Hey, old buddy, welcome back here to the Semi
-Seminary. Another week, another episode. We
take the Bible and we look at it as adults. Try
to make sense of it in an adult world. Instead
of just relying on the stories that we might
have been taught as children. This week we're
in part two of a three -part series. We're looking
at Old Testament, Hebrew Scripture, Prophet.
by the name of Habakkuk. And tonight, quite simply,
we're waiting. I'll see you on the other side.
So, but I am going to go ahead and get started
because I don't want to run terribly late. But
since we're jumping into this book on this guy
named Habakkuk, who is an Old Testament minor
prophet. And the reason why they're called minor
prophets is because there are 12 of them. It's
because we just know less about them than we
do major prophets like Ezekiel or Jeremiah, right?
So we have these smaller guys that are minor
prophets. It doesn't mean a prophecy is any less
important. It just means we know less about them.
So tonight we're looking at the story of a guy
named Habakkuk. But for you to get the point
of what's going on in this book, I have to take
just a few minutes and I'm going to give you
a very brief history lesson that is going to
start in the year 1400 BC. But this will go fast.
Now remember, BC dates, if this is Jesus' birth,
BC dates are bigger and they get smaller down
to zero. And then from Jesus' time, they get...
bigger from there, right? Okay, so if we're starting
at 1480 BC, then we go to 1000 BC, then we go
to 600 BC, that's getting closer in time to Jesus,
right? Okay, 1480 BC is kind of the thought,
the time whenever, when we believe that what's
called the Exodus takes place. And there's a
character in the Old Testament by the name of
Moses. And you may or may not know the story
of Moses. Moses ends up being a leader of God's
people who are enslaved in Egypt at the time.
You may or may not know the story, but he does
the 10 plagues. God does the 10 plagues with
him. He has the Charlton Heston line, let my
people go. He gets let go. They go through the
Red Sea. Then they wander in the desert for 40
years. At that time, we get the moving tabernacle.
We get the Ten Commandments come in during this
wandering. But then we finally get to the Jordan
River. And when we cross the Jordan River, we
run into a town named Jericho. Now, you may have
heard of the story of the Battle of Jericho,
right? And the walls came tumbling down. Okay,
that is the first battle of God's people with
people who were indigenous to the area. the Canaanites,
in this promised land called Canaan. So 1480,
1440, 40 years of wandering. Now God's people
are in the promised land. Now, between that time
period and just before 1000 BC, the people of
God were ruled by judges. We have a book in the
Old Testament called Judges. And that's a time
where... The law is dispensed through the priestly
class, okay? Government was run through the church,
so to speak. These judges, who were people appointed
by elders, and they had to be of a certain tribe
and all of that stuff so that they could be a
part of the... At that time, it's a movable temple,
a tabernacle, I'm sorry. They could perform the
duties and all of that stuff, but they also exercised
the law for people. So -and -so killed someone's
goat. Someone has to make a decision, how do
we get this goat issue figured, okay? Well, the
people that had been living there with them in
Canaan, the Canaanites, they also are Philistines.
They have kings like what you think of, crown
on the head kings, probably comes from a line
of birth. So it's this person and their son and
their son and their son and so on, right? And
they loved, for whatever reason, they loved having
a king because they were powerful. And the Jewish
people thought, man, we want a king too. And
God sent through his messengers, people like
Samuel, an Old Testament man of God, sends people.
like that to the people of God to say, you don't.
Trust me. The moment that you guys take our relationship
and you put a king in between, it's human nature.
It's going to start badly. And the Jewish people
said, we don't care. We want to have a king.
And so God raises up a guy named Saul. Okay,
stick with me. I'm going to go real fast from
here. Saul is the first king, but the first rightful
king is a guy named David. You guys know David,
David and Goliath, David and Bathsheba, that
guy. David is king of Israel, the United Kingdom
of Israel in 1000. Okay, so 400 ish years after
Jericho, we get King David. After King David,
we get King Solomon, his son. Then after that,
there's a succession of 19 consecutive kings,
each one worse than the last. And through these
kings, we have these books of the Bible. God
sends these prophets, guys like Elijah or Elisha.
