Have you ever wondered why God is seemingly silent or “asleep at the switch” when it comes to all the problems and injustice of this world? If so, Habakkuk is your book.
Unlike other prophetic books, this one is focused entirely on a singular conversation the prophet has – not with God’s people, but with God Himself.
The book of Habakkuk is short (just three chapters), but it packs a spiritual punch. It’s a spiritual knock-upside-the-head that resets our expectations and makes us rethink how we should view not just our lives, but the world around us as a whole.
The book opens with Habakkuk’s burden and his complaint against God. It closes with prayer and praise. And it leaves us with some truths we should incorporate into our outlook on life, particularly our relationship with God.
A Prophet’s Complaint
Based on studies in the ancient Hebrew language, Habakkuk’s name probably comes from a verb that means “to embrace.” If so, it seems the name fits as this is a powerful, intimate conversation that this prophet has with the God he serves.
Based on the content of the book, most scholars place Habakkuk following the reign of King Josiah and during the reign of Jehoiakim (ca 609–598 BC/BCE).
The first line of the book introduces us to a prophet with a “burden” (Habakkuk 1:1). That burden is based on what Habakkuk “saw.” And he describes what he was seeing in the next three verses:
O Lord, how long shall I cry,
Habakkuk 1:2-4, NKJV
And You will not hear?
Even cry out to You, “Violence!”
And You will not save.
Why do You show me iniquity,
And cause me to see trouble?
For plundering and violence are before me;
There is strife, and contention arises.
Therefore the law is powerless,
And justice never goes forth.
For the wicked surround the righteous;
Therefore perverse judgment proceeds.
One very important lesson from Habakkuk is that he takes his burden to the right place, namely Yahweh Himself. And God does not rebuke or punish Habakkuk for bringing Him this burden or putting these questions to Him.
God can handle our questions.
We may not always enjoy or be able to easily handle God’s ANSWERS.
But we can always bring our burdens, requests, and questions to God.
God’s Response
God replies to Habakkuk in a way that (at first) actually makes his burden even heavier.
“Look among the nations and watch—
Habakkuk 1:5-11, NKJV
Be utterly astounded!
For I will work a work in your days
Which you would not believe, though it were told you.
For indeed I am raising up the Chaldeans,
A bitter and hasty nation
Which marches through the breadth of the earth,
To possess dwelling places that are not theirs.
They are terrible and dreadful;
Their judgment and their dignity proceed from themselves.
Their horses also are swifter than leopards,
And more fierce than evening wolves.
Their chargers charge ahead;
Their cavalry comes from afar;
They fly as the eagle that hastens to eat.
They all come for violence;
Their faces are set like the east wind.
They gather captives like sand.
They scoff at kings,
And princes are scorned by them.
They deride every stronghold,
For they heap up earthen mounds and seize it.
Then his mind changes, and he transgresses;
He commits offense,
Ascribing this power to his god.”
God tells Habakkuk that He is doing something about Judah’s iniquity. God is, in fact, raising up the Babylonians (or Chaldeans) to punish Judah. Of course, God describes the Babylonians (or Chaldeans) in quite negative, but accurate, terms.
Habakkuk’s New Complaint
One can only imagine the look on Habakkuk’s face when He hears God’s answer. As we know from this little book, God’s answer doesn’t make Habakkuk happy. In fact, Habakkuk now lodges a new complaint:
Are You not from everlasting,
Habakkuk 1:12-17, NKJV
O Lord my God, my Holy One?
We shall not die.
O Lord, You have appointed them for judgment;
O Rock, You have marked them for correction.
You are of purer eyes than to behold evil,
And cannot look on wickedness.
Why do You look on those who deal treacherously,
And hold Your tongue when the wicked devours
A person more righteous than he?
Why do You make men like fish of the sea,
Like creeping things that have no ruler over them?
They take up all of them with a hook,
They catch them in their net,
And gather them in their dragnet.
Therefore they rejoice and are glad.
Therefore they sacrifice to their net,
And burn incense to their dragnet;
Because by them their share is sumptuous
And their food plentiful.
Shall they therefore empty their net,
And continue to slay nations without pity?
To summarize, Habakkuk’s response is basically:
“You’re going to do WHAT??!!”
Habakkuk (My Paraphrase)
Habakkuk argues (not incorrectly) that the Babylonians are even worse than the sinful people of Judah, reminding God of their barbarism and ruthlessness.
Determined to get an answer, Habakkuk makes it clear he won’t rest until God provides some kind of an explanation:
I will stand my watch
Habakkuk 2:1, NKJV
And set myself on the rampart,
And watch to see what He will say to me,
And what I will answer when I am corrected.
God’s Answer (and a Lesson for us All)
We don’t know how long God left Habakkuk waiting in his watchtower, but God does provide an answer.
Then the Lord answered me and said:
“Write the vision
And make it plain on tablets,
That he may run who reads it.
For the vision is yet for an appointed time;
But at the end it will speak, and it will not lie.
Though it tarries, wait for it;
Because it will surely come,
It will not tarry.Behold the proud,
Habakkuk 2:2-4, NKJV
His soul is not upright in him;
But the just shall live by his faith.”
In the unfolding verses beyond the passage above, God details the future of things to come, and assures Habakkuk that ultimate justice and deliverance is coming – but will be in God’s timing.
God argues that we must trust Him, knowing that He is sovereign and that all will be made right in God’s timing.
And God provides Habakkuk with a key line that would be quoted three times in the New Testament:
The just shall live by his faith.
There are going to be things we don’t understand. There will be times where life is completely beyond our control. Times we feel pressure, pushback, and problems all around, but…
God is in control.
We must trust Him – even when life doesn’t make sense.
The just will live by faith!
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