Latest / Journey Elgin / Journey Through Scripture- Habakkuk, Jer 7, 8, 11-12, 26
Transcript
- Phillip Thomas: It's good to see you today. Welcome to our journey through scripture. My name is Philip Thomas, pastor of journey here in Elgin and I hope that your week is going well. We are going to continue going through our chronological journey through scripture. And today we're going to read Habakkuk. So the prophet Habakkuk. And then we're also going to read in Jeremiah, Jeremiah 26, seven and eight and 11 through 12. So we will read all of that today. Again, we're trying the best we can to stay in a relatively chronological order. It's not perfect. We don't know, know, sometimes it's hard to place exactly where things happen, but it's pretty close. And I think it gives us a better picture. we are again, kind of Josiah has now just passed away. We talked about how his son, came into power, then ⁓ because Josiah had gone after Egypt, that's how Josiah died. Then Egypt took his son in exile into Egypt and then installed the second son as king. So basically you're in a bad position there. Jeremiah is going to specifically talk about that when we get to Jeremiah. We're going to look at Habakkuk first, and Habakkuk writes in a time where all of this stuff is going on. So Assyria ⁓ has caused so much problem, right? They destroyed the Northern Kingdom. They've caused all kinds of issues in the Southern Kingdom. Now ⁓ Babylon is going to wipe out Assyria, and then eventually it'll be Babylon that then takes out the Southern Kingdom. And Habakkuk is kind of in this... in between time where ⁓ Assyria is receiving some punishment but not fully, and then they're being punished by Babylon who is also not good. so Habakkuk just has kind of some questions like I think many of us have is like, when are things going to be made right? When is justice going to come from God? When is God going to punish those who do evil. So, Habakkuk, I think, is a very important book and one that gives us a lot of insight and it's answers that you may not be happy with, but answers that are honest and answers that are true and answers that do promise that things will be made right. It just may not be done in the way that you would like them to be done. So, Habakkuk starts off in chapter one. He asks two questions. The first one is in chapter one. says, ⁓ Lord, how long shall I cry and you will not hear? Even cry out to you, violence, and you will not save. Why do you not show me iniquity and cause me to see trouble? For plundering and violence are before me. There is strife and contention arise. Therefore the law is powerless and justice never goes forth. For the wicked surround the righteous, therefore perverse judgment proceeds." So interesting kind of how he ⁓ is talking about what's going on around him, what's happening in society. And then the Lord ⁓ reply, look among the nations, watch, be utterly astounded. I will work ⁓ a work in your days, which you would not believe though we're told to you. For indeed I am raising up the Chaldeans, or that's the Babylonians, a bitter and hasty nation which marches through the breath of the earth. So he's telling Habakkuk that the Babylonians are going to be used ⁓ to bring justice to the Assyrians. However, the Babylonians are also not good either, but God is going to use them. And he continues, so God answers his question that it will happen. ⁓ God is going to make sure the Assyrians, that their evil is held to account. Then you get to the second question. Verse 12, really verse 13, you are of purer eyes than to behold evil and cannot look on wickedness. Why do you look on those who deal treacherously and hold your tongue when the wicked devours a person more righteous than he? Why do you make men like fish of the sea, like creeping things that have no ruler over them?" And so again, he's asking these questions. Why do you do this? Why ⁓ are we suffering? And Habakkuk, I think, represents kind of what many of the people ⁓ were ⁓ back then, is they were just experienced the ramifications of the leadership ⁓ that were turning away from God. There were a lot of the people who were still faithful to God, but yet, they felt the impact of a nation that was falling away from God. ⁓ And so it is easy for us to ask those questions. Why is this happening? ⁓ Are you not doing anything, Lord? And then in chapter two, verse two, says, then the Lord answered me and said, write this vision, make it plain on tablets that he may run who reads it, for the vision is yet for an appointed time. but at the end it will speak and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it because it will surely come. It will not tarry. Behold the proud, his soul is not upright in him, but the just shall live by his faith." So what that's saying is, okay, Habakkuk, I know you want this to happen in your own time, but it'll happen in my time. God's saying, it will not. Terry, eventually it will happen. Right. But you just need to calm down. said the just, you're saying that you want to be just, the just will live by faith. Right. And it is kind of a pushback against Habakkuk, but it's not a full rebuke. It understands why Habakkuk is struggling and wants these answers. But the reality is, is sometimes we don't see. the answer that God is going to give. Sometimes we're not going to see how God will make things right, but He will. And if we are going to be just and we're going to be faithful, we should live by faith. And then God goes into ⁓ woes to