Habakkuk 1

Study Guide 74: Habakkuk CHALLENGES TO FAITH Overview The Book of Habakkuk explores the question of why — and whether — God permits evil to exist unpunished. It is best to place this prophet, unknown except through his book, in the days of Josiah (639-597 b.c.). Habakkuk was troubled by the sins he saw in Judah despite the religious revival. God showed the prophet that He was about to bring the Babylonians down on His people as a punishment. But Habakkuk raised another question: How can the holy God use a wicked people as a tool? This small book has great value for us today. We too see the wicked apparently flourish, and may have questions about God’ s justice. If we do, we find God’ s striking answer in Habakkuk! We also find something else: the secret of survival when national or personal troubles come.

Outline I. The Prophet’ s CryHab_1:1-17 II. Principles of JudgmentHab_2:1-20 III. Personal FaithHab_3:1-19HEBREW. The Hebrew language is a picture language. It enriches its presentation of concepts by the use of graphic descriptions which, while easily translated, may not be as clear to modern readers as to those of the author’ s own times. The Book of Habakkuk is particularly graphic in some of its portrayals. To express the meaning most sharply, the text quoted in this unit is my own translation. It is not intended to replace but to supplement study in other versions.

Commentary Habakkuk’ s Cry: Habakkuk 1:1-17It seems that the twenty-first year of the reign of godly King Josiah would have been a time of joy for any worshiper of the Lord. Especially for a man like Habakkuk, a Levite, devoted to God’ s service. Yet Habakkuk, who may have been a temple worship leader, was deeply troubled when the events recorded in his book took place. It was a time of revival. But it was also an age of sin. Josiah’ s revival. The king had come to the throne of Judah at age 8. At 16 he began to seek the Lord, and at 20 purged idolatry from Jerusalem. In the process of repairing the temple, Hilkiah the priest had discovered a copy of the Book of the Law — that Book which God had given Israel through Moses, and which had been lost during the rule of a series of evil kings. When Shaphan, the scribe, read the book, he hurried to Josiah (2 Kings 22:10). The Book had a tremendous impact on the king. It contained not only the history of the nation’ s call by God, but also gave explicit instructions on how to live. And at the end of the lost Book, in the section we call Deuteronomy, was a list of curses that God would call down on Israel if His people forsook Him and His Law. The king was terror stricken. No one living could remember a day when Judah had known and obeyed the commands found in this Book! Immediately Josiah humbled himself before God and prayed for mercy. He determined to publish the divine Law throughout his realm. As king, Josiah made a solemn promise to Yahweh to keep His commands and His statutes with all his heart. Publish God’ s Word Josiah did. He required everyone to hear the Book read, and that very year he reinstituted the Feast of the Passover. Josiah led all Judah to keep it, with great rejoicing (2 Kings 23:21-22). An age of sin. Habakkuk and the people of Judah were now exposed to the Word of God. On the one hand this was exciting for a man like our prophet. Each word told Habakkuk more of his God, and the more he heard, the more exalted God, the Holy One, became in Habakkuk’ s eyes. But as Habakkuk began to see the perfect holiness of God, he became more and more concerned about the imperfections and sins of God’ s people. True, idolatry was gone, and men now worshiped Yahweh. Josiah was working tirelessly to promote knowledge of the Lord in his kingdom. But it was also clear that the religious reformation was superficial. The hearts of the men and women who came to worship at the Jerusalem temple were much the same as when they had bowed before pagan altars! Simply knowing the Law did not produce holiness. God’ s people were not obeying the commands of their God. To Habakkuk this situation was intolerable. Here was Judah, a people called by the name of God, blessed with the Law of God, daily bringing shame on His holy name by flagrant disregard of what was right. They twisted and perverted the Law, and even did violence against those who tried to walk by it. This is Habakkuk’ s burden when we turn to the first chapter of his book. He opens his heart and mind to us, and expresses a complaint that must have been constantly on his lips. How long, O Lord, must I call for