Understanding God’s Judgment Through Habakkuk 1:12-17

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The foundation, ye saints of the Lord, is laid for your faith.

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God’s whole word to his whole world. That’s our goal. Welcome, I’m Steve Schwetz, your host on this five-year journey that we call Through the Bible. Now, from the United States to Uruguay to Uzbekistan and beyond, no matter where you listen, we’re glad that you’ve jumped aboard the Bible bus as Dr. J. Vernon McGee takes us deeper into the Old Testament book of Habakkuk. You know, one of the most exciting things about being on this journey together is the chance to witness how God’s word impacts everyone who rides the Bible bus with us every single day. So as you find your seat, Greg and I want to share some letters from our fellow listeners from around the world.

SPEAKER 02 : 0:52

Yeah, very few things are more exciting than just seeing God at work. And when we say listeners, Steve, it’s interesting. Probably most people, their minds go to radio or maybe a podcast. But these are what we call home group listeners.

SPEAKER 03 : 1:07

Yeah, that’s probably the ministry, the aspect of our ministry that I think I am most excited about because of the impact it’s having in so many difficult places around the world.

SPEAKER 02 : 1:16

Well, and it’s so biblical. It’s people gathering in homes to worship, pray, and learn the word. Yep. That’s about as basic and good as you want to get.

SPEAKER 03 : 1:27

Yep. It really is a perfect model for what the church should look like. So let’s continue and look at this first letter from Bhukia.

SPEAKER 02 : 1:38

Am I saying that right? That sounds great.

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Bhukia in India joins us in the language of Banjara. I have a wife and two children, and I belong to the Banjara tribe. Since the time of our forefathers, we have worshipped many gods and goddesses. One day, I fell very ill with a severe fever that didn’t go away for a long time. I consulted many doctors, but nothing seemed to help. I cried out in desperation. Eventually, my father suggested asking some Christians to pray for me. At this time, I was also introduced to the radio home group program. As I listened to the word of God in the Banjar language, my fever diminished and I became convicted of my sins. I accepted Jesus Christ as my personal savior. I then removed all the idols from my home. I was baptized and my entire family was saved. Now, I host a home group in my area. I’m grateful to experience peace, joy, and healing through the messages on Through the Bible.

SPEAKER 02 : 2:34

I mean, that’s just that’s what you call a full circle story. Yeah. And just I will say a word to some of our listeners who might say, well, are you teaching healing? No. We teach what Dr. McGee teaches, which is God can heal anyone. But often in these darker spiritual places, we do see God reveal himself through healing. And that is not something maybe we see as often in the West.

SPEAKER 03 : 2:57

Yeah, I’m glad you brought attention to that because I think that’s very true. And then the other thing that we see a lot in letters is the way the Lord uses or seems to use dreams of people as well. And it totally transforms people’s lives. I shouldn’t say that event happens, but the listener often writes about how that is the pivot point where they begin their path towards Christ.

SPEAKER 02 : 3:18

Yes, and that’s what we pay attention to. Are they moving toward Christ? Are they moving into the Word? And if that’s how God wants to start their journey, we aren’t going to tell him how to do ministry. Now let’s go to Bangladesh, where we hear this listener who says, My name is Josnah, and I study with our home group. We are now in the Book of Acts. With your help, I’ve learned a lot from God’s Word. Being a child of God, I have faced many obstacles and hurdles in my Christian life, which used to frustrate me. Now I understand the true children of God should not be afraid of suffering. Just as the apostles worshipped and praised in all obstacles, so I worship and praise God for the obstacles that come in my life. This is the biggest lesson of my Christian life. In it, I am finding new peace and joy.

SPEAKER 03 : 4:06

Such an encouragement, again, from a difficult place to be, a Christian Bangladesh. Greg, let me pray for us as we begin. Heavenly Father, we are thankful for the way you are moving in the countries of Bangladesh and India, and specifically in people’s lives, drawing them to yourself, in part through the ministry of Through the Bible. Please continue to do that. Bless our study as we go into the book of Habakkuk today. In Jesus’ name, amen. Now here’s Dr. J. Vernon McGee with our study of Habakkuk on Through the Bible.

