Habakkuk 1
Habakkuk 1 begins with the prophet Habakkuk’s plea to God, and has a structure in which his questions and God’s response intersect. Habakkuk asks God about the injustice and wickedness of the age and the suffering caused by them (verses 1-4), and God reveals His plan to judge Judah by raising up a powerful nation, Babylon (verses 5-11). Then Habakkuk voices another concern, asking questions about the mystery of God’s ways (verses 12-17).
1verseThe revelation which Habakkuk the prophet saw.
2verseLORD, how long will I cry, and you will not hear? I cry out to you “Violence!” and will you not save?
3verseWhy do you show me iniquity, and look at perversity? For destruction and violence are before me. There is strife, and contention rises up.
4verseTherefore the law is paralyzed, and justice never prevails; for the wicked surround the righteous; therefore justice comes out perverted.
5verse“Look among the nations, watch, and wonder marvelously; for I am working a work in your days which you will not believe though it is told you.
6verseFor, behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation who march through the width of the earth, to possess dwelling places that are not theirs.
7verseThey are feared and dreaded. Their judgment and their dignity proceed from themselves.
8verseTheir horses also are swifter than leopards, and are more fierce than the evening wolves. Their horsemen press proudly on. Yes, their horsemen come from afar. They fly as an eagle that hurries to devour.
9verseAll of them come for violence. Their hordes face forward. They gather prisoners like sand.
10verseYes, they scoff at kings, and princes are a derision to them. They laugh at every stronghold, for they build up an earthen ramp and take it.
11verseThen they sweep by like the wind and go on. They are indeed guilty, whose strength is their god.”
12verseAren’t you from everlasting, LORD my God, my Holy One? We will not die. LORD, you have appointed them for judgment. You, Rock, have established him to punish.
13verseYou who have purer eyes than to see evil, and who cannot look on perversity, why do you tolerate those who deal treacherously and keep silent when the wicked swallows up the man who is more righteous than he,
14verseand make men like the fish of the sea, like the creeping things that have no ruler over them?
15verseHe 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.
16verseTherefore he sacrifices to his net and burns incense to his dragnet, because by them his life is luxurious and his food is good.
17verseWill he therefore continually empty his net, and kill the nations without mercy?
Verses 1-4: The Prophet’s Cry
Habakkuk laments why wicked people flourish and why justice is ignored. He asks, “Why do you make me see wrongdoing?” and witnesses the violence, plunder, strife, disputes, and perverted law widespread in his day. In such circumstances, the heart yearning for God’s justice and response is revealed.
Verses 5-11: God’s Response and the Rise of Babylon
God responds in an astonishing way. God foretells the beginning of a new era for Habakkuk and the people, saying that He will raise up Babylon (the Chaldeans) and use it to judge Judah. Babylon is described as a fierce and terrifying people, seemingly poised to swallow up the whole world, trusting in its own strength. In this process, it suggests that God’s plan may differ from human common sense.
Verses 12-17: The Prophet’s Second Question
Habakkuk points out that Babylon is a nation that commits even greater evil, and asks God again. He confesses that God is eternal and that He is the One who judges, but he cannot understand why Judah must suffer at the hands of a cruel person like Babylon. Here, the prophet stands before the mystery of God’s justice and patience.
Points for Meditation
- Habakkuk’s questions are on the minds of many people who seek answers even amid today’s suffering and injustice.
- God’s response shows that what God does can go beyond human thoughts and methods.
- The path of faith teaches us that we need patience and honesty to ask God honestly and wait for His answer.
Apply It to Yourself
- When there are unresolved questions and frustrations in the reality of your life, let’s check whether you are approaching God in truth like Habakkuk.
- You come to realize that you need time to look again at the everyday events or circumstances of the current age through God’s perspective and to ask humbly about His will.
