Understanding God’s Mercy in Judgment – Habakkuk 3:1-6

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

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Is life difficult? Do you have questions God hasn’t answered yet? Well, if so, our study on Through the Bible has some timely encouragement for you. I’m Steve Schwetz, inviting you aboard what our teacher Dr. J. Vernon McGee called the Bible Bus. It’s a five-year journey through the entire Word of God from Genesis to Revelation. And we continue our travels through the Old Testament book of Habakkuk. For two chapters, we followed this faithful yet burdened prophet as he pours out his questions before God and receives no clear answer. But in chapter 3, everything changes. Habakkuk stops wrestling and begins worshiping. He closes his book with a song of praise to the Lord. What happened? How did he get there? Well, that’s what we’re going to find out next. Before we begin, though, here’s a bit more of Dr. McGee’s continuing introduction about the covenant God made with Abraham.

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We began last time, you will recall, talking about the covenants that God made. He had certain covenants with the human race at the very beginning. And then we come to the covenants that began with the Abrahamic covenant. that God made with Abraham an unconditional covenant that would be an eternal covenant. And it’s one of the most important parts of the Word of God, that covenant. The whole purpose of God is wrapped up in that. You see, God had apparently no way of saving the human race. He’d had to bring a judgment upon Adam and Eve. That was a judgment of the entire race, and a judgment of the entire race at the flood, and also at the Tower of Babel. It would ultimately be concluded by God destroying the entire human family. And he wanted to salvage as many as he could. He took a man aside, and that man’s Abraham. And the covenant God made with him is an eternal covenant. Now, the great difficulty that a great many have, and especially our amillennial brethren, is that they go back always to the Mosaic covenant that God made, and that was a temporary covenant. And it was, and we’re going to be looking at that. Paul said in Galatians, the third chapter, Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, Tell the seed should come to whom the promise was made. It was temporary. It was given, tell the seed should come. And so that was a temporary one. And the amillennialists as delighted in calling attention to that, which all of us accept and believe, of course, that it was temporary. But the covenant God made with Abraham just happens to be an eternal covenant, and God has no notion of going back on his word. He would if you were an amillennialist, but God’s not going to go back on his word. He has made certain promises to the nation Israel, and he intends to keep those promises. Two-thirds of the original covenant God made has been fulfilled, and God’s going to return them to the land.

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We’ll hear more in our next study. As you grab your copy of God’s word and find your seat, I want to share a couple of quick letters from our fellow passengers. First, we hear from a listener in the U.S. who wrote this. I’ve been listening to Dr. McGee sporadically for many years and have always enjoyed and benefited from his God given insight. At the end of January, my sweet husband of 36 years passed away. God has been good to me and provided me with much help and comfort in my grief. One source of that help and comfort has been listening to this study more regularly. Another way God has provided for me is in the form of a life insurance policy. I want to use a portion of it to support what God is doing around the world. Please accept this donation to continue this good work. Also, if I could have a few of the Bible bus passes, I’d sure appreciate it. They seem like a good way to reach others. What a great tribute to your husband. May God be with you as you continue to honor and remember him. We’re so glad that you’re with us each day. And be sure to check your mailbox for those Bible bus passes because they’re on the way. And another listener tells us this. I’ve listened to your programs for many years. One of the many things I’ve learned from Dr. McGee is to seek the Lord instead of constantly reviewing the wrongs I’ve committed after asking for forgiveness. The consequences remain, but the burden of a contrite heart has been lifted. I believe that means Jesus can and has forgiven me. This has helped me turn from those sins. Praise God. Well, what are you learning as we travel together through his word? You know, we’d love to hear about it. Why don’t you send us a note? You can do it through our app. You can email us over at BibleBus at TTB.org or write to Box 7100. pasadena california 91109 in canada box 25325 london ontario n6c 6b1 you can also call and leave a message at 1-800-65-BIBLE let’s pray heavenly father as we study we bring with us real questions and real struggles and real hurt and like habakkuk lord we sometimes wonder where you are and why you allow things that we don’t understand So we ask for hearts that listen, for eyes that see your faithfulness, and for faith that trusts even in the waiting. Thank you that though our circumstances may shift, you never do. In Jesus’ name, amen. Here’s Dr. J. Vernon McGee with our study of Habakkuk 3 on Through the Bible.

