7 Minor Prophets, Lesson #7

Good Questions Have Small Groups Talking
www.joshhunt.com

Again, I’d email your group and ask them to do a little background reading. It is almost impossible to get fully up to speed on a passage like this with a little background reading. They don’t need to do a lot of reading. Half an hour or so reading the notes in a study Bible will make the conversation a whole lot more interesting. Alternatively, you might email just a few of your readers and ask them to give a brief report on some of the background info.

Habakkuk 1, 2

OPEN

Let’s each share your name and if you could ask God one question, what would it be?

DIG

1.       Look at your Bible’s Table of Contents. What do you recall about any of the Minor Prophets?

The key to long term memory is review.

2.       Let’s review . . . which of these came first?

David or Daniel?

Abraham or Adam?

Joshua or Joseph?

Isaac or Isaiah?

Come up with your own pair, and the rest will put them in order.

3.       Introduction. Does your Bible have an introduction to Habakkuk? What is the big picture?

Habakkuk addressed his book to God, not the people of Judah. In a frank dialogue with God, he discussed problems of suffering and justice. He could not understand how God could use Judah’s enemies to judge his chosen people. But the book ends with Habakkuk’s prayer of praise. — The New International Version (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011), Hab.

4.       What is Habakkuk feeling in verses 2 – 4?

Have you been asking God questions about your life and the society in which you live? Why so much heartache, so much pain? Have you, like the prophet Habakkuk, become perplexed, distraught, saddened, grieved, and even angered at the injustices of today? What about the plight of the poor, the pain of the oppressed, the continual wickedness of humankind, and the hypocrisy and complacency of the Church? Have you cried in the midnight hour and asked God, “How long?” Have you thought, like Habakkuk, that maybe God just was not listening?

Are there problems in your life left unresolved, questions unanswered? Have you considered entering into the courtroom of the Kingdom of God to ask, “God, Your Honor, why? What’s going on? What is the purpose? What’s happening in my life?” — T. D. Jakes, 40 Days of Power (Shippensburg, PA: Destiny Image, 2011).

5.       How do you think God felt about Habakkuk questioning Him?

My best definition for prayer is simple: prayer is communicating with God. This straightforward concept can help put us at ease, especially when we realize that communication involves more than just talking. We communicate through music and body language and sculpting and painting and facial expressions and dancing and writing—even macramé! We each have our favorite modes of communication, and God is fluent in all of them. So if talking isn’t your thing, you can still be good at praying.

Whether you pray by talking or by some other mode of communication, God most enjoys the prayer that is natural, direct, and simple. One of the most important qualities of effective communication is gut-level honesty. God hates it when we wear masks to the meeting, when our prayers become showy and inauthentic. Here are Jesus’ instructions: “When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full…And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words” (Matt. 6:5, 7).

The prayers of godly people recorded in Scripture are examples of straightforward honesty. When they were afraid, they told God about their fears. When they doubted, they doubted out loud in front of God. When they were angry, they let it rip. Under the reign of the evil King Jehoiakim, the nation of Judah was declining rapidly during a time of injustice, immorality, and violence. The prophet Habakkuk was convinced God wasn’t doing what he should and cried out, “How long, O Lord, must I call for help, but you do not listen? Or cry out to you, ‘Violence!’ but you do not save? Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrong?” (Hab. 1:2 – 3). You could call that a gut-level honest prayer, huh? Habakkuk wasn’t the only one to talk honestly with God. Moses, Gideon, and Elijah all questioned God. Job even cursed the day God made him and said, “I loathe my very life; therefore I will give free rein to my complaint and speak out in the bitterness of my soul “(Job 10:1). Jesus never criticized prayers that were honest, only those that were long and showy.

As a parent, I’d much prefer my young children to climb up into my lap and speak honestly. “Daddy, I’m afraid of the dark. Would you help me?” Imagine the same child standing before me, addressing me thus: “Grand Omnipotent Father of the Household, I beseech your presence. Great provider of all I have, grant me thy presence through the long watches of the night, for lingering fears beset me—verily, until dawn’s first rays at last light my heart with hope.”

