Not Worried About Food • Habakkuk 3:17-19

1:06:37 Teaching begins

Notes

I’ve read this Scripture many times and I always catch myself thinking, how can this be? Is Habakkuk crazy?

I read it again in my regular reading and realised I needed to review it because I’d memorised it and it was not as fixed in my memory as I’d like. As I reviewed it, I marvelled, “How can he say that? Is he crazy?”

But then as I thought about it the penny dropped and I got it.

Habakkuk has thought about the worst case scenario, which is dying.

He’s not afraid to die because his life is not based on food or anything material in this life.

He has eternal life, the life of God Himself.

1. We read this list and understand, if all this happened it would be a disaster.

A. If you don’t have any figs, grapes, olives, wheat, barley, sheep, and cattle, where will you get any food? There is no other source.

B. If you don’t have a harvest now then you don’t eat in the future. At some point any food you already have will run out. Your future is, you expect to die.

C. Someone reading this would think just that: if that happens we’re dead. That’s why it’s hard to understand how Habakkuk can go on joying in the Lord and running around on high hills. What kind of drugs is he on?

2. The context of Habakkuk’s message is that disaster is coming.

A. He says to God, it’s getting wicked in the country and You’re not listening.

B. God says, sure I am. I’m getting the Babylonians to come and destroy this place.

C. Habakkuk says, What? You can’t do that! Those guys are idolaters, they’re worse than we are! Are You crazy?

D. God then makes it clear what the issue is: either you have a relationship with Me and you’re alive, or you don’t have a relationship with Me, and you’re dead. That’s Habakkuk 2:4 “Behold, as for the proud one, his soul is not right within him; but the righteous will live by his faith.”

E. No proud person has a relationship with God.

1. A proud person thinks more highly of himself than he ought. He is not as good as he thinks he is. His life is built on a lie.

2. As a result he does not admit that there is anyone higher than him. I am my own boss.

3. Because he is proud he does not submit to God who is his Creator and Provider. He says, “I happened by accident. There is no design or purpose in my existing. My purpose is what I make it. Whatever I want is good, whatever I don’t like is bad.”

4. The result of pride is every wicked thing. God tells Habakkuk the proud man transgresses by wine, enlarges his desire like Sheol, covets evil, puts his trust in riches that he may be delivered by its power. Violence, oppression, idolatry, anything goes because it’s looking out for number one.

5. One thing the proud person doesn’t do is think about death. That’s morbid. You don’t think about death, but you live right here, right now. This is living, right now. Get it all now.

F. Chapter 3 is about God coming in judgment.

1. Especially notice verse 16. I heard and my inward parts trembled, at the sound my lips quivered. Decay enters my bones, and in my place I tremble. Because I must wait quietly for the day of distress, for the people to arise who will invade us.

2. Because they would not think about death they have to think about death. The worst case scenario is coming upon them.

3. Habakkuk has already thought about death and he has dealt with death in the only way possible: he has a relationship with God. He is the just living by faith.

A. Even if the worst case scenario happens and there is no harvest and no food and certain death in the future, it wouldn’t affect his joy in God and in salvation. That means his life is not based on food. His physical existence would end, but his spiritual existence would not end.

B. He says the Lord God is my strength. That’s the same as saying He is my life.

1. I live because of God’s salvation. He has ransomed me and redeemed me from the condemnation my sins deserve. All of God’s people are redeemed from slavery to sin, to live submitted to God, and living a holy life.

2. The more strength, the more life, the less strength, the less life. No strength, no life. God’s strength, eternal life.

3. So I don’t live because I am dependent on plants and animals that I turn into food and eat. I live because God saved me, and I live with Him right now forever. Eternal life begins now in this existence.

C. What happens when I die?

1. Because this earthly existence can’t go on forever. At some point my body wears out. It can’t sustain anymore existence. What then?

2. I’m still in relationship with God. Psalm 118:17 I will not die, but live, and tell of the works of the LORD.

3. How do I know this? What’s my authority for this? The authority is the Lord Jesus Christ. He said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father but through Me, John 14:6. He is the Redeemer who paid my ransom for sin. He rose from the dead three days later. He is in relationship with the Father, and I have received Jesus into my life as my Lord and my Saviour. I share that relationship with the Father. It’s a new life.

