Deeper Commentary

Habakkuk Chapter 1

Habakkuk 1:1 The oracle which Habakkuk the prophet saw- According to :5,6, the Babylonians would be raised up and would invade Judah in the lifetime of Habakkuk's audience. This would suggest that Habakkuk lived some time before the first Babylonian invasions of Judah, perhaps in the time of Manasseh or Jehoiakim.

Habakkuk 1:2 Yahweh, how long will I cry, and You will not hear? I cry out to you Violence!- The impression we get is of Habakkuk constantly pointing things out to God- as if He were unaware! Jehoiakim's reign (see on :1) was full of such violence (Jer. 22:3,3-17). Habakkuk may be complaining about the violence threatened at the hands of the Babylonians. But he may be complaining that he has cried out to God about all the violence ongoing within Judah, and yet there has been no Divine intervention in the form of the sending of a Divine Saviour, Yah's salvation.

And will You not save?- This is the Hebrew idea of ‘Jesus’. By the end of the book, Habakkuk is rejoicing in the God of his “salvation” (Hab. 3:18)- the same word. We see therefore in this intriguing dialogue how a man begins with many questions about the justice of God, both in His actions within the community of believers and in the Gentile world… and how through the humbling struggle with God over these issues, he comes to realize that God is indeed his very own saviour God, even though there is no fruit on the vines, the promised blessings of the covenant aren’t realized in his life; yet for sure, God shall be His salvation ultimately in the Kingdom. And in a related way, we could say that through this path of struggle with injustice, Habakkuk finally comes to ‘Jesus’, to realizing that God does in fact save.

Habakkuk 1:3 Why do You show me iniquity, and look at perversity?- Habakkuk uses the same words to complain of what the Babylonians do (:13). The idea seems to be that he finds it unjust that sinful people are punished by equally sinful people. The injustices within Israel which Habakkuk complains of are those of the reign of Jehoiakim, who was punished by the predicted Babylonian invasion (Jer. 22:3,13-17). Habakkuk was therefore contemporary with Jeremiah, and his struggle with God is similar to the way Jeremiah reasons (e.g. Jer. 12:1; Jer. 20:8).

The complaint that God sees iniquity and perversity in Israel is perhaps an allusion to the way that God earlier did not behold these things in Israel (Num. 23:21). Habakkuk was doing what many try to do- proving God wrong from His own book, accusing Him of moral inconsistency etc. Yet the prophets contemporary with Habakkuk had repeatedly and clearly explained that judgment was to come on Judah at the hand of the Babylonians- for very good reason. And Habakkuk, despite surely being aware of that, seeks to wriggle out of it by complaining that the Babylonians were no better, and just asking God to ‘sort it out’ somehow in a way that meant Judah would not be destroyed.

God’s oscillations of feelings, the sharp opposition between judgment and mercy, were felt equally by the prophets, who were breathing in God’s spirit. Consider all the oppositions and paradoxes which there were in the prophetic experience:

-         Speaking for God against Israel, when they themselves were members of Israel

-         Appearing to be on the side of their own peoples’ enemies

-         Holding an understanding of Israel’s God that was contradictory to Israel’s own understanding of their God

-         Understanding why judgment should come, and yet like Habakkuk crying out with the question “Why?” (Hab. 1:2-4). After twice approaching God with this question, and each time being given fresh insights into the awful nature of the judgment to come as a response, Habakkuk ends up with a trembling body and lips that ‘quivered at the sound’… and yet, at the very same time, feels that he still “will rejoice in the Lord” (Hab. 3:16,18). What a torn man he was.

For destruction and violence are before me. There is strife, and contention rises up- He was mentally exhausted at all the insights he had been given into the perversity of God's people, and yet also exhausted at the breadth of evil and destruction which he was being shown as the judgment for it.

Habakkuk 1:4 Therefore the law is paralyzed, and justice never goes forth; for the wicked surround the righteous, therefore justice is perverted- The reference to "the law" suggests Habakkuk is complaining at the wickedness he was beholding within God's people. Because the wicked within Judah surrounded the righteous, therefore Judah was to be surrounded by the wicked Babylonians. All Divine judgments are really reflections of prior human behaviour. Out of all the terrible sins in Habakkuk's time (probably that of Manasseh, see on :1), typical of the prophets, Habakkuk focuses on lack of justice. The Hebrew terms for "justice" and "righteousness" are the same; to do justice is the essence of righteousness.

Habakkuk 1:5 Look among the nations, watch, and wonder marvellously- This is God's response to Habakkuk's psychological exhaustion noted above. God is open to dialogue with man. God's response to that injustice and sin in Judah would be to raise up the Chaldeans. We could infer that at Habakkuk's time, they were still being prepared; hence he is bidden look and watch "among the nations", for out of them, the Chaldeans / Babylonians would be raised up (:6). Whatever historico-social reasons there were for the Babylonians coming to dominance, they were controlled by God's hand in human history. He specifically developed that group of people to be the judges of His sinful people.

