Habakkuk 1 & 2:1-5

1-4 5-11 12-2:1 2:2-4

Much like Nahum not much is known about the prophet Habakkuk, but while Nahum has some clues to who the man was Habakkuk does not include any details. This prophecy was given to Habakkuk through a vision and not through a auditory message from God, thus no Thus says the Lord. The time frame for this book is after Nahum, either right before or right after the fall of Nineveh in 612 B.C. but before the invasion of Jerusalem in 605 B.C. Habakkuk’s lament in verses 2-4 of chapter one may reflect a time period after the death of King Josiah in 609 B.C. when the discovery of the Book of the Law in the temple by Josiah and the reformation back to God that Josiah had instituted was quickly overturned and reversed by his successor, Jehoiakim. This book consists of Habakkuk twice crying out to God in complaint, the first time for justice in Judah, as the people have once again turned away from God and back to the idolatry and evil ways after the death of Josiah. Then God answers but perhaps not the way Habakkuk expected. The second cry of complaint from Habakkuk was crying out in confusion on the method God was going to use in his justice, and God’s answer. The third chapter is Habakkuk’s prayer to God for mercy, praising God’s power, and His renewed commitment and unwavering confidence and faith in God.

1-4

1

The ESV translates the beginning of verse one as the oracle, while The KJV and the ASV translate it the burden. This was a heavy, weighty prophecy given to Habakkuk in the form of a vision that God showed him.

2

Verses 2-4 are Habakkuk’s first complaint to God. He cries out “O Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not hear?” We all may have at one time had this feeling and complaint to God. When we see evil flourish or the death of loved one or child we in our human hearts question why. Habakkuk saw the violence, idolatry and evil running rampant in Judah and in his narrow tunnel vision not seeing God’s justice being done.

3

He questions why he is made to see all of the sin in his day, and he knows that God sees it to as not even a sparrow falls from the sky without God’s knowledge. But Habakkuk complains that God is looking and seeing without doing anything, he says idly looking at all the wrongdoing.

4

He says that the Law is paralyzed or slacked in the KJV, literally meaning the law is chilled or numbed. No one was giving it any respect and the law was like hands that have been numbed with cold and are practically useless. Like I mentioned earlier, this was a time after the Law was re-discovered by Josiah and there was a mini-revival and a tearing down of idol and idol worshiping, then a sudden reversal probably deeper into sin than before after Josiah’s death. This is a crying out of pain and anguish by a man still faithful to God and wanting to see a return to the revival of faith in the one true God. I think we can all relate to and sympathise with Habakkuk.

5-11

5

In answer to Habakkuk’s crying out in complaint at the current state of Judah God tells him to see the vision he is going to show him and he will be astonished. God saying that he must see it to believe it because Habakkuk would not believe it if he spoke it to him.

6

God showed him that he is building up the Chaldeans, later known as the Babylonians, to come and conqueror the nation of Judah and take it captive. Instead of God bringing about another revival of righteousness like there was under Josiah he will be sending judgement and once again using the Babylonians to provide this judgement but not to another Gentile wicked nation but to Judah, who have become like the other wicked Gentile nations. Verses 6- 12 give a terrifying description of the people that God is using to judge Judah. God calls them angry and impatient, conquering and seizing whole towns all over the earth.

7

Everyone is in fear of their coming, Calvin says this about the second part of verse 7: “Whatever the Chaldeans will claim for themselves, theirs shall it be; for no one will dare to interfere, and they will not submit to the will of others; but their power shall be for law, and their sword for a tribunal.”

8

God goes on to show Habakkuk in this vision that they a quick moving fierce battle force, like wolves that have not eaten all day and are hungry for their next meal.

9

They are not coming to try and extract payment or extort tribute, they are coming for violence and battle, none of them will turn aside from their march. They will come and gather up captives from Judah like one would scoop up a handful of sand, an innumerable number.

10

They do not fear other kings or rulers, walls and towers will be of little use before them, they will simply mound up the very earth at the wall and walk across it and into the city.

11

They will come, take what they want and go just as easily as the wind passes through the city. But God adds at the end that even though God will be using the Chaldeans in no way are they innocent, they are guilty, for their own power and might is their idol and they have made their strength as a conquering nation their god.

12-2:1

12

God’s answer to Habakkuk’s cry for justice in Judah was not what he was expecting and he cries out again with another complaint. But he is still faithful and knows who he is crying out to. He calls out praises to God speaking of God’s eternality and holiness. When he says “We shall not die” he is expressing his understanding that Judah will not be completely destroyed like Nineveh and that God is using them for correctional judgement and not total annihilation. Calling God O Rock is him expressing that he knows God’s will is unchangeable and firm like the rock.

13

Verses 13 through 17 lay out Habakkuk’s second complaint to God. He start out with saying that God is pure and Holy, which he is, and cannot abide, or stand sin, which he cannot. Then how can he use and evil and wicked nation like the Chaldeans to provide judgement on Judah, which he calls a more righteous nation than the Chaldeans.

14

Habakkuk then goes on to describe the ways of the Chaldeans to God, saying that they do not value life and think of other men like fish of the sea, or like bugs that just exist and have no value or order.

15

They gather up captives from other nations as a fisherman would gather fish from the sea with hooks or a net and celebrate in the catch.

16

Habakkuk still using the fisherman analogy say that they go further than just taking captives, they sacrifices and offerings to their nets, meaning they idolize their own strength and power because they believe that their own strength and might is what is making them successful and wealthy and and not giving God any glory.

17

How long will God allow them to keep filling and emptying their nets, taking captives and destroying other nations.

2:1

Habakkuk then compares himself to a watchmen in a tower waiting for God’s reply to his complaint.

2:2-4

2

God then does answer Habakkuk with another vision, but before he give the vision in answer to the second complaint God gives him some instructions on what to do. He tells him to write the visions that he has shown him and make it plain, easy to understand. The mention of “so he may run who reads it” could mean that make the message clear and easy to understand so that some one rushing along may be able to grasp its meaning or that the message should be so clear and easy to pass along, so the messengers who run will be able to repeat it easily. Bottom line is that God wants what he is going to show Habakkuk to be known throughout the land and preserved.

3

This vision is of things to come and it will be carried out until it is finished and it will not be false, it will not lie. No matter if Habakkuk thinks that he has waited too long for what God shows him to come to pass, it will come and be fulfilled when God has ordained it to take place.

4

Verse 4 in this context is talking about the Chaldeans but it also describes the two types of all mankind. The unsaved, here represented by the Chaldeans, have puffed up souls, thinking that they themselves are at the center of the universe, but there is no righteousness in them. But the saved, the righteous shall live by faith, faith in Christ as our only salvation. All of the Old Testament pointing forward to Christ, who just like this prophecy came to pass on God’s time table, when He said it was time, and all of us now having the complete and full word of God looking back at what Christ has done with faith in his completed work on the cross.

The rest of chapter 2 is God’s full response to Habakkuk on the fate of the Chaldeans and we will cover that next week.