Habakkuk

From: Outlines of the Books of the Bible

• 2 min. read • grade level: 8

Nothing is said of the prophet’s ancestors, nor as to when he prophesied. He is generally placed in the time of Josiah or a little later: it was before the captivity of Judah, for that is foretold.

Habakkuk 1. The prophet exhibits the exercise of a heart full of sympathy towards the people of God. The evil among them greatly distressed him, and he cried mightily unto God. In Habakkuk 1:5-11⁵Behold ye among the heathen, and regard, and wonder marvellously: for I will work a work in your days, which ye will not believe, though it be told you. ⁶For, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, which shall march through the breadth of the land, to possess the dwellingplaces that are not theirs. ⁷They are terrible and dreadful: their judgment and their dignity shall proceed of themselves. ⁸Their horses also are swifter than the leopards, and are more fierce than the evening wolves: and their horsemen shall spread themselves, and their horsemen shall come from far; they shall fly as the eagle that hasteth to eat. ⁹They shall come all for violence: their faces shall sup up as the east wind, and they shall gather the captivity as the sand. ¹⁰And they shall scoff at the kings, and the princes shall be a scorn unto them: they shall deride every strong hold; for they shall heap dust, and take it. ¹¹Then shall his mind change, and he shall pass over, and offend, imputing this his power unto his god. (Habakkuk 1:5‑11) is God’s answer. He will raise up the Chaldeans, a “bitter and hasty nation,” to punish them. The character and violence of the Chaldeans are described.

In the verses from Habakkuk 1:12¹²Art thou not from everlasting, O Lord my God, mine Holy One? we shall not die. O Lord, thou hast ordained them for judgment; and, O mighty God, thou hast established them for correction. (Habakkuk 1:12) to Habakkuk 2:1¹I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what he will say unto me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved. (Habakkuk 2:1), the prophet pleads with God not to be unmindful that the Chaldeans were worse than Judah. He will watch for God’s answer.

In Habakkuk 2:2-20²And the Lord answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it. ³For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry. ⁴Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith. ⁵Yea also, because he transgresseth by wine, he is a proud man, neither keepeth at home, who enlargeth his desire as hell, and is as death, and cannot be satisfied, but gathereth unto him all nations, and heapeth unto him all people: ⁶Shall not all these take up a parable against him, and a taunting proverb against him, and say, Woe to him that increaseth that which is not his! how long? and to him that ladeth himself with thick clay! ⁷Shall they not rise up suddenly that shall bite thee, and awake that shall vex thee, and thou shalt be for booties unto them? ⁸Because thou hast spoiled many nations, all the remnant of the people shall spoil thee; because of men's blood, and for the violence of the land, of the city, and of all that dwell therein. ⁹Woe to him that coveteth an evil covetousness to his house, that he may set his nest on high, that he may be delivered from the power of evil! ¹⁰Thou hast consulted shame to thy house by cutting off many people, and hast sinned against thy soul. ¹¹For the stone shall cry out of the wall, and the beam out of the timber shall answer it. ¹²Woe to him that buildeth a town with blood, and stablisheth a city by iniquity! ¹³Behold, is it not of the Lord of hosts that the people shall labor in the very fire, and the people shall weary themselves for very vanity? ¹⁴For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. ¹⁵Woe unto him that giveth his neighbor drink, that puttest thy bottle to him, and makest him drunken also, that thou mayest look on their nakedness! ¹⁶Thou art filled with shame for glory: drink thou also, and let thy foreskin be uncovered: the cup of the Lord's right hand shall be turned unto thee, and shameful spewing shall be on thy glory. ¹⁷For the violence of Lebanon shall cover thee, and the spoil of beasts, which made them afraid, because of men's blood, and for the violence of the land, of the city, and of all that dwell therein. ¹⁸What profiteth the graven image that the maker thereof hath graven it; the molten image, and a teacher of lies, that the maker of his work trusteth therein, to make dumb idols? ¹⁹Woe unto him that saith to the wood, Awake; to the dumb stone, Arise, it shall teach! Behold, it is laid over with gold and silver, and there is no breath at all in the midst of it. ²⁰But the Lord is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him. (Habakkuk 2:2‑20) is God’s reply. The prophet was told to write the vision so plainly that he who read it might run. The vision was for an appointed time, but it hasted to the end. The restless, grasping pride of the Chaldeans God would in due time judge; but meanwhile “the just shall live by his faith.” The rapacity of the Babylonian is spoken of, and then woes are pronounced against the oppressor, for his covetousness, his blood-shedding, his debauchery, and his idolatry.

In contrast to all this the announcement is made that “The earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the [bed of the] sea.” This looks forward to the millennium, passing over the partial return of the people in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah. The prophet is assured that “The Lord is in His holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before Him.” Judgment on the Gentile rulers of God’s people will, at the time of the end, immediately precede and lead to the kingdom.

Habakkuk 3 is a prayer of the prophet. “Upon Shigionoth,” reads in the margin “according to variable songs or tunes,” which signification seems confirmed by the subscription, “To the chief singer on stringed instruments.” The prophet realizes the presence of God while he reviews His past dealings against Israel’s enemies, and sees in them the pledge of the future salvation. At the close, while faith has to wait for the blessing, he rejoices in God, saying, “I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds’ feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places.”

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