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Now, friends, as we come here to the third chapter of Habakkuk, we’ve come to a tremendous change that has taken place in the life of this man Habakkuk. We are going to see when we get to the end of this chapter that this man has made a right about face. For this little book, it opens in gloom. He has a question mark for a brain. He’s questioning God. And then it closes in glory with a great exclamation point. It is a high note of praise. And you will not find any more confident faith than is expressed in the last part of this chapter and, of course, the last part of the book. Now, let me say, first of all, that this is called And I read now verse 1, a prayer of Habakkuk, the prophet upon Shigionoth. This word Shigionoth, it has to do with music. Some think it would be some sort of a musical point that would indicate to a musician the way it’s to be played. Some think it’s a musical instrument. We had this when we were in the book of Psalms, you will recall. And it has to do with music. So the prayer is one that is musical, actually. It’s Hebrew poetry. And it is a song, a song of high praise. And it opens like this. And it says, O Lord… I have heard thy speech and was afraid. O Lord, revive thy work in the midst of the years. In the midst of the years, make known in wrath, remember mercy. What a change has taken place in the life of this man, Habakkuk, his glorious experience on the watchtower. and patient waiting for an answer from God has brought him into a place of real faith. Not only that, It’s opened his eyes to something he was not conscious of before. And so this is a song. I would call it a folk song. It’s a happy song. It is to be played with a stringed instrument. And we gather that, by the way, if you turn to the very end of this chapter, the end of the book also, read the last sentence. It says, to the chief singer on my stringed instrument. Now, I have a notion that this is a little note that Habakkuk put in here, how it’s to be sung. And he tells the soloist that he’s to get with it, that this is something that is to be sung with a stringed instrument. And today, aren’t most of the folk songs sung with stringed instruments? You and I may not like some of these stringed instruments and what’s coming off of them today, but nevertheless, they are used for folk singing. And apparently, that’s what we have here. But it’s on a much higher plane than that which I hear today. And when I say I hear it, I don’t listen to it. I just hear it. It’s amazing that we’re living in a day when we hear so much about freedom of speech. What about freedom of hearing? I’d like to have my ears protected today. Just because some vile person insists on having freedom of speech My ears are offended because I have to listen to singing that I don’t care for. And I have to hear at least a segment of a dirty song. At least it’s my judgment it’s a dirty song. But he’s got to have his liberty. We today don’t consider that we ought to have a little freedom of our ears and not have to listen to a lot of the junk that is being passed around today. And it’s the same thing that you find over in the criminal court. The criminal must have his rights. He must be protected. And over in Dallas, Texas, where I was, they had so many holdups that they put police in some of these small groceries with sawed-off shotgun to shoot these men that were killing the storekeepers. But that was too brutal and cruel because the criminal must be protected. I mean, if he’s going to hold up the place, you’ve got to protect him. You just can’t shoot him down, give him a chance. But anyway, they withdrew the police. But when I was over there, there was a cry that… something be done about it. In fact, these grocerymen, small store owners were organizing vigilante groups in order that they might have some protection because, you see, they were protecting the criminal. But every night there’d be a groceryman somewhere in the Dallas area shot down. One straight week that we were there each night. You see, when you begin to protect The wrong group. Actually, it brings anarchy in our government today and anarchy in the nation. We’ve got the thing, I think, backwards. But this is a wonderful song. And I don’t think this would be offensive to anybody’s ears. A beautiful, lovely song. And it’s a prayer. Now, he said, I’ve heard thy speech. In other words, God has answered him. God said to him, Now, look here, Habakkuk, I want you to stay in your watchtower and I want you to walk by faith. I want you to trust me. Now, you think that I’m not doing anything about the sins of my people. Well, I am. I’m preparing a nation by the name of the Chaldeans, the Babylonians, and they are going to be used as I used the Assyrians before them with the northern kingdom. They are the rod of my anger. But when I’m through with