the wicked. And you can read there through chapter two, ⁓ woe to the wicked, ⁓ all the different things that the wicked do that God will hold them to account. And then chapter three is a prayer of Habakkuk in response to this. It says, ⁓ Lord, I have heard your speech and was afraid. ⁓ Lord, revive your work in the midst of the years. In the midst of the years, make it known. In wrath, remember mercy. So Habakkuk is kind of stepping back. He's like, okay, I wanted you just to come in and take care of things. But when he gets a glimpse of the Lord's true wrath, whenever the Lord lays out ⁓ what it will look like, he says, ⁓ man, in your wrath, remember mercy, right? He is recognizing God, you are going to handle it and I'm in awe of your power. And he goes forth and just starts talking about the power of God, His ⁓ wrath, how He does make things ⁓ right. And then the verses 17, 18 and 19, are so important because again, they're written in light of all of this other stuff and in light of Habakkuk having these questions of wondering why things are working out the way that they are, that he's not seeing justice, that things are not going the way that he would want them to. But this is kind of his conclusion, and it's very important for us because the reality is none of us will fully, well, unless the Lord comes again, we're not going to fully see the justice prevailed. We'll see glimpses of it, but things may not get better. Things may not go right. But this is the conclusion that Habakkuk has. It says, though the fig tree may not blossom, nor fruit beyond the vines, though the labor of the olive may fail, and the fields yield no food, though the flock may be cut off from the fold, and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord. I will joy in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength. He will make my feet like deer's feet, and He will make me walk on my high hills." So what is this saying? It's acknowledging there in verse 17 that things may go really poorly. Things may not go right, and life may be difficult. It says, but I will still rejoice in the Lord because I rejoice in the Lord if it's based on our circumstances, then we're really not rejoicing in Him. We can rejoice in the Lord no matter what our circumstances may be. It says, will joy in the God of my salvation. Not find joy in His circumstances, but find joy in the God who gives Him salvation. Not only that, the Lord is His strength. So even as things are falling apart around Him, that He relies on God for His strength and that He will make His feet like the deer's feet. A deer is agile, a deer is quick, a deer adjusts. to its surroundings and can navigate. And he says, will make me walk on my high hills, right? That he gives us a sure footing even as we walk through the difficult circumstances. I think Habakkuk is a very relevant book for our time because as we look at what's going on in the world, it can feel like things are going kind of crazy. ⁓ And there's so many different opinions and there's things that are being called good that I believe are evil and evil that are good. And so it's like, how do we deal with this? Well, we put our faith in Him. We rejoice in Him, not in the circumstances. ⁓ And we rely on Him for strength and to help us navigate the craziness of life. So I encourage you to read through Habakkuk. It's a great, great book. All right. As we... Continue, 2 Kings chapter 23, the end of it, ⁓ talks about Jehoiakim. That's who Egypt installs. It talks about how he starts paying Egypt off or paying tribute to Egypt. He actually taxes the people to pay ⁓ tribute to Egypt. So now you have Babylon, who's up in the north, Egypt, who's in the south, and Judah is kind of in the middle, and they are... force allies to Egypt. Not a good place to be. And so this brings in Jeremiah. This is Jeremiah chapter 26, and it's talking about the same event, we believe. Jeremiah 26 and chapter 7 through 8. Chapter 7 through 8 is kind of the lengthy sermon that Jeremiah preaches. He's in Jerusalem and preaching at the temple. This is where the people really start to not liking Jeremiah because this is when Jeremiah starts telling them how bad things are going to get. This is in about this time where the people are starting to, the political leaders are now putting some trust in Egypt and paying Egypt and things are just going downhill in a hurry. So Jeremiah 26, kind of talks about this encounter, it says in verse three, it says, this is God speaking with Jeremiah, it says, Perhaps everyone will listen in turn from his evil way that I may relent concerning the calamity which I have proposed to bring on them because of the evil of their doings. And you shall say to them, Thus says the Lord, If you will not listen to me, to walk in my law which I have set before you, to heed the words my servant, the prophet whom I sent to you, both rising up early and sending them. but you have not heeded, then I will make this house like Shiloh. I'll make this city a curse to all the nations of the earth." So God is giving them another chance to hear, but he knows they're not going to hear. So he's wanting Jeremiah to go and continue to give them that opportunity, but he knows that ultimately they will not. ⁓ Jeremiah chapter 7 and 8 is kind of ⁓ what Jeremiah says. to the people. He says, verse 4 of chapter 7, Do not trust in these lying words, saying, The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord are these. What's he talking about there? He's