Habakkuk 1:1

A Survey on the book of Habakkuk

Habakkuk 1:1

The name Habakkuk means “hug”. Awe, what a great name for a book in the Bible. This is what church is all about right, the two minute meet and greet, instead of handshakes let’s change it to hugs! Right! Turn around and hug your neighbor.

What do you think about when you hear the word “hug”? I think about my grandma. Even though I only met her a few times in my life before she passed away, every time I saw her she would give me the biggest hug.

So why is this prophet Habakkuk, named “hug”? Well today as we begin this remarkable book, I will be doing a survey of the entire thing this evening. So that a question that I hope to answer this evening and by the end of this study is why is the prophet Habakkuk named hug? And is there something for God’s chosen people in the Old Testament and the New Testament that should be hugged?

**READ Habakkuk 1:1, PRAY**

The Oracle that Habakkuk the prophet saw…

Oracle can sometimes mean a prophecy or a message. It can mean to raise one’s voice or make a statement. But can you see an announcement? But there is another definition of oracle which I think is more accurate…burden. God gave Habakkuk a vision of the burden, the weight that God was about to drop on Israel, in the form of the Chaldeans and he saw it.

Habakkuk is not mentioned anywhere else in the Bible. But he is quoted in the New Testament as we will see later.

Habakkuk looks at his native Judah, observes the violence and injustice on every hand, and cries out to God with some perplexing questions: Why are the wicked prospering in the midst of God’s people? Why are the righteous beaten down? And why is God seemingly inactive and indifferent in a day of wickedness? God’s reply is even more shocking than the conditions in Judah. God assures His prophet He is doing something.

Contribution to the Bible—Habakkuk was a daring thinker who openly expressed his doubt to God. He was a man of integrity who was concerned about the character of Yahweh. Habakkuk’s unusually extended dialogue with God (about two-thirds of the book) was initiated by the prophet. Normally, the prophetic process was begun by God. After receiving the divine oracle, Habakkuk transmitted it to the people of Judah.

Date and Setting—The only explicit time reference in Habakkuk is to the Babylonian invasion as an imminent event (1:6; 2:1; 3:16). Some scholars suggest Habakkuk was written during the reign of Manasseh (686–642 B.C.) or Amon (642–640 B.C.) because of the list of Judah’s sins in 1:2–4. However, the descriptions of the Chaldeans indicate that Babylon had become a world power; and this was not true in the time of Manasseh when Babylon was under the thumb of Assyria. It is also unlikely that this prophecy took place in the time of King Josiah (640–609 B.C.), because the moral and spiritual reforms of Josiah do not fit the situation (1:2–4). The most likely date for the book is in the early part of Jehoiakim’s reign (609–597 B.C.). Jehoiakim was a godless king who led the nation down the path of destruction (cf. 2 Kin. 23:34–24:5; Jer. 22:17).

The Babylonians began to rise in power during the reign of Nabopolassar (626–605 B.C.), and in 612 B.C. they destroyed the Assyrian capital of Nineveh. By the time of Jehoiakim, Babylon was the uncontested world power. Nabopolassar’s successor, Nebuchadnezzar, came to power in 605 B.C. and carried out successful military expeditions in the west, advancing into Palestine and Egypt. Nebuchadnezzar’s first invasion p 274 of Judah occurred in his first year, when he deported ten thousand of Jerusalem’s leaders to Babylon. The nobles who oppressed and extorted from the poor were the first to be carried away. Since Habakkuk prophesied prior to the Babylonian invasion, the probable date for this book is c. 607 B.C. Abner Chou says 610 B.C. so either date affirms the Babylonian exile is on the horizon.

This is an election year…who are you voting for… but think ahead, four years until the next election, that’s how close the exile is for Israel and Habakkuk sees this coming in this oracle from God. Like freight train coming your way and you’re tied to the tracks. And why is this happening?

Though repeatedly called to repentance, the nation stubbornly refuses to change her sinful ways. Habakkuk, knowing the hardheartedness of his countrymen, asks God how long this intolerable condition can continue. God replies that the Babylonians will be His chastening rod upon the nation—an announcement that sends the prophet to his knees.

So on his knees Habakkuk begins to write to the faithful and the unfaithful who will become faithful from the judgment and punishment of God. His heart desires justice, against the sin of those who will kill his people, but also he desires justice for those who have sinned against God.

Habakkuk’s first dialogue with God takes place in chapter 1, verses 1–11. The prophet asks God how long He will allow the wickedness of Judah to go unpunished (1:1–4). The people of Judah sin with impunity, and justice is perverted. God’s startling answer is given (1:5–11): He is raising up the fierce Babylonians as His rod of judgment upon sinful Judah. The Chaldeans will come against Judah swiftly, violently, and completely. The coming storm from the east will be God’s answer to Judah’s crimes.

Hab 1:6, who is God going to raise up? The Chaldeans.

Do you guys remember who the Chaldeans were?…were they nice? No…were they lovers of Yahweh?…No. So God is going to use more evil, more wicked people than Israel as his rod of fury to judge his own people who are less bad? The answer is what?…Yes.

Although we may live in a time a judgment, it may not be what we think is right, but it is what?…right, in God’s sight.

Do you guys remember another name that the Chaldeans had?…Babylonians. In Daniel 1, you see both names describing them.

So why does God use the name Chaldeans and not Babylonians?…It ties something together

Someone read Genesis 11:31 “Terah took Abram his son and Lot the son of Haran, his grandson, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram’s wife, and they went forth together from Ur of the Chaldeans to go into the land of Canaan, but when they came to Haran, they settled there.”

You say wait a second! Abram or Abraham, the father of the faith, was from Ur of the Chaldeans.

