Habakkuk is a prophet who has been praying to God and Habakkuk does not understand why God has not been answering his prayers. Habakkuk has been crying out for help but does not feel like God is listening (Habakkuk 1:2). Habakkuk does not understand why he cannot see God acting. God then responds to Habakkuk, telling him that he is going to do something so unbelievable that even if it were explained, he could not believe it. God declares that he will use the Babylonians, a terrible and wicked nation to sweep over the land in judgment. God has provided a shocking and hard answer to Habakkuk’s prayer. What will be Habakkuk’s response to this hard answer from God and what do we learn regarding to how to respond to God’s hard answers?
Table of Contents
ToggleHabakkuk’s Shock (Habakkuk 1:12-17)
Habakkuk received the answer that God gave the way God said he would receive it. Habakkuk is shocked by this answer. Habakkuk begins by acknowledging God’s character and then questions God further. Look at verse 12. Notice that Habakkuk proclaims that God is holy, pure, and his rock. Habakkuk further acknowledges God’s answer. You have established the Chaldeans (Babylonians) to be the instrument of punishment. Look at verse 13. God is too pure to look on evil and cannot tolerate wrong. But notice Habakkuk’s problem at the end of verse 13. “Why do you idly look at traitors and remain silent when the wicked swallow up the man more righteous than he?” Do you hear Habakkuk’s problem? God is pure and holy and cannot look at wrong. Then how can you let the wicked swallow up those more righteous? In other words, I know we are bad and worthy of judgment. But they are worse and really deserve judgment! They are worse than us! Why would you let the wicked prosper and let those who are more righteous be swallowed up them?
The rest of Habakkuk’s response shows how bad of a solution this is. In verses 14-15 Habakkuk says that we are completely helpless, like fish waiting to be captured. In verses 16-17 Habakkuk reveals that the Babylonians are arrogant and glory in themselves. They are merciless. They are worldly and wicked. Are you going to let them get away with this (1:17)? Here is what I want us to see about God’s answers. Sometimes, maybe many times, God’s hard answers only cause us to have more questions. But we should not be surprised by this. Did Habakkuk say anything that God did not know? God already told Habakkuk that the Babylonians were a wicked nation. Habakkuk is not giving God any new information. We are not giving God any new information when we are struggling with God’s answers to our prayers. God said his answer would be unbelievable even if it were explained (1:5). The apostle Paul proclaimed that God’s ways are untraceable and unsearchable (Romans 11:33). God’s answers are hard and we may not understand what God is doing. God says this and Habakkuk is confirming this. God’s answers can cause us to have more questions.
Habakkuk’s Stance (Habakkuk 2:1)
Now listen to how Habakkuk concludes his response. He pictures himself like a man standing on the watchtower, looking for the a messenger returning from the battle with news. Habakkuk knows God is going to give a response and is wanting to receive it. Habakkuk does not think he has won the argument with God. Rather, he knows that he will be corrected by God’s answer and he understands that he will have more that he will want to say. Habakkuk is not challenging God. Habakkuk knows that he has not stumped God with his response. He knows he needs his viewpoint to be corrected and he is waiting for that to happen. It is important to recognize that we can have questions and we can fail to understand what God is doing. But we must also recognize that God is right and he will correct our failed understanding. So how will God answer Habakkuk now?
Get Ready (Habakkuk 2:2-3)
God provides a two point answer. In verses 2-3 we see God tell Habakkuk to write down this answer so that everyone is able to see it. It would be something like saying to put this message on a billboard so that everyone driving by will be able to read it. The reason everyone needs to see this message is because it is certainly coming. God’s response may seem slow. But wait for it because it will definitely come. One of the things that we can forget is that God is never late. God always acts at the right time. We can think God is late and not responding. But God always responds at the right moment. Mary and Martha thought Jesus was too late to help Lazarus. But Mary and Martha learned was that Jesus was not late. He was going to act at the right time because he knew what he was going to do.
Get Faith (Habakkuk 2:4)
So what needs to be put on the billboard? What does everyone need to hear? God proclaims in verse 4 that there are two groups of people. The first group of people are described in the first part of verse 4. We can describe the first group as the arrogant or the proud. God says their spirit is not right within them. It is a spirit of self-sufficiency. To better understand what this means, we need to contrast this to the second group which is described in the second part of verse 4. “The righteous shall live by his faith.”
