Habakkuk's Struggles

Introduction: 

History: Israel was in a covenantal relationship with God and had been since God called out Abraham after he divided the nations at the Tower of Babel. Abraham was God's inheritance, and He wanted Abraham's seed to bring the nations back to Himself. 

However, Israel was not good at listening. Like a lot of us, we think we know better than God, and we want to do things our way. We don't like being told what to do. However, God knows best! 

Later, as time progressed and after King Solomon royally messed up everything, Israel and Judah were separated into two nations. Assyria had already taken over Israel, and Judah was falling into the hands of the Babylonians. 

Habakkuk didn't know what to do. 

Backstory: Judah was falling apart. People were violent, leaders were corrupt and unfair, and God seemed silent.  All of a sudden, Habakkuk hears that Babylon--a cruel empire--was going to conquer Judah as part of God's plan. God's plan? 

How would you feel if you were Habakkuk?
What would your questions be for God?
How would you feel if God were allowing evil people to punish your country?

In chapter 1, Habakkuk was questioning God.  He was asking why God wasn't listening to his cries for help. Why wasn't God listening to him?

Hab 1:2
How long, LORD, must I call for help
and you do not listen
or cry out to you about violence
and you do not save?

Hab 1:3
Why do you force me to look at injustice?
Why do you tolerate[fn] wrongdoing?
Oppression and violence are right in front of me.
Strife is ongoing, and conflict escalates.

Hab 1:4
This is why the law is ineffective
and justice never emerges.
For the wicked restrict the righteous;
therefore, justice comes out perverted.

Habakkuk was really wrestling with questions about why bad things were happening and why God didn't seem to care.  He wanted to understand what was happening. As you can tell from his first prayer, he was frightened about what was happening.

God Answers Habakkuk

After listening to Habakkuk's prayer, God answers him:

Hab 1:5
Look at the nations and observe--
be utterly astounded!
For I am doing something in your days
that you will not believe
when you hear about it.

Hab 1:6
Look! I am raising up the Chaldeans (another name for Babylonians),
that bitter, impetuous nation
that marches across the earth's open spaces
to seize territories not its own.

Hab 1:7
They are fierce and terrifying;
their views of justice and sovereignty
stem from themselves.

Hab 1:8
Their horses are swifter than leopards
and more fierce than wolves of the night.
Their horsemen charge ahead;
their horsemen come from distant lands.
They fly like eagles, swooping to devour.

Hab 1:9
All of them come to do violence;
their faces are set in determination.
They gather prisoners like sand.

Hab 1:10
They mock kings,
and rulers are a joke to them.
They laugh at every fortress
and build siege ramps to capture it.

Hab 1:11
Then they sweep by like the wind
and pass through.
They are guilty; their strength is their god.

A little more history:

Why did Israel and Judah split? (1 Kings 12)

It all started with the death of David and the take over by his son Solomon. At first, it was great! Solomon was chosen by God to take over after David passed. Once he did, God asked Solomon what he would want if he could have anything; Solomon answered, "Wisdom".

God gave Solomon all the wisdom he could handle, and then some. But even with all of that wisdom, King Solomon had a fatal flaw. He loved the ladies. 

Solomon loved the ladies so much that he had 700 wives and 300 concubines (side chicks). As much as he loved God, he allowed these women to turn him away from God to their own gods. He was not loyal to Yahweh like his father David. This resulted in the fall of King Solomon.

After King Solomon died, God used Solomon's son, Rehoboam, to split Israel into two kingdoms. Instead of listening to the elders of the 12 tribes of Israel, Rehoboam listened to his friends and told the people that he would be a harsh king and treat them even harsher than his father did. That was a big mistake. 

Ten tribes of Israel split away from Rehoboam and decided to follow Jeroboam, who became the first King of Northern Israel.  The last two tribes left were the Tribe of Judah (King David's Tribe) and a small Tribe of Benjamin who blended to become the Southern Kingdom of Judah. 

Now, back to Habakkuk...

Read Habakkuk's second prayer to God and try to think about how he is feeling now that you know more of the story behind it. Remember that Habakkuk lives in Judah.

Hab 1:12
Are you not from eternity, Lord my God?
My Holy One, you will not die.
Lord, you appointed them to execute judgment;
my Rock, you destined them to punish us.

Hab 1:13
Your eyes are too pure to look on evil,
and you cannot tolerate wrongdoing.
So why do you tolerate those
who are treacherous?
Why are you silent
while one who is wicked swallows up
one who is more righteous than himself?

Hab 1:14
You have made mankind
like the fish of the sea,
like the marine creatures that have no ruler.

Hab 1:15
The Chaldeans pull them all up with a hook,
catch them in their dragnet,
and gather them in their fishing net;
that is why they are glad and rejoice.

Hab 1:16
That is why they sacrifice to their dragnet
and burn incense to their fishing net,
for by these things their portion is rich
and their food plentiful.

Hab 1:17
Will they therefore empty their net
and continually slaughter nations without mercy?

Then Habakkuk waits to hear from God by closing:

Hab 2:1
I will stand at my guard post
and station myself on the lookout tower.
I will watch to see what he will say to me
and what I should reply about my complaint.

God answers Habakkuk again:

Hab 2:2
The Lord answered me:
Write down this vision;
clearly inscribe it on tablets
so one may easily read it.

Hab 2:3
For the vision is yet for the appointed time;
it testifies about the end and will not lie.
Though it delays, wait for it,
since it will certainly come and not be late.

