Over the next month we are going to be exploring the book of
Habakkuk. Habakkuk is one of the minor prophets, the twelve as they are known
in the Hebrew cannon. If you remember from our study earlier this year of the
book of Haggai, that does not mean it is any less important than other books
but rather it is simply short, not one of the long books like Isaiah or
Jeremiah.
Habakkuk is important because it wrestles with faith in the
face of injustice. It is a book written in the seventh century BC for a very
specific context, however it echoes the cry of humanity and God’s people in
every age and all ages. “how long?”, How Long will I cry out for help and you
do not listen?” How long must the innocent suffer from injustice and
wrongdoing, how long must we be faced with violence and destruction, how long
this strife and conflict… How long will law and justice be paralysed, and
unable to respond. How Long God! Where
are you amidst all this on a local and international level. How Long, How Long,
How long… have you ever found yourself saying that “how Long”? Then Habakkuk is
for you…
I’ve called the series ‘As the waters cover the seas”
because at the very centre of the book in chapter 2 verse 14 amidst the ebb and
flow, churn and blur, of human history
we have a statement of God’s sovereignty and his unstoppable purpose and plan,
‘For the whole earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of God, as
the waters cover the seas”. We look at what is going on around us and it can be
like a storm at sea, with large waves crashing wind howling, the sting of salt
spray, and we feel like we are in a
small boat being rocked and tossed around and around, drenched, helpless and
fearful. The storm is threatening to overwhelm and sink us. People do die in
storms. But part of God’s answer to Habakkuk is that while this is on the
surface of history, while it is what we see, we feel and we experience, we also
need to remember the unchanged current in the depth of the ocean, God’s
purpose, God’s plans for the world to know the weighty reality of God is being
worked out. God is sovereign…That flow in history is unchanged and unchallenged
by the storms above…
For Habakkuk as he looks at his time and place that would
mean that unjust Judah, would be disciplined by the Babylonian empire, it meant
the destruction of Jerusalem and the exile, and the purified remnant returning
to rebuild. But that deep ocean current goes on to the coming of Jesus, his
life, the cross and the empty tomb, God’s kingdom being established, and
breaking into the realms of humanity and amidst the storms of today, you and I
being ambassadors of that kingdom amidst the disorientating wild wind and waves,
looking forward to its consummation in
Christ’s return. Habakkuk finishes with a psalm of praise to God and an amazing
confession of trust in God and invites us to trust God and be strengthened by
that trust amidst the storms of life. The “How long” of faith turns into the “Hold on”of faith… I will hold on to God.
This morning I just want to do an introduction, to Habakkuk:
focus on the first verse and Habakkuk the man and Habakkuk the book. I know
that sounds a bit dry and academic, but I think that there is a lot in those
things that will speak to us today and enrich what the book of Habakkuk can say
to us as we explore it.
Let’s look at Habakkuk the man,
Habakkuk is amongst
the most anonymous of biblical writers. He is only mentioned twice, both in the
book that is named after him. In the first verse, which we had read out today
and then at the beginning of chapter three where his name is mentioned as being
the writer of the psalm that concludes this book. For most biblical characters
we are at least given where they come from or who their tribe and parents are
but we are not even told that.
Even Habakkuk’s name seems to be rather obscure, some
suggest it is a part of a plant, while others see it coming from the word ‘to
embrace…’. embrace speaks of Habakkuk’s faith in this book. He is willing to
embrace the questions, to wrestle with God. The book reads like a Q&A
session between Habakkuk and God, where Habakkuk is willing to ask the tough
questions. But also that God embraces Habakkuk as well and answers, even if
they are not what Habakkuk wants to hear.
The name also has the
sense of being an embrace or a hug for warmth when there is no shelter. A
huddle together for warmth. The book of Habakkuk, reflects that amidst the
difficulties Habakkuk can only turn to God and God embraces him and the book
finishes with Habakkuk in chapter 3:17-18 saying that even if he is stripped of
all the comforts and shelter of land and food and blessing, still he will
rejoice in the Lord. That is where he and ultimately we, find that embrace and
shelter. Even if the storm strips everything else away our hope and our source
of Joy is the LORD.
What we do know about Habakkuk is that he is called the
prophet and that he was also a musician. This has led to people seeing him as a
professional prophet at the temple in Jerusalem. In 1 Chronicles 25 David sets aside
a group of people to be temple musicians and prophets, under David’s
supervision. We see that many of the Psalms not attributed to David are written
by these people, Heman who you may remember from a couple of week ago who wrotePsalm 88 is named. While Habakkuk is not named he stands in that tradition.
