Habakkuk 2:1 - 4 "WAITING FOR GOD’S ANSWER- learning to live by Faith"

Habakkuk was  called of God  to warn  the Jews before He would send terrible  judgment upon them. Concerning this he carried a  heavy burden (oracle) on his heart. God help us if we must speak judgment without  a heartfelt burden.  In a vision Habakkuk saw his country delivered  into the  hands of the Babylonians, and he  wrestled  with God  on account of this. When he enquired  of God concerning this, God was  seemingly quiet for a while, BUT THEN the Word came to Habakkuk. God  informed  Habakkuk in 1:5-11, that He was indeed  in the process of sending His instruments of judgment – the Babylonians!  

Habakkuk was alarmed  at this. In his mind the  Babylonians  were worse sinners – more morally and spiritually depraved  than Israel. So he argued with God concerning this (1:12-17) for  he was puzzled,  because  God’s answer  just did not make  sense.  

What was he to do now? 

He  decided to wait!  He says: 

“I will take my stand at my watch post and station myself on the tower, and look out to see what he will say to me, and what I will answer concerning my complaint (2:1).

Habakkuk is withdrawing to his observation station. He is resolved to say nothing until God clarifies the matter.  This is actually good counsel for perplexed Christians. What do you do, when you cannot do anything? What do you do when you are puzzled and troubled and perplexed and not sure of what God is doing?  What can you do when you don’t understand God’s  logic?  While many people  think that any way is right, the watchful and loving pastor often has to remind his people,  “There is a way  that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.” (Prov.  16:25). 

Habakkuk chooses to wait.  He  says,  “I will wait  and see what  He will say to me.”   Habakkuk is a model to us in this respect. Troubled in heart, he doesn’t resort to pragmatic self -help.  He resolves to wait for what God will say  on this matter. Remember,  that God has already spoken  in 1:5-11.  He will surely speak again.

Let’s  just think over this a little bit more:  When God’s answer does not make sense, many Christians  reason,  “Well,  then  I will just have to  figure it out by myself “ .   

Many people in the Bible had tried this.

• Job  and his 4 friends tried it – and ultimately  they were all rebuked by God (Job 38ff). 
• King  Saul  tried   it, when the Philistines were threatening , and  when Samuel did not arrive  in time, and he chose to  present  the burnt offerings – something that he was not permitted to do.  (1 Samuel 13)
• One of the disciples of Jesus tried it when he sought to defend the Lord Jesus Christ  in the hour of  betrayal. He   drew a sword, cutting off the ear   of the servant of the high priest (Matt.  26:51ff). It was premature and unnecessary and unhelpful. Jesus had to rebuke him.

When we do not like what we hear from God’s Word, we easily  are tempted to get impatient. We start looking for other solutions.  The truth is  that we live in a complex world. Sin makes things complex. The truth is that we are rarely able  to see the whole picture. And what we think ought to happen,  and  what God  decides will happen may not always be the same. Who among men understood what God was doing with Job?  His friends  said that he was  being punished for his sin. But  the Bible teaches us that  God’s purpose was not to punish Job, but to  refine Job.

So, before  we are tempted  to  give quick answers or responses, or get angry with God,  we have  to learn to wait  upon God.

In our New Testament  context, where God has spoken in Christ (Hebrews 12:1-3), and where the  revelation of His will is complete is complete,  we  need to learn  to sit prayerfully before our open   Bibles,  and to learn  and discern  concerning  God’s ways with us.  Our instant, restless  society  finds this difficult. We want instant answers and solutions. We really  need to  learn the value and importance of  waiting on God  as we meditate prayerfully  over His written Word,  withdrawing  into quiet places as it were, and sometimes we need  to remain there  until the Lord  has given us understanding  and clarity  concerning a course of action,  though His written Word. It is seldom wrong  to wait!

This is pertinent counsel to people like myself, called to the pastoral ministry. How dare I counsel you with mere human intuition  or wisdom?  Pastor’s  above all people (though not exclusively) need  to  learn to understand  the value  of  knowing  the  full counsel of the Word of God. Pastors are  dealing with the soul (or the heart)  which is by far the most complex  aspect   relating to  the human being.  Being a medical doctor is difficult enough. Making accurate diagnoses and  applying effective treatment  for a sick body is a science  that requires many hours of intensive study.  But the soul is more complex than the body. The soul is intangible.It is deep and it is hidden  to the human  eye.  The body is tangible. Cancer and  Covid19   have  tangible origins, and medical science is working hard to find a cure.

Working with  the intangible soul  is different. This  is where the work of the pastor lies. He is called to be a physician of souls. The procedure  for the cure of souls  is  not found in medical text books, although modern psychology aims to be a substitute  for biblical pastoral work, but we know  that it is a very ‘ iffy’  science.  

The only  effective  medication and treatment  and balm for the  cure of the soul  is found within the realm  of the holy Word of God. The Bible is  the  definitive  book   that speaks authoritatively  about

•  man’s origin
•  man’s unique  relationship to God (being made in the image of God)
• the effects of sin  upon that relationship. 

The  human  soul is  deeply affected  by the fall. In fact, the soul is dead to God (Eph.2:1), and unaided  man  is  exposed to a bewildering array  of  God hating  behaviour.  The 10 commandments are an exposition  of what  the soul relates  to in its sinful  state.  The primary sins  that  are born in the intangible world of  our souls are,  

• Idolatry (the replacement of God  by other loves)
• The dishonouring of  primary relationships  such as  father and mother 
•  murder, adultery, stealing, coveting. 