They come along to tell the kings, you guys have
walked away from God and things are not going
to... They're going to end up worse if you don't
return to God. But the people didn't listen,
okay? Habakkuk is one of these prophets that
have come to tell the people of God things are
going to get bad because we are displeasing God,
okay? Now, when Habakkuk comes along, it's in
the year 600 BC. The fall of the temple, the
temple that King Solomon built, King Solomon's
temple, the temple was destroyed and Jerusalem
was conquered by the Babylonians in the year
586 -587. Habakkuk's writing in 600. This is
right before things get bad, bad. Because what
happens after that, Jerusalem falls, the Babylonian
army sweeps up a whole bunch of the Jewish people,
enslaves them, and takes them back to Babylon.
And they'll stay there for generations. They
will return, and we talk about their return in
the Old Testament books of Ezra and Nehemiah,
where they begin to rebuild the city, but it's
generations. people don't know that Habakkuk
is trying to highlight is the Babylonians were
worse than the people of God at the time. Even
though they had 19 consecutive bad kings, even
at that point, the Babylonians were worse. And
God's going to come to Habakkuk. And tell him,
not only is things going to get bad for you and
your people, but I'm going to use them to punish
you. Okay, we're in the middle of a series called
Habakkuk. Again, he's one of the 12 minor prophets.
The name Habakkuk actually means to embrace or
to wrestle. And it is a book that's written with
judicial language, like you would expect in a
court. In fact, to remind us, Habakkuk was written
about 600. And God tells the prophet Habakkuk,
this is from last week, tell your people that
I'm going to have to destroy them because they're
wicked. And chances are that Habakkuk, when God
said this, might have said, you're right, they
are wicked. And it seems relatively fair. But
then God adds that twist again that I just mentioned.
He says, I'm going to raise up the Babylonians
to destroy you people. And Habakkuk says, wait,
what? Right? Hang on one second. You're going
to raise up whom? The Babylonians were much,
much more evil than the people of Judah. And
God says, I'm going to use these really evil
people to destroy the lesser evil people. And
Habakkuk basically says, like I'd mentioned in
kind of a judicial way, I object, Your Honor.
Right? It has a kind of a judicial language to
it. Habakkuk is going to say, God, I worship
you. And I know you're God and I honor you, but
I'm taking you to court because I feel like I
have evidence to prove that your actions are
not just. God, what you're doing doesn't seem
fair. Today, you might be facing something and
saying, I don't understand. God, you could do
something about this. And if I were you, God,
I would, but you're not. And I don't understand.
If that's the way you feel about your situation,
your situation today, maybe not today, but maybe
one day. And if so, I believe this small book,
three chapters, the book of Habakkuk can speak
to us. The question, what we're going to wrestle
with today is, what do we do when we're spiritually
in a dip or in a rut? Okay, we looked last week
at a beginning point. In our kind of journey,
you can kind of imagine kind of a dip like that,
right? Someone hadn't known Christ, they're kind
of at this point. They're not in a relationship.
Someday, by the power of the Holy Spirit, God
reveals himself. They call out to forgiveness
in the grace of Jesus. Spiritually, they're born
anew. And their whole world turns upside down.
Right side up, right? And they recognize that
they're forgiven. There's a huge spiritual rush
of adrenaline and excitement that comes with
that. You feel like God is answering your prayers.
When you pull up the stoplights, all they do
is turn green. God's smiling on you, and everything
is incredible. It's a spiritual high that many
of us encounter when we first encounter the grace
of Jesus. We're excited, but unfortunately, our
lives continue on. And after a while, this fire
begins to wane. Life becomes more difficult.
And we start on this spiritual high, but then
we find ourselves here. Maybe God didn't answer
a prayer that you hoped that he would. Maybe
this person or that person lost their job. Maybe
people struggle with certain sins that have come
back, and they just won't leave them alone. Maybe
their kids start making bad decisions. Maybe
there is quite simply just something that you
feel like God could do and that God should do.
And if he did, everything would be okay. But
God didn't. And all of a sudden, you say, wait
a minute. I thought we were here, but we're here
now. And you have what Henry Blackbee calls a
crisis of belief. Okay? I thought it was going
to be this God, but you're not doing all that
you could. And when we enter into that crisis
of belief, often there are two reactions. The
first thing we want to do is we want to just
ignore reality and run back to that spiritual
high as quickly as we can. Right? The other way
is that basically you're going to say, Okay,
God, if you're not going to do what I thought
you could and would and should do, then forget
you. And I'm just going to go back to that place
I used to be and assumed that if you could, you
would, but you're not. So I don't trust you.
