Habakkuk: Jesus Is The One Who Crushes Injustice
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Preaching Christ Through The Bible |
Habakkuk: Jesus Is The One Who Crushes Injustice
We know little of Habakkuk beyond the mention of his name in this book of prophecy. He just identified himself as “Habakkuk the prophet”. Unlike most of the other prophetic books, there is no reference to his genealogy or his home.
Some scholars believe that Habakkuk lived around the same time as the prophet Jeremiah. He likely prophesied in the early years of Jehoiakim’s reign (609–598 BC) a king who led his people into evil. The way Habakkuk described Judah indicates a low time in the nation’s history. He spoke of an imminent Babylonian invasion, an event that occurred on a smaller scale in 605 BC before the total destruction of Jerusalem, in 586 BC.
Habakkuk 1:1-4, 12-13
1 The prophecy that Habakkuk the prophet received.
2 How long, Lord, must I call for help,
but you do not listen?
Or cry out to you, “Violence!”
but you do not save?
3 Why do you make me look at injustice?
Why do you tolerate wrongdoing?
Destruction and violence are before me;
there is strife, and conflict abounds.
4 Therefore the law is paralyzed,
and justice never prevails.
The wicked hem in the righteous,
so that justice is perverted.
12 Lord, are you not from everlasting?
My God, my Holy One, you will never die.
You, Lord, have appointed them to excite judgement;
you, my Rock, have ordained them to punish
13 Your eyes are too pure to look on evil;
you cannot tolerate wrongdoing.
Why then do you tolerate the treacherous?
Why are you silent while the wicked
swallow up those more righteous than themselves?
Habakkuk’s name means to “embrace” or “wrestle.” As is usually the case, his name has something to do with the message that he proclaims. He was wrestling with a difficult issue. The book is an account of his conversation with God as he was unloading his burden and frustrations with what is happening in the land.
I. Plea for God’s Intervention (Habakkuk 1)
This then raises more questions for the prophet, because God’s “indifference” or His response did not seem to be consistent to His character.
13 Your eyes are too pure to look on evil;
you cannot tolerate wrongdoing.
Why then do you tolerate the treacherous?
Why are you silent while the wicked
swallow up those more righteous than themselves?
God's character is revealed through his righteous judgments.
His sovereignty and His power
Psalms 9:7
The LORD reigns forever; he has established his throne for judgment.
Psalms 99:4
The King is mighty, he loves justice— you have established equity; in Jacob you have done what is just and right.
His holiness
Ezekiel 28:22
and say: ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: “’I am against you, Sidon, and among you I will display my glory. You will know that I am the LORD, when I inflict punishment on you and within you am proved to be holy.
His truth & righteousness
Psalm 96:13
Let all creation rejoice before the LORD, for he comes, he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in his faithfulness.
2 Chronicles 19:7
Now then, let the fear of the LORD be upon you; be careful about what you do, for the LORD our God will have no part in injustice or partiality, or in the taking of a bribe.
Romans 2:5
5 But because of your hard and unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath againstyourself for the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed. 6God“will repay each one according to his deeds.”
His truth & righteousness
Numbers 14:18
The LORD is slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.’
His mercy
Psalm 78:38
Yet he was merciful; he forgave their iniquities and did not destroy them. Time after time he restrained his anger and did not stir up his full wrath.
Micah 7:18
Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy.
The questions that Habakkuk asked, do they seem familiar even in our day? It may not just be about injustice or destruction or violence or disregard for God’s laws that we witness. If God is sovereign and He is good, why is evil so rampant in the world? If God is holy and righteous, why then do the wicked seem to prosper or remain unpunished? Why would a loving, compassionate and merciful God allow pain and suffering, even for His own children? And amidst all these evil and in spite of our desperate pleas, why is God silent or seem unmoved? How many times have we been asked or have asked ourselves these questions? Oftentimes we struggle to find answers.
I. Promise of God’s Judgement (Habakkuk 2)
Habakkuk 2:1-4
“Write down the revelation
and make it plain on tablets
so that a herald may run with it.
3For the revelation awaits an appointed time
it speaks of the end
and will not prove false.
Though it lingers, wait for it
it will certainly come
and will not delay.
4“See, the enemy is puffed up
his desires are not upright—
but the righteous person will live by his faithfulness
It reminds us that while God may seem silent and uninvolved in our world, He always has a plan to deal with evil and always works out justice . . . eventually.
It offers us a picture of a prideful people (the Chaldeans) with no reliance on God, but only on self will be humbled or brought down. While the righteous -- the remnant that God preserves in the midst of His judgement are to live by faith in Him (2:4). Faith is a loving trust in God, confidence in His promises.
And what follows are six Woes as God pronounces judgement against the unrighteous.
1. Woe to the Proud (2:4-5)
“See, the enemy is puffed up;
his desires are not upright—
but the righteous person will live by his faithfulness d —
5indeed, 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
Arrogant man who is never satisfied, and always gets his way, feels that nothing and no-one can deter him.
2. Woe to the Greedy (2:5-8)
Woe to him who piles up stolen goods
and makes himself wealthy by extortion!
How long must this go on?’
7Will not your creditors suddenly arise?
Will they not wake up and make you tremble?
Then you will become their prey.
8Because you have plundered many nations,
the peoples who are left will plunder you.
For you have shed human blood;
you have destroyed lands and cities and everyone in them.
Gets everything he can and it doesn’t matter how he gets it. The people will turn against him, and will be mocked and derided.
