Category Archives: . Habakkuk

Habakkuk 3

Posted on by
Reply

Habakkuk 3  [cntrl/click to read Habakkuk 3]

Have YOU ever questioned God?

Now that Habakkuk has had his question-and-answer time with God, he settles into a prayer and praise mode. He fully realizes who God is. His questions come from an inquiring heart, not from a heart that questions God himself. Habakkuk now inquires to gain understanding, not to accuse or to cross-examine. He fully understands who God is and will always be.

In Habakkuk we do find an oddness. Habakkuk begins his book with a statement or question to God of why he does not answer Habakkuk’s prayers. Habakkuk can’t figure out why God seems to do nothing about the evils of this world. He wants judgment from God. Then a sudden reconciliation. In chapter 3 Habakkuk asks God to be careful with his judgments…”in your wrath don’t forget your mercy.” First, he wanted God’s judgments then he wants God’s restraint.

Habakkuk 3:1 uses the term Shigionoth. We do not know its exact meaning. This word is only used once in the entire Bible. We can connect some possibly related dots as to its intended implication or application. Chapter 3 is poetic. We often find the word Selah in the poetic Psalms. Selah is also found in Habakkuk 3. We do not fully understand its meaning either. Since these words are used in poetic passages, they must have something to do with song, perhaps prayer. Chapter 3, as noted in verse 1, is a prayer or song of praise to God from the lips of Habakkuk. As written in the LITV, MKJV, and the YLT Shigionoth is written erring ones. We suggest this word Shigionoth means the inner most strings of one’s heart…a prayer, confession, joy, a song being composed from within one’s heart, a Psalm such as King David or Solomon would write.

Habakkuk 3:2 Habakkuk realizes that revival within his people of Judah (perhaps all Israelis) requires a work of God (Holy Spirit) not an achievement of man. Cry out confession to God and expect (wait for) atonement. He is asking God for a return to the times when Israel followed in obedience. Habakkuk fears for the loss of Israeli worship of Jehovah their God. PROBLEM? Habakkuk forgets the free will of man, or does he? Next paragraph:

Repent and be saved,

He does understand God’s judgment per chapters 1 and 2. In chapter 3 he fears for the consequences. Habakkuk begs God to remember mercy in his wrath against his chosen people. It is the opposite of his opening verse in chapter 3. He questions why God does not judge the evils of the world especially within Judah itself hoping to restrain the harshness of God’s judgments upon his chosen people of Israel (Judah).

Habakkuk 3:3 Teman? Where is Teman? God came from there? The Holy One came from Mount Paran? These are physical locations near Sinai but the implication is not that God the Holy One originally resided there. It means, out of Teman and Paran God’s official commandments came into the hands of Israel via Moses. Habakkuk is giving God praise for his continual guidance. [Mt. Paran; see Deuteronomy 33:2]

Habakkuk 3:4 (aha moment) Does the reader recall watching a TV show, cartoon, or movie where the villain and/or the good guy radiate what seems to be power charges from the fingers of his or her outreached hand? Guess from where this originates? Yup! Habakkuk 3:4b. “He had rays flashing from His hand…” Even so-called magicians allude to the power of the raised hand and pointed fingers. Abracadabra, BOOM!

In verse 4c we read…”and there his power was hidden.” As off the wall or odd as it may seem, perhaps this scripture of punishment by God with the tips of his fingers is not far off from Habakkuk’s plea to show mercy in his wrath. He wants the enemies of Israel to see God’s wrath, but is asking like the final plague in Egypt, to overlook the sins of Israel. Pass your finger of judgement over the Egyptians (meaning enemies of Judah) but have mercy on Israelis.

Habakkuk 3:5 This verse has much controversy in other commentaries. Speculation is dominant. Keep in mind that chapter 3 is a psalm or something of a poem to be sung. Perhaps verse 5 is a phrase to be recited. Before Him went pestilence, And fever followed at His feet. Similar to King Saul has killed his thousands but David has slain his ten thousand [I Samuel 18:7], this is a recital or chant.

