The Cepher of the Prophet Havakuk/The Book of Habakkuk.
Habakkuk is a pre-Babylonian exile prophet addressing Judah.
Very little is known about him. He may have been a Levite associated with the temple singers. Some commentators have considered this possible because of his use of certain apparently musical terms. His closing hymn is addressed to the Chief Musician.
He may have been well-known in his own time; he introduces himself as “the prophet Habakkuk”. This may indicate that people would know who he was. He was a contemporary of Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel and Zephaniah.
If his name derived from a Hebrew root, it may come from “chabaq”; meaning “to embrace”. Alternatively, it may have come from the related Semitic language of Arkadian.
Habakkuk was the last of the pre-exile prophets.
He was prophesying during the fall of Ninevah (612 BC) and the rise of Babylon. By 605 BC, Assyria and Egypt had been defeated by Babylon and Judah was under threat.
The death of King Josiah (609 BC) brought an end to his era of religious reform in Judah. Habakkuk, like Amos and Micah, cried out against the violence, lawlessness and injustice he saw around him. Public morals became more and more influenced by the licentious Baal and Ashtoreth cults.
The prophesy of Habakkuk opens with him daring to question God (as Job had done). His concerns, as we noted, were about why Adonai allowed so much wickedness to spread in Judah. He was perplexed by divine inaction. What was God going to do about the situation?
Fortunately, Adonai did not strike him down for his impertinence! Instead, He answered him.
But poor old Habakkuk. He did not get the answer he expected. Having been perplexed by Adonai’s apparent inaction over Judah’s sin, he is astonished all the more when Adonai reveals His plan to use the Chaldeans to deal with the situation. How could Adonai use the Chaldeans to judge Judah, when the Chaldeans were even more wicked than the Judeans?
Being ever more perplexed he seeks explanation from Adonai.
Adonai answers that in the fullness of time, He will deal with the Chaldeans and all peoples.
Eventually, Habakkuk manages to resolve the issues he had been presented with in his conversation with Adonai. In chapter 3, we see Habakkuk’s confusion resolved. The Book of Habakkuk ends with the prophet’s prayer and his acknowledgment of Adonai’s sovereignty over all outcomes.
We will take four extracts from Habakkuk and see what we can take from these passages: –
Habakkuk 2: 4. “the just shall live by faith.”
Habakkuk 2: 5 – 20. “woe” to the wicked.
Habakkuk 3: 3 – 15. Habakkuk’s prayer of praise for Adonai’s power.
Habakkuk 3: 16 – 19. Habakkuk’s prayer and praise for Adonai and his trust in Adonai.
Our first extract is Chapter 2 verse 4.
“Behold the proud, his soul is not upright in him, but the just shall live by faith”.
While the context makes this an obvious reference to the Chaldeans, the passage introduces the mark which distinguishes all wicked people from the righteous, regardless of ethnic origins. Two opposing characters are contrasted; “the proud” trusts in himself, “the just” lives “by faith”.
The Chaldeans were certainly “proud”, exalting themselves and boasting about their conquests and power. “His soul is not upright in him”: the Babylonians had no regard for God, His commandments or His people.
True righteousness before Adonai is linked to genuine faith. A proud person relies on self, power, position and accomplishments. A righteous person relies on the Lord. The just will be preserved through faithfulness to Adonai. This is the core of Habakkuk’s message.
This message prepared the way for a greater understanding of this truth in the New Testament. Hence this verse from Habakkuk is quoted in Romans, Galatians and Hebrews.
The writer to the Hebrews quoted 2: 4 to amplify the believer’s need to remain strong and faithful amid affliction and trials.
Galatians 3: 11.
“… no one is justified by the law in the sight of God … for “the just shall live by faith”. Yet the law is not of faith …”
The idea goes beyond the act of faith to include the continuity of faith; not a one-time act but a way of life. The true believer, declared righteous by God, will persevere in faith as the pattern of his life.
Colossians 1: 22, 23,
“… to present you holy, and blameless and above reproach in His sight – if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you have heard …”
Our second extract covers Chapter 2 verses 6 –20.
“Will not all those take up a proverb against him. And a taunting riddle against him, and say, ”Woe to him who increases what is not his – how long? And to him who loads himself with many pledges?” Will not your creditors rise up suddenly? Will they not awaken who oppress you? And you will become their booty. Because you have plundered many nations, all the remnant of the people shall plunder you, because of men’s blood and the violence of the land and the city, and of all who dwell in it.
“Woe to him who covets evil gain for his house, that he may set his nest on high, that he may be delivered from the power of disaster! You give shameful counsel to your house, cutting off many peoples, and sin against your soul. For the stone will cry out from the wall, and the beam from the timbers will answer it.
“Woe to him who builds a town with bloodshed, who establishes a city by iniquity! Behold, it is not of the Lord of hosts that the peoples labour to feed the fire, and nations weary themselves in vain? For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.
