Word of Salvation – Vol. 43 No. 13 – April 1998
Is God For Real In This World?
A Sermon by Rev. J. Goris on Habakkuk 1:1-11
Scripture Reading: Luke 18:1-8; Habakkuk 1:1-11
Congregation loved by the Lord Jesus Christ.
Do you read between the lines when you read your newspaper, or when you listen to the news on TV or radio?
Does it alarm you what is happening?
Does it disturb you deeply when you look at our world?
Do you sometimes wonder why God seems absent or silent?
Habakkuk the prophet looked at the world of his time, his own people of Israel, and it deeply touched him. He took all those concerns to his God, and poured out his heart. His whole prophecy is one continuous dialogue with God. Habakkuk’s prophecy is not addressed to the people.
This small but powerful prophecy helps us to come to terms with this world in which we live, and with the way God is handling the situations we face. In this first paragraph (vss.1-11) we consider the question…
IS GOD REAL IN THIS WORLD?
We look at this under two headings:
1. How do you read God?
2. How do you read history?
1. HOW DO YOU READ GOD?
We know rather little about the prophet Habakkuk, and the message of his book is not well known, except for two passages, viz.,
“the just shall live by faith” (Hab.2:4)
and quoted in the New Testament; and the closing verses on a triumphant faith,
“though the fig tree does not blossom…” (Hab.3:17f).
So what was it that made Habakkuk’s faith the way it was? To be sure, God was holding on to this man. But it is important for us to take note of the process that was involved. What MEANS were used to make Habakkuk’s faith the sort of faith it was? That’s the heart of the matter here. Listen to these words:
“How long, O LORD, will I call for help,
And Thou wilt not hear?
I cry out to Thee, ‘Violence!’
Yet Thou dost not save…” (vs.2).
Habakkuk was not like Amos, who stood in the market-place and preached. This man Habakkuk was on his knees, in his inner-chamber, WRESTLING with his God. His name, in fact, means ’embracer.’ We are reminded about Jacob, wrestling with the Angel of the Lord at Peniel (Gen.32:22-32).
How long must I keep praying, Lord, for this sick child of mine?
How long for the conversion of my children?
For the job I so badly need?
How long should we keep the prayer meeting going, there’s only a handful every time? Is praying like that only a ‘holy huddle’ of pious people repeating themselves? And for that matter, is our Sunday worship service only a holy huddle of pious people showing they are different from the world?
Now notice that Habakkuk does not give up: How LONG will I call for help…? He perseveres because He knows God is for real. He knows he is not talking to a brick wall.
We are reminded here of the parable which Jesus is presenting in Luke 18:1-8. The Lord speaks that parable in connection with perseverance in prayer. No immediate answer does not show that God is not listening. For some wise reason of His own, God is not acting!
Do you remember what Jesus says at the end of that parable? Listen to His words: “And when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8)
Jesus is referring to the kind of faith that does not give up, that keeps on praying, even when God does not appear to be listening or responding. Habakkuk was ‘reading’ God alright. He did not read him in the light of his own limited understanding. He knew his God was a holy and faithful God! That’s why he kept on praying. That’s why he agonised in prayer, wrestling with his God. Habakkuk the embracer was embracing his God in pleading prayer. And in the background we see that solitary figure wrestling in the garden of Gethsemane. We see the Saviour ‘coming to terms’ with the Father’s will.
And what was Habakkuk’s deep-seated concern in this prayer? What did he pray for?
Was it some private matter?
His health or his disappointments in life?
Why, no!!
It was VIOLENCE: the people of God VIOLATING the laws of God. Everyone was doing his own thing, everyone seeking first their own kingdom, and that at the cost of others, and… the LORD! They were callous and careless. Habakkuk was cut up about that. He was not only seeing a selfish and distraught society. He was seeing through it. God was enabling him to read between the lines. God made him see what SIN was doing to the nation, the havoc it produced… and it bothered Habakkuk.
“Why dost Thou make me see iniquity,
And cause me to look on wickedness?
Yes, destruction and violence are before me,
Strife exists and contention arises.
Therefore, the law is ignored
and justice is never upheld.
For the wicked surround the righteous,
Therefore, justice comes out perverted.” (Hab.1:3-4, NASB)
It bothered Habakkuk. It grieved him to see all that.
Does it bother YOU?
Does the state of things in the church and in the nation and beyond bother you?
Does it cause you to have sleepless nights?
Does it make you CRY to the Lord, again and again?
