A Work You Would Not Believe

Well, speaking of Bible studies, we've been going, as you know, through the Book of Acts.

And if you've been joining us, it's been quite instructive and eye-opening, I think, as we have gone with Paul, if you will, on his journey through the various churches that he started up.

We've learned quite a bit about how God works. We've learned a lot about human nature. We've learned a lot about how people are that can apply to us today. And we have learned a lot about how God starts up churches, and the responsibilities you and I in a local area would have toward that as well. But one of the things that Paul has had the opportunity to do is he goes around from place to place, not by airplane, not by car, but by foot, by ship, and whatever it has been. He has seen an awfully lot as he's moved from Jerusalem up to Antioch, over to the Galatian churches, over to Antioch and Pisidia, now over in Ephesus and Corinth and Thessalonica, where we've been.

He has seen an awfully lot about humanity. He's seen the good, he's seen the bad, he's seen the hate from people he didn't expect to feel or see the hate from. He's seen the love from people who he would not maybe have expected that he would feel the love from. He's seen humanity at its worst. He's been in gentile areas, and he's seen the depravity and the perversity of all those things. God opened his eyes to all those things, and he had an opportunity to see the world the way it was. Now, for Paul, that may have been instructive, coming from the background that he was in, where he was a Jew, lived among the Jewish people, and to see what the world was like and to see what human nature was like had to be instructive to him. And he endured it all, he lived through it all, and it was eye-opening to him. God allowed him to see that, and Paul needed to see that.

You know, in the Old Testament, if you turn with me back to Ezekiel, there's another prophet that God showed what the sins of Israel were and what was really going on behind the scenes, what really was happening in the world around them, something that this prophet wouldn't have seen if it hadn't been for God opening his eyes to see it. We find that back in Ezekiel 8. And on the surface of it, as Ezekiel was, you know, living in that land, actually he was in exile at that time, might not have seemed so bad, but when God sees what's really going on and our eyes are open to it, we see really what is happening. If we pick it up in Ezekiel 8 and verse 6, you'll remember, I hope this chapter, as you've probably been in it several times, Ezekiel 8 verse 6 says, Furthermore, God said to me, me being Ezekiel, Furthermore, he said to me, Son of man, do you see what they are doing? The great abominations that the house of Israel commits here to make me go far away from my sanctuary. Now turn again and you'll see greater abominations.

You see what's happening, Ezekiel? God is taking Ezekiel around to open his eyes to what the reality of life and what people are doing is. So in verse 7, he brought me to the door of the court and when I looked, there was a hole in the wall and he said, Son of man, dig into the wall. And when I dug into the wall, there was a door and he said to me, go in and see the wicked abominations which they are doing there. So I went in and saw and there every sort of creeping thing, abominable beasts and all the idols of the house of Israel portrayed all around on the walls. And there stood before them seventy men of the elders of the house of Israel and in their midst stood Jazaniah the son of Shaphan. Each one had a sensor in his hand and a thick cloud of incense went up.

And he said to me, Son of man, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel do in the dark?

Every man in the room of his idols. For they say, the Lord doesn't see us. He's forsaken the land.

He's not part of us anymore. Now remember, when he talks about the house of Israel, Israel had already gone into captivity at this time. Verse 13, he said to me, turn again and you will see greater abominations that they're doing. So he brought me to the door of the North Gate of the Lord's house and to might as may women were sitting there weeping for Tammuz. Remember who Tammuz is? He was a kind of counterfeit savior, counterfeit virgin child or child born of a virgin dating back to Samaranas and Nimrod. That's a subject for another time. Have you seen, turn again, or have you seen, women are sitting there weeping for Tammuz and he said to me, have you seen this son of man? Turn again, turn again and you will see greater abominations than these. So he brought me into the inner court of the Lord's house and there at the door of the temple of the eternal, between the porch and the altar were about 25 men with their backs toward the temple of the eternal and their faces toward the east and they were worshiping the sun toward the east.

These things that Ezekiel would have never seen, but God let him see what is going on.

When I'm angry with Israel, when I'm angry, we'll see and talk about a Judah. When I'm angry with my people, it's for a reason. You may not see everything that's going on, but Ezekiel, I want you to see and there's a reason you need to see. Paul, there's a reason you need to see what the world is like. There's a reason you need to see what human nature is like. Verse 17, and he said to me, have you seen this, O Son, O Man? Is it a trivial thing to the house of Judah to commit the abominations which they commit here, for they have filled the land with violence. They have returned to provoke me to anger. Indeed, they put the branch to their nose. Well, I think Ezekiel had quite an eye-opening when he saw that. Now I get it. Now I know why God is doing the things he does. Now I've seen behind the scenes. I know what's going on. God gave them a vision, or not a vision, but an insight to what is going on.

You and I live in a time that is unique in history. You and I are able to see so many things that are going on in the world. We have a window on the world, if you will. We have the internet.

We have TV. We have multiple cable news channels. We have all sorts of things that we can see what is going on in America. We can see what's going on with our leaders. We can see what's going on with China. We can see what's going on all over the world. All you have to do is open your eyes.

You can look and see, as we've seen, you know, some video in the last few days of a trial that's gone up on, has gone on up in Wisconsin. Real life? What happened? What happened at that time?

