Bible reading and commentary: Habakkuk 1-3

Habakkuk is an unusual prophetic book because it never addresses the people of Judah directly. Instead, it is a dialogue between the prophet and God. Habakkuk was probably a contemporary of Zephaniah and Jeremiah. He probably prophesied no later than the end of the reign of Josiah (640-609 B.C.). During this time the Assyrian Empire was in decline, and the Babylonians were rising to replace them as the dominant power in the Near East.

This book presents important gospel truths for people who encounter difficulties that seem perplexing. Like many of us, the prophet asked God two fundamental questions; where are you and why are you doing this? As Habakkuk observed the chaos of idolatry and immorality that was consuming those who ought to know better, he cried out in two complaints, asking God to act with justice against evildoers and to provide mercy for those who were faithful to God.

Habakkuk was surprised by God’s response. First, God declares he will use an enemy nation (Babylon) to bring justice to the evildoers in Judah. Second, God will reveal to Israel his unsearchable wisdom and providence by judging Judah and all his enemies. This message instills in Habakkuk a deepened, resilient, faith amid perplexing bewilderment.

The gospel is brought clearly into view around these ideas of God’s justice, mercy, wisdom, and providence. God may have seemed absent and inactive amid Habakkuk’s doubt and distress but in the fullness of time, God himself, through the person and work of Jesus, would come in the flesh to bring justice and mercy for all. At the cross, Jesus receives justice for our sins of idolatry and immorality. In addition to justice and mercy, Jesus secures the mercy of forgiveness to all who trust in his substitutionary work. It is on the cross at Calvary that justice and mercy meet.

The gospel is illuminated in Habakkuk’s book, as the prophet recounts God’s faithful deliverance of Israel during the wilderness wanderings and calls God’s people to a renewed faith in his provision. As Israel experienced deliverance from Egypt and establishment in the Promised Land, so also Christ’s followers today experience a much greater deliverance, a deliverance toward which every earthly Old Testament deliverance pointed—deliverance from sin, with the promise of a heavenly home. The New Testament proclaims the good news that in God’s wise and purposeful providence, God himself has come in Jesus Christ to deliver his people from the bondage of sin through the life, death, and resurrection of his Son.

The gospel response that the prophet finally realized and that every generation must discover anew is this: the righteous live by faith (2:4) Habakkuk will help us get to this God glorifying truth.

Important Themes

• God is just and merciful, even though his people may not always understand his ways (2:4).

• Wickedness will eventually be punished, and the righteous will ultimately see God’s justice (2:5–20).

• God uses some wicked nations to punish other wicked nations, but ultimately God will judge all nations (1:6; 2:5–20).

• The key phrase “the righteous shall live by his faith” (2:4) summarizes God’s plan for his people. It is quoted three times in the New Testament (Rom. 1:17; Gal. 3:11; Heb. 10:38). Each time a different aspect of the phrase’s meaning is highlighted.