Good morning. We are small but mighty. Okay, let's just bow again for a word of prayer before we begin. 

Our Father, we thank you for your goodness to us. We thank you for this season of the year when we can stop from our normally busy schedules and reflect on all the great things that you have done for us. And we are truly thankful. We thank you for this place and for this church. We thank you for the teachers that you have raised up. We thank you for their faithfulness to your word, and we pray that you would continue to bless your word, and that it might go forth and accomplish your will. We thank you for this opportunity this morning to look into the book of Habakkuk again. We thank you for his message, and we pray that you would bless your word, give us insight as we look into it now. In Jesus' name, amen. 

Okay, as we come to this middle section and the middle part of the book of Habakkuk. Habakkuk is in some ways different than many of the other prophets in that most of the other prophets have a message to proclaim. And usually they're speaking to the people of Israel. We've covered a few of the minor prophets that spoke to nations around Israel. Nineveh, for example. But Habakkuk is different. And it's different, not that he doesn't have a message to convey to the people, but in the way that it's all set up, it's a godly man in commune with the Heavenly Father, asking questions that often We would ask, Lord, why are you doing it this way? Why don't you do something? And it's this discourse back and forth between the prophet and God answering him. And then the prophet brings up another question and then God answers him. And that whole format is really unique in the scriptures, and particularly in the prophetic, what we call the prophetic scriptures, these prophets that spoke and that the Lord raised up. And so, In some ways, Habakkuk should be near and dear to our hearts, because he's just like us. 

And it's interesting that as he asked these questions, he asked the why questions, and God never rebuked him for that. You know, we have, I have why questions. Why was it over two and a half years ago that in the blink of an eye, Denny Wilcox went to be with the Lord? And just a month or two later, I should have been the same. But why did the Lord spare me and not Denny? Why does the Lord still have me here? Lots of why questions. Lord, why do you do what you do? And even his disciples, you know, they had this plan for how it should be, how the Lord, this was, he was, the Lord Jesus was the Messiah, we're with him. Is now the time that you're going to set up your kingdom? And he goes, no, it's not now. I'm going away and you don't know where I'm going. But one time, one day you'll be with me and I will return. And so they say, well, then what is the signs of your coming? We all have questions. And graciously, the Lord brings those up for us. And although He doesn't explain everything, sometimes it doesn't seem like He explains much of anything. He answers our questions, the psalmist in many places, deals with these same issues of... 

The first question that Habakkuk asked was, Lord, I see the evildoers prospering and your justice I thought you were to bless us and to guard us from evil. It's very reminiscent of Psalm 37. Not because of evildoers, but he says, wait on the Lord. The same message that is here. And sometimes we don't want to wait. We're like the impatient toddler or infant. that is hungry, and you come home, and you set them in the high chair, and you go into the kitchen to get something to fix that hunger problem. But the minute you walk away, they think, oh, you don't care about me. And there's, wah! Sometimes we do the same thing with the Lord. It's like He walks into the other room to do the very thing that we want Him to do. But the minute He seems to walk away, we go, Lord, what? My dogs do that. You go in the bathroom. And if you don't watch the bathroom, they'll come in with you. But you close the bathroom door and they go, he disappeared. And when you come out, they go, you've arrived. I love you. 

But the Lord has a message for us in this book. and particularly in this chapter, and it will spill over into chapter three next week, in trusting the Lord. The key verse in this whole book is verse four of chapter two, which is in our passage this morning. Behold the proud. His soul is not upright in him, but the just shall live by his faith. That is the key to the whole book. That is the key to our walk with the Lord. 

I was gonna leave this till later, but I'll, It works now. And so those of you that were able to be here on Thanksgiving Day and listen to Pastor Gary's message, or if you're able to hear it on the radio, he highlighted Colossians 2, verse 6. And this is what it says. As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him, established in the faith, just as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving. Therefore, just as you have received Christ Jesus as Lord. And how did we do that? By grace through faith. Paul goes on and says, so walk in him. That's the message of Habakkuk. 

