OUTLINE#
Habakkuk complains to God (Hab 1:2-4) #
God Responds (Hab 1:5-11) #
Habakkuk questions God’s response (Hab 1:12-2:1) #
God explains what He’s doing is truly just (2:2-20) #
Habakkuk is reminded of God’s attributes and grace (Hab 3:1-16) #
Habakkuk breaks out in an expression of worship (Hab 3:17-19) #
Background #
Habakkuk Asks God#
1 The pronouncement which Habakkuk the prophet saw:
Habakkuk is a contemporary to Jeremiah, Zephaniah and probably lives during or soon after Josiah as king. All of these men are young.
2. How long, Lord, have I called for help,
And You do not hear?
Habakkuk's complaint is that God is not listening
I cry out to You, “Violence!” Yet You do not save.
Violence! And you don't do anything!? This may be a clue as to the time period. Perhaps it fits best after king Josiah when Jehoiakim (puppet king) is placed as king by Egypt. He was a very bad king (Jer 36). Gave taxes to Egypt and had the prophet Uriah killed (Jer 26:21-24).
3 Why do You make me see disaster,
And make *me* look at destitution?
Yes, devastation and violence are before me;
Habakkuk seems to be blaming God for these circumstances-YOU make me see, YOU make me look. Perhaps Habakkuk saw what influence Nahum and Zephaniah had on young king Josiah yet Habakkuk evidently has a very hard time with Jehoiakim. Jeremiah, a contemporary is already under caution. Jer 22:17. Jehoiakim burns a part of Jeremiah's scroll (Jer 26:20-23)
Strife exists and contention arises.
The world system and lack of justice really can get frustrating.
4 Therefore the Law is ignored, And justice is never upheld.
For the wicked surround the righteous;
Therefore justice comes out confused.
Habakkuk seems to blame the lack of justice because of strife and contention. Since the wicked surround the righteous, the law is ignored, justice is never upheld.
God Responds#
5 “Look among the nations!
Habakkuk is invited to look outside of his 4 walls to see God was still in charge.
Watch! Be horrified!
Be frightened speechless! For I am accomplishing a work
It was ongoing, God was already in the process
in your days—You would not believe it even if you were told!
It was so extraordinary, it was unbelievable
6 For behold,
I am raising up the Chaldeans,
This is ironic. Is God 'teaming up' with the evil Chaldeans? Up to this point, the Chaldeans weren't a super power. This had been prophecied: Isa 23:13, Deut 28:49-57
That grim and impetuous people
grim and impetuous is just the opposite to who God is
Who march throughout the earth,
To take possession of dwelling places that are not theirs.
These aren't people who stick to their own. They go where others dwell and rob it. Bullies
7 They are terrifying and feared;
What was known of the Chaldeans was fearful. Terrorists
Their justice and authority originate with themselves.
They do not acquire their justice from God. They establish their own. A strange form of justice of of their own.
8 Their horses are faster than leopards,
And quicker than wolves in the evening.
Their horsemen charge along,
Their horsemen come from afar;
They fly like an eagle swooping down to devour.
9 All of them come for violence.
Their horde of faces moves forward.
They gather captives like sand.
10 They make fun of kings,
And dignitaries
are *an object of* laughter to them.
They laugh at every fortress,
Then heap up dirt and capture it.
11 Then they fly along *like* the wind and pass on.
Fast, stealthy, violent, oppressive, smart, undefeatable
But they will be held guilty,
They whose strength is their god.”
Their strength is their god. They worship their strength. They are only as strong as their strength. Yet it is God will ultimately see justice done - they will be held guilty.
Habakkuk Questions God’s Response#
12 Are You not from time everlasting,
Lord,
God is eternal
my God,
my Holy One?
Habakkuk's God. Intimate. Habakkuk's righteousness is God
We will not die.
God's promise then and now is for eternal life
You, Lord,
have appointed them to *deliver* judgment;
God is sovereign. He devises his plan, establishes it and it is carried out.
And You, O Rock,
have destined them to punish.
13 *Your* eyes are too pure to look at evil,
And You cannot look at harm *favorably*.
Why do You look *favorably*
At those who deal treacherously?
