Deep Dive
Shownotes Transcript
Hey, Bible readers, I'm Tara Lee Cobble, and I'm your host for The Bible Recap. Today we finished our 27th book of the Bible. These minor prophets like Habakkuk are really helping get our numbers up.
Habakkuk is a prophet in the southern kingdom of Judah prior to the Babylonian exile. He lived and prophesied around the same time as the minor prophet Zephaniah from day 218 and the major prophet Jeremiah from lots of days. As we've talked about before, prophets are like mediators between God and his people. We usually think of prophets as talking to people on behalf of God, but Habakkuk works from the other end of the spectrum. He talks to God on behalf of the people.
Habakkuk is focused on justice, and he brings his complaints about injustice to God. God is concerned about justice too, so great, they're on the same page. But just because they care about the same thing doesn't mean they have the same ideas about how that thing should be accomplished. Habakkuk mistakenly thinks God isn't listening to his prayers since God isn't doing what he asks. He's like, God, are you seeing what I'm seeing? If so, why aren't you doing anything about it?
Habakkuk forgets that God's no is also an answer to prayer. God can hear him. God is listening. God just denies his request. In this conversation, we encounter a verse that's often taken out of context. Chapter 1, verse 5 says, Look among the nations and see, wonder and be astounded, for I am doing a work in your days that you would not believe if told.
I've heard entire sermons and series based on this verse as though it's painting a beautiful picture. You wouldn't believe the wonderful works God is doing. But probably no one would preach through that lens if they read the verse in context. What's the thing God says he's doing that they won't believe? Raising up the Babylonians to destroy them. And God was right. They didn't believe it when he told them.
Habakkuk responds to God by saying, I get that you're sovereign over all of this and you've chosen to use the Babylonians to bring correction to your people. But the Babylonians are wicked. They're way worse than Judah. This doesn't seem fair. We've all been there. We can all relate to Habakkuk. He's in the middle of the process and he can't see what God sees.
So God gives him a little perspective into what he sees. God gives him a vision and tells him to write it down because it's going to take a while for it all to be fulfilled and people will need to remember God's truth during that waiting period. He wants to bolster their faith in him as things get dark. He wants to draw them near to himself. He says, "...the righteous shall live by his faith."
Remembering God and his promises daily are what will keep their souls afloat during the storm, during the destruction of Judah when a wicked nation seems to prevail over them. Then God speaks about Babylon specifically. He pronounces five categories of woe over them.
God warns against putting their hope in wealth, security, power, pleasure, and control. Those five things appear to be Babylon's goals, and when they pursue each of those things as ultimate, they each lead to unique kinds of sin, all of which God will judge. Those who look to wealth as their ultimate hope will steal and cheat to get it. Those who look to security as their ultimate hope will oppress others to protect themselves.
Those who look to power as their ultimate hope will enslave people, kill people, and work themselves to death. Those who look to pleasure as their ultimate hope will engage in drunkenness and debauchery, but will end up with shame instead. Those who look to control as their ultimate hope will try to grasp it anywhere they can, even if the source is through idols and false gods.
Those five woes may be pronounced to Babylon, but we can probably all see ourselves somewhere in those five categories. And God calls people to turn their eyes from these false hopes and remember not only that he exists, but to honor him instead. And God makes it clear to Habakkuk through his response that he does in fact see all of Babylon's wickedness clearly, and he will deal with Babylon accordingly. They will be punished for their sins.
In chapter 3, Habakkuk prays and asks God to show himself mighty. He knows what God is capable of. He's seen God's works in the past and wants to see those kind of mighty works again in the present. But he resolves to wait for God's timing. In verse 16, he says, I will quietly wait for the day of trouble to come upon the people who invade us. He commits to trust God and not object to his process.
And the final verses are where my God shot appeared. Verses 17 through 19 say, Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail, and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold, and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord. I will take joy in the God of my salvation. God the Lord is my strength.
He makes my feet like the deer's. He makes me tread on my high places. This is what faith looks like.
Faith says, nothing is going the way I want it to. Everything is falling apart. But I won't put my hope in wealth or security or power or pleasure or control because I know they will fail me or even lead my heart away from God. I know that I can be strengthened and fulfilled regardless of my circumstances because fruitful vines and filled stalls aren't where the joy is. He's where the joy is.
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