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00:00:01 We don’t know anything about Habakkuk’s parents. 00:00:03 We don’t know anything 00:00:04 about his circumstances in life or his death. 00:00:07 We don’t know anything about Habakkuk, 00:00:08 but what we do know is that he lived 00:00:11 during a most stressful time 00:00:13 during the nation of Israel’s history. 00:00:16 The year was 628 B.C.E. 00:00:19 Wicked King Jehoiakim was ruling, the son of Josiah. 00:00:25 That would be about 20 years before 607 B.C.E. 00:00:28 And verse 2 describes the conditions 00:00:31 that Habakkuk and Jeremiah and others had to face. 00:00:34 Verse 2 says: 00:00:36 “How long, O Jehovah, must I cry for help, but you do not hear? 00:00:41 How long must I ask for help from violence, but you do not intervene?” 00:00:46 How stressful this must have been to Habakkuk! 00:00:49 Jerusalem was no city of peace, rather, a city of violence and bloodshed. 00:00:53 Verse 4 says: 00:00:55 “The wicked surround the righteous.” 00:00:58 The prophet Urijah had to run away because of the wickedness; he was afraid. 00:01:02 He went down to Egypt. 00:01:04 Jehoiakim drags him back to Jerusalem and kills him. 00:01:07 And then Jehoiakim hated Jeremiah, 00:01:10 had seething hatred for that prophet. 00:01:13 It was a scary time to live in Jerusalem, and Habakkuk had to do that. 00:01:17 No wonder—no wonder he poured out his heart to Jehovah: 00:01:21 ‘Why, Jehovah—why? Why don’t you do something? 00:01:24 ‘Jerusalem—this is the city you chose; 00:01:27 ‘your temple is here; you had this temple built; 00:01:30 ‘the Davidic king is on the throne. 00:01:32 ‘This is your city, Jehovah. 00:01:33 Why don’t you do something?’ 00:01:37 And Jehovah said, ‘Habakkuk, I am doing something 00:01:41 —I am doing something.’ 00:01:43 And He now goes on to show what He is doing. 00:01:46 Yes, it is wicked times there. 00:01:48 But He shows now in verses 5 and 6 00:01:50 (even as Brother Thomas had said) 00:01:52 that the Babylonians are coming —the Chaldeans are coming— 00:01:55 and they’re going to punish unfaithful Israelites, unfaithful ones. 00:02:00 And then in chapter 2, Jehovah shows Habakkuk 00:02:04 that Babylon itself will not escape punishment 00:02:06 and that it will be conquered by the Medes and the Persians 00:02:09 in 539 B.C.E. 00:02:12 So amid all of those problems, 00:02:15 ‘Habakkuk, I have my eye on you [Jehovah is saying] 00:02:18 ‘and on Jeremiah and Daniel and Ezekiel. 00:02:20 ‘These faithful ones —they’re not going to be lost in the crowd. 00:02:24 ‘I’ll take care of you. 00:02:26 However, in the meantime, be faithful and be patient.’ 00:02:30 And now in chapter 1 00:02:33 —in fact, in chapter 2, verse 3— 00:02:36 Jehovah shows and He explains to Habakkuk 00:02:40 exactly what He is doing as well 00:02:43 (chapter 2 and verse 3). 00:02:47 “The vision is yet for its appointed time, 00:02:50 “and it is rushing toward its end, and it will not lie. 00:02:54 Even if it should delay, . . . ” 00:02:56 ‘You see, the vision —the destruction of Jerusalem— 00:02:59 ‘it is rushing toward its end. 00:03:01 ‘It’s eagerly moving forward toward its fulfillment, Habakkuk. 00:03:05 And even if it should delay, you be careful.’ 00:03:07 In the imperfect mind, it might delay. 00:03:09 Maybe Habakkuk and others thought: 00:03:11 ‘Well, didn’t Isaiah say that Babylon was going to destroy Jerusalem? 00:03:15 That was 100 years ago.’ 00:03:17 It hadn’t happened yet. 00:03:19 But it might delay in one’s mind. 00:03:22 However, what does Jehovah say there in verse 3? 00:03:26 The last sentence: “It will not be late!” 00:03:31 ‘Habakkuk, it will not be late!’ 00:03:33 And in 20 years (20 years later), 00:03:36 in 607 B.C.E., Jerusalem was destroyed. 00:03:40 So any delay was a perceived delay due to imperfection. 00:03:46 607 B.C.E.