The Book of Habakkuk Survey.
The Danger of Assumption Introduction
The danger of assumption is something we all wrestle with, most of the time it is with friends or with family. You have experienced it, you send an sms and there is no early response, you make a telephone call and when it is not answered you assume that the person is screening their phone and does not want to answer the call.
Sadly, your assumptions always turn to the negative, condemning the person in order to justify yourself. They don’t answer the phone and you think it’s because they screen their call, they see its you and don’t answer because they don’t like you or you think they are angry with you.
There could be hundreds of thousands of reasons that the person does not answer the call, but you think it’s the very one that you believe it to be by nothing more than how you are feeling at that time. That’s just one small example of the danger of assumptions.
The worst example of the danger of assumptions is when you apply the same reasoning against God. The main question people ask almost always begins with the same word;
Why?
What is often behind that word, often but not always, is a feeling of injustice. We Cry out of wrong, we believe. When it comes to things of the Lord this assumption can be dangerous.
Assumption of the Sufferer
1 The burden which Habakkuk the prophet did see.
2 O Lord, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear!
Even cry out unto thee of violence, and thou wilt not save!
3 Why dost thou shew me iniquity, and cause me to behold grievance?
For spoiling and violence are before me:
And there are that raise up strife and contention.
4 Therefore the law is slacked, and judgment doth never go forth:
For the wicked doth compass about the righteous;
Therefore wrong judgment proceedeth.
The prophet is given a vision, a burden that he saw. He has looked upon it and considered it, he knows it will come to pass and he himself is greatly troubled by it. Habakkuk lived some time before the Babylonian Captivity and this chapter gives us and indication as to the timing of it.
Read with me from verse 5
5 Behold ye among the heathen, and regard, and wonder marvellously:
For I will work a work in your days,
Which ye will not believe, though it be told you.
6 For, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation,
Which shall march through the breadth of the land,
To possess the dwellingplaces that are not theirs.
Notice that the passage is referring to an event yet future, “For I will work a work in your days, Which ye will not believe, though it be told you” Anything that the Scripture refers to in the future tense as an event certain to occur, can be considered prophetic.
We may not be fully aware of the nature of the event, nor its exact timing. But it is reasonable to determine that if it is given as a certainty and is spoken of yet future “for I will work a work in your days”, then it is prophetic.
It does not mean that, for it to be prophetic the event needs to happen long into the future. The man of God in 1 Kings 13 who prophesied that the alter shall be rent and the ashes poured out, was given as a sign to another prophecy in the distant future, and it occurred moments later as a testimony to King Jeroboam.
Prophecies are in their nature testimonies to the power and sovereignty of God.
When he speaks and it occurs just as he spoke, we are held to account for what has been testified.
So the placement of this must then be prior to the Raising up of the Chaldeans.
Now the Chaldeans are the people of the area of Babylon. The Chaldeans in the Bible refer to the Babylonians, this is the Chaldean nation. Remember that Babylon is a City not a nation. Similar to Nineveh and the Assyrians, the City is Nineveh, the nation is Assyria.
The people are Chaldeans and they are yet to rise.
6 For, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation,
Which shall march through the breadth of the land,
To possess the dwellingplaces that are not theirs.
This is prophetic of the King of Babylon who will also be known as the Hammer of the Whole Earth (Jer 50:23)This is the nation and people that will judge the Ninevites we spoke of last week as we considered the book of Nahum.
So if the Chaldeans are yet to rise, it would place the book some time before the Captivity in Babylon by the Chaldeans. We do not know how early, but if Habakkuk has also witnessed against his nation he may also referring to what has come upon the Northern Kingdom of Israel by the Assyrians.
Whatever the case may be, we can be certain that its placement is before the destruction of Nineveh by the Chaldeans and before the Captivity of Judah by those same people.
So it is of this prophecy that Habakkuk is bringing his complaint to the Lord.
