Faith Faces the
Mystery of History
(The Book of Habakkuk)
In God We Trust
Theme
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Why is there injustice in the
world?
How can God allow this?
Habakkuk questions God
about unpunished evil.
God’s answers and ways are
surprising to us. The answer
will lead us into a deeper and
more confident faith as we are
moved from worry to wonder
and from fear to faith.
Habakkuk 1:2-4
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.
God’s Ways are Often Very
Mysterious
Habakkuk’s 1st Complaint – Injustice
Reigns (1:1-4)
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Why do you allow unpunished evil in the world?’
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God’s people (and all others) practice
injustice and violence.
The righteous cry out, ‘How long, O Lord,
will you allow wickedness to persist and
even triumph’?
When will we see your justice?
Habakkuk 1:5-11
"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. Their horses are
swifter than leopards, fiercer than wolves at
dusk.
Habakkuk 1:5-11
"Their cavalry gallops headlong; their
horsemen come from afar. They fly like a
vulture swooping to devour; they all come
bent on violence. Their hordes advance like
a desert wind and gather prisoners like
sand. They deride kings and scoff at rulers.
They laugh at all fortified cities; they build
earthen ramps and capture them. Then
they sweep past like the wind and go on-guilty men, whose own strength is their
god."
God’s Ways are Often Very
Mysterious
God’s 1st Answer – Judah Will Be
Judged (1:5-11)
‘I will send the Babylonians to punish my
people.’
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Be utterly amazed.
God’s plan is to use a proud and pagan
nation to bring His judgment.
Are you ever surprised by God’s answers to
your prayers?
Don’t we tend to expect God to answers our
prayers with the answer we have in mind?
God’s Ways are Often Very
Mysterious
How do you respond to
God's inscrutable ways?
God’s Ways are Often Very
Mysterious
A Closer Look at the Inscrutable God
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God’s inaction mystifies us.
God’s unexpected ways astound us.
God’s unusual means dumbfound us.
History is still under God’s divine
control, plan and timetable. (cf. 1:6)
How God’s Sovereignty and
Free Will are Affirmed in Scripture
Compatibilism
The Bible as a whole, and
sometimes in specific texts,
presupposes or teaches that both
of the following propositions are
true:
How God’s Sovereignty and
Free Will are Affirmed in Scripture
1. God is absolutely sovereign,
but his sovereignty never
functions in such a way that
human responsibility is
curtailed, minimized, or
mitigated.
How God’s Sovereignty and
Free Will are Affirmed in Scripture
2. Human beings are morally
responsible creatures--they
significantly choose, rebel, obey,
believe, defy, make decisions, and so
forth, and they are rightly held
accountable for such actions; but this
characteristic never functions so as to
make God absolutely contingent."
How God’s Sovereignty and
Free Will are Affirmed in Scripture
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Isa 10:5-19
God intends to use Assyria to
punish and discipline Israel. (vv.
5-7; 15-19)
 Assyria wants to invade, rape
and pillage Israel. (vv. 7-11)
 Assyria is punished for it’s pride
and sins. (vv. 12-14, 16-19)
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How God’s Sovereignty and
Free Will are Affirmed in Scripture
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Gen. 50:19-20
Joseph’s brothers intended to
harm Joseph (for evil).
 God intended to use Joseph to
save Israel (for good).
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Habakkuk 1:12-13
O LORD, are you not from everlasting?
My God, my Holy One, we will not die.
O LORD, you have appointed them to
execute judgment; O Rock, you have
ordained them to punish. Your eyes
are too pure to look on evil; you
cannot tolerate wrong. Why then do
you tolerate the treacherous? Why are
you silent while the wicked swallow
up those more righteous than
themselves?
Habakkuk 1:17-2:1
…Is he to keep on emptying his net,
destroying nations without mercy? 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.
The Saint’s Perplexity
at God’s Ways
Habakkuk’s 2nd Complaint – Aren’t The
Babylonians More Unjust? (1:12-2:1)
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‘Can those who are more wicked swallow up
the more righteous?’
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If God’s inaction mystified us.
Then His use of the Babylonians
shocks us.
The problem is not really solved but
compounded by God’s solution in the mind
of the prophet.
