Shabbat Shalom, dear brothers and sisters. We praise the Lord for the opportunity, the privilege that we have to be under the sound of the Word. And even today, as we have the Word of God before us, the Apostle Shaul Paul told to Timothy, study to show yourself a proof unto God, a worksman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth, and Timothy, this young, younger man, was called by the Lord to study the Scripture, And like him and many others from days of old, many of the prophets of Israel and many of the men of God among Israel and among the body of Messiah, the body of Christ, have learned from the scripture.

We are very blessed to be able to do so even at our meetings together and as we share the word of God together. We are studying now in the book of Habakkuk, the embracer of Israel, and today we are going to read the first 11 verses of Habakkuk chapter 1, so I would like you please to open your Bibles to Habakkuk chapter 1, and let me read the first 11 verses of this first chapter. this will be the study of the book of Habakkuk chapter 1 and this is the second message on the prophecy that Habakkuk presented here before us we read in Habakkuk 1 verse 1 the burden which the prophet did see, 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 dost thou show me iniquity, and cause me to behold grievance? For spoiling and violence are before me, and there are that raise up strife and contention. Therefore the law is lacked, and judgment doth never go forth. For the wicked doth compass about the righteous, therefore wrong judgment proceedeth. Behold ye among the heathen, and regard and wonder marvelously, for I will work a work in your days, which ye will not believe, though it be told you. For lo I raise up the Kaladins, that bitter and hasty nation, which shall march through the breath of the land to possess the dwelling places that are not theirs.

They are terrible and dreadful. Their judgment and their dignity shall proceed of themselves. horses also are swifter than the leopards, and are more fierce than the evening wolves. And the horsemen shall spread themselves, and the horsemen shall come from far. They shall fly as the eagles that hasteth to eat. They shall come all for violence. Their faces shall sup up as the east wind, and they shall gather the captivity as the sand. And they shall scoff at the kings, and the princes shall be a scorn unto them. They shall deride every stronghold, for they shall heap dust and take it. Then shall his mind change, and he shall pass over and offend, imputing this his power unto his God.

I just read, beloved brothers and sisters, in the book of Habakkuk chapter 1 and verses 1 to 11. If you remember, we did say in the previous ministry meeting that Habakkuk was a prophet that was preaching among our people of Judah, the people of Israel, in the time when Judah's condition was rather poor.

You remember that we said that the prophecy of Habakkuk had been taking place sometime between 630 to 625 BC and if you remember we said that at that time Calades that is the Babylonian did not yet rise to power so when Habakkuk was seeing the condition of his own brethren the people of Judah Yehuda he was very much concerned for his own people for his own nation of Israel his name habakkuk lechabek to embrace to hug represent before us the love that he has for israel his people just the same as many other of the prophets of israel who loved the nation of israel who loved the people of god who knew that god wanted

blessing for them but they were concerned for the people of Israel and because they were concerned for the people of Israel the people of Judah they could not see the evil that was going on even among the people of Israel and therefore a man like Habakkuk represent before us a man that have love and care for the people of God we mentioned in our previous message that we as believers in the Lord Jesus the Messiah in this present day of the church age ought to have the same concern for the body of messiah the body of christ we ought to love the people of god we ought to embrace the body of christ the body

of mashiach we are to love every believer in the lord yeshua jesus the messiah jewish or gentile everyone that belonged to the body of messiah had been chosen in christ in a messiah before the foundation of the world and we should seek the welfare of our brothers and sisters in this present day of the church age of the assembly days and that's what we learned from the book of habakkuk we are learning right now in these 11 verses that really actually in the whole book of Habakkuk, that this book or this prophecy is not that Habakkuk now speak to Israel and appeal to them.

No, Habakkuk speak directly to God and speak to God about Israel, about Judah, about his own people, about the condition that existed in the days of old. So the prophecy of Habakkuk is not a message to israel or a message to yehuda judah or a message to the nations of the world no it is a conversation a dialogue between habakkuk the prophet and the lord god of israel and so habakkuk is speaking to his god to the god of israel and he's really having a dilemma in fact he had two full dilemmas here in this first chapter the first dilemma is found here in chapter 1 and verses 1 to 11 and so we learn here the concern that Habakkuk had for the people of Israel so look at this beloved brothers and sisters in verses 1 to 4 Habakkuk is presenting before God Israel or Judah's failure, disobedience, and yet God's lack of response, or seemingly God's lack of response.

