How Long, O Lord – Part 4

Hope in Calamity – Hab. 2:2-5

Crosspoint – Rick Bovell– April 28th, 2024

 

Introduction

• Last week, Pastor Dave reminded us that it is good to question God when we are struggling. We see heroes of the faith throughout Scripture turn to God instead of turning away from Him. They ran to Him with their doubts instead of letting their doubts blind them to His character or even His existence. This led to blessing, encouragement, strengthening, and often joy. I want to encourage you again to run to God in your pain, even if you feel like running away from Him.
• Today, we will look at the first part of God's response to Habakkuk's questions. He points to the reason for hope and cautions against that which we should never trust.

Sermon in a Sentence: In the challenges and joys of life, we will trust in either the Creator or His creation; which we choose determines the quality of our hope and our future.

• Potential grounds for confidence from this passage
  • Trust in God's Plan (vv. 2-3)
  • Trust in Pedigree (v. 4a)
  • Trust in God's Preservation (v. 4b)
  • Trust in Possessions (v. 5)

 

Trust in God's Plan (vv. 2-3) - A call to proclamation and enduring expectation

Then the Lord replied:

“Write down the revelation

    and make it plain on tablets

    so that a herald may run with it.

For the revelation awaits an appointed time;

    it speaks of the end

    and will not prove false.

Though it linger, wait for it;

    it will certainly come

    and will not delay.

• God will give Habakkuk a vision of the future that should be proclaimed. He will tell him that the Babylonians, who oppressed the nations and would oppress Israel, will get their just desserts: Those who despise others will be despised and that those who pillage others will be pillaged. Justice is coming and this should give the Israelites hope while they suffer.
• God has a plan for us that we should proclaim, and that helps us endure.
  • Jesus, the great Judge, will destroy evil and rescue those who wait patiently for Him.
  • Psalm 112:7, “He is not afraid of bad news; his heart is firm, trusting in the LORD.”
  • Proverbs 16:20,” Whoever gives thought to the word will discover good, and blessed is he who trusts in the LORD.”

 

 

 

Trust in Pedigree (v. 4a) - A warning against insidious imposters

See, the enemy is puffed up; his desires are not upright.

• The Babylonians knew who they were—the conquerors of their world, feared by all nations, and warriors with power. They trusted in their might and put their hope in their history of conquest.
• To trust in one’s pedigree is to put oneself in God's place. Self-glorification receives God's strongest condemnation.
• Proverbs 16:5: “Everyone who is arrogant in heart is an abomination to the LORD;

be assured he will not go unpunished.”

• Proverbs 8:13: “The fear of the LORD is hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate.”
• Let your pedigree be a point of praise to God, not pride. Trust in the God of your pedigree.

 

 

Trust in God's Preservation (v. 4b) - A revelation of salvation's source

… but the righteous person will live by his faithfulness

Faithfulness

• A faithful person dependably maintains his commitment to something or someone.
• “The righteous person will live by his faithfulness [to God].” The righteous person trusts or has faith in God, and his faith is based on God's faithfulness. Faith is tethering yourself to the object of your faith.
  • Jeremiah 39:18: “For I will surely save you, and you shall not fall by the sword, but you shall have your life as a prize of war because you have put your trust in me, declares the LORD.”
  • Jeremiah says this to Ebed-Melech, the Ethiopian, who trusts Jeremiah's words regarding the Babylonians and acts faithfully by protecting Jeremiah.
  • Trust or faith in God is the foundation of faithfulness to God.
  • Psalm 9:10: “And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek you.”
  • Psalm 22:4: “In you our fathers trusted; they trusted, and you delivered them.”

Living by Faith

• One of the best examples in Scripture of living by faith is the narrative of Moses and the bronze serpent found in Numbers 21:4-9:

From Mount Hor they set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom. And the people became impatient on the way. And the people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food.” Then the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. And the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD and against you. Pray to the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. [8] And the LORD said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.” So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.

