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For Jesus Online Bible Study
Habakkuk 1 - 3
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The Book of Habakkuk was written by the prophet name
Habakkuk. We do not know much about him. He probably lived around 600 B.C.
He wrote about times before the Babylonians took the Jews away.
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Habakkuk complains to God.
Habakkuk said:
He said, "O Lord, how long will I cry? You won't hear
me! I cry out to you about violent things that happen, and you will not save
me!"
[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!
Why do you show me things that are not fair? Why
do you cause me to complain? Robbery and violence are in front of me.
There are people that cause a lot of trouble.
[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 law is not enforced. There is no fairness and
justice. Bad people are all around the good people. Things are wrong and unfair.
[4] Therefore the law is slacked, and judgment doth never go forth: for
the wicked doth compass about the righteous; therefore wrong judgment proceedeth.
God answers Habakkuk
Look at the people who don't believe. Watch and see
that I will do something amazing . You'll hear about it, but you won't
believe it.
[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.
I am raising up the Babylonians (Chaldeans).
They are a bitter and mean nation. They will march through all of the land. They
will take the places that do not belong to them.
[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.
They are awful people. They do things the way
they want.
[7] They are terrible and dreadful: their judgment and their dignity
shall proceed of themselves.
Their horses are faster than leopards and more
scary than wolves. Their soldiers who ride the horses will come from far
away. They will come fast like eagles in a hurry to eat.
[8] Their horses also are swifter than the leopards, and are more fierce
than the evening wolves: and their horsemen shall spread themselves, and their
horsemen shall come from far; they shall fly as the eagle that hasteth to eat.
They will come for violence. Their faces will look mean. They don't care about
kings. They will laugh at princes. They will defeat every place and turn them
into dust.
[9] They 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.
They will say that they power comes from their
false god.
[11] Then shall his mind change, and he shall pass over, and offend,
imputing this his power unto his god.
Habakkuk complains again.
O Lord God, You live forever, don't You? You are my
Holy One. We will not die. God has planned judgment for them. O mighty
God, You have planned punishment for them.
[12] Art thou not from everlasting, O LORD my God, mine Holy One? we
shall not die. O LORD, thou hast ordained them for judgment; and, O mighty God,
thou hast established them for correction.
Your eyes are too pure to see evil. Why are You looking at people who are doing
bad things. Why don't You say anything when bad people hurt good people?
[13] Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on
iniquity: wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, and holdest
thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous than he?
You made men like fish in the sea or animals
that have no leader.
[14] And makest men as the fishes of the sea, as the creeping things,
that have no ruler over them?
The fishermen catch them all, and then they are happy.
[15] They take up all of them with the angle, they catch them in their
net, and gather them in their drag: therefore they rejoice and are glad.
They worship their nets and tools because they
have caught so much to eat.
[16] Therefore they sacrifice unto their net, and burn incense unto their
drag; because by them their portion is fat, and their meat plenteous.
Won't they stop killing other people?
[17] Shall they therefore empty their net, and not spare continually to
slay the nations?
Habakkuk says, "I will stand on the watchtower. I
will watch to see what God says to me. I will see what I will say when God
criticizes me."
[1] 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.
God answers. He talks about very bad people.
Write this vision. Make it plain so that people who read it will run.
[2] And the LORD answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it
plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it.
The vision is about a time that I (God) set. At the end,
it will speak. It will not lie. Even if it is late, wait for it. It will come
for sure. It will not be late.
[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.
Look at that man. He acts big, but he is not good
inside. A person who is good lives by his faith.
[4] Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the
just shall live by his faith.
He sins with wine. He is too proud. He is greedy and is never satisfied. He
gathers all nations and destroys all people.
[5] Yea also, because he transgresseth by wine, he is a proud man,
neither keepeth at home, who enlargeth his desire as hell, and is as death, and
cannot be satisfied, but gathereth unto him all nations, and heapeth unto him
all people:
Later, people will make fun of him. They will
say, "The man who steals will have big trouble. He will not be able to keep what
he stole."
[6] Shall not all these take up a parable against him, and a taunting
proverb against him, and say, Woe to him that increaseth that which is not his!
how long? and to him that ladeth himself with thick clay!
The people he stole from will rise up and take revenge on him.
[7] Shall they not rise up suddenly that shall bite thee, and awake that
shall vex thee, and thou shalt be for booties unto them?
You defeated many countries. Now, the people who are left will defeat you. They
will defeat you because of the violence and death you caused there.
[8] Because thou hast spoiled many nations, all the remnant of the people
shall spoil thee; because of men's blood, and for the violence of the land, of
the city, and of all that dwell therein.
The man who is evil will have big trouble. He builds
his house high up to be away from evil. You have brought shame to your
family. You have sinned against your soul.
[9] Woe to him that coveteth an evil covetousness to his house, that he
may set his nest on high, that he may be delivered from the power of evil!
[10] Thou hast consulted shame to thy house by cutting off many people,
and hast sinned against thy soul.
The stone cries in the wall. The wood beam answers
it.
[11] For the stone shall cry out of the wall, and the beam out of the
timber shall answer it.