Odd picture. But that’s exactly how many of us pray to our heavenly Father—or think we have to pray. — Craig Groeschel, The Christian Atheist: When You Believe in God but Live as If He Doesn’t Exist (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2010).

6.       Is it appropriate for us to complain to God?

Did you know that such words were in the Bible? If so, do you wonder whether we are actually supposed to say them? Won’t God get angry with us for daring to complain like this?

One year when my team and I were translating the Old Testament in West Africa, we happened to be working on Job and Jeremiah at the same time. The local translator on the project paused one day and floated a tense question: “It seems to me that these men and their constant complaining to God would eventually make him angry. Is it okay to complain to God?”

The answer came to me in a flash. “God can tolerate our complaints,” I said. “Complaining to God is allowed with one major condition: we must continue to faithfully obey and follow him in spite of our suffering.” That’s why the complaining and grumbling of the Israelites in the wilderness aroused the cataclysmic anger of the Lord (for example, Numbers 11:1-3), but Jeremiah’s and Job’s complaints did not. In the face of agony, these two men never stopped loyally serving God. Their complaints demonstrated that they had faith —they offered faith-filled complaints. The Israelites’ grumbling, on the other hand, was a demonstration of faithlessness.

The New Testament contains examples of this same principle. Paul implored God to remove his suffering: “There was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me” (2 Corinthians 12:7-8). Yet Paul came to accept his pain as God’s way “to keep [him] from becoming conceited” (verse 7) after he experienced indescribable supernatural visions and revelations.

Even Jesus experienced the pain of unanswered prayer. The night before he died, he prayed passionately, “Abba, Father, . . . everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me” (Mark 14:36). As he was dying on the cross, Jesus drew from one of the great prophetic complaints of the Old Testament (found in Psalm 22) as he cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46).

Jesus had the faith to fulfill the prophecy, yet he would not deny the reality of the suffering involved. He showed his faith by reflecting on Scripture and having the courage to live out the fulfillment of that prophetic psalm. If relying on biblical, faith-filled words of complaint is okay for Jesus when he suffered, it’s okay for us too.

Jesus and Paul didn’t put a sunny, Christian facade on their suffering. There was no hollow, false perkiness at the Cross. They proved that complaints and faith are not mutually exclusive. — Greg Pruett and Max Lucado, Extreme Prayer: The Impossible Prayers God Promises to Answer (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale, 2014).

7.       Verse 5. How does God command Habakkuk to feel?

In the first two lines of verse 5, God responds to Habakkuk’s complaint with great force: he employs four imperatives to make his point. And, interestingly, these imperative forms are all plural. The answer that God is giving to the prophet is not merely for him, but for all the covenant people. And the first thing he commands them to do is ‘look’. The Lord is simply telling them to open their eyes and see what is really and truly happening in the world. God does not want his people to put their heads in the sand; rather, he desires that they should be aware of what is going on around them.

God then tells them to ‘see’. This imperative is not a mere repetition of ‘look’ from the beginning of the verse. Rather, in this particular verbal stem (hiphil) in Hebrew, it means to give ‘a careful, sustained, and favourable contemplation’. In other words, the Lord is telling his people not only to view the world rightly, but to think about it as well. Are you a thoughtful Christian? In this day of extreme busyness and activity, there appears to be little time for meditation and deliberation, for self-examination and world-examination, or for pondering the eternal questions. The old adage is correct that says, ‘The probable reason some people get lost in thought is because it is unfamiliar territory to them’! Oswald Chambers encourages God’s people when he says, ‘To think is an effort; to think rightly is a great effort; and to think as a Christian ought to think is the greatest effort of a human soul.’2

Next, the Lord tells his people to ‘wonder’. In Hebrew, this verb is reflexive and it bears the idea of a person being ‘dumbfounded’, or ‘stunned’. It is used in Genesis 43:33 when Joseph’s brothers sit before him and have a great feast in Egypt, and their response is one of ‘amazement’. Have you ever been so awed and astonished by something that it made you silent? Wonders like the Grand Canyon, the Venus de Milo, a first view of the city of Jerusalem, or the birth of a child, can stun a person to silence.