You remember we read in verse 1 where we have the burden which Habakkuk the prophet did see and the word burden is the word Massah the burden means the Massah the concern which Habakkuk did see Habakkuk the prophet you see he's Naveen Hebrew prophet is the Naveen Hebrew he was a prophet that we are confident that he already spoke to the people of judah in various times in his time as a prophet but now he's crying to god for help to understand the purposes of god in relationship to his people of israel and so while we read the burden which habakkuk the prophet did see in verse one you notice immediately in verse two we

find Habakkuk cry to the Lord and he says oh Lord oh Lord how long shall I cry and notice it and thou will not hear Habakkuk says I'm crying and I'm crying and I'm crying and I'm calling you the word is the word here a cry is Shavati in Hebrew Shavati means I'm crying so much that I'm almost out of breath I'm almost you might say i'm i'm crying so much to you that i'm almost out of breath and i'm almost i'm dying almost you know i'm crying and i'm crying i'm calling upon you and god you don't it seems to be that you don't hear now you know beloved brothers and sisters very well

that god does hear the cry of his own people by the time we feel it the same like this in our life it seems to be that god doesn't hear what we say it seemed to be but god hears the cries of his people god is always there to hear the voice of his people god never ears are always attentive to his people that cry unto him you remember what we read in psalm 34 and verse 15 the eyes of the lord are on the righteous and his ears are inclined to their cry but the face of the lord is against those that do evil to sever their memory from the earth this is psalm

34 verses 15 and 16 so while at time it seemed to be that god does not hear the cry of the servant of the lord but in reality he sure does he hears it but sometime like habakkuk you and i and all believers throughout the generation whether it is in his in the history of israel or whether it is in the history of the body of messiah in every generation the people of god calling and sometime it seems to be like god does not listen and yet he loves us and he cares for us and i'm sure my dear friend dear brothers and sisters you sometimes feel so I prayed and I prayed again and

I asked again and it seems to be there is no answer I asked for my family salvation and it seems to be that I'm not saved I prayed for things in my personal life and and it seems to be I don't get an answer I prayed for my job situation and yet there seems to be no answer I prayed for my health situation and my family situation and on and on and on and it seems to be as if God does not listen but beloved brothers and sisters the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are inclined to their cry Psalm 34 15 and there are many other passages that tells

us this so he Habakkuk is crying but notice why does he cry he doesn't cry for himself now he doesn't call on the Lord for his own need or his own situation or his own problem no listen how amazing he says here in verse 2b he says even cry out unto thee of violence and thou wilt not save apparently the word again the second one cry is the hebrew word it's really calling out calling up with with a shout as it were and yet it says i'm crying for violence and i mentioned earlier that the word violence is mentioned quite a few times in the book of habakkuk and it simply is the word hamas

in hebrew and hamas means injustice habakkuk look at the situation among his brethren the jewish people and he says listen the way they treat one another it's rather said the way they treat one another is not pleasing to God.

There is fighting, there is friction, there is all kind of problems among the people of God and Habakkuk was not happy with the condition, with that violence, with that Hamas, with that injustice among the people of God. Brothers and sisters, isn't it so with us today isn't it so many times it doesn't seem to be fair the way we treat each other we don't respect each other we're believers in the body of Christ the body of Messiah there's friction among the people of God and there's violence among the people of God and there's injustice among the people of God and just like Israel was divided into two nations Israel in the north and Judah in the south already the northern kingdom of israel were taken captive by the assyrian and now god is preparing the people of judah to be taken by the kasdim or the caladin or the babylonian into captive and the condition that existed in the days of habakkuk brought about the necessity for god to bring other nations to take now judah soon in 605 in 597 and 586 bc to bring another nation to take the people of judah and to deport them out of the land to the land of babylon so Habakkuk is crying.

Habakkuk is concerned about the condition of Judah. Notice what he says in verse 3 of chapter 1. He continues and he says, God, why, Lord, why do you allow me to see these things? I don't want to see that. Notice he says in verse 3a, why dost thou show me? In other words, God has allowed Habakkuk to see six-fold evils that existed in the days of old. That he presented before the Lord here in his call to the Lord in light of the condition that existed in the land of Judah among our own Jewish people in days of old. And, you know, God chose us, chose Israel to be a nation that would be an example to the world.

God chose the church to be a people, to be an example to the world. And if the people of God, whether the earthly people or whether the heavenly people, do not behave in a way that is pleasing to God, well, what we learn from this, this is only going to cause grief to the servants of God and obviously it really saddened the heart of our loving God.

