Expositional Study of Habakkuk
By Ty Blackburn
Preached on:
September 15, 2024 – Still Running
Providence Church
2146 Buford Hwy
Buford Hwy, Duluth, GA 30097
“Though the fig tree should not blossom And there be no fruit on the vines, Though the yield of the olive should fail And the fields produce no food, Though the flock should be cut off from the fold And there be no cattle in the stalls, Yet I will exult in the LORD, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation…” —Habakkuk 3:17-1
Habakkuk is a short book. It’s actually the fourth shortest book in the Old Testament, only 56 verses, three chapters. It’s message resonates with 1 Peter and is a good compliment to what we studied in Peter’s epistle.
The circumstances that we’re dealing with as Christians in the world today, in America, resonate with what Habakkuk was experiencing. The faithful people of God in the southern kingdom of Judah were struggling with the same circumstances we’re struggling with today.
I’m excited about looking at this book for so many of these reasons. It’s a book that does reveal to us the gospel. It shows us that there is only one way to be made right with God, and you have to receive righteousness from God as a gift. That’s the only way we can have the righteousness we need to be in the presence of a holy God. We must receive it by faith. “Behold, as for the proud one, His soul is not right within him; But the righteous will live by his faith.”, Habakkuk 2:4. That’s the righteousness that we find in Christ through the gospel and so, this passage, this book, has that wonderful verse in it. But also what we find is that the basic message of this book is just so compelling and so powerful.
The prophet we’re going to see is wrestling with God. He is wrestling with the circumstances of his life, what he sees going on in his day among those who are supposedly the people of God, the nation of Israel, the nation, actually the southern kingdom of Judah, and as he wrestles with God, he wrestles with the providence of God. Why is God not doing more to address this issue? And then once he finds out what God is going to do to address that issue, why are you addressing it that way? So the prophet really opens up his heart to the Lord and we see in this so much that instructs us on how we should handle the perplexing circumstances of life.
So for all those reasons, I chose this book. So what I want to do is I’m going to pray and we’re going to read the Scripture a little bit as we work through the outline. Today, the hope is to introduce the book and to provide an overview of it in preparation for digging in verse by verse.
So with that said, let’s go to the Lord in prayer.
Our Father, how grateful we are for the perfection of Your word. We thank You, Lord, It is sufficient to make the child of God adequate for every good work, that every text of Scripture, every verse, every chapter, certainly every book has been perfectly prepared by You and Your infinite wisdom to bring to Your people that which we need, to feed our souls and to make us like Your Son. We pray as we open up the book of Habakkuk that You would magnify Christ and You would glorify Him throughout this study and You would strengthen the faith of those who belong to You and call those who do not to Yourself. We pray this in Jesus’ name, amen.