Do WE wrestle with God like that, and for that reason? Does it BURDEN us?
Look again at the opening lines of Habakkuk 1. The burden that Habakkuk SAW, that God showed him. It burdened Elijah, too, at the time: How can the people of God get into such deep waters?
Does the church of today face times like that? “How long, O LORD, will I call…?” How long?
If God is for real, are you reading between the lines?
How do you read God, and how do you read history; the story of how God works in this world? We need to give our attention to that, too.
2. HOW DO YOU READ HISTORY?
Habakkuk does get an answer from the Lord. We read it in vss.5-11. But what sort of an answer is that?
“Look among the nations! Observe!
Be astonished! Wonder!
Because I (the LORD!) am doing something in your days…”
The first thing we learn is that God may use crooked sticks to strike straight blows. He has often done so in history. Habakkuk is told to look among the nations. Assyria and Egypt were the super-powers in his day. The Chaldeans (or Babylonians) were comparatively small and insignificant. In the days of king Hezekiah they sent a delegation to congratulate him on his recovery (Isaiah 39), they were not a great political power at that time.
He is going to use the Chaldeans to discipline His chosen people. Israel was ignoring God’s laws and oppressing with violence. In verses 6-11 God describes the ruthlessness of the Chaldean war-machinery.
“For behold, I (the LORD!), am raising up the Chaldeans,
That fierce and impetuous people
Who march throughout the earth
To seize dwelling-places which are not theirs.
They are dreaded and feared.
Their justice and authority originate with themselves.
Their horses are swifter than leopards
And keener than wolves in the evening…
…they …swoop down to devour…
all of them come for violence…
…they mock at kings…
…they laugh at every fortress…
…they sweep through like the wind and pass on…
(BUT)…they will be held guilty.
They whose strength is their god…”
The Chaldeans worship THEIR OWN STRENGTH.
They bow down before their own smartness: they glorify in that!! (Remember, king Nebuchadnezzar years later? “Is not this the great Babylon that I have built?”
It should not surprise us that God uses crooked sticks to discipline His people. Can He not use today’s governments, today’s economy, today’s schools? And what about the increasing power of other religions? What about the porn industry? Be sure this God of history has all kind of tools at His disposal to carry out his plans, to teach the nations a lesson, to teach even the church a lesson.
Take note of the headlines. What kind of thing captures the interest of the people? Don’t be misled. What the world highlights as important is not necessarily important to God’s cause. Don’t be surprised at what the 20th century “Chaldeans” are doing. But don’t ignore it either!
Surely God is in control. Surely God knows how to discipline His people. It’s all part of His saving activity in the world. TRUST ME, He seems to say to his servant Habakkuk. Trust Me, He is saying to you and me. So above all, we must read history, so as to recognise that God is in Christ reconciling the world to Himself! The apostles were reading history correctly when they said that “by the hands of wicked men” Christ was crucified, and all that “by the determined plan and foreknowledge of God” (Acts 2:23). God was not caught out! He is not napping: He neither slumbers, nor sleeps (Psalm 121). He quietly goes his own way, showing that He is the SUPER POWER of all super powers, including death! He raised up Jesus from the dead!
Strictly speaking there is no such thing as SECULAR history! ALL history is SACRED. It all serves God’s purposes. Christ is the Head over all things to the church, says the apostle (Ephesians 1:22). That is a great comfort! Especially where the church is persecuted.
How do you read history, my brother and sister?
Habakkuk is not fully aware of all those things. He is still full of questions (see 1:12ff). He does not yet see the Messianic light coming over the horizon, but he does know that God is working, and that He is to be trusted. And that’s why he continues to pray!! That is why his heart is in tune with God’s heart. His desire is for justice.
That is why his message is still of importance to the church of Jesus Christ today! For the church knows that if the blood of Abel was crying from the ground for justice to Almighty God, even so, much MORE will the blood of Jesus in Gethsemane and at Calvary cry out to God!
That’s the comfort of those who are calling out to God today, “How long, O LORD, will I call out…?”
It is proper, it is absolutely necessary, to keep on praying.
By all means, let us not give up; and if we haven’t started wrestling with God yet, START DOING SO NOW.
Be sure that the Holy Spirit also helps our weakness, and that He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And WE KNOW (or don’t we?) that God causes ALL things to work together for good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose! (Romans 8.26-28)
Now then, take courage as you look at this world, and come to the throne of grace with great boldness and perseverance!
Amen.