Introduction

Good day to all. We will delve into a new book, Habakkuk. Before we know it, we will have explored almost the entire Bible. However, some books, such as Psalms and Song of Songs, may be reserved for the very end. Now, let's turn to Habakkuk.

After reading the first chapter of Habakkuk, one might feel a sense of resonance. You might ask, what advantages does one gain from believing in the Lord? How is it that those who are worse than me in the workplace get promoted, while I, who believe in the Lord, am overlooked? Sometimes, I am even targeted! Let me tell you, you are not alone in this confusion; many Christians have grappled with this, some never figuring it out in their lifetime!

The entire book of Habakkuk is written to help us know God, to understand that the knowledge of God fills the ocean like water. You must observe God's works and understand how He operates. Some people face calamity as soon as they do wrong, but others might think: why do some people get away with wrongdoing? Then, their hearts are filled with confusion. I am here now to explain these perplexities.

However, it's not just you who have these doubts; the prophet also does. So, the theme of this chapter is The prophet does not understand God's actions. The prophet is filled with chaos, confusion, and mysteries about God, not understanding His works.

The Prophet's Prayer is Not Answered

What I enjoy studying most is: why are prayers not answered? What does the prophet say?

He says: How long, Lord, must I call for help, but you do not listen? Or cry out to you, “Violence!” but you do not save? (Habakkuk 1:2)

Do you all feel the same way? Things seem to get worse when one cries out for help! Isn't God a God who listens to prayers and cares for people? Why doesn't He listen or care now? At that time, the wicked prospered, and the prophet Habakkuk was in great distress. What was the situation like then? The Kingdom of Judah was about to be destroyed by the Chaldeans!

Who were the Chaldeans? They were the Babylonian kingdom. The Babylonians were the Chaldeans. Their army was very strong, having found many advanced weapons in the desert or forest. Moreover, their soldiers were trained so well that they faced forward, not turning their heads left or right, regardless of life or death. When one row of soldiers fell, the next row charged forward. Tell me, who could defeat such an army?

At that time, Habakkuk saw that an evil, idolatrous Babylonian nation was attacking the Kingdom of Judah. The Babylonian nation conquered cities and territories with unstoppable force. It was unimaginable! So, Habakkuk cried out to God: God, where have you been? Why are you on vacation at this time? How long will you be on leave? Habakkuk prayed for the Kingdom of Judah in this way, watching his own country about to be destroyed.

The Kingdom of Judah was in a terrible state. Although it worked hard to develop its economy, the economy did not improve. It also worked hard to train its army, but when it looked at the powerful enemy, the soldiers ran away! It was like hitting a stone with an egg. The entire Kingdom of Judah was teetering.

After Jesus Christ ascended to heaven, the Roman Empire attacked Jerusalem. Jerusalem was also in a dire situation at that time. The prophets of Jerusalem were praying at that time, but it was useless. In the end, Jerusalem was destroyed by the Roman Empire. In other words, looking at us Christians today, we see no particular advantage.

Now look at the big names in car and phone manufacturing. How many of them believe in God? None! Some people say: Why aren't there any big Christian entrepreneurs? It's strange. Well, I have to tell you why. The reason is simple: you are to be God's people. If you imitate the way of worship of the tribe of Dan in Israel, that is, setting up an idol and taking a grandson of Moses and treating him as Jehovah God, then the tribes of Israel will also be destroyed by the Assyrian Empire.

You say that the tribe of Dan in Israel did not worship God? They did! You say they worshiped God, but they were also in cahoots with these pagan gods. I tell you, not only Christians and Israelites, but also the people of Judah, all put green hats on God. Tell me, how many green hats did God wear because of Judah? How many green hats did He wear because of Israel? How many green hats did He wear because of us Christians? But if you are not God's people, God cannot wear these green hats!

The Kingdom of Judah imitated the world, followed its customs, and did its deeds. My goodness! God's green hats could be stored in warehouses, packed into boxes. If you order a box of green hats online and send them to God, I ask you, when God opens this box of green hats, would He be angry?