 

• A few things to note in the short story:
  • The people are sinful - just as in Habakkuk's time.
  • God sends harsh judgment against them, which He does not remove, just as in Habakkuk's time.
  • God promises rescue in the middle of pain, just as in Habakkuk's time.
  • God requires only trust in Him and His plan, just as in Habakkuk's time.
• Faith is demonstrated by looking to/focusing on God's promises instead of looking to/focusing on oneself or the situation.
  • Jeremiah 39:18: “For I will surely save you, and you shall not fall by the sword, but you shall have your life as a prize of war because you have put your trust in me, declares the LORD.”
  • Isaiah 12:2: “Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the LORD GOD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation.”

Righteousness by Faith

• We must trust in God's provision to be righteous. For example, the blood of goats and bulls could not make the Israelites righteous. They had to trust in God, who prescribed the rituals.
• It is only through faith (trust in God), and not by what we do, that we become righteous.
  • Genesis 15:6: “And he [Abraham] believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness.”
  • Romans 4:5: “And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness.”

The righteous shall live by faith.

• The Israelites only hope for survival is their faith in God.
• Righteousness, justification, and salvation are only obtained by faith in God.
  • Romans 1:16–17: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.” (ESV)
  • Galatians 3:11: “Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for ‘The righteous shall live by faith.’”

 

Trust in Possessions (v. 5) - A condemnation of treasonous traitors

… indeed, wine betrays him;

    he is arrogant and never at rest.

Because he is as greedy as the grave

    and like death is never satisfied,

he gathers to himself all the nations

    and takes captive all the peoples.

 

Wine

• The Babylonians trust in wine, but Scripture is clear that it is a traitor. Trusting it causes pain and sorrow.
• Similarly, many turn to psychotropics to escape, but ultimately, they become prisons with no easy way of escape.
• Proverbs 20:1: “Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler, and whoever is led astray by it is not wise.” (ESV)

 

Wealth

• Like wine, trusting in wealth is a trap. No amount is ever enough to satisfy.
• Solomon, possibly the richest and second wisest man that ever lived, says:
  • Ecclesiastes 4:7–8: “Again, I saw vanity under the sun: one person who has no other, either son or brother, yet there is no end to all his toil, and his eyes are never satisfied with riches, so that he never asks, ‘For whom am I toiling and depriving myself of pleasure?’ This also is vanity and an unhappy business.”
• It is unwise to trust in that which can be taken away in an instant.
• Proverbs 11:28, “Whoever trusts in his riches will fall, but the righteous will flourish like a green leaf.”
• Jeremiah 51:44, “And I will punish Bel in Babylon, and take out of his mouth what he has swallowed. The nations shall no longer flow to him; the wall of Babylon has fallen.”

Conclusion

• We can build our hope on either:
  • Trust in the Creator
  • Trust in the Creation
• When we trust the Creator, we tether ourselves to the only constant in the universe. We glorify the only One who should receive glory, and He rejoices over us with singing (Zephaniah 3:17).
• Though His promise may seem to linger, by faith, we wait to receive our full salvation through Christ when we see Him face to face and are transformed. We have strength for today and hope for tomorrow, even as the world trembles around us:
  • 3:17-19:

Though the fig tree does not bud

and there are no grapes on the vines,

though the olive crop fails

and the fields produce no food,

though there are no sheep in the pen

and no cattle in the stalls,

yet I will rejoice in the Lord,

I will be joyful in God my Savior.

The Sovereign Lord is my strength.

• Psalm 112:7, “He is not afraid of bad news; his heart is firm, trusting in the LORD.”

 

• If we trust in creation, we cannot be joyful when calamity strikes. The greatest calamity is that we have no future.
• The purpose of creation is to be a lens through which we proclaim our great God and King and give Him glory. When used in any other way, it becomes evidence in the verdict against us. This is why we need Jesus.

 

 

(Lenny Mabry’s Testimony)

 

Hope

• The eager expectation that something will occur.
• Godly Hope -- The eager and unwavering expectation that God's promises will occur based on the character and sovereignty of God and empowerment by the Holy Spirit.
• Christian Hope -- The eager and unwavering expectation that God's promises will occur based on the character and sovereignty of God, the finished work of Christ, and empowerment by the Holy Spirit.

 

Look at Jesus and be transformed as you look. Tether your present and future to Him. You will be called righteous forever, and you will live forever because The righteous shall live by faith.

 

Benediction

Romans 15:13, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.”