Life or Death (Habakkuk 2)

When something doesn’t make sense to us, we ask questions and try to understand it better. That’s normal. Kids ask a lot of questions. They struggle to fully grasp or accept what we say, so they ask more questions. This questioning can go on for hours. So, we might be tempted to say, “Because I said so, now be quiet!” But at some point, our children have to just hear what we say and trust that we know what we are talking about. Until they experience enough of life, what we say will not make sense to them, no matter how many questions we answer.

God doesn’t lose His temper like we do, but He does expect us to listen carefully when He speaks and to trust that He knows what He is talking about and what He is doing.

Last week we left Habakkuk standing on his watchpost. He was grappling with God’s perplexing vision. We saw some signs of faith and recognition of God’s superiority. He doesn’t ask the question, “Why?” with disrespect or without first considering what is being said. Today, we will hear God’s amazing response.

God’s Answer

Why would God allow the Babylonians to destroy His people? They are a nation much more wicked and terrible than Judah. Can God allow the wicked to succeed like this and still be righteous? And what about the righteous? Will God keep the righteous alive or let them die?

Habakkuk 2:2–4 (ESV) — 2 And the Lord answered me: “Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it. 3 For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end—it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay. 4 “Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him, but the righteous shall live by his faith.

The first part of God’s answer shows that God is not going to change His original answer. The words He has spoken will stand. He is trustworthy and what He has spoken “will not lie.” It might delay, but it will happen. So He tells Habakkuk to write it down so it can be spread everywhere and prepare people for the fulfillment of it.

Verse four says, “His ego is inflated; he is without integrity.” God knows that the Babylonians and the Judeans are very proud, deceptive, and evil. Notice the rest of the sentence says, “but the righteous will live by his faith.” Here we have a confirmation of what Habakkuk has stated in Chapter 1. The proud and those without integrity will be judged, but the righteous will be saved from death and judgment.

Judging The Wicked (5-19)

I want you to see God’s description of the wicked. He says, “Their ego is inflated, and they are without integrity.” The description of the wicked is that they are proud and arrogant. They think much of themselves, and they, narcissistically, care only about themselves. In the rest of this Chapter, we see God making His judgment against the proud more clear. These proud, wicked Babylonians will never find lasting joy, peace, and satisfaction.

Habakkuk 2:5–19 (ESV) — 5 “Moreover, wine is a traitor, an arrogant man who is never at rest. His greed is as wide as Sheol; like death he has never enough. He gathers for himself all nations and collects as his own all peoples.” 6 Shall not all these take up their taunt against him, with scoffing and riddles for him, and say,

“Woe to him who heaps up what is not his own— for how long?— and loads himself with pledges!” 7 Will not your debtors suddenly arise, and those awake who will make you tremble? Then you will be spoil for them. 8 Because you have plundered many nations, all the remnant of the peoples shall plunder you, for the blood of man and violence to the earth, to cities and all who dwell in them.

9 “Woe to him who gets evil gain for his house, to set his nest on high, to be safe from the reach of harm! 10 You have devised shame for your house by cutting off many peoples; you have forfeited your life. 11 For the stone will cry out from the wall, and the beam from the woodwork respond.

12 “Woe to him who builds a town with blood and founds a city on iniquity! 13 Behold, is it not from the Lord of hosts that peoples labor merely for fire, and nations weary themselves for nothing? 14 For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.

15 “Woe to him who makes his neighbors drink— you pour out your wrath and make them drunk, in order to gaze at their nakedness! 16 You will have your fill of shame instead of glory. Drink, yourself, and show your uncircumcision! The cup in the Lord’s right hand will come around to you, and utter shame will come upon your glory! 17 The violence done to Lebanon will overwhelm you, as will the destruction of the beasts that terrified them, for the blood of man and violence to the earth, to cities and all who dwell in them.

18 “What profit is an idol when its maker has shaped it, a metal image, a teacher of lies? For its maker trusts in his own creation when he makes speechless idols! 19 Woe to him who says to a wooden thing, Awake; to a silent stone, Arise! Can this teach? Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver, and there is no breath at all in it.

All of this tells Habakkuk that the joys and pleasures of this life will betray those who indulge in them. They believe that they will be satisfied when they prosper on earth, but all of their greed and power will leave them empty. Those taken into captivity by the Babylonians will take up their taunt against them and give five woes.