And so you notice now in this verse 3, Habakkuk 1.3, we have the six-fold evil that existed among the people of judah in the days when habakkuk observed what happened to his beloved people whom he have embraced chibbek otam habakkuk he's embracing them in love for them but he is not happy to see the condition so verse three says why does thou show me notice number one iniquity and cause me to behold number two grievance and then he said four number three spoiling and then and violence number four are before me and there are that raise up strife this is number five and number six and contention notice iniquity grievance spoiling violence strife contention in

hebrew iniquity of course is aven aggrievance is amal spoiling is shod violence is hamas strife is riv and contention is madon six you might say evils that prevail among the people of Judah in the time where Habakkuk was ministering among the people of Israel and so he is crying to God notice in verse 2 he says how long and in verse 3 he says why how long suggests that he was crying and crying and crying and crying for a long time in verse 3 why suggests that he was asking lama why why do we need to to why God you allow this to happen among your people to remind you that in verse two he

said and thou will not hear notice in verse three he said and you will cause me to behold in other words Habakkuk observed it he saw it he experienced it and in a sense he has this a communication with the Lord he has a dialogue with the lord he has a cry to the lord and he's praying to him and he asks him lord how long and lord why lord how long and lord why now that is sad isn't it he said iniquity grievance spoiling violence strife contention imagine beloved brothers and sisters these have actually happened among the people that are chosen by God and you and I might say well look at us today

James said in chapter 4 he says for whence come as wars and fightings among you he's speaking to the brethren of the early days of the assembly of the church come as they not even of your lusts that war in your members ye lust and have not ye kill and desire to have and cannot obtain ye fight and war yet ye have not because ye ask not in other words what happened between the people of God if we are not careful if we are not careful beloved brothers and sisters we are able to constantly fight.

Why? Because the sin nature that exists in our own hearts, in the hearts of God's people, is able to commit every sin that even the unbeliever is committing. Because the old sinful nature of the believer is not better than the sin nature of the unbeliever. You remember what Paul said in 2 Timothy and in chapter 2. He himself said, he said to them, But foolish and unlearned questions avoid knowing that they do gender strife. Notice all sorts of things that may rise up and it's causing us to bring about strife and friction even among the people of God. and that is unhealthy spiritually you remember what he said to titus as well titus avoid this is titus 3 and verse 9 avoid foolish questions and genealogy and contentions and striving about the law for they are unprofitable and vain a titus was told by the apostle shaul paul in his days when he was instructed by the apostle Paul to give an example and to give a godly instruction to the believers there on the island that Titus was sent to.

Peter said in 1 Peter chapter 2 and verse 11, he says, Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul against the soul you see why fleshly lusts bring about warring against the soul and the soul of the people of god is not edified and not growing and we can have we can look at all the epistles almost every epistle the apostles whether it is Paul or Peter or James, Shaul Paul, Peter, Shimon Petros, Yaakov, James, all of them are instructing the believers in this present day of the church age to also submit themselves to the Lord, not to allow their flesh to take its own course.

You remember what happened in the Corinthian? I'm sure as you read the first epistle to the Corinthian, almost every chap in a letter that the apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthians and deal with an internal problem. There were pride among themselves. There were immoral life among themselves. They were taking each other to court. There was issue with divorces and lack of harmony and so on. There was even problem with the Lord's table among themselves. There was problems with the submissiveness among the people of God. There was a problem with the spiritual gift. There was pride and arrogance. And here we are. Just like Israel, so are the assemblies, the churches.

We, by nature, need the Lord's grace to enable us to behave differently. So, why dost thou show me iniquity and cause me to behold grievance and spoiling and violence are before me? And there are that raise up strife and contagion. God, Lord, the God of Israel, how long shall I cry? And why do you allow me to see these six-fold evils that existed among my people, the one that I embrace, that I love so much? Why this God you allow among your own people? Habakkuk doesn't stop there, because you see, beloved brothers and sisters, when there is iniquity and spoiling and violence and grievance and strife and contention, do you think that things will be in order among the people of God?

Not at all. Because immediately in verse 4, the consequence from the sixfold evil that is presented in verse 3, in chapter 1, verse 4, now in the next verse, Habakkuk is saying, look at the result, look at the consequence of evil among the people of God. He says, notice that, therefore, this is verse 4, the law, the Torah, in Hebrew, the law that God gave to Israel, and God gave to Israel the Torah in order to help our people of all to live a godly life. Only to Israel he gave the Torah before the Messiah opened the doors to the nation. There was no nation like Israel that was a privileged nation that received Torah Elohim, the law from God through Moses.

But look what happened. Verse 4. Therefore the law is slacked, and judgment does never go forth, for the wicked does compass about the righteous. therefore wrong judgment proceedeth. In other words, brothers and sisters, you see what we learn here, when there is no harmony, when there is no submissiveness, when there is no humility, then what happens is that God's law is being slacked or violated, And there is no justice among the people of God. And as it says here, the wicked does compass about the righteous, those who are wicked from among the people of God. This is not wicked in a sense of sinners unsaved. People who behave wickedly from among the people of God, treating the righteous, the tzaddikim, as it says here in Hebrew, in a wrong way.