4. This new life means transformation. He makes my feet like hinds’ feet.

A. I don’t start out in life with feet like a deer’s. I started life with flat feet, not suited to running around on steep mountains. I like life on flat ground.

B. But God changes the environment I live in and makes me suited to it.

1. Have you ever seen videos of mountain goats? I saw one where it was standing on paved level ground next to where the hill began, and it went to the hill that was very steep, that looked like there was no place to go, and it started stepping from one slight outcropping to the next. It went practically straight up, with no look of concentration on its face. It’s used to this. It’s what it does.

2. That new environment Habakkuk calls high hills. The Hebrew word is bamah, and it is often used for pagan places of worship. The idea is the gods are high, so you get as close as you can to them, and worship them from that high place.

3. That is really the metaphor used here. With God’s strength as my life, He transforms me so I can live on that high place with God, serve Him, and worship Him.

5. This new life means purpose.

A. Up on this great height there are no fig trees, no grape vines, no olive trees, no wheat, no sheep, no cattle. They can’t live up this high.

B. A flatland kind of thinking would ask, “What do you eat on the high hills?” That’s reasonable. Is it spiritual to starve? God doesn’t care?

C. Jesus answered that question: John 4:32-34 But He said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” So the disciples were saying to one another, “No one brought Him anything to eat, did he?” Jesus *said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work.”

D. Food satisfies, it delights, it’s your source of energy. Jesus says doing the will of the Father satisfies Him, delights Him, it’s His source of energy. He does everything through the energy of the Holy Spirit.

E. But a flatlander would say, “That’s totally impractical! You need to eat in order to live! What good to God are you if you’re dead?”

F. That’s what the devil said to Jesus as he tempted Jesus to not do the will of the Father.

1. The Holy Spirit drove Jesus into the wilderness to eat nothing for forty days. The devil tempted Him to not do God’s will but do His own will.

2. Jesus became hungry after forty days, that meant He was starving to death. The devil said, “As long as You are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” That means, “Take care of Yourself. If God doesn’t remember to tell you to eat You’re going to die. You’re no good to God if You’re dead.”

3. And Jesus replied, “It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” Which means, “If I die obeying God, I am still alive in relationship with God, and He will raise Me from the dead. But if I keep myself alive physically when God has not commanded Me to eat, I am dead in sin even as I live physically. I’d rather die than break relationship with the Father.”

G. Habakkuk has the same faith in God as Jesus, with the same purpose. God is my strength and my life. My life is to worship and obey His will. If there’s no food, I die, and because I’m His I won’t die. He will take me up and I will live with Him forever.

H. Is it true that God doesn’t care if you starve to death? Jesus said, Matthew 6:31-33 Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

I. Up on these high hills there is high purpose, to live and to die for the will of the Father. Do what pleases the Father, then I’m done and I can be with Him forever. That’s fine with me.

6. So what? Think about dying.

A. Imagine you have five minutes left to live. Do you know where you’re going? What’s going to happen to you? You’re going to be afraid. If someone says, “Don’t worry, here is a basket of figs. I brought some olives and a sheep.” Is that going to make you feel better?

B. No food is going to comfort you. Nothing in this life will help because it will stay here and you don’t know where you’re going.

C. The only thing that will comfort you is the certainty that you are in relationship with God, that you belong to God and that He receives you. When you know that you are right with God you have comfort and courage to go to Him. Only salvation that makes you righteous will enable you to go into God’s presence. Hebrews 12:22-24 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks better than the blood of Abel.

D. There is only one way to become righteous, and that is to receive God’s righteousness, perfect, complete, sufficient. You turn to Jesus, humble yourself before Him. Confess your sins to Him. Ask Him to forgive you. Receive Him into your life.

E. Pray that prayer for Him to transform your feet so that you can walk on the high hills of His purposes. He will answer that prayer.

F. Now you aren’t worried about food. You’re not worried about dying. Eternal life means you’re never going to die. You can rejoice in God and joy in the God of your salvation.

Let’s pray.