Habakkuk 3:6 This recital continues into verse 6. It is a remembrance of God’s power and judgment: yesterday, today, and forever. Habakkuk is exalting God in praise and celebration. He recognizes that God is Jehovah-God. He praises God for who and what he is. God’s ways are everlasting.

Habakkuk 3:7 Habakkuk continues with his vision of God-in-charge. The world recognizes God but that does not mean they put trust in him. It has been, is, and continues to be more of an avoidance of God. Frank Sinatra sang the song…I Did It My Way. This is the basic attitude of the world, to do it their way.

I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction;
The curtains of the land of Midian trembled

Habakkuk 3:8 The Expositor’s Bible states per verse 8: “it is not with hills, rivers, or sea that God is angry, but with the nations, the oppressors of His poor people…” God is displeased with the people. Nature and life are both God’s creation. Only man has free will.

Habakkuk 3:9,10 Note that “selah” is inserted after the first two sentences of verse 9. It is a break from one thought going to another just as in poetry or verse in a song. ”You divided the earth with rivers” could easily be a part of the next verse (v10). Nature is defined as different from mankind. BUT…even nature recognizes God as its creator and sustenance. [See Luke 19:40]

Verse 10b is not clear enough to understand its application. It may mean that the earth such as during a volcanic eruption, the deep rumbles its voice. Throwing up or lifting its hands on high, into the skies, closely resembles that of an active volcano. You decide.

Habakkuk 3:11 Habakkuk continues to acknowledge that all creation is in God’s hands and will stand still or respond according to his thoughts, wishes, or command. Even nature refuses to counter God’s direction or instructions (cf. Luke 19:40). Why then does man not follow the lead of nature? [verse 12] Perhaps Free Will?

V12: to trample nations (ethnos). There is a difference in translations between the King James and the New King James. KJV says the heathen whereas the NKJV says nations. The thought is the same. Habakkuk’s thought here is the difference between nature and mankind. ‘Erets’ or earth understands the might of God and recognizes it owes its very existence to him. Mankind, in many cases, has lost obligation to God. God assigned free-will to man but not to all creation. [Matthew 12:37]. We note here that the words’ Free Will are not found in scripture. We conclude the free will of man by study of what it takes to find salvation and eternity through God instead of spending it with Satan and his minions. We have choice…that equals free will.

Habakkuk 3:13 concludes this section of Habakkuk’s prayer and recognition of God. God wished that all mankind would bow a knee to him in true worship. He intended this beginning in the Garden of Eden when all creation was peaceful.

JIV NOTE: This curse at the Garden of Eden includes climate change and seasons we know of today; the tropics, north and south poles. At the time of creation, the sun was possibly constant during the day sending its life-giving values (and vitamin D) to all. After the flood, the earth may have tilted to the 3o wobble of today giving us the four seasons. Hot, cold, and moderate, but changing weather.

We Teach – You Decide

V13 has an interesting sentence…”you struck the head of the house of the wicked.” Note that this is not the heads of the houses of the wicked, but it is singular, head of the house. There is but one house of the wicked and from where rebellion against God began…SATAN! Satan had already been cast out of heaven. Prophetically he will be given the final blow from God. He will not be destroyed but eternally condemned. As head of the house of all wickedness, there can be no other inference. SELAH.

Habakkuk 3:14-16: Instead of Habakkuk continuing to question God or his character as in chapters 1 and 2, he now trembles at the very thought of God’s pre-eminence. As he does in chapters 1 and 2, he no longer wishes to question God.

