HABAKKUK 2: THE REPLY OF GOD
 

The prophet Habakkuk  lived in a time when everything was going wrong.   He lived when there was great national corruption and moral decay.  The land was filled with violence, hatred, and many types of evil.

This sounds like a picture of our world today!

The distress  and pain he felt is seen in the opening verses of the first chapter.

Notice how Habakkuk begins the chapter in anticipation of God's answer.:

Hab 2:1  I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will look forth to see
               what he will speak with me, and what I shall answer concerning my complaint.

The man of God silenced himself and put the matter on God's time table.

Habakkuk left the matter with God and wait for him to answer in his own good time.

God answers Habakkuk. The amazing thing about this prophecy is that it is not addressed to the people at all.

Rather, this is a dialogue between a man and God. That is why it is so up-to-date. Every one of us is named Habakkuk and each of us faces this problem from time to time. God answers Habakkuk

God will explain how a wicked nation could punish his people for their sins."

The man of God has sat down in his convictions and awaits God to give him his answer.

The people of God are instructed to wait upon God.

Psalms 37:1-18 Fret not thyself because of evil-doers, Neither be thou envious
                        against them that work unrighteousness. For they shall soon be
                        cut down like the grass,  And wither as the green herb. Trust in
                        Jehovah, and do good;  Dwell in the land, and feed on his faithfulness.
                        Delight thyself also in Jehovah; And he will give thee the desires of thy
                        heart. Commit thy way unto Jehovah;  Trust also in him, and he will bring
                        it to pass.  And he will make thy righteousness to go forth as the light,
                       And thy justice as the noon-day. Rest in Jehovah, and wait patiently for him:
                       Fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way,  Because of the
                       man who bringeth wicked devices to pass. Cease from anger, and forsake
                       wrath:  Fret not thyself, it tendeth only to evil-doing. or evil-doers shall be
                       cut off;  But those that wait for Jehovah, they shall inherit the land. For yet
                       a little while, and the wicked shall not be:  Yea, thou shalt diligently consider
                       his place, and he shall not be. But the meek shall inherit the land,  And shall
                      delight themselves in the abundance of peace. The wicked plotteth against the just,
                      And gnasheth upon him with his teeth.  The Lord will laugh at him; For he seeth
                      that his day is coming.  The wicked have drawn out the sword, and have bent
                      their bow,  To cast down the poor and needy,  To slay such as are upright in
                     the way.  Their sword shall enter into their own heart,  And their bows shall be
                     broken. Better is a little that the righteous hath  Than the abundance of many
                     wicked.  For the arms of the wicked shall be broken;  But Jehovah upholdeth
                     the righteous. Jehovah knoweth the days of the perfect;  And their inheritance
                     shall be for ever.
 
God will not fail to provide that which man needs.

The time of man and God is not the same.  God takes care of his concerns on his own time table.

II Peter. 3:8-9 But forget not this one thing, beloved, that one day is with the Lord as a
                         thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.   The Lord is not slack
                         concerning his promise, as some count slackness; but is longsuffering to
                         you-ward, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should come to
                         repentance.

The prophet left God to answer at his discretion.  God would tell Habakkuk all he needed to know.

Hab 2:2 And Jehovah answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon
              tablets, that he may run that readeth it.

Habakkuk here is the answer.  God instructed Habakkuk to write it down.. The message was to be written plainly so that all men who read the book would be able to immediately tell the answer abroad.

The message of Habukkuk was to be proclaimed, spread it all over the land.

We would do well to proclaim the things God has instructed us to teach.

Mark 16:15-16   And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach
                            the gospel to the whole creation.   He that believeth and is
                            baptized shall be saved; but he that disbelieveth shall be condemned.

Matt. 28:18-20  And Jesus came to them and spake unto them, saying, All authority
                           hath been given unto me in heaven and on earth.   Go ye therefore,
                           and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of
                           the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit:   teaching them to
                           observe all things whatsoever I commanded you: and lo, I am with
                           you always, even unto the end of the world.

Then God adds these significant words.

Hab 2:3  For the vision is yet for the appointed time, and it hasteth toward the end,
               and shall not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will
               not delay.

First God says that an event will happen. Then he says, "Don't you worry about what happens in between time.

Even though it looks like things are going wrong, all that I have said will happen is going to happen.

The prophesy would be fulfilled to a verse.

