Introduction to these Lecture Notes
Dedicated to the students who attended
the Conference in West Bengal,
These notes have been written
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Notes on Habakkuk 1
© David H. Linden Action International Ministries
1:1
The oracle that Habakkuk the prophet received. ..
The prophet saw (or received) this
oracle. It is a revelation from God. Habakkuk did not receive this message from
himself. It would be very easy for someone to consider it as something he
initiated. Though he expresses his feelings to the Lord, the Lord controlled
the experience of the prophet. His questions and perplexity were sincere; they
did happen. The Lord’s hand was in it all, generating in Habakkuk his painful
pleas, with the Lord then supplying the replies. This “burden” (the odd Hebrew
word for oracle) weighed on him,
because God had put it on his heart.
In the doctrine of inspiration, we may say that the
prophets received, saw, were told, heard, or had a message from the Lord. In
any case the Lord initiates. Prophets did not write their own opinions and pass
them on to others. God gave and they received what He gave in a way that only
God can do. Habakkuk’s brief prophecy did not have its origin in his will or
emotions. He was carried along by the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 2:21) to write as he
did. True prophets were officially authorized; they did not call themselves to
this ministry (see Hebrews 5:4). Since their message was from God, it was
relevant, accurate, and authoritative.
Contrary to our wishes, Habakkuk does not say to whom
he wrote, where he lived or when. We are left with one clue in 1:6 as to his
time in history. From this we conclude his specific audience. Undoubtedly, he
was a prophet to
The First Complaint (1:2-4)
1:2-4 How long, O LORD, must I call for help,
but you do not listen? Or cry out to you, "Violence!" but you do not
save? Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrong?
Destruction and violence are before me; there is strife, and conflict abounds.
Therefore the law is paralyzed, and justice never prevails. The wicked hem in
the righteous, so that justice is perverted.
1:2-4 The oracle
begins with a painful cry to the Lord; it begins and ends with a lament. Twice
in the first complaint he asks why.
The prayer in 1:2-4 assumed that God hears and controls the things that vexed
the prophet. He knew it was God Who had made him look at all he saw. He truly
viewed God as God, the One to pray to, as the One Who can save. That the
situation abounded with strife was something God could rectify, yet one God had
ordained. The power of God was not being questioned, nor was God’s right to
demand righteousness. There is also the sense that the judgment of God against
evil is right and expected, and that a failure to judge sin would contradict
God’s holy character.
What was being questioned? The words
“How long” assumed that the distress was not permanent. Surely God would in
some way intervene at some time. Habakkuk’s sense of timing is at the heart of
his complaint. In Habakkuk’s opinion, God was overdue to act. He had not done
so yet, so Habakkuk responded with a terrible appraisal. He implied that God
tolerates wrong, though he knows the opposite is true. The tentative judgment
being made about God was that He was inconsistent. God had been prayed to, so
the issue had been brought before Him, and Habakkuk stumbled into thinking that
God had failed to be wise. Before it is over, Habakkuk will accept by faith the
wisdom of God. God does not buckle to pressure, or live by the expectations of
His creatures, but He does allow frank prayers and complaints. Habakkuk was
confused.
What was the evil? The
chief evil Habakkuk mentioned was violence among his people. “Violence”
appears six times in Habakkuk. Of course, in a fallen world sin will break out,
but there is human restraint in the institutions of governments. Law
enforcement and fair courts are a wonderful blessing. Furthermore, within
A typical prophetic criticism Habakkuk’s
description of the sins of his people was very brief; in the whole oracle it is
less than three verses. It was not even a prophetic denunciation spoken to the people.[1] (1:5 speaking to a plural audience is a small
exception to this observation.) In vv. 2-4 Habakkuk reviewed their sin as
background to his chief issue, the appearance that God did not act to correct
sin. Therefore there was no need to make a complete listing the sins which
needed repentance.
The Prophets’ usual criticism of
1. Their idolatry as defection from the
Lord. To worship an idol is to forsake the Lord even while claiming loyalty or
performing rituals (Isaiah 1:13). Idolatry is covenantal adultery (Hosea 4:12).
Any trust in a foreign power was unbelief in Yahweh as the covenant-keeping God
to preserve them as a nation with the Son of David as their ruler (Isaiah
7:1-17; 31:1).
2. The other prevalent law-breaking was
their abuse of the weak: the widow, the alien, and the fatherless (Zechariah
7:8-10). The perversion of the justice system (as here in 1:4) was seen in
bribing judges (Micah 3:11), withholding wages (Malachi 3:5), accumulating land
not returned in the year of release (Isaiah 5:8), etc. Social injustice is the
aspect of law Habakkuk refers to in vv.2-4.
Lest reading the prophets discourage us, remember that
it was in this setting of national moral decline that the prophets often held
out the prediction and promise of God’s saving intervention. Thus the Holy
Spirit in these later OT books gave more about Christ and His coming than we
find in the previous Scriptures.
1:5 Look at the nations and watch – and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told.
1:5 Habakkuk
looked on the sin of his people. It was all he saw and so he fretted whether
God would be true to Himself. The Lord replied by saying that Habakkuk should
look at what He the Lord was going to do. God is a God of patience, but not
inaction. His patience is often misunderstood (2 Peter 2:8,9). Never presume
that judgment restrained is God’s permanent policy. Justice delayed is not
justice abandoned.
