Habakkuk - Part 7

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And you notice he uses a term that is about the worst thing you can think of.

People who are what? Bloodthirsty. Bloodthirsty. I think if you were to ask your average evangelical

Christian, if you were to go up to them and say, does God love everyone? You would probably receive the answer, of course,

God loves every single human being. And you know what? That's generally true.

It is. It is generally true. But I like to read what David wrote in Psalm chapter 5, verses 5 and 6.

I understand that some people may have never heard this or maybe they've never thought about this, but this is what the word of God says.

Speaking to the Lord, David wrote, the boastful shall not stand in your sight.

You, speaking to God, you, Lord, hate all workers of iniquities.

What do we do with a verse like that? Do you falsely conclude, as some have, that God hates sinners?

Does God hate sinners? No, the Bible says God so loved the world and while we were yet sinners,

Christ died for us. Jesus died for sinners because he has grace and he loves sinners.

So what is David talking about in Psalm chapter 5? Well, I think he clarifies in verse 6 where he says, the

Lord abhors, that's just another word of hatred.

The Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.

And this is what I take from that. God places a special curse on those who are bloodthirsty.

I mean, these are people who love to murder. These are people who love to take innocent blood.

And we are, to a large degree, sheltered from this. But this type of thing has always existed upon the earth.

Woe unto him, saith the Lord. Habakkuk chapter 2, verse 12. Woe to him who builds a town with bloodshed, who establishes a city by iniquity.

Behold, is not the Lord of hosts, that the people's labor to feed the fire?

And the nations weary themselves in vain. In other words, a city or a nation that is built on bloodshed is a city or a nation that will not stand.

Such a city, such a nation will fall. And the nation of Babylon, did they have godly foundations?

No, of course not, which is why they fell. It came to nothing.

And compare that, though, to the true Israel of God. Did the true

Israel of God have godly foundations? Of course. Hebrews 11, verses 9 and 10, speaking of Abraham, it says,

By faith he dwelt in the land of promise, as in a foreign country dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise.

For Abraham, he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is

God. That city will endure. That nation will endure.

And then we read in verse 14, and I believe this is a reference to the millennial kingdom, that golden age which is coming upon the earth.

Habakkuk 2, verse 14, The earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the

Lord as the waters cover the sea. You know, you can turn on the news and look around at everything that's happening today and just know that better times are coming.

This is not describing the here and now, obviously. But there will come a time where the earth will be filled with the knowledge and the glory of the

Lord. Amen. Are you looking forward to that? I hope you are. We now see the fourth woe in verses 15 through 17.

Woe to him who gives drink to his neighbor, pressing him to your bottle, even to make him drunk so that you may look on his nakedness.

You are filled with shame instead of glory. You also drink and be exposed as uncircumcised.

The cup of the Lord's right hand will be turned against you, and utter shame will be on your glory.

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

So this is, as we said in the outline there, that this is the sin of debauchery. Drunkenness, nakedness, woe unto them, says the

Lord. Because Babylon, what did Babylon do? Would entice people and pushed their immorality, pushed it on other people, on other nations to weaken these other nations.

You push immorality upon a nation, or if a nation embraces immorality, what's the result?

That nation is weakened. We're seeing this. We're living through this. A nation that turns their back on God and embraces every form of immorality is a nation that will increasingly be weakened.

And then it is ripe to be taken over.

So we need to pray, I think, for our nation. We love our country, and this is why sometimes we preach to our country.

Because we love our country, remember? The Lord chastens those whom he loves.

If he didn't care, he wouldn't say anything. So we need to pray for our nation. While we may be exporting democracy all over the world, you can make the argument that that's a good thing.

I wouldn't argue with that. But we are also exporting our deteriorating morality all over the world, as Babylon did.

And what does God think about this? Well, I'm reminded again, the book of Revelation, speaking of Babylon.

Revelation 18, verses 4 through 6. And I heard another voice from heaven saying,

Come out of her my people. God's people today need to come out and be separate.

We need to come out and be a separate and holy people.

Galatians 6, verse 7 says, Do not be deceived. God is not mocked. For whatever a man sows, that he also reaps.

And for Babylon, or any nation that continues in that spirit of Babylon, we could say that whatever a nation sows, that nation will reap.