You see, both were the people of God, the people of Judah. But among the people of God, when their behavior is not right, you have those who seek to live righteously and godly in humility, and those who does not, who live in the flesh and allow the flesh to have its own course. I'm reminded of the verse in Galatians that is very, very important. When the apostle Shaul Paul wrote to the Galatians in chapter 5 of Galatians, he said to the believers in Galatia, in the province of Galatia, he says, walk, I say, this I say then, verse 16 of Galatians 5, Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.

That's what happened. He's not writing to unbelievers when he writes to the book of Galatians. He's writing to the brethren. He's writing to the Achim, to the brothers and sisters in the province of Galatia. And Galatia was a province. He doesn't write even to one local assembly. He's writing to the whole province of Galatia. And then he said to them, in verse 17, Look, brethren, the flesh lusts against the spirit, the spirit against the flesh, and these are contrary the one to the other, so that ye, believers, ye cannot do the things that ye would. But if ye be led of the spirit, ye are not under the law.

Now the works of the flesh are, and he gives us the works that the flesh in our old nature of believers, The people of God, like the unbelieving world, what is it? Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulation, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envying, murderers, drunkenness, reviling, and such a like of which I tell you before. as I have also told you in past time, the day which do such a thing shall not inherit the kingdom of God. In other words, that should not characterize the life of the believer, because these things characterize the life of the unbelievers. But the time when the believer is not walking under the guidance of the Holy Spirit of God, we fall into some of these conditions.

We need to repent and turn back to the Lord.

He says in Galatians 5 and verse 22, Shaul Paul continued and he said to the Galatian believers, but the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, the Hebrew word shalom here long suffering gentleness goodness faith meekness temperance against such there is no law brethren of the Galatians if you will walk in the power of the Holy Spirit of God you will be not to fulfill the lust that the flesh has and these are all the works of the flesh that he presented there before us but on the other hand if you walk in a strength and in the power of the holy spirit then you will see there will be love joy peace and

so on as galatians 5 tells us well sadly habakkuk could see the condition among his own brethren the people of judah that there was this six-fold evil that existed among his own people and that's therefore by the way, four things happen, the law was not kept, judgment do not go forth, in other words, there is no justice, no right justice, and then the wicked, treat wrongfully the righteous, and finally, wrong judgment is gone out, you see the last part of verse 4, wrong judgment proceeds in other words you see unfairness in hebrew it's called mishpat wrong judgment has gone out and when the people look at that and they said that's not right the way

he was treated the way she was treated the way they behave and so on and habakkuk was very sad so he had this dilemma and he's crying to God and he asked God to give him an answer now as you continue on you will notice very very interesting as Habakkuk is waiting on the Lord here God is coming with an answer to Habakkuk and so in verses 5 to verse 11 the Lord is so gracious.

And that word for Lord that we have in verse 2, L-O-R-D, is the Hebrew word Yahweh or Jehovah, which is representing God as the covenant-keeping God of Israel. The name that he gave it to himself when Moses asked him who will I say to the people of Israel that sent me and you remember in Exodus chapter 3 he says I am that I am thus shall thou say unto the children of Israel and then he gave himself the word Jehovah Yahweh Yahweh there is not even vowels to that name in the hebrew text because it is the sacred name of god and it represents the god who was the god who is and the god who will be to the people of israel this is my name he said to moses to tell our own forefathers who were in the land of egypt some 3500 years ago when there were slaves there and in bondage so now notice how God is giving Habakkuk an answer and this is interesting because in verses 5 to 11 the Lord basically saying two things to Habakkuk number one he respond to Habakkuk and he said to Habakkuk that he himself is going to raise a nation and that that nation he will send to accomplish his work.

Another one we learned from these beloved brothers and sisters that when God's people are living in disobedience and self-will, God will deal with his own people because God is holy and God is just to remind you what he said many years ago when he spoke even to the assembly the people of God some 2,000 years ago through the apostle Peter he said for the time is come the judgment must begin at the house of God and if it first begin at us what shall be the end of them that obey know the gospel of god first peter chapter 4 and verse 17 judgment must begin at the house of god first peter 4 and verse 17 well judgment will come if we don't deal with it ourselves if god's people do not curb their own fleshly activity, God will come and deal with His own people.

And why does He deal with them? Because He loves His people. He wants the best for His own people. You remember, whom the Lord loves, He chasteneth, and He scourges every son whom He had received. So God, delight in His people living for Him, being an example, humbling themselves before Him, and if not, He will bring about humbling for His own people. Again, whatever things were written for us here in Scripture, in the book of Habakkuk, we cannot just take it and apply them to Israel and blame Israel and say, Look how bad the people of Israel are and not to apply this to our own life and ask ourselves, where are we today in the body of Christ, in the body of our Lord Jesus, Yeshua, the Messiah.