them, I’m going to judge them, and I’ll judge them on a righteous basis. And then he spelled out those five woes that we have seen the past two times. And these are great national sins that brought that nation down. And God was moving to bring the nation down. Now, the very interesting thing is that here, this man of Bacchus now reverses himself. He says, I’ve heard your speech and I’m afraid. What’s he afraid of? Well, he thought God wasn’t doing anything. Now he’s afraid the Lord’s doing too much. Will you notice what he says here? I’ve heard thy speech and was afraid. O Lord, revive thy work in the midst of the years. In the midst of the years, make known in wrath, remember mercy. He says, Lord, I didn’t think you were working. I didn’t think that you were doing anything. But I see now that you’re moving in judgment. And since you’re moving in judgment, I want you to remember mercy. Remember to be merciful even to the Chaldeans and be merciful to your people. Before he was calling down fire from heaven upon not only his own nation that had departed from God, but also upon the Chaldeans. And now he’s saying, Lord, don’t forget, be merciful. Well, God is merciful and God is gracious. He’s not willing that any should perish. And it does look like today he’s not doing anything. But if today you and I could ascend to the watchtower of Habakkuk, and you and I could learn that the just shall live by faith, you and I could have a living faith in God today. and see what’s moving back of the scene, see the wheels that are turning today, you and I would, I think, be as surprised as this man. And I’m not sure but what we’d cry out to God for mercy. I’m afraid a great many Christians today have thrown up their hands. about the condition of our own country, and they’ve just given up. We all feel that way, don’t we? But may I say to you, God, I think, is moving, moving today in judgment. But somebody needs to just cry out to Him and say, O Lord, in wrath, as you’re moving in judgment, don’t forget to be merciful to us. We need your mercy. This great nation of ours needs the mercy of God today in our arrogance. And since World War II, we’ve been on an eager trip. We have really had a flight of pride being the greatest nation in the world. And now even our little gas buggies were slowed down. And we feel like that today we’re almost helpless. And what would we do in the time of a major crisis? Suppose we would be attacked from the outside. How much gasoline would there be? How much of other chemicals that are so needed? How long could we really last? Don’t forget, God is moving today. And I think in judgment. But we need to ask him to be merciful to us. And you remember Shakespeare has Portia, I think it is, in The Merchant of Venice, say the quality of mercy is not strained. It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven upon the place beneath. And we need that. We talk about showers of blessings. What we need today is showers of mercy from Almighty God. And what a reversal in the thinking of this man. At first he says, you’re not doing anything, O Lord. Why don’t you do something? Why are you letting them get by with it? Now God’s let him see that he is doing something, and he cries out for the mercy of God. And today, if we really knew how much God is moving in judgment, I’m of the opinion that it would bring America to her knees before Almighty God. Now, let’s move down into this very wonderful prayer that we have here. And the prayer actually is a recital of what God has done in the past history of these people. And in view of the fact that he has done it in the past, he intends to do it in the future again. That is the thought that is shared. You can depend upon God because of what he has done, that he will continue to do it. Paul gave that to us as believers. In fact, it’s my life verse. And it goes something like this, being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. Now, my friend, has God begun a good work in you? Are you confident? Well, I think you can be. He’s brought you up to this present moment, has he not? and he has begun a good work in you, well, you can be sure he will perform it till the day of Jesus Christ, until he takes you out of this world, and then you’ll be in his likeness. That’s a confidence. And that is the great confidence of this psalm here. Now, I personally think it’s divided into three very definite sections here. And in my notes, I have divided it actually into three sections. The first two verses, you have the prayer of the prophet. And then you have the program of God beginning with verse 3 down through 16. Then you have the position of the prophet, verses 17 through 19. And I think this gives a division of it. Now, in this program of God, I believe three men are in the background here. However, none of them are mentioned by name because it is not the psalm of what