 

For I am working a work in your days, which you will not believe though it is told you- These words are quoted in the New Testament about Israel’s disbelief in the Lord’s resurrection or ‘raising up’. Yet that isn’t the context here- rather is it of the raising up of the Babylonians as judges of God's people. Words are sometimes quoted without attention to context; and that is hard for Western minds to accept, obsessed as they are with seeing logical connections in context, so called ‘intertextuality’. Context is not therefore ‘king’, the main key to correct interpretation, as is claimed by many who set out to explain ‘How to interpret the Bible’.

Paul appropriates the words of Hab. 1:5 LXX to his work of preaching: “I work a work in your days, which ye will in no wise believe though a man declare it unto you”. And so when we read of the men Barnabas and Saul being sent out on the work of the first missionary journey, we are to see an allusion back to Hab. 1:5 (Acts 13:2; 14:26). And yet this passage goes on to say that the work would not be believed. Yet hoping against hope, they embarked on the missionary journey. Cyprus didn’t respond, initially- as they had expected. But soon their positive spirit was rewarded, and converts were made, against all odds. The raising up of the Babylonians was as it were grabbed hold of in the New Testament and presented as somehow similar to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, through which God's sinful people would likewise be judged.

Habakkuk 1:6 For, behold, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, that march through the breadth of the earth, to possess dwelling places that are not theirs- As explained on :5, the bitterness of the Chaldeans was raised up by God in order to be the ideally appropriate judges of His sinful people. Their whole psychological makeup was controlled by God, developing them to be the tool in His hand to judge Judah. But these words are used of the raising up of the Lord Jesus. Just as the Jews didn't believe that their sin would be judged by the raising up of the Chaldeans, so they were to later disbelieve in the raising up of God's Son in resurrection in order to bring judgment upon them.

Habakkuk 1:7 They are feared and dreaded- The Hebrew idea is that they elicited dread or fear. And yet the same word is used throughout Deuteronomy of how an obedient Israel would not fear their enemies or invaders.

Their judgment and their dignity proceed from themselves- The GNB may be correct in offering "in their pride they are a law to themselves". They were not under Divine law in terms of the Mosaic law; and yet they were still judged for their actions in so far as they were responsible for their actions. This would suggest that the level of knowledge which makes men responsible to God is far lower than some might think; although the question of responsibility leading to resurrection and future judgment is maybe another question.

Habakkuk 1:8 Their horses also are swifter than leopards, and are more fierce than the evening wolves- These words are alluded to be Jeremiah when the Chaldeans had indeed arisen as a nation and were about to attack Jerusalem (Jer. 5:6). The many allusions and quotations from Habakkuk made by Jeremiah are a way of saying that Habakkuk's words had come true. Wolves hunt at night and so in the evening when they begin hunting they are hungry and at their most aggressive. But the same term is used of how Judah's leadership were the same (Zeph. 3:3). Again, Divine judgment is appropriate to the sin. They would be made to feel how others felt when they had abused them.

Their horsemen press proudly on. Yes, their horsemen come from afar, they fly as an eagle that hastens to devour- This is the promised judgment of Dt. 28:49 for an Israel who had broken covenant with their God.

Habakkuk 1:9 All of them come for violence- "Violence" alludes to Habakkuk's complaint that Judah was full of violence (:3). The eretz was full of such violence in Noah's time, resulting in the flood (Gen. 6:11,13 s.w.). And so the injustice and secret sins of Judah (:4) were counted by God as actual violence (s.w. Hab. 2:8,17; Zeph. 1:9), and were punished by violence. We need to think through the implications of our positions and actions; for just as God counts secret hatred as murder, so Judah's injustice against their brethren was counted as actual violence.

Their hordes face the desert- The pack of wolves were about to set off into the desert towards Judah. The implication surely was that Judah just about had time to repent and avert this. An alternative translation is as AV "they shall be as the east wind"; which is how the Babylonian invasion is described in Jer. 18:17; Ez. 17:10; 19:12, coming in across the desert from the east.

He gathers prisoners like sand- The seed of Abraham were as the sand; but they would be gathered and taken into captivity.

Habakkuk 1:10 Yes, he scoffs at kings, and princes are a derision to him- Judah trusted in their kings, assuming that having Davidic kings reigning on God's behalf would be enough to save them, whereas the ten tribe kingdom only had usurpers as their kings. But being God's people and having a leadership sanctioned by Him were not, and are not, enough for salvation. That would not avert Divine judgment.

He laughs at every stronghold, for he builds up an earthen siege ramp, and takes it- All human strength and military technology is no way to salvation. Whatever human strength we may trust in is as nothing before God's judgment.

Habakkuk 1:11 Then he sweeps by like the wind, and goes on further. He is indeed guilty; his strength is his god- The Babylonians were given the power to judge Judah, but as AV they would "offend, imputing this his power unto his god". There are times when we are indeed used by God; but that is so sign that we are personally acceptable with Him. And we can go beyond that, and assume that the abilities we were given are not from God but rather from our own strength, which we then glory in. Babylon was actually intended to show mercy to the Jews, but their pride in their own strength meant that they didn't: "I was wroth with My people... and given them into thine hand; thou didst shew them no mercy; upon the ancient hast thou very heavily laid thy yoke. And thou saidst, I shall be a lady for ever; so that thou didst not lay these things to thy heart, neither didst remember the latter end of it" (Is. 47:5-7).