There's no one has, doesn't have to be one word against the other. It's all videotaped. We live in an age where we have all that insight. Everything that Paul saw about the depravity and perversity of the world, we can see. And we know. Everything that God showed Ezekiel of what's going on, they didn't have the opportunities that you do, but you and I do. You and I have a window on the world, and God has given us the opportunity to see what is the world really like. What is it like? Where is it headed? And when God gives us prophecies of what will be, we can understand why, as we see the world drift further and further away from even standard, decent, everyday morality and human relations. Why did God do that? Why does God let us see these things? Why did God not take all of us out of the world, put us in a commune someplace, and say, you don't need to know anything about what the world is like. Just live here in a cocoon. Don't be faced with anything.

That isn't what he wanted. Jesus Christ said, it's not my will that I take them out of the world. They need to be in the world. They need to see what is going on. They need to develop the character.

To stand with me and to develop the character they need, even in the face of everything they see going on in the world around them. That was God's purpose for you and me. Why did he do that? Why do we need to see it?

Well, did you know that that very question is asked in the Bible by a prophet who asked the very same thing out of time who lived at a time very similar to us. At the end of the kingdom of Judah, when it continued to depart further and further from God despite 40 years of warnings from Jeremiah, there was someone that God allowed him to see all the evils that were going on. He allowed them to see it in vision because this man didn't have the internet. He didn't have cable news channels.

We might, you know, if we're watching just one channel all the time, we might want to switch around and see really what the thing is because we live in a time where you can't just have one picture painted for you because it's a different time than it was five, ten years ago. And this man, too, saw what was going on and he asked God, why do I need to see this? He lived near the end of Judah's reign. God was just about to end Judah because they had so far departed from God. And he, the common assumption is that he was there during the time of King Jehoiakim, which is one of the last kings of Judah before they went into captivity. And his name is in, or that answer, that question is an obscure book that we don't turn to very often at all. His name was Habakkuk.

And he has an instructional little book here, a little short book in the Bible, the fifth book from the end of the Old Testament, right before Zephaniah, and then Haggai, which we were in a few weeks ago. But Habakkuk was a prophet during that time, and he records what he asked God, what he saw, and what God's answers were. And in this little book, there are some meaningful and some memorable, and even to commit to memory, responses that God has that are really intended for you and me today when you look at the book. Because what Habakkuk saw did apply to his times, but the writing is clearly for a time far beyond the fall of Judah and the end of the Old Testament age. Let's just look here in Habakkuk 1 and verse 1. It says, the burden which the prophet Habakkuk saw, he says, O eternal, how long shall I cry and you will not hear? How long will I even cry out to you, violence, and you won't save? Why do you show me iniquity and cause me to see trouble?

Why are you showing me these things? Why do I need to know this? Why do I need to see the truth about Judah and what's going on? Why do I need to see what's going on with the violence? Why do I need to go on and see everything that's happening there? Why do you show me iniquity and cause me to see trouble? For plundering. Today we might replace plundering with looting, right? That's kind of a word that appears on the news every now and then in ways that we hadn't seen before. For plundering and violence are before me. This is what I'm seeing. Just like when we turn on the news, we see plundering. We can see violence on any given night. There's strife. There's contention that arises just about every night. You can see strife. Just about every night you can see contention. Just about every night you see division. There's strife and contention. And therefore the law is powerless.

Justice never goes forth. For the wicked surround the righteous, therefore perverse judgment proceeds.

Why do you let me see all this trouble? Why do I need to know what Judah is like? How people behave?

What is in it? What is in it? What do you want me to see? Why do I see that there's no justice in the land? Keep your finger there in the back. Let's go back to Isaiah 59 because the prophet Isaiah also speaks of this very same very same thing. So we pick it up in Isaiah 59 and verse 9. Isaiah writes, Therefore justice is far from us, nor does righteousness overtake us. We look for light, but there's darkness. We look for brightness, but we walk in blackness. We grope for the wall like the blind, and we grope as if we had no eyes. We stumble at noonday, as at twilight. We are as dead men in desolate places. We growl like bears. We moan sadly like dogs. We look for justice, but there is none, for salvation, but it's far from us. For our transgressions are multiplied, before you. The sins keep piling up. The actions of man keep getting worse and worse, further and further away from God. Wicked men and imposters grow worse and worse, as it says in the New Testament. Our transgressions are multiplied before you. Our sins testify against us, for our transgressions are with us. And as for our iniquities, we know them in transgressing and lying against the Lord and departing from our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood, justice is turned back.

All these things, including all the lies that increasingly this society and this time of life is known for. Lie after lie after lie. Whatever channel you look at, they accuse the others of lying. There's lies everywhere. Conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood, justice is turned back, and righteousness stands afar off. For truth is fallen in the street. Equity, that's a 21st century word, this integrity could be better translated, integrity, people who stand up and who people are honest, and integrity cannot enter. So truth fails, and he who departs from evil makes himself a prey. Now, if you don't see 2021 and years ahead in those verses for you and me and the people of this land, you're not paying attention to what's going on in the world. Let me read it again. Justice is turned back. Righteousness stands afar off. Truth is fallen in the street, and integrity cannot enter. It makes no difference.

People who have character, people who are honest, people who stand by the principles and values, they don't enter in. They don't count anymore. It's disappeared. Integrity cannot enter, so truth fails, and he who departs from evil, he who would want to live by God's way, makes himself a prey.