Forget about it. I'm going to go back. We learned
last week, though, that the name Habakkuk, it
actually means to embrace or to wrestle. to a
point of a crisis of faith, if they will continue
to embrace God, Habakkuk means embrace, just
like Habakkuk does in his prophecy, even through
the difficult times, things might not get better
yet. The story that we read, he got bad news.
Last week, this story continues to get worse.
And we must, at some point, Take the New Testament
principle that we find in the book of James to
say to consider it pure joy, my brothers and
sisters, when you face trials of many kinds because
your testing of your faith will provide perseverance.
And perseverance allows you to finish the work,
making you mature and complete so that you do
not lack anything. We just talked about how important
storms are in our lives. to the believer who
continues to embrace God, even if it's wrestling
with questions. And even though things might
not get better at first, a person can grow much
closer than they were to God in the past. And
I said this last week, and I believe this to
absolutely be true. If you look very closely
at those that you think are the closest to God,
Often those people are those who have been through
the most difficult times and they know God has
proved himself faithful. So what do we do when
we're in the rut, in the dip here? Well, let's
look at chapter two tonight of Habakkuk and let's
look at three specific things that we can do
when we find us here. Okay, here's what Habakkuk
says. He's just heard the news that God is going
to destroy his people and do so using the evil
Babylonians. And he says, okay, here's my plan.
Verse one, he says, I will stand at my watch
and station myself on the ramparts. And I will
look to see what God will say to me and what
answer I am to give to this complaint. Verse
two, the Lord's turn. The Lord replies. Write
down the revelation and make it plain on the
tablets so that a herald may run with it. For
the revelation awaits an appointed time. And
then scripture says, it speaks of an end and
will not prove false. Though it linger, wait
for it. It will certainly come and not delay,
says the Lord. So we're in this rut. What do
we do when we're struggling? We feel like we
know God could do something, but he's not, and
it doesn't seem fair, and life doesn't make sense,
and we're wondering, God, where are you? Let's
look at three things tonight. The first thing
that Scripture shows us to do is to stop and
listen. In fact, if we look at what Habakkuk
did, basically, he says, Habakkuk says, God,
I don't like this. God, I'm complaining to you.
I think the beautiful thing here is God seems
to respectfully hear this. It was as if God was
saying, sure, you're allowed to wrestle with
me. He says, I don't like what you're doing.
I've stated my case. Now, God, it's your turn
to reply. I need some answers. God, what do you
have to say for yourself? Habakkuk says, I will
stand at my watch and station myself on the ramparts.
In other words, I'm going to climb up on the
wall, and I'm going to look to see what God's
doing, and I will look to see what God will say
to me. God, what's going on here? Too often what
we do is we whine about what's going on in our
lives, and then we just go on about our lives.
Many of us, we don't stop and listen. And say,
God, what are you saying? See, I think this is
a beautiful thing about God. I believe that God
is a relational God. And I think God loves to
speak to his children. How will God speak to
you? All sorts of ways. God, I believe, can speak
audibly. I've never heard God's audible voice.
But I know people have. And I believe he can.
God can also speak through his word. Every single
day, speak to us through his word. God could
speak to us through our circumstance, because
if you look around, God could speak to you through
other people. God will often speak to you, and
sometimes he won't, because he's God, right?
But here's the deal. If you will listen, if you'll
stop and listen, God will speak to you. Just
like asking for patience. You can ask, but you
might not like the answer. And Habakkuk is not
going to like it. He's not going to say, oh,
this wasn't quite what I was looking for, God.
But at least when God speaks, you know exactly
where God stands. So you stop and you stay. God,
I don't understand. I don't like it. It doesn't
make sense, but please speak to me. And if you
are silent before God and you will wait, God
will often speak to you. Now, if he says something
you don't like, at least you'll know where you
stand and you know what God is up to. In the
New Testament, the apostle Paul had what's known
as a thorn in his side or his flesh, and he prayed
over and over and over again. God, I know you
can do something about this. Please do. Take
it away. Remove it. Three times Paul begs, God,
I'm pleading, take it away. Take it away. And
God basically says, I could, but I've decided
not to. No. The answer is no. Why? Because I'm
going to do something even better than take it
away. And you may not fully understand right
now, but I'm going to teach you that my grace
is all that you need. You see, I could do that,
but I'm not going to because I'm going to do
something different inside you. When you don't
understand, when you're in that rut, stop and
listen to God speaking to you. Second thing I
believe you can do, and I just encourage people
to do this, and it's one of those things I just
don't think people take seriously. Write it down.