God tolerated the Israelites for more than two hundred years. There were so many green hats accumulated over these two hundred years! If everyone in that generation were given one, it would be enough. How long would God's patience last? So, God sent a prophet to prophesy, and another prophet to prophesy. Do you all know Jeremiah? Jeremiah and Habakkuk were probably prophets of the same generation.

People just don't understand God's actions. Why? I can give you Christians a heads-up: never put green hats on God. Don't love God on one hand and love the world on the other. Don't play footsie with God. You can't afford to! So, if Christians wholeheartedly love God, will your prayers still go unanswered? No!

Many Christians in the church today have their prayers unanswered. So, don't even talk about seeing things from God's perspective, even from a human perspective, they are not answered. In Chinese Mingding Doctrine, I often tell everyone: be vigilant, be holy, love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and strength, pray, and love God well! Only then can you barely make it to where you are now.

So, our brothers and sisters must be careful. I think that in any generation, Christians must learn to deal with a few things: first, deal with the knowledge of good and evil; second, deal with the love of the world; third, deal with catering to the flesh. Here come the same old three things again. I ask you, as a people of God, yet loving the world, catering to the flesh, and discerning good and evil, will God listen to your prayers? It would be good if God didn't discipline you! When God hears your prayer, He will say: Let the Chaldeans come and discipline him!

If you are such a Christian, then you have no advantage. You will certainly not be above all the nations, and you will certainly be beneath all the nations. You say: Teacher, can you build up my faith? I say: You should first build up your fear of God! Where are the people who fear God among these Christians? Those who read God's word and do not act on it think: It should be this way!

I lament that if you ask him to do pastoral care, he can't remember to do it. But if you ask him to do his own things, he never forgets. One characteristic of my ministry is that I bring this person to pray, but it never works. I find that I can't handle this person, so I don't bother. I hand over those whom I can't minister to to God.

So, what does God do? He lets the Chaldeans discipline him, or lets the company boss discipline him. This is normal. Don't be confused, don't be like Habakkuk, thinking: How long will my prayer go unanswered? Why doesn't God save me? Know that the enemy God sends, what are you saving? People need more fear of God, and that is called salvation.

Brothers and sisters, be careful. When prayers are not answered, reflect on yourselves. Otherwise, how many boxes of green hats have you given to God? Then you open your phone and start ordering green hats to send to God, with the recipient being Jesus Christ, the Son of Jehovah God. Won't God discipline you after receiving them? You still want to have an advantage? It would be good if you didn't have a disadvantage.

In what kind of situation did Chinese Mingding Doctrine start building the church? At that time, I saw that many churches' prayers were not answered, and I thought, what kind of church is this? So, we built a church where prayers are answered to show them an example. Later, I regretted building the church. Because God is a jealous God, I kept working on it, and I put myself into a curse. No matter how I prayed, it didn't work!

Don't think I was born as someone whose prayers are answered. No! I was born a rascal. Later, I kept learning. God is really powerful because I repented quickly! It's like when my dad took out his belt, he hadn't even whipped me yet, and I said: I'll change, I was wrong. Truly, repenting means less beating!

The Prophet Sees God Not Caring About Evil, Destruction, and Violence

Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrongdoing? Destruction and violence are before me; strife also arises, and conflict abounds. (Habakkuk 1:3)

When reading this scripture, do Christians have such thoughts? Do they have such thoughts in their minds? Thinking: God, why don't you care? But we must know that the Chaldeans have nothing to do with God. God is just using the Chaldeans to punish His people. Everyone must know that as God's people, God does not personally punish you, but instead sends those unbelievers on earth to discipline you.

If you see evil, destruction, and violence in the company, but God does not care, and this violence happens before your eyes, don't pray for these things! The most important mission for Christians is to build God's glorious church, to build up the body of Jesus Christ. As for the things on earth, even if the Assyrian Empire is very powerful, God will destroy it as He says. Even if the Babylonian Empire has a large territory, God will destroy it as He says! The Babylonian Empire only lasted for three emperors. What's wrong with God using them for a while?