We don't want those people around. We don't want those people around. We want people of a different character. What once was valued is no longer valued. It's valued to God, valued for eternity, but in a nation that's turning from God as Judah was turning from God and just about to reap what they had sown, as Jeremiah told them, they would. And as we stand here in this day and age, we see the same thing happening again, the same type society that we live in. And therefore, the law is powerless. You know, as we've gone through the Bible studies, how many times have we talked about Paul, who the law never saved him. The ball was never on his side. All the times that he was beaten, the time that he was stoned, it wasn't in accordance with the law. It was the mob who decided what they wanted. The ruler just gave into him. He wasn't tried. He wasn't convicted. Roman law threw out the window, was thrown out the window, and it's just whatever the people in that city wanted. Law goes out the window in a time of lawlessness, and people do what they want, and the law gets left behind. So, as Habakkuk is asking this question, and he says, I'm seeing all these things. All these things are happening in Judah. Why do you let me see that? God. And God has quite a surprising answer in Habakkuk 1 and in verse 5. A verse that you no doubt have heard before. It has some pretty deep meaning in it. Verse 5 of Habakkuk 1. He says, look. Look among the nations, Habakkuk, and watch. Be utterly astounded, for I will work a work in your days which you would not believe though it were told you. Did that answer Habakkuk's question? Hey, Habakkuk, you know what's going to happen from here on out? If I told you, you wouldn't even believe it. Well, when you go through the rest of chapter 1, what happened to Judah was very believable. The same type thing had happened to Israel 100 some years before. It had been what Jeremiah had been telling them would happen for 40 years. If you didn't turn back to God, Babylon was going to come in. It was going to ransack you. It was going to conquer you. You'd be carried off captives. So when God says, there's a work that's being done and there's a work that's going to be done that you wouldn't believe even if I told you, it wasn't what happened in Judah because that was very believable.

Now, it's interesting because here in the New King James, it's a little bit different than what the King James is, and it's probably not a great translation as they've added a few words in here. In verse 5, you notice that, I will, and the second for I will work a work in your days, I will is added in. As in, God is the one who's working that work. We know that God allows everything. We know that God is the one who nothing happens without his knowledge, approval, etc. But that isn't what the original says. I will is not in there. When you look back at the Hebrew, it's different. Now, here's what the Wycliffe Bible, one of the earlier translations, how they translate verse 5. It says, Behold among the heathen, and see and wonder, and greatly dread, for a work is done in your days which no man shall believe when it shall be told. See, wonder, dread, for a work is going to be done in your days that no one would believe even if they were told. So, a work is going to happen that is so unbelievable, something that is unlike anything that occurred before, that if God was to tell Habakkuk and record it here, this is what's going to happen. It would be, well, that can't happen. That's never happened in the world before. That's unbelievable. Could that really come about the way that God had said?

Well, before I go on to verse 6, you know, God says to Habakkuk, Look among the nations. Look among the heathen, is what the original says. You know, today, we can look among the heathen, the nations. Today, we know, we can see exactly what nations like China are doing.

It wasn't too long ago that we saw, you know, we saw their military marching in a very, very straight and orderly and a almost scary manner when you saw the discipline among the people, those soldiers that were marching. We've heard about the hypersonic nuclear thing that can now reach America that no one seemed to have any idea in America that they had developed that potential.

We can see, we hear the Chinese president, he makes no bones about it, that the world is, he would like, he'd like to take over the world. And he sees America as his chief obstacle toward that end. We can look into Russia. We don't have to, we don't have to have God give us a vision. We can see what's going on in Russia. We can hear the words of the president over there. We know that they have aspirations of taking over and expanding their territory as well.

We can look at Iran and hear them rattle their swords. We can hear them talking about they will obliterate the little, the little nation of Israel and they love to do it to all the English-making nations as well. We can look to North Korea that's been silent for a while, but we see that they continue to march on. We don't have, we don't have to do any kind of magical thing or have God give us a vision. All we have to do is exactly what God told Habakkuk. Watch, watch, look among the nations. Be aware of what is happening. Don't close your eyes. And he says, be utterly astounded.

Be amazed what you see going on. Don't just click it off and say, oh well, things go on as they always will because there is something happening that is completely different in the 21st century than has ever happened to the world before. If we go on through verse 6, we see God describing and answering to Habakkuk, what's going to happen to Judah? He talks about Chaldeans, the Babylonians, and he talks about this horrendous, horrendous invasion that they will have. And he says, I, you know, for indeed, I, I being God, for indeed I am raising up the Chaldeans, a bitter and nasty, that are in hasty nation, which marches through the breadth of the earth to possess dwelling places that are not theirs. They're terrible. They're dreadful. Their judgment and their dignity proceed from themselves. They write their own law. They do things their own way, not from any deity, not from the law of God, their dignity and their judgment. Hey, what we think is best, and hey, we don't care about how it affects you, whatever is good for us, that's, we're the ones who make the, make the laws. Their judgment and their dignity proceed from themselves. Their horses are swifter than leopards. They're more fierce than evening wolves. Their charges, chargers, charge ahead. Their cavalry comes from afar. They fly as the eagle that hastens to eat. What do they come for? They come for violence. Their faces are set like the east wind. They gather captives like sand. They scoff at kings, and princes are scorned by them.

They deride every stronghold for they heap up earthen, mounds, and seas it. So you have this picture of just a horrific picture if you're sitting there in Judah at that time, and Habakkuk is seeing this, this is what's going to happen. This is what's going to happen, God, but, but it's not unlike what always happened in the ancient world.

When another nation came in, they blitzed through. They took captives. They destroyed the people. They destroyed the civilization. They were cruel. They were heartless. They were bent in those days about having the world for themselves. They wanted everything for themselves. It was all about world rulership. It was all about dominating more. As we'll see in a minute, later on in chapter 2, they weren't satisfied with what God had given them.

