“Won't you feel silly when you talk with Habakkuk in the next life and you have to say to him, 'Uh, no, I didn't read your book! I didn't even know it was in the Bible!'” This, in a Chick tract, was my introduction to Habakkuk. I went home and read his book!
This book doesn’t tell us anything about him, but it does reveal that he had a very dynamic spiritual life. He gets right to the point:
2 O LORD, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear! even cry out unto thee of violence, and thou wilt not save!
Habakkuk lived in a day when the spiritual life of Judah was bad. He was walking with God and was concerned about what he saw around him. He prayed for his people. And it appears he had been praying about this for some time. How bad was it? the law is powerless, And justice never goes forth. For the wicked surround the righteous; Therefore perverse judgment proceeds. There was iniquity, spoiling, violence, strife and contention. So Habakkuk prayed boldly, O LORD, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear! The Lord loves this kind of violent praying. As Tertullian wrote in the 2nd century, “We meet together as an assembly and congregation, that, offering up prayer to God as with united force, we may wrestle with Him in our supplications. This violence God delights in.”
We know Habakkuk was on the right track because God answered him in 1:5-11.
5 Behold 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.
And what will God do that is so unbelievable?
6 For, 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.
7 They are terrible and dreadful . . .
10 And 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.
11 Then shall his mind change, and he shall pass over, and offend, imputing this his power unto his god.
God tells Habakkuk the Chaldeans (Babylonians) will carry out His judgment in Judah. They are unrighteous, unruly, unstoppable (they shall deride every strong hold . . . and take it); and ungodly (he shall then impute his power unto his god). Have you ever prayed and received an answer totally different than you expected? Well, Habakkuk was shocked.
12 Art thou not from everlasting, O LORD my God, mine Holy One?
13 Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity: wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, and holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous than he?
“How can you, so holy and pure and righteous, use such a wicked people? You should judge them, not use them to judge us.” He is offended. But he is honest. And he takes his problem back to the Lord. So often we pretend we have no problem with God, I guess thinking that if we don’t say anything He won’t know it. HA! Or, we get mad and refuse to talk to God anymore. But Habakkuk went right back to God.
2:1 I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what he will say unto me . . .
Since this was too much for him, he determined to wait upon God for an answer that made sense of this. Isn’t this interesting? God told him he wouldn’t believe it and he doesn’t! He can’t bring himself to believe what God has just told him. This is usually a bad thing. But he believes in God, so he will wait for more light. It is OK to wrestle with God about things you don’t understand, as long as your foundation is faith in God.
And behold the mercy of God – He answered Habakkuk in 2:2-20!
2 And the LORD answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it.
3 For 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.
But this simply tells him that what God had told him in chapter 1 will happen, it doesn’t address his question. Verse 4 does that:
Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith.
What is God’s answer for Habakkuk’s confusion? “Trust me.” The sad truth is, this is often more offensive to us. “Trust God? All you can say to me is, Have faith?” This is the very core of our problem with God – He is God and we are not. And He dares to do things we don’t understand, in ways we don’t understand! Oh how this grates on our souls. This is probably why faith is the key to walking with God. “Trust me.”
As an encouragement to faith, God assures him that He will reward the wicked Chaldeans. They are not going to “get away” with anything. God speaks of 5 woes (v 6, 9, 12, 15, 19) that will befall the Chaldeans. In the midst of this God offers comfort to those who live by faith:
14 For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea. Amen! What a future the righteous have.
Habakkuk asked God “How long?” and God told him something that shocked him, something he didn’t understand. And when he asked about that he was told to live by faith. So how did Habakkuk respond? Chapter 3. This is his prayer or song, his expression of faith.
By faith he will continue to pray (2 O LORD, I have heard thy speech, and was afraid: O LORD, revive thy work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known; in wrath remember mercy) and by faith he sees Christ coming with salvation (13 Thou wentest forth for the salvation of thy people, even for salvation with thine anointed [Messiah / Christ]). But 17-19 is the climax of the chapter:
17 Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls:
18 Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation.
19 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.
Habakkuk is living by faith. And such faith! This is the dynamic of his life: he lived righteously in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation; he interceded for them; he heard from God, and though he did not understand, yet he trusted; and by faith he could rejoice in the Lord even in the most dire circumstances. By faith God was his strength. By faith he saw that God would make him walk upon the high places. By faith he saw Christ coming with salvation. This is impressive. It is also convicting – am I walking in a faith like this? Am I living like Habakkuk in the midst of my generation? Am I praying for the church in Rock Hill like he prayed for Jerusalem? Do I rejoice in the Lord even when the fig tree does not blossom? Is God my strength? Do I see Christ as my salvation in all things? How vital and dynamic was his spiritual life!
We used to sing 3:17-19. I hope this is more than just a good song for me, but a true expression of my faith in the Lord.
Though the fig tree does not blossom
And there be no fruit be on the vine
the produce of the olive fail
and the fields yield no food
though the flock be cut off from the fold
and there be no herd in the stalls
Yet I will rejoice in the LORD 2x
I will joy in the God of my salvation
God, the Lord, is my strength.
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