help, but You do not listen? Or cry out to You, “ Violence!” but You do not save? Why do You make me look at injustice? Why do You tolerate wrong? Destruction and violence are before me; there is strife, and conflict abounds. Therefore the law is paralyzed, and justice never prevails. The wicked hem in the righteous, so that justice is perverted. Habakkuk 1:2-4The condition of violence and perverted justice is difficult for us to understand today. Why, if the king was righteous, was the Law benumbed and justice ever absent? The answer is found in the way law was administered in the Judah of Habakkuk’ s day. While the king’ s power may have been supreme in Jerusalem, where he reigned through his personal officers, outside the capital the administration of justice was a local affair. There was no code of statutory law administered by trained officials and enforced by public police. Cases were brought by individuals before local elders, who sat at each city’ s gates. The plaintiff and defendant each brought witnesses to give evidence, and each pled his own case. There were many ways that such justice could be perverted. False witnesses were easy to hire in Judah. Or a friendly lie might be told for a neighbor in return for the promise of similar help later. And the men who made the decisions were not above a bribe; many went out of their way to seek them. By sheer weight of numbers, those who tried to keep the Law and do justice might be overwhelmed and defrauded by the wicked around them. Justice was administered, but it was a perverted and crooked sort of justice. Still, Habakkuk’ s thoughts lay not so much with the people as with God. He was not moved as much by anger as by concern for the glory of God. How could the holy God let His people go on like this and dishonor Him? Must not God move to remedy the situation? Must He not move the hearts of the people as He had moved Josiah’ s, and bring Judah to love and obey Him? Must not God be glorified in the sight of all the heathen? LINK TO LIFE: YOUTH / ADULT Write several brief scenarios on 3 x 5 cards. Pass them out to teams of three or four as group members enter. Have on the chalkboard this question: What will people think of God? Scenarios may go something like these two: Investigative reporters discover that an elder in X church owns a local pornographic bookstore. The pastor and other leaders of the church defend him. “ He’ s always given generously to our building program,” the pastor is quoted as saying. A young man is beaten and robbed by three drug users. An acquaintance tells his friends, “ He had it coming. He stopped going to church a couple months ago. I guess God was punishing him.” After your teams have discussed each scenario, draw them together again. Do not hear reports, but share Habakkuk’ s situation, with the wicked surrounding the righteous and perverting God’ s Law despite the religious revival. How would they feel if they were Habakkuk? What questions does the holiness of God raise for us in our own day? In 626 b.c., which may have been a few brief years before the problem began to torment Habakkuk, Nabopolassar, a Chaldean prince, led a rebellion and defeated the Assyrians outside the city of Babylon. He took the city, and established the Neo-Babylonian Empire. The Assyrians repeatedly tried to dislodge him, but fighting fiercely on the defensive, Nabopolassar maintained his hold on the city. Even if Habakkuk had been informed of this situation in far-off Babylon, he could hardly have foreseen the developments that less than two decades would bring. By 620, Nabopolassar would form an alliance with the Medes, a fierce people on Assyria’ s northeastern border. This coalition would make great inroads in Assyrian territory. Soon Assyria would be fighting for existence. Within five years of Habakkuk’ s experience, Egypt, Assyria’ s ancient enemy, would see such danger from the Medo-Babylonian axis that she would even send an army to Assyria’ s support! Just 2 years after that, in 614 b.c., the Medes took the ancient capital of Asshur. By 612 the allies assaulted Nineveh, the impregnable citadel of Assyria, and destroyed it within three months. This was the death of Assyria. It was now merely a matter of time before the terror that the name of Assyria had raised in the hearts of generations of Hebrews would be transferred to the name of Babylon. Within another 15 years, Nebuchadnezzar, Nabopolassar’ s greater son, would begin a series of deportations that by 586 b.c. would leave the temple in Jerusalem a smoking, crumbling