“Forgive us… my… their… OUR sins” - Habakkuk 2:5-20:
Dr. Kevin D. Glenn: Lead Pastor
4/10/22

This series addresses the tough question, “How do we face the disorientation and discouragement of stressful and uncertain times? “ In today’s teaching, God tells Habakkuk how things will actually get worse before they get better. However, what God describes is surprisingly familiar and surprisingly hopeful. God’s words to Habakkuk provide us two very important handles by which we can hold firm to our faith in uncertain times.

1. Grasp how

works – Hint: It’s not just “them.”
• “THEY are the source of OUR problems.” The Bible doesn’t allow for such simplicity.

The first bookend is

. - Habakkuk 2:4-5
• “Pride in the religious sense is the arrogant refusal to let God be God. Never does pride want to pray for strength, ask for grace, plead for mercy, or give thanks to God. Pride is the grand illusion, the fantasy of fantasies, the cosmic put-on. – Lewis Smedes

• Pride is at one end of the source of every form of evil in this world, from the Babylonians to you and me.

The other book end is

. - Habakkuk 2:18-19
• “But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?”- Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, The Gulag Archipelago

2. Embrace how hope works. - Hint: It’s in the

.
Our hope is in God’s

Reveal Answer

. - Habakkuk 2:20, Genesis 50: 18-21
• God is in charge AND we are responsible for our choices.

Our hope is in God’s unfailing

. - Habakkuk 2:14
• We want to be known, loved, validated, affirmed, and to be gloried. There is a full and final satisfaction for this longing. It is in being known, loved, validated, affirmed, and clothed in the glory of God’s grace.

Questions to Ponder
• Discuss some examples of blaming that you see in our world today. Are there certain folks you tend to blame for the evils in our society? Why?
• Explore the following passages: Joshua 5:13-15, Matthew 22: 15-22, 34-37. Describe how these passages demonstrate God not settling for an “either or” simplicity.
• Why is it important to observe that Habakkuk does not allow for a similar type of simplicity in our tendency to place blame?
• How do you respond to the way God describes the Babylonians while doing so in a way that reveals the seeds of pride and idolatry in us all?
• Why is it important for us to realize our similarity to the Babylonians as God calls us to be different?
• Discuss Lewis Smedes’ comment on pride. Do you agree? Why or why not? How does this definition help you understand and describe pride?
• Discuss the idolatry of conservative and progressive cultures. Why do those in one so often vilify the other while ignoring their own sin? How do you respond to immorality, exploitation, and environmental sin all being described in this chapter?
• How do you process the seemingly random and surprising placement of the passages of hope in chapter 2?
• Why are BOTH Divine sovereignty AND Divine love necessary for real hope?
• How do you describe sovereignty and responsibility? How does the passage from Genesis 50 help?