2 O Lord, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear!
Even cry out unto thee of violence, and thou wilt not save!
3 Why dost thou shew me iniquity, and cause me to behold grievance?
For spoiling and violence are before me:
And there are that raise up strife and contention.
The Lord has shown to Habakkuk that which is yet to come and Habakkuk only sees the violence that will come upon his people and he cries to the Lord long and hard for them, but it seems to him as if the Lord will not hear or save.
3 Why dost thou shew me iniquity, and cause me to behold grievance?
For spoiling and violence are before me:
And there are that raise up strife and contention.
He asks the Lord why it is that he shows to him the iniquity and the grievance and the spoiling and violence that will yet come upon Judah, his people.
4 Therefore the law is slacked, and judgment doth never go forth:
For the wicked doth compass about the righteous;
Therefore wrong judgment proceedeth.
And therefore assumes that there is no justice, Therefore the law is slacked, and judgment doth never go forth: And consider how dangerous the assumption is as he concludes Therefore wrong judgment proceedeth.
He sees violence come upon his own people by a nation more wicked than they are and has his complaint to the Lord that they suffer out of wrong. Based on this reasoning we identify his conclusion when he begins that last sentence with the word Therefore. This is the danger of assumption out of the mouth of Habakkuk.
Who else has complained this way?
Turn to Job 19:6-7
6 Know now that God hath overthrown me,
And hath compassed me with his net.
7 Behold, I cry out of wrong, but I am not heard:
I cry aloud, but there is no judgment.
Habakkuk complains out of wrong he believes done to his people, Job complains out of wrong he believes done to him. Both assume that true Judgement is failed and the Law of that judgement is slacked. “It’s not fair” they say. Have you ever said that?
All people understand there is a judgement that is just.
For any person to complain of unfair treatment, it presumes they have a concept of justice built within. But having that concept alone does not mean you are just in the assumption you have made. Recall Elihu who chastised Job in the 32nd chapter because he “justified himself rather than God”
Judah where judged by the Lord for their evil and idolatry, for their rejection of the Laws of God and he sent to them prophets, rising early and sending them. That they will turn and repent. MOSES warned them of this very danger in Deuteronomy but they would not hear.
It’s not a case of ability, but of the will. “They would not hear”.
We often assume that our judgment is just, even to the point of claiming God, the one who created the eternal law, as unjust.
This assumption is dangerous and I have seen it lead, unchecked, to a hatred of God. It can culminate in the most perverse belief of God imaginable if it is not checked by the truth.
“The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully.”
Turn to Matt 7:1
Judge not, that ye be not judged. 2 For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.
Be very careful when you judge things that are not in accord with righteous judgment. Many people use this passage to make the claim that we are not to judge anything. They don’t read the rest of the passage as Jesus tells them how they are to judge properly. But make no mistake, there is a definite indication that people will be held to account, not only by the perfect standards of God, but they will be measured against even their own standards;
For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.
Man sets standards for others to follow which he deems just, but he does not follow those same standards he sets for others. Does that sound familiar to you? It should.
Neither Habakkuk nor Job seemed to see things from Gods perspective at this point. Neither were willing and patient enough to wait on the Lord. It seems that both have forgotten the nature and Character of the one they malign, justifying themselves rather than God, assuming that they have judge correctly “crying out of wrong”.
People who suffer wrong, do indeed suffer wrong. But as to the reason for their suffering, they may assume something terribly wrong, that God is unjust. And that is the highpoint of the danger of assumption.
I said there could be a million reasons as to why things happen, but think that if God is good and he is in control, is it’s final intention for good of for evil?
If it is due to the judgment of God upon them, they should rejoice because it is only for a good end for the Lord is chastising them to repent.
If it is due to their faithfulness, then through their suffering he will bring about good.
For all things work together for good to them that love him.
