Habakkuk

Habakkuk

Most Christians at some time have longed for a chance to dialogue with God, and perhaps even to complain to Him about His behavior. Habakkuk is one of the few who has been given the chance. Like Haggai and Zechariah, he is identified only as "the prophet." Whereas a prophet is usually a spokesman for God, and Habakkuk did that as well, the book starts with the prophet calling a time out to question and complain to the divine Coach on the side-lines. The message or "oracle" of the book largely consists of the answers which he received.

The only clues for the prophecy's date come from (1) Habakkuk's complaint of great wickedness and lawlessness in Judah (1:2-4) and (2) the prophecy of a Babylonian invasion (1:5-11). From 687 until his repentance (perhaps in 648 b.c.), Manasseh led Judah in one of its worst times of wickedness (see the introduction to Nahum). Under his son Amon, from 642 to 640 b.c., Judah again excelled in wickedness. This continued to some extent until Josiah's reform started in about 628 b.c. Following Josiah's death in 609 b.c. Judah quickly abandoned Josiah's significant reforms and continued their disastrous policies of apostasy under kings Jehoahaz (609 b.c.), Jehoiakim (609-597 b.c.), Jehoiachin (598-597), and Zedekiah (597-587). So the time periods for writing that best fit the first clue are 687-648, 642-628, and 609-587 b.c.

Except for periodic times of revolt (especially under the Chaldean Mero-dach-baladan from 721-689 b.c.), Assyria dominated Babylon from the ninth century until Ashurbanipal's death in 626 b.c. Between 614 and 609 b.c. Nabopolassar and the Babylonians overthrew Assyria and acquired their empire. They defeated Egyptian armies and established their authority over Palestine, including Judah, in 605 b.c. They continued Assyria's policies of oppression under the new Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar (605-562 b.c.), under whom Babylon reached the height of its power. Judah's rebellion resulted in Babylonian invasion in 601 b.c., at which time the temple was robbed (2 Kgs. 24:1-4; 2 Chr 36:6). A second invasion occurred in 597, when the royal family and 10,000 others were exiled and the temple was robbed again (2 Kgs. 24:10-17). The last invasion was in 588-586 when Judah's cities were ravaged, Jerusalem was devastated, the temple was destroyed, and more citizens were deported (2 Kgs. 24:18-25:21; Jer. 39:1-10). What this tells us about Habakkuk's date depends upon how 1:5-11 is understood. If what is "amaz[ing]" (1:5) is God's orchestrating the Babylonians' rise to power (Baker, Patterson), then the prophecy must have been delivered prior to 626, or at least 614 b.c. On the other hand, if the amazing thing is God's summoning such a "ruthless and impetuous" nation as Babylon, who would exile His people and destroy His city and temple (Armerding), then the prophecy may just have preceded the invasions. The earliest the prophecy could have been delivered, perhaps about 640 b.c., is suggested by the phrase in 1:5, "in your days," indicating the events would occur within the prophet's lifetime.

Message and Purpose. The Book of Habakkuk uses the prophet's perplexities to declare God's instructions to His people who are distressed by a wicked world. The book's primary message is found in the divine speeches. It begins by calling into question God's way of handling wickedness. The first question is, How can He allow it to continue among His people. The second is, How can He use as an instrument of punishment foreign nations more wicked than Israel? The message of the first question and response is that God cannot allow such wickedness to go unpunished without violating His own righteous character. The prophet's initial lament (1:2-4) serves as his indictment of Judah. God's first response of judgment (1:5-11) should have motivated repentance in his readers. The message of the second question and response is that God also holds the foreign nations responsible for their wickedness and will punish them. A general application is implied in that God will always bring His judgment against arrogant plunderers. But the primary message and instruction is that those who maintain their faith and hope in Him ("the just") through all this adversity will have life (2:4). To this dual message of vengeance and life the prophet responds with a hymnic confession of faith (3:1-19), thus demonstrating himself to be among the just. The book's purpose is to instruct the faithful in appropriate response to the God of vengeance and life.

Structure. Habakkuk is divided into two parts by the two superscriptions in 1:1 ("the oracle that Habakkuk the prophet received") and 3:1 ("a prayer of Habakkuk the prophet"). Section one is built around the prophet's two complaints. The first in 1:2-4 is followed by God's succeeding response in 1:5-11. This leads to Habakkuk's follow-up complaint in 1:12-2:1 and God's response in 2:2-20. Section two contains the prophet's psalm of confidence in God's grace (3:1-19):

1. Dialogue with God (1:1-2:20)
2. Psalm of Confidence (3:1-19)

God's Shocking Solution (1:1-11)

The book begins with a cry to God: "How long?" This cry is often found in Scripture in complaints against those who persist in sin (e.g., Exod. 10:3; Num. 14:11,27; 1 Kgs. 18:21; Ps. 4:2; Hos. 8:5; Hab. 2:6) and as here in laments calling for God to deliver from distress (Pss. 6:3; 13:1-2; 35:17; 74:10; 79:5; 80:4; 89:46; 90:13; 119:84; Zech. 1:12; Rev. 6:10). The opening speech laments rampant violence and injustice in Judah (1:1-4).

