As we navigate the complexities of Habakkuk’s powerful words, this episode challenges the norms of modern society. We delve into themes of idolatry, drunkenness, and the spiritual decline noticeable in our current world. Through historical insights, learn about the three steps leading to a nation’s fall and the importance of rooting ourselves in spiritual truth. Reflect on the ultimate call for silence and reverence before God in a world full of chaos and distraction.
How firm a foundation, ye saints, of the Lord is laid for your faith.
SPEAKER 03 :
Welcome to Through the Bible. It’s so that we can see more clearly God’s entire story woven together. It doesn’t matter where you get on the Bible bus. Just stay on, and in five short years, you’ll have traveled through the whole Bible. Dr. McGee also wrote notes and outlines to guide us through each book. To get your free copy, grab them in our app or at ttb.org by clicking on Briefing the Bible. Right now, the Bible bus is in the Old Testament book of Habakkuk. This Old Testament prophet wasn’t shy about asking the hard questions. And in a few minutes, we’ll get some answers. As you turn in your Bible to Habakkuk 2, let’s listen to Dr. McGee’s continuing introduction on the unconditional covenant God made with Abraham.
SPEAKER 01 :
Now, Abraham, if he’s like some folk today, he would have jumped up and down and said, praise the Lord. Well, that would have been very nice, I suppose, but Abraham didn’t do it that way. Abraham talked right back to the Lord. He said, Lord God, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus? And according to the code of Hammurabi of that day, Well, poor Abraham, all of his possessions that go to this boy. And Abraham says, you’d promised me a son. What about it? I don’t have a son. And God says to him, he says he brought him forth abroad and it was nighttime. And he said, look now toward heaven and tell the stars if I’ll be able to number them. He said unto him, so shall thy seed be. And the marvelous thing is that Abraham believed the Lord. And he counted it to him for righteousness. One of the great verses of the Bible, by the way. And Abraham, a still very practical sort of fellow, says, how can I know that? And God said to him, well, you get the sacrifices ready and I’ll come down and make a contract. And God came down, by the way, but Abraham was put aside, and God went through there and made the contract. Well, why didn’t Abraham join in the contract? Isn’t he going to promise something? He’s not promising a thing. He’s just to believe something. That’s all. Unconditional promise that God made. God says, this is what I’m going to do for you. And I take an oath that I’ll do it for you. Now, he explained to him, he said, your children are not going to stay in this land. I’m going to put them down in Egypt. And the reason is that the Amorite is still here in the land. And God took note of them. God said, I’m going to give them an opportunity to see if they’ll turn to me. And God gave them, well, he gave them 400 years. Friends, that’s long enough to give anybody. See where they’ll turn to him. This nation never turned from God. They were opposed to him and they opposed the children of Israel when they crossed the Jordan River and Jericho was sealed up. And God now steps in and God gives them the land. The time has come for them to have the land. God didn’t push the enemy out and put his people in. Those people in were not paying their rent. And God gave them 400 years. And no landlord will give you 400 years, friend. God gave them that. And he was a gracious God, by the way. And now he puts them in the land. Actually, they go out of that land three times. They have been out of that land three times. They’ve been back twice. They’re yet to return to the land. The present return of the little nation of Israel today is not really a fulfillment of prophecy as I see it.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, like the prophet Habakkuk, we’ll watch and see what God does. We’ve just a moment now to read a letter from a listener in Indonesia who writes this. As a new believer, I’m blessed through your program in the Sudanese language. I find it easy to understand and… Through it, God strengthens my faith every day. After listening to God’s word explained for a few months, I came to know and believe that God exists and that he will help me whenever I am in distress and have struggles in my life. Thank you for your teaching that has brought me closer to him. Well, to hear more inspiring stories like this one, you can join us as we pray for God’s whole word to reach his whole world. Just visit ttb.org forward slash pray. Now let’s do that. Heavenly Father, thank you for how your spirit strengthens us as we choose to walk by faith. Teach us more about what pleases you and then stir in us the desire to obey your word. In Jesus’ name, amen. Here’s our study of Habakkuk 2 on Through the Bible with Dr. J. Vernon McGee.
