SERIES: Major Profit from Minor Prophets
Habakkuk, The Prophet Who Dared Argue with God
SPEAKER: Michael P. Andrus
Note: This series, done in the summer of 1999, involved one sermon each on the Twelve Minor Prophets. Obviously, since these books are of varying lengths, from one chapter to fourteen chapters, these sermons are focused on the key message of each prophet, rather than a detailed examination of their words.
Introduction: This morning it is our privilege to study the Old Testament book of Habakkuk. I really like Habakkuk. He was a thinker. He wrestled with the great issues of his day. And He wasn’t afraid to ask God, “Why?” or “Why not?” Nor was he afraid to challenge the answer God gave him. But he was also smart enough to know when the argument was over.
I guess the reason I am attracted to Habakkuk is that I have never been one to accept easy answers. I got into a lot of trouble in high school for asking “why” of teachers who were only concerned with “what.” The reason I left the denomination I grew up in is because I wasn’t allowed to ask hard questions. Everything was nailed down and if you challenged anything you were considered a heretic. I discovered that God was much more open to my questions than high school teachers or church leaders tended to be. But at the same time, like Habakkuk, I learned there were limits beyond which I could not go with my questions.
The ultimate question Habakkuk struggled with is that of theodicy. That’s the theological term for the following problem: “How can a good God permit evil if He has the power to prevent it?” Philosophers have sometimes presented the dilemma in the following fashion. Of these three statements, they say, only two can be true:
God is good.
God is all-powerful.
There is evil.
If God is good and there is evil, then He must be powerless to prevent it. If God is all-powerful and there is evil, then He must not be good or He would use His power to prevent it. If God is good and all-powerful, then evil must be a figment of our imagination.
The Prophet Habakkuk, however, informs us that as difficult as it may be for us to grasp, all three of these statements are true. God is good, God is all-powerful, and there is evil. He opens his prophecy by dealing with the third of the affirmations, complaining to God that evil is running rampant:
Habakkuk’s first complaint: “God, why don’t you do something about the rampant evil in Judah?” (1:2-4)
(Habakkuk 1:2‑4) “How long, O LORD, must I call for help, but you do not listen? Or cry out to you, “Violence!” but you do not save? {3} Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrong? Destruction and violence are before me; there is strife, and conflict abounds. {4} Therefore the law is paralyzed, and justice never prevails. The wicked hem in the righteous, so that justice is perverted.”
Habakkuk lived in the time between the destruction of Nineveh by Babylon in 612 B.C. and the destruction of Jerusalem by Babylon 25 years later in 587 B.C. When Habakkuk was a young man the nation of Judah had undergone a major revival under the boy-king Josiah. Josiah had been crowned at the age of eight in 639 B.C. When he was just sixteen he began a religious reformation that changed the nation’s life. First, he personally began to seek the God of Israel. Then he purged Judah and Jerusalem of high places, Asherah poles, carved idols, and cast images. And when he turned eighteen, he began to repair the temple, which had been allowed to fall into ruin.
In the process of this repair, Hilkiah the priest found the Book of the Law of the Lord and had it brought to Josiah. That’s how bad things had gotten–they had lost the Word of God. Someone had put the Law, the first five books of the OT, in a cabinet somewhere in one of the storerooms of the temple, and it had been forgotten. How could such a thing happen? Well, rites and rituals had become more important than the Word. People were coming to the temple to experience the liturgy, hear memorized prayers, participate in the sacrifices and the sacraments, and perhaps to network with their friends and business associates.
The Word of God slowly became marginalized to the point that it disappeared altogether, and no one noticed until Hilkiah uncovered a pile of dusty scrolls. When Josiah read the Book of the Law, he and those with him were convicted of their sin. A national revival followed and the observance of Passover was once again made a central feature of worship.