And so let's look at this book quickly. Let's look at this chapter. The book is broken up almost into the three chapters. The chapter divisions aren't inspired. And I don't know who divided Habakkuk the way they divided this one, but I would have moved chapter two over a little bit to maybe the beginning of verse 12 of chapter one, then you'd have question, answer, and then you'd have question, answer, and then chapter three would be Habakkuk's response. But I wasn't consulted in the chapter and verse divisions. And so we have what we have, but it reminds us when we read our Bibles, to sometimes disregard those chapter divisions, because it's better to get the flow. And this is one of those books, I was talking to James last week, or maybe the week prior, just as we were getting into Habakkuk, and I said, I took advantage to just sit, and read the whole book all the way through in one sitting. And it's only three chapters. It's not a big deal. For me, that's a good thing. 

But when you read it through, when you read any book through, I found this with the book of Hebrews. I was having trouble with the book of Hebrews. I couldn't get a grasp on it. It's a long book. And to sit and read the whole thing in one sitting is, for me, a major accomplishment. And I couldn't do it. But if I read half of it, and you get the flow, it makes a huge, huge difference. We get snippets. And really, our Sunday school was set up in such a way so that during the regular morning service, morning and evening services, we'd hone more detailed into smaller snippets of passages of books and scripture. But the. .. The Sunday school was set up more as a survey, so we'd cover larger passages in more of a survey and be able to get through more material quicker. Now, it's harder for us to study and to teach, and it's harder even to get our workbooks out and to cover. you know, three chapters in Jeremiah or something like that. But it helps us grasp the message better. It doesn't allow us to take as so often our television news and various ones do, take a snippet of what somebody says and you have no context. And at the end, you just go, is that really what they said? Well, when somebody plays the whole context, you can know that's not really the emphasis that they had there. 

And so, taking advantage and should you have the opportunity this week, just sit down and read the whole book of Habakkuk in one sitting and see how it flows together and that will be of great benefit to you. 

So Habakkuk comes to the Lord and he cries out and he says, how long shall I cry and you not hear me, Lord? I see violence and you will not save. Why do you show me iniquity and cause me trouble? This is verse three of chapter one. Why do you show me iniquity and cause me to see trouble and plunder and violence are before me. There is strife and contention arises. Therefore, the law is powerless and justices are powerless. Justice never goes forth, for the wicked surround the righteous, and therefore perverse judgment proceeds. 

And then the Lord answers him in verse five. And he goes, look among the nations and walk, be utterly astounded, for I will work a work in your days which you would not believe. So often what the Lord does is a work that we would not believe. It's not what we would do, it's not how we would do it. But the Lord in his infinite wisdom is accomplishing his great purposes. And here, here he's gonna do something that they wouldn't believe. 

Indeed I am raising up the Chaldeans, the Babylonians, a bitter and hasty people, which marches through the breadth of the earth to possess dwelling places that are not theirs. Pay attention to this description. We're gonna come back to it in the next chapter. They are terrible, dreadful. Their judgment and their dignity proceed from themselves. Their horses also are swifter than leopards and more fierce than the evening wolves. Their chargers charge ahead and the cavalry comes from afar and they fly like an eagle that hastens to eat. They all come for violence. Their faces are set like the east wind and they gather captives like sand, they scoff at kings and princes are scorned by them. They deride every stronghold and they heap up earthen mounds to seize it, the ramparts to breach the walls. Then his mind changes and he transgresses and commits offense and ascribes this power to his God. And so then that concludes the Lord's answer to Habakkuk. 

And so then Habakkuk says in response, he goes in verse 12, are you not from everlasting? Oh Lord, my God, my Holy one, we shall not die. Oh Lord, You have appointed them for judgment, O Rock. You have marked them for correction. You are of purer eyes than to behold evil and cannot look on wickedness. Why do you look on those who deal treacherously? And hold your tongue when the wicked devours a person more righteous than he is. Why do you make men like fish of the sea and creeping things that have no ruler? They take up all of them with a hook and they catch them with their nets and they gather them with their dragnet. Therefore, they rejoice and be glad. Therefore, they sacrifice their net to their net and they burn incense to their dragnet. because by them their share is suptuous and their food plentiful.