Habakkuk 3:17-19 This is Habakkuk’s faith in action. We might call these three closing verses of Habakkuk 3 a hymn of his faith. Verse 19 is from where we get the chorus “Like (as) a Deer Panteth.” (cf. Psalm 42)

Rev. Dr. Jstark
2022

Habakkuk 2

Posted on by
Reply

Habakkuk 2  [cntrl/click to read chapter 2]

God justifies his own judgment(s)

This chapter could be titled the “woe” chapter of Habakkuk. Four times he writes woe as a word of warning. Chapter 2 centers around the unusual…God justifies his own judgment(s). Why would God need to justify anything? Let’s consider the “what” and “why” in chapter 2.

Charles Spurgeon stated this regarding the task assigned to Habakkuk:

“Chaldeans, who were treading down the people, were themselves far greater sinners (then were the Assyrians), — that, certainly, in the matter of oppression and bloodthirstiness, they were a far more guilty people than those whom they came to punish.” [Chas. Spurgeon Library of Messages]

Spurgeon summarizes the dilemma facing Habakkuk. Not only were the very evil Chaldeans going to overrun the evil Assyrians, but soon after capture, enslave, and mistreat the people of the Kingdom of Judah. Habakkuk understood the quest against Nineveh for they were a very dangerous people. But the brutal Chaldeans were also going to invade and conquer Judah. Habakkuk questioned his vision.

Habakkuk 2:1 Mystified by his vision, Habakkuk gives us an example of the correct way to “wait on the Lord.” Be in expectant. There are those today who sit in church contributing little to nothing to the worship service or gaining any spiritual growth. For years s/he has sat in her or his pew claiming to be waiting on the lord for guidance. They miss the entire point of Habakkuk. He is not just waiting. He is also expecting and watching for the coming guidance and reproof of God. We see this in the opening sentence. He is standing his watch.

Habakkuk 2:2 Here is his part of waiting on the Lord. He was actively seeking. God tells him, make good note of what I am about to reveal to you. You can’t share it with others until you yourself have it in hand. This is why we have the Book of Habakkuk. “That he may run who reads it”. This does not mean to run from, but to run to God’s instructions. So often misread are these few words at the close of verse 2. Verse 3 explains this well.

There is an appointed time for everything.

Habakkuk 2:3 There is an appointed time for everything. The Book of Ecclesiastes 3 is all about this; a time for everything. Habakkuk is not told to stand still. He is told to move forward in his mission to the Tribe of Judah and the Assyrians. Write out your vision, Habakkuk, in plain language. He is told what will happen and to make it plain and understandable to the people. He is waiting but not for the vision. He is watching for the fulfillment of his vision. He will live to see the very thing for which he is commissioned of God to foretell. We know this because Habakkuk is told to personally wait for it will surely come.”

JIV NOTE: Habakkuk is only mentioned in his own book. He is not mentioned anywhere else in the rest of the Bible. However, in the deuterocanonical additions to the Book of Daniel, he is mentioned in Bel and the Dragon. Habakkuk is held in high esteem not only by Christians but within Judaism and Islam.

Habakkuk 2:4 “Behold, his soul is puffed up, it is not upright in him; but the righteous shall live by his faith.” Puffed up means proud of self. One can imagine this person feeling if not stating “Oh how religious I am. Listen to the sound of the coins of gold as I drop them into the offering.” One might ask this same person, “you give moneys but why is it you only sit in your pew week after week?” In a very real sense this is symbolic of the person whose testimony only goes back to accepting Christ as Savior. It is as if nothing has happened since. This attitude is reflective of Judah and Nineveh.

 Habakkuk 2:4b makes this verse pointed. “BUT the righteous shall live by his faith.” This is not static Christianity. Rev. David Guzik regards pride:

There may be as much pride inside a beggar’s rags as in a prince’s robe; and a harlot may be as proud as (may be) a model of chastity. Pride is a strange creature; it never objects to its lodgings. [emphasis mine)

There is a connection with this pride and the soon-to-invade Chaldean-Babylonians. Look at the pride of Nebuchadnezzar. Daniel had to deal with this pride of Nebuchadnezzar just as did his prototype Habakkuk with the people and leaders in Judah. Assyria was falling. So did the Kingdom of Judah 5 to 8 years later.