This was a genuine revival, but sadly, as is true of most revivals, it petered out. Within a few short years after Nineveh’s fall, Judah reverted to its former evil ways. It’s as though the people began to relax and say to themselves, “Well, we don’t have to worry about the threat of that superpower Assyria anymore, so let’s concentrate on getting rich and enjoying ourselves.” It became a period of marked spiritual and moral decay, so dark that the prophet called out to God for action. “Lord, why don’t you do something about the rampant evil all around us here in Judah?”
Do you ever feel like that? I sure do. I feel overwhelmed sometimes by the evidence of brutal murders, child abuse, rampant sensualism, broken homes, greed, you name it. I look back at the 1950’s in Webster Groves as an age of innocence compared to today. It’s like we lived on a different planet. We didn’t lock our doors; I never heard of drugs; body piercing meant going to the doctor for a shot; every movie playing then would get a G rating today. Things have devolved so far and so fast I can’t help wondering, “How much lower can we go?”
A couple of years ago Pastor Joe Wright of Central Christian Church in Wichita offered a prayer at the opening session of the Kansas Legislature that really expresses the depth of our decline:
Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask for forgiveness and seek your direction and guidance. We know your Word says, ‘woe unto them who call evil good,’ but that’s exactly what we have done. We’ve lost our spiritual equilibrium and inverted our values.
We confess that we have ridiculed the absolute truth, Your Word, and called it pluralism;
We have worshiped other gods and called it multi-culturalism;
We have endorsed perversion and called it alternate lifestyles;
We’ve exploited the poor and called it the lottery; . . .
We’ve rewarded laziness and called it welfare;
We’ve killed our unborn and called it choice;
We’ve shot abortionists and called it justifiable;
We’ve neglected to discipline our children and called it building self-esteem;
We’ve abused power and called it political savvy;
We’ve coveted our neighbors’ possessions and called it ambition;
We’ve polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression;
We’ve ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment.
Not surprisingly, several liberal, open-minded legislators got up and walked out in the middle of his prayer.
So bad have things gotten that one Christian leader said recently, “If God doesn’t judge America soon, He’s going to have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah.”
Habakkuk’s first complaint is one I resonate with, “Lord, why don’t you do something about all the sin?”
The Lord’s first answer: “I am doing something; I’m raising up Babylon to discipline Judah. (1:5-11)
The Lord responds to Habakkuk, “Guess what? I am doing something about the evil in Judah. I haven’t told you about it yet because you wouldn’t have believed it before now. But since you’ve asked, let me tell you what I’m up to. I’m in the process of preparing a stunning judgment for the people of Judah.” Let’s read it in God’s own words, as found in verses 5-11:
“Look at the nations and watch— and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told. {6} I am raising up the Babylonians, that ruthless and impetuous people, who sweep across the whole earth to seize dwelling places not their own. {7} They are a feared and dreaded people; they are a law to themselves and promote their own honor. {8} Their horses are swifter than leopards, fiercer than wolves at dusk. Their cavalry gallops headlong; their horsemen come from afar. They fly like a vulture swooping to devour; {9} they all come bent on violence. Their hordes advance like a desert wind and gather prisoners like sand. {10} They deride kings and scoff at rulers. They laugh at all fortified cities; they build earthen ramps and capture them. {11} Then they sweep past like the wind and go on— guilty men, whose own strength is their god.””
God’s plan is to have Babylon come against Judah and bring divine judgment on the nation. Now the reason Habakkuk wouldn’t have believed this before now is that prior to the defeat of Nineveh in 612 B.C., Babylon was an insignificant player on the international scene. It would be like God telling usthat 30 years from now Finland is going to rise up and defeat the United States. No one would believe it.
But God had already been at work for some time, allowing Babylon to develop its power and influence, and then, as we saw last week, God caused unusual rains to swell the Tigris River and undermine the walls of Nineveh, enabling the Babylonians to defeat that great city. But by the time Habakkuk raises his complaint, Babylon is a superpower. God tells him He is going to complete His plan by allowing Babylon to do to Judah what Nineveh did to the Northern Kingdom of Israel a century earlier.
