Trembling Before the Warrior God

Habakkuk 3:6-15 Trembling before the warrior God

Asian Tattoos, knife fights, and the Mockers: my colored past.

Its been 21 years to the day since I received my badge of honor. Two badges in fact. That morning I got my first and only tattoo as entrance into what was then a small group of thugs but would come to be known as the gang called the mockers. You might know them now, they are pretty well known. At the time I “ran” with them they were a bunch of stupid kids who got in fights on purpose and stole things to show they were macho. There were about 30 of us. The tat was my first badge, the second was the gash you can still see across my back. It was like 9:30 at night and we were hanging at Hillcrest Park in Rockville. Not sure why we thought it was cool to hang out on the play equipment after dark, but for some reason it was. There were probably a dozen of us there at that time. I was sitting on the end of a slide showing someone my very red and hurting tattoo when I heard them. At least 20 guys on bikes came screaming across the lawn toward the playground. When I say bikes, I don’t mean motorcycles, I mean BMXs and a few dirt bikes. And they were screaming. At the top of their lungs. There were homes all around, easily within earshot. Now I had been in about a dozen fights, mostly scraps with fists only but we all carried knives. And these guys were screaming towards us with obvious intent to kill us or hurt us badly. It was a moment that lives in my nightmares still. True fear. We all pulled our knives. I would like to pretend that I did something super cool and fought off 5 guys by myself, but I don’t remember much about that night. I remember waking up in a hospital, with a five inch long gash and who knows how deep cut in my back.

I want to talk this morning about fighting from the book of Habakkuk. And I know about fighting.

I am such a liar. I totally made up that whole story. 21 years ago at 9:30 I was probably talking with my girlfriend long distance and wishing I was there with her in my parents house in the suburbs that I could leave unlocked still. No possibility of danger.

I so wish I had a past. A story of when I used to run in the gangs and a cool knife wound to show you and a tattoo in some Asian language that nobody understands. But I don’t. I got in a few fights with my next door neighbor when I was under 7. My dad says he used to beat me up until one day in the sandbox I slugged him one and that was the end of it. I don’t even remember it.

Something did happen at Hillcrest Park though. I was with two buddies when a big kid screamed out and started biking towards me. You know what I did. I jumped on my bike and bolted out of there. I didn’t stop for like a half mile and I didn’t stop shaking for an hour. I was a coward.

I did have a gang of teenagers descend on my condo in FL trying to beat up some girl who had run right to my stoop. I did step out there and took care of things…I gave them a real talking to. Probably 15 teens in cars and out, there for blood and I sent them packing. 2

I have no good stories about fighting. But that’s okay, this is one of the best.

What in the world is theomachy?

You might not be aware of this, and I am telling you the truth now, but much of my PhD work was done around the topic of ANE theomachy. You are thinking, no I wasn’t aware of it and who the heck cares or even has a clue what you are talking about.

Theomachy means gods fighting. In Greek mythology, Zeus might do battle with Poseidon or more likely with Achilles or some other lesser god. If you have seen Percy Jackson and the lightning thief, you see the whole story is around Zeus’s thunderbolt being stolen and the threat of war among the gods.

Well, these kinds of stories aren’t limited to Greek and Roman mythology. They happened in the Ancient Near East as well. Every culture has stories of gods who fight. You don’t have to believe the stories to be able to enjoy them. And most of you know the way myths work. They usually give us a tangible story that we understand to explain something that might be beyond our understanding.

For instance, perhaps you remember the stories of Baal battling Mot. He would come across the sea on chariots of angels or clouds and do battle with the God of death. One season he would win and Mot would die, but then Mot might come back and Baal would be swallowed up. This was to explain the harvest cycles. Baal the god of fertility would cause the crops to grow and defeat death, but then death would come and the crops would crumple up until the new harvest. Stories like that.

