the moment that those start going astray is when I start going, what's going on?

Everything's wrong.

And so again, we have to go back to say, I'm not the center.

That's pride.

I need to die to my flesh, and I need to allow the Lord to guide me and trust him in faith.

It's all about trust.

It's all about trust.

And if we can trust him in his goodness, we're going to be okay.

Well, I'm going to go ahead and close there now and we'll be back next week looking at Habakkuk Chapter 2 thank you again for listening to the Middletown Baptist Church podcast.

I hope that this sermon has been a blessing for you.

You would like to find out more information about our church or this sermon, you can find us at middletownbaptistchurch.org or find us on Facebook or YouTube.

You can also email me directly at Josh Massaro at middletownbaptistchurch.

Com.

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Thank you so much.

God Bless.

Have a wonderful day.