The Eyes of Faith

Well, I have the privilege of occupying the pulpit for the next few weeks. So we're going to be going on a little detour away from the book of John, and we're going to be looking into the book of Habakkuk. Now, a disclaimer as I start. The sermon title in the bulletin, the eyes of faith is not, I haven't gone southern on you, it should be the eyes of faith, okay?

So I know you might be worried about that. I certainly was when someone pointed it out to me. Before we look into God's word, let's pray. Lord God of heaven we are now going to enter ground that is going to be familiar to us in many ways and in that ground we will hear your voice speak to us I pray that you'd give us hearts that would listen and not just listen, but think about, meditate on, and consider what you say that we might change, that we might understand you better, and thus love you more and serve you better.

So give us the ears to hear. Give us hearts that are receptive to the words of your prophet. And we'll thank you in Jesus' name. Amen. We enter now the land of the minor prophets. And usually when we encounter this terrain, we need a map.

So turn to your table of contents if you don't know where the book of Habakkuk is. And out of this strange terrain appears the prophet Habakkuk. Now most people have little acquaintance with this prophet. He didn't say much. The book consists of only three chapters. but I believe that you will find that in those three chapters Habakkuk deals with some of the most intense issues of the believer's life.

But who is Habakkuk anyway? Who is this most minor of minor prophets? Well, we know virtually nothing. We don't know much, if anything, about Habakkuk. We can surmise some things, we can look at some things and try to piece together something. it is possible that Habakkuk served as a Levite or priest at the temple. In fact, the very last sentence of this book mentions a stringed instrument.

If you look at 1 Chronicles 25.1, you read something about those who served at the temple. It says, David and the chiefs of the service also set apart for the service the sons of Asaph and the sons of Haman and the sons of Juduthan, who prophesied with lyres, with harps, and with cymbals. And since he mentions a stringed instrument in this last verse of the book, and because he's a prophet, maybe he's one of these rare Levites or temple servants who not only sang at the temple but prophesied.

That's about all that we can put together about this man Habakkuk. We do know he lived during the reign of one of the last kings, Josiah, and for the succeeding kings after him. We know this oracle was delivered before 605 BC when Nebuchadnezzar appeared outside the walls of Jerusalem ready to conquer Judah. So it's before Nebuchadnezzar arrived on the scene.

So he probably ministered during the last kings of Judah. Josiah was a wonderful godly king because Josiah rebuilt and purified the temple, repented before God, destroyed all the idol shrines as well as their priests, and reinstituted the celebration of the Passover. It seemed like a tremendous revival occurred during the reign of King Josiah, and Habakkuk would have been a witness of that.

And then came Josiah's successor, Shalom, or Jehoiahaz. Now, in the power politics of that day, Jehoiahaz did not reign very long, because Pharaoh Necho of Egypt deposed him from the throne and instead put on the throne his brother, a wicked man by the name of Jehoiakim. Jehoiakim was unfaithful to God. And even though Pharaoh levied an incredible tribute against Judah, he went about building an incredible palace.

If you look over for a moment at Jeremiah 22, you get a sense of the corruption and the greed of this king. Jeremiah 22, look at verse 13. Woe to him, this is addressed to Jehoiakim, woe to him who builds his house by unrighteousness and his upper rooms by injustice, who makes his neighbor serve him for nothing and does not give him his wages. by the way you might be thinking of the company you work for as we read through these passages Who says I will build myself a great house with spacious upper rooms who cuts out windows for it, paneling it with cedar and painting it with vermilion.

Do you think you are a king because you compete in cedar? Did not your father eat and drink and do justice and righteousness? Then it was well with him, and he judged the cause of the poor and needy. then it was well is not this is is not this to know me declares the Lord but you have eyes and heart only for your dishonest gain for shedding innocent blood and for practicing oppression and violence so here was a king that that Habakkuk knew well again in the power politics of the day Jehoiakim was deposed now by a rival power king by the name of Nebuchadnezzar and then two more wicked kings followed Jehoiakim and Zedekiah until the Babylonians arrived and took many of them captive and within a decade or so wiped Judah off the map and so from the glorious days of worship under Josiah to the widespread corruption and impression injustice and violence under his successors, Habakkuk witnessed all of it.