ruin. All this Habakkuk could not know. But Habakkuk’ s God did know, and as Habakkuk wrestled with his problem, God spoke to this man so concerned with the Lord’ s glory. God would not permit His people to keep on sinning. God was even then preparing an instrument He would use to chastise them. Look at the nations and watch — and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told. I am raising up the Babylonians, that ruthless and impetuous people, who sweep across the whole earth to seize dwelling places not their own. They are feared and dreaded people; they are a law to themselves and promote their own honor. Their horses are swifter than leopards, fiercer than wolves at dusk. Their cavalry gallops headlong; their horsemen come from afar. They fly like a vulture swooping to devour; they all come bent on violence. Their hordes advance like a desert wind and gather prisoners like sand. They deride kings and scoff at rulers. They laugh at the fortified cities; they build earthen ramps and capture them. Then they sweep past like the wind and go on — guilty men, whose own strength is their god. Habakkuk 1:5-11All this Yahweh told Habakkuk was coming, straining and hastening toward Judah. And all this, God said, was His work! He was raising up the Chaldeans (the Babylonians), and He was riding at the head of this dreadful scourge. To Habakkuk, who understood the holiness of God and who saw beneath the facade of Judah’ s apparent reform to its inner depravity, there were no doubts about justice. And there was no retreat to a fuzzy concept of love that robbed God of His holiness and left Him the emasculated image honored by the wishful thinkers of all ages. Habakkuk knew God’ s love for His people. And Habakkuk recognized the cancer of sin that now infected the body of Yahweh’ s beloved. Sin had led to Habakkuk’ s original complaint. The surgery the divine Physician decreed warranted no recriminations. No, Habakkuk looked into the face of his God and saw the Lord’ s unchanging purpose. He saw love — expressed as chastisement. O Lord, are You not from everlasting? My God, my Holy One, we will not die. O Lord, You have appointed them to execute judgment; O Rock, You have ordained them to punish. Habakkuk 1:12But though Habakkuk accepted the rightness of the decreed punishment, he was now faced with an even greater puzzle. That puzzle is expressed in his next words. Your eyes are too pure to look on evil; You cannot tolerate wrong. Why then do You tolerate the treacherous? Why are You silent while the wicked swallow up those more righteous than themselves? You have made men like fish in the sea, like sea creatures that have no ruler. The wicked foe pulls all of them up with hooks, he catches them in his net, he gathers them up in his dragnet; and so he rejoices and is glad. Therefore he sacrifices to his net and burns incense to his dragnet, for by his net he lives in luxury and enjoys the choicest food. Is he to keep on emptying his net, destroying nations without mercy? Habakkuk 1:13-17Surely the God who had spoken earlier to His troubled servant would speak again. So Habakkuk chose a place to watch and wait. I will stand at my watch and station myself on the ramparts; I will look to see what He will say to me, and what answer I am to give to this complaint. Habakkuk 2:1 God’ s Answer: Habakkuk 2:1-20The message of a coming invasion was not new. Isaiah had foretold that it must happen one day (Isaiah 39:1-8). The startling thing about the revelation to Habakkuk was that the day of judgment was on his people. When God next spoke to Habakkuk, the message of immediacy was repeated. Then the Lord replied: “ Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it. For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay.” Habakkuk 2:2-3Then, after commanding Habakkuk to publish God’ s sentence, the Lord turned to Habakkuk’ s own problem. He revealed to Habakkuk why even the success of the wicked can never tarnish the glory of God. Dissatisfaction (Habakkuk 2:4-5). The wicked man suffers from a fatal flaw that drives him on, seeking a satisfaction he can never find. In essence God told His prophet that the Babylonians’ successes would only feed the flames of their desires. As passion is inflamed, the emptiness within is enlarged, and the wicked man is driven to push further into sin in a vain attempt to find satisfaction. Thus the Chaldeans embarked on a course that, for all their victories, led only to frustration and self-enslavement. In Habakkuk’ s words: See, he is puffed up; his desires