Dive into Habakkuk chapter 2 where we explore how the prophet presents his complaints to God and receives divine responses. This episode takes us on a journey through Habakkuk’s bold questioning and God’s calming assurances. We discuss themes of faith, patience, and justice, urging listeners to live by faith even when circumstances seem unfair.
Welcome to ADDBIBLE, an audio daily devotion from the Ezra Project. Allen J. Huth shares a Bible passage with comments from over 35 years of his personal Bible reading journals and applies the Word of God to our daily lives.
SPEAKER 02 :
Today brings us to Habakkuk chapter 2. God answers the questions from Habakkuk in chapter 1, and Habakkuk has a few more complaints for God in chapter 2. I’ll choose to read chapter 2 of Habakkuk, so here we go. I will take my stand at my watch post, and station myself on the tower, and look out to see what he will say to me, and what I will answer concerning my complaint. And the Lord answered me, Write the vision, make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it. 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. Behold, his soul is puffed up. It is not upright within him, but the righteous shall live by his faith. 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. 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 load himself with pledges. Will not your debtors suddenly arise and those awake who will make you tremble? Then you will be spoiled for them. Because you have plundered many nations, all the remnant of the people shall plunder you. For the blood of man and violence to the earth, to the cities and all who dwell in them. woe to him who gets evil gain for his house to set his nest on high and to be safe from the reach of harm you have devised shame for your house by cutting off many peoples you have fortified your life for the stone will cry out from the wall and the beam from the woodwork respond. Woe to him who builds a town with blood and founds a city on iniquity. Behold, it is not from the Lord of hosts that people’s labor merely for fire and nations weary themselves for nothing. For the earth will be filled with knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. Woe to him who makes his neighbors drink. You pour out your wrath and make them drunk. in order to gaze at their nakedness. 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. 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 the cities and all who dwell in them. What prophet 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. 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. But the Lord is in his holy temple. Let all the earth keep silence before him. In my personal Bible reading journal in 2009, I read Habakkuk 1 through 3 on the same day. And concerning the first couple chapters I wrote, Habakkuk has the boldness to ask God Almighty questions. God answers his questions. Can we ask God such questions and will he answer us today? Questions like, why does evil triumph? God answers. I’m working behind the scenes. Don’t worry about it, according to verses 1 through 5 of chapter 1. Habakkuk waited for God’s response. Chapter 2, verse 1. He answers, the righteous shall live by faith. Chapter 2, verse 4. But the proud is like death, never satisfied. verse 5 of chapter 2. And then be careful about borrowing, chapter 2, verses 6 and 7. In 2015, after reading Habakkuk chapters 1 and 2 on the same day, I wrote in my personal Bible reading journal, Why don’t you hear my prayers? Habakkuk asks, and so do we. There is violence and injustice, but God is not doing anything about it. And then God answers, I know your prayers, and I’m working on it behind the scenes. Then I wrote, he raises up nations, Babylon, for example, to inflict justice on Judah. Habakkuk questions why God would use a wicked nation to judge a less wicked nation. Chapter 1, verse 13. God reminds Habakkuk things unfold based on his timing. Chapter 2, verse 3. But the righteous shall live by faith, according to verse 4 of chapter 2. Though there appears to be injustice, eventually we understand God is working. Chapter 2, verse 14. And God is on the throne, according to chapter 2, verse 20. At the end of Habakkuk chapter 1, Habakkuk asks God another question. At the beginning of chapter 2, verse 1, Habakkuk waits for God’s answer. When you pray, do you actually wait for God’s answer? Do you pray expecting that God will answer? Or is your prayer more like information to God about what you’re going to do anyway? How patient are you after you pray for God’s answer? Habakkuk in verse 1 of this chapter says, I will take my stand at my watch post and station myself on the tower and look out to see what he will say to me. Habakkuk has a spirit of expectation that God has heard his prayer and is coming with an answer. And in verse 2, God does answer. The verse says, And the Lord answered me, Write the vision, make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it. 