“Woe to him who gives drink to his neighbour, pressing him to your bottle, even to make him drunk, that you make look on his nakedness! You are filled with shame instead of glory. You also – drink! And be exposed as uncircumcised! The cup of the Lord’s right hand will be turned against you, and utter shame will be your glory. For the violence done to Lebanon will cover you. And the plunder of beasts which make them afraid, because of men’s blood and the violence of the land and the city.
What profit is the image, that its maker should carve it, the molded image, a teacher of lies, that the maker of its mold should trust in it, to make mute idols? Woe to him who says to wood, “Awake!” To silent stone, “Arise! It shall teach!” Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver, yet in it there is no breath at all. But the Lord is in His holy temple. Let all the earth keep silence before Him.”
These verses identify fives woes that taunt those (like the Chaldeans) who commit evil. A “woe” includes defined wrongdoing coupled with judgment and doom. These can be imposed on individuals or nations.
The first “woe” (“woe to him who increases what is not his”) is a warning to those who enrich themselves at the expense of others.
The individual under the law was prohibited from lending for the purpose of charging interest (Deuteronomy 23: 19). Also, the practice of pledging something as guarantee for the repayment of a loan, while permitted under the law, was to be with limitations to ensure humane treatment of the poor (Exodus 22: 26).
For Babylon, this is a warning against aggression, conquest and the plundering of nations. Judgment for this conduct, which Nebuchadnezzar had carried out, would come when the nations he had conquered would revolt against him and do to Babylon what had been done to them.
Woe 2. (“Woe to him who covets evil gain for his home”). This is a warning against wrongdoing contained in covetousness and pride.
For the individual, “evil gain” represents gaining property through the abuse of power. This was prohibited by the law of Moses: “You shall not pervert justice, you shall not show partiality, nor take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the righteous” (Deuteronomy 16: 19).
The judgment for such individuals will come when the whole structure of Israel’s society will call out for justice and the righting of wrongs.
The Chaldeans were responsible for pre-meditated exploitation, borne out of covetousness.
Wanting to protect themselves from any recrimination by their enemies, they sought to make their cities impregnable and inaccessible. But the walls of their homes, built with stones and timbers taken from others, testify against them. Their dishonest “gain” and cruelty would “cry out” against them.
Woe 3. (“Woe to him who builds a town with bloodshed, who established a city by iniquity.”)
The leaders of Judah were developing the city of Jerusalem and the land but at the expense of the humane treatment of others and of justice, “who build up Zion with bloodshed and Jerusalem with iniquity” (Micah 3: 10). In Adonai’s future kingdom all human systems will be judged.
This “woe” will be against Nebuchadnezzar because of the king’s lust for magnificence and his blood shedding tactics. The cities of Babylon were built by slave labour, but they would end up feeding the insatiable “fire”. And “the earth” would one day acknowledge Jehovah as the one true God; “For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.”
The glory of Nebuchadnezzar will be forgotten. His labour will be futile, having no lasting value.
Woe 4. (“Woe to him who gives drink to his neighbour … even to make him drunk.”)
Judgment will come upon those who lead others into debauchery and licentiousness.
The Chaldeans forced others to become intoxicated and poisoned, making them behave shamefully and becoming easy prey. Nebuchadnezzar took savage delight in corrupting other nations’ promoting a shameless sexual lifestyle, including forms of perversion and violence.
In judgment they would be forced to drink the cup of the wrath of Adonai and be exposed to public shame: “the cup of the Lord’s right hand will be turned against you, and utter shame will be your glory.” (Chapter 2 verse 16).
Woe 5. (“woe to him who says to wood, “Awake!”).
This woe concerns the emptiness of idolatry; the worship of useless idols, instead of the living God. Those who do so will receive the wrath of Adonai.
This “woe” condemns the king for the idolatry of Babylon. What good is a gold-plated idol?
The destruction of the Chaldeans would demonstrate the superiority of the Lord over all gods. Jehovah is in His “Holy Temple” i.e., heaven. From heaven the Lord will rule and answer the prayers of those who seek Him.
In contrast to the silence of idols, the living God calls on the earth to be silent before Him. None can assert their independence of Him; all the earth must worship in humble adoration.
For our third and fourth extracts, we turn to Habakkuk’s closing prayer.
Habakkuk 3: 3 – 15.
“God came from Teman, the Holy One from Mount Paran.
His glory covered the heavens, and the earth was full of His praise. His brightness was like the light; He had rays flashing from His hand, and there His power was hidden. Before Him went pestilence, and fever followed at His feet.
He stood and measured the earth; He looked and startled the nations. And the everlasting mountains were scattered, the perpetual hills bowed. His ways are everlasting. I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction; the curtains of the land of Midian trembled.
O Lord, were You displeased with the rivers, was Your anger against the rivers, was Your wrath against the sea, that You rode on Your horses, Your chariots of salvation? Your bow was made quite ready; oaths were sworn over Your arrows.
