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[451.44 --> 459.92] looking for answers maybe you know someone who's there right now maybe you have questions but you don't |
[459.92 --> 469.92] know who to ask or how to ask them whatever the case may be i think we all know what it is to have a crisis of faith |
[471.76 --> 479.20] now the sort of pinnacle of my crisis of faith or maybe we could say the deepest part of my crisis of faith |
[479.20 --> 485.44] came down to one thing and that's what i now know to be called the problem of evil |
[486.88 --> 492.72] right really simply if god was truly good and loving and all-powerful then he wouldn't let people |
[492.72 --> 499.44] who love him go through these bad things right since good people go through evil things either |
[499.44 --> 505.36] god isn't good or he isn't all-powerful in which case in either case he wouldn't be god |
[505.36 --> 514.56] that's the question really that's the state of belief that we will address this morning that |
[514.56 --> 522.24] habakkuk is finding himself in the middle of this is habakkuk's struggle it is our struggle it's really |
[522.24 --> 526.24] every human person's struggle whether you have a religious answer to it or not |
[526.24 --> 536.32] why is there evil in the world what i hope and it's my prayer that this morning we will see that |
[536.32 --> 544.16] that god is bigger than our struggles with evil that evil has been decisively dealt with in history |
[544.16 --> 554.32] and that for god to be god he must have his reasons for everything we face in life even the evil things |
[554.32 --> 562.48] now to get there this morning we start with the back now let me set the stage for you with a little |
[562.48 --> 567.76] bit of history and i'll try to do this quickly because i know not everybody loves history the way that i do |
[569.20 --> 576.24] in actual fact we know very little about the prophet habakkuk right who he is and what he did as a prophet |
[576.24 --> 582.64] whether he was in the official temple system as a prophet or if he was outside the official system as one |
[582.64 --> 590.88] especially called by god but we can figure out when he roughly prophesied right habakkuk is a prophet in |
[590.88 --> 601.20] judah which is the southern kingdom and it's around 600 to 610 bc and so it's near what we now call the |
[601.20 --> 608.88] end of the first temple period right these are the last kings in israel and judah for those of us who |
[608.88 --> 616.40] know the sort of bigger story of the drama of redemption we might say that this is near the beginning |
[617.12 --> 625.12] of the exile period which started in 586 bc with the fall of jerusalem so what's happening on the global scale is |
[625.12 --> 634.80] the babylonians are shifting the balance of power now we have a map that's going to appear on screen and that will |
[634.80 --> 641.04] help you see what's going on and where it's happening as i tell the story and you see the map there those |
[641.04 --> 647.68] circles and the legend down the side moves through in the manner in which i will tell the story one through |
[647.68 --> 657.36] six i think it is so israel and then later the smaller judah have been allies with the babylonians |
[657.36 --> 665.76] going back to when they were first called the chaldeans in 705 bc you have king hezekiah king |
[665.76 --> 671.84] hezekiah this happens in the time of the prophet isaiah to draw some lines for you isaiah also prophet |
[671.84 --> 678.88] prophesied about the exile that would come hezekiah who is king worked with the chaldeans to repel |
[678.88 --> 685.44] the armies of one sennacherib as he marched through israel down towards jerusalem |
[685.44 --> 693.28] now a century later the chaldeans now the sort of neo-babylonians right have defeated assyria who |
[693.28 --> 700.24] had an empire in 612 with the fall of nineveh nineveh was the capital city of the assyrian empire |
[701.52 --> 710.32] and in 609 bc the egyptians start marching their way east and north through the the crescent of the |
[710.32 --> 717.20] around the mediterranean in a last ditch attempt to partner with the assyrians to defeat the |
[717.20 --> 726.24] babylonians in the battle of haran but this time as the egyptians marched through king josiah of judah |
[726.24 --> 732.24] would come with the armies of judah and he would attempt to stop the advancement of the egyptians |
[732.24 --> 741.12] who were led by pharaoh neko the second now king josiah is killed in this battle at megiddo trying |
[741.12 --> 749.60] to help their allies the babylonians in 605 you have the battle of carcamesh that happens on the |
[749.60 --> 756.64] euphrates river and here the babylonians finally and decisively defeat the egyptians and send them back |
[756.64 --> 765.76] to egypt now all around the region of syria and israel the babylonians have taken over and this |
[765.76 --> 772.88] battle after this battle rather the babylonians that come in and annex judah they take control of the |
[772.88 --> 780.64] region of judah and they start treating them as a hostile vassal state as you see backtracking just a |
[780.64 --> 789.68] few years after josiah is killed in the battle at megiddo pharaoh neko the second left his armies in |
[789.68 --> 797.36] the region as they continued on to go battle against the babylonians and he returned with a group back |
[797.36 --> 804.08] to egypt and on his way through jerusalem returning back to egypt he deposed the new king who was the |
[804.08 --> 813.20] younger son of josiah jehoah has and took him back to egypt as a prisoner and instead he installed jehoiakim |
[813.20 --> 822.56] another son of josiah as a puppet king now jehoiakim agreed to and paid the levy that egypt imposed on |
[822.56 --> 831.92] judah now jehoiakim gets very little on the pages of the bible but in second kings 23 verse 37 it says |
[831.92 --> 841.04] that he did evil in the eyes of the lord just as his predecessors had done but still even with that |
