Ch. 1
What is an oracle? Verse 1.
A term usually referring to a prophecy of judgment against a foreign nation (Is. 13:1, 15:1, Nah. 1:1, cf. Mal. 1:1). Other translations, such as KJV, use the term “burden” instead of oracle here, emphasizing the weight of the message Habakkuk received from God.
What is the backdrop behind Habakkuk’s heartbreak? Verses 2-4.
Habakkuk likely lived during the reign of King Josiah (640-609 B.C.) and gave this prophecy during the reign of one of Josiah’s successors. King Josiah was a godly king and reigned over a massive time of revival in Judah (2 Chron. 34:33).
Sadly, after the rule of Josiah, Judah drifted from God and fell to lethargy and sin (2 Kings 23:31-25:30, cf. Lam. 1:5; Ezek. 39:21-24; Neh. 9:29-31).
God’s wrath turned towards Judah, allowing the nation to fall deeper into depravity and be conquered by their enemies (Rom. 1:18-31).
Further reading on Josiah’s rule: 2 Kings 22-23:30.
Habakkuk had lived through a great revival in Judah and saw God’s people and the rest of Judah fall into a deep state of sinful wickedness.
Habakkuk was heartbroken over his people, lamenting to God, asking why He was allowing this to happen. Furthermore, he feels as if God does not care to listen to him or save the nation of Judah.
I think when we feel as if God does not care to listen to us, it shows we don’t believe God truly loves us (His people).
What is Habakkuk grieving over?
The violence, iniquity, destruction, strife, and contention of Judah.
The people of God’s covenant community were no longer living like those who are saved, instead they relished in their depravity.
Violence likely refers to the brutal infringement of the rights and privileges of the covenant community. Destruction likely refers more to property damage instead of personal assault.
The law being paralyzed (Hb. pug), means the leaders and people of Judah disregarded the law, they were utterly corrupt. The law was numbed.
When the law is not enforced, it is powerless.
God’s 10 Commandments are like a mirror that we are to use to compare ourselves to the perfect moral character of God.
When the Law is perverted, it is like trying to look at the pieces of a shattered mirror. The image you see is broken and unclear, and when people have a perverted view of what is right and wrong, of the law, then they will live their lives spiritually blind (Matthew 15:14).
Is this kind of crying out to God found elsewhere in Scripture? If so, where?
Scripture is saturated with the cries of the godly regarding the wickedness of ourselves, of the world around us, and the coming judgment of God for those who refuse to submit to Him.
The phrase, “how long, O Lord?” and similar phrases are found in Ps. 6:3, 13:1, 35:17, 79:5, 80:5, 89:46, 90:13, 94:3, Zech. 1:12, and Rev. 6:10.
The entire book of Lamentations is centered around the laments of Jeremiah, the weeping prophet, over the sins and destruction of Jerusalem and Judah (from the same overpowering and conquering Babylonian sieges that Habakkuk’s oracle prophesied to come).
Jesus laments over Jerusalem in a similar manner to Habakkuk’s lament over Judah (Matt. 23:37). Both desire their people to come to God.
Paul laments over the apostasy of Israel, stating he wishes he’d be cut off from Christ so that his kinsmen would be saved (Rom. 9:1-5).
What does this passage teach us about true, biblical lament? We will come back to this question repeatedly throughout the study of Habakkuk.
It begins with recognizing pain in our lives and bringing it to God, for we know that He alone is sovereign over our pain, situations, and outcomes. We do not bring this to some mere mortal as if they can change any of those.
This is not to say that we don’t later bring it to other people, but that is not lamenting. Lamenting is exclusively between you and God.
Why does the Lord let us see iniquity?
To drain our pride, humbling us.
To show us what we would be like apart from God’s saving grace.
To remind us of the wickedness of sin.
How does this relate to our initial cry to God for salvation?
Upon the Holy Spirit regenerating a man’s heart, he is so overwhelmed that He cannot help but come to God. Only God can save us from our sins, only God is sovereign over salvation, no man can save us, so who else would we go to?
Let’s use Habakkuk’s opening complaint as a template for our own laments. Clearly, none of us have been in the specific situation that Habakkuk was in and we are not prophets of God like he was, so we are not inserting ourselves into the story. Never do that with Scripture, it’s not about you. However, we can pull truths from Scripture to apply to our lives to be brought into further conformity to the image of Christ.
When did you last cry out to God and feel that He did not hear you or would not save you from your trial? Explain the situation.
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How did this make you feel about God?
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When was the last time you thought that God did not care about the evil in the world, that He looked idly at wrong? How did this make you feel?
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What is God’s response to Habakkuk’s first complaint? Verses 5-11.
It would be easy to take this verse out of context and put it in a picture frame in your home, thinking it’s about God doing a work that is too wonderful to believe. In reality, God is telling Habakkuk about His coming judgment on Judah.