You divided the earth with rivers. The mountains saw You and trembled; the overflowing of the water passed by. The deep uttered its voice, and lifted its hands on high. The sun and the moon stood still in their habitation; at the light of Your arrows they went, at the shining of Your glittering spear.
You marched through the land in indignation; You trampled the nations in anger. You went forth for the salvation of Your people, for salvation with Your Anointed. You struck the head from the house of the wicked, by laying bare from foundation to neck.
You thrust through with his own arrows the head of his villages. They came out like a whirlwind to scatter me; their rejoicing was like feasting on the poor in secret. You walked through the sea with Your horses, through the heap of great waters.”
In the prayer which concludes Habakkuk’s oracle, he resolves his dilemmas, firstly by recognizing Adonai’s care for His people and His power to intercede on their behalf.
Habakkuk envisions Adonai marching forth in glory crushing His foes. The use of the terms, “pestilence” and “fever” recalls His judgment attending Israel’s disobedience to the covenant in Sinai.
But Adonai has also acted to rescue His people e.g. the judgment against Egypt at the time of the exodus, His dealing with the nations on their way to the Promised Land and the nations that had to be driven out of Canaan by Joshua. In the wilderness the judgment of Adonai was seen along with His protection.
Adonai’s power is stressed especially as manifested by His control over nature e.g. rivers and mountains.
He also refers to Joshua Chapter 10 when Adonai worked a miracle at Gibeon to help Joshua win a battle.
Joshua 10: 12 and 13.
“Then Joshua spoke to the Lord in the day when the Lord delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel:
“Sun, stand still over Gibeon; and moon in the valley of Aijalon.”
So the sun stood still, and the moon stopped till the people had revenge upon their enemies.”
Adonai is pictured marching “through the land” on Israel’s behalf and trampling their “enemies” in anger. He refers to the crossing of the Reed Sea (Exodus 14) when there was a “heap of great waters” on either side of the people who walked through as though on dry land.
Now Habakkuk understands why Adonai is bringing His awesome wrath to bear on Judah. It is drastic action to save His people for future deliverance through Messiah and the fulfillment of the Davidic covenant.
“You went forth for the salvation of Your people, for salvation with Your Anointed.”
Habakkuk 3: 16 – 19. The second part of Habakkuk’s prayer.
“When I heard, my body trembled; my lips quivered at the voice; rottenness entered my bones; and I trembled in myself, that I might rest in the day of trouble. When he comes up to the people, he will invade them with his troops.
Though the fig tree may not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines; though the labour of the olive may fail; and the fields yield no food; though the flock may be cut off from the fold, and there be no herd in the stalls – yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation.
The Lord is my strength; He will make my feet like deer’s feet, and He will make me walk on my high hills.”
As we saw, in the previous verses, Habakkuk had reviewed Adonai’s chastening of His people and His mighty acts to protect them. He is overcome with a sense of awe at Adonai as well as a sense of his own weakness.
But his dilemmas are resolved. He encourages the godly not to be anxious in adversity. Adonai will judge righteously and ultimately restore a truly repentant people.
In the meantime, however, whatever trials the prophet and his people might be called upon to endure because of the Babylonian invasion, he would still, “rejoice in the Lord”.
Security and hope are not based on temporal blessings but on the Lord Himself.
Psalm 18: 32.
“It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect”.
In his final verse Habakkuk expresses his confidence in Adonai.
“He will make my feet like deer’s feet, and He will make me walk on my high hills”.
Apparently, there is a breed of deer in Ein Gedi, about the size of a large goat, with amazing ability to move about on rock faces using every outcrop of stone. The prophet’s closing words indicate the assurance he has in Adonai’s guidance of his steps.
Conclusion.
I think we can conclude that Habakkuk (like Job) was allowed to question Adonai for our sake; it was part of his message.
We learn through their dialogue, that Adonai will establish his kingdom, holding all nations to account.
While people may be seduced into wicked ways by the allure of power and success, a glorious future awaits those who submit to Adonai.
Habakkuk’s prophetic vision and prayer, provide a proper perspective for viewing the injustices of this world. Adonai is in control and will establish His righteous kingdom in the end. On that day all wrongs will be made right. The wicked will be judged for their sinfulness and the righteous will be saved. Believers can look forward to that day with great joy.
By arguing with Adonai, Habakkuk (like Job) achieved a greater understanding of Adonai’s sovereign character and a firmer faith in Him. Ultimately Habakkuk realized that Adonai was not to be worshipped because of any temporal blessing He bestows, but for His own sake.
Faith is not a one-time event, but a way of life. The true believer, declared righteous by Adonai will habitually persevere in faith throughout his/her life. Habakkuk, like Paul (Philippians 4:4, 10 –19), came to appreciate one can rejoice in the Lord no matter what the outward circumstances of life may be. It is the will of the Lord that we live abundantly in a community of joy, security and righteousness. We can only achieve this through faith in Him.
AMEN.