talking about how the people think that because there's the temple in Jerusalem and because God has made these promises to them, that it will always be good. That, okay, we can do whatever we want. God has promised us this land. And Jeremiah is saying, no, this was a covenant. you're breaking your end of the covenant. It continues on verse 6, if you do not oppress this, it says, if you thoroughly amend your ways and your doings, you thoroughly execute judgment between a man and his neighbor, if you do not oppress the stranger, the fatherless, the widowed, do not shed innocent blood in this place or walk after other gods, then I will cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave your fathers forever and ever. Behold, you trust in lying words that cannot profit. So that's what they're doing. They're not trusting in God. They're not following His commands. They are trusting in lying words that cannot profit. It says, you will steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, burn incense to bail, walk after other gods whom you do not know, and then come to me and stand before me and call on my name. Has this house, which is called by my name, become a den of thieves in your eyes? Behold, I, even I have seen it, says the Lord." You may recognize that phrase from when Jesus says it whenever he goes to the temple as well. It continues to talk, you know, go through, I just encourage you to read this. It's condemning the people. You know why the people don't like hearing this. It says, do they provoke me to anger, says the Lord. Do they not provoke themselves to the shame of their own faces? He talks about his anger. ⁓ Verse 28 says, So you shall say to them, This is a nation that does not obey the voice of the Lord their God, nor receive correction. Truth has perished and has been cut off from their mouth. It's interesting. Truth has perished. They no longer are seeking the truth. It continues, it says, For the children of Judah have done evil in my sight, says the Lord. They have set their abominations in the house, which is called by my name, to pollute it. And they have built the high places of Tophet, which is in the valley of the sons of Hinnon, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, which I did not command, nor did it come into my heart." So they have actually started practicing child sacrifice. We've seen that before, that so many of the pagan religions practiced child sacrifice. And now even there are some who practice ⁓ that as well. So you continue to go on. The last part of Jeremiah chapter 26 has where Jeremiah is seized and they want to kill him. says, then verse 12, then Jeremiah spoke to all the princesses, all the people saying, the Lord sent me to prophesy against this house and against this city. with all the words that you have heard. Now therefore amend your ways and your doings and obey the voice of the Lord your God. Then the Lord will relent concerning the doom He has pronounced against you. As for me, here I am in your hand. Do with me as seems good and proper to you, but know for certain that if you put me to death, you will surely bring innocent blood on yourselves and the city and on its inhabitants. For truly the Lord has sent me to you to speak all these words in your hearing." They kind of have this conversation back and forth. you know, about they probably don't need to do that, you know, that there have been other prophets who have said things that they don't like. So let's just let Jeremiah have his say as well. Jeremiah 11 through 12, encourage you to read that. Again, it just reiterates how the covenant has been broken. Verse 7, the very end of verse 7. It says, obey my voice, yet they did not obey or incline their ear, but everyone followed the dictates of his evil heart. ⁓ And then Jeremiah chapter 12 is kind of a lament of Jeremiah just lamenting to the Lord. It says, righteous are you, Lord, ⁓ O Lord, whenever I plead with you, you let me talk with you about your judgments. Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why are those happy who deal treacherously? have planted them. Yes, they have taken root. They grow. Yes, they bear fruit. You are near in their mouth, but far from their mind." All so he's saying, why is it? Why are these leaders doing this? Why are you allowing this to happen? Verse 14, thus says the Lord against. all my evil neighbors who touch the inheritance which I have caused my people Israel to inherit. Behold, I will pluck them out of the land and pluck them out of the house of Judah among them. Then it shall be after I pluck them out, I will return and have compassion on them and bring them back, everyone to his heritage and everyone to his land." So again, God is just reminding, I will take care of this. It will happen. But sometimes it's easy to get dismayed, to get disheartened. But that's whenever we have to remind ourselves of who God is, that God is the God of all time. He is not the God of just this moment. He is present with us in the future going forward, and our timeline is not God's timeline. And so our role is to remain faithful to rejoice in Him no matter what may come. All right. So I encourage you to read as we continue on. Read Jeremiah 46 and 47 Jeremiah 13 and 18 Let's see tell you what so yeah Jeremiah 45 through 47 sorry Jeremiah 45 through 47 Jeremiah 15 through or 13 through 18 and Jeremiah 36. All right, so that's Jeremiah 45 through 47, 13 through 18, and chapter 36. All right, so we will see you, hope to see you