Habakkuk 2:2-The Lord Issues Habakkuk Two Commands

Habakkuk 2:2 Then the Lord replied: “Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it. (NIV)

Habakkuk 2:2 Then, the Lord replied to me, namely he said, “You must put down in writing a vision. Indeed, you must inscribe it legibly on tablets in order that the herald would be able to read it easily.” (My translation)

Habakkuk 2:2 begins the fourth major section of the book of Habakkuk which ends in Habakkuk 2:20.

The first section was Habakkuk 1:2-4, which records the prophet Habakkuk complaining on behalf of himself and the faithful remnant of Judah that the Lord had failed to judge the unrepentant, apostate individuals in the southern kingdom of Judah.

However, the second section in Habakkuk 1:5-11 records the Lord’s response to these complaints by asserting that He will send the Babylonians as His instruments to judge these unrepentant, apostate individuals in the southern kingdom of Judah.

The third section of the book is found in Habakkuk 1:12-17, which records Habakkuk questioning the Lord’s choice of the Babylonians as His instrument of judgment to discipline the apostate citizenry of the southern kingdom of Judah in 605 B.C.

Now, the fourth section recorded in Habakkuk 2:2-20 contains the Lord’s response to Habakkuk’s argument and records the Lord’s decision to judge the Babylonian empire in the future for their unrepentant sinful behavior.

Habakkuk 2:2-3 form a prologue presenting the context for this vision and Habakkuk 2:4-20 contains the content of this vision.

Habakkuk 2:2 contains two commands.

The first required that the prophet Habakkuk put down in writing a vision.

The second advances upon the first and required that Habakkuk inscribe this vision legibly on tablets.

The Lord asserts that the purpose of the second command was so that a herald might be able to read this vision easily.

The noun lûaḥ (לוּחַ) means “tablets” since the word pertains to either a stone, wood, clay or metal tablet which is used for being an inscription.

In almost all Semitic languages, this word is a technical term for a variety of flat objects which would include boards, planks and plates.

These objects are composed of any of several types of materials, such as wood, clay, stone and metal.

The most common use for this word was a “writing tablet.”

Inscriptions on clay, metal, leather, papyrus or wood were intended to be preserved for the purposes of record keeping, legal contracts and reading important information.

Sometimes wax was used to help preserve the writing material.

There is an interpretative issue in Habakkuk 2:2 which centers upon the meaning of the verb rûṣ (רוּץ), which is translated “may run” by the NIV.

James Bruckner writes “The meaning of the ‘running’ of the herald (or reader) is debated. Possibilities include: (1) that even one running can read it, (2) that the one who reads will run in terror, (3) that the one who reads will live by it, or (4) that the reader’s eye will run easily over it. The niv is an appropriate translation. The point is that the message is plain so that it may be easily understood by everyone.”[1]

Now, the verb rûṣ (רוּץ) usually pertains to the act of running pertaining to moving fast by using one’s feet with one foot off the ground at any given time.

However, here in Habakkuk 2:2, the context would indicate that the word means “to read easily” indicating that this running is not literal but rather figurative for the running of one’s eyes over information in writing.

This interpretation is indicated by the fact that the participle conjugation of the verb qā·rā(ʾ) (קָרָא) speaks of a person who reads information publicly to others suggesting that the prophet is thinking of a person reading this revelation rather than running somewhere with it.

Also, Habakkuk was told to write down the vision “legibly” which would correspond with being able to read the vision.

Furthermore, the reference to tablets would suggest Habakkuk is thinking of reading something easily rather than a person running with this revelation.

The noun ḥā·zôn (חָזוֹן) refers to the prophecy recorded in Habakkuk 2:4-20 and reveals the Lord’s decree to judge the Babylonian empire for their unrepentant wickedness.

It indicates that Habakkuk received revelation from God in which extrasensory audiovisual experiences, which were revelatory in character, were perceived by him.

God communicated to him in a vision what would transpire in the future with regards to the Babylonian empire.

Specifically, the Lord communicated to Habakkuk His decision to destroy the Babylonian empire in the future because of the unrepentant sinful behavior.

Of course, this would have caused the prophet Habakkuk great joy since as we noted in our study of Habakkuk 1:12-17, he was totally against the Lord’s decision to use the Babylonian empire as His instrument to discipline the apostate citizenry in his nation.

Now, notice the Lord does not rebuke Habakkuk for his complaint in choosing the Babylonians to discipline his nation but rather implicitly agrees with the prophet that the Babylonians were wicked.

In fact, a comparison of Habakkuk 1:2-4, 1:5-11 with Habakkuk 2:4-20 reveals that the Lord was using the wicked Babylonians to discipline the wicked apostate citizenry of the southern kingdom of Judah.

We noted that in Habakkuk 1:2-4 the prophet Habakkuk complained that the Lord had not held accountable the unrepentant, apostate citizenry in his nation for the wicked behavior.

Habakkuk 1:5-11 we noted records the Lord asserting that He would use the Babylonian empire to discipline these individuals in the southern kingdom of Judah.

Therefore, a comparison of Habakkuk 1:2-4, 1:5-11 and 2:4-20 indicates that the Lord judges nations by using evil nations to destroy other evil nations.

So therefore, God was using evil to destroy evil by using the evil, wicked and treacherous Babylonians to judge the apostate citizens of Judah who were also wicked, evil and treacherous nation like the Babylonians.

Thus, God was exercising His wrath or righteous indignation against the apostate citizenry of the southern kingdom of Judah by employing the Babylonians as His instrument to discipline them severely.

In other words, God uses evil nations to express His righteous indignation against other evil nations.

Specifically, He permits wicked nations to commit evil acts against other wicked and evil nations like themselves while at the same time, not compromising His holy standards since He does commit these acts but permits.

Again, God permits angels and human beings to exercise their volition freely without any coercion or interference from Himself.

If He did not permit the function of volition, then, angels and humans would not be moral rational creations but rather robots.

Therefore, God is not guilty of compromising His holy standards by permitting the Babylonians to commit wicked, evil and treacherous acts against other evil, wicked and treacherous nations like Judah.

In fact, if God did not tolerate human beings and angels exercising their volition against them, all would be experiencing His wrath in the lake of fire forever.

God was not tolerating the wicked, evil and treacherous behavior of the Babylonians or the citizens of Judah for that matter since God dealt with this behavior through cross of His Son Jesus Christ.

At the cross, the Father dealt with the sins of the entire human race and evil which originated with Satan by sending His Son into the world to become a human being in order to experience His wrath on the cross as a substitute for all of sinful humanity.

The Son’s substitutionary spiritual and physical deaths on the cross as well as His resurrection and session at the right hand of the Father propitiated the Father’s holiness, reconciled all of sinful humanity to God who is holy, and redeemed all of sinful humanity from the slave marker of sin.

The crucifixion, death, burial, resurrection and session of Jesus Christ destroyed the works of the devil who is the author of evil.

Again, these events in the life of Jesus Christ also delivered them from the consequences of their sins, namely spiritual and physical death.

They also delivered them from enslavement to the sin nature, Satan and his cosmic system and condemnation from the Law.

This deliverance is appropriated through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone as one’s Savior.

v niv New International Version

[1] Bruckner, J. (2004). Jonah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.