To remind you that in 1 Corinthians 10 and verse 11, now all things happen unto them for an example, and they are written for our admonition upon whom the ends of the world are come. We cannot just look at the Tanakh, that is the Old Testament, and look at the failure of Israel and not apply it to ourselves. Because otherwise, what's the point of reading the Tanakh? Because it doesn't speak about us. It speaks about the nation of Israel in previous days. We cannot just read somebody else's story in that sense, blame them and not apply it to ourselves. Paul wrote in Romans 15 verse 4, For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning.

that we through patience and comfort of the scripture might have hope so when we see God dealing with his people we apply this to ourselves and we can say Lord here am I and oh Lord search me oh Lord and and see if there is anything wrong in my life that I need to correct it and oh boy beloved brothers and sisters how much we need ourselves to correct in our very own life oh lord thou had such me david said and know me thou knowest my down sitting and my uprising thou understand my thoughts afar off david wrote in psalm 139 and verse 1 and 2 in the last two verses he said in

psalm 139 verses 23 and 24 search me o god and know my heart try me and know my thoughts and see if there be any wicked way in me and lead me in the way everlasting how much we need the grace of god to help us to search our hearts and to allow the lord to search our hearts and to speak to us so here is what the lord is answering to habakkuk okay habakkuk your people israel your people of judah have violated my word the law is select judgment never go forth wrong judgments are proceeded okay habakkuk look what i'm going to do two things i want to tell you, Habakkuk.

Number one, I'm going to raise a nation that will come to deal with my people, the people of Israel, verses five and six. And then secondly, Habakkuk, I want to give you a description of what kind of a wicked nation will be that nation that will come to deal with your brethren, with your people, the people of Israel, the people of Judah. So notice that what God is now telling to Habakkuk in verses 5 and 6. Habakkuk 1 verses 5 and 6. He says, Behold. The Hebrew word behold is Reu. See. See. See among yourself. I'm sorry. See ye among the heathen and regard and wonder marvelously for I will work a work in your days which you will not believe though it be told you.

Verse 6, For lo, I raise up the Chaladins, that bitter and hasty nation, which shall march through the breadth of the land. This is the land of Israel, the land of Judah. And possess, or to possess, the dwelling places that are not theirs. Now you notice, beloved brothers and sisters, this is sad when God allows a nation to rise up against his own beloved nation, chosen people of God. So you notice that he began by telling him to Habakkuk in verse 5, he says to him, Behold ye among the heathen, and regard and wonder marvelously, For I will work a work in your days, Habakkuk, in your days, Judah, in your time, in your days, he says, which ye will not believe, though it be told you.

In other words, by the time that Habakkuk was speaking to the Lord, as we have mentioned that, the Babylonian, the Kaladis, the Kasdim in Hebrew, they didn't yet rise to power. And so there were, in a sense, there were, it was not possible that this nation will be that nation whom the Lord is speaking about. But he's telling to Habakkuk, listen, oh yes, I'm going to raise a nation that will come against the people of Judah, the people of Israel. you notice he used three words behold that's one regard that's two and wonder this is the third time all in verse five behold in hebrew regard in hebrew habitu and wonder in hebrew hitmahu and i will be wondered you will be amazing or amazed at what i am going to do god said to habakkuk and it is amazing because the next statement it says for i will work a work in your days which you will not believe though it be told you judah israel habakkuk in your days in your time i'm going to do something that will is called a wonder he says that I will look look among the heathen, the word heathen there is the Hebrew word for goyim Gentile, the Gentile world the Gentile nation to remind you that at a time when Habakk was having this dialogue with God, Judah still had kings the kingdom of Israel still was in existence and now God is really saying to them that soon and very soon, the kingdom of Israel will be given to another nation.

The kingdom of Israel will no longer remain because of the unfaithfulness of the nation of Israel.

And God is going to give this kingdom of Israel to another nation, and He will raise from among the heathen a nation that will rise up that you would not believe that this nation will be the one that will come to discipline you judah and that you will not believe what's going to have what will happen to you judah because of these sixfold evils that existed among you god is saying to israel that he said in verse 5b he said that i will work a work in your days which notice that which ye will not believe though it be told you this is very interesting here brothers and sisters why it is very interesting because

god is saying he he's the god of the impassable he can change things in history in fact it is all his story he is sovereign god he's overseeing all his world he's the creator and the upholder of all things nothing is hid from him with whom we have to do to remind you that this very verse that we just read in habakkuk chapter 1 and verse 5 the apostle paul quoted this verse to the jewish people in the book of acts in the synagogue to whom he spoke about Yeshua Jesus the Messiah in Acts chapter 13 and verse 41 Paul quoted Habakkuk 1 and verse 5 when he said behold ye despise us and wonder

and perish for i work a work in your days a work which ye shall in no wise believe though a man declare it unto you you see when when the apostle shaul paul went to the synagogue in the antioch in Pisidia you remember we read in earlier verses in Acts 13 verse 14 but when they departed from Perga and they came to Antioch in Pisidia and went into the synagogue on the Shabbat day and sat down and after the readings of the law and the prophets the rulers of the synagogue sent unto them saying ye men and brethren if you have any word of exhortation for the people say on then paul stood up verse

