Habakkuk 1:1–11 - A Shocking Reply

Have you ever been troubled or confused by what God seems to be doing – or not doing – in your life? It’s a burden that weighs heavy on the heart and mind – a very common burden, in fact, among God’s people.

During the Christmas season, that burden can intensify for many believers. This is a season of hope and joy, yet we can’t help but think, “Why is God doing this?” Or, “Why is God not doing that?” But though that burden can loom large during this time of year, something else looms ever larger: God’s absolute sovereignty and His perfect character.

Put differently, the one true God is entirely powerful and entirely good.

The prophet Habakkuk was troubled by what God seemed to be “doing or not doing.” It was a heavy burden; in fact, that’s the meaning of the word “oracle” in verse 1. This book is the utterance of Habakkuk’s burden. This is his cry from a troubled spirit. He carried a heavy weight, and he made that weight known to God, for the benefit of God’s people both then and now.

From today until the Sunday before Christmas, we’re going to explore his oracle. It’s a short book of the Bible – just three chapters. But over just a few pages, God speaks to the hearts of those who wrestle with His will.

The first verses set the trajectory for the whole book. They form the lens through which we should read and understand it. Habakkuk sought an answer from the LORD. I’m sure you do, too. He was a man of faith, but even those with the firmest faith carry burdens that can only be eased by an answer from God.

God’s answer, however, can be startling. It is sometimes unsettling. And yet, His answer can only be good for those who love God and are called according to His purpose. So let’s begin Habakkuk.

Now, we just finished the OT book of the prophet Jonah. Jonah and Habakkuk didn’t live during the same time or in the same place. Jonah lived and prophesied in the 8th century B.C. – the early 700s. Habakkuk lived and prophesied later, in the 7th century B.C. – the late 600s. So Jonah lived a long time before Habakkuk.

But they had much in common. Both served as God’s prophets and both served under wicked kings. But they lived in different kingdoms. How’s that?

Well, during what we might call the “glory days” of OT Israel, the covenant community of God was united. They were one nation under Yahweh. This was the case under King David and his son and successor, King Solomon.

But shortly after Solomon’s death, the nation split. They divided into two kingdoms: the northern kingdom was called Israel and the southern kingdom was called Judah. Jonah lived in the northern kingdom, Habakkuk in the southern kingdom. Jonah lived about 200-250 years after David, Habakkuk about 350-400 years after David. So both prophets lived and served God well after the “good old days.”

What made those days so good was not just the unity but also the leadership over the covenant community. Times were good under a king who led the people to follow God’s law. Habakkuk actually experienced a little bit of that early in his life. He lived during the reign of King Josiah – a direct descendant of David – and Josiah was a very good king.

But Josiah’s successor was not. Habakkuk’s prophetic ministry began during the reign of that king. His name was Jehoiakim.

This is a crucial detail for understanding Habakkuk’s burden. King Josiah had brought great reformation to the southern kingdom. According to 2 Kings 22, he “did what was right in the sight of the LORD.” So, he got rid of false worship and instructed the people according to God’s law. But he died abruptly in battle, and when his son came into power, he undid all the good that his father had done.

2 Kings 23 says Jehoiakim “did what was evil in the sight of the LORD.” He let idol worship back in and he put God’s Word to the side. But you see, Habakkuk had experienced how things could be and should be. Under Jehoiakim, because of his leadership, wickedness was everywhere, and Habakkuk grieved severely over this.

You should understand that by this time in history, the northern kingdom, where Jonah was from, had fallen captive to the Assyrian empire. That happened back in 722 B.C. God repeatedly warned them, but Israel didn’t turn from their idolatry, and time ran out.
So Habakkuk understood that if Judah didn’t turn to God, their time would run out also.

Throughout the southern kingdom of Judah – which was God’s covenant community –  godly people were suffering while evil people prospered. And God allowed it to go on. And this troubled Habakkuk so much. He knew it wasn’t right. He’s like all of us in that way. Our confidence wavers when what we see contradicts God’s holy character and ways.

Look again at verses 2-4. Habakkuk says, [2] O LORD, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not hear? Or cry to you “Violence!” and you will not save? [3] Why do you make me see iniquity, and why do you idly look at wrong? Destruction and violence are before me; strife and contention arise. [4] So the law is paralyzed, and justice never goes forth. For the wicked surround the righteous; so justice goes forth perverted. According to God’s law, curses and judgment were in order for what was going on in Judah. Habakkuk didn’t understand the holdup. He was confused by what he saw. Judah had laws from God that weren’t being kept, and there was no righteous king to lead the law-keeping.