3. Woe to the Dishonest (2:9-11)
9“Woe to him who builds his house by unjust gain,
setting his nest on high
to escape the clutches of ruin!
10You have plotted the ruin of many peoples,
shaming your own house and forfeiting your life.
11The stones of the wall will cry out,
and the beams of the woodwork will echo it.
Uses evil gain to try build a “secure” future, only to find everything taken out from under him, causing shame in his house and losing his life.
4. Woe to the Violent (2:12-14)
12“Woe to him who builds a city with bloodshed
and establishes a town by injustice!
13Has not the Lord Almighty determined
that the people’s labor is only fuel for the fire,
that the nations exhaust themselves for nothing?
14For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea
Warning to those who resort to violence to achieve what they want.
5. Woe to the Abuser (2:15-17)
15“Woe to him who gives drink to his neighbors,
pouring it from the wineskin till they are drunk,
so that he can gaze on their naked bodies!
16You will be filled with shame instead of glory.
Now it is your turn! Drink and let your nakedness be exposed e !
The cup from the Lord’s right hand is coming around to you,
and disgrace will cover your glory.
Exploit the weakness of others in order to take advantage of them. He will be filled with shame instead of glory.
6. Woe to the Idolater (2:18-20)
18“Of what value is an idol carved by a craftsman?
Or an image that teaches lies?
For the one who makes it trusts in his own creation;
he makes idols that cannot speak.
19Woe to him who says to wood, ‘Come to life!’
Or to lifeless stone, ‘Wake up!’
Can it give guidance?
It is covered with gold and silver;
there is no breath in it.”
One who trusts in idols, or the work of his hands will be disappointed.
Even as the Lord executes His righteous judgement, we can have the assurance that God’s glory, God’s holiness and God’s sovereignty will surely be manifested.
14For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.
20But the LORD is in His holy temple;
let all the earth be silent before Him.
III. Praise for God’s Providence (Habakkuk 3)
Habakkuk 3:1-2
1A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet. On shigionoth. a
2Lord, I have heard of your fame;
I stand in awe of your deeds, Lord.
Repeat them in our day,
in our time make them known;
in wrath remember mercy.
Earlier, I mentioned that we sometimes we feel that God is unmoved by our cries in our distress and our pleas, that He seems silent when we seek his voice or when we feel abandoned and alone. In those times, we need to remind ourselves of how He has shown us His grace and mercy.
At those times we should recall all the great things had done in our lives, the blessings, the victories. How he had protected, provided, sustained us.
In Hab 3:3-13, Habakkuk speaks of God’s glory and His praise, His splendor and His power. Of His works, and of His sovereignty. And how He marches on
3God came from Teman,
the Holy One from Mount Paran. b
His glory covered the heavens
and his praise filled the earth.
4His splendor was like the sunrise;
rays flashed from his hand,
where his power was hidden.
5Plague went before him;
pestilence followed his steps.
6He stood, and shook the earth;
he looked, and made the nations tremble.
The ancient mountains crumbled
and the age-old hills collapsed—
but he marches on forever.
7I saw the tents of Cushan in distress,
the dwellings of Midian in anguish.
12You marched across the earth with fury;
You threshed the nations in wrath.
13You went forth for the salvation of Your people,
to save Your anointed.
You crushed the head of the house of the wicked
and stripped him from head to toe.
Remember God’s work, “for the salvation His people, and to save His anointed”. How He dealt with the mighty Pharaoh, and His intervention for Israel, and as they conquered and settled in the promised land.
But because of their sin and have forsaken the Lord, they would be given over to their enemies. But there is always hope in the assurance that God will still be there even on those difficult times.
16I heard and my heart pounded,
my lips quivered at the sound;
decay crept into my bones,
and my legs trembled.
Yet I will wait patiently for the day of calamity
to come on the nation invading us.
17Though 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,
18yet I will rejoice in the Lord,
I will be joyful in God my Savior.
19The Sovereign Lord is my strength;
he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
he enables me to tread on the heights.
Prolonged winter, no harvest, no food or wine, no flocks or herds. Hardships due to famine or pestilence, ravages of war, captivity, exile. And if I may add, for our times, a worldwide pandemic and lockdowns. Loss of job or a loved one. Failing health or broken relationships, or any other issues that you may be struggling with.
I will Rejoice in the Lord. I will exalt in the God of my salvation. God, the Sovereign Lord is my strength and he will make my feet like the feet of a deer, and he enables me to read on the heights.
In time, God dealt with the wrongdoing and evil and injustice of Judah. As God raised and used the Babylonians, who invaded and destroyed Jerusalem and brought the Jews to captivity and exile to Babylon. And the evil Babylonian empire itself was eventually defeated by Cyrus and the Persians.
All these God fulfilled as He promised. But injustice continues to this day. We live in a fallen world where evil is still rampant. Where pride, greed, dishonesty, violence, abuse and idolatry and many other evils that God hates still abounds, much more so now than it was in the time of Habakkuk.
One thing we can be certain though is this… God’s justice will be established in the reign of Christ in His second coming. So, Jesus is the One who crushes Injustice.
Acts 17:31
because He has set a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all people by raising Him from the dead.”
Isaiah 9:6-7
For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7Of the greatness of his government and peace
there will be no end.
He will reign on David’s throne
and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
with justice and righteousness
from that time on and forever.
As the Lord executed His righteous judgement, God’s glory, God’s holiness and God’s sovereignty will surely be manifested.
14For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.
20But the LORD is in His holy temple; let all the earth be silent before Him.
-Bro. Roy Villarta