16 and he beckoning with his hand and he said man of israel and she israel in other words he was speaking to his own jewish brethren just like habakkuk was thinking of his own brethren in the days of old now here is shaul paul speaking to his own jewish brethren in the synagogue in antioch in pisidia this is in the in the region of asia minor and to them he is presenting yeshua the messiah as he said in verse 17 of acts 13 the god of these people of israel chosen our fathers and exalted the people when they dwelt as strangers in the land of Egypt and so on and he tell the history of

our forefathers the people of Israel by the time he's ending his conversation he's speaking about the messiah that was come and you remember what he said to them we read in act chapter 13 in verse 34 and as concerning that he raised him up speaking about the messiah yeshua he raised him up from the dead now no more to return into corruption he said on this wise i will give you the sure mercies of david wherefore he says also in another psalm thou shall not suffer thine holy one to see corruption quoting psalm 16 and verse 10 so paul is preaching the message of the gospel of our lord yeshua jesus the messiah to his

own jewish brethren in a synagogue in antioch pisidia but then once he have preached the message of the gospel he said to them about yeshua the messiah that he was raised from among the dead by him all that believe are justified verse 39 and then he said to them beware lest that come upon you which is spoken of in the prophet and he is now quoting habakkuk 1 verse 5 in other words what he's saying to the jewish people in the synagogue in antioch in pisidia don't you repeat what our own people did in the days of habakkuk don't you reject the word of god as our own forefathers rejected his word in the days

of habakkuk don't you let yourself to not accept yeshua the messiah as in the days of habakkuk the law was select and the judgment never go forth and wrong judgment proceeds read the scripture read the tanakh read the hebrew scriptures see that yeshua jesus is the messiah and accept him and don't do what our forefathers have done in days of all because god said through habakkuk for i will work a work in your days the work which ye shall in no wise believe as he says here in verse 5 as though it be told you well amazing god is a sovereign god and he is now telling habakkuk that look to the gentile world and

you will see that i am going to do something that you have not even thought about it you will not even believe that it is possible that it will happen and so in verse 6 beloved brothers and sisters god is telling habakkuk what he's going to do notice interesting he said i follow i raise up the caladins in hebrew hakasdim these are the babylonian as we have already mentioned caladins the babylonian are the same nation isaiah 48 verse 20 these are the the nation that god have raised him and empower them to become the first you might say the first kingdom worldwide kingdom that will take over the kingdom of Israel and in a sense

God will raise the Babylonian and by the time that he will raise them he will hand over to them what is known for us today the times of the gentiles where kings from among the gentiles will rule the world including rule over the people of israel the people of judah and instead of judah and israel having their own king and all the descendants of david and ultimately the messiah yeshua who will reign as king of kings the kingdom will be handed over to another nation and if you remember in Daniel chapter 2 we have the four kingdoms the Babylonian the middle persians the grecians and the romans and we are living today in the days

in between the roman empire which will rise up in a future day and this roman empire will eventually be destroyed and the antichrist the counterfeit messiah will be judged in the second coming of our lord jesus yeshua the messiah so notice i'm reading verse six once again for i for lo i raise up the caladins that bitter and hasty nation which shall march through the breadth of notice the land this is the land of Israel this is the city of Yerushalayim and the promised land to possess the dwelling places that are not theirs and as just imagine beloved brothers and sisters they will possess this nation the chaladins the kasdim the babylonian will possess the

land they will march through the breath of it they will possess the dwelling places the jewish people and they will eventually will take the people of israel to be captived by the rivers of babylon now let me just here put a clause here for a moment the Babylonian is a forced exile that will happen that began at 605 BC the first exile of our own Jewish people the second exile happened at 597 BC and then the third exile happened at 586 bc every one of these dates are known in jewish history which the caledines the kazdim the babylonian have taken by force our own jewish people into exile we call it the diaspora the dispersion

where the jewish people have lost their kingdom by divine design lost and god had given it to the nebuchadnezzar the king of babylon now notice brothers and sisters that in verse 6 we find out that the lord that i raise verse 6 it says i raise the caladins that bitter and hasty nation which shall march through the breath of the land to possess the dwelling places that are not there notice in the previous verses and i should say in the previous verse in verse 5 he says for i will work a work the providence of god the sovereign will of god it was not habakkuk it was not the jewish people it was not the

