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Minor prophets · Old Testament · 3 chapters

The book of Habakkuk

The just shall live by his faith

Author
Habakkuk the prophet
Written
Around 607-605 BC, shortly before the Babylonian invasion
Time covered
The last years of the kingdom of Judah, probably under Jehoiakim, when the Chaldeans become the dominant power
Key word
Faith

Habakkuk begins with a complaint: “O LORD, how long shall I cry?” Violence reigns in Judah and God seems silent. The divine answer is astonishing: he will raise up the Chaldeans, a fearsome people, to punish Judah. The prophet protests again: how can the holy God use a people more wicked than the one he punishes? Stationed on his tower, he waits. God orders him to write the vision: the proud will fall, but “the just shall live by his faith.” Five woes condemn Babylon. The book ends with a sung prayer: even if fig tree, vine and flocks fail, Habakkuk will rejoice in the God of his salvation.

Main theme

Faced with evil triumphing, Habakkuk dares to question God; he learns that the LORD remains master of history, that the proud will fall and that “the just shall live by his faith,” even to the point of rejoicing in God when everything fails.

Outline

  1. Habakkuk 1 — Two hard questions

    Why does God tolerate injustice? And how can he use the Chaldeans?

  2. Habakkuk 2 — The answer: faith and the five woes

    The just shall live by his faith; the proud Babylonian will be judged.

  3. Habakkuk 3 — The prophet’s prayer

    God comes as deliverer, and Habakkuk chooses joy in spite of everything.

Key points

  • The book is a dialogue: Habakkuk puts his questions to God instead of first speaking to the people (1:2, 12-13).
  • God answers that he is raising up the Chaldeans to punish Judah, a work “which ye will not believe” (1:5-6).
  • The prophet is astonished that a God of eyes “purer than to behold evil” would use a people more wicked than Judah (1:13).
  • God commands him to write the vision and to wait for its fulfillment, even if it tarries (2:2-3).
  • The central verse: “the just shall live by his faith,” quoted three times in the New Testament (2:4; Rom 1:17; Gal 3:11; Heb 10:38).
  • Five woes announce the fall of the proud Babylonian (2:6-19).
  • The glory of the LORD will fill the earth, and all the earth must keep silence before him (2:14, 20).
  • Habakkuk chooses to rejoice in God even if every resource fails (3:17-18).
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.
Habakkuk 2:3 — God’s promises have their hour: if they tarry, we must wait for them.
Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith.
Habakkuk 2:4 — The verse that fed Paul and the Reformation: the just shall live by his faith.
For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.
Habakkuk 2:14 — History’s horizon: an earth filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD.

Jesus in Habakkuk

“The just shall live by his faith” (2:4) becomes in Christ the heart of the gospel: Paul sees in it the righteousness of God revealed “from faith to faith” (Rom 1:17) and the end of all justification by the law (Gal 3:11). The letter to the Hebrews reads the vision that “tarries” as the announcement of him that shall come and will not tarry (Heb 10:37-38). God’s ultimate answer to the problem of evil is the cross, where he shows his justice while justifying the one who has faith in Jesus (Rom 3:26), until the earth is filled with the knowledge of his glory (2:14).

Did you know?

  • Habakkuk 2:4 is quoted three times in the New Testament (Rom 1:17; Gal 3:11; Heb 10:38); it was while meditating on Romans 1:17 that Martin Luther rediscovered justification by faith, the spark of the Reformation.
  • The prayer of chapter 3 ends with “To the chief singer on my stringed instruments,” like a psalm: it was meant to be sung (3:19).
  • Habakkuk 3:19 almost repeats David’s victory song: “He maketh my feet like hinds’ feet” (Ps 18:33).

Quiz on Habakkuk

With what question does Habakkuk open his dialogue with God?

Which people does God announce he will raise up to punish Judah?

Complete Habakkuk 2:4: “But the just shall live…”

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