And, finally, with the last imperative God calls on his people to ‘be astounded’. This is the same verb just used at the beginning of the line; and, thus, the line literally reads: ‘Astound yourselves and be astounded!’ Repetition like this is emphatic. But why should the people of God be so dazzled and in wonder? — John D. Currid, The Expectant Prophet: Habakkuk Simply Explained, Welwyn Commentary Series (Darlington, England: EP Books, 2009), 41–43.

8.       What do we learn about God from this?

I love the text from Habakkuk 1:5, which says, “Look among the nations and watch—be utterly astounded! For I will work a work in your days which you would not believe, though it were told you” (NKJV). God loves to do astounding things. And most of the time, He does those things in response to the prayers of His people. — David Jeremiah, Prayer: The Great Adventure (Sisters, OR: Multnomah Publishers, 1997), 133.

9.       Verse 5ff. How did God reply to Habakkuk?

The answer that Habakkuk receives to his complaint (vv. 2–4) is here recorded in the form of a speech by God to the prophet. The Old Testament tells us that God does not hear every prayer (cf. Isa. 1:15) but he has heard faithful Habakkuk’s persistent prayers (cf. Luke 18:1–8), and the answer God gives to those prayers is both comforting and confounding.

First, the Lord reassures the prophet that he is at work. In an age and a society where sinful human beings seem to rule the day and God seems totally absent from the field, God is nevertheless at work to realize his will for the world. The familiar hymn puts it very well:

God is working his purpose out
as year succeeds to year.
God is working his purpose out,
and the time is drawing near.
Nearer and nearer draws the time,
the time that shall surely be,
When the earth shall be filled with the glory of God
as the waters cover the sea (Arthur Campbell Ainger, 1894).

God is at work. God is the eternal worker. In a society where all the signs seem to read “Men Working,” Habakkuk sees a vastly more impressive sign: “God Working” (Chappell, p. 77). God is not absent from the prophet’s world. He has not written it off as a bad experiment. He is not ignorant of what is happening in Judah or throughout the Middle East. All is under his watchful eye, the subject of his concern, and he is at work in the midst of events to fulfill his good purpose. “My Father is working still, and I am working,” Jesus told the Jews John 5:17). That is the ultimate word of comfort to anyone who despairs of society’s evil, because God’s working leads finally to good for all creation.

The nature of God’s work that is told to Habakkuk seems to fly in the face of that assurance, however; for God tells the prophet that he is rousing the Babylonian Empire and its armies under Nebuchadnezzar (605/4–569. B.C.) to march through the Fertile Crescent, to capture nations (v. 6), to inflict violence on all in their path (v. 9), to overrun every fortified city (v. 10), and to take prisoners of war (v. 9). Their march will be swift (v. 6), dread and terrible (v. 7), sweeping through Palestine like the wind (v. 11), and none will be able to escape such force or to turn it aside. The scythe of Babylonia will cut down all in its path. And swinging the scythe—using it as an instrument of his purpose—will be God, the Lord over all nations and history. — Elizabeth Rice Achtemeier, Nahum–Malachi, Interpretation, a Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching (Atlanta, GA: John Knox Press, 1986), 37–38.

10.   Verse 6. Who are the Chaldeans?

It starts out promising indeed. God tells Habakkuk to be patient, because God is about to do something incredible. “Be utterly astounded!” He says (Habakkuk 1:5). He also says, in a loose paraphrase, “If I tried to tell you, you wouldn’t believe Me. But the wicked will get theirs.”

So far, so good. But then comes the part that must have made Habakkuk choke. God drops this bomb: “I am raising up the Chaldeans” (Habakkuk 1:6).

The Chaldeans? Are You serious, Lord?