The person who builds a town with blood and builds a city with evil will have
big trouble.
[12] Woe to him that buildeth a town with blood, and stablisheth a city
by iniquity!
The Lord will destroy people's work with fire.
Their work will be for nothing.
[13] Behold, is it not of the LORD of hosts that the people shall labour
in the very fire, and the people shall weary themselves for very vanity?
Everyone in the earth will know about God's glory
just like water fills up the sea.
[14] For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the
LORD, as the waters cover the sea.
A person might give another person alcohol to drink.
He wants them to get drunk so he can see them naked. That person will have
big trouble and be punished.
[15] Woe unto him that giveth his neighbour drink, that puttest thy
bottle to him, and makest him drunken also, that thou mayest look on their
nakedness!
If you do that, you will be filled with shame. You
will also get drunk and be naked. God will punish you, and other people will lose
respect for you.
[16] Thou art filled with shame for glory: drink thou also, and let thy
foreskin be uncovered: the cup of the LORD's right hand shall be turned unto
thee, and shameful spewing shall be on thy glory.
You destroyed Lebanon and animals. Now everyone in
the cities and the land is afraid.
[17] For the violence of Lebanon shall cover thee, and the spoil of
beasts, which made them afraid, because of men's blood, and for the violence of
the land, of the city, and of all that dwell therein.
Statues of false idols are not good. They are made of wood and rock. They
cannot talk. They are covered with silver and gold. They cannot breathe.
[18] What profiteth the graven image that the maker thereof hath graven
it; the molten image, and a teacher of lies, that the maker of his work trusteth
therein, to make dumb idols?
[19] Woe unto him that saith to the wood, Awake; to the dumb stone,
Arise, it shall teach! Behold, it is laid over with gold and silver, and there
is no breath at all in the midst of it.
But the Lord God is in His holy place. The earth
should be quiet in front of Him.
[20] But the LORD is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence
before him.
God came from Teman. The Holy One came from Mount
Paran. Selah! God's glory covered the sky. Everything on the earth was praising
Him.
[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.
He was as bright as the sun. There were rays of
light coming out of His hand. That is where His power was.
[4] And his brightness was as the light; he had horns coming out of his
hand: and there was the hiding of his power.
There were diseases going in front of him. Red
burning coals went out of his feet.
[5] Before him went the pestilence, and burning coals went forth at his
feet.
He stood and measured the earth. He saw other groups of people and drove them
out. The mountains that had been there forever were scattered. The hill
did go down. He will always be in control.
[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.
I saw the people living in tents in the area of
Cushan having a lot of trouble. Tents in the area of Midian were shaking.
[7] I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction: and the curtains of the land
of Midian did tremble.
Was God unhappy and angry at the rivers? Were you angry at the ocean? Were
you so angry at the ocean that you rode your horses and chariots?
[8] Was the LORD displeased against the rivers? was thine anger against
the rivers? was thy wrath against the sea, that thou didst ride upon thine
horses and thy chariots of salvation?
The people in the tribes shot the arrows when you
told them to. Selah! You split the earth with rivers.
[9] Thy bow was made quite naked, according to the oaths of the tribes,
even thy word. Selah. Thou didst cleave the earth with rivers.
The mountains saw You, and they were afraid and
shook. The water came out and was loud.
[10] The mountains saw thee, and they trembled: the overflowing of the
water passed by: the deep uttered his voice, and lifted up his hands on high.
The sun and moon were in the sky. They stood still.
When Your arrows made lightning like spears, they moved.
[11] The sun and moon stood still in their habitation: at the light of
thine arrows they went, and at the shining of thy glittering spear.
You were angry and marched through the land. You did
beat the people who did not believe in You.
[12] Thou didst march through the land in indignation, thou didst thresh
the heathen in anger.
You went forward to save Your people. You
saved the people that You chose to be special. You crushed the leader of
the wicked people.
[13] Thou wentest forth for the salvation of thy people, even for
salvation with thine anointed; thou woundedst the head out of the house of the
wicked, by discovering the foundation unto the neck. Selah.
The leaders of the villages came out to attack us.
They were planning to destroy us.
[14] Thou didst strike through with his staves the head of his villages:
they came out as a whirlwind to scatter me: their rejoicing was as to devour the
poor secretly.
You walked through the sea with your horses.
[15] Thou didst walk through the sea with thine horses, through the heap
of great waters.
When I heard this, I was very afraid. I must wait
for Him to attack them with His troops.
[16] When I heard, my belly trembled; my lips quivered at the voice:
rottenness entered into my bones, and I trembled in myself, that I might rest in
the day of trouble: when he cometh up unto the people, he will invade them with
his troops.
Trust God even in hard times
| I will always trust God. I will trust God even if the fig tree does not have any blossoms. I will trust God even if the fruit is not growing. I will trust God even if the farm and animals are not growing well. I will trust God always and have joy. My God saves me. |
I will always trust God. I will trust God even if the fig
tree does not have any blossoms. I will trust God even if the fruit is not
growing. I will trust God even if the farm and animals are not growing well. I
will trust God always and have joy. My God saves me.
[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.
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