Always more, more, more wealth, more power, more influence, more of what it is. And that was the gentile world. It wasn't until America, who was not at all a colonizing nation, America that wasn't about world domination, was about that the first time in history as they won wars, they didn't take over the country.

They didn't say, we're going to seize everything that you have and make it our own. But the world up until then, up until the last few hundred years, has always been about colonizing, always been about dominating. We have the four world-ruling empires of Babylon, Persia, Greece, and of course the Roman Empire and what has its various resurrections down through the centuries. So what God is telling Habakkuk here is a horrible thing for Habakkuk to hear that this is going to happen to the land that he lives in.

In verse 11, as God says all this, he says, then his mind changes and he transgresses. He commits offense, ascribing this power to his God. It goes to his head. God says, I'm the one who's going to bring this about. I'm going to give him the power and the authority to go in and conquer Judah because Judah has departed from me. They brought this upon themselves.

But then he changes everything and it goes to his head. He thinks, look what I did. Of course, you remember the examples of Nebuchadnezzar. Even though God was with him and even though he knew who God was, he let pride get the hold the better of him time and time, time after time after time. Let's go back a couple books to Daniel because at the end time we see a man in power who has these very same traits where his mind changes, everything changes under him, and he ascribes everything to his God, which is a different God than the world has known before.

Not the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Not the gods that have been there. Not Zeus and Saturn and all the ones of the past, but a different God. A God that he devises. In Daniel 11, verse 36, clearly at the end time, because in verse 35 you see here it says the time of the end. It's still for the appointed time. A phrase, it comes from the Greek word moed, and appointed time. We're going to see that in Habakkuk here in a little bit. The time of the end because it is still for the appointed time. Verse 36, then the king shall do according to his will.

He will exalt and magnify himself above every god. He will speak blasphemies against the god of gods. He will prosper till the wrath has been accomplished, for what has been determined shall be done. He will regard neither the god of his fathers nor the desire of women. He won't regard any god, for he shall exalt himself above them all. Anything that's come before him above all. But in their place of all these other gods, he shall honor a god of fortresses, a god which his fathers didn't know. He will honor with gold and silver, with precious stones and pleasant things. And he shall act against the strongest fortresses with a foreign god, which he shall acknowledge, and he will advance its glory.

He shall cause them to rule over many and divide the land for gain. That's what he will be like.

When we fast forward to the book of Revelation, we see the beast power of Revelation 13 marching to a different drummer. We see him exalting his god above all. We see a totally different world in Revelation 13 than anything we have in the world today. That's where it is. And as God is talking to Habakkuk, Habakkuk, as we go back over to Habakkuk 1, we see that when he's talking about be astounded, a work's going to be done in your days that has never been before.

There's something that's different. Daniel 11, 36 through 39 tells us at the end time there's something completely different than has ever happened in the world before. God says, be astounded.

See. Dread. Be amazed. So Habakkuk, if we go on here, as he, God answers his question with a memorable, here's what's going to happen, Habakkuk. Be astounded. And then tells Habakkuk what is going to happen to Judah. In verse 12, Habakkuk has a follow-up question and a good question.

He asks God, are you not from everlasting, O Lord my God, my Holy One? We shall not die. O Lord, you have appointed them for judgment. You've appointed Babylon for judgment. They're the evil kingdom. They're the one who doesn't worship you. They worship idols. They're the heathen, if you will.

O Lord, you've appointed them for judgment. O Rock, you've marked them for correction. You are of pure eyes than to behold evil. Why would you work with this Chaldean nation that is so evil, so cruel? Why would you bring that on Judah and punish them with these people? You're of pure eyes than to behold evil, and you cannot look on wickedness. Why do you look on those who deal treacherously and hold your tongue when the wicked devours a person more righteous than he? Why do you make men like fish of the sea, like creeping things that have no ruler over them? They take up all of them with a hook. They catch them in their net. They gather them in their dragnet. Therefore, they rejoice and are glad. They're just fishing for men. They just catch them, and they use them as their own spoil, and then they rejoice over it. Look at the victory they have, and they think they're doing well.

Therefore, verse 16, God, they sacrifice to their net. They're not giving you the credit. They sacrifice to their net. They burn incense to their dragnet, because by them their share is sumptuous, and their food plentiful. Shall they therefore empty their nets and continue to slay nations without pity? How long will this go on? Is this going to be forever? Are you always going to favor those nations who do something that is apart from you? How long will this last? Well, it's a good question if you're Habakkuk. Habakkuk is being bold with God. We learn from this, and when we don't understand something, we certainly can ask God. He's not offended. He wants us to understand, and he will give answers. He may have to do some study, and we may have to be putting some of the answers together in line with the Bible, but it's not wrong to ask God why not to accuse him, not to infer to him that you have a better way than him, but to just so that you need understanding. You want to know why. You can see in chapter 2 that Habakkuk is feeling a little bit guilty, like, wow, have I gone too far? I'm asking God these questions, but I just want to know why. He says, I'll stand my watch. I'm going to set myself on the rampart. I'm going to watch to see what God will say to me and what I will answer when I'm corrected. What he expected was God to say, you don't need to ask me that question. Just have faith. I'm not going to let you know anything. Habakkuk, just deal with it, right? So Habakkuk's ready. When I'm corrected, I will take it like a Christian. I will be rebuked, and I will get on with my life, but that isn't what God did. He gives Habakkuk the answer, not an answer that Habakkuk would expect in verse 2, another very memorable and a very telling and a very important thing for us to look at in the times that we live.