The role of the Prophets was to bring God’s covenant word to
the people of God in music and song and poetry and prayer. The role of the
prophet was to wrestle and understand what God’s covenant relationship with his
people then meant for God’s people now. Others
have called it taking the timeless word of God and making it timely. One
example from Habakkuk itself is the most often quoted lines from the book in
chapter 2:4 ‘the righteous will live by faith’, This is Habakkuk’s word to
God’s people how they should live in response to what is going to happen. In
the new testament this is picked up in Romans, Galatians and Hebrews. The way
to have new life is through faith in Jesus Christ. In the face of the oppressive
religiosity of the medieval church in Europe it is the rallying cry of the
reformation” the righteous shall live by faith, liberty and freedom and new
life comes through putting our hope and our trust in Jesus Christ. In the
uncertainty of our world today that hope and trust and faith in Christ is what
allows us to know God’s presence and live out the kingdom of God even in the
storms.
One of the reflections of Habakkuk the man is that even in
his obscurity in history, a person of faith willing to face the storms and the
big questions trusting God, can make a difference and bring hope through God’s
word. It’s true for you and I as well with a faith that is willing to embrace
the big question and be embraced by God even when the answers are not what we
are expecting.
Habakkuk also challenges us about the place of artists,
poets and musicians in our midst. This past week the world learned that Eugene
Peterson, famous for producing the message version of the bible, a translation into colloquial English, had
died, aged 85. It lead me to re watch a video of Peterson and the lead singer
of U2 Bono, talking about their mutual love for the psalms, and Both Bono and
Peterson talked of the honesty of the psalms to express human experience and
anguish and praise. They spoke of the
place of the artist today in the church and world to be honest and bring out
the reality of both the world around us and of the hope we have in Christ. That
is the prophetic nature of art and music.
Very quickly I want to look at Habakkuk the book. In Hebrew
it was part of the twelve because they would have all fitted on one
scroll.
The book is called an ‘oracle’ the whole book is to be
viewed as a vision. I called it a Q&A session before and it kind of feels
like a TV current affairs show a serious interview like BBC hardtalk or sixty
minutes or 20/20. To give you an outline of the book In verse 2-4 we have the
prophet as the presenter asking the hard-burning question about the injustices
in Judean society, God the interviewee responds in verse 5-11 is to point to
the Babylonians, then Habakkuk asks his question again “how long” and God
responds with a series of woes for the proud nations an affirmation of God’s
sovereignty and a call for the righteous to live by faith. Then Habakkuk turns
to us the viewer and summarises his response to the interview which is a psalm
of praise and trust and hope in the LORD.
The word oracle can also be translated Burden and the book
of Habakkuk can be seen to be Habakkuk’s burden. It is the burden of an honest
faith to see injustice and wrong and violence and to question and look for
genuine answers. It is the burden of our faith that when we are confronted by
the quandary of what to do when our ‘hope and history don’t rhyme’ not to
abandon that hope, not to abandon that faith and search for another answer but
to hold on to what we know of God. That is what Habakkuk does his questions are
based on what he knows of God’s goodness and righteousness and faithfulness. In
the process of his questioning we can see Habakkuk’s faith and trust deepen. In response to God’s answer look at the
Babylonians, Habakkuk is prepared to wait even longer for God’s response and to
understand God’s purposes. His question comes out of his relationship with God
“how Long O God”, I know you are kind and just, not a rage against God or
shaking his fist at God, ‘How long will God let this go on”.
But it is also the burden of Habakkuk to speak the truth,
that injustice and violence will lead to judgment. For Judea their rejection of
the covenant and its call to do justice and pursue peace, will lead to God
keeping his covenant promise to lead them out of the land. He’s going to use the Babylonians to do it. It is not a popular message, Habakkuk’s contemporary
Jeremiah has his scroll burned and is imprisoned for insisting on the same
message. In an event that echoes the headlines of our time with the killing of
the journalist Kamal Khashoggi for his outspoken opposition to the Saudi regime,
in Jeremiah 26 King Hezekiah has Uriah the prophet chased down and killed for
saying the same message. Its pure
speculation but maybe that is a bit behind why Habakkuk is so anonymous.
Habakkuk’s burden is also to say that the way through that judgement
and turmoil to finally know God’s salvation and restoration is to live by
faith. In Romans 3 Paul is straight up in saying the wages of sin are death,
but, so we have the good news that in faith in Christ there is a way to live
and change.
I love the photo I took at the front of the church. It is
dark with just the light from the spire shining on the front in it the thing
that stands out and is illuminated is the cross. It is God’s answer to the
darkness. Habakkuk says to us that Christianity is not about escapism, its not
the exit sign from the confusing complex and often difficult, dark and
dangerous maze of human history. It is not a hunker in the bunker mentality
when we see the storms of injustice and violence. Rather it is a way to face
that and navigate those things. It is a light that will not go out. The burden
like Habakkuk is to be willing to see what is going on around us and bring the
big questions to God to seek an answer, and as we work through the storm to continue to live by faith, continuing to
live out that faith prophetically in how we treat others and in what we speak
and say, in challenging systemic issues . Like Habakkuk that burden of faith leads us to
a deeper trust and faith.
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