[841.04 --> 850.40] happening many in judah would have considered babylon's actions a betrayal because they had been historical |
[850.40 --> 852.24] allies for a century |
[852.24 --> 858.40] and so you can imagine how habakkuk feels |
[860.88 --> 870.88] when the lord says i am raising up babylon to exercise my justice right part of the evil that |
[870.88 --> 878.72] habakkuk is reacting to right that babylon betrayed them that's why he calls them a treacherous people in |
[878.72 --> 886.96] verse 13 right and the word that's used there in hebrew can mean disloyal or betrayers right that's why |
[888.00 --> 897.04] habakkuk feels so torn now this is sort of the global backdrop and if the map is still up we can take |
[897.04 --> 903.36] that down this is sort of the global backdrop to what's going on right there's warfare and there's |
[903.36 --> 911.04] evil everywhere and judah is caught up in the middle of it right they are dying and they're being taken |
[911.04 --> 920.88] prisoner right evil is literally to the north and south and east and it's pressing in on them with vigor |
[923.04 --> 930.16] but there's also a more local concern that's causing habakkuk to cry out to the lord |
[930.16 --> 936.88] i've already mentioned two names that we can come back to here right king josiah and king jehoiakim |
[938.00 --> 945.44] now josiah as king instituted a number of reforms in jerusalem and really brought the people back to |
[945.44 --> 953.60] a more biblical faith and a more biblical practice of worship but before him and after him the religious |
[953.60 --> 961.28] and political leadership are corrupt and even abusive right look at what habakkuk says in in verse 4 he |
[961.28 --> 969.28] says the law is paralyzed and justice never prevails now that word translated paralyzed can mean numb |
[970.08 --> 975.60] right like when your foot falls asleep and you try to stand only to find that you just collapse to the |
[975.60 --> 983.52] floor and fall over right the rulers and rule of law have become numb to the plight of ordinary citizens |
[985.68 --> 994.56] there's a general uh biblical scholarly consensus that habakkuk is reacting to the abuses of power |
[994.56 --> 1001.28] that have further marginalized the poor and exploited the less privileged and we know from the rest of the |
[1001.28 --> 1008.48] the bible that jehoiakim is accused of dishonest gain he has forced people into unpaid labor to build his |
[1008.48 --> 1015.44] houses he's taxed people to pay the levy that the egyptians have imposed we know that jehoiakim is |
[1015.44 --> 1021.76] implicated in the obstruction of justice in the shedding of innocent blood and in the murder of prophets |
[1021.76 --> 1033.68] the point is evil and injustice are everywhere globally the babylonians have betrayed them and locally the |
[1033.68 --> 1043.20] king has never looked out for them the moral order of habakkuk's world has been upended things aren't the way |
[1043.20 --> 1051.12] they should be evil prevails over good injustice over justice death over life and habakkuk cries out and |
[1051.12 --> 1060.88] says since god is good his world should be good too but in habakkuk's eyes it's not that's the problem |
[1062.48 --> 1069.92] and like we said i'm gonna guess that that's not just habakkuk's problem right and in fact it's not just |
[1069.92 --> 1078.32] an intellectual issue right a question to be answered right every single person who says they are a |
[1078.32 --> 1085.92] christian or a theist really of any stripe has to wrestle with the question if god is god and god is |
[1085.92 --> 1092.96] good why is there evil in the world but like i said it's not just an intellectual issue for us right |
[1092.96 --> 1101.44] there are racial tensions and realities that beg the question why god there are issues of poverty and hunger |
[1101.44 --> 1108.00] globally and locally that beg the question if you are good why is there so much bad right there are |
[1108.00 --> 1114.48] issues of violence against women and children of issues of parents losing children of marriages |
[1114.48 --> 1121.04] breaking up that beg the question that cause us to cry out like we began our worship this morning how long |
[1121.04 --> 1132.96] oh lord we've got cancer and covid and countless others chronic diseases that rob us of life and the ability |
[1132.96 --> 1142.00] to live things aren't the way they should be evil prevails over good injustice over justice life over death |
[1142.00 --> 1148.24] and since god is good his world should be good too but in so many ways it's not |
[1150.56 --> 1153.12] how long oh lord |
[1156.56 --> 1165.68] now to start addressing this situation i want you to notice something carefully in the text |
[1165.68 --> 1175.68] starting in verse 3 habakkuk says destruction and violence are before me there is strife and conflict |
[1175.68 --> 1184.88] abounds therefore the law is paralyzed and justice never prevails and notice two things here right |
[1185.28 --> 1194.32] habakkuk is making an assertion in these words right first because he sees violence and destruction and |
[1194.32 --> 1202.48] strife and conflict that's why the law is paralyzed or numb and justice doesn't prevail right because of all |
[1202.48 --> 1210.40] that he can see his conclusion is that god is absent or his goodness challenged but think carefully |
[1210.40 --> 1217.60] with me right that's all he can see and in a sense it's all he sees |
[1217.60 --> 1229.36] but we know that habakkuk doesn't see all right and it's really then from his limited perspective |
[1229.36 --> 1234.80] that he ends up making these universal and absolute statements about the nature of god |
[1235.92 --> 1241.20] right the person who raises the problem of evil as an argument against the existence of god and this |
[1241.20 --> 1246.40] was me a number of years ago the person who raises the problem of evil as an argument against the existence |
[1246.40 --> 1252.72] of god presumes that we have the right viewpoint from which to make those sorts of absolute kinds of |
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