But Habakkuk's prophecy is quite different from most prophecies that you read in the scriptures. Habakkuk says in verse 1, this is an oracle. This is an oracle. This is a word of prophecy from God. But this oracle is different from the other ones because this oracle is Habakkuk letting us listen into his conversations with God. So what Habakkuk does is he gives us this insight into these conversations that he and God had with one another.

That's the content of this book, conversations. Now in this conversation, God wants you to understand what it means to live by faith. That's the purpose of the book of Habakkuk. How do you live by faith? And he begins to teach us that by giving us a glimpse into the struggle of Habakkuk, the man of faith. So let's begin this morning with our text, the first four verses of Habakkuk.

The oracle that Habakkuk the prophet saw. O Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not hear? Or cry to you violence, and you will not save? Why do you make me see iniquity and why do you idly look at wrong? Destruction and violence are before me. Strife and contention arise.

So the law is paralyzed. Justice never goes forth. For the wicked surround the righteous. So justice goes forth perverted. as you listen to bacchus prayer you begin to see the world through the eyes of faith what does it mean to see the eyes of faith well it means first of all that you are not blind to the horrors and ravages of sin you're not blind to them some would say look trust god what are you so upset about just trust god with all this those are the ivory tower christians who don't live in the midst of injustice or who have not yet experienced sorrow upon sorrow to have eyes of faith does not mean that you don't see nor does it mean that you ignore nor does it mean that you brush off these ravages that we see around us, these horrors that are in our lives.

He says, God, look at the violence in this country. Look at the thousands of babies that are slaughtered every day. Look at the women and children battered and abused, frightened to protect themselves, and trapped in a life of brutality. God look at the children shooting other children in our schools and God you know that happens because our society is corrupt with all its savage video games and bloody movies and parents who encourage their children to sin God don't you see the legislatures and the courts making a mockery of what's the most obvious thing and imposing upon us these crazy policies that don't even recognize the difference between a man and a woman as if you can't tell the difference?

God, don't you see all this? God, look at the strife and the conflict in our nation. You've got white supremacists and racial agitators stirring up racial tensions and poisoning relationships all over the place. Look at the conflict everywhere. God, people hate their employers. and employers treat their employees like they're they're disposable cogs in a wheel marriages fall apart conflicts rips homes apart and who suffers and god if that weren bad enough people are willing to parade their sad lives and tragic antagonisms on television And then, what's worse, there are millions of people who love to be entertained by that.

God, do you see the injustices in our land? The wicked have been the righteous, and justice is perverted. serial killers murder people with no remorse only to be diagnosed as sick at the same time advocates pop up everywhere pleading their cases as if they're victims of oppression yet authorities decry as cruel and abusive christian parents who spank their children and take action against them legislators governors judges twist the law and make it an instrument and minister of wrong. The law-abiding are persecuted while the lawless are held in honor.

God, don't you see all this stuff? Can you hear Habakkuk? God, the law is paralyzed. Justice is perverted. And it never prevails because you will not act. That's what he's saying.

God, look at all this stuff. Look at what's going on. And it's all going on. Because you won't act. That brings us then to another reality that you see with the eyes of faith. You know what else you see?

You see clearly the silence of heaven. Why does Habakkuk cry out in such anguish? Why is he tormented to the very depths of his soul? He says, how long must I call for help? And you do not listen. I cry out, he says, and that word cry, those are terms that have the idea of shout or scream out of pain and misery.

I cry out for help, I'm screaming for help, but you do not say. is what he says. He's in anguish because God refuses to act. Heaven is silent. And we say, along with Habakkuk, justice delayed is justice denied. Oh God, why do you turn a deaf ear to my prayer? Why do you remain inactive in the face of injustice?

Why don't you act? That's his torment. His torment is not merely that he sees the injustice, that he feels this. It's not that I'm feeling terrible, which is often why we cry out to God. God, deliver this person because she's suffering so much. And it's a painful hurt.

