Living By Faith Series

Habakkuk Bible Study – Week 2: Living by Faith

A. Review Week 1 – The Prophet's First Complaint (1:1–11)

- Habakkuk opens with a raw complaint: “How long, Lord?” He sees injustice, violence,

and destruction.

- God’s surprising answer: He is raising up the Babylonians (Chaldeans) as an

instrument of judgment.

- This shakes Habakkuk’s understanding of God’s justice and character. My mom used

to say, “Two wrongs don’t make a right.” Habakkuk struggles to understand how God

can use a nation that he sees as more wicked than Judah to judge Judah. He is looking

at the world from his own limited perspective and not God’s perspective.

B. Habakkuk 1:12–17 – The Second Complaint: A Troubling Providence

“Why do You tolerate the treacherous?”

- Habakkuk is deeply troubled by God’s response: How can a holy God use a more

wicked nation (Babylon) to punish Judah?

- Verse 12: He affirms God’s eternal nature and covenant (Yahweh, my God, my Holy

One).

“Are you not from eternity, LORD my God? My Holy One, you (alt. Heb. “We”) will not

die.”

The first rhetorical question and answer in the verse offers us a perspective on the

nature of God. God is different from humanity in His existence—He is eternal. God is

different from humanity in His essence—He is holy.

God’s eternal nature means that He is not bound by the moment-by-moment perspective

that ties us to the here and now. Habakkuk is acknowledging that God has been involved

in the history of the people of God from ancient times. God did not just become involved

in the life of His people recently. He has always been involved. Habakkuk is not bothered

by God’s eternal existence. It doesn’t perplex Him.

There is an interesting variant in the Hebrew texts that we should note here. The MT has

“we” will not die, but another ancient scribal tradition has “You” will not die. Some

later scribes may have changed it because they did not like associating the idea of death

with God. Here we find God at work in both the texts. It is true that God continues to

exist without death. But, the translation “we” can also be seen to look at the reality that

because God does not die, He is able to keep His promise to Abraham, Isaac, and

Jacob. God was back in the past with our ancestors when He started all of this and He is

here in the present despite our trials and difficulties! Habakkuk can handle this…

But, it is the reality of God’s holiness that aggravates Habakkuk’s problem. The prophet

understood that God’s holiness called for the punishment of sinful Judah, but how could

God use the sinful Chaldeans to do it?

“LORD, you appointed them to execute judgement; my Rock, you destined them to

punish us.” God’s punishment is corrective, not punitive. He is “my Rock.” He is constant

in His dealings with His people Nothing can change either his character or His purposes

for His people.

This is an acknowledgment of God’s sovereignty. God is in charge. Next Habakkuk

appeals to God’s purity, God’s essence.

- Verse 13: God’s purity (“too pure to look on evil”) clashes with what Habakkuk sees

happening. He tries to use reason to wrestle with mystery. It doesn’t make sense to the

prophet. We see through a glass darkly. We are not always going to understand

everything in life…

“Your eyes are too pure to look on evil, and you cannot tolerate wrongdoing. So why do

you tolerate those who are treacherous? Why are you silent while one who is wicked

swallows up one who is more righteous than himself?”

- Verses 14–17: Graphic lament—Judah is like fish, and the Babylonians are fishermen

who worship their net (their military strength). How can God be glorified through this?

! Insight: This complaint is not rebellion, but relational prayer. Habakkuk brings his full

emotional honesty before God.

C. Habakkuk 2:1–5 – Waiting and Living by Faith

- 2:1: The prophet takes his stand to wait for God's response.

- The prophet was eager. He was determined to wait for God to provide some

satisfactory explanation of his bewilderment. He stood on his watchtower and basically

said, “Let’s wait and see…” He intended to keep a lookout, to keep his eyes open. He

also intended to keep his ears open so that he would not miss the answer that he was

confident would come. God didn’t disappoint him. (John Phillips)

- 2:2–3: God commands him to write the vision plainly—judgment is coming, but it will

not delay.

- When the answer came, it was threefold. The Holy Spirit spoke to the prophet about

the truth of God, the timing of God, and the trustworthiness of God.

- Regarding the Truth of God (2:2)