Habakkuk 2:5 is not about Judah or Assyria as much as it is about the Babylonians. He does not stay at home means the Babylonians will conquer other nations… unto himself. He will gather under his tree (recall the dream of Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 4:1-37) all peoples by captivity.

Habakkuk 2:6 We are now in a part of Habakkuk where two proverbial sayings apply.

  1. That which goes around comes around
  2. The Pied Piper will be paid

Verse 6 declares this to be a proverb but against who? Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon! It will also be a riddle to him. This is the calling of Daniel when he continually interprets different dreams for Nebuchadnezzar. God is explaining to Habakkuk the consequences of Assyria being replaced by a nastier Babylon. A nation Habakkuk calls into question as an evil Assyria being destroyed by an even more evil people (Babylonians). We related this in the previous narrative commentary by saying ‘God might bring judgement upon America by bringing to power socialism.’ How can this be thought thinks Habakkuk?

Habakkuk gives verse 6b/7a an unusual twist by saying: (6b) to him who loads himself with many pledges’? (7a) Will not your creditors rise up suddenly? This metaphor exemplifies the indebtedness of one who owes too much to pay back his debt. This is not necessarily monetarily speaking but of good or evil done to others. One today might say or hear, I will get you for that! When God declares that vengeance is his it does not always mean direct intervention. He uses others to carry out his vengeance on the evil ones of this world. In End Time tribulation God will use evil to destroy the evil ones before he finally steps in and directly intervenes at his second coming.

Ahamoment: Who owns America’s huge debt?

Habakkuk 2:7 In short, others who hold a grudge as creditors will unite against a debtor. They will be his or her demise in a united front. The Medes and Persian-Caledonians did this to Assyria. The Babylonians then did this to the Medes. Alexander the Great did this to the Persians. These are but a few examples of how unpaid or perceived debt is redeemed be it financial or otherwise.

PS: China holds most of United States’ debt.

Habakkuk 2:8 underscores the above. Some call this a blood-debt. Some call it “getting even.” There is no end to this cycle of retrieving what one assumes to be a debt to be repaid. When one accumulates too many creditors (suppressed nations and kingdoms), they unite. Once that is settled, the tendency is creditors to think inwardly to settle the score with a previous ally. This is how the world will end. Son against father, daughter against mother, personal groups (kingdoms) against other groups (kingdoms), nation against nation, race against race, have-nots against those that have, neighbor against neighbor. We can easily see this is already being fulfilled. Those in the U.S.A. and other countries are now taught and instructed to report on his or her neighbor for even the smallest of infractions.

Habakkuk 2:9 This is the first of four ’woe’ verses in chapter 2 (v9, v12, v15, & v19). The Hebrew for woe (hoh’ee) is the prolonged version of ho and o’-ee. It is an adamant or unwavering attention-getter. One might experience this type of (hoh’ee) WOE if driving down a street. Unexpectantly a police car pulls in behind one with flashing lights and siren. It is time to (hoh’ee) pay attention. Habakkuk is told by God in his vision to pay particular attention. Very simply put, some will do evil to protect him or herself (family) from other evil or pending disaster. This too will be a defining moment during the Tribulation.

Habakkuk 2:10 This verse is what Matthew 24:7 means. Households during the second half of the Tribulation will fortress themselves by any means possible. They take what they can “…cutting off many people bringing sin against his or her own soul.” Habakkuk 2:10 belongs with verses 11 and 12. Three verses but one statement. We might akin or parallel this to Numbers 32:23… “one’s deeds will find them out.”

Joseph Benson Commentary identifies this woe as inclusive of and applicable to all covetous, unjust, and oppressive methods used to raise a fortune. Each of these is a possession idol.