It's not that. It's not that that reaches the very depths of his soul. It's God, you see it, and you're not doing anything about it. every one of you knows this kind of anguish god you know that my sister is being beaten by her husband she's neglected and abused the police come and he deceives them so easily why don't you do something oh god those children next door are abused and hungry oh god i've tried to intervene but nothing succeeds where are you god will you allow them to starve Lord my father has suffered for years he cannot even feed himself any longer how long will you let this go on you've all had a back experiences haven't you I can remember my first experience as a young father watching his little boy struggle to breathe.

We've all been there, haven't we? And so what we might be tempted to do, here's what we're tempted to do with Habakkuk and with fellow sufferers. We'll say, look, Habakkuk, God is sovereign. He's in control. Right? You ever done that?

You ever done that? I remember a time when a friend of mine lost his 8-year-old boy to drowning. And so I went to the visitation. And you know how it is. When an 8-year-old dies, you're going to have lines that are very long. Not like when someone dies when they're 86. so I remember going in and a friend of mine coming out and he said well I told Bill remember God is sovereign and I remember thinking at that moment I don't know if that's much comfort right now and I don't know if that would help Habakkuk because you know what Habakkuk would say to you if you said to him well Habakkuk God is in control he's sovereign here's what he would say I know that God is sovereign.

He is all powerful and he does whatever he chooses to do. But why does he not use his sovereignty right now for righteous purposes? Is he not holy Is he not a covenant keeping God Should he not use his sovereignty to punish evildoers and help the righteous Is his sovereignty devoid of any compassion and mercy towards those who suffer at the hands of wicked and powerful people?

Yes, he's sovereign, so why doesn't he use it? Yes, God has irresistible power, but he also possesses undeviating righteousness. So where is he? How long will such sovereignty remain inactive? Is essentially what Habakkuk is saying. And here's the question.

Is Habakkuk a man of faith who understands clearly or is he a man of unbelief who is distorting reality? What is he? here's what you need to see Habakkuk's lament his cry to God comes from his zeal for the glory of God that's where it's coming from it's coming from a heart that is zealous for the glory of God he implores God to reveal himself through acts of justice judgment and mercy he wants God's he wants God's name to be hallowed and cannot see how that will be if the perversion of justice continues. He believes that the wicked will interpret such inactivity as evidence that God does not care and God will not judge and so that they will continue in their injustices and in their perversions.

He has seen God work revival under the reign of Josiah. So why does he not bring revival again? Lord, why do you not save? Listen, such anguish and lament does not necessarily mean that you have no faith. People of faith see more than the harsh realities of life in a sin-cursed world. Their desire is to see the glory of God displayed.

They want to see God's glory magnified in the darkness of sin. But they cannot see that happening with the present actions of God. People of faith will have anguish and questions. But for a moment here, I want you to recall with me the man of perfect faith. A faith that was absolutely perfect. And at one moment in his life, what did he cry?

Do you remember? My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Right? And at that moment, heaven was silent and God unmoved. Right? Seems that way.

Was it that way? You see, even in the darkest moment of human history, God was up to something. but even with eyes of faith we cannot penetrate that far into the purposes of god for no one at that moment no one could see that at that darkest moment god's glory would be revealed you see jesus guarantees that god will vindicate his character you can count on it because of jesus so if you have the eyes of faith you must at times see the horrors of sin and the silence of heaven and it will cause anguish the silence should never be taken though as evidence that god does not care rather understand that living by faith still means living with questions and anguish of heart. And living by faith means waiting patiently for the answer.

Father, your word plumbs the very depths of our being. Your word addresses every experience we have as human beings. And God, we thank you for that. For it tells us that we have a God who understands everything. In fact, we have a God who entered into the stream of human history and experienced all that we have. Would you, Lord, help us to be people of faith, who have eyes that see the evil around us and the silence of heaven, but help us also to wait patiently for the answer.

Father, we thank you that you are a God who knows us and loves us, that has entered our experience and can talk to us. We thank you in Jesus' name. Amen.