Shall they therefore empty their net and continue to slay nations without pity? I will stand on my watch. I will set myself on the rampart. I watch to see what he will answer to me. and what he will answer when I am corrected.

So that's the second question. And you see why that should really be in chapter two. So then the Lord answers him the second answer. And this is what he says.

Then the Lord answered him and said, write the vision and make it plain in the tablets that he may run who reads it. For the vision is not, is yet for an appointed time. But at the end, it will speak and will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it, because it will surely come. And it will not tarry.

Behold the proud. His soul is not upright in him. but the just shall live by his faith. Indeed, because he transgresses by wine, he is a proud man and he does not stay at home. Because he enlarges his desire as hell and he is like death and cannot be satisfied, he gathers to himself all nations and heaps up for himself all peoples.

Will not all these take up a proverb against him and taunt, riddle against him saying, woe to him who increases what is not his? How long? And to him who loads himself with many pledges, will not his creditors rise up suddenly and will they not awaken who oppress you? and you will become their booty because you have plundered many nations. All the remnant of the peoples shall plunder you because of man's blood and the violence of the land and the city and all who dwell in it.

Woe to him who covets evil evil gain for his house, that he may set his nest on high and that he may deliver from the power of disaster. You give shameful counsel to your house, cutting off many peoples and sin against your soul. and the rock will cry from the wall and the beam of the timbers will answer it.

Woe to him who builds a town with bloodshed, who establishes a city with it by iniquity. Behold, is it not of the Lord of hosts that the people's labor to feed the fire and the nations weary themselves in vain For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.

Woe to him who gives drink to his neighbor, pressing him to your bottle, even to make him drunk that you may look on his nakedness. You are filled with shame instead of glory. You also drink and be exposed as uncircumcised. And the cup of the Lord's right hand will be turned against you and utter shame will be your glory.

For the violence done to Lebanon will cover you. And the plunder of beasts which made them afraid because of man's blood and the labor of the land and the city and of all who dwell in it.

What profit is the image that its maker should carve it? The molded image, a teacher of lies, that the maker of the mold should trust in it. Should trust in it to make mute idols.

Woe to him who says to wood, awake. And to silent stone arise, it shall teach. Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver, yet in it there is no breath at all. But the Lord is in his holy temple. Let all the earth keep silent before him.

As we read the Lord's answer here to to Habakkuk's question about how the Lord is holy and how can he use an evil people. And it seems like they're everything contrary to what God wants and what God stands for. And then the Lord gives this answer, and it starts with, I want you to write this down. I want you to keep it on a stone, on tablets, so that it's something that is preserved for others to read. This is not just for you. And then he encourages him by saying, what I am doing is for a particular time. But it will come. It may not come on your timetable. It may not be in your schedule. But it will come and it will happen. And it will accomplish my purpose.

And so. He does this, but he brings this focus on the proud, which most of this chapter can apply easily to the Babylonians, to the Chaldeans. But the message has a broader reach than just those particular people. It is a truth of all time that God will judge evil and that God is going to judge evil. from other passes of scripture that look into the future. And indeed, in the spring, we're going to look at the book of Revelation. And part of that will deal with the judgment seat of God and God's judgment on evil. And this gives us a glimpse into that. And so these characteristics in these five woes are those that will carry on into the future and are not just applicable in this time of Habakkuk and the Babylonians.

Excuse me. And so he says, behold the proud. And that behold word is not one to be passed over. It is a call attention to. It's look at this. This is really important. It's kind of like Jesus in the gospels, particularly the gospel of John saying, verily, verily, I say unto you. It's a signal word to bring attention. And so we have two people here that are contrasted. We have the proud, and we have the just who shall live by his faith. And really, those are those that have humbled themselves. So contrary to being proud and self-assured, We have those who see that they have a need and they come to one who can meet that need and that is God himself, the Lord Jesus Christ.

And so the proud is, his soul is not right. Not right in what way? It's not right with God. It can't be right with God. And so he is outside of God's grace. He is outside of God's blessing. He is outside of all that God could and would do.

