Habakkuk Chapter 2

Sunday 10th October 2010

Dan Harding

When God lets you down
*Habakkuk 1:1-4
The oracle that Habakkuk the prophet received.
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?
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.
Therefore the law is paralyzed,
and justice never prevails.
The wicked hem in the righteous,
so that justice is perverted.

*Habakkuk 1:5-7
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.
I am raising up the Babylonians,
that ruthless and impetuous people,
who sweep across the whole earth
to seize dwelling places not their own.
They are a feared and dreaded people;
they are a law to themselves
and promote their own honor.

*The Good=Habakkuk
*The Bad/Ugly= Babylonians

*Are you really who you are?
*Habakkuk 2:1
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.

*He ask God "What's going on?"
*Habakkuk is far from resolve
*He will decide what He think he hears. He is not sure if God is a good God
*It is the same feeling that some of us has
*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.
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.

*If you feel God is abandoning you and He ask you to wait, what would you react?
*Habakkuk claims he's the good guy and ask God something but instead, he is suppose to wait
*The key verse for Habakkuk's story is
Habakkuk 2:4
"See, he is puffed up;
his desires are not upright
but the righteous will live by his faith-

*The righteous is accepted by God
*Habakkuk sees the bad, good and ugly but God sees the pride in one's own righteousness and faith in his mercy
*People in relationships or jobs have a sense of entitlement. They think they deserve more than what their going through but God says otherwise
*You will either think you are so good that you do not deserve this or you are so unworthy that God does not need to help you

"If you believe that God ought to bless you and help you because you have worked so hard to obey him and be a good person, then Jesus may be your helper, your example, even your inspiration but God is not your Saviour but you are your own Saviour"
-Tim Keller-

*Daniel 9:4-5
I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed:
"O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with all who love him and obey his commands, we have sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked and have rebelled; we have turned away from your commands and laws.

*Daniel 9:17-19
"Now, our God, hear the prayers and petitions of your servant. For your sake, O Lord, look with favor on your desolate sanctuary. Give eat, O God, and hear; open your eyes and see the desolation of the city that bears your Name. We do not make requests of you because we are righteous, but because of your great mercy. O Lord, listen! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, hear and act! For your sake, O my God, do not delay, because your city and your people bear your Name."

The Difference
My Righteousness
-Faithful
-Obedient
-'Pure'

God's mercy
-Gracious
-Long suffering
-Compassionate

*God explains that it is not that Habakkuk is good but that God is merciful
*We cannot checklist or to do good to be in God's family
*We have to be born into the family
*The only way to be accepted by God is to be trusting in his mercy
*Galatians 3:10-13 (quoted by Habakkuk 2:4)
All who rely on observing he law are under a curse, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of he Law." Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because, "The righteous will live by faith." The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, "The man who does these things will live by them." Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written:"Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree."

*Christ takes the punishment for us and that is the only way we can be accepted
*Many people get this wrong



**Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path**