The oracle that Habakkuk the prophet saw.
Habakkuk 1:1
Have you ever felt like the world doesn’t make sense? Have you ever wondered where God is in the midst of the chaos? What would it look like if you asked God some hard questions and he answered you? This year we are going to explore a short book that does just that.
After a year traversing the lengthy book of Jeremiah, this year we will be going through the short book of Habakkuk verse by verse. We will largely focus on crossing the linguistic bridge, including looking at Hebrew words/definitions, literary features, and finding links to other passages. This rich book asks some hard questions and throws back challenging answers. While written against a specific backdrop, its timeless message continues to speak to us today.
Outline
The short book is broken into two major sections: chapters 1-2 and chapter 3. The first section is a dialogue between the prophet and God. Habakkuk complains about the injustice and violence he sees around him and wonders why the Lord does nothing about it (1:2-4). The Lord responds that he is about to do something about it, bringing judgment on the world through the Babylonians (1:5-11). Habakkuk responds with surprise: how can God use a nation even worse than Israel to bring his judgment (1:12-2:1)? God explains that Babylon will also end up being judged, too (2:2-20). Upon hearing from the Lord, the second section is a prayer in response (3:1-19), which concludes with praising the Lord despite the world falling apart around him.
Who was Habakkuk?
There is very little detail we have about this prophet. He prophesied late during the kingdom of Judah, but we can’t give definitive dates. The best we can figure out is that the Babylonians are on the rise but not a significant enough threat to be on Habakkuk’s radar (see Habakkuk 1:6). This places him perhaps around 610-605 BC, which would have overlapped with the prophet Jeremiah.
The name Habakkuk (חֲבַקּוּק) comes from the word habak (חבק), which means to embrace (to hold someone/something, usually with affection). Its first use is in Genesis 29:13, where Laban meets Jacob upon his arrival and embraces him. Esau embraced Jacob upon his return (Genesis 33:4), and Jacob embraced Joseph’s sons when he was dying (Genesis 48:10). The prophet Elisha promised a woman that in a year she will “embrace a son” (2 Kings 4:16). A lover embraces his beloved (Song of Songs 2:6, 8:3). We are encouraged to embrace wisdom (Proverbs 4:8). There is “a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing” (Ecclesiastes 3:5).
What is the significance of his name? Are we to understand him as the subject, embracing someone/something? Or is someone embracing him (presuming God)? Habak isn’t used anywhere in his book, so I can’t make a strong connection. Given his difficult questions about why good people suffer and evil people prosper, perhaps he was looking for the loving embrace of a God who noticed the situation. He later calls the Lord “my strength” (Habakkuk 3:19). On the other hand, Habakkuk needs to learn to embrace the strange situation around him.
To Ponder…
When you see chaos and confusion in this world, what is your response? Will you follow Habakkuk’s journey to seek answers from a God who rules over the whole world? Even without answers, do you trust that God knows what he is doing and has a good plan? What does it look like to not only follow such a God but also praise him in the midst of the uncertainty?
May you feel the loving embrace of the God who cares for his creation and has promised to fix this world. May you embrace the role that the Lord has called you to.
What a perfect entry for a troubling week in our world. There’s so much we could worry about that could cause us to lose hope — or perhaps worse, cause us to place our hope in people or presumed worldly solutions rather than God. This is a timely reminder to embrace him and trust his plans even when we don’t understand the events around us. Thank you!
Thank-you, Brian, I think a lot of people are looking for “answers” right now. It is good to review passages of the Bible that encourage us to trust God about what we don’t understand.n