So, the prophet was confused when he saw God not caring about evil, destruction, and violence. He said: God, aren't you a just and jealous God? God, don't you want the earth to be full of kindness and love? But God raised up the Chaldeans, who specialized in evil, destruction, and violence, and the Kingdom of Judah was the object of that violence.

If you observe carefully, you will find that the development of an atheistic country is faster than that of a theistic country, and scientific and technological development is faster than that of a country that calls itself Christian! The main theme of Habakkuk is reflected in our generation as well. If you observe carefully, you will find that all the problems lie in whether God's people diligently keep and follow God's word.

Do you think that many Christian countries will diligently keep and follow God's word? In fact, it's just an appearance. As a result, Jesus Christ has been tarnished as a black person, becoming black Jesus Christ. Why? All because of these people's tarnishing. In fact, the kingdom of God is not on earth at all. The kingdom of God is in people's hearts. Everyone must not think that Christians should participate in politics. They shouldn't! The Bible never says that. Of course, you can work in the government.

If you are afraid, that's right! You say: Teacher, give me some faith. Do I give you some faith so that you can continue to sin? I think I should give you some fear so that you can stop sinning. God has abundant grace and mercy. He warned and gave the Kingdom of Israel two hundred years and the Kingdom of Judah three hundred years. How many kings were there during these three hundred years? Of course, there were good kings and bad kings. They just went the wrong way! So, the prophet no longer needs to be confused about prayers not being answered.

If the person you are ministering to has prayers that are not answered, you don't need to care, because we will pray for him here, and there he invites the old horse back, and then we drive the old horse away, and he invites the old horse back again, back and forth, and he is still confused, saying: Teacher, prayer doesn't work. I have to admit that prayer is impossible for such a person to work, even if it works once or twice, just forget about the rest!

The prophet saw God not caring about evil, destruction, and violence. In fact, God does care. God has His own arrangements, but I must tell you that God cares most about His church, His temple, and God also cares most about the people who build the temple! Later, Israel was destroyed, and there were no more tribes. There is no tribe of Dan now. There is no tribe of Caleb. The Jews you hear about now are either from the tribe of Judah or from the tribe of Benjamin, which is the current Israel.

What exactly does God care about? If what God cares about is what we care about, and what we care about is what God cares about; if we are Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, God is a God who cares for people and a God who listens to prayers. If we are Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, people who build God's glorious church, David who builds God's glorious temple, then God will surely be with us, and we will be successful in everything. That is the advantage.

If you cater to the flesh, discern good and evil, and love the world all day long, then don't be a Christian, okay? If you are not a Christian, then there will definitely be an advantage. You can be Lei Jun, you can be Zhang Chaoyang, you can be Ma Yun, you can make dumplings and wontons. Do whatever you want!

The Prophet Saw God Not Caring That the Wicked Surrounded the Righteous, and Justice Was Obviously Overturned

So the law is paralyzed, and justice never prevails. The wicked hem in the righteous, so that justice is perverted. (Habakkuk 1:4)

When the prophet saw God like this, he said: God, are you still a just God? Why do you allow this to happen? Think about it: how can you blame God for what you did yourselves? When we were still a physical church, a sister from Taiwan came to me. She told me her story, crying so hard that her nose and tears were streaming down her face. She made me cry too. I said, why is this person so unlucky? She really is unlucky!

It was that the owner upstairs renovated and installed the toilet above her master bedroom. So, when they flushed the toilet upstairs, she would lie in bed and hear the gurgling sound of water. It was really uncomfortable! As a result, she sued them in court, and in the end, the court ruled against her, and she had to pay the other party's attorney fees. Can people still live in this house? Are there people so unlucky in this world?

Then she said: She did financial investments for her cousin. She invested tens of millions on behalf of her cousin. Out of the twenty projects she invested in, nineteen were profitable, and only one was not. Her cousin said: The project that doesn't make money is yours. Do you understand? Then her cousin sued her in court.

She also told a bunch of more unlucky stories, about her health getting worse, etc. Finally, she said: My prayers are not answered. She saw God not caring about evil, destruction, and violence, nor caring that the wicked surrounded the righteous, and justice was obviously overturned. So, I led her in prayer. As soon as I started praying, God gave me a revelation, saying: She is someone who withholds offerings.