—oh, it’s easy for us. 00:03:49 We look back in history— 00:03:51 We look back, and we say from our standpoint: 00:03:53 “607 B.C.E., of course it was 607 B.C.E. 00:03:56 “That was a crucial date in Bible prophecy. 00:03:59 “607 B.C.E. is linked to the birth of God’s Kingdom in 1914. 00:04:03 607 B.C.E. is the beginning of the Gentile Times.” 00:04:08 We get it! 00:04:09 But Habakkuk, Jeremiah, and others 00:04:12 did not have the luxury of looking back retrospectively and saying, 00:04:16 “It’s going to be in 607 B.C.E.” 00:04:18 No, Jehovah just said to them: 00:04:20 “It will not be late!” 00:04:24 ‘Your job, your work —be faithful and be patient. 00:04:30 I am doing something.’ 00:04:31 That’s what he’s telling Habakkuk. 00:04:34 The same with us today. 00:04:36 Armageddon—it’s fixed; it’s predetermined. 00:04:39 The hour, the day—it’s coming. 00:04:41 “It will not be late!” 00:04:43 What do we do? 00:04:45 Be patient and be faithful. 00:04:47 We trust in Jehovah. 00:04:50 Now, in verse 4, 00:04:52 Jehovah gives Habakkuk tremendous encouragement 00:04:55 —and encouragement that is so practical for you and me today. 00:05:00 The last portion of verse 4. 00:05:02 Let’s read that, please. 00:05:04 “But the righteous one [that’s Habakkuk] 00:05:08 will live by his faithfulness.” 00:05:13 “The righteous one”—that’s you and me. 00:05:17 We are trying to be righteous. 00:05:18 We want to hold to Jehovah’s standards. 00:05:21 We love Jehovah. 00:05:22 But now Jehovah says, 00:05:24 ‘Just live by faithfulness; live by faithfulness.’ 00:05:28 What does that mean? 00:05:30 That statement is more important than ever before. 00:05:33 “Faith is the assured expectation” 00:05:35 that the things that Jehovah says will come true 00:05:38 and the confidence and the conviction that everything Jehovah says 00:05:41 is going to be in our best interests—faithful. 00:05:46 But we need to be faithful more than ever before 00:05:49 because look at how Jehovah has allowed wickedness 00:05:51 to increase, proliferate. 00:05:53 It is so wicked today 00:05:57 —the websites that one can stumble onto, 00:06:00 the wicked websites that can take one’s spirituality away. 00:06:07 The more that Jehovah allows wickedness, violence, and so forth 00:06:10 to proliferate on the earth, that’s more of a test of our love for him. 00:06:14 How deep is our devotion to Jehovah? 00:06:16 How much do we love him? 00:06:18 What is in our hearts? 00:06:19 It causes us to take a stand. 00:06:22 So being faithful 00:06:24 is not simply a mental acknowledgment that ‘I’m one of Jehovah’s Witnesses.’ 00:06:28 No, rather, being faithful 00:06:32 means complete trust in Jehovah’s promises 00:06:37 and being firmly convinced 00:06:39 that whatever Jehovah asks us to do is in our best interests 00:06:45 —complete trust in Jehovah’s promises 00:06:50 and being firmly convinced, 00:06:52 having this conviction and being firmly persuaded, 00:06:55 that whatever Jehovah asks us to do 00:06:57 is in our best interests. 00:07:01 This point is so powerful that Paul quoted it three times in the Greek Scriptures. 00:07:06 “Faith”—over 500 times it’s in the Bible (we could go on and on); 00:07:10 that’s how important this word “faith” is. 00:07:14 So that’s what Jehovah now is telling Habakkuk. 00:07:19 But, now, chapter 3 and verse 2, 00:07:22 how does one build confidence? 00:07:24 How does one build faith? 00:07:25 Chapter 3 and verse 2: 00:07:31 “O Jehovah, I have heard the report about you.” 00:07:34 This is what Habakkuk did: 00:07:36 He meditated on Jehovah and the reports about Him. 00:07:39 What reports? 00:07:40 Oh, the Red Sea, Jericho, 00:07:42 185,000 Assyrians killed in Hezekiah’s day 00:07:46 —these were reports Habakkuk meditated on, 00:07:49 and it built his confidence in Jehovah. 