“Habakkuk, you want the wicked people of Judah punished? Well, I’m going to give you your wish. I’m going to punish them alright.” Now you’d think this answer would satisfy Habakkuk. But it doesn’t. It seems to him that God is solving one moral problem by creating an even greater one.
Habakkuk’s second complaint: “God, why are you doing that? Babylon is worse than Judah: (1:12-13)
The actual complaint doesn’t come until the middle of verse 13, because he first must butter God up a little. You see, when you’re about to tell God you think He’s blown it, it’s wise to set the stage carefully:
(Habakkuk 1:12‑13) “O LORD, are you not from everlasting? My God, my Holy One, we will not die. O LORD, you have appointed them to execute judgment; O Rock, you have ordained them to punish. {13} Your eyes are too pure to look on evil; you cannot tolerate wrong. Why then do you tolerate the treacherous? Why are you silent while the wicked swallow up those more righteous than themselves?”
At first Habakkuk didn’t like God’s inaction. Now He doesn’t like God’s action. After all, he argues, as bad as the people of Judah are, they aren’t half as bad as the Babylonians. There are surely better ways to deal with Judah. All the people need, Lord, is a little discipline; if Babylon is allowed to come and attack, Judah will be obliterated.
Frankly, it is possible that Habakkuk wasn’t looking for discipline on Judah at all. Some scholars believe he was asking God to bring another revival, such as he had experienced when he was a young man during Josiah’s day. I think it’s very legitimate to pray for revival; I know some people who have been praying for it for years. But the fact is sometimes revival is impossible because a people have become so proud and self-focused. God will never force revival. Discipline or even judgment may be the only options left.
Habakkuk knows by now that he is pushing the envelope in this dialogue with God. Look at verse 1 of chapter 2: “I will stand at my watch and station myself on the ramparts; I will look to see what he will say to me, and what answer I am to give to this complaint.” Most of your Bibles probably have an alternate reading in the margin that seems to make more sense: “I will look to see what he will say to me, and what to answer when I am rebuked.” I think Habakkuk knows in his heart he isn’t going to win this argument with God, and he’s trying to think ahead as to what his next chess move is going to be. Still, I’m impressed that he felt safe to raise his intellectual problems with God. I’m convinced that if you have a sincere intellectual problem with God, it’s completely safe to go to Him with it. He’s not going to zap you for being honest with Him.
Well, the Lord responds in verse 2 with His second answer.
The Lord’s second answer: “I will judge Babylon, too, when I am through using her to discipline Judah.: (2:2-20)
(Habakkuk 2:2‑3) “Then the LORD replied: “Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it. {3} For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay.”
Then God goes on to tell Habakkuk, in effect, “Babylon will get theirs. Yes, I’m going to use Babylon to discipline Judah, but then I am going to cast Babylon away like a used rag.” And all of this is going to happen sooner rather than later.
You know, world empires in ancient times were known to last for a long time. Egypt was dominant for several thousand years. Assyria was preeminent for hundreds of years. But here God hints that Babylon would be a very short-lived world power. God was going to use Babylon to accomplish his purposes, then discard her. History tells us that’s exactly what happened. Babylon defeated Nineveh in 612 B.C., but then was itself defeated by the Medes and Persians in 539 B.C.–just a little over 70 years later! Do you remember the story of how the Babylonian King Belshazzar saw the strange handwriting on the wall of his palace during a great banquet? Daniel interpreted for him:
“God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an end. You have been weighed on the scales and found wanting. Your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians…. That very night Belshazzar, king of the Babylonians was slain, and Darius the Mede took over the kingdom.”