Greed (6-8)

The first woe points to greed. Greed is a funny thing. It disguises itself as ambition. Don’t get me wrong. Nothing wrong with having some ambition if it’s not self-focused. When we connect ambition with self-focus, we get greed. The people in control have plenty to get by with and some they could share. They are blessed beyond measure, but they press on for more and more. They hoard it up for themselves. Think of the endless consumerism of our day, and the complete unwillingness to contribute to the needs of others. Eventually, they go for too much and end up in debt and cannot pay back what they owe. Those who are greedy will eventually be plundered. Their goods will be taken from them. Where do we see this kind of greed in our society? This lifestyle is not the way of the righteous who live by faith.

Self-Serving (9-11)

The second woe is to those who are self-serving and self-promoting.They don’t care what happens to other people, so long as they get what they want. There is no consideration or love in them. They will be ashamed and lose their life. He says that the materials gained by this selfish way of living will cry out against them. What lengths will we go to to ensure that we are secure and safe? Would we be willing to sacrifice our integrity and cheat to elevate ourselves?

Violence (12-14)

The third woe is to the violent. They use their power and strength to hurt and destroy other people’s livelihoods.These violent people are destroying everything men work so hard to create. Whatever they violently take will just be burned up. It will all come to nothing. The only glory that will stand is the glory of the Lord and it will be everywhere.

Cruelty (15-17)

The fourth woe is similar to the third, but this time he talks about being cruel, going beyond what is reasonable in their punishment of God’s people. People who are cruel believe they can get away with anything. Notice, they will get away with nothing. The evil they do to others will be done to them. They will go from being strong and unstoppable to completely weak and terrified.

Idolatry (18-19)

The final woe is unlike the others. Here, God wants to speak out against idolatry. In this woe we see those in captivity pointing to the idols and saying that they will seek help from their pieces of wood and find none. These idols are imaginary friends who cannot move, speak, or help anyone. The day will come when these arrogant men will be unable to stop their enemies.

Now, all of these judgments are interesting, but what do they tell us? Habakkuk wants to know how God could use a people more wicked than Judah to judge Judah. These judgments make it clear that God will judge the one whom He sends to destroy. He will not let their wickedness go unpunished. When we feel like this world is full of injustice and evil, we must understand that God is going to give the wicked a taste of their own medicine. Don’t fall for the deception that the wicked are right. Don’t believe that the choice they have made is the correct choice. It is not.

God’s Plans
But God’s response doesn’t just include judgments. It also includes a promise for salvation. He tells us the righteous will not die. Who will qualify as righteous? Those who live by faith will be saved from God’s wrath. So, the question becomes, what does it mean to live by faith.

To live by faith means to trust in God’s character when things in the world are confusing, trust God to give the justice that is deserved in his own time, and live upright while you wait. This is not a passive hope, but an active, obedient trust in God’s will for your life! Living by faith is the harder path to choose, but it has the greater result, eternal LIFE. God is telling mankind, “Don’t put your faith in yourself, this world, or some dumb idol. Put your faith in me!” Then, He points us to a time when all the earth will be filled with His glory as waters cover the sea, a future hope. This is what the end will look like.

Jesus

When we come to the New Testament, we see that God has revealed His plan to give eternal life to those who have faith. They need not be afraid. New Testament writers, like Paul in Romans, refer back to this response to explain what Jesus has accomplished. The earth will be filled with His glory as we walk by faith in God and not by trusting in ourselves. As we look at the resurrection of our savior, we know that God will be proven true and just in the end. We don’t have to be afraid of what man can do against us. The Gospel tells us that we can be forgiven and loved by our God.

Conclusion

The final words of this chapter are perhaps the most interesting of all.

Habakkuk 2:20 (ESV) — 20 But the Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him.”

At first glance, this might sound like God is giving a frustrated dismissal, but it’s not. God tells Habakkuk what Paul told the Romans. There is not one person on earth who can stand before God’s presence based on their own goodness. He will judge the proud and give grace to the humble. After looking at the chaos of the world, the cries for justice, the questions about God's ways, the ultimate truth is this: God is on His throne. He is in control. And for us, the challenge remains: Will we, like Habakkuk, move from questioning to confident, patient faith in the one true God? Will we silence our doubts and listen to His unchanging word, trusting that the just will indeed live by faith?"