This becomes a key New Testament truth. “The righteous will live by his faith” is quoted in Romans 1:17, Galatians 3:11, and Hebrews 10:38. Now I want us to stop and think about this answer. Habakkuk does not understand what God is doing. It does not seem right. It does not make any sense. God says put the message on a sign so that everyone who runs can read it. God further says to wait for it because it is going to happen. God is not late. What God intends to do will absolutely happen. So now here is the message: The proud have the wrong spirit but the righteous will live by his faith. The proud trust in themselves. The righteous live by trusting God. What is God saying and how is this an answer to Habakkuk’s perplexities?
God’s point is that the righteous do not live by having all the answers. The righteous do not live by understanding what God is doing. The righteous do not live by trusting in themselves. The righteous do not live by looking within themselves for the answers. The righteous live by putting their faith in God. God’s answer to Habakkuk is that you need to trust what God is doing. Relationship with God means trusting in who God is and what God is doing. The people whose spirit is not right do not trust God and trust his answers. So God is putting forward this important answer. If we are not trusting in God, then we are trusting in ourselves. If we do not live by faith in God, then we are living by faith in ourselves.
Please think about how this is a key message in Hebrews 11. The people of faith are showing that they live their lives by trusting in what God says, not what they understand. Noah was warned about unseen events. Abraham was asked to leave his home not knowing where he was going. Abraham was asked to offer up his only son, through whom God had promised to bless the world. The people of Israel by faith walked on dry ground when the Red Sea parted. The walls of Jericho fell by faith. The author of Hebrews is emphasizing this truth in Hebrews 11: the righteous live their lives by putting their trust in God, not in themselves. Friends, trust is easy when we understand what is happening. Trust is easy when what is going on in our lives makes sense. True trust is when you do not understand but you continue anyway. Think about this in the life of Peter. Jesus tells Peter to walk in the water to him. True trust acts even when it does not make sense. Remember what Jesus said to Peter when Peter began to sink. “O you of little faith, why did you doubt? (Matthew 14:31).
When I Don’t Understand
So what is God teaching us through Habakkuk when we do not understand? I believe the big message to us is to know that God is never late while the faithful wait. We are being asked to trust God when we do not understand. Habakkuk needed to trust God even though he did not understand what God was doing regarding the Babylonians and the people of God. All the people of faith trusted God even when they did not understand what God was commanded them to do or did not understand what God was doing. But here is one thing I want us to think about. Since God’s ways are higher than our ways and God’s thoughts are better than our thoughts (cf. Isaiah 55), then why would we ever think that we must understand what God is doing in our lives and in this world? His ways are better! His thoughts are higher! Therefore, I must walk by faith. Faith proclaims that I can trust in God even though I do not understand. Pride says I need to understand what God is doing or I will not follow him. The spirit of self-sufficiency is one of the greatest dangers to true faith. We must hear what God is advertising on the sign. Our spirit is not right within us when we are unwilling to live by faith.
God’s question to us at the end of the day when we are the midst of suffering or when we do not understand is simply this: Do you trust me? Do you trust God when he asks you to step out of the boat and walk on water? When the wind and waves start picking up, will you continue to trust God and keep walking toward him? Keep walking forward with God, even when you do not understand, because this is the essence of faith. Keep walking forward with God because that is what the righteous do.
Living by faith means we will continue to remain faithful to God. This means that when it is hard to obey, we will still obey. We will continue to be faithful to God even when we do not understand. Too many times people want to cast off their faith because they do not understand. The call for faithfulness is the greatest when we are struggling to understand what God is doing. Before going through the people of faith that the writer of Hebrews lists in Hebrews 11, listen what he teaches at the end of chapter 10 that connects faith to faithfulness.
Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised. For, “Yet a little while, and the coming one will come and will not delay; but my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.” But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls. (Hebrews 10:35-39 ESV)
Notice the proclamation that we must not throw away what we have but have need of endurance so that we will continue to do God’s will and receive what is promised. The proof for his teaching is from quoting Habakkuk 2:4. Then he draws this important conclusion. We are not those who will shrink back and are destroyed. We are not going to give up. We are not going to be unfaithful. We are not going to stop doing what God has asked to do because we are those who have faith. We believe and through our faith we will be saved. Be patient. Wait in faith when you do not understand. Keep trusting God to get your through.