Habakkuk Introduction

THE PROPHET HABAKKUK

This is a page from the Chick tract* “DON’T READ THAT BOOK”.

There was a time in my early days in The Faith when everyone I knew who had read Habakkuk had done so in response to this! Have you read the prophet Habakkuk?

For some time now I have had a desire to teach through the book of the prophet Habakkuk. Why? What is the benefit of going through Habakkuk? To quote the apostle Paul, “much in every way.” My prayer is that we will profit from the “much in every way" grace found in this little book.

Habakkuk is the 8th book in The Scroll of the Twelve (Hosea-Malachi), a short, three chapter book sandwiched between Nahum and Zephaniah. Easy to miss or overlook.

Today I just want to give a little background and the outline of the book.

"Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah have a great deal in common. Each one gives a different facet of the dealings of God with mankind.

Another similarity is the fact that they come from approximately the same time period…we know that all three prophets fit into the period between the reigns of kings Josiah and Jehoiakim, which would also be the time of the prophet Jeremiah. The northern kingdom had already gone into captivity, and the southern kingdom was right on the verge of captivity. After Josiah, every king in the southern kingdom was a bad king. Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah all fit into that period of decline.

Although there are similarities, these books also differ from each other. Nahum dealt only with Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrian Empire. Nahum showed that God is just, righteous, and a God of love; yet He was absolutely right in judging that city.

Habakkuk approaches the problem from a little different viewpoint. He is a man with questions. He is disturbed about God’s seeming indifference to the iniquity of His own people. Habakkuk asks God, “Why don’t You do something?”

You can see that the message of Habakkuk is almost the opposite of the message of Nahum. In the Book of Nahum God was moving in judgment, and the question was: How can God be a God of love and judge as He is doing? Here in Habakkuk it is just the opposite: Why doesn’t God do something about the evil in the world?"

Why Study Nahum & Habakkuk Thru the Bible with J. Vernon McGee

"The Prophet Habakkuk was the son of Shaphat and of the tribe of Simeon. He was a contemporary of the Prophet Jeremiah. His actions revolved around Jerusalem, after the period when the Babylonians defeated the Egyptians at Carchemish, and extended their domination into Palestine.

 Holy Prophet Habakkuk as a Model for our Lives Protopresbyter Fr. George Papavarnavas

I have learned that the Orthodox and Catholic Church pay more attention to Habakkuk than most Protestants & Evangelicals. “On the Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar, his feast day is December 2. In the Roman Catholic Church, the twelve minor prophets are read in the Roman Breviary during the fourth and fifth weeks of November, which are the last two weeks of the liturgical year, and his feast day is January 15.” (Habakkuk, Wikipedia)

The three chapters of Habakkuk can be outlined as follows

Chapter 1
1-4 Habakkuk’s Complaint
5-11God’s Answer
12-17 Habakkuk’s Response

Chapter 2
1 Habakkuk’s Plan
2-3 God’s Answer
4-20 God Explains His Answer

Chapter 3
1-2 Habakkuk’s Prayer
3-16 Habakkuk’s Poem
17-19 Habakkuk’s Praise

TOMORROW: Habakkuk 1:1-4 How long, O LORD!

* Jack Thomas Chick (1924–2016) was an American cartoonist and publisher, best known for his Christian "Chick tracts", small comic book style booklets that could be given to people directly or left for them to find.

The best known Chick Tract (chick.com)