SPEAKER 01 :
Now, we’re in the second chapter of Habakkuk. We did not conclude it last time. And again, may I say that all of it originates in this tremendous verse 4, when this man Habakkuk, with his questions, he went to the watchtower, and there God spoke to him and gave him this tremendous verse. that God is working with humanity today on a great plan and purpose. that comes out of eternity and reaches into eternity. And that God had a plan by which he was going to save sinful man. And that was the Lamb of God slain before the foundation of the world, before God brought anything physical into existence. And man was not even in existence. God had already determined that he’s going to work out a plan for that man. And so today, humanity, It’s moving through this little world on which we live. Apparently, mankind’s been on this earth several thousand years. How many thousand? I don’t know. And I’ve read many books on this. I’m convinced the scientists don’t know either, but they write a great many books on it. And that’s all right. But my guess, or your guess, is probably as good as theirs. A man’s been around here not too long, and he’s moving in two directions. And that’s the thing Habakkuk saw. There was that man by pride, lifted up in his own strength, attempted to get all he could down here on this earth. He rejected God in rebellion against God. No capacity for him. And that way leads to destruction. There is another way, and that way is the just shall live by faith. Faith in a Savior that died upon the cross. Now, when men pursue that other way, these are the things that God will judge him for. Not so much for taking the wrong way, but that way led to certain woes that pertain to the nation of Babylon. And this is the reason that God would judge them. The first woe we saw last time, it was in verse 6, that this nation would seize by force that which was not his at all, did not belong to him. And they took it by force. God will judge them for that. And then there was the second woe, and that was covetousness. They coveted everything, and God will judge for that. The third woe was that What they got, they got by murder, by slaughter, by violence, by brutality. And God would judge them for that. And that’s in verse 12. Then we see that the fourth woe is drunkenness and immorality. I want to read that again today because that’s actually where we are beginning. And I want to read verse 13 first. Behold, is it not of the Lord of hosts that the peoples shall labor only for fire, and the nations shall weary themselves for nothing? Just think of the futile efforts that have been made by the great nations of the past. Instead of building up, they’ve spent more time in tearing down. You look at, for instance, Greece. and those marvelous, wonderful pieces of architecture and statues and art and literature. But actually, the Greeks spent more time in destruction. That man, Alexander the Great, as he crossed over into Asia, and he didn’t do anything in the world but destroy one city after another. Well, one great civilization after another. That was the thing that marked him out. That’s the thing that marked out Babylon, that is the specific nation that is mentioned here. Then we come here to verse 15, and it says, “…woe unto him that giveth his neighbor drink.” And this is actually a little different than the drunkenness that he mentioned back in verse 5. For there God says that he transgresseth by wine. But the tragic thing about it is that woe unto him that giveth his neighbor drink, that putteth thy wineskin to him, makest him drunk also, that thou mayest look on their nakedness. In other words, liquor leads to gross immorality. It leads to the breaking down of morals. It leads men to commit sins they probably otherwise would not. Dishonesty, many of those. Now, today this is an alarming thing in many of the large corporations. I’m told by a man here in Southern California who holds a very responsible position in a very large corporation. And another man that I know connected with one of the big banks out here with all their branches, he says that one of the things that they do, and the other man says they do the same thing in their corporation, they have employed certain men. They’re generally officials, and their business is to watch for a man who That’s beginning to drink too much. They have many ways of telling that. Actually, they even talk to the wife. They even have him followed at night if certain things begin to show in his work, late for work, or doesn’t even show up for work. And these companies, because some of these men are brilliant men, good men, they go to them and face them with this problem of drink that they have and offer to help them, assist them, give it up. And may I tell you, if you want to know how crazy this is, these same companies have cocktail parties to get men drunk, and then they have a process of drying