Take care not to assume error to the Lord when you suffer, God is Good, he is LOVE, He is Righteous and Just, so it would be certain that any assumption of error to the Lord, will be in error. If Richard Dawkins exalted God rather than his own evil imagination, he would be humble before the Lord. For those like him, the danger of such assumption may end with their hatred of God and a lake of fire prepared for the devil and his angels. The danger of assumption related to God can be eternal.
Assumption of the Proud
2 I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower,
And will watch to see what he will say unto me,
And what I shall answer when I am reproved.
2 And the Lord answered me, and said,
Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables,
That he may run that readeth it.
3 For the vision is yet for an appointed time,
But at the end it shall speak, and not lie:
Though it tarry, wait for it;
Because it will surely come, it will not tarry.
4 Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him:
But the just shall live by his faith.
As you read the rest of this passage you cannot help but recognise King Nebuchadnezzar in his pride with his heart lifted up.
In Chapter 1:11 we see a dramatic turn of events.
The first number of verses show the coming of the Chaldean and their terribleness and their fierce judgment upon the heathen round about as well as onto Judah.
9They shall come all for violence:
Their faces shall sup up as the east wind,
And they shall gather the captivity as the sand.
10 And they shall scoff at the kings,
And the princes shall be a scorn unto them:
They shall deride every strong hold;
For they shall heap dust, and take it.
At this time the Chaldeans were doing Gods bidding, Scripture refers to this king as nothing less than his “Servant”, and he laid that nations bare.
You recall that he did the same thing exactly for the Assyrians. Remember that Sennacherib of Nineveh the city of the Assyrians was rebuked by God through Isaiah telling him that it was God who made the power the nations he conquered weak and small.
But the Assyrian King claimed it was his own power and no god is able to stand against him.
Now it is the turn of the King of the Chaldeans, of Babylon.
Look there at verse 11
11 Then shall his mind change, and he shall pass over, and offend,
Imputing this his power unto his god.
But now here is Chapter 2 Habakkuk begins with a word from the Lord that the Lord desires him to write and to make it plain upon tables (v2).
He desires that Habakkuk would ensure that the warning he is about to write would be plain, simple, easily understood, without confusion, clear. Why?
That he may run that readeth it (v2)
Why do you think danger signs we might see are bright and with few words?
“Hazardous Chemicals”
“falling Rocks”
“Cliff ahead”
Rather than
“Within this container is a certain substance that may or may not injure you depending upon whether or not you expose it to an open flame, puncture the container, damage the valve used to enable access to the contents, or in anywise abuse the substance within close proximity to your person” (AKA Hazardous Chemicals)
Or/
“Should your travel be undertaken at a day and hour when there is likelihood of prior disturbance to the grounds or rocks at elevation higher than where you are now traveling, and should said condition of those grounds have been previously disturbed by weather, or fire, or earthquake, movements of animals or any other such effort heretofore not described in detail, death or serious injury may occur through the gravitational force enacted upon the disturbance of said debris” (AKA Falling Rocks)
I won’t go on, I think you get the picture.
If our own warning signs are given “Plain upon tables” that are to care for our temporal wellbeing, how much more should the word of God be clear which ultimately warns of eternal destruction in hell?
But this warning given to Habakkuk is that which concerns the Chaldeans.
God’s desire is that the people would take warning and flee from the wrath to come.
3 For the vision is yet for an appointed time,
But at the end it shall speak, and not lie:
Though it tarry, wait for it;
Because it will surely come, it will not tarry.
The appointed time is God’s time and not mans. As it is appointed It will come and not be late.
What you see is that there is certainly of the event, but the time is in the Lords hands.
Though it tarry, wait for it;
Because it will surely come, it will not tarry.
Don’t think for a moment just because there is still breath in your lungs the end won’t speak. (I speak to those who are on the fence concerning their eternity). it will surely come, it will not tarry.
Now we have the pride moment
4 Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him:
But the just shall live by his faith.
Turn with me to Daniel 4 as we see the event that led to that which is written in Habakkuk 1:11
11 Then shall his mind change, and he shall pass over, and offend,
Imputing this his power unto his god.