Habakkuk writes, the Lord answered me, and he said, write the vision, make it plain on tablets that he may run who reads it. I'll give you the whole story, Habakkuk. I'll let you see what the vision is. I will let you see what it is that is going to be worked out in a way that has never been worked out before. Write the vision down. Make it plain, Habakkuk, that those who read it can run. Now, just earlier in the sermon, we saw the word run, right? Who are those who run?

God's people, they run with endurance the race before them. Jeremiah talks about running with horses. When they see the vision, when it's plain, when they get it, when they understand what's going on, they will run. This vision will give them the energy. The vision will give them the zeal. The vision will give them the commitment to keep running and not let momentary things like the Chaldeans coming in and wiping out Judah and taking everyone to captive don't lose the vision. That's not the ultimate end of the vision. That's just part of how we get to the ultimate vision. Habakkuk, people of God, not everything is just overnight become rosy and easy.

There's a path toward salvation. There's a path toward the ultimate vision. There's a path toward the vision of peace and goodness and abundance and harmony for all of mankind. But there's some intermediate steps in between that are necessary parts because people need to know what human nature is like. We need to know exactly what it is we're up against. We need to see the evil. Sometimes we need to feel the evil like Paul did, like Ezekiel did, like Jeremiah did. We need to receive that people just really, really, really hate God. Just like Jesus Christ, they hated him and hated his message to see just the evil that is out there. Now Jesus Christ had the vision.

We read it. He endured to the end. He kept the vision in front of them. And here's what God is telling Habakkuk, something you and I, you know, we talk not too long ago about the arsenal of tools that we have, the spiritual tools we have, the armor of God that we put on every day.

Vision is one of those that we need to have very front and center in our eyes, in our minds. And as time goes on, that vision has to be even stronger. We have to have that vision just like Jesus Christ did, just like Paul did, just like the people of Hebrews 11 did. Write the vision. Make it plain that he may run. Who endures it? Because was the vision for Habakkuk's time?

No. Verse 3 for the vision is yet for an appointed time. The same appointed time that we read about in Daniel 11. The vision is yet for an appointed time. But at the end, when all is said and done, the vision will speak, you're going to see that it's true. Whatever I said is going to come true, exactly the way I said that it would, because at the end it will speak, it will not lie. When God says it's going to happen, it is certainly going to happen. At the end, at the end, you may watch what's going on, understand, and have faith that vision is going to happen. At the end, it will speak, it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it. Though it looks like it's such a long time coming. When I see things happening and it's like I want to doubt and wonder, well, is it really happening? God says, wait for it. Don't give up. Don't lose faith. Though it tarries, wait for it. Because it will surely come, it will not tarry. Keep your finger there in Habakkuk.

Now we're in Hebrews 10. We see the author of the book of Hebrews speaking those same words to the people of his time. So we know the appointed time wasn't during the time of Judah, the Old Testament Judah. It wasn't at the time of Jesus Christ. It was for an appointed time yet to come. And as God inspires the author here to put those same verses in Hebrews 10 verses 37 to 38, we know that when we're reading Habakkuk and some other things that we'll read as well, it's four at a time yet ahead. Hebrews 10 and 37, for yet a little while, well, let me read verse 36, for you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise. Verse 37, for yet a little while, and he who is coming will come, and he will not tarry. Now the just, he says in verse 38, again, a quoting from Habakkuk too, the just will live by faith. But if anyone draws back, my soul has no pleasure in him. The just will live by faith. But if anyone draws back, I don't know. I don't know if God really means what he says. I don't know if it's really going to come about. It just, the vision just isn't clear. What about this work? What about this work that's going to be done that will astound and amaze people when it happens? What is that? And how is the vision going to come about? Though it tarries, if we go back to Habakkuk too, it will surely come. It will not worry. It will not tarry. And then in the rest of chapter two, God uses the word woe five times, five times in Habakkuk too. And he's talking about things that didn't happen during the time of Judah, didn't happen during the time of the Chaldeans or the Babylonians. Well, maybe they did.

But he's drawing a conclusion of what is going to happen. And God points a picture of some of the traits to look for of what will go on in the world, and then God's response to them. When we see them, they can be daunting. When we see them, we may want to draw back and say, how can we stand against this? But God shows he's still in charge. There's the vision that's there. He is alive. He is well. Things are going along exactly the way that he intended them to. So when we pick up in verse four, we see a word right at the beginning of verse four that always marks an evil kingdom or an evil mission. Behold the proud. Behold the proud. If there's one thing about Satan, he was proud. When we read Revelation 13, we know the power involved at that time is from Satan. The Bible clearly tells us that. Behold the proud. When you see the proud, step back, right? Be aware. Watch. Know what's going on. Behold the proud. His soul is not upright in him, but the just shall live by faith. When you see it, have faith. It may look daunting. It may look difficult to overcome him. His soul is not upright in him, but the just shall live by his faith. Believe God. Patiently wait. Might ask, how long, God, is this going to go on? It'll go on as long as God wants it to go on. But will ultimately happen. Will not tarry. It will come. It surely will.