What might surprise you though is that the Bible has hundreds of such stories. It has Yahweh defeating other gods. It’s mythological literature meant to paint a beautiful picture for you. It is up the interpreter to determine what kind of reality and historicity it represents. Even our text last week mentioned diber and resheph, as functionaries of Yahweh, gods that did his bidding. The exodus story is a giant battle between the gods of Egypt and the God of Israel. I showed you throughout the book of Exodus how that worked.

Well the story today transports us back to the exodus. Habakkuk is asking God to work against the wicked and God does. We spoke last week about theophany…about God appearing to his people to save them and to judge others. And as he does, all the earth is silent. There is fear in the midst of their awe of him.

Yahweh, I have heard your report I have feared, Yahweh, your work.

Then there is a pleading that God, in the midst of years, that is, between the time of Israel being punished by the Babylonians and the Babylonians being punished by God, in the midst of years, Habakkuk pleads that they might live. Keep us alive during this in between time. While we are all trembling, make us understand what you are doing. And God, as you are crushing the enemy, please be merciful to us. 3

What a plea. It recognizes his sovereignty, it recognizes his wisdom. It recognizes his wrath. It recognizes his mercy.

A God of presence (3-5) This is the verse I will end on, but let me take you to the text.

3 God came from Teman, the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah His glory covered the heavens and his praise filled the earth. 4 His splendor was like the sunrise; rays flashed from his hand, where his power was hidden. 5 Plague went before him; pestilence followed his steps.

When he arrives He is coming and it promises to be awesome. Then he arrives

What happens to the mountains?

6 He stood, and shook the earth; he looked, and made the nations tremble. The ancient mountains crumbled and the age-old hills collapsed. His ways are eternal.

We are to picture a giant of a God, who stands to measure. I know the NIV says shook the earth, but it is likely a glance on the earth. He is the judge, he is looking to see what has happened and taking score. It parallels looking and the nations are startled.

But more than that, the mountains crumble and hills that have existed from ancient times, those that came through the water at the creation and hold the firmament up and stabilize the world are in trouble. These are the mountains that say how far the sea might go and no further (psalm 104:9. And the fall in on themselves. Gods presence flattens them, they sink low (bow down) in his coming. You thought they were eternal, but they not in comparison to God.

This reminds me of 2 Peter The hills will bow low at his glory and the elements will dissolve in fervent heat (2 Peter 3:10)

What happens to Cush and Midia?

7 I saw the tents of Cushan in distress, the dwellings of Midian in anguish.

These are places that he has judged before; distress and anguish are upon them.

Notice the change in the next verse. From describing God to speaking to him. From calling him God to calling him by his covenant name—Yahweh. 4

What happens to the rivers?

8 Were you angry with the rivers, O LORD? Was your wrath against the streams? Did you rage against the sea when you rode with your horses and your victorious chariots?

Why is the Lord coming? To defeat the enemy…in this case the rivers, water and sea. He is angry and things flee from his path. God is angry 170 times in the OT, heaping vengeance on his enemies.

Remember his anger with the rivers as he turns them to blood in the exodus. Remember his rage against the se as he splits the Sea of Reeds (red sea) and uses it to crush the Egyptians

And don’t forget God pouring out his wrath on the sea and the rivers in Rev 16:3-4. the Euprhates river, that which supplies Babylon will be dried up according to 16:12.

9 You uncovered your bow, you called for many arrows. Selah this is no modest unveiling of power. The bow is unsheathed; the full destructive powers of God are barely held in check. The call for arrows is a swearing by his weapons, that his people will be avenged.

How does God use the water?

You split the earth with rivers; 10 the mountains saw you and writhed. Torrents of water swept by; the deep roared and lifted its waves on high.

This warrior is using the water of the earth cut open the earth. The water comes flying by hitting the mountains, covering them knocking them down. A picture of the uncreation of Noah’s flood. He is using the abyss, same word here, Tiamat connections, the abyss that was in Genesis 1, to remove all semblance of humanity again. It’s the red sea imagery of them being swallowed. I will destroy my enemies.