Everyone must know that if you are not a Christian, you don't need to give offerings. If you want to be a Christian, you must think carefully about the decision to give offerings, otherwise you will be unlucky. Never play games with God. So, I asked this sister: Are you someone who withholds offerings? However, she got angry with me. She had a big temper! I thought, if you have the ability, go to court and get angry with the judge! Why are you getting angry with me?

Later, I realised she had given her offerings meant for God to the poor. Was that God's instruction? It is like you are travelling from some place to God's temple, carrying many offerings to dedicate to God, but on the way, you meet a blind beggar and give him some. But you should have given him some from separate funds!

Why give the offerings meant for God to him? And as you walk on, you meet another beggar and give that person the offerings belonging to God. By the time you reach the temple, you only have one-tenth of what you originally intended to give to God. That is one-tenth of one-tenth. How can you escape misfortune? Why do that?

That is why I often say: If you don't believe in the Lord, it might be better to worship idols! I am thinking of everyone's well-being. Know that our God is a jealous God. God had already shown the Jews the destruction of Israel. God allowed the Assyrian empire of Nineveh to destroy the nation of Israel, and now Babylon has risen and destroyed the nation of Judah.

Brothers and sisters, I still encourage you, do not accumulate wrath before God, until God's fury is upon you. Accumulate grace before God. The things of this world are not worth your love. If you do not see through these trifles in the world, it will be very troublesome. If you accumulate wrath before God, you will experience the wicked surrounding you, you will experience obvious perversions of justice, and you will be surprised. But there is no need to be surprised; you reap what you sow!

It is like God warned you once or twice, and God gave you much grace, but you are wasting God's grace of seventy times seven. As the scripture says:

Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?” Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times. (Matthew 18:21-22)

Perhaps God forgives people seventy times seven. How much grace from God! God's grace is not for us to squander; grace is for us to repent. We receive grace once and feel good, and then we cuckold God. Is seventy times seven enough? Some say it is not enough. Then how many times would be enough?

God warns us again and again. If you have reverence, you will surely become a wise person. If you know God, your grace will be like an ocean. So I think, may God's slap cover the whole earth! Originally, I wanted to say, God, may your glory fill the whole earth. But then I thought about it and said, God, may your slap cover the whole earth. Start repenting now, do not wait until the nation is destroyed and the family is ruined!

God's Response to Habakkuk

“Look at the nations and watch— and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told. (Habakkuk 1:5)

This is the most fatal problem for Christians. I unfold before you the words of Habakkuk and the words of God. God warned the Jews again and again. What was the reaction of the Jews? They thought: No way! We have God, we are believers! What is Babylon? Who are the Chaldeans? A mere nobody! We have God. But little did they know that it was God who brought them!

God was very angry and said, Look at the nations and watch—and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told. Do you believe now? Some may have accumulated up to sixty-nine times seven, with only seven times left.

I am telling everyone urgently, do not disbelieve! God's move is very heavy. In the early years, I offended God in building the church. I played a very serious game too casually, and as a result, I lost my job. But I realised that I was not wronged; I deserved it! I tell you, this is called wisdom and intelligence. At that time, I deserved it!

Before, I did not know God's will. I built a church where no one prayed, and the church was not built according to God's will. I even thought I was great! Later, I began to pray and repent. What happened? When we learned to carefully observe and follow God's words little by little, and began to repent, God's grace came upon us. I said: God, you are so gracious. I have not yet met your requirements, only in my heart I want to repent. I also know that I am not Job, but just a scoundrel. Now I repent before you, and you show me grace.

Later, step by step, I was treading on thin ice, serving God like operating a nuclear power plant! You must not mess around. Maybe pressing the wrong button will cause the nuclear power plant to explode, and then none of us will survive. We must carefully observe and follow God's words and reverence Him. Do not disbelieve the thing God is doing. God disciplines His people and deals with His people at all costs. If something happens to you, quickly reflect on yourself. Repentance is never enough.