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. From verse 2 to verse 20, God answers Habakkuk’s complaint in chapter 1. He reminds Habakkuk in verse 4 not to worry about these things. The righteous shall live by his faith. We are to live by faith and not by sight. Though Habakkuk maybe couldn’t see the answers, he has to continue to anticipate that God is in control. Next comes verses 6 through 20. God’s woes against the Chaldeans or the Babylonians. Verse 6. Woe to him who heaps up what is not his own. Verse 9, woe to him who gets evil gain for his house. Verse 12, woe to him who builds a town with blood. After the first three woes, the Lord reminds Habakkuk that he is God. Look at verse 14. Verse 15 continues with the woes. Woe to him who makes his neighbors drink. And finally, verse 19. Woe to him who says to a wooden thing, awake, to a silent stone, arise. And the chapter concludes with another reminder to Habakkuk that God is on the throne. Verse 20. But the Lord is in his holy temple, that all the earth keeps silence before him. Habakkuk chapter 2 is God’s answer to Habakkuk’s complaint in the end of chapter 1. Habakkuk was wondering how God could use an evil nation to judge the nation of Judah. In chapter 2, God reminds Habakkuk that God will also judge the Chaldeans after they have taken care of Judah on his behalf. Those subtle reminders in chapter 2 that God is in control, that He’s still on His throne, are our application from this chapter. Regardless of what is going on in your life, remember that God is still sovereign. He is still in control. Remember, for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, and the Lord is in His holy temple. Let all the earth keep silence before Him. Yes, friends, there are injustices across the earth. There may be an injustice in your own life. You may be complaining about what is happening all around you. And you’re right, it may not be fair. But we see with our eyes. In Habakkuk chapter 2, God reminds us to live by faith. I hope Habakkuk chapter 2 is an encouragement to you, even in the circumstances you may be facing at the moment. Almighty God, thank you for reminding us in Habakkuk chapter 2 to trust in you. Thank you for reminding us that the whole earth will be filled with your glory and your knowledge. Thank you for reminding us that you are in your holy temple. Therefore, we don’t need to question you. We need to live by faith. So, Lord, strengthen our faith because we’re reading this book in your word. And, Lord, if there are some listening that are in some difficult circumstances, we pray as we’ve learned from other books in your word that you will fight for us and you can defeat our enemies. We ask for that. Rather than complaining, we look up in hope and in faith toward heaven. And then, like Habakkuk, we wait eagerly for the answers to our prayers. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Amen. Thanks for listening to ADDBIBLE today. We have been on the air for almost a year and we hope you enjoy our program. If so, we need your financial partnership to continue. I am not a pastor, so I have no church supporting this program. The Ezra Project was led by the Lord to produce ADDBIBLE and we obeyed. He provided in the past to get the program produced and aired. We always believed he would use you, the listeners, to sustain the financial means going forward. That time has come as the major donation to get us this far is coming to an end in September. I believe God is Jehovah Jireh, our provider, and oft times he uses people like you. Your support will be critical to determine the future of ADDBIBLE in your geographic area. Encourage us with a one-time gift or become a monthly sponsor by going to EzraProject.net. If you prefer to mail a check, you will find our mailing address there on our website. There you can also encourage us with a comment on the Contact Us section under About Us. We need to hear from you now as we pray about our future on radio. May God lead you as you prayerfully consider your support. I love passages like this because they impact my life. I don’t read for information. I read the Bible for transformation. In other words, I can read or listen to a scripture passage, like it, set it aside, and move on with my day. I got information. The Bible offers so much more. After I read the passage for information, I read it again for transformation. I want to personalize what I read, so I get out my daily Bible reading journal and record my thoughts from the passage. What did I read? What does it mean to me in my life right now? What do I need to do to apply it to my day, my week, my life? After I read the passage a second time and journal, then I pray. What I read ignites my prayer as I pray through the concepts of the passage. After that, I pray for other matters on my daily prayer list. If you want to watch me demonstrate my personal quiet time, visit EzraProject.net and watch the Quiet Time How-To Video. I know you will enjoy it and want to share it with others.