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Now, friends, we have come here to the first chapter of Habakkuk to verse 12. And here is the second question of Habakkuk. You see the first question God has answered. The problem with this man Habakkuk is, he just looks as I look around me, that God’s not doing anything about evil at all. He seems to be very complacent. He seems to have withdrawn from the sin and nothing is happening. Then God says to him, I want to give you a global view, give you a worldview. And he says, when you get that, you will see that I’m moving in the nations of the world. Right now, I’m raising up a great world power. And they’re going to take you into captivity. Great pagan nation that they are. I’m going to let them, as I use the Assyrians to chastise my people, they were a rod in my hand. And when I got through with them, I removed them from this earth as a nation. And I’m going to deal with Babylon in time, but I’m going to use Babylon to chastise my people as they continue on in sin. And believe me, this man Habakkuk now has a real problem. Why would God, who’s a holy God, why would he use a pagan, heathen people to chastise his people? It’s true they were sinners, but they are not as bad as the others. Now, will you notice the question, verse 12, again, art thou not from everlasting? God has come out of eternity. He is the eternal God. And he says, O Lord, my God, mine holy one. You’re holy, God. How can you use a nation like Babylon? Well, I never dreamed that that’s what was happening. Word has been brought to us here that there is this great nation that’s rising down there. But I never dreamed that you were going to use them. They’ve been friendly to us. They sent ambassadors up to Hezekiah, and he showed them around through his palace. And he fortunately took them down to the treasury and let them see the gold that they had in that day. And of course, the Babylonian ambassadors made note of that because they would be coming that way one of these days and they would need the gold. In fact, they took the gold. But the thing is, this man Habakkuk didn’t realize that. He didn’t realize God was doing that. Now he can’t understand why God would use that method. God’s a holy God. Now, he says, we shall not die. And he’s right. May I say to you that he says we shall not die because this man can go back to God’s promises to Abraham and Isaac and to Jacob, his promises that he made through Moses, the promises that he made through Joshua, the promises that he made through David. And the promises that the prophets that have come before have made. God said that he’s not going to let them die. We shall not die. And that is a good statement, by the way, to drop down on a great many of our amillennial friends who believe God’s through with the nation Israel. God’s not through with them. God has an eternal purpose with them, just as he has with the church today that he’s calling out of this world. We shall not die. And thank God the child of God can say, we shall not die. Now, the Lord Jesus Christ came to this earth to die. He said he did. And to die in your room in my stead. And he said, I’m the resurrection and the life. He came back from the dead. He was delivered for our offenses, raised for our justification. But friends, he could say unto those two weeping sisters, I just happen to be the resurrection and the life. He that believeth on me, though he were dead. Just think of that. He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. The Bible says we shall not die. He was right. They won’t. And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this? And that today is the message of the gospel. It’s something for you to believe. You are going to die someday physically, but are you dead now spiritually? And if you are, there’s no resurrection of that. In other words, you’ll be dead in trespasses and sins the rest of eternity. And that means separated from God because God is a holy God and he’s not going to take sin to heaven. But he has promised. He has said that if you’ll trust my son, I’ll give you eternal life. And if you will believe that you’re a sinner, that you don’t deserve salvation, and that you can’t work for it, then God says, I have it to offer to you as a gift. And by grace, you’re saved. You’ll receive eternal life. He that hath the Son hath life. Do you have the son today? Then you have life. We shall not die. Habakkuk is on the right track here, but he just can’t understand as many of us can understand some of the performance of God in this world today. But God says you have to stand off and get a perspective of it. And you and I have a tremendous advantage. We have the advantage of the perspective of history. And we can look back from where we are to Habakkuk’s day. And he, of course, couldn’t see that period that we can see. But we can go back of Habakkuk and look all the way back to the beginning. We have a very good perspective of God’s dealings with this world and God’s dealings with the nations. God’s dealing with the nation Israel, and God’s dealing with this church that is in the world. So that what we have here is a tremendous statement. We shall not die. God today is moving in a mysterious way, has wonders to perform. He said, my ways are not your ways. My thoughts are not your thoughts. As the heaven is high above the earth, so are my thoughts and my ways above yours. So my friend, don’t be disturbed if you’re not thinking like God. You’re not God. A great many men today seem to have taken that place. There are so many today that are trying to work out their salvation. They think they can do something. They think their character and their good works. merit them something and that someday God is going to pat them on the head and say you were certainly a nice sweet little boy down there when actually you were a rotten corrupt sinner alienated from the life of God and had no