Habakkuk - Introduction
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Introduction
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HABAKKUK WAS A PROPHET (1:1); otherwise, nothing is known about him. Though most prophets spoke to the people on behalf of God, Habakkuk spoke to God on behalf of the people.
Historical Background
The northern kingdom of Israel fell to the Assyrians in 722 BC. These conquerors subsequently fell to the Babylonians in 612 BC. The Babylonians, or “Chaldeans” (1:6), would also eventually bring Jerusalem and the whole southern kingdom of Judah to ruin.
In 609 BC, King Josiah of Judah was killed in battle by Pharaoh Neco of Egypt, and Judah came under Egyptian control. Neco was subsequently defeated by the Bab-ylonians four years later, and Judah fell into the hands of Babylon by 604 BC. Jehoiakim, the king whom Neco had placed on Judah’s throne, rebelled against Babylon in about 600 BC. In response, Nebuchadnezzar, the Babylonian king, besieged Jerusalem. He deposed Jehoiakim in 598 BC and carried his son Jehoiachin into exile the next year. But, that was not the end of Judah’s misery. Zedekiah, Judah’s final king, also rebelled against Babylon in 588 BC. As a result, Neb-uchadnezzar descended on Jerusalem with a vengeance, ravaged the city, destroyed the temple, and carried many of Judah’s inhabitants (including Zedekiah) into exile in 587–586 BC.
Habakkuk probably wrote in 609–605 BC, after the death of King Josiah but before Judah fell under Babylonian control.
Message and Purpose
Habakkuk was a perplexed prophet who lived in the last days of the southern kingdom of Judah, before the Babylonians invaded it and took the people into captivity. The prophet struggled because God used the evil Babylonians to judge his people; in other words, he used the clearly unrighteous to judge the more righteous, and Habakkuk wrestled with whether God was fair for doing so. While we all struggle with this issue at times, the book of Habakkuk serves as an invitation to look at the “who” when we don’t understand the “why.” It prompts us to trust God’s sovereignty over his kingdom purposes even when we don’t comprehend them.
Habakkuk invites us to draw near to God even when we don’t get all of our questions answered—and even when it seems that God is working against us! The book teaches that we can take our stand and praise God even when we don’t grasp what he’s doing. Habakkuk both encourages us with his doxology at the end of the book (3:16-19) and with his declaration, “The righteous one will live by his faith” (2:4).