Habakkuk 2:12-14 is essentially one woe. Habakkuk ventures prophetically into the far future. Verse 14 reads: “For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, (just) As the waters cover the sea.” Knowledge does not mean acceptance. Isaiah 11:9 says the same thing. This is a reference to the Holy Mountains of Jesus i.e., the New Jerusalem of the Millennial age. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my Holy Mountain. Habakkuk is seldom given credit for this assurance of a Millennial Kingdom, but the wording is obvious. Woe to him or her who tries to do otherwise.

Habakkuk 2:15 points out not only the lewdness of mankind but the process through which his/her scheming mind works. This verse points out something else. Get someone drunk so s/he can be seen for what s/he is. Drunkenness weakens the immune system of thinking.

Reminder: Habakkuk is not only speaking to and of the Kingdom of Judah but to the end of mankind going without God’s judgement. What he is saying identifies man today. In short, get another person talking so what s/he says gives naked insight into that person, group, contract, on sale item, etc. We call it the fine print. King Hezekiah was guilty of this. His pride made him drunk and his lips “sunk his ship.”

Habakkuk 2:16 is another imagery or metaphor. Judah, which is one tribe within the chosen people of God, is supposed to be that light on the hillside. A light that others can see and emulate. Sadly, they were not a shining light. Therefore, the pending judgment Habakkuk states about Nineveh will also fall upon Judah. We KNOW this by what Habakkuk says in the second half of this verse. “The cup of the Lord’s right hand will be turned against you, And utter shame will be on your glory.” Judah did not have long to wait. The invasion and captivity by the Babylonians began in 607 B.C., just five years after the fall of Assyria.

It was King Hezekiah who showed off the wealth of his Judean Kingdom. [See Isaiah 39:2]. Hezekiah was king of Judah when Nebuchadnezzar invaded, conquered, then began deporting the people from their homeland. Of course, he took the wealth that Hezekiah had boasted about and put on display. His vanity was to impress the previous Babylonian emissaries visitors claiming to be Babylonian ambassadors. His nakedness was exposed.

Habakkuk 2:17 mentions Lebanon. “For the violence done to Lebanon will cover you.” How does Lebanon fit into this prophecy? Much of the temple was built with the great cedars of Lebanon; the very Temple that Nebuchadnezzar razed. The people within the Kingdom of Judah will be redeemed after 70 years of Babylonian captivity due, in part, to Nebuchadnezzar’s destruction of the temple In Jerusalem. Lebanon cedar was the core of the temple structure. It was later rebuilt using Babylonian/Persian money. It was not destroyed again until 72 A.D. This time by the Romans 400 years later.

Habakkuk 2:18 is obvious. It means just what it says. Why does man build for himself idols then worship them? This is a great discussion in its application to what man does today, but not here. Essentially, what a person devotes his or her life to is their god.

Habakkuk 2:19 is the sarcasm regarding verse 18. Oh wood wake up? Hey stone. Don’t just sit there.

Habakkuk 2:20 is the contrast with other items of idolatry. God is for real and permanent. He is in his Temple and will be glorified. It is as inevitable as were the prophecies of Habakkuk.

JIV Note: Verse 20 tells us that the Temple, including during the Millennial Reign is God’s Temple. The New Testament tells us in 1 Corinthians 6:19 that to the Christian our bodies are the Temple of the Holy Spirit.

“Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?“

The Temple in Jerusalem is the abode of God. The true believer is the temple of the Holy Spirit. Keep this distinction in mind as we progress through our narrative commentary or as one reviews previous articles.

Rev. Dr. Jstark
2022

Habakkuk

Posted on by
Reply

Habakkuk 1

Photo by Kaboompics .com on Pexels.com

Ahabiblemoments begins this narrative commentary series on Habakkuk quite differently. You can click on the following and hear a three-minute overview of the Book of Habakkuk.

https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffab&q=Habakkuk&iax=videos&ia=videos&iai=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D-qJ23qgcsJI

Has anyone ever asked of God WHY(?) this or that? Habakkuk did this 2700 years ago and he was a prophet of God. Some amazing understandings and clarity of our Christian issues today are revealed in the very first chapter Habakkuk. Answers to many of our common questions come to light.

