Habakkuk Announces Doom

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Habakkuk Announces Doom

• But the earth will be filled with the knowledge
  of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the
  sea.
• Habakkuk 214

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Prophets

• Definition of Prophesy to foretell or predict
• Definition of Prophet a person who speaks for
  God
• Greek origins Greek word prophetes which is
  made up of pro meaning before and phetes
  meaning speaker.
• Hebrew origins from navi, which means a
  spokesperson for Yahweh

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Misunderstanding

• We often think of the prophets as predicting
  events that will occur hundreds of years from
  their own time.
• It is far more likely that these prophets were
  actually more concerned with the immediate future
• The prophets were critics of their societies,
  condemning religious and social practices and
  institutions of their times. They cannot,
  therefore, be understood apart from their
  individual historical and cultural settings.
• Dr. Steven L. McKenzie

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Who is Habakkuk?

• We have no knowledge of his family or his
  hometown
• He prophesied during the struggles of the
  Judahite community in the time between the death
  of King Josiah in 609 and the first deportation
  of exiles to Babylon in 597 BC.
• A contemporary of Jeremiah

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Setting the Scene

• Israel and Judah separated after the death of
  Solomon, with Rehoboam as the king of Judah, and
  Jeroboam as the king of Israel.
• In 722, Israel is captured by the Assyrians but
  Judah continues as a vassal state to Syria.
• In 612, the Babylonians revolt against the
  Assyrians and recapture Nineveh, the capital city
  of Syria, as the Assyrians had lost power and had
  over-extended their empire.

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A Judah Sandwich
SYRIA
EGYPT
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Setting the Scene

• During this time, Josiah ruled in Judah, and with
  the instability in the region, he attempted to
  recapture lands of Israel.
• Josiah is remembered alongside David as one of
  the great kings of Judah.
• In the book of Kings, the phrase he did what was
  evil in the sight of the Lord is repeated for
  each of the kings who disobey Gods laws.

• In 2 Kings 23, Josiah cleanses Judah from
  their sinful ways. There are references to
  destruction of images of Baal, idolatrous
  priests, and he reinstated the observance of the
  Passover which had not occurred since the days of
  the judges ruling in Israel and Judah.

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Habakkuks Time

• Josiah is killed in 609 at Megiddo.
• His successor, Jehoiakim finds himself trapped
  between a turbulent Syria and a strengthening
  Egypt.
• He and his successor Zedekiah, align with Egypt
  while proves a fatal mistake.
• In 597 the Babylonians attack and conquer Judah
• In 586, they destroy Jerusalem and take the
  Judeans into exile.

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2 Kings 2335-37

• Jehoiakim paid Pharaoh Neco the silver and gold
  he demanded. In order to do so, he taxed the land
  and exacted the silver and gold from the people
  of the land according to their assessments.
  Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he
  became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven
  years. His mother's name was Zebidah daughter of
  Pedaiah she was from Rumah. And he did evil in
  the eyes of the LORD, just as his fathers had
  done.

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Jehoiakim

• Servant to the Pharaoh
• Judah sides with Egypt, becoming a vassal state
• Jehoiakim allowed to remain as king of Judah by
  paying the Pharaoh
• Gains this money by taxing the people.
• Is this the evil in the sight of the Lord that
  the author of Kings refers to?

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Habakkuk 26-14

• Shall not everyone taunt such people and, with
  mocking riddles, say about them, Alas for you
  who heap up what is not your own! How long will
  you load yourselves with goods taken in pledge?
  Will not your own creditors suddenly rise, and
  those who make you tremble wake up? Then you will
  be booty for them. Because you have plundered
  many nations, all that survive of the peoples
  shall plunder you because of human bloodshed,
  and violence to the earth, to cities and all who
  live in them. Alas for you who get evil gain for
  your houses, setting your nest on high to be safe
  from the reach of harm! You have devised shame
  for your house by cutting off many peoples you
  have forfeited your life. The very stones will
  cry out from the wall, and the plaster will
  respond from the woodwork. Alas for you who
  build a town by bloodshed, and found a city on
  iniquity! Is it not from the Lord of hosts that
  peoples labor only to feed the flames, and
  nations weary themselves for nothing? But the
  earth will be filled with the knowledge of the
  glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.

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26-12

• Habakkuk condemns Jehoiakim for siding with the
  Egyptians
• Critical of measures by which he has strengthened
  Judahs power
• Violence will be answered with violence
• Trust in earthly security and man-made
  institutions
• Nations acting unjustly are subject to Gods
  wrath

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Where is our trust?
14
Dangers of Trusting God

• Places responsibility on us
• Calls us to use our prophetic voice

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Habakkuks Final HOPE

• Placing our trust in God provides the world with
  hope, as we act as agents of Gods grace, mercy,
  and love
• We can be what saves Israel from destruction
• But the earth will be filled with the knowledge
  of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the
  sea.
• Habakkuk 214

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Go in Peace to Love and Serve the Lord