capacity for God whatsoever. May I say to you that these folks think that they’re going to come into God’s presence, and as we’ve said before, well, I get the impression they’re going to say to God, move over. There are two of us now. I’m coming my way, not your way. If you come to the Father, you’re going to come his way, or you’re not going to get there. I think we need to understand that, friends, and we need to be deflated like a balloon with a pin pushed into it. Because we are full of hot air today. We’re full of pride. And we need to, as a nation, get down on our knees before God instead of trying to blame everybody else. We should get down and say, I’m the man. It’s not my brother nor my sister, but it’s me, O Lord. That is the difficulty today. It’s the problem in the church. It’s always the other member. Generally, the preacher’s wrong. We are always right. But my friend, we are the ones, and we need to recognize that. These people weren’t willing to recognize that. But if we’ve trusted Christ, we shall not die. O Lord, thou hast ordained them for judgment. In other words, here goes Habakkuk pointing his finger. Now, all of a sudden, he becomes the nice little boy, and his crowd, they’re the good guys. But God doesn’t quite see it that way. I was amused. I went for years out to Flagstaff, Arizona to the conference grounds there, Southwest Bible and Missionary Conference ground. And I always enjoyed it. And I only wish I could fit that into my program because I never enjoyed anything more than talking with the Indians. They have an approach that we don’t have today. And I never shall forget what one of the Indian pastors told me. He’s a young fellow and a very sharp fellow, by the way. He says, you know, in the old days, when the Indians would raid a village and kill some of the whites, it was called a massacre. But when the whites raided an Indian village and destroyed all the Indians, that was called a victory. You know, it’s interesting how we class ourselves with the good guys. Now, Habakkuk is putting himself over there, and he says, thou hast ordained them for judgment. It’s not us, after all, Lord, that are the mean fellows. It just happens to be those fellows over there. And, oh, mighty God, thou hast established them for correction. They’re the ones you’re to deal with. Has he forgotten that he went to the Lord and said to the Lord, why don’t you do something about evil among your own people? They are flouting the law. They pay no attention to you at all. They’ve ignored you and you’re doing nothing. God says, you just think I’m not doing anything. I’m doing plenty. I’m moving. And I want to say to you that God’s doing the same thing today. Now, listen, here’s the argument. of Habakkuk. And it’s a good argument, by the way. Listen to him. Verse 13, thou art of pure eyes than to behold evil. And that’s true. And canst not look on iniquity. God won’t. That’s the reason, friend, you’re not going to heaven with your sin on you. You’re going to have to have forgiveness of sins. You’re going to have to have the cleansing power of the blood of the Lamb. You’re going to have to have a new nature. You must be born again. Even Nicodemus, that religious man, he’s not going on the basis of his religion. He’s going on the basis that Christ died for him, that the Son of Man was lifted up. And God can’t look on iniquity. He won’t look on it. He won’t accept you until your sins have been dealt with. And you see, when God forgives you, it’s because the penalty has been paid. God’s not a sentimental old gentleman sitting on the corner of a white cloud, weeping his heart out because he doesn’t have the intestinal fortitude to judge little man down here on this earth. My God is a holy God. He won’t look upon iniquity. It’ll have to be dealt with before you come to him. And then he says, why lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously? Why says you can’t trust these Babylonians? Bunch of crooks. They’re sinners. He was right. They were. But God’s going to use them. That’s the thing that frightens me. Don’t you believe God won’t use Russia to chastise this country? We’ve already been humiliated. We were humiliated in Vietnam. We have been humiliated in the Middle East. In fact, God humiliated the white man, the white man and all the great nations of Europe, the great proud nations that down through several centuries have ruled the world. All the Arabs did was just turn off the spigot. And they said, we’re out of oil. We won’t have any more oil for you. And all of a sudden, we all go into a nosedive. Why? Because God deals in a very interesting way. I’ve watched what’s been happening in the world with a great deal of interest. I’ve come to the conclusion that God’s still moving among the nations of the world. And that you and I are, I tell you, we’re frightened today. But God’s not. He’s still in charge. The thing’s not out of his control. He’s still running. And will you notice? Why lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, and holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth a man that’s more righteous than he? Now, I think that here is where this man Habakkuk stubbed his toe. I should say that he really stubbed his tongue here. He said the wrong thing. It’s not the man that’s more righteous than he because they’re non-righteous. It’s the man that’s a greater sinner than he is. But God didn’t say that he would judge on that kind of basis. God’s going to use the Babylonian. And now listen to this. This is one of the most eloquent sections of the Word of God. And it actually is a great section of the Word of God. And God’s going to be very specific when he answers this man in the next chapter, in chapter 2. And notice what he says, verse 14 now, “…and make us man as the fish of the sea.” as the creeping things that have no ruler over them. God is able to deal with men in such a way that he can make