This same thought came in the mind of Sennecherib and now it is in the heart of Nebuchadnezzar.
Daniel 4:19-33
19 Then Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, was astonied for one hour, and his thoughts troubled him. The king spake, and said, Belteshazzar, let not the dream, or the interpretation thereof, trouble thee. Belteshazzar answered and said, My lord, the dream be to them that hate thee, and the interpretation thereof to thine enemies.
20 The tree that thou sawest, which grew, and was strong, whose height reached unto the heaven, and the sight thereof to all the earth; 21 Whose leaves were fair, and the fruit thereof much, and in it was meat for all; under which the beasts of the field dwelt, and upon whose branches the fowls of the heaven had their habitation: 22 It is thou, O king, that art grown and become strong: for thy greatness is grown, and reacheth unto heaven, and thy dominion to the end of the earth. 23 And whereas the king saw a watcher and an holy one coming down from heaven, and saying, Hew the tree down, and destroy it; yet leave the stump of the roots thereof in the earth, even with a band of iron and brass, in the tender grass of the field; and let it be wet with the dew of heaven, and let his portion be with the beasts of the field, till seven times pass over him;
24 This is the interpretation, O king, and this is the decree of the most High, which is come upon my lord the king: 25 That they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, and they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and they shall wet thee with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass over thee, till thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will.
26 And whereas they commanded to leave the stump of the tree roots; thy kingdom shall be sure unto thee, after that thou shalt have known that the heavens do rule. 27 Wherefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable unto thee, and break off thy sins by righteousness, and thine iniquities by shewing mercy to the poor; if it may be a lengthening of thy tranquillity.
28 All this came upon the king Nebuchadnezzar.
29 At the end of twelve months he walked in the palace of the kingdom of Babylon. 30 The king spake, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty?
31 While the word was in the king’s mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, saying, O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken; The kingdom is departed from thee. 32 And they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field: they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and seven times shall pass over thee, until thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will. 33 The same hour was the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar: and he was driven from men, and did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hairs were grown like eagles’ feathers, and his nails like birds’ claws.
The assumption of those who have gained all they have gained is that it all came about by their own doing, the moment they think this to be true, their heart is lifted up.
Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him
This is so exiting to know brethren. If all that we have is given to us by the Lord and not by our own doings. If the work of our hands are so blessed as to gain for us great comfort or even influence, then it is in praise to God that it came about.
But friends, this also means that we all have the freedom to obey the Lord no matter what our trials are, where they are financial, physical, relational. If and only IF, we are willing to trust in the Lord for the outcome, and live our lives according to it, then and ONLY then are we blessed.
Wrong assumption is now corrected when we are put back in place as the creature and not the creator. We are now free to live lives by faith.
LOOK AGAIN AT HABAKKUK 2:4
4 Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him:
But the just shall live by his faith.
But the just shall live by his faith.
But the just shall live by his faith.
All of us have struggles in many forms, but consider what the Prophet king David said concerning matters of our preservation even in life, turn with me to Psalm 37:23
23 The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord:
And he delighteth in his way.
24 Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down:
For the Lord upholdeth him with his hand.
25 I have been young, and now am old;
Yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken,
Nor his seed begging bread.
How many of us struggle financially, what a comforting verse is verse 25.
26 He is ever merciful, and lendeth;
And his seed is blessed.
27 Depart from evil, and do good;
And dwell for evermore.
28 For the Lord loveth judgment,
And forsaketh not his saints;
They are preserved for ever:
But the seed of the wicked shall be cut off.
O brethren, mark that passage, highlight it, hang it on your walls and the mirror of your bathroom, be reminded daily that “The Just shall live by faith”
Understanding Rightly Set
3 A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet upon Shigionoth.
2 O Lord, I have heard thy speech, and was afraid:
O Lord, revive thy work in the midst of the years,
In the midst of the years make known;
In wrath remember mercy.