The Chaldeans, who came from the southern portion of Babylon, were the wickedest people on the map. God once sent Jonah to see them in Nineveh, and Jonah took off in the other direction. There was a reason any right-thinking prophet would want no part of that nation. As Jonah later said to God, it was unthinkable even to consider the Chaldeans escaping judgment. These were people who slew infants and offered them to idols. These were people who butchered their enemies in battle, far beyond the customs of warfare in that day. They seemed to have no conscience, no remorse, and no reluctance to overrun any nation in their sights. Indeed, the fear was that the Chaldeans would engulf the known world with their military power and their savagery.

But God hasn’t forgotten any of this. As a matter of fact, He immediately catalogs all the atrocities and outrages of the Chaldeans. But He’s going to be using them just the same.

Habakkuk is shaking his head, trying to take all this in. — David Jeremiah, My Heart’s Desire: Living Every Moment in the Wonder of Worship (Nashville: Integrity Publishers, 2002), 152–153.

11.   And how did Habakkuk reply to God?

God replied to Habakkuk that he was indeed going to take action. He was going to raise up the Babylonians, who would conquer and devastate Judah (1:5–11).

This provoked Habakkuk to raise a second question, which was in essence, “I admit that we are bad and deserve judgment, but the Babylonians are worse than we are. How can you, O God, allow the wicked to destroy those who are relatively more righteous?” (Hab. 1:12–17). — R.C. Sproul, Before the Face of God: Book 3: A Daily Guide for Living from the Old Testament, electronic ed. (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House; Ligonier Ministries, 1994).

12.   How is Habakkuk feeling in this reply?

“Lord, this is not a good solution,” Habakkuk insists. “I know we are wicked—but we are much more righteous than the Babylonians who will descend upon us like cruel fishermen, scoop us up like fish into their nets, and attribute the victory to their gods. You can’t allow this, Lord!”

Now, Habakkuk is really struggling. Not only is God not doing what Habakkuk thinks He should be doing with the people of Judah, but He seems to be saying that the Babylonians are going to be victorious in their conquest. And that isn’t fair at all, Habakkuk protests.

We all can relate to this. “How come they got a new house?” we ask. “Now, Lord, You know that I have devotions regularly and come to church faithfully. But I haven’t seen them at church for weeks! Why are You blessing them—when you should be blessing me?”

Like us, Habakkuk was a questioner—but we are about to see him do something oh, so wise in chapter 2. — Jon Courson, Jon Courson’s Application Commentary: Volume Two: Psalms-Malachi (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2006), 858.

13.   Habakkuk 2.1 What did Habakkuk do with his frustration? What is the lesson for us?

“I need an answer,” said Habakkuk, “so I’m going to go up into my tower and seek My Father.”

Please note three key components of this verse. The first is determination. When he needed an answer, Habakkuk said, “I will stand upon my watch.” He didn’t say, “Maybe I should spend some time with the Lord next week—or whenever it’s convenient—or if I can break away from work—or if I can find some time.” No, he said, “I need an answer and I’m determined to get one. I will seek the Lord.”

The Lord promises that we shall find Him when we search for Him with all our heart (Jeremiah 29:13). But so often we lack determination. Oh, there’s an acknowledgement in our minds that we should seek the Lord. There’s an intention that we probably will seek the Lord sometime. But we don’t get answers to the questions with which we wrestle because we lack this key component of determination.

Second, notice Habakkuk’s isolation. He got away from his telephone, radio, and television and went up into a tower. He got away from all the distractions that would otherwise bombard him. I believe we don’t hear the voice of God because there are so many other voices constantly ringing in our ears. If you really want to hear from the Lord, there is no alternative to a quiet time, a quiet place, and a quiet heart.

Finally, notice Habakkuk’s expectation. He said, “I will see what the Lord will say to me,” not, “what He might say to me,” not, “what I hope He will say to me,” not, “what I wish He would say to me,” but “what He will say to me.”

Hebrews 11:6 declares that without faith, it is impossible to please God for he that comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him. There are many ways to please God—but none apart from faith. If you don’t believe God is going to speak to you and deal with you, you’re not going to hear anything from Him.