them out. That’s sort of like running a hospital by bringing in whale people and giving them disease germs. and then operate on them or treat them for the disease that they get. That looks like man’s become sort of a guinea pig in this crazy world in which we’ve moved today with so many illogical things being done even by large corporations. Now, that’s the condemnation that is here, that you’re making drunkards. Not only are you drinking, but you’re making drunkards. out of these. And it’s quite interesting, again, may I refer to an authority of a man and his wife who are working in the drug culture. And they say that so many of these young people come out of homes where cocktails are served. If mom and papa are going to have cocktails, live their life, why can’t Junior have his drugs? By the way, I’d like to have a good answer for that because I’ve been asked that question, and I’ve been asked that question by Junior, and I don’t have an answer for him. Because I think mom and papa are responsible for his going into this drug culture. And I believe that back of drugs has been drunkenness. That is the thing that has brought it to pass in our nation as it is today. Now, these are things that are not being said today. I recognize that they’re not being said on radio. And I know this doesn’t make you very popular, but I don’t think Habakkuk was too popular, and certainly not down in Babylon when this word percolated down there and found out that God condemns drunkenness and God condemns making drunkards out of others. Now, will you listen? It leads to gross immorality. Verse 16, “…thou art filled with shame for glory.” Drink thou also, and let thy shame come upon thee. The cup of the Lord’s right hand shall be turned unto thee, and shameful spewing shall be on thy glory. It leads to gross immorality. Drunkenness leads to divorce. It leads to the breaking up of homes. It leads to a life of sin. Now, may I say this? I have come to the place in my own life that I have really lost respect for men in government today when it’s a well-known fact that these fellas talk so big about honesty, and they talk so big and brave about they’re going to help the poor. while it’s known that many of them are actually alcoholics and many of them are drinking like fish today. May I say to you, how can we have respect for government when this sort of thing is all out in the open and yet they ask us to respect them, look up to them, and give them our support. May I say to you, it makes you bow your head in shame of what’s happening in this great land of ours. And Habakkuk spelled it out here, my friend, years ago. And God says, this is the reason I brought Babylon down, because of these sins. Now, let me keep reading here. Verse 17, “…for the violence of Lebanon shall cover thee.” and the spoil of beasts which make them afraid because of men’s blood, and for the violence of the land of the city, and of all that dwell therein.” Violence is another one of the fruits that come from drunkenness. You see, all kinds of immorality spring from drunkenness. The drug culture came out of it. And this gross immorality today, divorce, all of these sins. that are abroad in our land have come out of this thing here. Now notice verse 18, “…what profiteth the carved image that its maker hath engraved it, the melted image and a teacher of lies, that the maker of his work trusteth in it to make dumb idols. Woe unto him that saith to the wood, Awake to the dumb stone, Arise, it shall teach.” behold, it is laid over with gold and silver, and there’s no breath at all within it. But the Lord is in his holy temple. Let all the earth keep silence before him.” Now, what you have here is is the fifth woe. And this is God’s condemnation of the greatest sin of all. Actually, drunkenness is not the greatest sin. The greatest sin is idolatry, false religion, turning to an idol instead of turning to God. And this is the thing that was the worst sin of all. You see, we called attention when we were in Isaiah Actually, I think I first called attention to it in the book of Judges, because there is put down there a great principle of government. And also in Isaiah, that principle is stated clearly. And all of these subsequent prophets, they just bear out what had already been said before and carry out this principle. There are three steps. in the downfall of a nation. First of all, there is religious apostasy. The second step is moral awfulness. And the third step is political anarchy. Those are the three steps by which nations pass off the stage of human history. That’s been the way that it is moved. You see, the primary problem was never political anarchy. The primary problem never was moral awfulness. Now, as bad as these are, the root trouble, the root problem goes back to that which is religious or spiritual apostasy, a turning away from the living and true God. That is the very