00:07:51 And he says: “I am in awe, O Jehovah, of your activity.” 00:07:55 Jehovah’s activity is fear-inspiring. 00:07:58 That’s what it does for us too 00:08:00 when we meditate on all that Jehovah has done for his people today, 00:08:04 the fulfillment of prophecies. 00:08:06 No wonder Habakkuk said: 00:08:07 “In the midst of the years bring it to life!” 00:08:10 ‘Bring it back, dear Father, bring it back. 00:08:13 ‘I am confident you will revive your activity 00:08:16 in behalf of faithful ones.’ 00:08:18 And that’s, again, our prayer. 00:08:23 In spite of the difficult conditions Habakkuk lived in and had to face, 00:08:28 after meditating on Jehovah’s activity, 00:08:31 Habakkuk was moved to utter what may be 00:08:34 one of the most memorable expressions ever expressed 00:08:39 —an expression of confidence— by a human. 00:08:42 And that’s in verse 18 of chapter 3: 00:08:47 “Yet, as for me, I will exult in Jehovah; 00:08:51 I will be joyful in the God of my salvation,” 00:08:54 in spite of the challenges. 00:08:56 This means, literally, “jump for joy.” 00:09:00 ‘I’m going to spin around. 00:09:01 ‘I’m going to spin around in my love for you 00:09:04 and joy for you, my delight in God.’ 00:09:06 What a beautiful expression of confidence that Habakkuk had! 00:09:12 Habakkuk disappears from the account, but his message remains. 00:09:17 And that message is loud and clear 00:09:19 for you and me today: Trust in Jehovah. 00:09:23 And when we do that with our acts of worship 00:09:26 —each time we trust in Jehovah and show him how much we love him 00:09:29 in spite of our problems— 00:09:31 Jehovah’s heart rejoices and he loves our worship. 00:09:36 So in confidence, let us trust in Jehovah, 00:09:40 like Habakkuk, 00:09:42 and pour out our anxieties and concerns to our heavenly Father. 00:09:45 Pay attention to prophecy: “It will not be late!” 00:09:49 And above all, let’s be patient; 00:09:51 let’s be faithful as we wait on our God of salvation.
00:00:01 We don’t know anything about Habakkuk’s parents. 00:00:03 We don’t know anything 00:00:04 about his circumstances in life or his death. 00:00:07 We don’t know anything about Habakkuk, 00:00:08 but what we do know is that he lived 00:00:11 during a most stressful time 00:00:13 during the nation of Israel’s history. 00:00:16 The year was 628 B.C.E. 00:00:19 Wicked King Jehoiakim was ruling, the son of Josiah. 00:00:25 That would be about 20 years before 607 B.C.E. 00:00:28 And verse 2 describes the conditions 00:00:31 that Habakkuk and Jeremiah and others had to face. 00:00:34 Verse 2 says: 00:00:36 “How long, O Jehovah, must I cry for help, but you do not hear? 00:00:41 How long must I ask for help from violence, but you do not intervene?” 00:00:46 How stressful this must have been to Habakkuk! 00:00:49 Jerusalem was no city of peace, rather, a city of violence and bloodshed. 00:00:53 Verse 4 says: 00:00:55 “The wicked surround the righteous.” 00:00:58 The prophet Urijah had to run away because of the wickedness; he was afraid. 00:01:02 He went down to Egypt. 00:01:04 Jehoiakim drags him back to Jerusalem and kills him. 00:01:07 And then Jehoiakim hated Jeremiah, 00:01:10 had seething hatred for that prophet. 00:01:13 It was a scary time to live in Jerusalem, and Habakkuk had to do that. 00:01:17 No wonder—no wonder he poured out his heart to Jehovah: 00:01:21 ‘Why, Jehovah—why? Why don’t you do something? 00:01:24 ‘Jerusalem—this is the city you chose; 00:01:27 ‘your temple is here; you had this temple built; 00:01:30 ‘the Davidic king is on the throne. 00:01:32 ‘This is your city, Jehovah. 00:01:33 Why don’t you do something?’ 00:01:37 And Jehovah said, ‘Habakkuk, I am doing something 00:01:41 —I am doing something.’ 00:01:43 And He now goes on to show what He is doing. 00:01:46 Yes, it is wicked times there. 