Habakkuk 1:12 Aren’t You from everlasting, Yahweh my God, my Holy One? We also will not die! Yahweh, you have appointed him for judgment. You, Rock, have established him to punish- Habakkuk responds by arguing that "we", the righteous remnant, ought not to die; for Nebuchadnezzar would do all this evil in the name of "his god" (:11), whereas Habakkuk and the faithful believed in the one true God as "my God". And he struggles with how such an evil nation, attributing their success to their god (:11), could be used by Him. How is this reflective of the holiness of God? Habakkuk develops these complaints in the next verses. But the answer seems to be that Judah had indeed sinned grievously, and so this judgment would really come; but Babylon would themselves not go unpunished for their attitudes and actions. Habakkuk recognized Judah were sinful, and complains of it at the start of this chapter; but he like us didn't realize how awful sin is, and the judgment which must come if we are not repentant.

Habakkuk 1:13 You who have purer eyes than to see evil, and who cannot look on perversity- There can be no sinful beings in heaven, seeing that God is “of purer eyes than to behold evil” (Hab. 1:13). In similar vein, Ps. 5:4,5 explains: “Neither shall evil dwell with you. The foolish shall not stand” in God’s heavenly dwelling place. The idea of there being rebellion against God in heaven by sinful angels quite contradicts the impression given by these passages. But the allusion may also be to how God had imputed righteousness to Israel and did not look upon their evil (Num. 23:21). This of course looks forward to the basis of our salvation by grace in Christ, as Paul develops in Rom. 1-8. But status alone will not save us from judgment; we must live out that status in reality.

Why do You tolerate those who deal treacherously, and keep silent when the wicked swallows up the man who is more righteous than he- Habakkuk believed God's threat of judgment at the hands of the Babylonians would happen, but he considers sinful Judah more righteous than the very sinful Babylonians. As noted above, Habakkuk failed to realize the seriousness of sin- any sin. He is the one who has just been complaining at the wickedness of Judah; and God is making him see the real implication of it. Or maybe he has in view the idea that the righteous remnant too would be swallowed up by the threatened invasion, and like Abraham pleading for Sodom, was therefore pleading that the judgment on the majority would therefore not come. See on Hab. 2:4.

But although the Babylonians would "deal treacherously", so had Israel (s.w. Ps. 78:57), and so specifically had Judah (Jer. 3:8,20; 5:11 s.w.); and God had 'tolerated' them for so long. Habakkuk's objections were stated in hot blood and in a moment of emotion, but thinking them through would lead to the conclusion that the enormity of God's tolerance to Israel's sin had not been appreciated by him as it ought to have been. Indeed the idea of being treacherous is an allusion to Jacob, as confirmed in Is. 48:8. If God had tolerated them so long, there was no basis for his objection that God tolerated and used the Babylonians. "Tolerate" is the same word as "look" in :3. Habakkuk beheld or tolerated sin in Judah; why should not God also use or 'look to' a sinful nation like Babylon?

Habakkuk 1:14 And make men like the fish of the sea, like the creeping things, that have no ruler over them?- Habakkuk objects that the Babylonians would treat men like animals, and the Jews did have a ruler over them- God. But this was how Judah had behaved to each other. They too did not perceive the meaning of persons, and had acted as if they had no ruler over them.

Habakkuk 1:15 He takes up all of them with the hook; he catches them in his net, and gathers them in his dragnet. Therefore he rejoices and is glad- The idea is that Babylon would drag off his net of fish to captivity in Babylon, rejoicing over them. "All of them" suggests that the various fish represented the nations of men; and Habakkuk objected to Judah being treated like any other Gentile nation. But the truth was that they had acted like the Gentiles, and even worse. The whole record is teaching the seriousness of sin, and how even a faithful prophet might not perceive that as he ought. See on Hab. 2:5.

Habakkuk 1:16 Therefore he sacrifices to his net, and burns incense to his dragnet, because by them his life is luxurious, and his food is good- Habakkuk was irritated by the way that he knew the Babylonians would think their success against Judah was due to their idols (:11) and military strategies. Habakkuk speaks in the present tense as if he saw Nebuchadnezzar before him. But actually he was living at a time when the Babylonians had yet to 'arise' (:6). Habakkuk believed in the prophetic word and saw it as already fulfilling; just as we are to view the promises of the life eternal as so certain of fulfilment that they are already fulfilled in a sense.

Habakkuk 1:17 Will he therefore continually empty his net, and kill the nations without mercy?- Is. 47:5-7 criticizes Babylon for not showing mercy to Judah when they were intended to. Habakkuk had seen a prophecy of the Babylonian invasion, and perhaps he saw more than what is here recorded; perhaps he saw Nebuchadnezzar sacrificing to his idols and rejoicing in the luxuries he would take from Judah (:16). But he had not seen any vision of Babylon's judgment. It appeared to go on "continually".