world around it it was not even the babylonian they were not in power they were not raised into that full power that the lord had given unto them god was the one that says i will work a work i will raise up the babylonian that bitter notice he called them bitter hasty nation bitter mar in hebrew mar he's going to cause bitterness to the jewish people when the babylonian will come to take our own people captive in those three dates 605 bc 597 bc 586 bc and israel the jewish people will be 70 years in captivity until the restoration of the jewish people in 538 bc to rebuild the temple in jerusalem and the walls

surrounding the city of jerusalem by the way in 586 bc sadly Jerusalem was destroyed and the temple in Yerushalayim the temple of God on the ninth day of the Hebrew month of Av was burnt with fire and sadly Jeremiah his lamentation was lamenting during the time where the temple was destroyed and burnt at the temple in the city of Jerusalem and up till today our own people lamenting over the destruction of the temple in the city of Jerusalem them now i just want to close here in the last remarks here from verse 7 to 11 of habakkuk chapter 1 god present before habakkuk a five-fold description about the babylonians what kind of a wicked heathen

nation they will be and you notice that he gives habakkuk this five full description of these Kaladis, these Kasdim, these Babylonian nations that God will raise against the people of Judah.

Listen to this. The first one is found in verse 7. They are terrible and dreadful. Their judgment and their dignity shall proceed of themselves. The first one in verse 7, the first thing that we read, that the Babylonians, they are a terrible and dreadful nation. These Babylonians, who are so terrible, as he said in verse 6, bitter and hasty nation. These Babylonians and nation, terrible and dreadful to be afraid from. And it says in verse 7 at the end, their dignity shall proceed of themselves. There will be a proud, arrogant nation. Their dignity will come out of their own hearts. A wicked nation that we find here described for us about the Kasdim, the Kaladins, the Babylonians.

Secondly, in chapter 1 and verse 8, the Babylonians are a swift and furious nation. And they, as it were, they are so swift. They're going to come so fast. They are, you might say, faster and swifter than leopards and wolves and even eagles, as a description here that Habakkuk received. It says in verse 8, their horses also are swifter than the leopard and are more furious than the evening wolves. And their horsemen shall spread themselves, and their horsemen shall come from far. They shall fly as the eagle that hastes to eat. In other words, they will be so swift, they would want to consume Israel. And they will be so fast, they will be faster, as in verse 8, than leopards, wolves, and eagles.

They are hungry to eat and to devour. And they will come against the people of Judah, the people of Israel. at 605 BC, as the first captivity began, when Daniel was taken captive, and his own friend, Hananiah, Azariah, and Mishael, to the land of Babylon. Then in verse 9, we read a third thing about the Babylonian.

They are going to come, as it were here in verse 5, they are going to come in order to accomplish violence they are not going to come to care for the people of judah the people of israel no no no they should come all for violence their faces shall sup up as the east wind and they shall gather the captivity notice that as they send notice again the word the captivity very interesting word here that we have in this verse 9 of our chapter habakkuk chapter 1 and verse 9 the word captivity come from the hebrew word to be captive to be to be a prisoner that is captured and that's what exactly what the

Babylonian the Kaladis are going to come to do they are going to come to take the people of Judah captive and to remind you once again 605 BC is the first captivity that took place is when Daniel and his friends were taken captive Daniel chapter 1 and if you remember many of the vessels from the temple was already taken and that was in 605 bc then later on in 597 bc that was the second deportation that's when ezekiel yeheskel was taken to babylon he went and he at the same time when daniel was there he himself some years later was taken with 10 000 jews to babylon in the second captivity the second deportation 597

bc and then the third deportation and the third time where the temple was burnt and jerusalem was destroyed in 586 bc where the temple was destroyed in second kings chapter 25 and the jerusalem was destroyed the temple was burned and that was the third forced deportation that happened in Jewish history and as I mentioned before the ninth day of the Hebrew month of Av is one of the saddest days in our own history where the temple was destroyed by the Babylonian in 586 BC and it is almost you might say the second most important time in Jewish history like the day of atonement Yom HaKippurim is the highest of them all when we make atonement

where we the Jewish people seek for atonement from the Lord well the ninth day of the month of Av 586 BC is where the temple was destroyed this is the Solomonic temple was destroyed by the Babylonian and that is a day of mourning and fasting in Jewish history and here the Lord predict that beloved brothers and sisters notice now in verse 10 he's saying the fourth thing about the Babylonian the Babylonian are scoffers, the Kaladins they are scoffers who will cause all to be in fear I'm reading verse 10 and they shall scoff at the kings and the princes shall be a scorn unto them they shall deride every stronghold for they shall heap dust

