Message of the Week

The Little White Community Church

Scripture: Habakkuk 2: 1-4 Jan. 4, 2026

Message: “Faith and Faithfulness!”

By Pastor George Gnade

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Introduction:

1. Last week we began a new series of messages on the Book of Habakkuk. We learned that this little book is actually a dialogue between the prophet and God in which he asks the questions and God provides the answers.

2. In Hab. 1: 3, he asks God: “Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrong?”

a. In vs. 5-6, God explains how He was about “to do something you would never believe, even if I told you. I am raising up the Babylonians, a ruthless and impetuous people, who will sweep across the whole earth to seize dwelling places not their own…”

b. In plain words, He was going to use an evil nation to punish other evil nations. That included Judah. God was saying: “If you want evil instead of righteousness, then I will give you exactly what you are asking for.”

3. I also pointed out last week how that is exactly how God will judge the earth in the last days. We who love the Lord must be prepared for what is to come.

A. Keeping all of this in mind, let us consider Habakkuk’s second question.

1. In Hab. 1:15, he compares the wicked to fish being caught in a net by the Babylonians. Then in Hab. 1:17, he asks: “Is he to keep on emptying his net, destroying one nation after another without mercy?”

a. That brings us to the verses we just read in Hab. 2: 1-4. He writes in vs. 1: “I will stand watch and station myself on the ramparts. I will look to see what He will say to me and what answer I am to give to this complaint.”

b. Notice how he calls it “this complaint.” To me, that implies that while he is asking the question, it is a question others have also asked him. It is like he is speaking for a lot of us.

2. That is exactly why God told Habakkuk “to write it down.” God wanted everyone who was interested to hear and receive this message. Isn’t that exactly what the purpose of the Bible is? Wasn’t it written so all of us would be privileged to learn what God is doing? 

a. In Hab. 2:3, we are told: “The revelation awaits an appointed time. It speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it. It will certainly come and will not delay.”

b. Many people doubt God’s Word. But if you wait patiently, God’s Word will eventually happen just as He said it would.

3. People are very impatient. Eve named her first son Cain because she believed he would be “the Man,” the “seed of the woman” promised by God in Gen. 3:15 who would come to save them. 

a. She was wrong, but it demonstrates how impatient we can be when we learn of God’s plans. How could she know that this promise wouldn’t happen for at least 4,000 years, when the Lord Jesus was finally born. 

b. But in Gal.4:4, it says: “When the time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman…” just as God promised.

4. So it would be with this promise to deliver the Jews and the world of the Babylonians. 

B. Consider God’s answer.

1. In Hab. 2:4, God says: “He (the Babylonians) is puffed up; his desires are not upright – but the righteous shall live by faith!” Let us first consider how “puffed up” the Babylonians were.

a. In Hab. 2:5, the Bible says: “He is as greedy as the grave and like death is never satisfied. He gathers to himself all the nations and takes captive all the peoples.”

b. “Will not all of them taunt him with ridicule and scorn, saying: ‘Woe to him who piles up stolen goods and makes himself wealthy by extortion” (Vs. 6)?

2.  In plain words, it may seem to help him achieve his goal, but in the process, Babylon would make a lot of enemies. In God’s time, they would do to Babylon what Babylon was doing to them.

a. Babylon wanted to be the greatest. But in the end, “the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea” (Hab. 2:14).

b. Remember Egypt and the story of Moses. Egypt wanted to be the greatest, but the Lord humbled them using ten plagues. In the end, God received all the glory.

So it would be with Babylon.

C. Let us now return to Hab. 2:4, part b. In the first half of the verse, God told us the Babylonians would be puffed up. In the second half, God said: “The righteous shall live by faith!”

1. “The righteous” is not referring to special saints. It is referring to those who love the Lord and have been for-given and accepted by Him because they believe in Him.

a. That does not mean they simply believe about Him. It means they believe in what He says and live their lives accordingly.

b. It is interesting that the word for faith could also be translated “faithful.” That is because faith without works is dead.  A true believer lives by what he believes. You can tell by his (or her) life that he is different.

2. If God tells us to be careful and warns us of troubles to come, a person who is living by faith seeks to live accordingly.

a. Hebrews 11 is called the faith chapter. It shares how people who believed in the Lord did great things for the Lord. Now that Christ has come, those of us who believe in Jesus Christ seek to live for Him.

b. In Rom. 1: 16, Paul wrote: “I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation, for all who believe…”

In conclusion:

1. God’s answer to Habakkuk was not the answer he wanted. It implied that Babylon would rule for a long time and conquer many nations.

2. But those who trusted in the Lord would still be blessed by the Lord. And in His time, God would deliver them. That is exactly what God is telling us. We live in a very wicked world. I like to think of it in three parts.

a. One part of our world has no belief in God. These nations persecute and kill many Christians. I believe the Book of Revelations describes this group as followers of “the beast.”

b. The second part is made up of nations and people who follow other religions and believe many things that contradict the Bible. Presently, all over the world, they are also persecuting Christians. It is very difficult to live for Christ in these countries. I believe the Book of Revelation describes them as followers of the “false prophet.”

c. The third part of the world describes countries like America that are full of greed and lust and all kinds of immoral behavior. This group also hates Christians and defies us every chance that they get. I believe this group is described in the Book of Revelation as “the Harlot.” It is also called Babylon the Great. 

4. Satan is using all three of these groups to attack and persecute Christians. Like Habakkuk, we often find ourselves praying and asking God how long this will last. 

But in God’s time, Jesus will deliver us. Just as He came the first time, He will come again. May God help us to be ready, to have faith in the Lord and live by faith each day.