One of the spiritual concerns of Habakkuk was that God seemingly would not answer his pleadings, petitions, prayers, and requests. He prophesied around 612 B.C. This is at the time of the fall of Nineveh and Assyria. Jonah wished the Assyrians (Nineveh) to be judged many years earlier but much to the chagrin of Jonah they repented. The Book of Micah exemplifies what Jonah had wished to be ill on the Assyrians. He also pointed the warning finger to both northern and southern kingdoms of Israelis. Nahum tells the Ninevites, you will have no more warnings. Here comes God’s judgement. Habakkuk sees God’s punishment happen (as also did Micah). But, he had difficulty understanding why God would replace the Assyrians with an even greater nation of evildoers.

Reminder of the sequence of prophetic events:

  • Amos: The book of Amos was to announce God’s holy judgment on the Kingdom of Israel (the Northern ten Tribes of Israel). This happened 120 years before Habakkuk prophesied in 712 B.C.
  • Obadiah: His prophetic mission as an Israeli was to the cousins of the Israelites; the Edomites or descendants of Jacob’s twin brother Esau.
  • Jonah: Like to Obadiah, Jonah took the same type of message to the Assyrians in their capital city of Nineveh.
  • Micah: As does Isaiah, the book of Amos announced God’s judgment on the Kingdom of Israel (the Northern ten Tribes of Israelis).
  • Nahum: Nahum 100 years earlier was essentially God’s follow up of the warnings to the Assyrians by Jonah. They repented then but fell back in their old ways within their next generations.
  • Habakkuk: He witnessed the fall of Nineveh in 612 B.C. (Assyrians) to an even more merciless people called the Chaldeans (Babylonians). He also saw the fall of the southern Kingdom of Judah to the same Chaldean-Babylonians.

Habakkuk 1:1,2 He begins his book by asking God a very blunt question. It almost reads like Habakkuk thinks God does not listen. “How long shall I cry; will you not listen; I cry out to you; will you not intervene” (paraphrase mine)? This is like Jeremiah 12:1. Jeremiah is asking the same thing of God. It is different circumstances but like Habakkuk questioning the ways of God.

Habakkuk 1:3 Christian believers who are some studied in the Word of God ask the same question today. Even do those who are believers ask…Where do we not see or hear of strife, contentions, iniquities, trouble around us, plundering and violence? It is everywhere and NOT just in the United States. We can add to this by reading the next verse in Habakkuk.

Habakkuk 1:4 “The law is powerless, And justice never goes forth. For the wicked surround the righteous; Therefore perverse judgment proceeds.” Are we not seeing this all around us today? Habakkuk sees it daily. It is around 612 B.C. (BCE: Before Current Era).

Habakkuk 1:4 God responds to Habakkuk in a vision; “this is what Habakkuk saw” [verse 1]. There is ruthlessness all around and the just seem to be the minority. God does not deny this. Even the laws of the land do not stop the evil. At times there seems to be a two-tier justice system. One set of enforced laws for the commoner and another set of limited laws for the elite. Let’s make it a three-tier system. The third tier is those who follow not any law other than domination, strength, and force…my gun is bigger than your gun attitudes. The laws of nature. Woe to those then and now who didn’t have let’s say, a means to defend self and family. What is going on with Habakkuk if he doesn’t feel or think GOD is a defense against such woes?

Habakkuk 1:5 God tells Habakkuk to not be nearsighted but look to the nations in existence at that time. God is telling Habakkuk to be more observing. Recall what has happened and what will happen. One should underline the following. Habakkuk saw the fall of Assyria and the fall of the Kingdom of Judah. He saw some of Jeremiah’s prophecies fulfilled. Jeremiah, Zephaniah and Habakkuk were contemporaries. He knew of the fall of the northern Kingdom of Israel. More on this human attitude in Habakkuk 2:5

Importantly is what God tells Habakkuk in verse 1:5b. “I will work a work in your days Which you would not believe, though it were told you.” It is amazing that Habakkuk, a prophet of God is told by God that he would not believe even if God told him? This in and of itself is astounding.

