Habakkuk

1. Who was Heabakkuk?
   1. We know very little about Habakkuk, other than that he was a prophet. Habakkuk 1:1: The burden which Habakkuk the prophet did see. Habakkuk 3:1: The burden which Habakkuk the prophet did see.
   2. Habakkuk, was a prophet whose oracles and prayer are recorded in the Book of Habakkuk, the eighth of the collected twelve minor prophets in the Hebrew Bible.

2. Date & Time, and When was the Book Written?
   1. Determining the date of the book of Habakkuk is quite a bit easier than dating most books. He spoke often of an imminent Babylonian invasion, an event that occurred on a smaller scale in 605 BC before the total destruction of Judah’s capital city, Jerusalem, in 586 BC. The way Habakkuk described Judah indicates a low time in its history. If the dating is to remain close to the Babylonian invasion, Habakkuk likely prophesied in the first five years of Jehoiakim’s reign (609–598 BC) to a king who led his people into evil.
   2. Habakkuk 1:6: 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 their’s.
   3. Habakkuk 3:16: When I heard, my belly trembled; my lips quivered at the voice: rottenness entered into my bones, and I trembled in myself, that I might rest in the day of trouble: when he cometh up unto the people, he will invade them with his troops.

3. Why was Habakkuk Important?
   1. Habakkuk provides us one of the most remarkable sections in the biblee, as it contains an extended dialogue between Habakkuk and God The prophet initiated this conversation based on his distress about God’s “inaction” in the world. He wanted to see God do something more, particularly in the area of justice for evildoers. The book of Habakkuk pictures a frustrated prophet, much like Jonah, though Habakkuk channeled his frustration into prayers and eventually praise to God, rather than trying to run from the Lord as Jonah did.
   2. Habakkuk 1–2: O Lord, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear! even cry out unto thee of violence, and thou wilt not save!

4. What was His Mission?
   1. The book of Habakkuk offers us a picture of a prideful people being humbled, while the righteous live by faith in God. Habakkuk 2:4: Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith.
   2. Habakkuk reminds us that while God may seem silent and uninvolved in our world, He always has a plan to deal with evil and always works out justice, eventually. The example of the prophet Habakkuk encourages us to wait on the Lord, expecting that He will indeed work out all things for our good as it says in Romans 8:28.

5. What was his Greatest Word to His People and Us?
   1. One of the favorite writings of Habakkuk is the one found in Habakkuk 2:2-3: And the Lord answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it. 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. Has God given you a vision or a promise? Write it down. Share it with others who will pray, believe God, and help you in it. It will come to pass. What God has spoken, He will do.
   2. Here’s another great gem from Habakkuk. This, I believe should be our prayer during this time, as we see God dealing with a world and a nation that has turned away from Him, and at the same time, is trying to raise up an army that will be faithful to His Word. Habakkuk 3:2: 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. I see three important themes in this verse. 1, Habakkuk hears the voice of God and has a fear and respect for God. 2, He prays for revival. This is what we need in our country today, and I believe with all that is going on, God is bringing revival. 3. He prays for God to remember mercy while he is showing His Wrath to an unbelieving world. God is ready and willing to extend mercy to whosoever will bow the knee and ask Jesus into their hearts.

6. What can We Learn from Habakkuk?
   1. Habakkuk asked God the kind of question that so many of us have pondered. Habakkuk 1:3: Why dost thou shew me iniquity, and cause me to behold grievance? for spoiling and violence are before me: and there are that raise up strife and contention.
   2. We’ve all seen the evidence of evil in our lives. We’ve all been touched by it. And we bear scars at various stages of healing. We are often downtrodden by our poor choices and our fallen world. However, Habakkuk reminds us that no place is too dark and no wall too thick for God’s grace to penetrate in a powerful way.
   3. We see that God often does or allows things to happen suddenly. Just like recently, one day, our country was going along normally, and the corona virus was something on the other side of the world. Then in a short time, it’s here and most of the nation is in lockdown. Habakkuk 1:5: Behold ye among the heathen, and regard, and wonder marvelously: for I will work a work in your days which ye will not believe, though it be told you. I think this has happened so that people would turn back to God. After 9\11, the churches were full for a time, but that was very short-lived as we quickly had the falling away as predicted in the bible. I believe things like the corona virus are God’s way of saying “I’m here. Will you keep going your own way, or will you finally bow the knee and turn wholeheartedly to Me.”
   4. I love the way he ends his book. He has just delivered a hard message from the Lord, and as a nation and world, we are experiencing hard times. Will we have the same resolve that he had? Habakkuk 3:18-19: Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. 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. To the chief singer on my stringed instruments.