RETURN TO ME: HABAKKUK

• Habakkuk lived and ministered during the reign of the evil King Jehoiakim.
• Timeframe: around the years 609-597 b.C.
• At the time, the world power was the Asyrian empire.
• Habakkuk can mean either “to wrestle” or “to embrace”.
• Habakkuk is the one who initiates a dialogue with God.

• Habakkuk’s complaint:
  • Habakkuk 1:2-4 2 How long, O Lord, must I call for help? But you do not listen! “Violence is everywhere!” I cry, but you do not come to save. 3 Must I forever see these evil deeds? Why must I watch all this misery? Wherever I look, I see destruction and violence. I am surrounded by people who love to argue and fight. 4 The law has become paralyzed, and there is no justice in the courts. The wicked far outnumber the righteous, so that justice has become perverted.
  • Habakkuk does the right thing to do, the wise thing: he prays and continues to pray.

• God’s Response:
  • Habakkuk 1:5-7 5 The Lord replied, “Look around at the nations; look and be amazed! For I am doing something in your own day, something you wouldn’t believe even if someone told you about it. 6 I am raising up the Babylonians, a cruel and violent people. They will march across the world and conquer other lands. 7 They are notorious for their cruelty and do whatever they like.
  • Habakkuk didn’t like God’s response.

• Habakkuk’s 2nd Complaint:
  
  • Habakkuk 1:12-13 12 O Lord my God, my Holy One, you who are eternal—surely you do not plan to wipe us out? O Lord, our Rock, you have sent these Babylonians to correct us, to punish us for our many sins. 13 But you are pure and cannot stand the sight of evil. Will you wink at their treachery? Should you be silent while the wicked swallow up people more righteous than they?
  • Important: Habakkuk is wrestling with accepting God’s will because it was not what he wanted or expected.

• Have you ever considered that maybe seasons of trouble and suffering are part of God’s plan for our lives?
• Habakkuk 1:17 Will you let them get away with this forever? Will they succeed forever in their heartless conquests?

• Here, God responds to his question with words of hope and assurance saying that this won’t be forever.
• In this chapter, God describes the wicked and prideful actions of the Babylonians and at the same time he assures Habakkuk that sorrow awaits these evil people, and they too will be punished and defeated.
• Take courage: our troubles and suffering in this world are not forever.
• Romans 8:18 “The sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.”
• 2 Corinthians 4:17-18 – Momentary afflictions
• The core teaching of the book:
  • Habakkuk 2:4a “Look at the proud! They trust in themselves, and their lives are crooked.
  • Proverbs 16:18 Pride goes before destruction, and haughtiness before a fall.
  • Habakkuk 2:4b But the righteous will live by their faithfulness to God.
  • Pride will always look to itself for salvation; but in every circumstance, faith looks to the greatness, the power and the glory of God for salvation.

“To live by faith means to believe God’s Word and obey it no matter how we feel, what we see, or what the consequences may be.” Warren Wiersbe

• Faith looks to the cross and trusts in God’s power to save.
• Faith trusts that the work Christ has completed at the cross is enough.
• Habakkuk and all believers are called to live by faith, even when things don’t go the way we wanted or expected.

• Chapter 3 is Habakkuk’s song of prayer where continues to pray for mercy (v.2) and writes seeing God in his vision rescuing his people (vs. 12-13).
• Despite knowing that God would bring trouble and suffering, Habakkuk: 1. Continues to pray 2. Praises and worships God 3. Lives by faith trusting God’s Word.
• Habakkuk 3:16c I will wait quietly for the coming day when disaster will strike the people who invade us.
• Before disaster happens, Habakkuk has already determined in his heart that when he is in the middle of it all he will be at peace.
• Habakkuk 3:17-19 17 Even though the fig trees have no blossoms, and there are no grapes on the vines; even though the olive crop fails, and the fields lie empty and barren; even though the flocks die in the fields, and the cattle barns are empty, 18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord! I will be joyful in the God of my salvation! 19 The Sovereign Lord is my strength! He makes me as surefooted as a deer, able to tread upon the heights.
• Habakkuk’s faith is evident in accepting God’s will even if it meant trouble or suffering.
• Our human nature is to worry, fear, complain, or do something, but a believer’s response should be to pray, go to God’s Word for hope and assurance, praise, and to live by faith.

“Prayer is not an argument with God to persuade him to move things our way, but an exercise by which we are enabled by his Spirit to move ourselves his way” Leonard Ravenhill

• Habakkuk was moved from wrestling against God’s will to embracing God’s will even though it meant trouble & suffering.

Acceptance, I believe, is the key to peace in this business of suffering[…] Two things that certainly ought to distinguish you and me and everyone who calls himself a Christian are acceptance and gratitude[…] If we can accept a gift, then we can say thank you. Elisabeth Elliot

• Can we respond in faith and:
• • Accept God’s will even if we don’t like it. Then take it a step further…
  • Rejoice & thank God for whatever situation we’re in or might be coming.

I acknowledge that I am a sinner and cannot save myself. I repent of my sin and ask You to forgive me. I believe that Jesus bled, suffered, and died on the cross for my sins, and that You raised Him from the dead. Today, I place my faith in Jesus alone—not in good works or a religion, but in a relationship.

Jesus, I confess You as my Lord and Savior. Please forgive me. I surrender my life to You and ask You to help me follow and obey You from this day forward. Thank You for Your mercy, Your grace, and the gift of eternal life. In Jesus, name. Amen.

If you have made a decision for Christ today please let us know by clicking this link and filling out the form.