Stay with me…what is God saying to his people through the prophet?

This judgment on you is going to be so devastating that your lives are going to have to be reset. Back to the beginning. That’s how horrible this judgment is going to be. But why? So that your faith will be, again, like Abraham’s. That’s the only way the righteous can survive…by faith like Abraham.

This answer leads to Habakkuk’s second dialogue with God (1:12–2:20). The prophet is more perplexed than ever and asks how the righteous God can punish Judah with a nation that is even more wicked (1:12–2:1). Will the God whose eyes are too pure to approve evil reward the Babylonians for their cruelty and idolatry? Habakkuk stands upon a watchtower to wait for God’s reply. The Lord answers with a series of five woes: greed and aggression (2:5–8), exploitation and extortion (2:9–11), violence (2:12–14), immorality (2:15–17), and idolatry (2:18–20). God is aware of the sins of the Babylonians, and they will not escape His terrible judgment. But Judah is guilty of the same offenses and stands under the same condemnation. God concludes His answer with a statement of His sovereign majesty: “But the LORD is in His holy temple. Let all the earth keep silence before Him” (2:20).

Let the earth keep silence before him…literally zip your lips!

Can you imagine crying out to God from a watchtower or the Hutchinson water tower, why are you punishing us, evil people, with evil people? And then imagine God answering you audibly! Zip it!

And Habakkuk ceases asking questions and moves from burden to blessing, from wondering to worship, from restlessness to rest, from a problem to God’s person, and from a complaint to care.

Somebody read Habakkuk 2:4 ““Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him, but the righteous shall live by his faith.”

You’ve heard this before right?…

Romans 1:17 “For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.””

Galatians 3:11 “Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.””

Hebrews 10:38 “but my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.””

Those three famous verses in the New Testament…are quotes from Habakkuk 2:4.

The message of Habakkuk was designed by God to be carried through to his people through the Babylonian exile, through the Intertestamental period, through the New Testament times, and even to his church today in 2024, in Hutchinson, Ks.

This is how the faithful live, this is how the righteous live, by faith. Do you desire to live in that way by faith, then Habakkuk is the book for you. See how easy that is?

But the righteous shall live by what?…faith.

Romans 4:22–24 “That is why his faith was “counted to him as righteousness.” But the words “it was counted to him” were not written for his sake alone, but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord,”

Your faith in Christ, is counted to you as righteousness…you see now…Habakkuk 2:4 ““Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him, but the righteous shall live by his faith.”

The same judgment that fell upon God’s chosen sinful people, is the same judgment that you should receive…but what?…Your faith in Christ, is counted to you as what?…righteousness

So Habakkuk’s answer to his questions: How does God handle our wickedness? Or why does God use a more sinful people to punish them?…simple, judgment.

And although the judgment we avoid because of Christ is eternal judgment, when God sends disaster upon you and your people…will he still find you faithful.

When Isis terrorists behead our brothers, sisters, and children…will you remain faithful? When the government shuts down all the church buildings…will you remain faithful? When your unbelieving friends and family try and get you to compromise on your belief that God made man in his image, both male and female…will you remain faithful?

The message of Habakkuk is so good…remain faithful and you will be righteous. This is a faithful faith that contrasts pride.

The Chaldeans are prideful, not faithful and God tells him, they will be judged. So he’s using them as an illustration to Israel, if you remain prideful, you also will be judged.

In Habakkuk three he begins to pray…I would say one of the convicting prayers of faith in the Bible.

I don’t want to get too deep until we get there but this prayer declares the glory and praise of God for his work and faithfulness for his people throughout all of human history. It is so beautiful, I’ve been reading this entire book everyday, and every time I get to this chapter, my heart is broken over how weak my own faith is but also how great and powerful my God is.

Somebody read Habakkuk 3:13 “You went out for the salvation of your people, for the salvation of your anointed. You crushed the head of the house of the wicked, laying him bare from thigh to neck. Selah”

Where have you seen that phrase before?…”Crushed the head” That’s right, Genesis 3:15 “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.””

This is Habakkuk’s prophetic prayer that God’s promises will happen, God will make all things new, and he will defeat all of his enemies crushing the head of the wicked.

So to wrap up…the end of the book has a stunning conclusion. Habakkuk 3:17 “Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls,”

What happens if you don’t have figs, or fruit, or wheat…no food, no animals…no food. What’s he say? Even if all this happens God, someone read v18

Rejoice and take joy in the God of your salvation

So the righteous shall live by faith in God and what does that faith look like according to Habakkuk and Hab 3:17-18?

When your heart is crushed by sadness, when your world is flipped upside down by a sudden catastrophe, when you are struggling to resist your habitual sins, when you feel like you can’t breathe from all the evil in the world, what do you do? You let go of the world…and what? You hug Jesus. You hug Jesus.

The word Habakkuk is only mentioned in this book twice, but the root hebrew word for embrace is ‘habaq’ is mentioned 12 times in the OT

Genesis 29:13 “As soon as Laban heard the news about Jacob, his sister’s son, he ran to meet him and embraced him and kissed him and brought him to his house. Jacob told Laban all these things,”

Genesis 33:4 “But Esau ran to meet him and embraced him and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept.”

Genesis 48:10 “Now the eyes of Israel were dim with age, so that he could not see. So Joseph brought them near him, and he kissed them and embraced them.”

And in the NT

Luke 15:20 “And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.”

What seems to accompany the embracing in these texts? Kisses yes? But also what? Restoration. And once you are in Jesus’ embrace, nothing can separate you from him.

John 10:28–29 “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.”

Embrace him in faith and his righteousness will set you free. That is the message of Habakkuk, embrace Christ and he will never let you go. Amen.