The humble person is just because he puts his faith in God. He is He is the one who is pictured in the person of Abraham, who was a great man, but he was nobody special at the beginning, but the Lord called him. And he trusted God. And the Lord said, gather your people together and leave your home and go to a place that I will show you. And he said, okay. But he didn't know where he was going. It was a place that I will show you. And so he did that. And the Lord brought him many thousands of miles, frankly. And he came down and settled in the land that we now know as the land of Israel. And the Lord blessed him. And the Lord said, trust me, I will make you a great nation. Well, at that time, he didn't have any kids. And he was an old man. But he said, okay, I'll trust you. He was walking by faith. He answered God's call by faith. He moved his family from the place that he had known to a brand new place without any direction, four direction as far as describing where he would go and what he would do. But he went there, and everything that God asked of him, he said, okay. Was he perfect? No, he made some major mistakes. But he is an illustration of the just not only coming to God by faith, but living a life by faith.

In Hebrews 11 verse 6 it says, without faith it is impossible to please God. And then it goes on in chapter 11 and describes all these people that pleased God by trusting God and by living their lives by faith in everything that they did.

But the Lord goes on in this passage and gives these five great woes and they're set in an interesting way. It is, It is five sets of three verses each. And so they come quickly. They're short and succinct for the most part. They describe the people of Babylon. but they describe a soul who is not upright in him as well.

So the first woe is verses six through eight. So it describes, It describes, first of all, this insatiable desire for wealth and hoarding of this wealth to themselves. Years ago, and I should have wrote it down, and I didn't, I thought I'd remember it, around the, the turn of the 20th century, late 1800s and the early 1900s, one of the great wealthy men was asked at one point, and I forget if it was, you know, the Vanderbilts or who it was, but they were asked, So how much money is enough? You're so rich. And he said, just a little bit more. And so that is what is described here. They're never satisfied. Him who increases what is not his. So he's taking, and we see this in what the Babylonians did, and really any nation that conquers in this way, particularly in ancient times, they would conquer to increase their wealth and prosperity. And indeed, they did.

But, what it says that they load up these things, and it's kind of like they're taking on debt, that these are like loans that one day will have to be paid back. Even this evil that they're doing, at one day there will be a point at which, to coin a phrase, you'll have to pay the piper. And that's what the Lord is saying. He's saying, there will be creditors, in verse seven, who will rise up suddenly. And will they not awaken and oppress you? And you will become their booty. So as the great nations rise and fall, we can look at it through history and see these great nations that rose to prosperity, and then either collapsed or were defeated by somebody else. In each case, there was a day of reckoning. And so, this is the thing that will happen. to all people and to the Babylonians. The remnant of those people shall plunder you because of men's blood. There will be an answer for these things and the violence in the land and in the city in which you dwell. So the violence that you have perpetrated on others will be repaid and all that wealth that you accumulated will become nothing. Kind of reminds us of the parable that Jesus told of the man that built bigger barns and greater barns because of all these things. And then he didn't realize that he would never enjoy those things, that he would die. And so this is the first woe.

The second woe is a woe that is similar to it, It deals with evil gain for his house to build an impenetrable fortress, which ultimately will bring shame and will cry against them. He covets Cain for his house and he seeks to build this great impenetrable safety, if you will. The story of Nineveh years ago was that it had these high walls and they were so wide that chariots could ride on top of them. And it didn't seem like there was any way that they could be conquered. And yet they were. The same with Babylon. It was this great walled city. And it seemed like nobody could conquer it. But what happened? They thought they were so secure. They had this great party. We have the account in Daniel chapter five. And the Medes, the Persians came and changed the direction of the river and came in under and took the city almost without a battle. 

So they desire these things, they built as a result what they think will protect them and give them stability, whether it's finances or whatever it may be. In our day, we deal with, well, if I have just this much money, then I'll be comfortable in my retirement. I won't have to worry about things." 

The Lord said, there is a day of reckoning if your soul is not upright within you. Woe to him who builds the number three. Woe the one who builds a town or a city with bloodshed and establishes the city with iniquity. 

Remember it described the Babylonians, the Chaldeans, as taking many captives. And they did, as many did, as the Egyptians did, in building these great palaces. edifices and cities by slave labor, by those that they had captured and brought. 