How do you know if God will speak to you or not? Here is a very simple test: when you seek the Lord, do you have a journal with you—a pencil and paper before you? You see, if I don’t really expect God to speak, I’ll just kind of show up, casually slumped in my chair, saying, “Wonder if there’s anything in the Word for me today… Probably not…”

We adopt a laid-back mentality in seeking God and then wonder why we never hear from Him. But those who expect to hear from God have pencil and paper in hand. They are on the edge of their chair or on their knees in a posture of expectancy rather than in a spirit of complacency and lethargy.

Habakkuk said, “I am going to seek God. I will get away and I will hear what He has to say to me.” That’s the kind of faith that honors God. That’s the kind of faith that clears the wax of the world out of the ears of the inner man. — Jon Courson, Jon Courson’s Application Commentary: Volume Two: Psalms-Malachi (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2006), 858–859.

14.   Habakkuk 2.2. What did God tell Habakkuk to write down the revelation? What is the application for us?

A tangible testament of God’s commandments was so important to him that he entrusted Moses to be keeper of it and to deliver the message on the tablets to the people of Israel. God could have easily told Moses to commit the Ten Commandments to memory, but he knew a written record would last longer and be an everlasting reminder of his faithfulness to future generations. So he inscribed those blocks of stone with the words the Israelites were to live by. And the same holds true today. Just as our words have power when spoken, they have power when written down as well. In order to obtain success, we must write our goals down.

What do you want? A promotion? A new house? A better marriage? Then write it down. It’s been said that people who write down their goals achieve them faster than those who don’t. Apparently, there is a connection between putting ideas, thoughts, goals, and dreams in writing and having them come to fruition. In some professions, written goal setting is mandatory, because companies know it works.

When I joined Weight Watchers, I was asked to set—and attain—5 and 10 percent weight-loss goals during my weight-loss journey. I was openly applauded and rewarded when I reached them—and that felt great! And no wonder: the written word has biblical roots, as evidenced in Habakkuk 2:2.

I believe that when you write down your goals, dreams, and visions, something is released in the spiritual realm. God wants to bless you abundantly as you seek his will for your life. “Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this” (Ps. 37:4–5). — Carol M. Mackey, Sistergirl Devotions: Keeping Jesus in the Mix on the Job (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 2010).

15.   What good came from Habakkuk writing things down?

We wouldn’t be studying this book today had Habakkuk not obeyed God’s orders and written down what God had told him and shown him. This writing was to be permanent so that generation after generation could read it. It was also to be plain, written so that anybody could read it, and it was to be public so that even somebody running past the tablets on display could get the message immediately. Habakkuk wasn’t the only person in Judah who needed this message, and it was his obligation to share it. — Warren W. Wiersbe, Be Amazed, “Be” Commentary Series (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1996), 117.

16.   What are some things we would do well to write down?

Habakkuk 2:2 tells us to “Write the vision and make it plain on tablets, that he may run who reads it” (NKJV). There is power in writing things down. When you preach on evangelism and then take the time to have people write down the names of friends who are on their hearts, they will be significantly more likely to see and seize opportunities to invite those people to church.

As we approach our Easter big day, I always use Palm Sunday to challenge our people to write down the names of ten unchurched friends they would like to invite to the Easter services. For most other big days, I challenge everyone a week or two in advance to write down the names of three unbelieving friends they will invite. This is also a great time to encourage members and regular attenders to continue making unchurched friends. — Nelson Searcy and Jennifer Dykes Henson, Ignite: How to Spark Immediate Growth in Your Church (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2009), 97–98.

17.   How does Habakkuk seem to see himself in Habakkuk 2.1? What is the lesson for us?

The prophet saw himself as a watchman on the walls of Jerusalem, waiting for a message from God that he could share with the people. In ancient days, the watchmen were responsible to warn the city of approaching danger, and if they weren’t faithful, their hands would be stained with the blood of the people who died (Ezek. 3:17–21; 33:1–3). It was a serious responsibility.