Then God said this:

I am raising up the Babylonians, that ruthless and impetuous people, who sweep across the whole earth to seize dwellings not their own. They are a feared and dreaded people; they are a law to themselves and promote their own honour. Their horses are swifter than leopards, fiercer than wolves at dusk. Their cavalry come from afar; they fly like an eagle swooping to devour; they all come intent on violence. Their hordes advance like a desert wind and gather prisoners like sand. They mock kings and scoff at rulers. They laugh at all fortified cities; they build earthen ramps and capture them. Then they sweep past like the wind and drive on— offenders whose own strength is their god.” (Habakkuk 1:6-11)

This is God's response to Habakkuk. It is God who raised up the Chaldeans. Then how many people would be killed? But God does not really care about a few more or fewer deaths! Many Christians think that God cares very much, but the Bible says that God really does not care. Moreover, the people God raised up still take their own strength as their god and do not rely on God. God specifically raised up a group of people who do not rely on God. Isn't that amazing?

You observe God's works, throughout the ages, you carefully observe these battles. We may be very surprised, but do you think God only cares about that small place in Europe? Only cares about that small place in Israel? No, God is in control of the whole world. When Qin General Wang Jian led 600,000 soldiers to conquer cities and territories, destroyed the State of Chu, and also destroyed the other six states and established the Qin Dynasty, do you think that was not under God's control? That was under God's control!

So we often feel that this world is very strange. Look at how powerful Cain was. Cain's descendants were the patriarchs of all walks of life. Once I thought it was very interesting. Someone asked: Teacher, why was Abel cursed? I said, How was Abel cursed? He said, Wasn't he killed? I said, Is being killed a curse? It is not like that.

So everyone must not believe in the law of survival of the fittest in the world. What is the law of survival of the fittest? In fact, it is to allow people to know God, to allow people to know what you can accomplish with your own two hands? It is good enough not to be destroyed. You must learn to reverence God.

The Prophet Seems to Understand a Little

Lord, are you not from everlasting? My God, my Holy One, you will never die. You, Lord, have appointed them to execute judgment; you, my Rock, have ordained them to punish. (Habakkuk 1:12)

We seem to understand a little. God is punishing Judah, punishing people to discipline people. Why? After you have cuckolded God so many times, shouldn't God discipline you? So the prophet understood a little, just like us, understanding for a while and not understanding for a while, not understanding for a while and understanding for a while! The prophet is the same. After understanding, he pondered and felt that something was not quite right, and became confused again.

Your eyes are too pure to look on evil; you cannot tolerate wrongdoing. Why then do you tolerate the treacherous? Why are you silent while the wicked swallow up those more righteous than themselves? (Habakkuk 1:13)

Done! Habakkuk just understood a little and went back again, becoming confused again. I think Christians are like this too, understanding a little, and then becoming confused again the next day. This Habakkuk is very powerful, but Habakkuk is similar to us. Don't look at him as a prophet, in fact, he is similar to us.

Habakkuk was probably confused after two or three days: The first day he said: My Holy One, are you from everlasting? We will never die. Lord, you have appointed them to execute judgment; my Rock, you have ordained them to punish. However, after two days, Habakkuk saw bad things and became confused again, and said: God, why are you silent? Are you on vacation again? What did you go to do? Why are you like this again?

You make people like fish in the sea, like sea creatures that have no ruler. The wicked foe pulls all of them up with hooks, he catches them in his net, he gathers them up in his dragnet; and so he rejoices and is glad. Therefore he sacrifices to his net and burns incense to his dragnet, for by his net he lives in luxury and enjoys the choicest food. Is he to keep on emptying his net, destroying nations without mercy? (Habakkuk 1:14-17)

When I read these things, I had a concept. Babylon, the Chaldeans caught these people like drawing a net, caught them with a net, hooked them, and then constantly massacred the nations. Killing a thousand, ten thousand, just like when we read history, they killed hundreds of thousands of prisoners. Why? What would they feed hundreds of thousands of prisoners? How much money would it cost? So they drove them to a large pit, set up machine guns, and killed them all.