00:01:48 But He shows now in verses 5 and 6 00:01:50 (even as Brother Thomas had said) 00:01:52 that the Babylonians are coming —the Chaldeans are coming— 00:01:55 and they’re going to punish unfaithful Israelites, unfaithful ones. 00:02:00 And then in chapter 2, Jehovah shows Habakkuk 00:02:04 that Babylon itself will not escape punishment 00:02:06 and that it will be conquered by the Medes and the Persians 00:02:09 in 539 B.C.E. 00:02:12 So amid all of those problems, 00:02:15 ‘Habakkuk, I have my eye on you [Jehovah is saying] 00:02:18 ‘and on Jeremiah and Daniel and Ezekiel. 00:02:20 ‘These faithful ones —they’re not going to be lost in the crowd. 00:02:24 ‘I’ll take care of you. 00:02:26 However, in the meantime, be faithful and be patient.’ 00:02:30 And now in chapter 1 00:02:33 —in fact, in chapter 2, verse 3— 00:02:36 Jehovah shows and He explains to Habakkuk 00:02:40 exactly what He is doing as well 00:02:43 (chapter 2 and verse 3). 00:02:47 “The vision is yet for its appointed time, 00:02:50 “and it is rushing toward its end, and it will not lie. 00:02:54 Even if it should delay, . . . ” 00:02:56 ‘You see, the vision —the destruction of Jerusalem— 00:02:59 ‘it is rushing toward its end. 00:03:01 ‘It’s eagerly moving forward toward its fulfillment, Habakkuk. 00:03:05 And even if it should delay, you be careful.’ 00:03:07 In the imperfect mind, it might delay. 00:03:09 Maybe Habakkuk and others thought: 00:03:11 ‘Well, didn’t Isaiah say that Babylon was going to destroy Jerusalem? 00:03:15 That was 100 years ago.’ 00:03:17 It hadn’t happened yet. 00:03:19 But it might delay in one’s mind. 00:03:22 However, what does Jehovah say there in verse 3? 00:03:26 The last sentence: “It will not be late!” 00:03:31 ‘Habakkuk, it will not be late!’ 00:03:33 And in 20 years (20 years later), 00:03:36 in 607 B.C.E., Jerusalem was destroyed. 00:03:40 So any delay was a perceived delay due to imperfection. 00:03:46 607 B.C.E.—oh, it’s easy for us. 00:03:49 We look back in history— 00:03:51 We look back, and we say from our standpoint: 00:03:53 “607 B.C.E., of course it was 607 B.C.E. 00:03:56 “That was a crucial date in Bible prophecy. 00:03:59 “607 B.C.E. is linked to the birth of God’s Kingdom in 1914. 00:04:03 607 B.C.E. is the beginning of the Gentile Times.” 00:04:08 We get it! 00:04:09 But Habakkuk, Jeremiah, and others 00:04:12 did not have the luxury of looking back retrospectively and saying, 00:04:16 “It’s going to be in 607 B.C.E.” 00:04:18 No, Jehovah just said to them: 00:04:20 “It will not be late!” 00:04:24 ‘Your job, your work —be faithful and be patient. 00:04:30 I am doing something.’ 00:04:31 That’s what he’s telling Habakkuk. 00:04:34 The same with us today. 00:04:36 Armageddon—it’s fixed; it’s predetermined. 00:04:39 The hour, the day—it’s coming. 00:04:41 “It will not be late!” 00:04:43 What do we do? 00:04:45 Be patient and be faithful. 00:04:47 We trust in Jehovah. 00:04:50 Now, in verse 4, 00:04:52 Jehovah gives Habakkuk tremendous encouragement 00:04:55 —and encouragement that is so practical for you and me today. 00:05:00 The last portion of verse 4. 00:05:02 Let’s read that, please. 00:05:04 “But the righteous one [that’s Habakkuk] 00:05:08 will live by his faithfulness.” 00:05:13 “The righteous one”—that’s you and me. 00:05:17 We are trying to be righteous. 00:05:18 We want to hold to Jehovah’s standards. 00:05:21 We love Jehovah. 00:05:22 But now Jehovah says, 00:05:24 ‘Just live by faithfulness; live by faithfulness.’ 00:05:28 What does that mean? 00:05:30 That statement is more important than ever before. 00:05:33 “Faith is the assured expectation” 00:05:35 that the things that Jehovah says will come true 00:05:38 and the confidence and the conviction that everything Jehovah says 00:05:41 is going to be in our best interests—faithful. 