Jehovah will answer his questions and was instructed to write the answers for others to know also.

Then God goes on to state a principle that is quoted three times in the New Testament and forms the basis for the greatest
movements that God has ever had among human beings.
 
Hab 2:4 Behold, his soul is puffed up, it is not upright in him; but the righteous
              shall live by his faith.

These words are quoted in the New Testament in Romans, Galatians, and Hebrews.

The righteous or just from the hebrew word tsaddiyq from tsadaq means to cleanse or clear self. This righteousness is in contrast to the wicked.

Ex. 9:27

The just or righteous were instructed to live by faith.  The word live is (chayah), defined as a dual meaning of physically and spiritually.

Deut. 8:3

The way the just or righteous are to live is by faith.  This word is (emuwnah) which is securely or in fidelity.

The word faith is accurately translated faithfully  habakkuk may have thought this was a physical application to Israel, yet Paul gives an inspired commentary showing that a spiritual application is to be made.

There are only two attitudes by which we can face life. Either we face it in faith depending upon God, or we face it in unbelief depending upon our own ability to reason out everything.

You are trusting in the wisdom of the human mind to study events and arrange solutions,  or you take what God has said and believe that if he has said a thing will happen, it will happen.

Now that is the difference between a man of faith and a man who lives by his reason.

The faithful men and women  changed the world of their day.

Hebrews 11:

They were not expecting man to do anything. They were expecting God to work and God always did.
 

                        GOD' PLAN FOR THE BABYLONIANS

Throughout the rest of the chapter, then, there is a very interesting analysis of the Chaldeans and what God plans to do with
them.

To summarize, God says to the prophet, "Now Habakkuk, don't you worry about the Chaldeans; it is true that I have
purer eyes than to behold evil and it is also true that I am raising up this people to judge the nation of Israel, but in turn I will
judge the Chaldeans. The very thing in which they trust will prove to be their downfall. Their very gods will overthrow them."

And he pronounces five woes on these people.

        THE FIRST WOE

 The first of the five woes and reason over the Chaldeans/ Babylonians is pronounced against them.
 

Hab 2:5-8  Yea, moreover, wine is treacherous, a haughty man, that keepeth not
                 at home; who enlargeth his desire as Sheol, and he is as death, and cannot
                 be satisfied, but gathereth unto him all nations, and heapeth unto him all peoples.
                 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
                 that ladeth himself with pledges!   Shall they not rise up suddenly that shall bite
                 thee, and awake that shall vex thee, and thou shalt be for booty unto them?
                 Because thou hast plundered many nations, all the remnant of the peoples shall
                plunder thee, because of men's blood, and for the violence done to the land,
                to the city and to all that dwell therein.

 Their greed is condemned.

Hab.2:9-11  Woe to him that getteth an evil gain for his house, that he may set his nest
                     on high, that he may be delivered from the hand of evil!   Thou hast devised
                    shame to thy house, by cutting off many peoples, and hast sinned against thy
                    soul.   For the stone shall cry out of the wall, and the beam out of the timber
                    shall answer it.

The conquering Babylonians were an arrogant people likened to one drunken or self deluded.

Their greed was as insatiable as death and other nations had been crushed by their power.

The Chaldeans/Babylonians  would be crushed and powerless one day by their enemies hands.

The Chaldeans/Babylonians had conquered and pillaged many societies and nations.

The innocent blood they had shed, the spoils they had taken would seal the Babylonians destruction.

The Chaldeans/Babylonians would suffer defeat and cruelty by others they attacked because of their greed..
 

              THREE MORE WOES PRONOUNCED

The next  3 woes are given it to Habakkuk.  The three woes of the Babylonians would comfort Israel and other nations.

                                     THE SECOND WOE
 
The second woe is against the selfishness of the invaders.  The Babylonian tyrants would be at the mercy of those they had conquered.  Their walled city would not save them from destruction.

The stone and timbers of their fortifications cried against their wickedness.

Selfishness is the downfall of most people.  Satan told God that he could destroy Job over a selfish desire to preserve his flesh.

Job 2:4-5 And Satan answered Jehovah, and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that a man
                hath will he give for his life.   But put forth thy hand now, and touch his bone
                and his flesh, and he will renounce thee to thy face.

May God keep our hearts from selfish pride.
The power that they selfishly guarded would be give to another people.

