https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/06\/JusticeOfGod.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n\tby Jeffrey W. Hamilton<\/p>\n\t
Text: Habakkuk 1:1-4<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I. The prophet Habakkuk was upset with God<\/p>\n
A. Wickedness and violence abounded in the world around him.<\/p>\n 1. Jeremiah asked much the same question: Why do the wicked prosper? –\nJeremiah 12:1-4\n
2. It is an old question. Job asked it – Job 21:7-15<\/p>\n
3. Asaph too was troubled by the apparent ease of the wicked – Psalm 73:2-5<\/p>\n
4. Malachi 3:15 – Is it useless to follow God?<\/p>\n
B. Habakkuk had been crying out to God, yet it appears God is not listening.<\/p>\n
1. Jeremiah also had given up hope – Lamentations 3:6-9, 17-18<\/p>\n
2. Job declares God was not listening to his plight – Job 30:16-21<\/p>\n
3. David too despaired – Psalm 22:1-2 <\/p>\n
4. And this is quoted by Jesus on the cross – Matthew 27:46<\/p>\n
II. God tells Habakkuk his plans – Habakkuk 1:5-11<\/p>\n
A. He will send in an enemy nation to destroy Israel.<\/p>\n B. This is not the expected answer. There is violence in Israel, so God is going to\nsolve the problem by bringing in a violent, heathen nation to overrun them? –\nHabakkuk 1:12-17\n 1. Basically, Habakkuk’s answer is, “Wait a minute. You’re too good and\nrighteous to do this to your chosen people.”\n
C. Is it so different today?<\/p>\n 1. People cry out against the wickedness in the world. They demand justice,\nbut they don’t like what justice demands.\n 2. “A good and righteous God would never send people to Hell! There cannot\nbe such a place!”\n
3. But God is both good and severe – Romans 11:22<\/p>\n D. People like to be told the righteous will be rewarded, but they don’t like the\nthought of the wicked being punished – Ezekiel 18:20-32\n 1. We like the idea that God will forgive our sins and not hold our past\nagainst us.\n 2. Yet if we commit evil, we want God to remember all our good deeds as if\nthey will balance out the bad.\n 3. It doesn’t work that way. If God will only consider the repentant sinner’s\npresent condition, then justice requires that he only considers the fallen’s\ncurrent condition.\n
III. In chapter two the sins of Israel are listed for Habakkuk<\/p>\n A. Pride, greed, violence, trampling others to get what they want, sensuality and\ndrunkenness, and foolish idolatry.\n 1. Basically God is saying, “What else would you expect for such an evil\npeople?”\n 2. You certainly could not say these are God’s people who deserve special\nfavor.\n
3. Habakkuk’s answer was an embarrassed silence – Habakkuk 2:20<\/p>\n B. Job had cried out that he was being unfairly treated by God, but God showed Job\nthat he did not understand what was going on. Look at Job’s answer – Job 40:1-5\n C. God told Jeremiah if he is crying now from the wicked’s misdeeds, what will he do\nwhen God begins to punish the nation? – Jeremiah 12:5\n
1. In other words, the answer you get might be more than you bargained for.<\/p>\n
IV. Habakkuk realized that Israel deserved the punishment God would send – Habakkuk 3:16-19<\/p>\n
A. He may not like it, but he would put his trust in God.<\/p>\n
B. David says much the same thing – Psalm 37<\/p>\nV. Today there is an opportunity to turn from the evilness in the world and put your trust in\nGod.\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Habakkuk 1:1-4 I. The prophet Habakkuk was upset with God A. Wickedness and violence abounded in the world around him. 1. Jeremiah asked much the same question: Why do the wicked prosper? – Jeremiah 12:1-4 2. It is an old question. Job asked it – Job 21:7-15 3. Asaph too was troubled by the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[119,32],"tags":[90,1556,523],"class_list":["post-62902","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-audio","category-sermon","tag-god","tag-habakkuk","tag-justice"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":23749,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-wrong-to-question-god\/","url_meta":{"origin":62902,"position":0},"title":"Is it wrong to question God?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 10, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: In Habakkuk 1:2-4, especially verse 3, Habakkuk questioned the wisdom of God. Is it wrong to do so? I believe the correct attitude toward God is to trust and obey; what do you think? Also in Genesis 18:23-32, Abraham plead to God not to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":54259,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-burden-of-habakkuk\/","url_meta":{"origin":62902,"position":1},"title":"The Burden of Habakkuk","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 18, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"by Wesley Key The Minor Prophets","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":62533,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/god-and-the-nations\/","url_meta":{"origin":62902,"position":2},"title":"God and the Nations","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 22, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Download Audio Text: John 19:10-11 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0How involved is God in the activities of the nations? \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0We know that God doesn\u2019t change, and from the teachings in the prophets of the Old Testament, we find that God was heavily involved in the governments of various nations.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":70581,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/learning-from-god\/","url_meta":{"origin":62902,"position":3},"title":"Learning from God","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 26, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Habakkuk 2:20 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0If God is the only true God and the Bible is His teachings \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Then truth and error are as distinct as light and dark - I John 1:5; James 1:17-18 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0We will face our God to be judged - Romans 2:6 II.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Can\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sermon"","block_context":{"text":"Sermon","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/sermon\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":54211,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/lessons-in-the-minor-prophets\/","url_meta":{"origin":62902,"position":4},"title":"Lessons in the Minor Prophets","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 16, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"by Wesley Key 2018 Fall Meeting Series The Word of Hosea The Word of the Lord by Haggai The Vision of Nahum The Word of the Lord to Joel The Burden of Habakkuk The Burden of Malachi The Word of the Lord to Jonah","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":44076,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-do-wars-exist\/","url_meta":{"origin":62902,"position":5},"title":"Why Do Wars Exist?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 6, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Isaiah 59:1-18 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In my youth, the Vietnam War was being fought. It was an unpopular war that generated a lot of protest songs. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0One song called \u201cWar\u201d by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong exclaimed, \u201cWar! What is it good for? Absolutely nothing!\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0So can\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62902","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=62902"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62902\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62902"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=62902"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=62902"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}