Congregation of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Last Sunday we began our look at the Book of Habakkuk.  
And we noted together that this book is quite unique amongst the prophetic books.  
Normally, a prophet passes on the message of the Lord to His people.  The book of Habakkuk, however, is a record of a prophet questioning God and God’s answers to his questions.  

And so, we looked at Habakkuk’s first question, which is rightly described as a complaint.  
We saw that Habakkuk was deeply troubled by the extent of sin in the land of Judah.  
He wondered when the Lord would intervene.  Most likely, he hoped for another king like Josiah to bring reform, or, ultimately, for a Messiah to bring salvation.  

And in considering Habakkuk’s complaint, we learned that this book has much to teach us about questioning God.    
•	We too are allowed to lament the existence and consequences of sin, in our lives, in the live of others, and in creation.  When we are confused or grieved or troubled, we may question God, even with complaint.
•	BUt, like Habakkuk, we must avoid lashing out at God with anger.  Instead, our questions ought to be biblical.  
o	Our questions must grow out of what we know God to have revealed about Himself in the Bible.  
•	For example, knowing that God promises in Romans 8:28 to do only that which serves for the good of our salvation should be reflected in how we question God.
•	And secondly, we must be prepared for God to answer our questions in ways that are entirely unexpected.
o	For even though Habakkuk likely hoped for a reforming king, God told him that He was going to use the godless Babylonians as His instrument of punishment.  
o	He said, “I am raising up the Babylonians, that ruthless and impetuous people, who sweep across the whole earth to seize dwelling places not their own.”  
o	And He then went on to describe the military prowess of the Babylonians, in vv6-11, as a violent and cruel people, who had perfected the art of war.  

And so, in the first 11 verses, Habakkuk asks his first question of God and receives God’s response to that question: How long will you let this evil go on, O Lord?  Not for much longer, Habakkuk.  I am bringing the dreaded Babylonians.

Now, from vv12-2:3, as this troubled prophet continues to demonstrate appropriate questioning of God, there is much for us to learn as The God of Revelation Answer the Prayers of His People. 
So let’s look, firstly, at Habakkuk’s question, in 1:12-2:1, and secondly, at the first part of God’s Answer, in vv2-3.  

Well, having received this most unexpected reply, we see that Habakkuk is simply astounded.  He just cannot understand what God has revealed to him.  

And so, in vv12-17, he responds to God’s answer.  
1.	And the essence of Habakkuk’s second complaint is seen in v13.  There he asks, “Why are you silent while the wicked swallow up those more righteous than they?”  He says, in effect, “Judah may be ungodly, but the Babylonians are godless!”  
a.	Again, his questions are founded in what He knows God to have revealed about Himself in the Bible.  
i.	From v12, we see that Habakkuk knows that God is a holy God; a God who cannot tolerate even a hint of evil.  
ii.	He knows that God is eternal; “from everlasting.”
iii.	He knows that God is almighty.  
1.	He recognizes that God is the one who appoints and ordains; God is sovereign even over kings and governments.  
2.	He recognizes, in v12, that God has the ‘right’ to appoint the Babylonians to punish.
iv.	And lastly, Habakkuk declares that God is faithful in all that He does.  
1.	He says in v12, “O God, my Holy One, we will not die.”  
a.	He takes comfort in God’s covenant promises.  
b.	He recognizes that God’s anger does not last forever, but that His lovingkindness is from everlasting to everlasting; to a thousand generations of those who love Him and keep His commandments.
v.	And all of this is so important for the questions and complaints of our prayers.  What is it that helps Habakkuk as he wrestles with the turmoil of his questions?  Theology.

2.	And yet, having established the biblical framework for his complaint, the prophet is still left with a question.  In effect, he says, “I admit your power, O God, and I see that the Babylonians are your chosen instruments, but how can you, O Lord, allow such things to take place?”  
a.	Habakkuk knows what the Babylonians are like; idolatrous, ruthless destroyers of other nations.  
i.	And so, he explains his perplexity by using the imagery of a fisherman to describe the Babylonians in vv14-17.  
1.	I am sure many of you boys and girls have gone fishing before.  Sometimes you use a hook and sometimes you use a net.  
a.	And if you have a good day, where does the credit go for a good catch of fish?
i.	Do you thank your fishing rod, or the net?
ii.	No, it goes to the fisherman, or really to the God who gave the fisherman his abilities and the fish to the hook or net.

