Habakkuk - Part 5

Thank you for listening to this message from the ministry of Morse Corner Church in Leverett, Massachusetts. Morse Corner is a non-denominational church that is committed to the preaching and teaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Our church was founded in 1896 by two students of the famous evangelist D .L. Moody. We seek to encourage and edify the body of Christ through the proclamation of God's word through the ministries of the local church.

If you'd like more information, visit our website, morsecornerchurch .com. We hope you enjoy the message. And really, what keeps people in unbelief? Pride. The love of their sin and pride. I think these are the two things.

The love of sin and pride. You know what the Bible says in 1 John 2 .16? For all that is in the world is the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. So people are proud and thinking you can add something to your salvation.

Thinking you can work your way to heaven. That's pride. And here's where it hopefully all fits together. Okay, look again at what the Lord tells the prophet Habakkuk. Habakkuk chapter 2, verse 4. Behold the proud.

Behold the proud. His soul is not upright in him. But the just shall live by his faith. So these are the two options. These are the two options that you have. You either trust in the Lord or essentially you're trusting in yourself.

And let's get reoriented in the book of Habakkuk and his prophecy. What's the prophet's objection? What is it that he cannot understand? He cannot understand how the Lord could use a wicked nation like Babylon to bring correction to God's people.

The Chaldeans, they did not have faith in God. They trusted in themselves and they glorified themselves and their own military power. They would not give the glory to God. Remember, what did they say?

They offered sacrifices and burned incense to their net and their dragnet, which was a symbol of military power.

What were they?

They were proud. You know, these nations all throughout history that have had the largest military, they seem unbeatable.

What happens?

They end up destroying themselves from within because the Lord lifts his hand of protection and gives them over to a debased mind. The only hope a nation has is to trust in Christ. I heard a song this past week.

I guess it's an old one.

Some of you probably know it.

Praise the Lord past the ammunition. You heard this song and we'll all stay free.

I get it. I get it.

But you need to trust in the Lord. All the guns and missiles and bombs in the world isn't going to do it. You need to trust in the Lord. So praise the Lord past the ammunition. So who are you trusting in?

Are you trusting in him? God was going to use Babylon to punish his people, Israel. If they were trusting in themselves, what would happen? They would perish. If they trusted in the Lord, they would be delivered.

If not in this life, certainly in the life to come. And did the Lord restore the nation of Judah? Yes, he did. Did revival eventually come to the nation of Judah? It took a while, but yes, it did. Did the descendants of Abraham live long enough to see the fulfillment of the Messiah, the promised Messiah?

Yes, they did. And did God preserve a remnant of believing Israel even until this very day? Has he done that? Yes, he has. You know what? It's hard not to notice, but I've met quite a few Jews in my lifetime.

I've never met a Chaldean.

Have you?

Babylon is gone. The Chaldeans are gone. And yet there's a nation right now in the Middle East named what?

Israel.

And Satan hates it. He hates it. And those who are of Satan tend to hate it.

Now, it's true.

They're not walking with the Lord. They need correction, just like Judah did back in the book of Habakkuk. So Babylon is gone. They eventually were defeated. They fell to the Medes and the Persians, never to be restored ever again.

And the Lord continues in verses five and onward, pronouncing woe unto the wicked whose souls were not upright before God. Why? Because they did not live by faith.

It's that simple.

And Lord willing, we'll cover that next time. But I want to spend the remainder of our time on verses two and three. So Habakkuk, he asked his first question in chapter one.

The Lord responds.

He asked his second question in chapter two, begins with the prophet saying, again, I will stand my watch and set myself on the rampart and watch to see what he will say to me and what I will answer when I am corrected.

And his answer comes in verse two. Then the Lord answered me and said, write the vision and make it plain on tablets that he may run who reads it. So the answer came to the prophet in what? How did he receive the answer?

It was in a vision. And notice the Lord tells him to write it on tablets. He doesn't say, write it on a scroll. He says, write it on tablets. And there is a specific reason for that. What was the purpose?

That he may run who reads it. Now, this does not mean that the people would go up, they'd read the tablet and run away. I mean, that wouldn't make any sense. It means that those who read it, they should be able to run through it.

Should go up, read it and run through it. So Habakkuk was to make this writing accessible and legible so that people could do what? Absorb the message. He wanted as many people as possible to read it, to absorb it, and then communicate it to other people.

This is why he was to do it on tablets, not on a scroll to be hidden away somewhere, but on tablets. And most commentators agree that these tablets were such that they would hang in public, maybe even in the temple.

So God's word, what does this tell us? God's word is to be proclaimed. Not hidden away somewhere. Okay, this book is to be what? Read, studied, proclaimed, not hidden away somewhere until next Sunday.

