Scripture Reading: Hab. 1:1-17; 2:1-4
In this message we will begin to consider the book of Habakkuk. We will cover the introductory word, the first dialogue between the prophet and Jehovah, and the first part of the second dialogue between these parties. As we will see, the one golden verse in Habakkuk is 2:4: “The righteous one will live by his faith.” This verse is related to God’s eternal salvation, to His salvation of our whole being — spirit, soul, and body. Everything else in Habakkuk is a background for the release of the revelation concerning God’s eternal salvation of sinners. We may compare the book of Habakkuk to a walnut and then say that this verse is the “kernel” of the “walnut.” Thus, as we read Habakkuk, we should focus our attention on this one verse.
The introductory word is found in 1:1.
The name Habakkuk in Hebrew means “embracing” or “clinging to,” signifying that we need to seek God by embracing Him or clinging to Him. For us to receive God’s eternal salvation, we need to be embraced by God, and we need to cling to Him.
Eternal salvation is actually God Himself. God does not save us by remaining in the heavens and stretching out His arm to reach the earth. In order to save us, God became a man on this earth and came to us. The central thought of the four Gospels is that the saving God came out of eternity into time, out of the heavens to earth, and out of divinity into humanity to be a man. In this way He could embrace man and man could cling to Him.
While God was saving us, He was not in the appearance, the form, of God. Rather, He was in the form of a man named Jesus. Hosea 11:4 tells us that God draws us with the cords of a man, with the bands of love. The saving cords of love are Christ’s humanity. The account of Zaccheus in Luke 19:1-10 shows us the way God saves us by coming to us. In order to be saved by God, we must be embraced by God and we must cling to Him.
The time of Habakkuk’s ministry was about 626 B.C. This was close to the time of the Babylonian invasion and the exile to Babylon.
The place of his ministry was Judah.
The object of his ministry was the southern kingdom of Judah.
The subject of Habakkuk’s ministry is the righteous judgment of God first on Israel by the Chaldeans and then on the Chaldeans by the nations. First, God judged His elect; God’s judgment begins from His house (1 Pet. 4:17). Then God turned His judgment to the Chaldeans, using the nations to judge them. The Babylonian Empire was defeated by the Medo-Persian Empire; the Medo-Persian Empire was defeated by the Greek Empire; the Greek Empire was defeated by the Roman Empire; and the Roman Empire, restored under Antichrist, will be defeated by Christ in His coming to destroy the entire human government, as described in Daniel 2:31-44.
The central thought of Habakkuk is this: the righteous God will judge both the evil Israel and the violent Chaldeans, and only the righteous one shall live by his faith (2:4b), that all the earth may know the glory of Jehovah (2:14) and be silent before Jehovah, who is in His holy temple (2:20), and that His seeker may sing to Him in prayer, in lauding, and in trusting in Him (ch. 3).
The book of Habakkuk has four sections: the introductory word (1:1); the first dialogue between the prophet and Jehovah (1:2-11); the second dialogue between the prophet and Jehovah (1:12—2:20); and the prophet’s song to Jehovah in prayer, lauding, and trusting in Him (3:1-19).
The revelation in Habakkuk concerning God’s eternal salvation to sinners was brought out by a conversation between the prophet and God.
In the first dialogue between the prophet and Jehovah, the prophet inquired of Jehovah concerning the iniquity, distress, destruction, and contention that he saw (v. 2-4). Regarding violence, he said, “How long, O Jehovah, shall I cry / And You do not hear? / I cry out to You, Violence! / And You do not save” (v. 2). According to the prophet’s view, violence was prevailing. Then the prophet went on to ask, “Why do You cause me to see iniquity / And look upon distress?” (v. 3a).
In His answer to the prophet (vv. 5-11), Jehovah said that He was doing a work in the prophet’s days which he would not believe if it were told to him (v. 5; cf. Acts 13:40-41). Then Jehovah said that He was raising up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, who, being terrible and dreadful, would come to do violence and devastation on Judah (vv. 6-11).
In verse 12 we have the beginning of the second dialogue between the prophet and Jehovah.
Habakkuk 1:12—2:1 is the prophet’s inquiry of Jehovah.
In verse 12a the prophet said, “Are You not from everlasting, O Jehovah, / My God, my Holy One? We will not die.” Then he said that Jehovah, the Rock, has appointed the Chaldeans to judgment. However, he went on to ask why He, who does not behold evil and who cannot look upon distress, looks upon them who deal treacherously and keeps silent when the wicked Chaldeans swallow up His elect, who are more righteous than they (vv. 12b-13). According to Habakkuk, the people of Israel were more righteous than the Babylonians, yet they were suffering the violence of the Babylonians. Habakkuk’s word here indicates that he was angry with God.
In verses 14 through 16 the prophet said that Jehovah makes man like the fish of the sea and like the creeping things; that they take all of them up with a hook, drag them off in their net, and gather them into their seine; and that they offer sacrifices to their net and burn incense to their seine. He then concluded his inquiry by asking, “Will they then empty their net / And continually slay the nations without sparing?” (v. 17).
After making his inquiry of Jehovah, the prophet stood and watched to see what Jehovah would speak to him and what He would reply concerning his complaint (2:1).
In 2:2-20 we have Jehovah’s answer to the prophet.
In His answer to the prophet, Jehovah told him to write the vision (concerning God’s judgment on the Chaldeans) and render it plainly upon tablets, so that he who reads it might run (v. 2).
Jehovah went on to say that the vision (concerning His dealing with the Chaldeans) was yet for an appointed time and that it hastened toward the end and would not lie. Though it tarried, the prophet should wait for it; for it will surely come; it will not delay (v. 3).
In verse 4a Jehovah said that the Chaldeans were puffed up and that their soul was not upright within them. Surely it would be fair and just for Jehovah to judge them.
Of the books of the Minor Prophets, only Habakkuk shows us God’s eternal salvation to sinners. This matter is revealed in 2:4b: “But the righteous one will live by his faith.” The apostle Paul quoted this word three times in the New Testament (Rom. 1:17; Gal. 3:11; Heb. 10:38). Here, to live means to have life and live.
According to the background of Habakkuk, both Israel (God’s elect) and Chaldeans (the nations) were under God’s judgment. Under God’s judgment all sinners, whether Jews or Gentiles, are destined to die (Rom. 6:23). How can sinners escape God’s judgment and be saved eternally? The unique way for sinners to obtain God’s eternal salvation is to believe in God’s embodiment, Christ, that they may become righteous and be justified to have life and live.
God’s eternal salvation is not merely to save our body from suffering but to save our whole being — spirit, soul, and body — for eternity (1 Thes. 5:23). The way for us to receive such a salvation is to believe in Christ so that we may be justified by God and thus be qualified to have life, the eternal life, the divine life, and live by that life (Rom. 3:24; 5:1-2; Eph. 2:8). This is the New Testament gospel in an Old Testament prophetic book.