Why are the sun and the moon scared?

11 Sun and moon stood still in the heavens at the glint of your flying arrows, at the lightning of your flashing spear.

A hint at Joshua’s victory when the sun stand still? Certainly at least even the gods of the sun and moon do not move when God throws his arrows and spears, lightning.

Sounds similar to… 5

Zech 9:14-15a . Then the LORD will appear over them; his arrow will flash like lightning. The Sovereign LORD will sound the trumpet; he will march in the storms of the south, 15 and the LORD Almighty will shield them.

Does God get angry?

12 In wrath you strode through the earth and in anger you threshed the nations.

God, angry, on the march, threshing or attacking the nations.

Reminds me of Proverbs 30:29-31: Three, yea, four things are stately in their march: the Lion, the greyhound, the goat— and the king against whom there is not rebelling

He is dramatic in his approach. And why has he come?

Why has God come?

13 You came out to deliver your people, to save your anointed one.

This is a hard verse. It means one of two things, both of which end up being true in the greater context.

Either the anointed one is the people of Israel and there is a direct object marker here to enhance that. Or The anointed one is the Messiah, Jesus and it should be read that the Direct Object is actually the word “with.” It would be read, “to save with your anointed one.”

Either way, it is true that the anointed one, Jesus, will indeed ultimately destroy the enemies and Gods people will ultimately be saved.

God isn’t on the march in anger just for the sake of anger. Habakkuk is watching this in fear but knowing that God is bringing justice. Things are being made right. This act of destruction is for the sake of his people.

What does God do to the great dragon?

But the destruction is not over

You crushed the leader of the land of wickedness, you stripped him from head to foot. Selah

This should probably be read from head to tail. The enemy is that great dragon that God is constantly battling. He will crush him 6

14 With his own spear you pierced his head when his warriors stormed out to scatter us, gloating as though about to devour the wretched who were in hiding.

It’s a reference to Psalm 74:12-14, when the sea monster dragon has his head crushed. And Psalm 89 where Rahab is destroyed. The Greek version here says that Yawheh smote the head of death. And see it is done with the weapons of the enemy. Just as God uses Rabah and LEviathon in the Old Testament to destroy the forces of evil. He uses chaos monsters to destroy chaos monsters. Its in Isa, Ezek and Zech and they conclude with the Lords enemies eating the flesh of their own arms (Isa 9:19 [20] and Ezek 38:21 and Zech 14:13)

What does God trample?

15 You trampled the sea with your horses, churning the great waters.

The last beautiful picture of Yahweh trampling the sea. He rides a horse over the normally terrifying sea. All these mythological creatures of death, are being attacked and churn in disgust and are soundly beaten by Yahweh.

It doesn’t necessarily mean that these are truly gods, it may just mean that all these things that you Israelites and you Babylonians think are gods and ultra-powerful, are nothing to God. He created them, he destroys them. He says I brought you into this world, and I can take you out.

Remember Walking on water… Remember Jesus in the New Testament as he walks across the water and passes them by. Do you remember how I explained the passing by? I showed you in the Greek that what that meant in Mark was that he was showing off. He was making clear to his disciples who he was. He wasn’t just out on a stroll, he was evidencing his deity. He is the God of the Old Testament who tramples the sea.

Rebuking the sea Remember him in the boat with his scared disciples? He stands in the front of the ship and rebukes, the word in the Old Testament conjures up the idea of blasting with fire from the nostrils. Jesus rebukes, silences the sea, and it instantly flattens. All bow in the presence of him. It happens throughout the book of mark. Demoniacs fall at his feet. Sinners fall at his feet. The righteous fall at his feet. The enemies fall backwards just being in his presence.

So its no wonder that Habakkuk ends his song…

16 I heard and my heart pounded, my lips quivered at the sound; decay crept into my bones, and my legs trembled.

No freaking kidding. 7

Do you tremble? Because God is on the loose in Jesus.

