Minor Prophets · Old Testament
Habakkuk
c. 610–605 BC
- Section
- Minor Prophets · Old Testament
- Events span
- c. 610–605 BC
- Written
- c. 607 BC
- Author
- Habakkuk
Habakkuk dares to question God: why does he tolerate Judah's violence, and why would he use the even more wicked Babylonians to judge them? God answers, and the prophet learns to trust, ending with a psalm of faith: “the just shall live by his faith,” and “yet I will rejoice in the LORD.”
Historical setting: Kingdom of Judah in its last years, as Babylon rises to become God's instrument of judgment.
Chronological placement: Written c. 607 BC, just before Babylon (the Chaldeans) rose to threaten and then conquer Judah.
Key themes
- Wrestling with God
- The problem of evil
- The just shall live by faith
- God's sovereignty
- Rejoicing in trials
Key events
- Habakkuk asks why God tolerates violence and injustice in Judah
- God answers that he is raising up the fierce Babylonians to judge them
- The prophet asks how God can use a nation even more wicked than Judah
- God replies that "the just shall live by his faith," while the proud will fall
- Five woes are pronounced on the greedy, violent oppressor
- Habakkuk prays and resolves to rejoice in God even if every crop and flock fails
Key lessons
- It is not faithless to bring hard, honest questions to God; Habakkuk argues with him openly, and God answers rather than rebuking him for asking. Hab 1
- God is at work even through events that look like chaos or injustice, unfolding his purposes on his own appointed timetable. Hab 2:3
- “The just shall live by his faith”: the righteous endure not by understanding God’s plan but by trusting his character until it unfolds. Hab 2:4
- Faith’s summit is rejoicing in God himself even when every visible blessing fails, because he, not the harvest, is the believer’s joy. Hab 3:17–18
“Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith.”