Most prophets bring God’s words to the people. Habakkuk’s book begins with a prophet bringing his questions to God. He looked around at violence, strife and broken justice, and asked, O LORD, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear!
God answered, and Habakkuk asked another question. What happens next is an honest conversation with God that ends in one of the strongest statements of faith in the Bible: even if everything fails, Yet I will rejoice in the LORD.
The Story of Habakkuk
The book opens, The burden which Habakkuk the prophet did see. Right away Habakkuk complained to God: O LORD, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear! even cry out unto thee of violence, and thou wilt not save! Why dost thou shew me iniquity? he asked. Spoiling and violence were before him, the law is slacked, and judgment doth never go forth. The wicked surrounded the righteous, and wrong judgment proceeded.
God answered: Behold ye among the heathen, and regard, and wonder marvellously: for I will work a work in your days, which ye will not believe, though it be told you. For, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, which shall march through the breadth of the land. God described them as terrible and dreadful, with horses swifter than the leopards and more fierce than the evening wolves. They would scoff at kings and deride every strong hold.
Habakkuk then asked a second question. Art thou not from everlasting, O LORD my God, mine Holy One? he began. He accepted that God had ordained them for judgment. But then he asked, Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity: wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, and holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous than he? He pictured the Chaldeans catching men like fish in a net, and asked whether they would keep on slaying the nations.
Habakkuk declared that he would watch: I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what he will say unto me. And the LORD answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time, God said, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come. Then came the heart of the answer: Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith.
The rest of chapter 2 pronounced woes on the proud oppressor: Woe to him that increaseth that which is not his! and Woe to him that buildeth a town with blood. God promised that the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea. And it ended, But the LORD is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him.
Chapter 3 is a prayer of Habakkuk. O LORD, I have heard thy speech, and was afraid, he prayed; in wrath remember mercy. He recalled God’s power in the past, and admitted that his belly trembled and his lips quivered at the voice. He trembled in himself, that I might rest in the day of trouble, he said.
The book closes with Habakkuk’s answer to everything he had asked: Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The LORD God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds’ feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places.
Key Verses
“O LORD, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear!” Habakkuk 1:2
“Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it” Habakkuk 2:2
“But the just shall live by his faith” Habakkuk 2:4
“Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation” Habakkuk 3:18
“The just shall live by faith” Romans 1:17
Scripture quotations are from the King James Version (KJV), a public-domain translation.
What the Story of Habakkuk Teaches Us
God welcomes honest questions. Habakkuk did not hide his confusion; he asked, O LORD, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear! and later, wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously? God did not rebuke him for asking. He answered him, and the questions became part of Scripture.
God’s timing can be trusted even when it seems slow. God told Habakkuk to Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, and promised, though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come. In the meantime, the just shall live by his faith. The apostle Paul quoted this line in Romans 1:17: The just shall live by faith.
Faith can rejoice when there is nothing left to see. Habakkuk listed every kind of loss a farmer could face – no figs, no grapes, no olives, no crops, no flock, no herd – and then said, Yet I will rejoice in the LORD. His joy rested on the God of his salvation, not on his circumstances, and the LORD God was his strength.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Who was Habakkuk in the Bible?
Habakkuk was a prophet whose book is called The burden which Habakkuk the prophet did see (Habakkuk 1:1). His book records his questions to God, God’s answers, and his prayer (Habakkuk 1-3).
What did Habakkuk complain to God about?
He cried out about violence, iniquity, strife and contention, and said the law is slacked, and judgment doth never go forth (Habakkuk 1:2-4).
How did God answer Habakkuk?
God said, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation (Habakkuk 1:6). Later he told Habakkuk to write the vision and wait for it, because the just shall live by his faith (Habakkuk 2:2-4).
What does the just shall live by his faith mean?
In Habakkuk 2:4, God contrasts the proud, whose soul is lifted up, with the righteous person who lives by trusting God. Paul quotes it in Romans 1:17: The just shall live by faith.
What does Habakkuk 3:17-18 say?
Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines… Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation (Habakkuk 3:17-18).
Why did God tell Habakkuk to write the vision?
God said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it, because the vision is yet for an appointed time and it will surely come (Habakkuk 2:2-3).