Habakkuk 2:4-The Righteous Must Live by Faith In Light of the Imminent Babylonian Invasion

Habakkuk 2:4 “See, the enemy is puffed up; his desires are not upright— but the righteous person will live by his faithfulness.” (NIV)

As we noted in our study of Habakkuk 2:2, this verse begins the fourth major section of the book of Habakkuk which ends in Habakkuk 2:20.

This section 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.

Therefore, Habakkuk 2:4 is a transitional statement because it marks the beginning of the content of this prophecy regarding the destruction of the Babylonian Empire.

This verse contains three assertions.

The first two are describing the Babylonians, which is indicated by both the immediate, preceding and following context since the statements recorded in Habakkuk 2:5-20 and Habakkuk 1:12-17 describe the Babylonians.

The third assertion describes the faithful remnant in the southern kingdom of Judah in Habakkuk’s day in 605 B.C. which is indicated by the fact that those who are described in this assertion are said to be righteous, which in the Old Testament describes a person who has been declared justified by faith (cf. Gen. 15:6).

The first assertion about the Babylonians in Habakkuk 2:4 is that they are characterized as being proud and arrogant.

Pride is often emphasized as the cardinal sin of the nations, resting in their own power and opposing Yahweh (e.g., Isa 14:13–15; Jer 48:29; Ezek 28:1; compare note on Isa 2:12–18).

In the Scriptures, pride is a great evil because it involves pretending to a greatness and glory that belongs rightly to God alone.

It is condemned as evil (1 Samuel 15:23; Proverbs 21:4; James 4:16; cf. Mark 7:22-23; Romans 1:29-30; 2 Corinthians 12:20; 2 Timothy 3:1-2; 1 John 2:16) and is a characteristic of Satan (Ezekiel 28:2; 1 Timothy 3:6; cf. 2 Thessalonians 2:4, the antichrist).

God is said to be opposed to the proud (1 Peter 5:5; James 4:6; Proverbs 3:34).

Arrogance is an attitude of the heart (Mark 7:21-22; cf. Job 35:12; Psalm 10:2-11; 73:3-12; 86:14; 94:3-7; Malachi 3:15; Romans 1:28-31) and arises from self-confidence (Isaiah 9:9-10; Daniel 4:29-30; Revelation 18:7; cf. Exodus 15:9; 1 Kings 20:11; 2 Kings 14:10; 2 Chronicles 25:19; Isaiah 28:15; Ezekiel 16:49; Hosea 12:8; Habakkuk 2:4-5; Luke 18:9; Acts 8:9-10; 2 Peter 2:10-12).

Arrogance is essentially rebellion against God (Deuteronomy 1:43; 1 Samuel 15:23; cf. Nehemiah 9:16-17,29; Job 36:8-9; Psalm 5:5; 119:85; Hosea 5:4-5; 7:10; Zephaniah 3:1-4).

The Christian should reject arrogance (Proverbs 8:13; Jeremiah 9:23-24; cf. Jeremiah 13:15; Romans 11:20; 1 Corinthians 1:28-31; 4:7; 13:4; Ephesians 2:8-9).

God punishes the arrogant whether they are a believer or a non-believer (Isaiah 2:17-18; Exodus 18:11; 1 Samuel 15:23).

There are several examples of pride in the Bible and the most notable are Satan (Ezek. 28:11-19; Is. 14:12-14), and Nebuchadnezzar (Dan. 4).

The pride and arrogance of the Babylonians is first mentioned in the book of Habakkuk in Habakkuk 1:7 and 10.

There is an interpretative problem we need to address with regard to the second assertion in Habakkuk 2:4 and it involves the meaning of the masculine singular construct form of the noun ně·p̄ěš (נֶפֶשׁ).

I interpret this word to mean “soul” since the word pertains to the part of the person that thinks, feels, wills and desires.

It refers to the soul which contains volition, mentality, conscience, self-conscientiousness and emotions or in other words, it speaks of the invisible essence of a human being which is created in the image of God.

Now, although this word ně·p̄ěš appears in Habakkuk 2:5 with the meaning of “desire,” the adversative clause in Habakkuk 2:4 would suggest that the meaning of ně·p̄ěš (נֶפֶשׁ) in Habakkuk 2:4 is “soul.”

This is indicated by the fact that the word is employed with the third person feminine singular qal perfect conjugation of the verb yā·šǎr (יָשַׁר), whose meaning is emphatically negated by the negative particle lōʾ (לֹא).

Together, they stand in an emphatic contrast with the masculine singular adjective ṣaddîq (צַדִּיק), which speaks of a righteous person.

