719. Habakkuk - Chapter 1 - (#1) - O Lord , How long shall I cry , And You will not here? - January 2, 2025

[00:00:06] Welcome to Wisdom Today. My name is Bill Kelley and I'll be your host. In this podcast we will be exploring the book of Proverbs.

[00:00:21] Let's open in prayer. Father God, I thank you for anyone listening to this podcast today. Lord, I pray that you give everyone ears to hear and a heart to receive everything you have in store for them today. I ask this in Jesus name. Amen.

[00:00:37] This is Proverb 2 beginning in verse 1.

[00:01:13] Verse 1.

[00:01:30] Verse 1.

[00:01:33] Verse 1.

[00:01:47] Understanding will keep you, to deliver you from the way of evil, from the man who speaks

[00:01:55] perverse things, from those who leave the paths of uprightness, to walk in the ways of darkness,

[00:02:03] who rejoice in doing evil, and delight in the perversity of the wicked, whose ways are crooked,

[00:02:11] and who are devious in their paths, to deliver you from the immoral woman, from the seductress who

[00:02:19] flatters with her words, who forsakes the companion of her youth, and forgets the covenant of her God,

[00:02:27] for her house leads down to death, and her paths to the dead. None who go to her return, nor do they

[00:02:37] regain the paths of life, so you may walk in the way of goodness, and keep to the paths of

[00:02:45] righteousness. For the upright will dwell in the land, and the blameless will remain in it, but the

[00:02:53] wicked will be cut off from the earth, and the unfaithful will be uprooted from it. Friends, today

[00:03:03] I'd like to take a closer look at verses 21 and 22 of Proverb 2. And Proverb 2 verses 21 and 22 tell us

[00:03:14] this, for the upright will dwell in the land, and the blameless will remain in it, but the wicked will

[00:03:24] be cut off from the earth, and the unfaithful will be uprooted from it. Friends, we will take a closer look

[00:03:34] at those two verses prior to closing today, but what I'd like to do today is begin a short study

[00:03:42] on a minor prophet in the Old Testament. And specifically, I'm talking about the prophet Habakkuk.

[00:03:51] And what I'd like to do is give you a little bit of background on this minor prophet. And this is,

[00:04:00] of course, in the Old Testament. So first of all, what I'd like to do is I am reading out of the Nelson

[00:04:08] Study Bible. And what I'd like to do is read a couple passages of information that give details about

[00:04:19] the book of Habakkuk. So here we go. It says,

[00:04:24] Oh Lord, how long shall I cry, and you will not hear? Habakkuk was unique among the prophets in that

[00:04:35] he asked questions of God. Most prophets were filled with messages, hear the word of the Lord.

[00:04:43] Even if everyone doubted the Lord's word, the prophet would still believe. And if the prophet

[00:04:51] did have any misgivings, he kept them to himself. But again, Habakkuk was different. To raise these

[00:05:00] questions was, for our sake today, part of his message. His questions were, why does evil in Judah

[00:05:10] go unpunished? How can a just God use a wicked nation like Babylon to punish his chosen people?

[00:05:21] Habakkuk wanted to know, just as we do, what God was doing and why. There seemed to be too much evil

[00:05:30] among the righteous and too much freewheeling power among the wicked. God did not strike Habakkuk down

[00:05:39] for asking these questions. He answered, the Lord himself will establish his kingdom. He will hold all

[00:05:49] people and nations accountable. The present may be filled with wickedness and chaos, but the future

[00:05:57] belongs to the righteous, the truly righteous. God will bring in his kingdom, give rest and salvation

[00:06:08] to his children and judge his people's adversaries. Now, before I give a few of my thoughts on this,

[00:06:17] I'm going to go over the next section as well. And this is entitled, Author and Date. So when did

[00:06:26] Habakkuk live on earth? We know very little about the prophet Habakkuk. The reference to music,

[00:06:35] Habakkuk, and that is found in chapter 3, verse 1 and 19, and also the book of 1 Chronicles chapter 25,

[00:06:44] may mean that he was a Levite associated with the temple singers. The designation, the prophet,

[00:06:54] is an official title, showing that others recognized Habakkuk as a prophet of the Lord.

[00:07:02] His name Habakkuk appears twice in the book, chapter 1, verse 1, and chapter 3, verse 1. Some scholars

[00:07:15] have associated the name with the Hebrew word for embraced. Thus, his name may mean embraced by God.

[00:07:26] Habakkuk prophesied during the fall of Nineveh in 612 BC and the rise of Babylon as the Neo-Babylonian Empire.

[00:07:41] By 605 BC, Assyria and Egypt had been defeated by Babylon at Carshemesh. Judah's days were numbered,

[00:07:52] and Babylon's power was rapidly expanding. In addition, the death of King Josiah in 609 BC brought an end

[00:08:04] to an era of religious reform in Judah. It seemed that the wicked were prevailing both inside and

[00:08:13] outside Judah. Habakkuk cried out against the violence, lawlessness, and injustice he saw

[00:08:22] all around him. Now, friends, you may be asking yourself, why are you picking this book? I'm glad you asked.

[00:08:33] First of all, as it mentioned in this particular reference, Habakkuk was the only prophet who knowingly

[00:08:44] asked God hard questions. And friends, yes, this book may have been written 2,600 plus years ago.

[00:08:55] And you can sit there and say, how on earth? What does that have to do with us today? And more than you

[00:09:04] think. And so I'm going to be on this study for a couple weeks, but this is what I want to bring up.

[00:09:10] I want to bring up this fact. Many of us today have questions that we want to ask God. We want to ask God

[00:09:20] why there is so much evil in the world today. Why is the United States seem to be in such a hard place?