Why did Babylon come to an end so soon? Well, for the same reasons as Nineveh. In the rest of chapter 2 the prophet Habakkuk vigorously denounces the principal sins of Babylon, beginning with pride. Look at verse 4: “See, he (i.e., Babylon) is puffed up; his desires are not upright–but the righteous will live by his faith–indeed, wine betrays him; he is arrogant and never at rest.” I’m going to come back to that parenthetical phrase in verse 4 because it is one of the most important phrases in all the Bible, but right now it is important not to miss the main point–that Babylon was guilty of pride and arrogance. From that the prophet moves on to greed. Then beginning in verse 6 he puts a poem in the mouth of Babylon’s enemies, delivering a series of five woes on her for five other great sins:
(6) Woe to him who piles up stolen goods and makes himself wealthy by extortion!
(9) Woe to him who builds his realm by unjust gain.
(12) Woe to him who builds a city with bloodshed and establishes a town by crime!
(15) Woe to him who gives drink to his neighbors, pouring it from the wineskin till they are drunk!
(19) Woe to him who says to wood, ‘Come to life!’ Or to lifeless stone, ‘Wake up!’”
He has addressed the issues of pride, greed, extortion, violence, drunkenness, and idolatry–all sins for which God had judged Nineveh, and all sins for which God is going to destroy Babylon, after He has used Babylon to discipline Judah. I hope you realize that these same sins are not exactly unheard of in our society.
Now there are two key sidelights I want us to examine here in chapter 2. Look at the last verse, verse 20. After going through this whole litany of judgment on Babylon (and, by extension, on any nation or any individual who practices such sins), the prophet concludes with this statement: “But the Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth be silent before him.” I’ve been in churches which sang this verse as a call to worship. In fact, it’s in our hymn book, page 594. I wonder if those who sing it realize that its context is one of terrible judgment on sin. I’m not saying that makes it inappropriate as a call to worship; but one should recognize how serious and solemn is God’s attitude toward sin. Silence is the best response when we recognize that God will not only chastise His disobedient children, but He will also judge the unbelievers He uses to chastise His disobedient children.
The other verse I want us to examine is verse 4 of chapter 2. I said I was going to return to a little phrase here in this verse. Habakkuk is drawing attention to the pride and arrogance of the Babylonians when he interrupts himself to say, “Don’t forget, ‘the righteous person will live by his faith.’” So important is that statement that it is repeated three times in the New Testament–in Romans 1:17, in Galatians 3:11, and in Hebrews 10:38.
I do not have time this morning to examine all three of these passages in detail, but at the very least we should consider Romans 1:17. One of Paul’s key purposes in Romans is to define what it means to be righteous. I think everyone here would like to be known as a righteous person, and probably most people are trying hard to achieve that status, but Paul goes to great lengths to convince us that it’s an impossible dream. We cannot meet God’s standards of righteousness, no matter how hard we try. The pagan can’t do it (Romans 1), the religious person can’t do it (Romans 2), the exceptionally good person can’t even do it (Romans 3), because all have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God.
However, the situation is not completely hopeless, for God is willing to do for us that which we cannot do for ourselves. He is willing to declare us righteous, equivalent to being declared “not guilty” in a court of law, if we are willing to renounce our own righteousness and accept the righteousness of Christ in place of our own.
Why do we need to renounce our own righteousness? It’s because our righteous acts are like filthy rags, according to the prophet, Isaiah. How so? Suppose that during the Viet Nam war a platoon of American soldiers is captured and imprisoned by the North Vietnamese. At some point in their captivity a Red Cross package arrives at the camp, containing, among other things, a game of Monopoly. The soldiers are glad to get the game, but after playing it awhile, they decide it is useful for carrying on camp business. If someone wants to get something from another soldier, he used to have to beg, borrow or steal it, but now he can buy it with the Monopoly money.
It seems always the case among a group of Americans that one person is a naturally gifted capitalist, and this platoon is no exception. Because one man is a genius at buying low and selling high, in time he accumulates almost all the money in the camp. Suppose further that eventually there is a prisoner exchange, and the American soldiers are brought back home. After debriefing and reunion with his family, the successful capitalist/soldier enters First National Bank and steps up to the counter. The teller is pleased to open an account for him. “We are glad to help our veterans,” she says, “How much do you want to deposit?” “Half a million,” he answers, as he pushes $500,000 in Monopoly money over the counter. Of course, the teller reaches down, not for a deposit slip, but for the alarm button that will call someone to take this poor deranged man away.