                   THE THIRD WOE

The third woe affected the Babylonian cities that had been built on blood.

Hab. 2:12-14  Woe to him that buildeth a town with blood, and establisheth a city by
                        iniquity!   Behold, is it not of Jehovah of hosts that the peoples labor for
                        the fire, and the nations weary themselves for vanity?   For the earth shall
                        be filled with the knowledge of the glory of Jehovah, as the waters cover
                        the sea.

Their covetousness, cunning and brutality are condemned.  They took the best of other societies and built their kingdom on the backs of others.

Even the vessels from the temple of God were plundered and used by the Babylonians.

Woes pronounced on Babylon and the reasons for their downfall.

Hab 2:9-14 Woe to him that getteth an evil gain for his house, that he may set his nest
                   on high, that he may be delivered from the hand of evil! Thou hast devised
                   shame to thy house, by cutting off many peoples, and hast sinned against thy
                   soul.   For the stone shall cry out of the wall, and the beam out of the timber
                   shall answer it.   Woe to him that buildeth a town with blood, and establisheth
                   a city by iniquity!   Behold, is it not of Jehovah of hosts that the peoples labor
                   for the fire, and the nations weary themselves for vanity?   For the earth shall be
                   filled with the knowledge of the glory of Jehovah, as the waters cover the sea.

         THE FOURTH WOE BECAUSE THEY WERE CRUEL TYRANTS
 
Their treatment of captive nations is condemned.  The Babylonians were merciless and cruel to the cities and the captives that they subjected to their will.

Hab. 2:15-17  Woe unto him that giveth his neighbor drink, to thee that addest thy
                        venom, and makest him drunken also, that thou mayest look on their
                        nakedness!   Thou art filled with shame, and not glory: drink thou also,
                        and be as one uncircumcised; the cup of Jehovah's right hand shall come
                        round unto thee, and foul shame shall be upon thy glory.   For the violence
                       done to Lebanon shall cover thee, and the destruction of the beasts, which
                       made them afraid; because of men's blood, and for the violence done to the l
                       and, to the city and to all that dwell therein.

The aggressive Babylonians gloated over the cities and captives they controlled and destroyed.

The conquers were without mercy and kindness.  While the Babylonians had the upper hand the cities that were defeated had no rights or freedoms.

THE FIFTH WOE OVER THEIR IDOLATRY  2:18-20

The Babylonians had no God that would preserve them   The idols they worshipped and seduced other nations with could not save them.

The fact that Jehovah had shown his power in babylon was soon forgotten.

The night Babylon fell to the Medes and Persians the king worshipped his false idol gods and profaned the vessels of God taken from the temple.

The gods they toasted would be useless when God of heaven broke their empire in one night.

The Babylonians idolatry is condemned and led to their destruction.

Hab. 2:18-19 What profiteth the graven image, that the maker thereof hath graven it; the
                      molten image, even the teacher of lies, that he that fashioneth its form trusteth
                      therein, to make dumb idols?  Woe unto him that saith to the wood, Awake;
                      to the dumb stone, Arise! Shall this teach? Behold, it is overlaid with gold and
                      silver, and there is no breath at all in the midst of it.
 

The five woes summarized.  The plunder would be plundered.  The selfish would lose everything.  The oppressor would be oppressed.  The tyrant would lose their power and be impotent.  The Idolater would be without comfort and hope.
 

The prophet concludes with a most remarkable prayer in chapter three.

We conclude the second chapter with a picture of God.

Jehovah is reigning and ruling in his holy temple.  What a thought of comfort to Habakkuk and all godly people.

Hab. 2:20 But Jehovah is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before
                 him.

Here the prophet of God has seen his answer.

God is the God of history and he is moving; he has everything under control.

The thing we need to remember is that these forces and the problems created by them are not solved by trying to come to grips with only the immediate problem.

That is like taking aspirin to cure cancer. It will never work. No, these problems can be solved only by the relationship of man to God.

Hab 2:20  But Jehovah is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before
                 him.

May we always remember the majesty and power of the God upon the throne of heaven.
 

CONCLUSION
               Believe Jesus Christ is the son of God, John 8:24
               Repent and turn from sin,  Acts 3:19
               Confess Christ with the mouth, Romans 10:10
               Be baptized for the remission of sins, Acts 2:38
               Live faithful unto death, Revelation 2:10
 
 RETURN TO HOME