00:05:46 But we need to be faithful more than ever before 00:05:49 because look at how Jehovah has allowed wickedness 00:05:51 to increase, proliferate. 00:05:53 It is so wicked today 00:05:57 —the websites that one can stumble onto, 00:06:00 the wicked websites that can take one’s spirituality away. 00:06:07 The more that Jehovah allows wickedness, violence, and so forth 00:06:10 to proliferate on the earth, that’s more of a test of our love for him. 00:06:14 How deep is our devotion to Jehovah? 00:06:16 How much do we love him? 00:06:18 What is in our hearts? 00:06:19 It causes us to take a stand. 00:06:22 So being faithful 00:06:24 is not simply a mental acknowledgment that ‘I’m one of Jehovah’s Witnesses.’ 00:06:28 No, rather, being faithful 00:06:32 means complete trust in Jehovah’s promises 00:06:37 and being firmly convinced 00:06:39 that whatever Jehovah asks us to do is in our best interests 00:06:45 —complete trust in Jehovah’s promises 00:06:50 and being firmly convinced, 00:06:52 having this conviction and being firmly persuaded, 00:06:55 that whatever Jehovah asks us to do 00:06:57 is in our best interests. 00:07:01 This point is so powerful that Paul quoted it three times in the Greek Scriptures. 00:07:06 “Faith”—over 500 times it’s in the Bible (we could go on and on); 00:07:10 that’s how important this word “faith” is. 00:07:14 So that’s what Jehovah now is telling Habakkuk. 00:07:19 But, now, chapter 3 and verse 2, 00:07:22 how does one build confidence? 00:07:24 How does one build faith? 00:07:25 Chapter 3 and verse 2: 00:07:31 “O Jehovah, I have heard the report about you.” 00:07:34 This is what Habakkuk did: 00:07:36 He meditated on Jehovah and the reports about Him. 00:07:39 What reports? 00:07:40 Oh, the Red Sea, Jericho, 00:07:42 185,000 Assyrians killed in Hezekiah’s day 00:07:46 —these were reports Habakkuk meditated on, 00:07:49 and it built his confidence in Jehovah. 00:07:51 And he says: “I am in awe, O Jehovah, of your activity.” 00:07:55 Jehovah’s activity is fear-inspiring. 00:07:58 That’s what it does for us too 00:08:00 when we meditate on all that Jehovah has done for his people today, 00:08:04 the fulfillment of prophecies. 00:08:06 No wonder Habakkuk said: 00:08:07 “In the midst of the years bring it to life!” 00:08:10 ‘Bring it back, dear Father, bring it back. 00:08:13 ‘I am confident you will revive your activity 00:08:16 in behalf of faithful ones.’ 00:08:18 And that’s, again, our prayer. 00:08:23 In spite of the difficult conditions Habakkuk lived in and had to face, 00:08:28 after meditating on Jehovah’s activity, 00:08:31 Habakkuk was moved to utter what may be 00:08:34 one of the most memorable expressions ever expressed 00:08:39 —an expression of confidence— by a human. 00:08:42 And that’s in verse 18 of chapter 3: 00:08:47 “Yet, as for me, I will exult in Jehovah; 00:08:51 I will be joyful in the God of my salvation,” 00:08:54 in spite of the challenges. 00:08:56 This means, literally, “jump for joy.” 00:09:00 ‘I’m going to spin around. 00:09:01 ‘I’m going to spin around in my love for you 00:09:04 and joy for you, my delight in God.’ 00:09:06 What a beautiful expression of confidence that Habakkuk had! 00:09:12 Habakkuk disappears from the account, but his message remains. 00:09:17 And that message is loud and clear 00:09:19 for you and me today: Trust in Jehovah. 00:09:23 And when we do that with our acts of worship 00:09:26 —each time we trust in Jehovah and show him how much we love him 00:09:29 in spite of our problems— 00:09:31 Jehovah’s heart rejoices and he loves our worship. 00:09:36 So in confidence, let us trust in Jehovah, 00:09:40 like Habakkuk, 00:09:42 and pour out our anxieties and concerns to our heavenly Father. 00:09:45 Pay attention to prophecy: “It will not be late!” 00:09:49 And above all, let’s be patient; 00:09:51 let’s be faithful as we wait on our God of salvation.