2.	Well, Habakkuk describes the Babylonian armies as fishermen.  
a.	Sometimes they cast their nets all about to catch nations without rulers, or pull them up with hooks.  
i.	And as they do this, God is using them as instruments of His judgment.  
ii.	But the Babylonians do not acknowledge this.  Instead, as Habakkuk poetically describes, they sacrifice to their nets and burn incense to their dragnets.  As their kingdom becomes bigger and bigger, Babylon thinks that its success is due to its own cleverness and military prowess.

b.	And this is almost too much for Habakkuk to process.
i.	You may recall that in Habakkuk’s first question, in v3, he used two Hebrew words that God repeated back to Him in His first reply in v5.  In our English translations, we see them as “look at” and “tolerate” in v3, and “look at” and “watch” in v5.   
ii.	Well now, once again, in v13, Habakkuk uses those same two words again.  
1.	He returns God’s words to Him by saying, “Your eyes are too pure to LOOK ON evil; you cannot TOLERATE wrong.”  
iii.	And then He arrives at his question, “Why then do you TOLERATE the treacherous?”  Habakkuk’s faith is strong, but He simply cannot figure this out.
c.	Brothers and Sisters, do you understand all of the Lord’s ways?  
i.	Can you make sense of everything He has done in your life or the life of those you love?  
ii.	Do you fully understand the problem of why evil exists?  
iii.	Do you completely understand why God has chosen to elect some to Heaven and consign others to Hell, for eternity?  
iv.	Do you know exactly why Christchurch needed a 7.1 earthquake?
v.	Do you know why God has given you and your family so much sorrow and others seem to live a life that is trouble free?  

vi.	Many of you have attended Sunday school since you were knee high.  You have been to catechism for years.  You have attended many Bible studies.  You have access to a theological library in the church and hopefully one also at home.  You have the confessions, which summarize the church’s reflection on the teaching of the Bible.  But the fact is that if any one says to you that they have no more questions for God, they are lying!  No Christian has a perfect understanding of all that the Scriptures reveal to us, or of all that we see going on around us.  

vii.	Ultimately, we must put our faith in God, just as Habakkuk did.  
1.	Not a blind faith.  Far from it.  
2.	In fact, borrowing from the title of a theology book I have in my study, it is a reasonable faith; a wonderfully reasonable faith - A faith grounded in knowledge; the knowledge that what God’s Word reveals is true and certain.  

3.	For then, like Habakkuk, we may be comforted by what God has revealed about Himself in His Word, even when we can’t seem to see why or how or when.  
a.	And it is this faith that enables Habakkuk to be Patient.  
i.	And his patience is seen in the words of 2:1.  
1.	Unsurprisingly, He uses those same two words again, “look” and “watch.”  
2.	After raising his perplexed question before God, Habakkuk knows that it may be some time before God answers.  
a.	In Jeremiah 42:1-7, we see the prophet pray and wait 10 days before an answer came.
b.	Daniel waited 21 days for the answer to his prayers in ch. 10.
c.	Others wait far longer, some almost a lifetime.
3.	And so, Habakkuk says, “I will stand at my watch and station myself on the ramparts; I will look to see what He will say to me, and what answer I am to give to this complaint.”  
a.	You can almost see Habakkuk sit himself down in a corner of the guard post to wait can’t you!  

ii.	And as Habakkuk looks to the God of His salvation, there are 3 things that we may learn from this servant of God who placed his trust in his Lord and Saviour.  
1.	In the first place, commit your question or problem or need to God and leave it with Him.  Turn your back on what you are praying about and concentrate on God.  
a.	And this is so difficult for us to do, isn’t it Brothers and Sisters.  We are successful and self-made.  Everything we have, we have because we are hardworking capitalist Calvinists.  And so, when we are faced with a seemingly insurmountable problem, we try and work it all through ourselves and when that fails, we may pray earnestly, even on our knees, asking Him to deal with the difficulty.  And then, we get up and start worrying all over again and trying feverishly to continue to work it out.  Instead, says Scripture, “Never be anxious, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
b.	Like the Psalmist, fill your prayers, not with repeats of your request, as though God were deaf, but with who God is in Jesus Christ, what He has done in Jesus Christ, and what He has promised in Jesus Christ!