interesting thing that happened to this nation of ours today. A man, I’m not the only one that’s saying this by any means, Dr. Seagrave Singer, he was professor of history over in Salisbury, North Carolina. He made this statement, the American dream is vanishing in the midst of terrifying realities and visible signs of decadence in our contemporary society. And again, Clinton Rosita, professor of American institutions at Cornell, he said, “…in our youth we had a profound sense of national purpose which we lost over the years of our rise to glory.” And James Reston, and I don’t think anybody ever called him a conservative, he says in public, speaking of Washington today, in public, they talk about how optimistic and wonderful the future is. But the private conversations of thoughtful men here in Washington are quite different. For the first time since the war, one begins to hear of doubts that moral man are capable of solving or even controlling the political, social, and economic problems life has placed before them. This is the picture, and this is the story of the downfall of nations, and that’s the thing that alarms me, because this great principle that this man Habakkuk has restated again in the Word of God, And it was fulfilled in this nation of Babylon. It begins in idolatry. It begins in turning away from the living and true God. Now, as we have said in this series, when we say today that idolatry has gone out of style and no one today is bowing down before an idol in this country. And of course, that’s not true. Many a man is worshiping the almighty dollar. Many a man today worships sex. Many a man worships pleasure. Many a woman has given her virtue in order to become a famous star, in order to be promoted. May I say to you, anything that you give yourself to, anything that takes all of your time, all of your energy, all of you, that which you worship, that, my friend, is your God. That’s your idol. And that is the thing that God condemns. God says he’s a jealous God. God says, I made you, I created you, and I’ve redeemed you, and I want you. And when a man turns his back on God, he’s done the worst thing that any man can possibly do. Now, he concludes this by saying, but the Lord is in his holy temple. Let all the earth keep silence before him. Now, personally, I think that looks to the future when he will come to the earth, the Lord Jesus, and when he is in his temple down here, the whole earth is going to be silent before him. All of this noise today, all of this clamor, all of this protest, all of this confusion is going to disappear. But there’s also true that today the reason that we are having all of our problems and difficulties down here is that he is yonder today in heaven and the Lord is in his temple. And if man would recognize him and bow before him and recognize God, probably it’d be a wonderful thing if we could just have a week of silence. Wouldn’t it be wonderful? If everyone in Washington would keep its mouth shut for a week, wouldn’t it be wonderful if all of us preachers talking on radio would keep our mouths shut for a week? That’d be a good thing. And wouldn’t it be a wonderful thing if all that are doing so much talking would keep quiet and wait before Almighty God today? May I say to you, the Lord is in His holy temple. Let all the earth keep quiet. silence before him. But the second psalm opens with a question mark. Why? It is a question like you have in this book here of Habakkuk, a question of why. And that question is, why do the nations rage? And the people imagine an empty thing. Why all the clamor? Why all the protest? Far from God. They’ve forgotten that God today is in his heaven. But Browning was wrong when he said, God’s in his heaven and all’s right with the world. God’s in his heaven, but all’s wrong with the world because man is not rightly related to God. Our problem today is actually not The human problem, it’s a divine problem. The problem of man’s relationship to God. That is the only alternative, the only way out. The just shall live by faith. We’ll come next time to the third chapter of Habakkuk. So until next time, may God richly bless you, my beloved.
SPEAKER 03 :
Again, that’s 1-800-65-BIBLE. We’ll complete our study in Habakkuk soon, but before we return to the New Testament, we’re going to travel through one more Old Testament book, the prophecy of Zephaniah. It’s often overlooked, but we think you’re going to love it. Next time the Bible bus comes around your corner, we’re going to head to the third chapter of Habakkuk. It’s such a great section of God’s Word, so don’t miss it. I’m Steve Schwetz, and I’ll be sure to save a seat just for you.
SPEAKER 02 :
All to him I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain. He washed it white as snow.
SPEAKER 03 :
Just go to ttb.org or download our app to listen again anytime. As always, we’d love to know what’s God teaching you.