are not upright — but the righteous will live by his faith — indeed, wine betrays him; he is arrogant and never at rest. Because he is as greedy as the grave and like death is never satisfied, he gathers to himself all the nations and takes captive all the peoples. Habakkuk 2:4-5Repayment (Habakkuk 2:6-8). The course the wicked choose offers no inner satisfaction no matter how “ successful” such people seem. And there is another principle at work that demonstrates God is actually actively judging sinners now. The wicked person arouses hostility, and one day those he harms will turn on him: Will not all of them taunt him with ridicule and scorn, saying, “ Woe to him who piles up stolen goods and makes himself wealthy by extortion! How long must this go on?” Will not your debtors suddenly arise? Will they not wake up and make you tremble? Then you will become their victim. Because you have plundered many nations, the peoples who are left will plunder you. For you have shed man’ s blood; you have destroyed lands and cities and everyone in them. Habakkuk 2:6-8No security (Habakkuk 2:9-11). The drive which led the wicked to seek wealth or power at the expense of other people was a drive for security. Yet wealth and power could never really protect anyone. All that this lifestyle was sure to gain was dashed hopes and guilt. Woe to him who builds his realm by unjust gain to set his nest on high, to escape the clutches of ruin! You have plotted the ruin of many peoples, shaming your own house and forfeiting your life. The stones of the wall will cry out, and the beams of the woodwork will echo it. Habakkuk 2:9-11Material things decay (Habakkuk 2:12-14). What will happen to those who pile up material things, and build cities in this world to promote their own glory? All they build will fall into ruin. What a judgment — that the builders build for nothing! The earth is destined to be filled with the knowledge of the Lord, not with monuments to murderers! Woe to him who builds a city with bloodshed and establishes a town by crime! Has not the Lord Almighty determined that the people’ s labor is only fuel for the fire, that the nations exhaust themselves for nothing? For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. Habakkuk 2:12-14Repayment in kind (Habakkuk 2:15-17). All man’ s plots for self-promotion at the expense of others led directly to appropriate consequences: Woe to him who gives drink to his neighbors, pouring it from the wineskin till they are drunk, so that he can gaze on their naked bodies. You will be filled with shame instead of glory. Now it is your turn! Drink and be exposed! The cup from the Lord’ s right hand is coming around to you, and disgrace will cover your glory. The violence you have done to Lebanon will overwhelm you, and your destruction of animals will terrify you. For you have shed man’ s blood; you have destroyed lands and cities and everyone in them. Habakkuk 2:15-17How striking. Habakkuk had feared for the glory of God, concerned at the success of the sinner. He had worried that puny men would exalt themselves, and boast of victories over God. Yet every sinful act brings its own judgment, natural consequences of wickedness that mark the personalities of the sinner, and shape the circumstances of his later life. No need to fear for God! The idols of the men of every age are empty things of no value for anything. Of what value is an idol, since a man has carved it? Or an image that teaches lies? For he who makes it trusts in his own creation; he makes idols that cannot speak. Woe to him who says to wood, “ Come to life!” Or to lifeless stone, “ Wake up!” Can it give guidance? It is covered with gold and silver; there is no breath in it. But the Lord is in His holy temple; let all the earth be silent before Him. Habakkuk 2:18-20The idols of men, whether of wood and stone or of wealth and success, hold out no hope. God is in His holy temple. God is Judge. And God is judging sinners even now! LINK TO LIFE: YOUTH / ADULT Make copies of each brief Habakkuk 2:1-20 segment, titling it as in the text (e.g., dissatisfaction, repayments, etc.). Give an overview of the thrust of this chapter; explain that in it God told the prophet why the wicked did not “ get away with” sin even though they might appear happy and successful. Break into teams, each of which is to look at one of these segments. Each is to answer the following questions: “ What happens within or to the wicked person? What modern illustrations of this principle, in individuals or nations, can you think of?”