Do you prefer safety?

Buchanan says we prefer safety We don't mind the magician's tricks—water into wine, bread crumbs and fish bones into banquet, lame men into dancers, mute ones into minstrels—but these field marshal commands of His— "Follow Me!"—we can do without. Follow You? I don't think so. Follow You where? Have You made hotel arrangements? Did You purchase cancellation and travel insurance? What am I to wear? No, Jesus. I'm going to sit right here between worlds. I'm going to live here on borderland until You come up with a better offer. Until it's safe.

It’s not going to be safe.

Remember the transfiguration Don’t forget please the power of that transfiguration night. He stands in glory between Moses and Elijah and Peter is convinced that the end has come. The glory and majesty and holiness of God had come to earth and from then on all would be different. The Day of the Lord was being ushered in and the vindication of the righteous would begin.

But Peter was wrong. This was not the day.

Remember the crucifixion Think to a later time when the sun refused to shine. The earth itself broke apart and the dead got up from their graves. Death was reversed, the earth could not contain its prizes, the elements recycled.

Remember the resurrection And three days later two guards are found as dead men, the stone is removed and the body of Jesus is raised in power.

Don’t ever use the word awesome without thinking of this God. Who marches with waves at his beck and call, who even in his death causes the elements to crumble and take cover and who rises with glory and majestic power. That is awesome.

Do you understand the power we invoke? We come to eat of Christ. The power here is overwhelming.

Remember and eat Luther understood the holiness of this Christ The crisis came the day he celebrated his first mass. It was a family celebration as well; his father had ridden into town in a company of twenty horsemen. The cloister bells chimed, the music of the glorious psalm ascended to the heights of the cathedral: “O sing 8

unto the Lord a new song.” The young monk, robed for ecclesiastical duty, took his place before the altar. But as he approached the bread and wine of the hoy rite, Luther’s senses began to spin. In this ceremony the sacrifice of Calvary would be reenacted, and he, a spurious worm, was to handle the holy host. When he came to the words, “We offer unto Thee, the living, the true, the eternal god,” he was suddenly filled with terror. Who am I that I should lift my eyes or raise my hands to the divine majesty? He though. The angels surround him. At his nod the earth trembles. And shall I, a miserable little pygmy, say “I want this, I as for that’? For I am dust and ashes and full of sin, and I am speaking to the living, eternal, and true God. (From The Body by Chuck Colson, adapted from Roland Bainton’s Here I stand.)

What do we need to understand about the holy?

The most significant thing to remember is that holiness demands that God not only be all loving, but that he be a God of wrath as well.

What? The God I worship loves everybody. He isn’t an angry God.

Well, I am compelled to point out to you that this is not the God of the Bible. A holy God demands something of people and if he doesn’t get it, then he is angry. He demands all glory and honor and anything less is hatred of God.

Habakkuk speaks in verse 3 of his wrath. The best word here is probably “excitement” or “reason for trembling,” but the context is certainly God’s wrath.

And this wrath comes on sinners. I was talking a few weeks ago about this with Jennifer. The first problem is convincing people that they are sinners. They live a mediocre life not really hurting anyone and they don’t know that a life without glorying God is a life destined for wrath.

Non-Christians, even if you are here in church, I may be talking to you. Even if you have been in church for 50 years, I may be talking to you. Hear the words of the great theologian and pastor Jonathan Edwards in his beautiful and somewhat scary sermon.