Habakkuk was assured that God was already at work and that he would soon see the results (v. 5). Judah's violence and injustice will be repaid by a people skilled in brutality. If Judah will not fear God, then they will soon fear the enemy He would send against them. Though the Babylonians recognized no law or power outside themselves and would be held guilty, they were tools of discipline in the Lord's hands (1:6-11; see Amos 3:6).

Retribution (1:12-2:20)

The prophet knew that because of God's covenant with Israel, His judgment of them would be redemptive rather than destructive ("punish" should be translated "correct" or "reprove"). But the idea that the Holy God would use wickedness to punish wickedness was intolerable. Furthermore, would the cure not be worse than the disease? Before such a "wicked" one, would not all nations be nothing but fish to be hooked and netted to feed the insatiable appetite of this self-indulgent enemy of all that is right?

Prophets often compared themselves to city watchmen, whose responsibility was to report approaching danger or messengers (see 2 Sam. 18:24; Isa. 21:6-9; 52:8; Jer. 6:17; Ezek. 3:17; Hos. 9:8). Their job was to watch for a message from the Lord and deliver it to the people. That role here assumed by Habakkuk suggests that he was not the only one who needed to hear the answers to his questions. "Complaint" in 2:1 is from the same root as "punish/reproof" in 1:12. Habakkuk was not demanding an answer from God but was expecting reproof or correction for his audacious remarks, knowing that God's ways are always right. He knew that a solution to his perplexity could come only from God and that whatever God said would demand and deserve a response from him. He gives this response in 3:1-19.

Habakkuk's answer came in a vision which was to be proclaimed throughout future generations as the Ten Commandments had been (literally, "the tablets"; 2:2; see Deut. 27:8; Isa. 8:1; 30:8; Jer. 30:2). The message (in 2:3-5) was for all God's people distressed by the turmoil of a proud and wicked world. Its essence was "Trust, and you will receive life!" This is the ultimate answer to both of the prophet's complaints. God is going to deal with the wickedness of His people in His own good time, as He is also going to deal with wickedness generally (see Gen. 3:15). His word to the believer continues to be what Abraham learned: watch patiently but expectantly for what God will do. The word for "faith" here means "perseverance in faith." Even when appearances and human reasoning contradict what God has said, trust God. "Man must lay hold of the future that God has revealed, waiting for it with an eager faith and hope that surpass the apparent obstacles to its realization" (Armerding). Such faith, which is the opposite of pride, is both the condition of righteousness (right standing before God) and also its chief expression (see Gen. 15:6; Rom. 1:17; Gal. 3:11; Heb. 10:38).

Appearances often declare that it is the ones bloated with pride and greed who will live. The Babylonians are used as an example. But God declares in a series of five mocking woes or curses that their self-made glory was a mirage that would be turned to shame. As God would turn the violence of the wicked within Israel back onto their own heads, so He would turn the victimizers into victims and plunder the plunderers. The knowledge of God's glory—not the works of the wicked—is destined to fill the earth (v. 14). This means that the wicked will be removed. All the earth is called to worshipful silence before Him. How many times have believers given such testimony to the living God while under the heel of arrogant, tyrannical rulers! Here the tyrant was Nebuchadnezzar. At other times it has been Antiochus-Epiphanes, or Nero, or Hitler, or Stalin. The statement holds true: Through faithful patience the righteous survive. The tyrant inevitably falls (see Isa. 40).

Psalm of Confidence (3:1-19)

Chapter 3 is Habakkuk's prayer-psalm. The psalmist reverently remembers reports of God's great acts in the past and prays for Him to bring redemption again: "In our time ... in wrath remember mercy" (v. 2).

Habakkuk 3:3-15 is a poetic portrayal of God's salvation of His people from Egypt (see Exod. 15). Here metaphors of God's actions drawn from many passages of Scripture are mixed together.

Habakkuk 3:16 recounts the psalmist's believing acceptance that God was active in his own moment in time as well as in the past. He would "wait patiently" for God's retribution against the tyrants. He recognized that his was a day for waiting, not for action.

The closing verses announce his joy in the Lord despite the deprivations he had to endure. God was his strength.

Theological and Ethical Significance. The Book of Habakkuk represents the kind of faith that became the norm for Judaism and later for Christianity. Israel no longer had the means to try to shape their own destiny. Under the empires they were the passive recipients of whatever good or evil the powerful chose to give them. But in faith they could believe that God would provide what was necessary for His people to serve Him. Believing and waiting became essential elements in their way of life. It should still be so.

Questions for Reflection

1. What was Habakkuk's solution to the disappointments and frustrations of life?
2. What did Habakkuk say about the value of faithfulness and hope?
3. According to Habakkuk, what did God have in store for the arrogant and the ruthlessly cruel?
4. What did Habakkuk teach about God's faithfulness to His people throughout their history?

Sources for Further Study

Armerding, C. E. "Habakkuk." Expositor's Bible Commentary. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1985.

Baker, D. W. Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah: An Introduction and Commentary. Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries. Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 1988.

Gaebelein, F. E. Four Minor Prophets: Obadiah, Jonah, Habakkuk, and Haggai. Chicago: Moody, 1977.

Patterson, R. D. Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah. Chicago: Moody, 1991.

Robertson, O. P. The Books of Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah. The New International Commentary on the Old Testament. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1990.