Personal Faith: Habakkuk 3:1-19The answer God gave Habakkuk in Habakkuk 2:1-20 satisfied the prophet. He began to realize that the wicked of every age make choices which guarantee their downfall — and misery. Whatever heights the wicked reach the evil person can never be satisfied. And the course he takes in its pursuit will trip him up: the enemies he inevitably makes will treat him as he has treated them. Satisfied, Habakkuk now was ready to welcome the coming invasion. Lord, I have heard of Your fame; I stand in awe of Your deeds, O Lord. Renew them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy. Habakkuk 3:2But then God gave Habakkuk a stunning experience. He transported the prophet back in time, and let him witness from the divine viewpoint a series of other judgments wrought by the Holy God. The first image was of God proceeding from Sinai, following the course His people took after receiving the Law. God came from Teman, the Holy One from Mount Paran. His glory covered the heavens and His praise filled the earth. His splendor was like the sunrise. Rays flashed from His hand, where His power was hidden. Plague was before Him; pestilence followed His steps. He stood, and shook the earth; He looked, and made the nations tremble. The ancient mountains crumbled and the age-old hills collapsed. His ways are eternal. Habakkuk 3:3-6Then the vista changed, and Habakkuk saw God reach the tents of Israel that were spread near Midian. He saw the Israelites embracing the women and idols of that land. And Habakkuk saw the terrible plague God sent sweeping through the camp; he saw the writhing and the agony of those who felt the fury of God. I saw the tents of Cushan in distress, the dwellings of Midian in anguish. Were You angry with the rivers, O Lord? Was Your wrath against the streams? Did You rage against the sea when You rode with Your horses and Your victorious chariots? You uncovered your bow, You called for many arrows. Habakkuk 3:7-9Then Habakkuk was shown a panoramic view of God’ s cataclysmic judgments, from the time of the Flood throughout sacred history. In wrath You strode through the earth and in anger You threshed the nations. You came out to deliver Your people, to save Your anointed one. You crushed the leader of the land of wickedness, You stripped him from head to foot. With his own spear You pierced his head when his warriors stormed out to scatter us, gloating as though about to devour the wretched who were in hiding. You trampled the sea with Your horses, churning the great waters. Habakkuk 3:12-15The vision over, Habakkuk, who had prayed so lightly for judgment to come, now understood what that judgment would mean. At last he knew the terror of the angry, holy God. I heard and my heart pounded, my lips quivered at the sound; decay crept into my bones, and my legs trembled. Yet I will wait patiently for the day of calamity to come on the nation invading us. Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls. Habakkuk 3:16-17And this judgment was coming on him. Habakkuk had looked at the coming judgment from God’ s viewpoint alone. His concern had been for God’ s glory, and not for men — not even for himself. But Habakkuk was a man, and must face the Chaldean terror. We need to picture Habakkuk, standing on some mountain trail, as he came to this realization. Trembling and overcome, his eyes caught a glimpse of movement above him. There, on a higher crag, the prophet caught a glimpse of a mountain goat, sure-footed despite the danger on the heights. And then Habakkuk realized the nature of faith’ s calling. He too was to walk on the heights, to live only a step from disaster, as his nation fell in ruins around him. Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Saviour. The Sovereign Lord is my strength; He makes my feet like the feet of a deer, He enables me to go on the heights. Habakkuk 3:18-19Habakkuk had reached the pinnacle of faith.

Teaching Guide Prepare What do you think is meant by the phrase, “ The righteous man will live by his faith” ? (Habakkuk 2:4)

Explore

1. On the chalkboard write: “ Why do the wicked have it so good?” Discuss: “ Do the wicked have it good? Why, or why not?”
2. Or use the “ link-to-life” idea above to help your group members understand Habakkuk’ s initial concern.

Expand

1. Use the “ link-to-life” idea above to help your group explore principles of God’ s present judgment in the lives of the “ successful” wicked.
2. Or give a minilecture showing the consequences of sinful choices in our here and now. We do not need to wait for eternity for justice to be done, whatever the appearances may be.

Apply Share Habakkuk’ s vision of the human meaning of God’ s judgment, seen in Habakkuk 3:1-19. Focus on the conviction that the prophet came to: that no matter how terrible what happens, God will guard his footsteps. Draw on a chalkboard a jagged mountain height, where it is dangerous to walk. Ask each person to determine what his own personal mountain crag involves, then to close his eyes and thank God that the Lord will guide his feet.