The Saint’s Perplexity
at God’s Ways
Habakkuk’s 2nd Complaint – Aren’t
The Babylonians More Unjust?
(1:12-2:1)
‘Can those who are more wicked swallow up
the more righteous?’
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How can we reconcile God’s use of the
Babylonians with God’s character?
Habakkuk waited upon the Lord for an
answer.
Habakkuk 2:2-4
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. "See, he is
puffed up; his desires are not upright-but the righteous will live by his faith--
The Saint’s Perplexity
at God’s Ways
God’s 2nd Answer – Trust in My Timing
(2:2-5)
‘I will make all things right in My time.’
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The righteous are to be messengers of faith
in God despite being able to see all of His
ways and plans clearly now. (2:2; cf. Heb
2:5-8)
God’s timetable and ways are not man’s
ways, so we must wait and trust in Him.
(2:3; cf. Isa. 55:9)
God’s judgments are just and will certainly
come upon those who deserve it. (2:3-5;
cf. 2Pet 3:8-9)
The Saint’s Perplexity
at God’s Ways
Responding to the Inscrutable God
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Commit your problems and
perplexities to God. (2:1)
Expect the Lord to answer you. (2:1)
Watch and wait for the Lord’s answer.
(2:1)
Trust in God. Live by faith. (2:4; cf.
Heb 11:1-2)
The Saint’s Response From Faith
The God Who Is Enough
'Tis far, far better to let Him choose
The way that we should take;
If only we leave our lives to Him
He will guide without mistake
We, in our blindness, would never choose
A pathway dark and rough,
And so we should ever find in Him,
"The God Who Is Enough."
The Saint’s Response From Faith
Habakkuk’s Five Woes (2:6-20)
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Woe to the dishonest. (2:6-8)
Woe to the exploiters. (2:9-11)
Woe to the lawless (nations). (2:1214)
Woe to the debauched. (2:15-17)
Woe to the idolatrous. (2:18-20)
Habakkuk had faith that God would
bring justice ultimately.
The Saint’s Response From Faith
For the earth will be filled with the knowledge
of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover
the sea. Habakkuk 2:14
v. 14 – The extent of God’s kingdom – the
whole earth.
But the LORD is in his holy temple; let all the
earth be silent before him." Habakkuk 2:20
v. 20 – The extent of the worship of God –
the whole earth.
The Saint’s Response From Faith
Habakkuk’s Prayer of Faith (3:1-18)
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Humility in prayer. (Eg. v. 2-3)
Adoration in prayer. (Eg. v. 3-4)
Petition in prayer. (Eg. v. 2, 16)
Faith in prayer. (Eg. v. 17-19)
Application: Faith & Providence
All I have seen teaches me
to trust the Creator
for all I have not seen.
—Emerson
Application: Faith & Providence
1 Do
not fret because of evil men or be
envious of those who do wrong; 2 for
like the grass they will soon wither,
like green plants they will soon die
away. 3 Trust in the LORD and do
good; dwell in the land and enjoy
safe pasture. 4 Delight yourself in the
LORD and he will give you the desires
of your heart. 5 Commit your way to
the LORD; trust in him and he will do
this:
Application: Faith & Providence
6 He
will make your righteousness
shine like the dawn, the justice of
your cause like the noonday sun. 7 Be
still before the LORD and wait
patiently for him; do not fret when
men succeed in their ways, when
they carry out their wicked schemes.
Psalms 37:1-7 (NIV)
Application: Faith & Providence
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The just shall live by faith.
God’s way may be enigmatic, but
we still must trust Him.
God’s means may be puzzling, but
we still must trust Him.
Application: Faith & Providence
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Waiting and watching in prayer is
the response of faith which God
desires.
Trust in the Lord, who will make the
scales balance in the end. Justice
will be done, but in His time.
God is in control, despite
appearances to the contrary.
Application: Faith & Providence
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Dwight L. Moody's favorite verse was
Isaiah 12:2: "I will trust, and not be
afraid.”
Faith in our Lord is put to the test when
we consider the injustices we see. God
never explains His actions fully but calls
upon us to trust Him. We will never figure
it out but if we pray and wait, we will see
Him act (unless it’s not in His timing!).