2.	Secondly, expect and wait for an answer from God.  
a.	Habakkuk says, “I will look to see what He will say to me.”  
i.	He had no doubt at all that the Lord would answer His prayer.  

b.	Now, there are many ways which God may answer prayer, but He will answer.  
i.	Many of you know the story of the man who lives alone on an island.  He receives a letter from the mainland—Get off the island, a violent storm is approaching.  The man says to himself: If God wants me to leave the island, then He will tell me.  The rain begins to pour, the water level is rising.  A boat appears, and a voice calls from the boat: Get off the island and climb aboard, there’s going to be a flood.  The man replies: If God wants me to get off the island, He will tell me.  The water is up to the man’s neck.  A helicopter appears overhead.  A rope ladder is lowered.  A voice cries out: Climb up the ladder, come aboard, it’s your last chance.  The man replies: only God can tell me when it’s time to leave.  Well, not surprisingly, the man drowns.  He dies and comes face to face with God.  He begins to cry out: Why didn’t you save me from drowning?  God replies—I sent you a letter, I sent you a boat, and I sent you a helicopter.  What more could I have done?

ii.	We too, then, must expect answers to prayer, and learn to recognize those answers when they come.  
1.	Learn from the Bible how God has answered the prayers of His people.  
2.	Read church history and biography to learn the same things.
3.	Learn to interpret circumstances through the lens of the Bible.  
4.	Listen to those He brings into your life and their words of wisdom; especially those that God has appointed as His undershepherds, and those with more life experience than you. 
5.	And do all this patiently, learning to rest in the timing of the Lord and being content in His will.  

3.	And thirdly, be humble.  
a.	You must recognize, like Habakkuk, that the weakness when it comes to understanding rests not with God but with you.
i.	You see, in his perplexity, Habakkuk recognized that perfect understanding belongs only to God, not to him.  
ii.	Habakkuk knew the truth of God’s hatred of evil, and a small part of the immediate circumstances of Judah and Babylon.  But only God knew the course of history; past, present and future.
iii.	You are the tiny dot who lives on earth but for 70 years or 80 if health be strong, while God is the eternal sovereign King of the universe who knows all things, sees all things, and governs all things.
Do you bring your requests before the Lord like this?  Can you leave your requests with Him?  Do you expect and wait patiently for His answer?  Are you humble, recognizing the sovereignty of your loving and merciful Father in heaven?

Well, Habakkuk’s questions were again biblical and in questioning God Habakkuk was patient.  Secondly though, we see in chapter 2: 2-3, God’s answer to Habakkuk’s question.  And we find here that God answers Habakkuk’s question by Proclaiming the Certainty of the Vision.

1.	The time of waiting for Habakkuk is over, as God comes to Him in v2 with His reply. 
a.	Habakkuk is told that He is to write down what is revealed to Him.  
i.	In Deut 28, Moses brought Israel to Mt Ebal and was told to set up some stones, and to write very clearly on them all the words of the law.  
ii.	Other prophets like Nahum record their prophecies in a book of their visions.  
iii.	In Isaiah 8:1, we read that Isaiah was told by the Lord to take a large scroll and to write on it with an ordinary pen.  

iv.	And here we see the wonderful gift of what we call inscripturated revelation.  Revelation is ‘what God reveals,’ and inscripturated means ‘included in the Bible.’
1.	At certain times in history, God has required what He reveals to be written down so that His words might become part of the Bible.  
2.	Now, not everything that God revealed to the prophets and the Apostles did He want to become part of scripture.  But this type of instruction from Deuteronomy and Isaiah and Nahum and Habakkuk show that certain prophecies had a lasting relevance for all God’s people, and were to be written down.

b.	Next we read it was to be written in such a way that “a herald may run with it.” 
i.	And while this is a much debated phrase by commentators, the main point is that what God reveals to Habakkuk is to be made plain.  
1.	Plain enough so that a herald can run through the land and shout out the simple message.  
2.	Or, alternatively, plain enough so that someone running past these tablets wouldn’t even have to pause to be able to grasp what they were saying.  MAKE IT PLAIN Habakkuk, says the Lord.  

