Habakkuk 2:4-20
Pride Goes Before
Destruction
A)Ch.
1 Hab. is Wrestling & Wondering : 1st
Why ?
2nd What –
B)
Hab. is frustrated to find out that God is going to use the Babylonians to
Judge Israel
1)
So he goes to his prayer tower to watch & wait
upon the Lord
C)
It is here in Ch. 2 God tells him what will be the plight of Babylon – How they will eventually fall.
1)
Used now but brought down later –
D)
This Chapter is a good illustration of how the Proud are brought to their own
Demise V. 4
4 "Behold the proud, His
soul is not upright in him;
But the just shall live by his
faith.
Here we see that the Lord identifies
Babylon & it’s leader Neb. As the Proud.
A)All
that we know about Neb is that he was a very proud man – who loved to roam
around the city saying - LOOK
WHAT I HAVE DONE
B)
That is the way of the Proud man – They call attention to themselves – their
accomplishments
Once
their were 2 Ducks & a frog who were friends living in a pond on farmer
browns farm
One
Summer Drought – had to move / easy for the ducks because they could fly – frog
said I’ll
never make it w/ out your help – got a plan
So
the Frog said : You guys grab this stick in your bills & then I will
hold on w/ my mouth you start flying – we’ll go until we find another pond
So
the Ducks agreed it was a good idea & they took off – frog Hanging on
pretty soon soaring pretty high – the Farmer saw – was amazed – Said What a brilliant
idea I wonder who thought of it ? The frog Proudly yelled I DID – & FELL TO His death
That
is the nature of Pride is it says look what I
did – Look what I’m doing
A)The
middle letter in the word pride is I – Where Problems start I- Problem
B)Now
the Bible clearly teaches about Pride :It declares in Prov 6:16-17 16 These six things the LORD hates, Yes,
seven are an
abomination to Him: FIRST THING
A proud look, .
James 4:6 God resist
the proud, but gives grace….humble.
Prov 16:18 Pride
goes before destruction,& an haughty spirit before a fall.
A)So
here in V. 4 God begins by making a Contrast:
Between
the Proud person & the Person who is living by faith
B)God is saying to Habakkuk - behold the
soul of the one who is lifted up with pride is not upright.
1)
The person who lives by faith is a person who is not dependent upon his own
wisdom –
he
sees he has no resource to lift himself out his present circumstances so his
life is totally given over to God.
D)
His life wholly invested in the kingdom because he knows that Jesus is the only
answer for His life and all the lives of mankind around them.
E)That is the life that is living in faith.
Now As we read the rest of this chapter
we are going to hear God tell Habakkuk,
A) Look you hang on - you trust me, live in faith and this is
what will happen to the Babylonians because he is proud, ruthless and wicked.
V.
5 "Indeed, because he transgresses by
wine,
He is a proud man, And he does not stay at home.
Because he enlarges his desire as hell,And he is like death, and
cannot be satisfied,
He gathers to himself all nations And heaps up for himself all peoples.
B)
Now here we see a common Characteristic of the Proud – Their ego cannot be satisfied
1)
It doesn’t matter where they are excelling – the Proud man is not satisfied in his accomplishments –
B)It doesn’t matter if he is lusting
after Power or Possessions He is never
satisfied –
1)
there is always that thirst for more { Something else bigger, better, newer
C)Interesting
– he is characterized as not staying home – never settles – neglects his family
in his thirst for more!!!
Now here we see that in their thirst for
Satisfaction the Babylonians would experience the same of what they did to
others
A)What
goes around comes around – Ruthless in Business – even thought
successful it will come back to bite him
B)
Archeologist in East Africa – found the carcasses of two Saber tooth tigers
joined at the teeth – Fight teeth stuck – starved to death
C)
Good illustration – if you bite and devour people – eventually you will get
bitten yourself
1)
What follows are 4 Woes to Silence the Proud man
V.9-11 Woe to the Greedy / Now
here we see a 2nd Characteristic of the proud – He Covets
A)The
Babylonians took land that wasn’t theirs in order to build an empire that
glorified themselves & assured them safety.
