“The oracle which Habakkuk the prophet saw” (Habakkuk 1:1), during the time of Jeremiah, at the end of the kingdom of Judah, before the invasion of the Chaldeans and the exile to Babylon. He laments the state of his nation. He sees a vision of God’s punishment by means of the Chaldeans. He questions God. God gives him more terrifying visions, but reassures him regarding His punishment of evil and the security of the righteous in Him. He responds in a prayer of submission and trust.
Chapter 1: Habakkuk laments the state of the nation Israel: strife, contention, lawlessness, injustice, wickedness. God responds by saying He is going to send the fierce Chaldeans, whose justice and authority originate with themselves. They will sweep through, but then be held guilty, they whose strength is their god. Habakkuk understands that the Chaldeans have been appointed for judgment and correction, but he still does not understand the ways of God in using this evil nation against them, since “Your eyes are too pure to approve evil, And You can not look on wickedness with favor.”
Chapter 2: Habakkuk waits to be reproved by God for his questioning. The LORD responds with visions of terror, punishment, and woe for the sinful and those who worship vain idols: “the vision is yet for the appointed time; It hastens toward the goal and it will not fail. Though it tarries, wait for it; For it will certainly come, it will not delay. Behold, as for the proud one, His soul is not right within him; But the righteous will live by his faith….the LORD is in His holy temple. Let all the earth be silent before Him.” We can trust that what the LORD says will come to pass. We have faith and trust and security and life and salvation in Him, though what happens on earth may terrify.
Chapter 3: Habakkuk responds in prayer. He confesses fear. He asks for mercy. He praises God. He recounts the terrifying visions he has seen: the punishment of evil for the sake of the salvation of His anointed. He trembles as he knows he is waiting for the vision to actually take place. He resolves to exult and rejoice in God despite devastating circumstances knowing he is secure in Him.
Habakkuk 1
“The oracle which Habakkuk the prophet saw” (v1)
Habakkuk laments the state of the nation (v2-4):
“How long, O LORD, will I call for help,
And You will not hear?
I cry out to You, ‘Violence!’
Yet You do not save.
Why do You make me see iniquity,
And cause me to look on wickedness?
Yes, destruction and violence are before me;
Strife exists and contention arises.
Therefore the law is ignored
And justice is never upheld.
For the wicked surround the righteous;
Therefore justice comes out perverted.”
God’s response (v5-11):
“Look among the nations! Observe!
Be astonished! Wonder!
Because I am doing something in your days—
You would not believe if you were told”“I am raising up the Chaldeans,
That fierce and impetuous people
Who march throughout the earth
To seize dwelling places which are not theirs.
They are dreaded and feared;
Their justice and authority originate with themselves”“they will sweep through like the wind and pass on”
They will be used for punishment but then be punished:
“But they will be held guilty,
They whose strength is their god.”
Habakkuk’s response (v12-17):
“You, O LORD, have appointed them to judge;
And You, O Rock, have established them to correct.
Your eyes are too pure to approve evil,
And You can not look on wickedness with favor.
Why do You look with favor
On those who deal treacherously?”
Habakkuk 2
“I will keep watch to see what He will speak to me,
And how I may reply when I am reproved” (v1)“Then the LORD answered me and said” (v2-20):
'Record the vision
And inscribe it on tablets,
That the one who reads it may run.
For the vision is yet for the appointed time;
It hastens toward the goal and it will not fail.
Though it tarries, wait for it;
For it will certainly come, it will not delay’‘Behold, as for the proud one,
His soul is not right within him;
But the righteous will live by his faith’‘Will not all of these take up a taunt-song against him,
Even mockery and insinuations against him
And say, “Woe to him who increases what is not his—
For how long—
And makes himself rich with loans?”’‘Indeed, you will become plunder for them.
Because you have looted many nations,
All the remainder of the peoples will loot you—
Because of human bloodshed and violence done to the land,
To the town and all its inhabitants’‘Woe to him who gets evil gain for his house
To put his nest on high,
To be delivered from the hand of calamity!
You have devised a shameful thing for your house
By cutting off many peoples;
So you are sinning against yourself’‘Is it not indeed from the LORD of hosts
That peoples toil for fire,
And nations grow weary for nothing?’‘For the earth will be filled
With the knowledge of the glory of the LORD,
As the waters cover the sea’‘Woe to you who make your neighbors drink,
Who mix in your venom even to make them drunk
So as to look on their nakedness!’‘The cup in the LORD’S right hand will come around to you,
And utter disgrace will come upon your glory’‘What profit is the idol when its maker has carved it,
Or an image, a teacher of falsehood?
For its maker trusts in his own handiwork
When he fashions speechless idols’‘But the LORD is in His holy temple.
Let all the earth be silent before Him.’
Habakkuk 3
“A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet” (v1-16):
“LORD, I have heard the report about You and I fear’
“In wrath remember mercy”
“His ways are everlasting.”
“In indignation You marched through the earth;
In anger You trampled the nations.
You went forth for the salvation of Your people,
For the salvation of Your anointed.
You struck the head of the house of the evil”“You pierced with his own spears”
“in my place I tremble.
Because I must wait quietly for the day of distress,
For the people to arise who will invade us”“Though the fig tree should not blossom
And there be no fruit on the vines,
Though the yield of the olive should fail
And the fields produce no food,
Though the flock should be cut off from the fold
And there be no cattle in the stalls,
Yet I will exult in the LORD,
I will rejoice in the God of my salvation.
The Lord GOD is my strength,
And He has made my feet like hinds’ feet,
And makes me walk on my high places.”