Verse 5, indeed, because he, this proud, this proud, transgresses by wine. He's a proud man. He doesn't stay at home. What does that mean? He's not satisfied with what God has given them. He's territorial. It's not enough that I have this nation that I control. I want the nation next to me. I want this nation. I want the whole world doing what I want. I'm territorial because he enlarges his desire as hell. The next sentence says, he's always looking to expand. It's not about just I'm happy with what's been given. Remember a godly man. God says, be content. Be godly and be content with what you have. The proud always want more. And so we look around and when we see these attitudes, of not enough to be home, and when we look around the nations, when we pay attention to what's going on, and we see this mindset, we might have our ears perk up a little bit. He's like death, it goes on to say in verse 5. He can't be satisfied. Nothing satisfies him. He gathers to himself all nations and heaps up for himself all peoples. Look what I've done. They're all under my control.

Well, that's been the way of the world. You know, we know in the recent past that we've lived in. We've talked about communist regimes. What do they want? Are they satisfied with the terrorists? No! It's always been their mission. Conquer the world. Bring communism all around the world. Look at Marxism. Look at Europe. Look at Hitler. Look at what they did is always not enough at home.

The whole continent. The whole world. That's what God is talking about here. He helps up for himself. All peoples. Look who I am. I'm this great king. Everyone bows to me. Look what I've done.

Well, you know, there's one thing about people who have a lot. Now, we live in a world today where we have some very, very, very wealthy people. I mean, none of us can even imagine the wealth that some people in the world have. And there's one thing about gathering wealth to yourself.

And you never have enough. But there comes a point in time if you have several billion dollars that you can't possibly spend on yourself, do you still want more? When you're proud, your desire is still insatiable. So when money is no longer an option, what do you want? Or in motivator? Well, you would want power. You would want influence. When you're proud, you would think, I have all the ideas on Earth. Everyone needs to do the things that I say. These little people who are only making even a million dollars a year can't possibly know what they're doing. I have all the answers. The world should listen to me. And I need to use my intelligence. I need to use my dollars to make the world and cast it into the way that I want it to be. And so we see all these forces that work in the world. We hear China's rumblings. We hear Russia's rumblings. We know what Iran wants. We know what North Korea wants. We know what the wealthy want. I mean, we've seen some of the things even in the way things are handled. I control this. Therefore, I censor you and I determine what you're going to hear. You know, well, no, I won't go there. I'll censor what you see.

And anything that isn't my idea is misinformation, right? So anyway, this is what the Bible's talking about. This is the people that will be there. And they're going to do this to people. And it looks like a terrible time to be alive. It's a terrible thing to have happen when you have this group that kind of is going to dictate to you what you want to do, wants to take over the world, something that hasn't been done ever in history yet, or at least the attempt in the way that it can be done today.

In verse 6, then, God says, well, look, look, look, this is what's going to happen, right?

Watch for this. Behold the proud, he says. Watch what they do. In verse 6, it says, won't all these, all these people who he has oppressed, all these people have done these things, won't these take up a proverb against him and a taunting riddle against him and say, woe to him who increases. We're tired of this. We can't deal with this anymore. Woe to him who increases what is not his. How long? And to him who loads himself with many pledges. Won't your creditors rise up suddenly? Won't they awaken who oppress you? And you will become their booty because you have plundered many nations. Oh, it'll work for a while, but it won't last forever. There will come a time when you will reap what you have sown. All the remnants of the people shall plunder you because of men's blood and the violence of the land and the city and of all who dwell in it. You know, whenever God gives a woe, there's always deliverance. If we go back to Jeremiah 30, the actual time in which Habakkuk lived, Jeremiah has a prophecy about the nations of Israel. He calls him Jacob, and he talks about a time that is coming that's going to be pretty tough, pretty tough on the world. If we pick it up in Jeremiah 30 in verse 5, I'll read verse 4. These are the words that the eternal spoke concerning Israel and Judah. That's all the nations of Israel, not just one little nation, but all of them. Thus says the Lord, verse 5, we've heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace. Ask now and see whether a man is ever in labor with child. So why do I see every man with his hands on his loins like a woman in labor, and all faces turn pale? It's a horrible time. It's a scary time. It's not a fun time. It's unlike anything that's gone on before. All the horrors of the words that are used in Habakkuk about the Chaldean army, Christ says it's going to be worse than ever is anything that's ever happened on earth before. So that's why these people of Israel and Judah look like this. Alas, verse 7, that day is great, none is like it. It is the time of Jacob's trouble. But he will be saved out of it. For it shall come to pass in that day, says the Lord of hosts, I will break his yoke from your neck, and will burst your bonds. Foreigners shall no more enslave them, but they shall serve the Lord their God and David their king, whom I will raise up for them. Therefore don't fear, my servant Jacob says the eternal, don't beat a smade, O Israel, for I behold, I will save you from afar, and your seed from the land of their captivity. Jacob shall return. Jacob shall have rest, and be quiet, and no one shall make him afraid. I am with you, says God, to save you. It may seem like it's tearing, but wait, wait, he says, have the vision that you may run with the horses, that you may run with endurance the race that is ahead of you. Keep that vision in mind.

When God, when things happen, God will, God will deliver his people. So we have a woe here of pride, and people wanting all the power for themselves, and what the world will go through. And if you're watching the news closely, you can begin to see exactly what is at work in the world, something that has never been done before.

You can go back and you can read some of the Plas Beyond Today magazines, and fill in the blanks for that if you don't know what I'm talking about.

You can listen to the news. You can read between the lines. You can see there's something here that is unlike anything that's happened before. Who could ever imagine the greatest, richest, most powerful nation on earth simply yielding itself and dismantling itself?

How could that ever happen? Why would that ever happen?