Any man has done, but it’s a sum of what God has done through man. And the men are not mentioned by name. Now, a great many see only two here. I believe that you have in verses 3 through 6, Abraham. And then in verses 7 through 10, you have Moses. And then beginning with verse 11, Joshua is mentioned down through verse 15. I believe that’s the way that you would divide this particular section here. But many feel that actually Moses is mentioned here in this first section. Now, let me read beginning with verse 3. God came from Teman. and the Holy One from Mount Paran. Now, these two places are cities in Edom. And they have to do a great many things with the children of Israel as they came up out of the land of Egypt. But actually, Abraham went down there first. You’ll recall that Abraham went down to Egypt. And then you have this very interesting word here, Selah. And that is a word that we found in the Psalms. That again would indicate that this is a psalm. There is a different viewpoint as to what Selah means. Some of them think that it’s a pause in the music, a breathing place. Some think that means that this is where the drums come in and the music reaches a high crescendo. Well, I’m not very musical. Well, in fact, I’m not musical at all. And to me, I think of it as stop, look, and listen. That was on all railroad crossings when I was a boy. It was a cross put up there and it says, stop, look, and listen. And that is what I think Selah means here. God came from Teman and the Holy One from Mount Paran. Now sit up and take notice, God said. Be sure and hear this. And the singer is to really come down here. And the drummer, I want him to just pound the drums when we get here. Selah. And now this is to call the attention to. Now whether it’s Abraham or whether it’s Moses, actually, I think it’s unimportant because God was present with both of these men. And we have a marvelous, wonderful picture here of the glory of God. It says, His glory covered the heavens and the earth was full of His praise. Well, that hasn’t taken place quite yet. But certainly as far as Abraham was concerned and the children of Israel when they came out of Egypt, at first there was praise in their hearts. Of course, they became complainers and whiners the rest of the journey. But the glory of the Lord covered the heavens. And today we need to be impressed as believers of the glory of our God, how majestic, how wonderful, how powerful How gracious he is. How wonderful is our God. Now, let me read on. And his brightness was like the light. He had horns coming out of his hand. And these are spokes of light. As you know, when the sun comes up, rays of light shoot up. That’s the picture of the approach of him. I think when the Lord Jesus comes back to take his church, That the glory will be present. That wasn’t when he was born in Bethlehem. And when he comes to the earth to establish his kingdom, his brightness was like the light. He had horns coming out of his hand. These arrays of light. And that was the hiding of his power. In other words, the glory of God so covered him that you couldn’t see him. The very glory of God shuts out. The glory of God, if you please. Oh, the majesty of his person. And that is something today that believers need to recognize and respect. Now, it says, “…before him went the pestilence.” and burning coals went forth at his feet. Now, that could apply to the time of Moses in Egypt, the plagues, but it also could apply to Abraham, you see, who went down to Egypt because there was a famine. There was the pestilence in the land. Now, will you notice, verse 6, he stood and measured the earth. And you remember, he said to Abraham, I’m going to give you this land. And God measured it out to him. And God has made the statement that he has lined up the nations of the world according to the way he gave this land to Abraham. And that’s an amazing thing, by the way. It says, “…he stood and measured the earth, he beheld and drove asunder the nations, and the everlasting mountains were scattered, the perpetual hills did bow. His ways are everlasting.” Oh, the ways of our God are past finding out. I’ll have to stop right there, but this is a marvelous psalm we are in, and we hope to finish it next time. So until then, may God richly bless you, my beloved.

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These major messages by the Minor Prophets are amazing pictures of what it means to walk by faith, aren’t they? Well, Dr. McGee mentioned the notes and outlines, and you’ll find them in our app or at ttb.org by clicking on Briefing the Bible. You can also call 1-800-65-BIBLE to have a paperback copy sent by mail. Again, that’s ttb.org or 1-800-65-BIBLE. I’m Steve Schwetz, praying that God blesses and keeps you as you walk with Him.

SPEAKER 02 : 25:26

Jesus paid it all, 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?