3 God came from Teman,
And the Holy One from mount Paran. Selah.
His glory covered the heavens,
And the earth was full of his praise.
4 And his brightness was as the light;
He had horns coming out of his hand:
And there was the hiding of his power.
5 Before him went the pestilence,
And burning coals went forth at his feet.
6 He stood, and measured the earth:
He beheld, and drove asunder the nations;
And the everlasting mountains were scattered,
The perpetual hills did bow:
His ways are everlasting.
After contending with the Lord Habakkuk now submits himself to prayer. Now he goes into the “sanctuary of God”, he prays and as he does so he recalls to mind the incredible majesty and power of God.
He remembers that he is the holy one and his glory covers the heavens with the earth full of his praise. His brightness lights the day and his power is readily seen.
This is the God who himself measured the earth, he knows where light dwelleth, he laid its foundation and was there at the beginning.
He considers the nations and holds the hearts of kings in his hand, turning them wherever he would to fulfil his own purpose.
No question that there is not a mountain or hill that can stand before him and on his return he will split the mount of Olives in two parts when his feet touch its soil.
“His ways are everlasting”
It’s often not until we come to the Lord in prayer that the eyes of our understanding is rightly set.
We assume that our suffering has no purpose just as we assume that all the good gain is achieved by our own hands.
Both the blessed and those who claim themselves cursed are lacking in understanding and assume all things are as they think to see them.
How evil is the danger of assumption?
But there is a perspective they are yet to see and it is that which stems from the knowledge of God.
Turn to Psalm 73 for a moment and let me clarify as we draw to a close.
1 Truly God is good to Israel,
Even to such as are of a clean heart.
2 But as for me, my feet were almost gone;
My steps had well nigh slipped.
3 For I was envious at the foolish,
When I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
4 For there are no bands in their death:
But their strength is firm.
5 They are not in trouble as other men;
Neither are they plagued like other men.
6 Therefore pride compasseth them about as a chain;
Violence covereth them as a garment.
7 Their eyes stand out with fatness:
They have more than heart could wish.
8 They are corrupt, and speak wickedly concerning oppression:
They speak loftily.
9 They set their mouth against the heavens,
And their tongue walketh through the earth.
10 Therefore his people return hither:
And waters of a full cup are wrung out to them.
11 And they say, How doth God know?
And is there knowledge in the most High?
12 Behold, these are the ungodly,
Who prosper in the world; they increase in riches.
13 Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain,
And washed my hands in innocency.
14 For all the day long have I been plagued,
And chastened every morning.
15 If I say, I will speak thus;
Behold, I should offend against the generation of thy children.
16 When I thought to know this,
It was too painful for me;
17 Until I went into the sanctuary of God;
Then understood I their end.
The trouble we might go through in life and our envy of the wicked can only be considered when we have our understanding rightly set and assumption based on limited understanding corrected.
And that understanding only comes from entering that sanctuary of God in prayer and when we have knowledge of him through his word.
It’s the reason I continually beat the same drum week after week of spending time in Gods word and in prayer. These are the wisdom tools you employ daily that you may get right understanding to dispel false assumptions.
The struggles I see in so many Christians is that due to false assumptions
When and only when this is done, we can go through the most incredible trials and still stand firm in hope and joy.
Lets see how Habakkuk concludes his thoughts.
Hab 3:17-19
17 Although the fig tree shall not blossom,
Neither shall fruit be in the vines;
The labour of the olive shall fail,
And the fields shall yield no meat;
The flock shall be cut off from the fold,
And there shall be no herd in the stalls:
18 Yet I will rejoice in the Lord,
I will joy in the God of my salvation.
19 The Lord God is my strength,
And he will make my feet like hinds’ feet,
And he will make me to walk upon mine high places.
To the chief singer on my stringed instruments.
Of all he has gone through seeing the Burden of the Lord, he concludes with a Psalm written to be sung.
Live by faith.
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