HOW LONG, LORD?

The Babylonians do not appear to be an imminent threat when Habakkuk was writing, but he seems to be very aware of their potential threat, and thus Habakkuk’s time frame is probably not later than the end of Josiah’s reign (640–609 B.C.).

Before Josiah, Judah had radically turned away from God under the leadership of the extremely wicked kings Manasseh and Amon, and the nation was ripe for punishment (2 Kings 23:26–27).

Judah was morally and spiritually corrupt, worshiping Baal on the high places, offering its children to Molech, dedicating horses to the sun god, and allowing the temple to fall into ruin.

THEME

By the end of the book, Habakkuk is a changed person—he has learned to wait and trust in God, who works out all things for his glory. Habakkuk, like Job, questions God’s justice, but in the end both realize that God is sovereign and his justice is far beyond their comprehension.

God’s justice demands that wickedness be punished, whether found in pagan nations or in his own people.

PURPOSE, OCCASION and BACKGROUND

Habakkuk saw the rapid progress of Judah’s moral and spiritual deterioration and this deeply troubled him. Yet God’s response puzzled him even more, for “how could a good and just God use a more wicked nation to punish a less wicked one?”

God makes it clear that both nations are to be judged and appropriately punished for their evil acts. Although Habakkuk may not fully understand, he has learned to rely totally on the wisdom and justice of God to bring

KEY THEMES

1. God is just and merciful, even though his people may not always understand his ways (2:4).

2. Wickedness will eventually be punished, and the righteous will ultimately see God’s justice (2:5–20).

3. God uses some wicked nations to punish other wicked nations, but ultimately God will judge all nations (1:6; 2:5–20)

4. The key phrase “but the righteous will live by his faith” summarizes the path of life God sets for his people and is quoted three times in the NT (Rom. 1:17; Gal. 3:11; Heb. 10:38), each time highlighting a different aspect of the phrase’s meaning.

OBSERVATIONS

1:2–11 First Cycle. Habakkuk is disappointed that God does not seem to be answering his prayers; but God’s response indicates that, unknown to the prophet, he has already begun answering them.

1:2–4 Habakkuk’s Lament. Habakkuk believes that God is letting sin go unpunished and that therefore there is no justice.

1:3 idly look at wrong. Habakkuk can hardly believe that his God appears to tolerate sin instead of punishing it (see v. 13).

1:4 the law is paralyzed. The Mosaic law had little impact on the hearts of these people and was not accomplishing its purpose. Instead, they were living according to their own greedy, self-centered desires.

justice never goes forth. Habakkuk believes that God’s inactivity has caused injustice to become worse. The rich were using their power and money to get what they wanted; the rights of the poor were being trampled on.

There was still a righteous remnant, but life was hard for them because they fell prey to the wicked and would not break God’s laws to get ahead.

1:5–11 God’s Response. God has already begun to answer Habakkuk’s request (the Babylonians are coming to punish the Israelites).

1:6 I am raising up. God controls the political scene and uses nations for his own purposes (cf. Isa. 44:28; Dan. 2:21). bitter and hasty nation. God knows the Babylonians well and uses their character traits to punish Judah.

Meditate

‘For God alone my soul waits in silence … He alone is my rock and my salvation.’ (Ps 62:1,2, ESV)

Think Further

I love Habakkuk! He is so honest, so real – and so relevant for our world today, full of fear, terror, uncertainty, pain. Habakkuk prophesied when the threat of Babylonian invasion was being increasingly felt – probably during the reign of the Judean king Jehoiakim (609–598 B.C.) (2 Kings 23:36 – 24:6; 2 Chr 36:5–8). Nebuchadnezzar came to power in Babylon in 605 B.C. and by the end of that century his empire dominated the world. Even though Habakkuk realizes that his nation deserves God’s judgment because of its injustice and idolatry (2–4), there are questions that torment him.

(v 2) why does God seem so silent when things are so awful? It’s a question that many of us ask.

When God does reply to Habakkuk (5–11), there is no comfort. Things will get a lot worse. God tells Habakkuk that He is bringing upon them the Chaldean (Babylonian) army, who will destroy without mercy (See 2 Chr 36:17–21). There are many similar horrific happenings in the world today, though we only hear about a few of them.

We ask questions too: what is God doing? We pray for the peace of the world, but that prayer never seems to be answered.

Obviously, this is not the only experience of Christians, but it is a problem for many. Habakkuk has more questions for God, as we shall read, but he hangs on in faith – and that’s what we need to do too. God’s final answer lies in the cross and resurrection and the promise of Jesus’ return to put all things right.

The silence of God has long been a test of faith for Christians. When my loved one is so ill, or my Christian colleague dies in a road accident, or when I’m clinically depressed, why does God feel so far away?

When He does finally answer, why do things get worse?

Apply

Read Revelation 20:11 – 21:8 to encourage your faith

Closing prayer

Lord, although we don’t understand why You do the things that You do, we nevertheless believe that You are still perfectly righteous.

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