men like animals. Now, he didn’t bring man from animals. But the whole point is that he’s able to bring man down. And man today, because of his sin, actually drops lower the animal world. And God created him above the animal world. Because when God was looking for a helpmeet, and when I say helpmeet, one that would be fitted for Adam, he needed somebody. And so God brought all animals by him and he named them, but not one of them. could be fit for him, no companion for him. Oh, somebody says, what about the dog? No, this man needed something more than a dog or a parrot or any other kind of an animal or a bird. And so God created woman for him. And woman is just the other part of him. She’s one fitted for him. She’s one that responds to him and corresponds to him. And she’s one that can make him a complete man because he was just a half a man before. And he’s up above the animal world. But this man sins. And because of his sin, he can drop down below the animal world in the way he lives. We’ve seen that before in this. And God says here, he make us men as the fish of the sea, as the creeping things that have no ruler over them. Make men act like animals. In fact, that would be a compliment to say that because it’d be an insult to the animals because man can go lower than the animal world right today. Verse 15, they take up all them with the hook. They catch them in the net and gather them in the drag. Therefore, they rejoice and are glad. Man today can catch fish, but God can catch man. Remember, that’s what the Lord Jesus said to these fishermen. You’ve been catching fish. That’s wonderful. But I’m going to give you a job of catching man. And I think that’s the greatest business in the world, just a fisherman. That’s all I could claim to be, a fisherman or a shepherd. These are very humble occupations, not a reverend. I’m no reverend by any means. That means terrible anyway. And the thing is that we’re to fish for men today. What a tremendous statement we have here. Verse 15, they take up all of them with the hook. They catch them in the net. They gather them in their drag, therefore they rejoice and are glad. Therefore they sacrifice under their net, burn incense under their drag, because by them their portion is fat and their food plenteous. Actually, men think because they go down and bless the fishing fleet here in Southern California, that that’s the reason they have a good catch. Has nothing in the world to do with it, friends. And today, the reason that you can get plenty to eat is because God is good. That’s the reason. And that’s the only reason. God is good. He’s the one that provides. And therefore, will you notice? Verse 17, shall they therefore empty their net and not spare continually to slay the nations? In other words, are you going to permit them to go on into the future, destroying people after people? And God says, oh no, I’m going to send you into captivity down there. I’m going to chastise you. I’m going to judge you. You wanted to know whether I was doing something. I’m doing something. Now he says, I intend to judge Babylon, and God judged Babylon. It lies under the dust and rubble of the ages today. It’s a silent but eloquent testimony that God does something about evil. He judges it, even in our day. And we’re going now to be able to translate this interrogation of Habakkuk Into our day. Why does God permit evil? Well, I want to say the answer to that question is a cross of Christ. That’s God’s answer to it. Why does God permit evil? Well, my friend, he permits it and lets us go on because he’s long-suffering. He’s not willing that any should perish. And he’s provided a cross that there’s no reason for anyone perishing. That’s the first coming of Christ. Now, why does not God judge the wicked? Well, the answer to that’s the second coming of Christ. He’s coming. He’s going to judge. Oh, you and I need a perspective. Now, let’s make it personal as I close today. Why does God permit this to happen to me? May I say, I do not know. I stayed in a motel over in Siloam Springs. several years ago. And where I stayed, you could throw a rock into Oklahoma. And my dad’s buried over there in Oklahoma. I was a boy, 14 years old. I stood by his grave and wept after everybody had gone. I came back on my bicycle and I stood there after he had been killed in a cotton gin. And at that time when I wept, I said, why, oh God, did you take him? I can answer that today. Time has gone by. May I say to you, I know why he permitted it now. It was his method and way of dealing with a boy that would never have entered the ministry. And I say to you, I thank God for his dealings. But many times the question, it’s a big question mark. So we have to leave off right there today. Until next time, may God richly bless you, my beloved.

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Do you have big questions? God may not give you the answer right now, but we can trust him and that he does have an answer for us. As Dr. McGee said, you can put your hand in his and walk with him until the time when the answer does come. It isn’t easy, but it’s reassuring, isn’t it? For a more in-depth study of the subject, join me for Dr. McGee’s Sunday sermon, Man’s Question, God’s Answer. Listen on our app or check out other listening options at ttb.org or just call us at 1-865-BIBLE if we can help you find it. Now, there’s more on this exciting study to come, so hop aboard the Bible bus as it comes round your corner next time. I’m Steve Schwetz, and I’ll save you a seat.

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All to him I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain. He washed it white as snow.

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Through the Bible exists to take God’s whole word to the whole world. And we invite you to stand with us with your faithful prayer and financial support. Where will God’s word go today?