The God that holds you over the pit of hell, much as one holds a spider, or some loathsome insect, over the fire, abhors you, and is dreadfully provoked: his wrath towards you burns like fire; he looks upon you as worthy of nothing else, but to be cast into the fire; he is of purer eyes than to bear to have you in his sight; you are ten thousand times more abominable in his eyes, than the most hateful venomous serpent is in ours. You have offended him infinitely more than ever a stubborn rebel did his prince; and yet, it is nothing but his hand that holds you from falling into the fire every moment. It is to be ascribed to nothing else, that you did not go to hell the last night that you were suffered to awake again in this world, after you closed your eyes to sleep. And there is not other reason to be given, why you have not dropped into hell since you arose in the morning, but that God’s hand has held you up. There is no other reason to be given why you have not gone to hell, since you have sat here in the house of God, provoking his pure eyes by 9

your sinful wicked manner of attending his solemn worship. Yeah, there is nothing else that is to be given as a reason why you do not this very moment drop down into hell. O sinner! Consider the fearful danger you are in: it is a great furnace of wrath, a wide and bottomless pit, full of the fire of wrath, that you are held over in the hand of that God, whose wrath is provoked and incensed as much against you as against many of the damned in hell. You hang by a slender thread, with the flames of divine wrath flashing about it, and ready every moment to singe it, and burn it asunder; and nothing to lay hold of to save yourself, nothing to keep off the flames of wrath, nothing of your own, nothing that you ever have done, nothing that you can do, to induced God to spare you one moment. . .

This holy God has infinite wrath. It is fierce and there is no moderation given. It is not mere annoyance or displeasure, it is a consuming rage against the unrepentant. It is an everlasting wrath and this should compel us to reach out to those who are falling. Your friends are being held over this pit on the thread of a spider. They fancy they will somehow escape based on something they have done, or are doing, or will one day do. They scheme ways to get around hell, but all their schemes will fail

Church-goers do you hear of this kind of a God and feel repulsion? Do you see God’s holiness and wrath as primitive or obscene? If God is not a holy God, then he is not God at all.

If you oppose this idea of God, then you too are likely hostile to the very nature of God and therefore to God Himself. Examine yourself please lest tomorrow this just God allow your life on this earth to be snuffed out and your eternal damnation to begin.

Two reasons to understand who this God REALLY is: I say all this for two reasons: I want to see people who don’t know God, turn to him right this very second. I want them to recognize what they will face and yield to his awesomeness. Non-Christians, I care about you, more than you can possibly know.

But secondly: I desperately want those of you who are hurting over the recession and straying kids and husbands who don’t know Christ and parents with cancer and babies who seem to spend more time in the hospital then not and you have back pain and lymes disease, and depression, and multiple brain tumors and kidney stones, and paralysis and spots on lungs and marriage struggles and the wicked are doing so darn well…I want you to know that God is Huge and so capable of changing all of that. He is awesome and great, and majestic and powerful and nothing happens outside of his control. That’s really next week, the culminating week in this series. But it needs to be said here too. He is sovereign and he is not surprised at all of this. And he has a big plan that he will work out. And it includes your joy. I promise.

Speaking of your joy. . . Let me end with this beautiful thought also found in verse 2. Habakkuk reminds God of his covenant. In wrath, remember mercy. In your quest to abolish sin and suffering and misery in the world, do not destroy your people. This is nothing more than the promise God has made with us. 10

This is nothing more than reminding him that the blood is on the doorpost and that we claim his promise to preserve us forever.

Christians, we serve a God of wrath and a God of mercy.

But you O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness. (remember that fighter verse from Psalm 86:15?)

We stand before him not in fear because there is no guilt. Christ has covered us and has satisfied Gods wrath. We call this propitiation. God must strike down wickedness and we are wicked. But Jesus stood in our place and took the brunt of Gods wrath on himself and those who trust in him, who look to him as their Lord, do not feel the wrath. They feel only love. We come to him with confidence and joy. There is no fear.

We do not hang by a thread hoping that he will not let us go. We rest in his secure hand…the secure hand of an infinite God. We remember that the just will live by his faith. We know that we can rest

Jesus I am resting resting, in the joy of what thou art, I am finding out the greatness…(of what, of his wrath and his power and his lightning from his fingertips and his mountain crushing presence? No…) of his loving heart.