*Why* are You silent when the wicked swallow up
Those more righteous than they?
humanly speaking this does not seem to be the way God would operate. God is holy and pure, why would He treat the Chaldeans favourably?
14 *Why* have You made people like the fish of the sea,
Like crawling things that have no ruler over them?
15 *The Chaldeans* bring all of them up with a hook,
Drag them away with their net,
And gather them together in their fishing net.
Therefore they rejoice and are joyful.
16 Therefore they offer a sacrifice to their net
And burn incense to their fishing net,
Because through these things their catch is large,
And their food is plentiful.
17 Will they therefore empty their net,
And continually slay nations without sparing?
Their condemnation is just. Why are you teaming up with them?
God Explains to Habakkuk#
1 I will stand at my guard post
And station myself on the watchtower;
And I will keep watch to see what He will say to me,
And how I may reply when I am reprimanded.
2 Then the Lord answered me and said,
“Write down the vision
And inscribe *it* clearly on tablets,
So that one who reads it may run.
God wants to be understood (write it clearly). In this case, those who read it, by faith must run! God has written His word in a clear way so that whoever reads it can understand what God is doing and by faith trust him. Today He has not called us to run specifically but we are to go and make disciples of all the nations!
3 For the vision is yet for the appointed time;
It hurries toward the goal and it will not fail.
Though it delays, wait for it;
For it will certainly come, it will not delay *long*.
A. WOE to the ARROGANT God reminds Habakkuk that righteousness is God's to declare, God gives woes against people with the wrong heart not based on the group they belong to#
4 “Behold, as for the impudent one,
His soul is not right within him;
But the righteous one will live by his faith.
Judah is to live by faith, to run. Those by faith, who are declared righteous also are to walk by faith.
5 Furthermore, wine betrays an arrogant man,
So that he does not achieve his objective.
He enlarges his appetite like Sheol,
And he is like death, never satisfied.
He also gathers to himself all the nations
And collects to himself all the peoples.
the arrogance of the Chaldeans will not go unnoticed
6 “Will all of these not take up a song of ridicule against him,
Even a saying *and* insinuations against him
And say, ‘**Woe** to him who increases what is not his—
For how long—
And makes himself rich with debts!’
7 Will your creditors not rise up suddenly,
And those who collect from you awaken?
Indeed, **you** will become plunder for them.
8 Since **you** have looted many nations,
All the rest of the peoples will loot you—
Because of human bloodshed and violence done to the land,
To the town and all its inhabitants.
WOE to the GREEDY#
9 “**Woe** to him who makes evil profit for his household,
To put his nest on high,
To be saved from the hand of catastrophe!
10 You have planned a shameful thing for your house
By bringing many peoples to an end;
So you are sinning against yourself.
11 For the stone will cry out from the wall,
And the rafter will answer it from the framework.
WOE to the VIOLENT#
12 “**Woe** to him who builds a city with bloodshed,
And founds a town with violence!
13 Is it not indeed from the Lord of armies
That peoples labor *merely* for fire,
And nations become weary for nothing?
14 For the earth will be filled
With the knowledge of the glory of the Lord,
As the waters cover the sea.
WOE to the IMMORAL#
15 “**Woe** to him who makes his neighbor drink;
To you who mix in your venom even to make *your neighbors* drunk,
So as to look at their genitalia!
16 You will be filled with disgrace rather than honor.
Drink, you yourself, and expose your *own* foreskin!
The cup in the Lord’s right hand will come around to you,
And utter disgrace *will come* upon your glory.
17 For the violence done to Lebanon will overwhelm you,
And the devastation of *its* animals
by which you terrified them,
Because of human bloodshed and violence done to the land,
To the town and all its inhabitant
WOE to the IDOLATER#
18 “What benefit is a carved image when its maker has carved it,
Or* a cast metal image, a teacher of falsehood?
For *its* maker trusts in his *own* handiwork
When he fashions speechless idols.
19 **Woe** to him who says to a *piece of* wood, ‘Awake!’
To a mute stone, ‘Arise!’
That is *your* teacher?
Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver,
Yet there is no breath at all inside it.
The idolator places his trust in his own handiwork. This is his instructor, a mute teacher of falsehood.
