Habakkuk - A Neo-Babylonian Prophet

The Amazing Bible. Book Club

The Minor Prophet of Habakkuk is unlike the other prophets, where he hears a word from the Lord and proclaims it to the people, but instead it is a theodicy - a defense of God. Habakkuk questions the Lord and asks, "How long must I call for help in this place of no justice?" The Lord tells him He is doing something, "I am raising up the Babylonians." Habakkuk did not like that answer because why would a pure God use them for this issue? The Lord's answer was He had a plan and a time, and Habakkuk was to wait for it, because the Lord's plan will come to pass. One of the key verses is 2:4, "See, he is puffed up, his desires are not upright - but the righteous will live by faith." Then there are woes toward the unrighteous and verse 20 is a transition verse, "But the Lord is in His holy temple; let all the earth be silent before Him." In the silence before the Lord, Habakkuk learned to trust the Lord. Chapter 3 is a song he wrote, and in it, he saw the wonders that the Lord had done, and he saw what the Lord was going to do, and it scared him. Verse 19, "I heard and my heart pounded, my lips quivered at the sound; decay crept into my bones, and my legs trembled. Yet I will wait patiently for the day of calamity to come on the nation invading us. The Lord will punish Judah for their sin, and He will punish Babylon for their sin, but those with faith, the Lord will strengthen. "He will make my feet like the feet of a deer. He will enable me to go on the heights."