All these  find their roots in the fallen soul of man. The only cure  for sin  is  to  bring our fallen natures to Christ, the Redeemer from sin. Through faith in Him   men and women are  being  restored. 

So, how  can I understand  the depths of depravity, and the knock on effects of  that depravity   into which the human  soul has entered?

How can I understand  the ways of God  with a  person in my congregation,  without a thorough knowledge of the  Bible?  How can I make a distinction between what a man  or woman brings upon themselves  and  the sanctifying  work of God? 

How can I help  people  without   the divine remedy  prescribed  in the Word of God for such sin? 

Not without being intimately acquainted  with  the word  and the work of the Great Shepherd of our souls.  The biblical pastor will be a watchman (Ezekiel 33), and the work of a watchman is to make known  and to  repeat the  Word of the Lord to his people. 

Pity the church that have   pastors   who have fallen asleep in their complacency, and who have no relationship with the Lord Jesus, and who therefore do not diligently feed the flock with the Word of the Lord. 

An unattended  flock will become easy prey for the wolves  (Acts 20 :29ff).  If it wasn’t for the fact that  Jesus had watched and prayed for Peter, he would have become   Satan’s casualty,  “Simon , Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail.” (Lk. 22:32)

GOD SPEAKS !

So then, as Habakkuk  waits  we read these  words, “And the Lord answered me…” (2:2a). God is faithful. He will give an answer. Here it is:  

“Write the vision; make it plain on tablets ,so he may run who reads it…”  

Before God says anything to Habakkuk, He  wants to  make  sure that these words won’t get lost. Habakkuk must   write these words down. 

“Write the  vision…”!  

Now some 2,800 years after the writing of these words, we read these words and we  are greatly helped by them  as we  learn of the ways of God in this world! 

 “Make it plain on tablets”

God’s word was to be recorded on a tablet, so that there would be no uncertainty  or ambiguity or reinterpretation  of this message. 

“So he may run who reads it” 

The word  which God gives to the prophet was to be read in the whole land. A herald was  sent through the land to proclaim  this message  from God.  

Then the Lord adds  this word, “For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end—it will not lie.  If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay“ (2:3). 

This  vision was  still unfulfilled, but  it is coming – it hastens to the end.  It would happen in time  just as God had told Habakkuk.

And now follows  an important  message  to the remnant in Israel, those who would wait patiently for this  time of   judgment, and  who would  keep trusting in God.  

What follows  are  Habakkuk’s most famous words and quoted in Romans, Galatians  and Hebrews. Theseare the  words that turned around the life of  the German Reformer, Martin Luther

 THE RIGHTEOUS WILL LIVE BY HIS FAITH.

“Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him, but the righteous shall live by his faith. (v.4).  

There are only two possible attitudes in this world with respect  to  God and His Word. The first is that  of  unbelief, and  the second is that of faith. In the words of Habakkuk,  either our souls  are puffed up  or self – righteous  (and therefore not upright), or our souls  live in faith and dependence upon God and His Word. This is  the  righteousness that God loves.  The person who lives by his/her  faith in God  is righteous. The righteous person makes  their decisions  based upon the Word of God.  The  person possessed  by such faith accepts God’s rule.  Hebrews  Chapters 10-12  expound and illustrate this  truth in the lives of those  that walk by faith in God.

There are two ways in which we can choose to look  at  events (past, present, future)  in this world.

• Some say that world events are simply random. Things happen. The survival of the fittest - the one who has the most money and the biggest army  wins.
• The other view says that God is in charge of history - not fate, not money, not armies, not powerful people.  God has the last word on everything, and when God says  that Babylon will invade  Judah,  or when a Covid-19  virus  will invade the world, then it  will be so. No explanation  needed. Faith means taking God at His word. It says,“Lord , I don’t understand it but I believe that what you are doing is righteous  and good”. That  is the faith of  Hebrews 11. These men and women believed God,  simply because  God had spoken.  This is the life that pleases God.

Right now  Habakkuk is in the process of moving from   fear or frustration  to faith.  This is the text  on which the rest of this prophetic  book is hinged. From this  position, the prophet (and we)  move into  the position of understanding, and with that, he and we,  move  into  the peace, hope and joy of  the God  who controls the world in the midst of  some very terrible  circumstances.

TWO ESSENTIAL CHARACTERISTICS OF A RIGHTEOUS PERSON LIVING BY FAITH

(i) You’ve got to know the truth. You must have knowledge.  Faith doesn’t begin or end in a vacuum. You  need to know  God in Christ.  In order to have faith in Him you need to know: 

• Who is He? 
• Why did He come? 
• What did He teach? 
• Why did He die?  
• Why did He rise from the dead?  
• Where is He now?  
• What is He going to do in the future?  

The more you know about Jesus, the more you learn to trust Him. 

The less you know about Jesus, the weaker your faith will be. 

In who or what are you  trusting right now? You must know him well.

(ii) You’ve got to have personal trust. The righteous will live by his own faith.  You must have this  faith personally. True, saving faith moves  from knowledge  to trust. The longer you know Him, the easier it is to trust Him.  In order  to trust Him , you must get into Him, if you know what I mean. Think of it this way. If you are on a cruise ship that is sinking, what do you do? 

You know you need to get to a lifeboat. 

You know that you have to climb over the side and climb down the ladder and get into the boat. 

But even that knowledge is not enough. 

You have to do it. 

You must personally get into the lifeboat. It is the only way to be saved from the sea. 

So then,  in waiting for God's answer, Habakkuk is  really  learning one big  thing at this time. He is learning to trust God in this bad situation. And we shall learn  with Him that He will not be disappointed. The answer  is in the making  and  Habakkuk  will be a changed man.