[00:09:31] Why is there so much division in our country? Why do people openly dislike one another? And a lot of it

[00:09:39] has to do with political points of view. But I don't believe that is the entire story. Many people are

[00:09:47] frowning upon Christians. A lot of people in our world today don't want to have anything at all to do

[00:09:56] with Christians. So God is obviously, in this book of Habakkuk, he actually gives the Babylonians,

[00:10:04] and in this particular book, a lot of times he may refer to the Chaldeans. But the Chaldeans and the

[00:10:14] Babylonians are the same people. Okay, so today we're going to begin chapter one of Habakkuk,

[00:10:23] and we're going to go over the first half of chapter one. So let's get right to it. So this is chapter

[00:10:31] one of Habakkuk, beginning in verse one. The burden which the prophet Habakkuk saw. And this next passage

[00:10:40] is entitled, The Prophet's Question. So the first question that Habakkuk had for God was this,

[00:10:48] in verse two. Oh Lord, how long shall I cry and you will not hear? Friends, I want to stop right here.

[00:11:00] This is my first point of the day. Oh Lord, how long shall I cry and you will not hear? Friends,

[00:11:08] I believe that many people are asking God the same question today. I want you to think about it.

[00:11:19] How long shall I cry and you will not hear? Many people are crying out to God and they don't

[00:11:29] feel that he is answering them. So what do you say to these people? What do you say to someone who

[00:11:39] believes they are a Christian? They have received the Lord as their Lord and Savior. They are trusting

[00:11:47] in Jesus and yet things are not going well in their life and they want to ask God, why not?

[00:11:54] Why not? Why aren't things going well? I want to stand on the promises of God. I do. I want to stand

[00:12:03] on the promises of God. Let's go back to verse two. Even cry out to you violence and you will not save.

[00:12:12] Why do you show me iniquity and cause me to see trouble? For plundering and violence are before me.

[00:12:21] There is strife and contention arises. Therefore, the law is powerless and justice never goes forth.

[00:12:33] For the wicked surround the righteous. Therefore, perverse judgment proceeds. And friends, I know many

[00:12:43] people listening to this podcast today seem to believe and it appears that people who are knowingly evil in

[00:12:53] our society are having successful lives. And it's hard for us to grasp that and to get a firm hold of

[00:13:02] that concept. Now let's go to verse five and this is entitled the Lord's reply. So Habakkuk asked God a

[00:13:11] question and this is his reply beginning at verse five. Look among the nations and watch, be utterly

[00:13:20] astounded for I will work a work in your days, which you would not believe though it were told you.

[00:13:31] Now let's look at the commentary in my Bible for this. It says the international scene during Habakkuk's

[00:13:38] lifetime was full of time was full of turmoil, with Assyria on the decline and the Babylonians on the rise.

[00:13:47] Work a work. The Hebrew words suggest that something ominous and impressive was about to occur.

[00:13:57] So my second point today is look among the nations and watch. Be utterly astounded for I will work a work

[00:14:08] in your days. For indeed I am raising up the Chaldeans, a bitter and hasty nation which marches through

[00:14:22] the breadth of the earth to possess dwelling places that are not theirs. They are terrible and dreadful.

[00:14:30] Their judgment and their dignity proceed for themselves. Their horses are swifter than leopards

[00:14:37] and more fierce than evening wolves. Their chargers charge ahead. Their cavalry comes from afar. They fly as the

[00:14:48] eagle that hastens to eat. They all come for violence. Their faces are set like the east wind. They gather

[00:14:58] captives like sand. They scoff at kings and princes are scorned by them. They deride every stronghold.

[00:15:07] For they heap up earthen mounds and seize it. Then his mind changes and he transgresses. He commits offense

[00:15:18] ascribing this power to his God. So friends, short and simple, God is giving the Babylonians power

[00:15:29] over Judah and the Israelites. And all we can ask is why. Why is God allowing these evil people

[00:15:45] to do this to his chosen people? And we will be finding that out over the next couple weeks.

[00:15:54] But before we close, what I'd like to do is go back to our proverb of the day. We are in proverb two.

[00:16:00] And what I'd like to do is key in on verses 10 and 11. And it says,

[00:16:07] when wisdom enters your heart and knowledge is pleasant to your soul. I like the way that sounds.

[00:16:14] I really do. When wisdom enters your heart and I'm asking that people should have the desire to have

[00:16:24] wisdom in their lives. And as we begin a new year, I'm going to ask that that is my prayer for everyone

[00:16:31] listening today is that you gather wisdom, that you acquire it. And knowledge is pleasant to your soul.

[00:16:38] Discretion will preserve you. Understanding will keep you. And friends, I believe the prophet Habakkuk

[00:16:48] had wisdom. I believe he had wisdom. And I believe that is why he was asking God,

[00:16:56] why are you allowing this to happen? Why are you allowing these evil people to have their way?

[00:17:07] So that is my question to you today. That is my call to action. And friends, I ask that you go to God.

[00:17:16] If you have questions going on in your life, if you have something happening in your life that you don't

[00:17:25] understand why, pray to God and ask for him. And keep asking until you hear from him.

[00:17:38] Friends, I will never end a podcast without giving anyone an opportunity to receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior.

[00:17:47] If there's anyone listening today and you've never taken that step, I invite you to repeat a simple prayer

[00:17:53] after me today. Jesus, I confess that I am a sinner and in need of a Savior. I ask that you come into my

[00:18:01] heart. I ask that you lead me and guide me from this point forward in my life. I make you my Lord and Savior.

[00:18:11] Now, may the Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you.

[00:18:20] The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Friends, please join me again tomorrow

[00:18:28] as we close out the week with wisdom today.