Well, let me leave it there, leave you to do some thinking and asking God questions, and doing some investigation yourself, and listening to what's going on. In verse 9, we have another woe, another woe, one of these attitudes that we see, woe to him who covets evil game for his house. It's not about, it's just about me. What do I get? The self-serving attitude that permeates. What's in it for me? You know, the gentile nations, the kings, it was always about me. They were always the richest. Everyone wanted to be king because they were the wealthiest. Now, we have some nations in the world today that, you know, it's common knowledge. When you become the leader of that nation, you become rich. Increasingly, we see that in America. The way to become rich is earn an office, right? Or get elected to an office? Woe to him who covets evil game for his house. It's all about me. How do I end up looking good? Woe to him who covets evil game for his house that he may set his nest on high, that he may be delivered from the power of disaster. Well, I don't care about all the rest of the people. I just care about me. What can I do to set me up in the face of everything that is happening? And again, we see some of that developing in the world today as this astounding thing begins to unfold in the world. First hand, you give shameful counsel to your house. You're telling people the wrong thing. You're not leading them like a good leader. You're not telling them the truth. You're giving shameful counsel shame on you for not being the leader that you should be. You give shameful counsel to your house, cutting off many people's. You sin against your soul, for the stone will cry out from the wall and the beam from the tenders will answer it. You'll pay the price. You may prosper awhile. Verse 12, woe!

Woe to him who builds a town with bloodshed, who establishes a city by iniquity.

You may build a house with bloodshed. You may set a law that's apart from God's law. It may be a very anti-God law. It may be the law that you devise. It won't last. Nothing lasts forever unless it's built by God, unless it's built according to His. There has been no world-ruling kingdom that has lasted forever. There is one coming that will last forever. It will not be built on a godly law that will last forever. Woe to him who builds a town with bloodshed, who establishes a city by iniquity. Because you did it, you founded it in sin. You didn't find it for the right reasons. You weren't paying attention to God. Behold, it's not. Is it not of the Lord of hosts that the people's labor to feed the fire? They're just kind of wasting their time. All they're doing is feeding the fire. It's just about to burn down. It's eventually going to burn down. It can't last if it's not of God. And the nations weary themselves in vain. You know Psalm 127, a song that we sing off and says, unless the Lord shall build the house, the weary builders toil in vain. Remember that? Unless the Lord builds the house, the weary builders toil in vain. It's all for nothing. It will fall. And so whatever is being built in the world today that's apart from God, it will fall. May not fall overnight. It may be time that we have to live under it. But eventually it will fall. It will topple. The Bible tells us that. Why do the nations do this and weary themselves in vain? Now verse 14, God shows. One of those memory verses that we all hear every year at the feast. We hear it.

And it should stay in there. God's answer to what the world has done. He will establish the kingdom that will last forever. The earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. Start contrast to what's being built around us. That's built on iniquity and corruption and a law that's apart from God. Built, paying attention and worshiping gods that are not the true God where people worship themselves and set themselves up rather than being concerned for other people. Verse 15. Another thing we see. Whoa to him who gives drinks to his neighbor. Pressing him to your bottle even to make him drunk. That you may look on his nakedness. Ah, can I get really close to you? Can I really act like I really like you? Get really close so I can kind of see who you are. What you're about. Where's your weaknesses?

How can I win you in? It's the spiritual harlotry that the Bible talks about that God talks about over and over and over again that will mark the world at the end of the time. At the end of time.

People and nations cuddling up to each other and just acting like they're friendly. Just wanting to see. Just like the physical person who'll get really close. You know, I really, really like you.

I really just want to, I just wanted to be close to you. But all I really want to do is to take advantage of you. And that's what happens at the time. Happens probably in the world today. Enemies that look like they're, act like they're friends just so that they can find out what's going on.

When all the while they really just want to stab you in the back. They're just looking for the end to be and to end who you are. Well, God says woe to him who plays that game. Who is that evil? Verse 16, you're filled with shame instead of glory. You also drink, be exposed as uncircumcised. The cup of the Lord's right hand will be turned against you and utter shame will be on your glory. It will come back. You may think it works for a while. It may work for a while.

But beware, it's not going to last. We may think it's well, it's tearing. God says it doesn't tear. Wait. Wait for God. Keep the vision in front of you that will enable you to run with endurance the race that's before you. In verse 18, what prophet is the image that its maker should carve it? The molded image. A teacher of lies that the maker of its mold should trust in it to make mute idols. Why would you be making these idols? That's an Old Testament thing, right? No one makes idols anymore of stone that can't talk, that can't speak. No, they may not make those, but we keep up for ourselves idols. If you listen closely to the news, you can see an idol that's developing in America right now. If it's not already in full force, this idol will save us. This is the answer to all our problems. You all need to bow to this idol, and everything will be okay.

Right? There are idols. There are idols in the world, and we've talked about many of them, and as the phrase goes on, it says here these idols are going to come. Verse 19, whoa, whoa to him who says to wood, awake. Whoa to him who says to silent stone, arise. It will teach. Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver. It looks so good. It looks so good. It's so pretty. How can it be wrong if it looks that good and looks that pretty? If it comes with all these promises and all this money behind it, how can it be bad, right? That's what the carnal mind would think. That's what we would look at when we see it, and yet God says in it, there's no breath at all.

There's nothing. There's no life in it. Idols never save. Idols do nothing. God saves.

And yet the world increasingly will go, and when we look at the end of the time, the world bows down to idols, and there's a power that bizz that says, bow down to me.