But they said that it will all, kind of like the passage in 1 Corinthians where it talks about the judgment seat of Christ and where Christians will be judged And it said, will your labors be gold hay, or will it be wood hay and stubble? Will it just burn, or will it be of great worth? And for these people, what they did, as far as eternity goes, and in reality a lot of times, will end up being worthless. 

But in contrast to that, in contrast to this glory that they think they're bringing to themselves, we have the earth filled with the glory of the Lord in verse 14. These verses that just kind of drop in in places and you go, where did that come from? How does that fit? These people are seeking their own glory, their own pride and honor. And the Lord reminds them that it is the knowledge of the glory of the Lord. And indeed, even as they live their lives in this supposed great way, it is the Lord who has the glory and His glory fills the whole earth. 

As the waters, it says, as the waters covered the sea, that's a great picture. 

The fourth woe. as we get through these is one of the commentators described it as treachery. It is really taking advantage of others morally. It is morally compromising those under you, and it describes them as getting people drunk so that they could take advantage of them. And the Babylonians loved their wine. Excuse me. And so that is what is described here, the moral degradation of these people. 

And the message of the Lord to us is one of purity. It is one of purity, it is given throughout scripture. First Thessalonians chapter four deals with the purity of the Christian life and how that should be important to us. 

But the Lord himself by his power will bring shame on these people. They bring shame to others but the Lord will answer that. and will judge them. 

And then we come to the final woe, which is the woe of idolatry. And as we consider what idolatry actually is, it is a lie from beginning to end. a reasonable person that looks at it would say, why in the world would you worship a piece of wood, kind of like what it says here, or a piece of metal that is molded in a particular fashion? And that's the question that is made here. 

What profit is an image that its maker should carve it? a molded image, a teacher of lies, that the maker of its mold should trust in it? To make it an idol, woe to him who, and what a contrast. Woe to him who says to the wood, awake. To the silent stone, arise, it shall teach. How in the world? It makes no possible sense to us. But they dress it up with gold and silver, but it has no breath. But in contrast to that, we have the Lord.

Years ago, and there may still be many churches that do that, but I remember years ago, the call to worship either by a choir or by the song leader or somebody standing up at the beginning of worship. And they would quote this verse. They go, but the Lord is in his holy temple. Let all the earth keep silent before him.

The Lord is real. The Lord is powerful. The Lord is the great God. He is the creator of all things. And indeed, our response should be one of awe and of reverence and of silence to receive from Him and to get from Him.

And as we stop here and don't get to chapter three, chapter three is where the final conclusion and the resolution for Habakkuk comes. And he goes, Lord, you are a great God. He speaks kind of like Abraham did at the time of Sodom and Gomorrah, shall not the God of all the earth do right? And so he concludes and he says, he basically embraces our chapter two, verse four, I will trust you. I will walk by faith. As I know you by faith, I will walk by faith.

Let me just read a few verses from Isaiah. Seek the Lord while he may be found. Call upon him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return to the Lord. And he will have mercy on him and to our God for he will abundantly pardon. That is the message to the people, to the proud in the first part of Habakkuk 2.4.

And then this part. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor your ways my ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain comes down and the snow from heaven and does not return there, but watereth the earth and make it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth. It shall not return to me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I send it.

Isaiah 55, six through 11.

So as we conclude this lesson, and as we look forward to next Sunday, as we spend time dealing with Habakkuk's answer, and indeed our answer, though we look and do not understand, let us remember that God's way is higher than our way. and that He is accomplishing His purpose.

Let's close in prayer. Our Father, we thank You that You are a great God. We thank You that You will do right. You will always do right. We thank you that as we look over even our world in our day, and it seems in many ways like evil is out of control, and how can this be? How can this get turned around? Yet you have a purpose. You are accomplishing Your will, and even though we may think You've turned Your back, we know that You did not wind up the earth only to walk away and let it run its course, but Your purpose is being accomplished. The earth is filled with Your glory as the waters fill the sea, and we thank You for that.

And so we come before you in our own lives and in our time around your Word, silent, to hear what you would say. And we thank you for that. In Jesus' name, Amen.