The emphatic contrast is between the unrighteous Babylonians and the righteous members of the faithful remnant of Judah in Habakkuk’s day or in other words, the contrast is between the unrighteous and righteous and the soul is the seat of the personality of a human being.

Therefore, the second assertion in Habakkuk 2:4 describes the soul of the Babylonian as by no means characterized as being upright, that is, they were unrighteous in their souls, thus, they were by no means characterized by righteousness or the practice of it.

Righteousness is fulfilling one’s obligation to both God and one’s fellow human being and the former requires loving God with one’s entire being while the latter requires loving one’s fellow human being as one would like to be treated.

As we noted, the third assertion in Habakkuk 2:4 presents an emphatic contrast with the first two statements in the verse.

The third statement asserts that the righteous person will live by means of their faith, which is a description of the faithful remnant in Judah in Habakkuk’s day who possessed a covenant relationship through faith in the Lord and were thus declared justified by the Lord (cf. Gen. 15:6).

Therefore, the emphatic contrast is between unrighteous Babylonians who live unrighteous lives and the righteous faithful remnant in Judah in Habakkuk’s day who live by means of their faith which produces righteousness in their lives.

“The righteous person” speaks of the faithful remnant of Judah in Habakkuk’s day who were characterized by righteous words and actions as a result of obeying the command to love God with one’s entire being and love your neighbor as yourself.

They not only were declared righteous through faith in the Lord but also they were practicing divine righteousness as a result of exercising faith in the Lord’s promises.

This faith manifested itself in obedience to the commands and prohibitions of the Mosaic Law which governed the spiritual, economic, and social life of the southern kingdom of Judah in Habakkuk’s day in 605 B.C.

The reference to living by one’s faith is a reference to experiencing eternal life and does not mean “to live” in the sense of surviving the Babylonian invasions in 605, 597 and 586 B.C.

This is indicated by the fact that surviving the Babylonian invasions, only to die in exile would not be any consolation for the one belonging to the faithful remnant in Judah.

Also, few would live long enough to return from exile in Babylon, however, those who exercise faith in the Lord’s promises will experience eternal life in the millennial kingdom and in the creation of the new heavens and the new earth.

In fact, Habakkuk 2:14 refers to the millennial kingdom.

We have one more interpretative issue we need to address here in Habakkuk 2:4 and it is in regard to the feminine singular construct form of the noun ʾěmû·nā(h) (אֱמוּנָה) since many any scholars, expositors and translations render the word “faithfulness” while others translate it “faith.”

I interpret the noun ʾěmû·nā(h) (אֱמוּנָה) as meaning “faith” rather than “faithfulness” because it is by means of “faith” that one obeys God (Heb. 11:8) and thus pleases God (Hebrews 11:6).

It is by means of “faith” that one practices righteousness and loves God with one’s entire being and neighbor as oneself and loving God and one’s neighbor constitutes the practice of righteousness (cf. 1 John 2:28-3:10).

On the other hand, “faithfulness” is the direct result of habitually exercising faith in God’s promises.

It is a description of a person who is characterized by exercising faith in God’s promises.

Therefore, “faith” and “faithfulness” are related but distinct since the latter flows from the former.

Therefore, this word ʾěmû·nā(h) (אֱמוּנָה) pertains to a strong confidence in and reliance upon someone with the object of trust understood.

It speaks here of exercising confidence and reliance upon the promises of the Lord God of Israel.

Therefore, we can see that the Lord is telling the prophet Habakkuk yes the Babylonians were unrighteous implying that He would judge them eventually as indicated by His statements in Habakkuk 2:5-20 but in contrast to the Babylonians, the faithful remnant in Judah must live by means of their faith in Him.

They must do this mind you in light of the imminent Babylonian invasion.

The translation of Habakkuk 2:4 in the LXX is quoted three times in the Greek New Testament (cf. Rom. 1:17; Gal. 3:11; Hebrews 10:38).

In order to support his assertion that by means of the communication of the gospel message, the righteousness of God is revealed in those who accept the gospel by means of faith, the apostle Paul in Romans 1:17 quotes Habakkuk 2:4.

In Galatians 3:11, the apostle Paul quotes Habakkuk 2:4 in order to prove that no one is justified before God by obeying the 613 mandates contained in the Mosaic Law.

In Hebrews 10:38, the writer quotes Habakkuk 2:4 in order to demonstrate to believers that it is imperative that they remain faithful to God in order to please God and receive a reward at the Bema Seat Evaluation of the church.