Hab 2:4
Look, his ego is inflated;
he is without integrity.
But the righteous one will live by his faith.

Hab 2:5
Moreover, wealth betrays;
and arrogant man is never at rest.
He enlarges his appetitie like Sheol,
and like Death he is never satisfied.
He gathers all the nations to himself;
he collects all the peoples for himself.

God lays out the woes: 

Hab 2:6
Won't all of these take up a taunt (challenge) against him,
with mockery and riddles about him?
They will say,
"Woe to him who amasses what is not his--
how much longer?--
and loads himself with goods taken in pledge."

Hab 2:7
Won't your creditors suddenly arise,
and those who disturb you wake up?
Then you will become spoil for them.

Hab 2:8
Since you have plundered many nations,
all the peoples who remain will plunder you--
because of human bloodshed
and violence against lands, cities,
and all who live in them.

Hab 2:9
Woe to him who dishonestly makes
wealth for his house
to place his nest on high,
to escape the grasp of disaster!

Hab 2:10
You have planned shame for your house
by wiping out many peoples
and sinning against your own self.

Hab 2:11
for the stones will cry out from the wall,
and the rafters will answer them
from the woodwork.

Hab 2:12
Woe him who builds a city with bloodshed
and founds a town with injustice!

Hab 2:13
Is it not from the Lord of Armies
that the peoples labor only to fuel the fire
and countries exhaust themselves for nothing?

Hab 2:14
For the earth will be filled
with the knowledge of the Lord's glory,
as the water covers the sea.

Hab 2:15
Woe to him who gives his neighbors drink,
pouring out your wrath
and even making them drunk,
in order to look at their nakedness!

Hab 2:16
You will be filled with disgrace instead of glory.
You also -- drink,
and expose your uncircumcision!
The cup in the Lord's right hand
will come around to you,
and utter disgrace will cover your glory.

Hab 2:17
For your violence against Lebanon
will overwhelm you;
the destruction of animals will terrify you
because of your human bloodshed and violence
against lands, cities, and all who live in them.

Hab 2:18
What use is a carved idol
after its craftsman carves it?
It is only a cast image, a teacher of lies.
For the one who crafts its shape trusts in it
and makes worthless idols that cannot speak.

Hab 2:19
Woe to him who says to wood: Wake up!
or to mute stone: Come alive!
Can it teach?
Look! It may be plated with gold and silver,
yet there is no breath in it at all.

Hab 2:20
But the Lord is in his holy temple;
let the whole earth
be silent in his presence.

It seems pretty clear that God will not allow egotistical, self-righteous, idol worshippers go on forever. There will be a time for them to pay for their wrong doings. But the righteous will live by their faith in God.

Habakkuk prays a third time, but this time, he understands what God is doing and has faith in Him alone.

Hab 3:1
A prayer of the prophet Habakkuk. According to Shigionoth (a type of rhythmic song)

Hab 3:2
Lord, I have heard the report about you;
Lord, I stand in awe of your deeds.
Revive your work in these years.
In your wrath remember mercy!

Hab 3:3
God comes from Teman,
the Holy One from Mount Paran.
his splendor covers the heavens,
and the earth is full of his praise.

Hab 3:4
His brilliance is like light;
rays are flashing from his hand.
This is where his power is hidden.

Hab 3:5
Plague goes before him,
and pestilence follows in his steps.

Hab 3:6
He stands and shakes the earth;
he looks and startles the nations.
The age-old mountains break apart;
the ancient hills sink down.
His pathways are ancient.

Hab 3:7
I see the tents of Cushan in distress;
the tent curtains of the land of Midean tremble.

Hab 3:8
Are you angry at the rivers, Lord?
Is your wrath against the rivers?
Or is your fury against the sea
when you ride on your horses,
your victorious chariot?

Hab 3:9
You took the sheath from your bow;
the arrows are ready to be used with an oath.
You spit the earth with rivers.  Selah

Hab 3:10
The mountains see you and shudder;
a downpour of water sweeps by.
The deep roars with its voice
and lifts it waves high.

Hab 3:11
Sun and moon stand still in their lofty residence,
at the flash of your flying arrows,
at the brightness of your shining spear.

Hab 3:12
You march across the earth with indignation;
you trample down the nations in wrath.

Hab 3:13
You come out to save your people,
to save your anointed.
You crush the leader of the house of the wicked
and strip him from foot to neck.   Selah

Hab 3:14
You pierce his head
with his own spears;
his warriors storm out to scatter us,
gloating as if ready to secretly devour the weak.

Hab 3:15
You tread the sea with your horses,
stirring up the vast water.

Hab 3:16
I heard, and I trembled within;
my lips quivered at the sound.
Rottenness eterned my bones;
I trembled where I stood.
Now I must quietly wait for the day of distress
to come against the people invading us.

Hab 3:17
Though the fig tree does not bud
and there is no fruit on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
and the fields produce no food,
though the flocks disappear from the pen
and there are no herds in the stalls,

Hab 3:18
yet I will celebrate in the Lord;
I will rejoice in the God of my salvation!

Hab 3:19
The Lord my Lord is my strength;
he makes my feet like those of a deer
and enables me to walk on mountain heights!
For the choir director: on stringed instruments

Now that you have read the entire book of Habakkuk, how do you feel?

How do you think Habakkuk felt after hearing what God's plan was?

According to chapter 3, how do you think Habakkuk felt about God?