Do this. This is the answer. Bow this. Bow down to this. And you can do everything you want in the world. And if you don't do what I say, if you don't bow down to this idol, I'm taking away this advantage. I'm taking away this freedom. I'll eventually take away this and that, and your ability to buy, sell. If we look closely, we see the direction the world is going in.

Not there yet. Doesn't happen overnight.

But it's that way, as God says. Watch. Look at the evil. Open your eyes. The world is wide open to us. Nothing is hidden unless we want to bury our heads in the sand and pretend it isn't happening.

So, at the end of chapter 2 here, God sums it up as He talks to Habakkuk.

God's in His holy temple. All these things are going to happen. But He's there. He's in heaven. He knows every single thing that's going on. He knows what the plan is. He tells us in Isaiah 55, my word will not return to me empty. It will happen. Have faith. Believe it. Know the vision. Ask for the vision. Now, many times, well, many times, maybe not recently, I've said, you know, like Habakkuk, if we don't have a vision of what God gives us, ask Him for it. He wants us to know it's not a hidden secret that He's hiding from us, but He has to know that we want it. Ask and you will receive. Knock and it will be open. Seek and you will find. Do we want to know? Do we want that vision? Ask Him for it. Ask Him for the things that we need. Ask Him for what is going on and what we need to do. He will answer, just like He answered Habakkuk, do it with the right attitude. Do it with the right attitude, of course.

So God says here in verse 20, I'm here, Habakkuk, the Lord is in His holy temple.

Let all the earth keep silence before Him. Christ will return. Everything will be right. The vision, as it has been taught to us, as you have heard, over the years, will come about.

And all the road, not all the details, but the path to that vision we're aware of. We don't know all the details. God will give us whatever details that we need. As Habakkuk, as God finishes talking here in verse 20, Habakkuk understands. Habakkuk, you can read in his prayer in chapter 3 here, he is ecstatic with God, if I can use that word. In it, he gets the vision. I see what you're doing. Your plan is astounding. Your plan is perfect. Everything we go through, we need to go through so that we understand you, so that we understand what you are doing, that we understand why we need you in your law and Christ's rule forever. We get it. Mankind can't govern himself. Mankind can't possibly bring peace, joy, unity to this world. He simply cannot with human nature. It can only happen with God. Habakkuk gets it, and I'm not going to take the time to read through chapter 3. You can read through it. I'll read through the first few verses here, but you can see Habakkuk understands. O Lord, verse 2, I've heard your speech. I was afraid. O Lord, revive your work in the midst of the years. In the midst of the years, make it known. But in wrath, remember mercy, his glory covered the heavens. Verse 3, the earth was full of his praise. His brightness was like the light. He had rays flashing from his hand, and there his power was hidden. Before him went pestilence. Fever followed at his feet. He stood and measured the earth. He looked and startled the nations, and the everlasting mountains were scattered. The perpetual hills bowed. His ways are everlasting. And you can go through that. As I was looking at some of the commentaries and their opinion on the prayer, a few of them said this is probably the most inspiring prayer in the Bible that Habakkuk recorded. Because he asked God questions, he listened closely, he responded, and even though the vision wasn't what he wanted it to be, he got it. And when he understood the truth of God, he was just filled with joy. And so he was filled with thanks for God, to God.

I want to come down to verse 16, though, or verse 17, because it's another one of those verses that are beautiful, poetic, things that we should remember, things that we should put in our heads and call to remembrance if and when times get a little tough. He finishes in verse 17, he says, Though the fig tree may not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, though the labor of the olive may fail, and the fields yield no food, though the flock may be cut off from the fold, and there be no herd in the stalls. When there is no longer a time of plenty, when there's famine in the land, even the inflation has really caused a lot of problems in it. We can't do the things that we used to do by the things we used to have. Maybe supply chain problems will create problems, and who knows what will go on. Even though those things might be, it may be a difficult time physically. Even though all those things may happen, the backache says, Yet I will rejoice in the Lord. I will joy in the God of my salvation. He is my strength. He will make my feet like deer's feet, and He will make me walk on my high hills. You know, as we look at the world around us, and we keep our eyes open, and some may think I talk about this too much, but I want everyone to have your eyes open as to what's going on. And to watch closely, Jesus Christ admonishes that. And as time goes on, and we see some things happening, you know, we can go back and we can look at Habakkuk and what he said. We can take faith in the Word of God. That yes, these things will happen. Yes, God is in His holy temple. Yes, God knows what's going on. And yes, He will do what He says. Our job is to have our eyes on Him, that vision that will propel us, that vision that will see us through, because God will surely see us through. We can ask that for that vision. And when times get tough, if we don't have it, ask Him. His Holy Spirit will give what we need in time of trouble. He will be there. Never forget that. We have to have faith. And you know, faith is all-encompassing. Paul in 1 Corinthians said, you know, of these, there is faith, hope, and charity, love, of course, charity is the greatest of the three. Faith is there. Now, we talk about trusting in God. We talk about relying on God. We talk about believing in God. All that's encompassed in faith. Faith. We have to have faith. We have to be developing that. That will see us through. That will be the thing that we are completely loyal to God. And though the fed tree may not blossom, God is there.

We don't lose hope. We don't lose faith. We don't lose focus. But we keep going on, and we praise God because we know He's there. We know His plan is at work. It's an awesome, astounding plan. A vision that has been written for us that will amaze the nations, amaze the world, because nothing before it will ever happen the way it is beginning to happen. But we will be there. We will stand right through it all if we heed what the Bible gives us.