Until now, some of us are still commemorating the Nanjing Massacre, which is said to have killed hundreds of thousands of people. Do you think these people deserved to die? Confused? Maybe Habakkuk's cousin was in the army, and then rushed to the front line. News came back that the Chaldeans had massacred his cousin and the entire army.

We are very confused. In fact, if you look at the nations, there is this massacre, that massacre, there is the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Massacre, the Zeng Guofan Massacre, the Japanese Devil Massacre, and now, there is this war, that war, very cruel. The wicked swallow up those who are more righteous than themselves, but God simply does not care whether you are a little better than him, or you are a little worse than him. Who swallows whom is really uncertain.

But I tell you, those who reverence God lack no good thing; those who reverence God will surely come out of these two things. In fact, where are the righteous people? I sighed and thought: God, you must demand an accounting for the sin of shedding blood, right? Didn't God say that people are very precious? Whether it is an animal or a person, if you kill a person, you must demand an accounting for the shedding of human blood, right?

But now I have to tell you: God will not make a mistake, and ghosts will not make a mistake, but we ourselves often make mistakes. The prophet Habakkuk did not get it right, and I may not get it right, but God will definitely not make a mistake. I have developed a habit. When I see that a person has a lot of financial problems, a lot of diseases, and often encounters some inexplicable disasters, I understand in my heart that God will not make a mistake, and ghosts will not make a mistake.

Then I said later that if this person is Joseph, even if he is sold to Egypt, his fate cannot be changed; if this person is not Joseph, even if he is not sold to Egypt, he will be just like that! So I tell you, God can demand an accounting for this person's sins and that person's sins, but God really does not care much. God does not care whether this person dies in this way or that way, and God does not care much whether this person dies at the age of ten, or at the age of twenty, or at the age of one hundred. To God, it is all the same.

So, it seems that we understand a little, but there are still many confusions. We must strive to know God's works. When we look at the nations, what do we see? We see and understand God's works. After we understand, we will know that God is such a God! God is that kind of God! God's works are such works. Amen!

Knowing God's Works

Everyone must remember this: Know God's works. God's people, if you carefully observe and follow the words of the Lord your God, His statutes, ordinances, and commandments, you will be above and not below, you will be the head and not the tail. This is an advantage. If people do not carefully observe and follow, you will surely be beneath all the nations of the world. The following sentence is what I said. It is the conclusion I later summed up about the nation of Israel and the nation of Judah. They are really beneath all the nations of the world. The history of the Jews, being tossed around among the nations for more than two thousand years, has become a model of being beneath all the nations of the world.

Our God is a jealous God, so we must worship Him and serve Him alone. Everyone, do not be surprised. God will definitely not make a mistake. God knows what we are thinking in our hearts. If you are in accordance with God's will and receive God's grace, and then you start being foolish again, how many times will you be foolish?

Always remember Deuteronomy 28:1-44, carefully observe and follow, constantly carefully observe and follow. I wish that brothers and sisters could receive such words. This is a huge advantage. I am still holding on to this now. Why am I so diligent? Because of reverence, I dare not slack off at all. I must reverence God and serve Him. Let us, in our days on earth, keep the way we should keep, fight the battle we should fight, and walk the path we should walk.

Build God's glorious church, so that God's glory can be constantly manifested among us. God's glory is our pursuit, our core interest. God wants to manifest His works and glorify His name among us, and we will receive more and more grace, until we see the Lord's face. I tell you, if you are such a person, how you die does not matter. What matters is that when we are alive, God is with us.

No matter where we go, the enemy cannot stand before us. No matter what we do, God is with us. We do not need to love the world, and we will receive all kinds of benefits and live prosperously; we do not need to discern good and evil, and God will vindicate us and be in control for us; we do not need to cater to the flesh, and our bodies will be strong! What a wonderful gospel! What a wonderful ministry! Do not get it wrong.

Whether you are on YouTube, Streams in the Desert, or in the Jianghu or any group, if you hear my sharing like this, then harden your heart and become the Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph of this generation, and you will surely become a great prince! This is an absolute advantage, because the God of heaven is our Lord, and we are His noble children.

May God bless everyone. Amen!