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IV. HABAKKUK 2:4 IN HEB
10:38 A. Believer’s Evidence of Salvation (Heb
10:32-34) 1. The author of Hebrews gave five warnings
concerning those who were at the threshold of receiving Christ but ultimately
turn away (2:1-4;
3:7-4:13; 5:11-6:20; 10:26-31; 12:18-29).
They do not lose their salvation, but reveal they never possessed it. 2. However, the author was convinced that
the majority of his readers were believers (Heb 6:9; 10:32-34). 3. They had evidence in their lives of those
who were saved in that they: #1- endured
great sufferings (32), #2 - publically reproached
(33), #3 - sympathetic toward others who were reproached (34). B. Believer’s Encouragement to Persevere (Heb
10:35-39) 1. A true believer is one who perseveres to
the end and does not renounce his faith like an unbeliever (apostate).
Because the early church experienced manifold apostates, believers are
exhorted in Scripture to persevere to the end by the grace of God. 2. They are exhorted not to throw away their
confidence in Christ (35) because: #1 - They will receive the promises (36),
#2 - The Lord is coming (37), #3 - The righteous live by faith (38), and #4 -
The righteous will persevere (39). C. Heb 10:38 1. The quotation of Hab 2:4 in Heb 10:38
correlates well to Habakkuk’s meaning. The righteous
have faith and will continue to have faith in spite of disaster and
suffering. The righteous will remain faithful and persevere because they
trust in God and do not shrink back. 2. In the light of NT teaching, the three
quotations of Hab 2:4 are in agreement in a fuller
understanding of justification. a) A believer receives Christ’s righteousness
when he places his faith alone in Christ’s atonement alone (Ro 1:17). b) A believer cannot be declared righteous by
keeping the Law, because the Law exposes man’s sinfulness (Ro 3:20; 7:7).
Therefore, a person can only be declared righteous by faith alone in Christ
alone (Gal 3:11). c) A true believer who has been justified
will remain faithful and persevere to the end (Heb 10:38). This is an
evidence of salvation and the work of grace in his life. d) In essence, true faith results in
justification. Justification results in faithful perseverance. e) Those who “shrink back” are not true
believers but shrink back to destruction Heb 10:39). HABAKKUK’S
PERPLEXITY WITH GOD Hab
1:12-2:20 (04-29-15) Grace Bible Church,
Gillette, Wyoming Pastor Daryl Hilbert I. GOD'S WOEFUL EXPLANATION (Hab 2:2-20)
(Cont.) D. Warning for Living in Unbelief (2:5) 1. Even though the Babylonians were
unstoppable in their assault on the nations, because of their unbelief, they
were being warned of impending judgment (Hab 2:5) and woes (Hab 2:6-20). 2. The Babylonians were known for their
drunkenness and and barbarous feasting (cf. Dan 5). But,
“wine” was also a metaphor for the Babylonians. Wine is known for causing and
highlighting haughtiness, the very characteristic of the ungodly and violent
Babylonians. 3. They do not “stay at home” taking care of
their domestic life, as would the righteous. Instead, they are off amassing
power, lands, and spoils from the poor with an all-consuming appetite like Sheol. As death is never satisfied by taking everyone, so
are the Babylonians in their raids against all nations and all peoples (Hab
1:17). 4. However, their ungodly character will not
ultimately bring them the fortunes they desire but will “betray” (bagad - deal treacherously) them in leading
them to the judgment of God. E. Woe for Plundering (2:6–8) 1. [6] Habakkuk gives God’s prophetic
destruction against the Babylonians in the form of a “taunt-song” (māshāl - normally a proverb or song,
but also a taunt-song - Isa 14:4; Mic 2:4; Hab 2:6). A
māshāl in this form,
usually consists of judgment against God’s enemies and victory for God’s
people. In this particular case, it refers to didactic mockery and
insinuations against Babylon. 2. The first of five “woes” (hoy -
interjection of lamentation and/or judgment, occurs fifty times in prophets,
e.g. Hab 2:6, 9, 12, 15, 19), is against the Babylonians who increased in
what was not their own (cf. Hab 1:6). In other words, they took loans by
force from whomever with no intention of paying them back, i.e. stealing,
looting, and plundering. In addition, Babylon exacted a heavy tax upon the
conquered nations. 3. [7-8] However, those nations, from whom
Babylon pillaged, would not forget and at an
appropriate time under the sovereign hand of God, would revolt, subdue, and
destroy Babylon. The Babylonian Period began in 626 BC and lasted until the
Persian king, Cyrus the Great, captured Babylon in 538 BC. 4. The bank of nations will foreclose,
bankrupt, and repossess the Babylonian’s debt. The plunderers (Babylon) will
be plundered and the looters will be looted because of all their violence and
bloodshed. The ungodly Babylonians, who would be used to bring judgment
against Judah, would themselves be judged by others. 5. God was answering Habakkuk’s perplexities
by giving him details of His future plans for the
Babylonians. (Hab 1:12; 2:3) . F. Woe for Self-Glorification (2:9–11) 1. [9] Not only were the Babylonians guilty
of plundering the nations, but they used that plunder for their own
glorification, aggrandizement, and fortification. 2. Like an eagle that builds its nest high
upon the mountain, so the Babylonians built a towering world empire from the
wealth of its victims. They attempted to make their empire indestructible
from calamity and enemy attack. 3. [10] The Babylonians secured their
grandiose survival by killing others (“cutting off many peoples”). It
appeared to them as a world in which the fittest survived. But
it is a world under the righteous and sovereign rule of God. Therefore, the
Babylonians sinned against themselves. They stored up the wrath of God for
the day of wrath. 4. [11] How foolish
they were in not knowing that the stones cry out from the walls of ruin and
from the walls of Babylonian grandeur. This is reference to the omniscience and omnipresence of
God. This is a good explanation of what it means that God’s eyes are too pure
to look upon evil with favor (Hab 1:13). It does not mean that God does not
see evil. Rather it means God sees all evil, will never forget evil, will
never look with favor upon evil, and will bring His wrath upon evil. II. OBSERVATIONS AND APPLICATIONS A. Character dictates consequences. (Gal 6:7) 1. This refers to individuals and to nations. 2. Like Judah, this even refers to God’s
people. 3. Certainly is grace is extended, but grace
was extended to Israel and Judah over and ever from generation to generation.
But grace is not grace without justice. B. It is not the survival of the fittest but the survival of the
faithful 1. The “faithful” are those who place their faith in Christ. 2. The “faithful” are those who receive the
righteousness of Christ. 3. The “faithful” are those who will be
faithful to the Lord and persevere, even in spite of persecution and disaster. C. God does not remember the believer’s sin (Isa 43:25) 1. This does not mean that an omniscient God can or will forget. 2. It means that God will never bring the
believer’s sins up against him because Christ made full satisfaction for them
(Ro 8:1). |
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Grace Bible Church · 4000 E. Collins Rd · PO Box #3762 · Gillette, WY · (307) 686-1516 |
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