Sermon Central
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Wolves At Dusk
Contributed by Philip Harrelson on Oct 3, 2005 (message contributor)
Summary: A look at the characteristics of wolves comparative with the judgement of God.
Habakkuk 1:5-10 KJV Behold ye among the heathen, and regard, and wonder marvellously: for I will work a work in your days, which ye will not believe, though it be told you. [6] For, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, which shall march through the breadth of the land, to possess the dwellingplaces that are not theirs. [7] They are terrible and dreadful: their judgment and their dignity shall proceed of themselves. [8] Their horses also are swifter than the leopards, and are more fierce than the evening wolves: and their horsemen shall spread themselves, and their horsemen shall come from far; they shall fly as the eagle that hasteth to eat. [9] They shall come all for violence: their faces shall sup up as the east wind, and they shall gather the captivity as the sand. [10] And they shall scoff at the kings, and the princes shall be a scorn unto them: they shall deride every strong hold; for they shall heap dust, and take it.
Habakkuk 1:8 NIV -- Their horses are swifter than leopards, fiercer than wolves at dusk. Their cavalry gallops headlong; their horsemen come from afar.
l. INTRODUCTION -- WOLVES AT DUSK
-There is a little devotional that I periodically pick up and browse through now and then. It is entitled “Morning and Evening” by Charles Spurgeon. Three or four years ago, Stephen Williams brought this particular text to my attention from Spurgeon’s devotional. When he initially brought it to my attention, I thought that there was probably something useful in it and I logged into a small notebook that I carry around and it was not very long before I had forgotten it.
-Then a few weeks ago, I was over at the church late one Saturday night and begin to browse through my scribblings and found this thought and since that time it was continued to pull at me.
-This message is not a “feel-good” sermon. There is not a lot of encouragement or inspiration in it, but there is certainly some of that old-fashioned conviction that we need to envelop our spiritual lives. Those messages that convict us are those that move us closer to God. It is those sermons that cause us to examine our lives and take notice of what direction that we are progressing in.
-There truly are “wolves at dusk” even now.
ll. THE AREA OF THE TEXT
A. The Prophet -- Habakkuk
-When you begin to try to understand a book in the Bible, it is always best to take a look at it’s writer. Not a lot is known about Habakkuk. His background is not a pedigreed background.
-From his historical references in his writings, one can understand that he was a contemporary of Jeremiah, Daniel, Ezekiel, and Zephaniah. Because he is in the company of those men, he is considered to be one of the prophets during the Exile, when Israel was under the ruler-ship of the Babylonians and the Medes and Persians.
-Habakkuk was a prophet who was had a heavy heart for this people during his lifetime. He was consumed with a burden for his people and for those whom he was attempting to reach. That is one of the greatest weights for any preacher to have to bear. . . . . Serving God and serving people who are attempting to live without their God. He betrays his burden in verse 2 of chapter one when he cries out, “I cry out to You but You will not hear, I cry out to You and You will not save!”
B. The Times of Habakkuk
-Notice some of the conditions of this people who were wayward in their hearts and in their actions that Habakkuk describes:
• 1:3 -- I am shown iniquity and trouble. I notice plundering and violence. There is constant strife and contention.
• 1:4 -- The Law has no power whatsoever. Justice is never delivered and the wicked choke the righteous and because the wicked have the law in their venues, twisted judgment is delivered.
-During this time era, there were also two other prophets who described the waywardness of Israel and Judah. Amos and Micah also give us an indication of what the spiritual landscape looks like:
• Amos 2:4 -- They have despised the law and not kept the commandments. They have followed the lies of their fathers.
• Amos 2:6 -- They pursue insignificant debts because of their greed. The righteous have their silver taken and the poor have their sandals taken to satisfy this debt.
• Amos 2:7 -- There exists unbridled lust that causes fathers and sons to corrupt themselves with their passions.
• Amos 2:8 -- Idolatrous altars are honored and wine is exalted in temples of idols.