Habakkuk 1:6 is part of that unbelief God says Habakkuk will have…even though God is telling him. God says that he is raising up a counter-nation to Assyria, one that has an even worse attitude than did/do the Assyrians? How can this be? How can a God of creation do such a thing? Instead, how about a Red Sea event? Maybe another plague as in Egypt but now upon these bad Assyrian people? What about another Jericho Wall miracle? Perhaps a reuniting of all the Tribes of Israel, a strong leader, and a swift victory for their armed forces such as in the time of Jehoshaphat?

NOPE God says! I will use an even worse and evil nation to dissolve Assyria for the life of this planet earth.

Habakkuk 1:7-11 (NIV) God admits his solution is to use a more troubling nation than were the Assyrians. God even gave Habakkuk a long list of the reputation against humanity by those soon to invade Nineveh then Judah itself.

  1. They are terrible and dreadful
  2. Their judgment and their dignity proceed from themselves
  3. Their horses are as swift as leopards
  4. They are as dreaded as the evening wolf packs on the hunt
  5. They seem to not weary of their long travels
  6. They soar as eagles hunting for prey
  7. Their arrival or sight on the horizon means pending violence
  8. They gather captives as does the fierce easterly dust storms gathers sands
  9. They make mockery of other kings (and their gods)
  10. The Chaldeans are elated at their success just to transgress even more

One would think that Habakkuk’s complaint to God to this point in chapter 1 is personally dangerous waters. But he isn’t done trying to remind God who God is yet seems to violate HIS own standards.

Habakkuk 1:12  First Habakkuk recognizes and compliments God for who he is. Then…(v13b).Cntrl/Click on this link and read it for oneself. In verse 13a Habakkuk points out that God is pure, then he asks why he tolerates evil against mankind and God himself. Verse 13 also addresses a personal question some may hesitate to admit to wanting to ask but it is in one’s mind. Why does God allow the less righteous to dominate those who are trying to live a righteous life?

Habakkuk 1:14  Now Habakkuk, in a way, accuses God of not being a God of justice. Habakkuk says that God allows men to create a state of anarchy, by wrong going unpunished. It is as if there were no God of concern. He compares the world to the sea; men to fishes; Nebuchadnezzar to a fisherman (Jameison-Fausset-Brown).

Dr. David Guzik expresses this passage quite well in his commentary on Habakkuk:

It would be like crying out to God about the state of the church in America, and hearing God respond by saying, “I’ll fix the problem by [allowing] a Communist invasion of America.” We would say, “Wait a minute LORD – the problem is bad, but your cure is worse than the disease!”

We at ahabiblemoments see it similarly. It is like a former Christian nation like America crying out to God about the church being repressed and God says…”I will fix it by bringing socialists to power in your congress.”

Habakkuk 1:15 “They take up all of them with a hook, They catch them in their net, And gather them in their dragnet. Therefore they rejoice and are glad.” They delight in giving misery to others. Recall Habakkuk is not talking about the brutal Assyrians but of a force God is going to bring to uproot the Assyrians. These same people will within a couple years do the same to the Kingdom of Judah.

The last two verses of Habakkuk chapter 1 are, in a sense, similar to Matthew 13:12-14. God already told Habakkuk earlier in this chapter that even if God attempted to explained it to him, he would not understand. This is NOT a viable excuse for a Christian to neglect studying the Words of God. One cannot hide behind the excuse of not understanding. First gain knowledge then seek understanding. Read how Habakkuk handles this in verse 1 of chapter 2.

Rev Dr Jstark
2022