So let’s get back on board and go to Lesson 4!
LESSON 4
For a document written 2600 years ago, Habakkuk is surprisingly appropriate for our day.
Habakkuk’s 1st complaint to God is recorded in chapter 1, verses 2-4.
Now here is God’s response – chapter 1, verses 5-11.
God’s Response to Habakkuk’s 1st Complaint
Habakkuk 1:5-11 (NIV)
(5) “Look among the nations and watch – Be utterly amazed! for I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told.
(6) For I am raising up the Babylonians, that ruthless and impetuous people, who sweep across the whole earth to seize dwelling places not their own.
(7) They are a feared and dreaded people; they are a law to themselves and promote their own honor.
(8) Their horses are swifter than leopards, fiercer than wolves at dusk. Their cavalry gallops headlong; their horsemen come from afar. They fly like a vulture swooping to devour;
(9) They all come bent on violence. Their hordes advance like a desert wind and gather prisoners like sand.
(10) They deride kings and scoff at rulers. They laugh at all fortified cities; They build earthen ramps and capture them.
(11) Then they sweep past like the wind and go on—guilty men, whose own strength is their god.”
OUTLINE OF HABAKKUK
This book follows a fairly simple outline:
I. Introduction (1:1) and Habakkuk’s first complaint (1:2-4)
II. God’s Answer to Habakkuk’s first complaint (1:5-11)
III. Habakkuk’s Second Complaint (1:12 – 2:1)
IV. God’s Answer to Habakkuk’s Second Complaint (2:2-20)
V. Habakkuk’s Prayer of Praise (3:1-19)
This is probably the easiest outline of any book in the Bible.
Just Complaint #1 and God’s Response, and then Complaint #2 and God’s Response…and then Habakkuk’s final recognition of the sovereignty and goodness of God which he expresses in Hebrew poetry in a psalm, probably for temple use, in chapter 3.
Review of Section 1 (Habakkuk’s 1st complaint)
In the first section Habakkuk admonishes God to do something about the evil in his world.
What was he asking God to do?
He doesn’t say specifically. He just challenges God to listen to him and see what is going on.
He doesn’t ask for someone to come and save the people (not even someone from Krypton!)
Is it possible he is asking God to send another revival – a revival like the one in King Josiah’s day -- a revival that Habakkuk would remember clearly?
If we assume Habakkuk was about 40 years old (and we have no way of knowing his exact age) then he would have been born about the time King Josiah was crowned (640 BC) and so would have witnessed the great revival King Josiah started when he began reading God’s Word.
He would have lived through that period when we read in 2 Kings 22, that Josiah “did what was right in the eyes of the LORD…”
Josiah is a remarkable character. His father, King Amon, only ruled a couple of years and then he was murdered by his own palace servants. The loyal Judeans then killed those implicated in the murder and proclaimed Josiah, at age 8, king.
(Note: The northern kingdom – 10 tribes – had been conquered by the Assyrians a hundred years before, and only the southern 2 tribes – called Judea (or Judah
2 Kings 22 is a fascinating chapter. The high priest found a copy of the book of the law in the temple – it was taken to Josiah and…
“When the king heard the words of the book of the Law, he tore his robes…’Go and inquire of the LORD for me and for the people and for all Judah about what is written in this book that has been found. Great is the LORD’s anger that burns against us because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book…’”
The revival King Josiah inaugurated extended the life of their country for a generation.
It was during these days that Habakkuk grew up.
The revival of Judah was from the top down, apparently, because after King Josiah was killed while in battle with Egypt
In any event, Habakkuk wanted things to change. He is clearly a man who loved justice and was in great anguish as he witnessed the injustice around him.
During this time, Judah
Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah – at least we have records of these four. So God did not leave His people without a witness. (Daniel was taken to Babylon Babylon came when Jerusalem
Section 2 – God’s response to Habakkuk’s 1st complaint
God’s answer to Habakkuk, though, was alarming. Yes, God was going to change things. But not with a revival.
God was going to bring divine judgment upon His people. It was not the answer Habakkuk wanted to hear, any more than we would want to hear that Iran or Libya
I remember watching auction shows occasionally on TV and the auctioneer, at the end of the bidding, picks up the gavel, and announces “Fair Warning!” Then loudly bangs the gavel on the podium. The show is over. It’s too late for any other bids.
Verse 5 is like that – “Fair warning!” Slam down the gavel. Ring the bell. It’s over.
We get the impression Habakkuk waited a long time for God’s answer.
And when God does answer Habakkuk’s call, He says He is going to raise up the Babylonians to bring judgment on Judah
Also in verse 5 we read: “…be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told.” That’s their version of a phrase we often use: “You would have to see it to believe it!”
This was not the answer Habakkuk expected. And certainly not one he wanted to hear.
The remaining verses in this section describe to Habakkuk what the Babylonians were like. Look at verse 9: They all “come for violence” (NIV). NKJV says, “bent on violence.”
Isn‘t it interesting that Habakkuk feared that God did not notice the violence in his own land, among God’s people, and now here God is saying, “Yes, I did notice, Habakkuk, and I am going to judge your land with another people who also love violence.”
Their hordes advance like a desert wind and gather prisoners like sand…also in verse 9…can you imagine any other word picture that describes the advance of a powerful enemy army so perfectly?
In Genesis 32 Jacob reminds God that He had promised Abraham his descendants would be like the “sand of the sea,” Here the sand is on the desert and being gathered up and dispersed in a swirling wind storm.
See verse 8…fiercer than evening wolves…Wolves are generally nocturnal and by dusk they are at their most hungry and began gathering their pack to start their hunt for food.
A pack of wolves at dusk would be a scary sight.
The picture of the eagle (or vulture in the NIV) is that he is desperately searching for food.
The ravenous wolves and the sharp-sighted eagle are pictures of intense focus on the hunt. No creature will escape from their claws.
The picture in these verses is that of an empire, consumed with violence, who attacks without regard for the welfare or survival of anyone else. Their very reputation inspired terror to everyone in their path.
(Possibly similar to the fierce raids by Vikings into Europe in the late Middle Ages – “The Vikings are coming” was a cry of dread and terror. Villagers ran for cover when they heard that alarm. The evil violence of the Vikings frightened even the kings. “God, please save us from the fury of the Norsemen” was a common daily prayer at the altars of the churches.).
