Habacuque 2

Habacuque 2

Morgan - Luther’s Verse One famous verse in the Bible is repeated three times in the New Testament—Romans 1:17, Galatians 3:11, and Hebrews 10:38. That was too many times for Martin Luther to miss. Luther had intended to become a lawyer, but while caught in a violent lightning storm, he cried, “Help me, St. Anne! I will become a monk!” So off he went to the monastery, and within two years he was a priest. But Luther had no inward peace, and he grew increasingly terrified by the wrath of God. These words, The just shall live by faith, kept coming to Luther. While it is difficult to pinpoint the moment this phrase first impacted him toward personal conversion, there is an interesting handwritten letter displayed in a glass case in the Library of Rudolstadt in Germany. It is written by the reformer’s youngest son, Dr. Paul Luther. In the year 1544, my late dearest father, in the presence of us all, narrated the whole story of his journey to Rome. He acknowledged with great joy that, in that city, through the Spirit of Jesus Christ, he had come to the knowledge of the truth of the everlasting gospel. It happened in this way. As he repeated his prayers on the Lateran staircase, the words of the prophet Habakkuk came suddenly to his mind: “The just shall live by faith.” Thereupon he ceased his prayers, returned to Wittenburg, and took this as the chief foundation of all his doctrine. In the preface to his collected Latin works, Martin Luther described an event that occurred sometime after returning to Wittenburg, while he was in the “toilet”—monastic slang for “in the pits.” As he meditated on Habakkuk’s words as quoted in Romans 1:17, I began to understand. This immediately made me feel as though I had been born again, and as though I had entered through open gates into paradise itself. From that moment, I saw the whole face of Scripture in a new light. The Christian world was never again the same. (From This Verse) Only One Option - If you were to ask several people to draw a crooked line on a piece of paper, no two lines would be identical. There is a lesson in this: There are many ways to be crooked, but only one way to be straight. The Lord tells us that the righteous person has only one option—to "live by his faith" (Habakkuk 2:4). In the chapter prior to this declaration from the Lord, the prophet Habakkuk had complained about the violence and injustice around him. It seemed as if the wicked were swallowing up the righteous (Hab 1:13). God responded to Habakkuk by saying that His people were to be "just" and were to live by faith. They were not to be like the one who is "proud" and "not upright" (2:4). A proud and self-sufficient person will rationalize his faults and imperfections. He doesn't want to admit that he needs God. His ways are crooked. Wickedness seems to prevail in our world. God urges us to live our lives in faith, taking to heart His assurance to Habakkuk that there will be a day of reckoning for the wicked. The only way to please God now and to be ready for that day of reckoning is to live by faith.— Albert Lee (Copyright Moody Bible Institute. Used by permission. All rights reserved) Lord, grant me grace throughout this day To walk the straight and narrow way, To do whatever in Thy sight Is good and perfect, just and right. —Huisman The only right way is the straight and narrow way. Habakkuk 2:5 "Furthermore, wine betrays the haughty man, so that he does not stay at home. He enlarges his appetite like Sheol, and he is like death, never satisfied. He also gathers to himself all nations and collects to himself all peoples.: Wine: Pr 20:1 23:29-33 31:4,5 Isa 5:11,12,22,23 21:5 Jer 51:39 Da 5:1-4,23 Na 1:9,10 Haughty: Hab 2:4 Ps 138:6 Pr 30:13,14 Isa 2:11,12,17 16:6 Jer 50:29 Da 5:20-23 Jas 4:6 Stay: 2Ki 14:10 1Th 4:11 He enlarges: Isa 5:8 Isa 10:7-13 LIke Sheol: Pr 27:20 30:15,16 Ec 5:10 Gathers: Hab 2:8-10 Isa 14:16,17 Jer 25:9,17-29 Habakkuk 2 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries NEVER AT REST NEVER SATISFIED Wine betrays the haughty man - Wine is treacherous. The word "betray" (Hebrew - bagad) denotes unfaithfulness. NET Note feels that… Wine is probably a metaphor for imperialistic success. The more success the Babylonians experience, the more greedy they become just as a drunkard wants more and more wine to satisfy his thirst. But eventually this greed will lead to their downfall, for God will not tolerate such imperialism and will judge the Babylonians appropriately He enlarges his appetite like Sheol and he is like death, never satisfied (Heb = male' = full, filled up) - In context this speaks of the greed of the Babylonians. However it is more broadly applicable and continues the contrast from Hab 2:4, in that the one who is declared just by faith is satisfied, but the proud man is never satisfied and is forced to keep grasping for more. His insatiable flesh cries "More, more, more", his cry that shall echo through the halls of hell for all eternity. More is never enough! Boice… Greed is a natural but destructive characteristic of the one who will not trust God. If a person trusts God, he does not need to be covetous of more and more material possessions. The Lord is the portion of the righteous. Besides, the Lord amply supplies his need. (cp Mt 6:30-note, Mt 6:33-note) If a person trusts God, he does not need to acquire more and more possessions, since he knows God will provide what he needs. If he does not trust God, then the need for things becomes a burden. This world is an insecure place, and the individual is insecure within it. So he works to get more and more in the hope that if he only has a little more land or stocks or capital, he may get by. (Ibid) The two similes (terms of comparison) like Sheol, like death picture the insatiable appetite of the Babylonians as like the hell, and death and the grave, which never says, "Enough" but always wants more! (Pr 30:15-16). The unseen world is never satisfied and the graves are never full. Evil men typified by the Babylonians are constantly seeking for some new experience to thrill them or some new achievement to make them important, but their search is in vain. Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied, Nor are the eyes of man ever satisfied. (Pr. 27:20-note by Bridges; note by Lawson) Smith comments that… Death never takes a holiday. The Babylonian, like death, continues to sweep the nations into his net (cf. Hab 1:15). (Word Biblical Commentary, Page 108). Jamieson writes that… The use of excessive wine serves to display the pride of Babylon. They felt so secure in their strength that they put down their guard, becoming drunk. The city of Babylon actually fell to the Medes and Persians during a drunken feast held by Belshazzar (Dan. 5:2-4, 30; cf. Pr. 20:1; 30:9; 31:5). The culmination of evil is frustration, for by its very nature it seeks after a falsehood. The "joy" that evil seeks is a lie; true joy rests only with God. Evil seeks after the "nothing" that is in direct opposition to the "something" that is God. Thus the Babylonian' clamoring lust and greed could never be filled. (Habakkuk 2 Commentary) McGee Now how about the other crowd—those whose soul “is not upright in him”? The following “woes” are directed to them and refer primarily to the plundering Babylonians who would conquer Judah. These “woes” are just about as systematic and orderly as anything you will find in Scripture. They are presented in five stanzas of three verses each. He gathers to himself all nations and collects to himself all peoples - This apparently refers to the fact that Babylon practiced taking captives into exile just as had the Assyrians before them. In addition the Babylonians would bring captives from other lands to occupy the lands of those that had been deported. One effect of this shifting of nations and peoples was to destroy the identifies of those who were gathered and collected to Babylon. However this did not happen to the Jews who remained a distinct ethnic group, as of course they have to this very day, because they are God's chosen people and He has kept them unique and separate. NEVER "ENOUGH!" Habakkuk 2:4-5 - “Greed is good.” With those words, celebrated Wall Street whiz Ivan Boesky revealed his basic business philosophy to his class of undergraduate students. Even to the “Me generation” of the 1980s, Boesky’s unapologetic endorsement of old-fashioned greed came as a shock. But the multi-millionaire got a little too greedy and wound up serving time in prison for using insider trading information to his advantage. Greed ought to shock us. Its place on the list of the so-called Seven deadly sins reminds us that for many centuries greed has been considered one of the sins that have the greatest appeal to the human appetite. Given greed’s place of shame in the Bible, it’s hard to argue with that view. Today’s text is not really a definition of greed, but gives us a fascinating and sobering look at the nature of greed. Habakkuk was given a hard prophetic message to deliver. God was going to judge sinful Judah by giving His people over to infinitely more wicked conquerors: the cruel Babylonians. In the process of delivering his message, Habakkuk drew a word picture of the coming invaders. The Babylonians were “puffed up” and “arrogant.” We know what pride does to individuals or to a nation. But Habakkuk also noted that the Babylonians were “as greedy as the grave.” They were like death, which is “never satisfied.” This is about the best illustration of greed you’ll find. Death won’t stop taking until everyone is in its grasp. We are told in Proverbs 30:15-16 that the grave is one of four things that never says “Enough!” TODAY ALONG THE WAY - When do you say “Enough”? Most people don’t say it at all. Greed is easy to spot in others but tough to pinpoint in ourselves. Here’s a brief self-test that may help focus the issue. Jot down the three things you want most right now; then ask these questions about each item: 1. Is this a legitimate need or desire? 2. Is this something I want just because I want it? 3. Is the lack of this item standing between me and true contentment? (Copyright Moody Bible Institute. Used by permission. All rights reserved) Habakkuk 2:6 "Will not all of these take up a taunt-song against him, even mockery and insinuations against him and say, 'Woe to him who increases what is not his-- for how long-- and makes himself rich with loans?': Take: Nu 23:7,18 Isa 14:4-19 Jer 29:22 50:13 Eze 32:21 Mic 2:4 Five woes Hab 2:6, 9, 12, 15, 19 Increase: Hab 1:9,10,15 Job 20:15-29 22:6-10 Pr 22:16 Jer 51:34,35 Jas 5:1-4 For how long - Ps 94:3 Lk 12:20 1Co 7:29-31 1Pe 4:7 Makes himself rich: Hab 2:13 Isa 44:20 Isa 55:2 Habakkuk 2 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries A TAUNT SONG While the "taunt song" in context is directed to the wicked Babylonians, the timeless principles in this next section describe the misery of any person or any nation that thinks it can take God out of the picture (no prayer in schools, no Bible reading in schools, no Ten Commandments in public buildings, etc) Ray