Our confidence wavers when what we see contradicts (or we might say, seems to contradict) God’s holy character and ways. Think of this only as it relates to what goes one within the covenant community today: within the visible church.

We see sin and conflict unchecked; we see the compromising of the truth.

How many cases of ungodly leadership can be found?

How many cases of humble believers suffering at the hands of ungodly people in the church can be found today?

How many cases of the local church abandoning our true mission?

How many churches where Christ is not preached faithfully, where worship is thoroughly man-centered and unbiblical, where the governance of the church is in obvious violation of the Scriptures?

Many. It’s rampant today. Why won’t God do something? Well, God is doing something. That’s what he tells Habakkuk.

Look at verse 5. God says, “Look among the nations, and see; wonder and be astounded. For I am doing a work in your days that you would not believe if told.
Surely, Habakkuk would think, “Alright, here we go!” Verse [6], God says, “For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, who march through the breadth of the earth, to seize dwellings not their own.” This is not the answer Habakkuk was looking for!

Let me speak for a moment to how this answer came to Habakkuk – to the manner in which he received this “oracle.” He was, of course, unique as a prophet. Verse 1 is clear that God gave him a supernatural revelation. The verse says he “saw.” What did he see?

Well, the nature of what he writes seems to reveal that Habakkuk received this message from God in his inner consciousness. But clearly he experienced the presence and the power of the living God – as did all of God’s messengers and those who recorded His written Word. Habakkuk speaks to God and hears from God on behalf of all the faithful.

He learns that God is “raising up the Chaldeans.” This was the Babylonian empire. They were on the rise at that time. Assyria was in decline. The Babylonians/Chaldeans would eventually overtake the Assyrians around 612 B.C. and then Judah would fall to the Chaldeans in 586 B.C.

The Chaldeans were a lot like the Assyrians. They, too, were godless. Look at verse [7]. God says, “They are dreaded and fearsome; their justice and dignity go forth from themselves. [8] Their horses are swifter than leopards, more fierce than the evening wolves; their horsemen press proudly on. Their horsemen come from afar; they fly like an eagle swift to devour. [9] They all come for violence, all their faces forward. They gather captives like sand. [10] At kings they scoff, and at rulers they laugh. They laugh at every fortress, for they pile up earth and take it. [11] Then they sweep by like the wind and go on, guilty men, whose own might is their god!”

Have you ever asked someone a question and they replied, “Do you really want me to answer that? Can you handle the truth?” What God tells Habakkuk here is only what He had been telling the Israelites for generations.

What’s difficult for Habakkuk is not that God will bring justice. It’s how God will bring that justice. The Chaldeans would overtake Judah, and yet the true people of God would be made confident in God’s power and character. They would know that God does what He says He will do. They would know that God’s redemptive plans were still in full effect.

You see, our confidence wavers when what we see contradicts God’s holy character and ways, but God restores our confidence by the startling revelation
of His redemptive plans. Habakkuk was shocked at God’s reply to his questions. But the redemptive plans of God are shocking.

The way God saves is not the way you would expect.

The way God defeats sin is not the way we would design.

The way He purifies and transforms His people is not the way we would choose.

But the way God carries His redemptive plans forward demonstrates His absolute sovereignty and His perfect character. With total control, God remains merciful and just.

What God was going to do in Judah would foreshadow His greater work to come. It still shocks us that God would use the wickedness of men to accomplish His good will. In Acts 2, the apostle Peter says, “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know—[23] this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. [24] God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.” What they intended for evil against Christ, God intended for good.

Christ came into the world in a shocking manner, did he not? Conceived supernaturally, in the womb of a young virgin. Born not in a mansion, but in a manger.

We can take all of our questions and needs to God. In Psalm 55, king David wrote, long before the life of Habakkuk, “Cast your burden on Yahweh, and He will sustain you.” Habakkuk’s oracle reads much like those Psalms of David. Peter echoed those words, in 1 Peter 5, where he told the churches, “Humble yourselves…under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.”

How do we know He cares for us? Look at His shocking reply. Look at the person and work of Jesus Christ. He is our Redeemer and the restorer of our confidence.

Have you trusted in Him and turned from your sins to follow Him? Believe in Him today. As we go to His table now, this ritual is God’s shocking reply to our cries.

Let’s bow together in prayer.