Habakkuk 2:4-20

Pride Goes Before Destruction

 

REMEMBER THE CONTEXT OF THIS PASSAGE

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 –

 

C) he is not dependent upon his own abilities

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!!!

 

V. 6-8

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 –

 

B) Glorified in AND Admired among – Focus tonight –

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.

 

B) Bible’s stance on Drinking?  Don’t get drunk –

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