So God's word should be proclaimed. And he tells him, write it down.

Write it down.

Why?

Number one, God wanted this message proclaimed again. So the maximum amount of people heard it. And number two, he wanted it preserved for future generations. This is the thing I love about the minor prophets.

We went through the book of Joel. We spent three Sundays a couple months ago going through the book of Joel. It's an easy book to overlook. But once I got into it, man, that was, that was great. I don't know if you thought it was great.

I thought it was great.

I enjoyed it. But the prophet Habakkuk, this book, a lot of Christians have never even read the book of Habakkuk. Some Christians probably, is that in the Bible?

Where is that?

But the Lord wanted it preserved for future generations. The invasion of Judah by the Babylonians. This is one of the biggest events in all of the Old Testament. This is one of the most important prophecies surrounding this event.

One of the most important prophecies in all of scripture. In fact, the writings of the prophets in some ways are defined by the Babylonian captivity. As whether a prophet was writing, you know, pre-exile or post-exile.

And here's a little trivia question for you. I want to raise a hand. I'm not going to call on anyone unless I see a hand. Name the two prophets who wrote during the captivity of Babylon. Pastors and deacons are excluded.

Okay.

Mark. Ezekiel and Daniel.

Amen. Amen.

So to possess this prophecy, what does it accomplish? Well, one thing it did at the time, it warned the people. The Jews were to run through it. They were to read it. And it served as a warning to the people.

That was the first thing. And then in the future, going forward, this prophecy would bring encouragement. Because once Jerusalem fell and they were taken away into captivity, this story, this prophecy would be among the people.

And they knew that this would only be temporary. So they had hope of the restoration of Judah. So it served to encourage the Jews taken in captivity. And then ultimately, though, when all of these things are fulfilled, what does it do?

It authenticates God's word. And it brings glory to God. Because the people see that God is the only one who can declare the end from the beginning. So this prophecy served at least those three purposes.

And I can't help it to think of another prophecy that was given and received in a vision. And what might that prophecy be? Well, the book of Revelation was received in a vision. And when the heavenly messenger told the apostle John, what did he say?

Write it down.

Write it in a book. And send it to the seven churches. And what purpose does the book of Revelation serve? Well, just like Habakkuk. First, when it was written in the original contemporary context, it served as a warning to the seven churches.

That was the contemporary context. And then going forward, Revelation has a future application that it encourages us. Certainly will encourage the people living through the great tribulation. That in the end, we know and they will know that good will triumph over evil.

So it has that purpose. And then ultimately, the ultimate purpose is when all of those things in Revelation come to pass. The word of God made flesh, Jesus Christ, will be glorified as the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.

And by the way, in the book of Revelation, who's the enemy of God's people in the book of Revelation? Spiritually speaking, they are given the name Babylon. The kingdom of Antichrist is called Babylon.

Listen, I don't know about you, but when I see all that, when I see how scripture is all connected and really intertwined, that makes me excited. You know, you can read the Bible and get what it says on the surface.

But once you understand the big picture and you know how this is connected to this and it's connected to that, it's amazing. It's amazing. And God is glorified in it. Yes, the Bible is a collection of 66 books, but really it's one message.

It is one story. It is his story. So the Lord wanted it all written down. The tablets were likely hung in a public place so that everyone would know. Verse three, for the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it will speak and it will not lie.

Though it tarries, wait for it because it will surely come. It will not tarry. That is, it will not tarry beyond the appointed time. So this is God's word. And he's telling his people through the prophet Habakkuk that judgment is coming.

Okay, judgment is coming. Wait for it. It will surely come. See, God did not want the nation to think that they could keep on living in rebellion against God and do it without any consequences. But neither did he want his people to think that he was going to cut them off forever.

Lord is a shelter for his people.

Let me repeat that.

In the book of Habakkuk, the Lord did not want the nation to think they could keep on living in rebellion without any consequences. So here's the message. Watch because it's coming. Watch and be ready in the just.

They must live by their faith. Let's close in prayer. Father, how thankful we are for your word. Even though this book was written over 2 ,500 years ago, the words are just as true and the message just as timely.

And Lord, we ask that those who have an ear, let them hear what the Holy Spirit is saying to the church. And we pray it all in Jesus name.

Amen.

Thanks for listening. I'm Pastor Michael Grant from Morris Cornick Church. If you'd like to listen to the complete message or if you'd like more information about the ministry, visit our website, MorrisCornickChurch .com.

And we'd love to have you join us some Sunday morning here in Leverett. Until next time, may the grace of God be with you.