Write it down. Habakkuk says, where are you?
What's going on? Habakkuk, take notes, he says.
This is what God says, verse 2. The Lord replied,
Habakkuk, write down the revelation and make
it plain on tablets so that a herald may run
with it. Now. Why does God want us to write it
down? Well, he's going to say to Habakkuk, years
later, when I prove myself to be true and just,
I want it in writing so everyone could see that
I'm a God of my word. Now, it's also for our
benefit because if you're like me and your spouse
or your significant others sent you to the grocery
store, right? Maybe only two things to remember.
Something happens on the way. Satan enters your
mind. You mess it up. Even though you only had
to pick up two things. I don't know, that's me.
Write it down so that you'll remember. When God
says something to you, you're going to want to
record it. Because your spiritual enemy is an
expert at stealing the seeds of truth that God
wants to plant inside you. God may show you something
and I cannot tell you how many times that this
has happened to me where I'm wrestling with something
and I don't understand and I'm praying, God,
are you there? And God, what's going on? And
I feel like God shows something to me and I'll
be like, okay, that was obviously from God, right?
And I'll write it down. And then a week later,
I don't know, man, maybe I had too much pizza
late at night. Maybe that was just indigestion,
not blaming it all on God. It's just like the
sense that God has spoken seems to vanish unless
I write it down. But when I write it down, though,
it becomes a spiritual anchor for me because
I can look at that. I can read that and say,
yes, I believe that God has spoken. I have a
reference point to return to. So what do we do
when we hit the crisis of belief where, where
are you, God? I don't understand. Well, you stop
and you listen. You write it down. The third
thing that I want to talk to you about tonight,
when you're in this rut or this wait, you wait.
Sorry, when this rut or this dip, you wait. It's
awkward, isn't it? Waiting. I mean, we don't
want silence. But generally speaking, we want
movement. We want instant return, instant gratification.
Many of us, we don't like to wait. We don't want
to wait. And yet, watch what God says to the
prophet in verse 3. He says, For the kazon, kazon,
or the revelation, it awaits an appointed time.
It speaks to it of an end, and it will not prove
false. Though it linger, God says, wait for it.
And it will certainly come and will not delay.
Wait a minute. When God promised you something,
you may have to wait a while, but you can take
that promise to the bank. And some of us right
now, maybe we're in a waiting zone. Maybe we
believe that God has shown us something. We've
recorded it, just like Habakkuk, and now we're
waiting. And we're waiting. We're waiting. We
feel like it's not going to come to pass. Remember,
God's delays are not God's. denials. When God
has promised something, it will come to pass.
When we look at scripture, we see example after
example after example. Some of these people we
mentioned tonight. Moses, I'm going to use you
to deliver God's people and rebuild a nation,
right? And then God goes, and I'm sorry, then
Moses goes on a 40 year walking tour. Joseph,
another character, the kind of guy who becomes
the leader of God's people in Egypt. God says,
you're going to be a great leader. What happens?
His brothers beat the snot out of him. They throw
him into a well. They sell him into slavery.
He spends two years in prison. It's years that
go by. Before God fulfills the promise and elevates
him to second in charge over the whole of Egypt.
The Apostle Paul had a vision where he meets
Christ. And he is transformed. And he says as
a result, he says, I'm called to preach. That's
what I'm here to do. I mean, this is it. This
is all. I am compelled to preach the gospel of
Jesus, the good news. This is the one thing on
earth I know for sure I am here to do. And it
is 13 years before he's ever able to say, now
open your Bibles and turn to such and such. 13
years before Paul gets to preach his very first
sermon. Sometimes we just have to wait. Now here's
what happens. A lot of people think, okay, I'm
waiting and I'm stuck, right? We feel like, okay,
we're in that rut, we're stuck. That's why we're
using that term. Maybe that word rut isn't such
a great idea. Maybe dip is a better word because
we think of no movement. But what does a waiter
or a waitress do? They serve. They serve, don't
they? Here's what you do when you're waiting.
You serve the Lord the whole time. Doesn't mean
that there's no movement even though you're waiting.