That is the difference between human righteousness, on the one hand, and the righteousness that God requires of us, on the other. Human righteousness is like Monopoly money. It has its uses in the game of life, but it is not heavenly currency. God requires divine righteousness, and only Christ can provide divine righteousness. Furthermore, only faith can appropriate it: “For by grace are you saved through faith … not by works.” (Ephesians 2:8-9) Works, i.e., good deeds, are a commonly tried but totally inadequate way to achieve a righteous status with God. The same is true regarding rule-keeping. In Galatians 3:11 Paul writes, “Clearly, no one is justified before God by the law, because ‘The righteous will live by faith.’” Nor will rites and rituals achieve a righteous status for us. There are countless people who think they are righteous because they have been baptized or because they belong to one church or another. To all these human notions God says, “The righteous person will live by faith.” And by faith alone.
Now quickly, we want to take a brief look at the last chapter, where Habakkuk changes his tune and his tone.
Habakkuk finally decides prayer is more appropriate than complaint. (3:1-19)
In one of the most powerful prayers in the Bible, Habakkuk begins by bowing humbly and requesting divine mercy.
He requests divine mercy. Verse 2: “LORD, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, O LORD. Renew them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy.” It’s as though Habakkuk has surrendered. He knows Judah must be disciplined; he accepts that Babylon is an appropriate tool for God to use to accomplish that purpose, especially since Babylon is going to get theirs later. “But, Lord,” he pleads, “while you’re pouring out your wrath on your people, remember to be merciful.” I’ve heard people pray this. I’ve heard them say, “I blew it, Lord. I deserve what you’re bringing on me. I’m willing to accept discipline. But, Lord, don’t destroy me. Give me another chance.” I’ve prayed that myself.
He rehearses divine history. Is there any basis for believing God will remember mercy while pouring our His wrath? Yes, for in the bulk of his prayer Habakkuk reiterates how time after time God has invaded human history to destroy His enemies and to rescue His people. I will have to leave to you to sort out Habakkuk’s poetic references to the plagues on Egypt, the Exodus, the Crossing of the Jordan, the causing of the sun to stand still. The very rehearsal of divine history makes him faint, as we pick up his words in 3:16: “I heard and my heart pounded, my lips quivered at the sound; decay crept into my bones, and my legs trembled. Yet I will wait patiently for the day of calamity to come on the nation invading us.”
He patiently awaits divine activity. He’s through trying to control God. He’s had enough trying to keep God’s Day-Timer. And finally,
He joyfully affirms divine sovereignty. Look at 3:17: “Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, {18} yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior. {19} The Sovereign LORD is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on the heights.”
Do you see the spiritual journey the prophet has taken? He started out complaining, then arguing, now finally rejoicing. He has come to the conclusion that, as bad as things appear to be, as difficult as it is to understand what God is up to, as frightening as the coming discipline is, the only safe place to be is on God’s side. Though there is evil, He is good and He is all-powerful.
Let me make one last observation this morning. It’s one thing to argue with God about why the wicked prosper and the righteous suffer, or why those who have never heard the Gospel should go to hell, or how the free will of man can be harmonized with predestination. It’s quite another thing to argue with Him about the plan of salvation. He has made it explicitly clear that “there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved”(Acts 4:12), but the name of Jesus.
If you’ve been trying to save yourself, if you’ve been trying to work your way to heaven, if you’ve been relying on your religion or baptism or anything else but Christ, I call upon you today to cease and desist. You’re on a dead-end street. Humbly bow before the cross and accept the fact that Christ’s sacrifice for you is your only hope. God says, “The righteous person will live by faith,” and by faith in Him alone.
DATE: July 25, 1999
Tags:
Theodicy
Arguing with God
Pastor Joe Wright’s prayer