and take it you see when the babylonian would come god predicting here telling this to habakkuk habakkuk listen when i'm gonna raise the babylonian they're gonna come they will scoff at the kings of israel and the princess of israel and i will scorn them they shall deride every stronghold in other words everything you will try to protect yourself you will not be able the hebrew word for stronghold is mivzar it's a place that you're trying to protect yourself inside the city of jerusalem they will take it they will deride every stronghold for they shall heap dust and take it it's going to be like a dust going to be flattened out and they will take

it and everyone that stands before them will fear and will deride it from them and finally in verse 11 is the fifth description of the Babylonian the Calades the Kasdim whom God is going to raise and he said in verse 11 the Babylonian strength will be their God they will not trust in the God of Israel even though he will raise them to do this their pride their strength will be their god small g verse 11 then shall his mind change and he shall pass over and offend imputing this his power unto his god his power will be imputed unto his god in other words the strength that god gave them the god of israel

allowed them to do what they did to his own people their strength will become like their god and they will instead of honor the true and living god the god of israel they will honor they will impute his power to his god and think that is his god that have done so rather than the god of israel allow them to come and you know this teaching us a very very important lesson let me just remind you what we read in daniel in chapter 4 how the king of babylon was such a proud man nebuchadnezzar you remember what we read about nebuchadnezzar in daniel chapter 4 we read in verse 28 all this came upon the

king nebuchadnezzar at the end of the 12 months he walked in the palace of the kingdom of Babylon the king spake and he said is not this great Babylon let me repeat this verse 30 of Daniel chapter 4 Nebuchadnezzar is saying the king spake and said is not this great Babylon that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power and for the honor of my majesty you remember what we read in that same chapter verse 31 while the word was in the king's mouth there fell a voice from heaven saying O King Nebuchadnezzar to thee it is spoken the kingdom is departed from thee brothers and sisters listen

what a lesson we learn here that the lord told habakkuk that he will raise another nation to come against his own beloved nation the nation of israel that nation is a wicked nation fivefold description we find out about the babylonian we can see what a wicked nation babylonian were and how they came and they took the Jewish people to the land of Babel in fact this time 605 BC began what is known to be the times of the Gentile in Hebrew it's called a tot hagoim the kingdom will be taken from Israel given to the kingdom of Babylon and then the Babylonian after them will follow come the mido-persian after the mido-persian the grecian and

then a romans and even up till today we still live in the times of the gentile the day the times of the gentiles the lord jesus yeshua the messiah said and they shall fall by the edge of the sword in luke 21 verse 24 and they shall fall by the edge of the sword and shall be led away captive unto all nations and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles until notice that until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled well when the Lord Jesus the Messiah was speaking to the disciples he was speaking about the previous generation where the times of the gentiles have already began 605 bc 597 bc 586 bc when

the kingdom of israel was handed to the babylonian and when the lord jesus yeshua the messiah came two thousand years ago israel was still under the times of the gentiles there was no king that were reigning over israel and when the king of the jews yeshua came he was not accepted by the vast majority of our people and that's why we are the kingdom you might say was postponed because yeshua was rejected and then he died and was buried and was raised again and now we are living in between the days of all to the future day of the restoration of israel in the church age for two thousand years we are still in the

times of the gentiles when israel is still under blindness and did not accept the king of the jews yeshua the messiah and the times of the gentiles will come to an end at the second coming of the messiah when israel will finally recognize yeshua the messiah and you know that will end at the second coming of the messiah at the end of the tribulation where we read that Israel all Israel shall be saved as we read in Romans 11 25 for I would not brethren that you should be ignorant of this mystery lest you should be wise in your own conceit that blindness in part happened to Israel until until the fullness of the Gentiles

be coming till the church age will end and then notice Roman 11 verse 26 and so all Israel shall be saved as it is written they shall come out of Zion the deliverer and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob for this is my covenant unto them God says when I shall take away their sins Jeremiah 31 and verse 31 so we see that Habakkuk received an information from God who will raise up a nation the Kaladins the Kasdim the Babylonian who is a wicked nation who will rise against Judah and will take the Jewish people captive and they will be at captivity for these 70 years and then they will return but still the messiah

was not accepted as the messiah the king of israel until the future day when he will be accepted and you and i today are living in this present day of the church age waiting the day that the rapture of the church will occur then the tribulation period will come which will culminate with the second coming of the messiah and israel's final restoration and yeshua jesus the king of israel will rule as king of kings and lord of lords well beloved brothers and sisters habakkuk chapter 1 verses 1 to 11 was set before us to minister to our hearts about the concern of Habakkuk and the first response of God to Habakkuk about his own people,

the people of Israel, the people of Judah.

Well, may the Lord help us to learn from that and that we will trust him and seek to live a life that is pleasing to him. May the Lord bless his word. Can we say amen to that?