In fact, there might be more movement when you
feel like you're waiting more than ever. Whatever
you do, do it for the glory of God. You continue
to wait on him, you serve him. Whenever you don't
understand, you wait and you serve. The Hebrew
word for the appointed time is moad. And it means
an appointment. It means in a fixed, specific
time. Kind of like a woman who's nine months
pregnant, right? When it's time, it's time. You
can't stop it when it's time. When it's the moed.
What that means is there's nothing you can do
to speed it up. And there's nothing you can do
to slow it down because it is God's time. So
we wait. How long does Habakkuk wait? A long,
long time. In fact, most of the people that he's
talking to, they don't even get to see God's
faithfulness come around. It happens in the next
generation. In that next generation, when all
of these original people probably passed on,
when God's promises were fulfilled. And even
though you don't see the promises fulfilled,
his promises will be fulfilled because God's
word is absolutely true. These things I plan,
God says, it won't happen right away. Slowly,
steadily, surely the time approaches when division
will be fulfilled. If it seems too slow, do not
despair, for these things will surely come to
pass. Just be patient. They will not be overdue
a single day. He goes on to say, see, Babylon
is puffed up, right? He's acknowledging. Babylon
is saying, we don't need to follow God's rules.
We have all of this stuff figured out. We've
got it all put together. This whole God stuff,
it doesn't even apply to us. God says, though,
his desires, are not upright. And then we could
skip, kind of, because I'm going to finish up
here and get to the main point. 6 through 19,
he issues these five woes to the people of Babylon.
These five things like, woe to him who piles
up stolen goods. You're going to have to pay
for what you've done. Woe to him who builds a
city with bloodshed. Woe to him who gives drink
to his neighbors. Sorry, partiers. Woe to him
who says to wood or objects, come to life. You're
going to fulfill me. You're going to satisfy
me. Woe to those who look at things and think
they can satisfy. But the key verse, he says,
but the righteous will live by faith. Those who
are mine, regardless of what's going on around
them, are going to live by faith, no matter what
is happening. The righteous will live by faith.
and God will be true to his word. In fact, if
you ever want to build up your faith, I'd encourage
you to read the book of Hebrews, the 11th chapter.
It's known as the Heroes of Faith chapter, and
it lists these people, kind of the famous people
of the Bible, and it talks about how they're
living by faith. By faith, Noah builds an ark
to save his family. By faith, Abraham and Sarah
pass the age of childbirth. God brings them a
son. By faith, the people of God marched around
the city of Jericho and the walls came tumbling
down. By faith, the people of God walked through
the Red Sea as it parted on both sides. The righteous
are to live by faith. Now, what happens when
we're actually living by faith? When we're not
choosing not to... put our faith or our feelings
and what we're seeing and the events around us,
but believe that God has something in store for
us, living by faith, making that choice one over
the other. What happens, though, when we're trying
to do that and we still don't believe that God
is going to complete his promise? Okay? Despite
what's happened in your life, there's three words
that are so beautiful in the Bible. We find it
here in chapter two, verse 20, but the Lord,
those three words, because you can line up tragedy
after tragedy, after tragedy, after tragedy.
And you can always at some point go, but the
Lord is in his holy temple. God is still in charge.
God is good and is righteous and is true. God
is still there in his holy temple. And he says,
Let all the earth be silent before him. But the
Lord is in his holy temple, just like Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego. When that happens, they're
going to be thrown into the fiery furnace. I
don't know, man. Nebuchadnezzar's telling us
to bow down and worship, or he's going to kill
us. He said, we're sure to die, but I believe
God will deliver us. They actually say, I believe
God will deliver us. Even if he doesn't, we will
not bow down. We will still believe. Why? Because
we believe the Lord is in his temple. God is
still on the throne and I will live by faith.
So what do we do when we're in that dip? We listen,
we record, and we wait with everything in us,
living by faith because the Lord is there and
still in charge. Amen? Amen. Hey, thank you all
for coming tonight. I super appreciate it. You
know, if you think about it, the truth of the
matter is that our spiritual journey only progresses
in those dips. Think about this. If everything
always worked out all the time, Would you really
grow to depend on God? Would you really grow
to trust in promises? Or would you just take
for granted what's been given you? There's a
lot to be said about those moments where we feel
like things aren't fair that God uses in our
lives so that we can see his fairness in the
long run. That his ways indeed are higher than
our ways. That there is a greater purpose and
sense to all of this instead of just our individual
ideas of right and wrong. Anyway, that's something
to think about. Until next week, friend, be blessed.