God is the only righteous#
20 But the Lord is in His holy temple.
Let all the earth be silent before Him.”
Righteousness is not one nation more than another (ie Judah vs Babylon). Righteousness and holiness is only God. Let everyone else be silent
Habakkuk Settles to Focus on God and His faithfulness over time#
**3** A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet, according to Shigionoth.
2 Lord, I have heard the report about You,
*and* I was afraid. `the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom`
Lord, revive Your work in the midst of the years,
In the midst of the years make *it* known.
In anger remember mercy.
3 God comes from Teman,
And the Holy One from Mount Paran. *Selah*
His splendor covers the heavens,
And the earth is full of His praise.
4 *His* radiance is like the sunlight;
He has rays *flashing* from His hand,
And the hiding of His might is there.
5 Before Him goes plague,
And plague comes forth after Him.
6 He stood and caused the earth to shudder;
He looked and caused the nations to jump.
Yes, the everlasting mountains were shattered,
The ancient hills collapsed.
His paths are everlasting.
7 I saw the tents of Cushan under distress,
The tent curtains of the land of Midian were trembling.
Attributes of God: Holy One, Splendor covers the heavens, praised by the whole earth, radiant, mighty, plague goes before and after, powerful - causing the earth to tremble, everlasting
8 Did the Lord rage against the rivers,
Or *was* Your anger against the rivers,
Or *was* Your rage against the sea,
That You rode on Your horses,
On Your chariots of salvation?
9 You removed Your bow *from its holder*,
The arrows of *Your* word were sworn. *Selah*
You divided the earth with rivers.
10 The mountains saw You *and* quaked;
The downpour of waters swept by.
The deep raised its voice,
It lifted high its hands.
11 Sun *and* moon stood in their lofty places;
They went away at the light of Your arrows,
At the radiance of Your flashing spear.
12 In indignation You marched through the earth;
In anger You trampled the nations.
God manifested his power and justice. Perhaps the flood is alluded to.
13 You went forth for the salvation of Your people,
For the salvation of Your anointed.
You smashed the head of the house of evil
To uncover *him from* foot to neck. *Selah*
14 **You** pierced with his own arrows
The head of his leaders.
They stormed in to scatter us;
Their arrogance *was* like those
Who devour the oppressed in secret.
15 **You** trampled on the sea with Your horses,
On the foam of many waters.
Habakkuk recounts God's faithfulness and mercy to Israel over the years. In anger, God remembered mercy.
Habakkuk’s interaction with God results in Life experience#
16 I heard,
and
(Hab 1:6) - Habakkuk had heard. God spoke, he listened.
my inner parts trembled;
At the sound,
my lips quivered.
Decay enters my bones,
And in my place I tremble;
Because I must wait quietly
This was a scary thought for Habakkuk. It meant imminent trouble was coming. They would need to trust the Lord
for the day of distress,
For the people
The nation was in for distress.
to arise *who* will attack us.
God was going to raise up the Chaldeans to attack Judah.
17 Even if
the fig tree does not blossom,
And
there is no fruit on the vines,
*If*
the yield of the olive fails,
And
This meant not only no olives but no produce of the olive (oil etc). the fields produce no food, *Even if* No figs, no grapes, no olives
the flock disappears from the fold,
And
there are no cattle in the stalls,
even if...there's no sheep or cattle
18 Yet I will triumph
in the Lord,
I will rejoice
Triumph is secured in the Lord. I can rejoice!
in the God of my salvation.
19 The Lord God
is my strength,
He can rejoice in the God of his salvation. God is his strength
And
He has made my feet like deer’s *feet*,
And
has me walk on my high places.
Feet like deer is to be firm. Similar to a tree planted by the water. high is above danger, lofty places.
Background of Habakkuk#
Date of writing: about 609-605 B.C.
In 620 B.C.E., revolts throughout the Assyrian Empire gave the Chaldeans the distraction they needed to take over Babylon.
In 612 B.C. Ninevah is destroyed
The Chaldeans had finally become a regional power.1
Circumstances: Jehoiakim is King (609-598). He is 25 when placed in power.
Several prophets: Jeremiah is young, Zephaniah and Zechariah are young and so is Habakkuk.