B)Their
goal was security, like the eagle’s nest on the high mountain crags.
1)Of
course, this was a false security; because no individual or nation can build
walls high enough to keep God out.
C) But What would be the consequences of
their covetousness?
1)
Instead of having houses and families that bring honor, they will have disgrace
and shame and will eventually lose their lives.
Charlemagne:
“For what shall it profit a man, if he shall
gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?”
D)
Not Rich toward God!!!!
v. 12-13 Woe to the Violent
Babylon was built by bloodshed, the blood
of innocent victims.
A)It
was built by prisoners of war, slave labor that was exploited to the fullest
extent.
B)Babylon
was proud of what she had built, but God said it wouldn’t last, because it was
only fuel for the fire.
1)
The
city of Babylon was an architectural marvel, but their great projects were for
nothing.
Now right in the middle of all this Woe stuff.
There is an island of hope in the sea of Woe
14 “For the earth
shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters
cover the sea.
A)Now
this is important for Habakkuk to hear in all of this.
In
contrast to the shame and infamy of Babylon, God promised that His glory would
one day cover the earth
B)The “glory” of Babylon didn’t last, but the
glory of the Lord will abide forever.
C) When Jesus returns & establishes
His kingdom, then God’s glory will indeed cover the whole earth [Is 11:1-9]
D)
The kingdoms of man will pale in comparison -
Reminded of something I read this week in my devotions 2 Thess 1:10
10 when He comes, in that Day, to be glorified in His
saints and to be admired among all those who believe, because our
testimony among you was believed.
A)Now
I love that Phrase – that is the Lord’s desire for each of us – that he would
be glorified in us –
Matt 5: Let light
so shine - …. Glorify your father who is in heaven –
1)
Worship – God would be the focus of our Admiration – that is what He desires –
C)
Glorified in us – as we Bear much Fruit!!!!
V. 15-17 Woe to the Drunk
Now the Babylonians in their Prideful attitude were prone to
indulge in Drunkenness –
A)Beleshazzar:
Temple vessels – Mene Mene – Tekel Upharsan
B)
Weighed in the Balances & found lacking
Through the prophet Habakkuk, the Lord rebukes both the drunk and those
who promote drunkenness. A)Though they think that alcohol makes them feel good, God
rightly says they are filled with shame instead of
glory.
1)
Much
better chance – not drinking –
C) The damage of drunkenness goes beyond the act itself and
into what it effects in lives and families.
1) Yearly in the United States alcohol is responsible for
almost 100,000 deaths (25,000 by drunk drivers alone),
2) 6 million non-fatal injuries,
and more than $100 billion in economic losses such as unemployment and loss of
productivity.
C)
Eph. 5:18 Don’t drunk w/ wine – Dissipation – that is the world’s way –
1)
You
be filled w/ the spirit –
Again note the Contrast: The glory of God will cover the earth,
but Babylon’s “glory” will be covered with shame. A)The picture is that of a
repulsive drunk, vomiting all over himself, and it isn’t a very pretty picture.
B)It
is interesting to note that Babylon’s greatest king –
ended up becoming a mad man who lived like an animal in the fields for sevens
yrs –
C)
his hair grew out like an animals his finger nails like claws – he became very
repulsive to those who saw him -
V.18-20 Woe to the Idolater –
A)Paul
declared in Romans – that the tendency of those who worship idols is to fashion
them after themselves
B)
It is the desire of man to have a God that is like him
1)
Instead
of realizing that we have been made into the image of the real God – Then the
fall
C)
We want gods in our image – Greek Mythology – affairs – like a soap opera
D)
The points out to Hab. – these idols of wood have no life or breath in them –
just pieces of wood
But in contrast to that the Lord is alive
& well in his Holy temple -
A)In
other words the Lord is telling Hab. don’t worry about how I am working / what
I am doing – just know that I am on the throne
B)
Rev. true & righteous are his judgments –
C) Hab. is brought face to face w/ the Sovereignty of God – heart responds in worship – next time