ii.	And from this verse and many others, we see something of the doctrine of the perspicuity or clarity of Scripture.  
1.	And what this doctrine means is captured by the Belgic Confession of Faith in article 5.  
a.	There it says that “the very blind are able to perceive that the things foretold in them are being fulfilled.”  
2.	The Westminster confession, in Art. 1.7, states it this way: It says, “All things in Scripture…necessary to be known, believed, and observed for salvation, are so clearly propounded…that not only the learned but the unlearned…may attain unto a sufficient understanding of them.”  
3.	God’s Word is a clear Word, not a complex puzzle.

4.	Now notice, this does not mean to say that everything in Scripture is equally clear, for that is not the case.  What it does mean is that God has gifted you a record of His revelation that makes everything necessary for your salvation plain.  

5.	So praise Him beloved, for this gift of clarity.  Don’t study the Bible as some complicated riddle, but as a plain record of everything necessary for your salvation

c.	And God’s purpose in making this prophecy plain is revealed in verse 3.  
i.	There we see that when Judah found herself in captivity she could be comforted by what it foretold.  There we see God telling Judah that even though the complete fulfillment of this prophecy will linger, they are to wait for it because it will “certainly come and will not delay.”  
1.	Now boys and girls, I am sure we all know and remember what it is like to wait for a birthday to come around.  You are counting the days, and sometimes it just seems to take forever.  You pepper your parents with questions like “How much more days till my birthday?”  Sometimes it is so hard to wait isn’t it?  But we wait and wait, and eventually it comes; the birthday arrives!  

2.	Well God was telling His people here, that their day of celebration would certainly come, but that they would have to wait for it.  He knew that if He did not make the certainty of His prophecy plain to them that they might be tempted to despair and give up.  
a.	You can imagine the Levites and Priests during the exile, being visited by Jews who felt the pain of separation from the land of their fathers.  “How long must we wait,” they would ask?  “Has the Lord forgotten us?”  
b.	Then these Levites and Priests would recite to them the words made plain on these tablets: “The revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false.  Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay.”  Here, God says to His people, “The day of your salvation is coming!”
c.	And hearing these words, the Jews in captivity were encouraged that the day of their salvation was certain to come.

d.	And this Brothers and Sisters, is the chief beauty of the passage of Scripture before us today.  
i.	For we too suffer under the sustained oppression of sin.  
ii.	We too suffer because of incomplete knowledge.  
iii.	We too see the effects of sin all around, and are tempted to despair and to doubt.  
iv.	We too are, in effect, all people of exile who are separated from the land to which we truly belong.  

v.	And if we were left without a plain promise of Jesus, this despair would almost be too much to bear.

vi.	But in the closing chapter of the Bible, the Apostle records the plain words of Jesus, when He says to us, “Yes, I am coming soon!”  
1.	And like the people of Judah, we may be tempted to read these words and say, “Well those plain words are great Lord, but I don’t see it!  Its been nearly 2000 years since you said that, but your definition of soon, and mine, well they seem to be two quite different things.”  

2.	But people of God, it is not given to us to see the entire pattern of salvation history.  
a.	We are often tempted to interpret history by what we hear on the news and read in the papers today.
i.	For isn’t it true that every generation thinks that they live in the worst times ever, and that surely Jesus must return soon.  
ii.	But world powers come and world powers go.  
iii.	New philosophies grip the world for a time and then disappear.  
iv.	God raises up His instruments of justice and vengeance and He also brings them back down.  

b.	Thus, our focus should not be on whether Islam, or the United nations, or global warming, or nuclear war will signal the end.  
i.	Our focus should instead to be on our Glorious God
ii.	Our focus should be on the clarity of His promises in the Bible.  
iii.	Our focus should be on living a life of grateful obedience because Jesus has paid the price for our sins.  

c.	So take hold of the promise of Jesus that He will come again.  
i.	Pray that He may come soon and patiently wait for the answer to your prayer.
ii.	Let your confident prayer be that of the hymn writer who said, “  Amen!