Now finally, we come to the fifth woe in verses 18 through 20, which addresses the sin of idolatry.

Idolatry has to be one of the most foolish sins of all.

You think about it, and we saw back in verse 6, this is what? A taunting riddle.

The Lord says in verse 18, What profit is the image that its maker should carve it?

The molded image. A teacher of lies. You say, well how can a molded image teach?

That the maker of its mold should trust in it. To make mute idols?

You see a question mark. How foolish is the sin of idolatry? To take a block of wood, carve some bird, or some animal, or some man, or anyone, it doesn't matter what it is.

To take a block of wood, carve an image, and then bow down and pray to it, and ascribe doctrine to it.

That this is teaching me something. Making a golden calf and bowing down to a cow.

It's hard to imagine people doing this. And yet, this very day, all over the world there are people, in the name of Christianity, who bow down to idols, to statues.

And I think, you know I wasn't there, I can't read people's minds, but I don't think they're actually worshipping the block of wood.

I think they have to know. I carved this thing. I'm not actually worshipping the wood. It's the spirit or being that is behind it.

But what did Paul say about this? Those who sacrifice to idols, what are they really sacrificing to?

Devils, is what Paul says. So how foolish is this? To place your trust in a block of wood, or to place your trust in a molded image.

The Lord says in verse 19, Woe to him who says to wood, Awake! Awake!

You're going to be saying that a long time. It's never going to happen. Arise and teach!

Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver, yet in it there is no breath at all.

What is this? This is divine mockery. This is God mocking the idols.

God is taunting his enemies. And I know there's someone who says, Well, my God would never do that.

No, what man of God would mock or taunt the enemies of God?

Would God do this? Would a man of God do this? Well, you remember Elijah on Mount Carmel?

I'm pretty sure he did that. You remember the prophets of Baal, what they did? Baal in 1

Kings 18, the prophets of Baal cried out to their false god, Oh Baal, hear us!

Hear us! But there was no voice. No one answered. And the scripture says, and so it was that at noon, that Elijah mocked them and said,

Cry out aloud for he is a god. Either he is meditating or he's busy or perhaps he's gone away on a journey or maybe you need to shout a little louder.

Maybe your god is sleeping and you need to wake him up. What is that? That is Holy Ghost inspired sarcasm.

Holy Ghost inspired mockery. Now we don't want to do that all the time.

I mean, there's a special time and place for that. Okay, don't use that as a justification to just taunt everybody you meet, obviously.

But Habakkuk 2 19, Woe to him who says to wood awake.

Verse 20, But the Lord is in his holy temple. And I believe this is a reference to the heavenly temple.

God is in heaven. He is in his holy temple and let all the earth keep silence before him.

So the prophet Habakkuk, you remember he asked a question and he got an answer that he didn't like.

So he asked another question and he got another answer.

And what did the Lord say to him the second time? The just shall live by his faith.

In Babylon, he went on, Babylon will be destroyed. Don't worry. Don't worry. This is for the correction of Judah.

Babylon, the proud, they will be destroyed and let the idols be silent.

Matter of fact, let all the earth keep silence. And you know who that would include?

It would include the prophet Habakkuk. What is

God saying to him? I think the message is similar to what the Psalmist wrote in Psalm 46 verse 10.

Be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations.

I will be exalted in the earth. So in conclusion, you know when things don't make sense, when confusion and or violence or despair just seem to surround you on all sides and you have these questions that Habakkuk had, why?

Why, Lord? How can you allow this? That's when Habakkuk and us, we need to be silent.

Be still and know that the Lord is God. He will be exalted in the earth.

Let's close in prayer. Our Father in heaven, help us to learn to be still and to know that you are

God. And Lord, when we don't understand your ways, help us to live by our faith and to rest in you and your goodness and your promises toward us.

And Father, whatever pride or other sins we are holding onto, help us to recognize that they never satisfy.

Help us to loosen our grip as we loosen our grip on this world which is passing away.

And may we all eagerly look forward to the day that you promised when the whole earth will be filled with your knowledge and your glory as the waters cover the sea.

And we pray, Lord, that if anyone listening does not have the knowledge of the

Lord that you would open their heart to receive it and to receive Christ as Lord and Savior of their lives.

Bless, guide, and grow your people during the week to come. We pray it 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.