Rather than the revival Habakkuk witnessed during Josiah’s reign, God will send the Chaldeans (technically an ethnically diverse Aramean tribe in southern Babylon, but you can think of them as the Babylonians) to crush them.
Let’s break down God’s description of the Chaldeans. Verses 6-11.
How does Habakkuk begin his second appeal to God? Verses 12.
He speaks of God’s eternity, having no beginning or end. He refers to God as his God, his Holy One. He states that they will not die. What do these mean?
He praises God’s power, knowing nothing is greater than Him.
He makes it clear that God is personable, He is not far off, that He cares for His people and calls them His own.
He stands on his hope in God.
What is hope?
“The two most common Hebrew words for hope are the noun tiqvah [תִּקְוָה] and the verb yachal [יָחַל]. Taken literally tiqvah refers to a cord, but when used figuratively it aligns with yachal and means to desire, expect, or wait. The Greek uses the noun elpis (ἐλπίς) and the verb elpizó (ἐλπίζω). While elpis refers to a sense of trust or confidence in an expectation, elpizó is actively anticipating and expecting. These also appear in the Septuagint (the Greek OT) as translations of tiqvah and yachal, respectively.
Translating this into English we can refer to hope as a confident expectation of something good. Steven Lawson describes hope as “a confident expectation of what is going to happen in the future. There is no doubt. It is a rock-ribbed confidence. Here is another word, “assurance.” It is a confident assurance. You can bank on this.”” - Luke Marriner, Hope Against Hope. TO BE REWRITTEN.
Hebrew tiqvah is pronounced tik-vaw' and yachal is yaw-chal'.
Greek elpis is pronounced el-pece' and elpizó is el-pid'-zo.
Is this how we talk about hope today?
No, it is most certainly not.
“This meaning has been blurred and tainted over time to a point where most people use hope to describe nothing more than wishful thinking. We make claims such as, “I hope this test goes well tomorrow,” “I hope I get this job offer,” “I hope I get married someday,” and so on, but is this hope? No. How can you have a confident assurance that your test will go well? How can you have a confident assurance that you will get the job offer? How can you have a confident assurance that you will be married someday? You cannot have hope in fallible sources, there must be an infallible source of truth to give us such strong assurance, to give us true hope.” - Luke Marriner, Hope Against Hope.
In the final part of verse 12, Habakkuk shows that he is aware it is God who ordained the Chaldeans to carry out His judgment on Judah. The following verses further describe Habakkuk’s confusion about why the Lord is doing this.
What does this verse teach us about true, biblical lament? We will come back to this question repeatedly throughout the study of Habakkuk.
Lament begins with praising God. We must understand our place before God. We are not the Creator, He is. We are weak, fragile, limited creatures who stand before the Almighty, omnipotent (infinitely powerful) God of the universe. Therefore, lament stems from a humble heart.
Lament is based on hope in God. Without hope in God, there is no confident expectation of something good because no one is good but God. Furthermore, no one is more powerful than God so no one can halt His good will.
Compare Habakkuk’s first and second complaints (1:2-4 and 1:12-2:1).
In both complaints, Habakkuk’s main hangup is why God allows such evil to occur in His world. If He is all good and all-powerful, then why does He not cleanse the earth of this evil once and for all?
Habakkuk cannot understand why God is using Babylon to destroy the less wicked Judah (Babylon is entirely wicked; Judah at least has some men faithful to God). To Habakkuk, it does not make sense that the thrice holy God would use the wicked nation of Babylon as a means of judgment.
Provide a breakdown of verses 13-15.
The wicked, the wicked man: Babylon/Chaldeans.
The man more righteous than the wicked: Judah.
Fish and crawling things with no rulers are used to describe humanity here. As we saw in Habakkuk’s first complaint the rulers of Judah were wicked and failed to uphold God’s law, numbing it. Without just rulers, wickedness goes unchecked.
Habakkuk's imagery is of a Babylonian fisherman catching a fish with a hook, unable to escape, only to be captured in the fisherman’s net.
In Amos 4:1-3, God describes Judean captives being taken away with hooks. This is believed to refer to the captors putting a hook in each captive’s nose as a sign of humiliation. Also, archaeologists have found Mesopotamian rock wall reliefs picturing captives being taken away in nets.
Who is the god of the Babylonians? Verses 15-17.
The Babylonian fisherman is proud of his net, he worships it. It’s how he lives. In other words, the Babylonians are proud of their weapons and live by them.
Habakkuk is crying out to God with a feeling of heavy dread, unsure if the merciless killings will end or if the Babylonians will continue to destroy.
Throughout Chapter 1, what have we learned about true, biblical lament?
It is exclusively between you and God.
It stems from a humble heart and begins with praising God.
It is based on hope in God, who is truly good and powerful over all.
It involves crying out to God about your heartache and confusion.