Questions for thought:
1. Does it ever seem like God allows evil to continue and you wonder why?
2. When Habakkuk questioned God, God gave him a direct answer. How do we get our answers when we have questions concerning what God has said?
3. Sometimes we may read the promises of God and not seem them being fulfilled at the moment. What should be our reaction? Should we doubt or continue in faith?
The next short book of prophecy we will look at is Habakkuk. We know nothing about Habakkuk other than he was a prophet of God most likely before 586 BC because he wrote about the temple in 2:20. That temple would have been destroyed if Judah had already been in captivity. He too like those other prophets in his time was trying to get Judah to repent and turn back to God.
The book begins with Habakkuk questioning God. He wants to know how long God is going to let the lawlessness continue without God doing something. In verses 1-5 Habakkuk asked several questions. He wanted to know why God kept showing him evil and strife but no justice to the evil doers. He said the wicked surrounded the righteous but it seemed God was doing nothing.
God replied to Habakkuk in verses 5-10. He told him he would not believe the answer, but He would raise up the Chaldeans which was known to be a very evil nation. They were going to march through Judah with a path of destruction. We know from history this happened just as God said it would. But here in Habakkuk 1 we can see the reason it happened was in order to punish Judah for her sins.
While Habakkuk does not doubt God, he continued to question God in the rest of chapter 1 and the first two verses of chapter 2. He did not seem to think Judah should be destroyed by a nation even more evil that Judah. In verse 13 he wants to know how God could look upon the Chaldeans and hold His tongue. He saw Judah as more righteous that the Chaldeans, but it seems he is not considering how they have committed spiritual adultery in worshipping false gods.
Habakkuk said in chapter 2:1-2 now that he had spoken his piece to God, he would wait for God’s answer. The answer came with a command for Habakkuk to write it down so those who read it could run. Some Bible commentators say the word “run” here means to run and tell others what is about to happen. God said to write it down and then watch and see if it didn’t happen just as He said it would.
Then in verse 4 God began to explain how the one He was using to correct Israel, the Chaldeans, would then be brought down again by God’s own selected nation. Those who had been overrun by Chaldea would be able to speak woes concerning Chaldea. In verse 8 promise was made of the destruction of Chaldea the one who was going to be the destroyer of Judah. Five woes are given toward the Chaldeans. The first woe, in verse 6 concerns how the Chaldeans increased that which was not theirs. The second woe is found in verses 9-11. This woe was against their covetousness. The third woe in verses 12-14 was against those who use violence and evil in conquering a nation. The fourth woe is against the drunkenness of the Babylonian nation. Not only is Babylon viewed as a drunken man but Babylon has given to his neighbors drink to make them drunken so that Babylon could abuse them. God will not forever allow such to go on, but according to verse 16, He will turn against them. The final woe is proclaimed in verse 19 where God condemns those who worship idols. But verse 20 provides a great hope and encouragement: “But the Lord is in His holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before Him.”
Having heard from God the plans for the upcoming punishment of Judah by Chaldea or Babylon and then the plan for their punishment, we find Habakkuk in chapter 3 offering a prayer. He is finished with questioning God. He accepts God’s plan as fact. Habakkuk acknowledged his belief in the everlasting God and His power and in verse 19 he claimed God as his strength.
While Habakkuk could have a direct answer from God for his questions concerning why God was not doing something just when Habakkuk thought He should be, we can only get our answers from His word. We may have some questions that do not have ready answers in the Bible, but we can just as Habakkuk realize God is in control and even when we do not see anything going on, He is at work for our good.
While the book of Habakkuk is important to us in that it shares a prophecy concerning Judah that history has validated at true, it is important in other ways for us as children of God. Habakkuk has shown us the attitude we should have when it comes to believing what God has said. If God said it, we can count on it happening.
Next time we will begin looking at the prophecy of Jeremiah. His prophecy leads us right into the Babylonian captivity of Judah.
Christian Women's Responsibility in Sharing God's Word 