Justification By Faith: An Overview Of The Book Of Habakkuk

Living By Faith: An Overview of the Book of Habakkuk

Introduction

As we continue on our study a section of the Old Testament called the “Minor Prophets” we come toa prophet named Habakkuk. Scholars are not exactly sure when he prophesied, but in general, the book itself seems to indicate somewhere between 650 BC and 600 BC. This was the time that Babylon was rising in power and Assyria diminishing. As Habakkuk prophesies about the Babylonians were coming to invade Judah as God’s punishment for the sins of His people, it makes a date in this time period probable. The first mention of the rise of Babylon is seen in Isaiah 39:1-8. Hezekiah and Jerusalem had just been delivered by the LORD from the Assyrian siege. During the extra fifteen years of Hezekiah’s life he was granted, the Babylonian ambassador paid a visit to Jerusalem. Hezekiah showed him everything in the kingdom and all his wealth. Isaiah came to him and chided him from the LORD for such foolishness. He told them that everything he had showed him would be taken to Babylon one day. Not only this, but his descendants would be taken away and castrated and have to live there. This was around 700 BC. This was even before Babylon’s great rise to power.

Habakkuk complains to the LORD about the iniquity in Judah (Habakkuk 1:1-4)

The Book of Habakkuk consists of a dialogue between Habakkuk and the LORD. In the first four verses, Habakkuk complains to the LORD about all the iniquity he sees going on in Judah. The land was full of violence and strife. The people were lawless. There seemed to be no justice to be found. Habakkuk was distressed that he had to look at all that was going on. Later on in the book, Habakkuk says: “Thou art of purer eyes to behold evil and canst not look on iniquity.” (Habakkuk 1:13). What Habakkuk wants the LORD to do is to set things right so that neither he nor the LORD would have to deal with this iniquity.

The LORD’s Surprising Response to Habakkuk (Habakkuk 1:5-11)

The LORD responds to Habakkuk by telling him that he was going to do something about the sins of Judah. He was going to send the Babylonians to ravage Judah. They would be fierce and cruel to Judah. They would come powerfully and swiftly. Then they would gather them into captivity. The violence which characterized the land would be punished by even greater violence by the Babylonians who would attribute the victory to their gods.

Habakkuk Responds to the Prophecy

Habakkuk is shocked that the LORD would raise up the godless Babylonians to punish Judah. He reminds how wicked the Babylonians were. They were far more wicked than Judah. Surely the LORD beheld how evil they were. Should it not be they who much more deserved punishment? Not only this, they would glorify their gods for the victory which would also blaspheme Yahweh in the process.

It might be helpful at this point to give some insight to the practices of the Babylonians. The Babylonians would be called “globalists” today. They wanted to impose their ways, their gods, and their culture on everyone. They practiced the idea of “cancel culture.” They did this by selecting some of the more promising youths and re-educating them in the Babylonian ways. We see this prominently in the Book of Daniel. (Daniel 1:3-4) Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah were among the youth taken for this purpose. Their names were changed from names which honored the God of Israel to names which honored the Babylonian gods. Daniel’s new name, Belteshazzar, did not stick, but we know the others as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. They tried to make Babylonians out of them. They tried to feed them rich and non-kosher food in the attempt to convert them. Then these would convert the Jews into Babylonians. This was nothing short of a holocaust. They would kill a large number of Jews in the conquest. The rest would be assimilated and lose their identity which is cultural genocide. In these practices, they followed the practices of the Assyrians who had done this to the Northern Kingdom of Israel. So Habakkuk had good reason to be concerned. He did not go as far as to say this, but Habakkuk wondered if God knew what He was doing.

The LORD Responds: The Just Shall Live by Faith (Habakkuk 2:1-4)

Habakkuk waited for the LORD’s response which begins at 2:2. Habakkuk is told to write it down. This was because the judgment would not happen right away. But it would certainly come. People were invited to read His response. Terrible times would come. This was no time for human pride. Jeremiah prophesied about this to Jerusalem. He told the king and leaders not to resist the Babylonians. (Jeremiah 38:16-18) Those who wished to be saved had to leave the city and surrender to them. Those who remained in the city and trusted in the walls of the city, the proud false prophets, and the strength of their king would be ravaged. They were also warned no to trust in the fact the LORD’s Temple was there. We also see in Ezekiel 10:18 the vision of the presence of the LORD leaving the Temple and heading east toward Babylon.