The image of the watchman carries a spiritual lesson for us today. As God’s people, we know that danger is approaching, and it’s our responsibility to warn people to “flee from the wrath to come” (Matt. 3:7). If we don’t share the Gospel with lost sinners, then their blood may be on our hands. We want to be able to say with Paul, “Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men” (Acts 20:26, NKJV). — Warren W. Wiersbe, Be Amazed, “Be” Commentary Series (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1996), 116–117.

18.   Verse 4. What does it mean to be puffed up?

The Babylonians were “puffed up” with pride over their military might and their great achievements. They had built an impressive empire which they were sure was invincible. The words of Nebuchadnezzar express it perfectly: “Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for a royal dwelling by my mighty power for the honor of my majesty?” (Dan. 4:30, NKJV)

But Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians aren’t the only ones puffed up with pride and self-sufficiency. This is the condition of most of the people in today’s society who belong to the world and live for the world. The Apostle John warns us against “the pride [vain glory] of life” that belongs to this present evil world system which is against God and without God (1 John 2:15–17). — Warren W. Wiersbe, Be Amazed, “Be” Commentary Series (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1996), 118.

19.   What bad things come to the puffed up?

Besides puffing them up, what else does pride do to people? It twists them inwardly, for the soul of the unbeliever is “not upright,” which means his inner appetites are crooked and sinful. He delights in the things that God abhors, the things God condemns in the five “woes” in this chapter. One of the chief causes of the corruption in this world is what Peter calls “lust” (2 Peter 1:4), which simply means “evil desires, passionate longing.” Were it not for the base appetites of people, longing to be satisfied but never satisfied, the “sin industries” would never prosper.

Pride also makes people restless: they’re never satisfied (Hab. 2:5). That’s why they’re given over to wine, never at rest, never satisfied. They’re constantly seeking for some new experience to thrill them or some new achievement to make them important. Pride makes us greedy. The Babylonians weren’t satisfied with what they had; they coveted even more land and wealth, and therefore set their course to conquer every nation that stood in their way. More than one king or dictator in history has followed this resolve, only to discover that it leads to disappointment, ruin, and death. — Warren W. Wiersbe, Be Amazed, “Be” Commentary Series (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1996), 118–119.

20.   Verse 4 speaks of the just (NKJV). What does it mean to be just? What do we learn about being just from this passage?

The just. Now for the contrast: “The just shall live by his faith” (v. 4b; see Rom. 1:17; Gal. 3:11; Heb. 10:38). This is the first of three wonderful assurances that God gives in this chapter to encourage His people. This one emphasizes God’s grace, because grace and faith always go together. Habakkuk 2:14 emphasizes God’s glory and assures us that, though this world is now filled with violence and corruption (Gen. 6:5, 11–13), it shall one day be filled with God’s glory. The third assurance is in Habakkuk 2:20 and emphasizes God’s government. Empires may rise and fall, but God is on His holy throne, and He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

“The just shall live by his faith” was the watchword of the Reformation, and they may well be the seven most important monosyllables in all of church history. It was verse 4, quoted in Romans 1:17, that helped to lead Martin Luther into the truth of justification by faith. “This text,” said Luther, “was to me the true gate of Paradise.”

Justification is the gracious act of God whereby He declares the believing sinner righteous and gives that believing sinner a perfect standing in Jesus Christ. The “just” person isn’t someone who has met all of God’s requirements by means of good works, “For by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified” (Gal. 2:19; see Rom. 4:5). “For if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain” (Gal. 2:21, NKJV).

Our Lord’s Parable of the Pharisee and the Publican makes it clear that no amount of religious effort can save a lost sinner (Luke 18:9–14). We can’t justify ourselves before God because we stand with the whole world, guilty and condemned before His throne (Rom. 3:19). All we can do is put saving faith in Jesus Christ and His work on the cross, because that is the only way to be saved. “Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 5:1). — Warren W. Wiersbe, Be Amazed, “Be” Commentary Series (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1996), 119–120.

21.   Summary. What did you learn today? What do you want to recall from today’s conversation?

22.   How can we support one another in prayer this week?