The reaction of the Lord concerning what was going on in
The Surprises of
God and the Unbelief of Man “Be amazed; I am going to do something…” Creation from nothing, the rebellion among
the angels, the fall of man in Eden, the promise of His Son as Savior (to die
for sin He did not commit), the flood, the exodus, the return from the Babylonian
Captivity, the preservation of Israel, and Gentile nations streaming to Christ
– all of these were amazing and unbelievable in themselves. However, that God
has said what will happen does not mean that His word will be accepted. Human
sin resists both the will of God and the word
of God. The prediction about the Babylonians (1:6) was something Habakkuk
personally believed (1:12). Though a number of prophets gave the same warning,
the people of
Luke 24 shows resistance to believing the word of the Lord even among the disciples: they did not believe the women (v.11), the Scriptures (v.25), or that they were seeing the risen Christ (v.40,41). Unbelief was mixed with their joy and amazement. They had been told repeatedly of the crucifixion and resurrection (Matthew 16:21; 20:17-19; Mark 9:30-32; 10:45). Faith comes by hearing, but hearing that generates faith is itself the gift of God. (Note the contrast in hearing in Mathew 13:9-17.) Believing God is not a general feature of mankind (John 8:43). The disciples were an example of resistance even in believers. That contradiction is in us (Mark 9:24). Every Christian should say, “I do not naturally believe.”
Paul quoted this text to his countrymen: “Look,
you scoffers, wonder and perish, for I am going to do something in your days
that you would never believe, even if someone told you.” (Acts 13:41). The Jews did not believe the OT prophets
about the destruction of
The verse still
applies, because Christ is coming again. Our newspapers never speak of this,
and yet we know that “… the Lord himself
will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the
archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise
first,” (1 Thessalonians 4:16). The majestic appearance of Christ in power, glory,
and judgment is not on the minds of the world. Believers are in constant need
of reminders of this truth. By faith we watch for the coming of the Lord (2
Thessalonians 1:6-10; 2 Peter 3:11-13). It may be in our lifetime that God will
again do this unbelievable “something”. The world is being true to its
unbelief. By faith (2:4) in all God has said we too should be amazed. God still
says, I am going to do
something!
1:6-11 “
… 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.”
1:6 Since God was raising up the
Babylonians, it seems safe to understand that they had not emerged at this
point as the dominant power of the region. This might place Habakkuk in a time
a little earlier than Jeremiah. Of more importance is the emphatic teaching in
this verse that God was raising up a wicked Gentile power to do His will. The
Babylonians did not act in obedience to God’s revealed commandments, yet as
God’s instrument of punishment (1:12) they would do what He had ordained. See:
Appendix B: God Using the Wicked for His Righteous Purpose.
1:6-11 Retribution The
violence within the covenant community was punished by foreign violence. The
Lord “rewarded” destruction (v.3) with destruction. Undoubtedly some helpless
souls in
Military might The Lord’s
answer predicted the speed of the Babylonian attack. Note: sweep, swift
horses, galloping cavalry, swooping vultures. Then to close this section with
an inclusio it mentions sweep again. (See the notes on chapter 3 re inclusios.) The Babylonians had such
speed there was no escape from them, and no opportunity for one besieged city
to help another. The enemy would simply overwhelm them. The Jews could not run,
and wherever they remained, their city walls could not save them (v.10). (See
also Jeremiah 1:15; Isaiah 22:5).
Godlessness In Judah God’s law was ignored at the highest levels.
They were godless. No one has any regard for God if his policy is to disregard
whatever God has said. The Babylonians had no respect for the law of the real
God either. The proper role of God over all was being replaced. Whenever God is
rejected a horrible substitute takes His place. The only thing that can replace
justice is injustice. This is what
The Babylonians mocked other human authorities. The
denial of God’s authority led to the denial of authorities He has erected.
Godlessness tends to chaos. No social structure is possible without law, but
the Babylonians were a law to themselves. Such denial of God meant that the
honor that should have been His was directed back to themselves. The depravity
of self-love (2 Timothy 3:1-5) abounded in Babylonian arrogance.
The Lord ended His reply to Habakkuk’s complaint by a
statement of Babylonian guilt and self-worship. The God Who opposes false gods
ended with an assessment of them that demanded His reaction to them. This was
the next issue that would arise in Habakkuk’s perplexity about the justice of
God.
MY CHALLENGE: In
The Second Complaint (1:12 – 2:1)
1:12 O LORD,
are you not from everlasting? My God, my Holy One, we will not die. O LORD, you
have appointed them to execute judgment; O Rock, you have ordained them to
punish.
Habakkuk received an answer from God. He knew that the Lord had heard him and would
deal with the sin of his people. That would be a relief, yet a new and perhaps
more difficult question rose in his mind. He continued to pray to the only One
Who could answer and act, and he stood on certainties about God that he knew.
Many things may puzzle and unsettle us. In such times we need to have our feet
on the firm foundation of what we know from Scripture about God. Habakkuk had
learned from the Lord that He would use
The Decline
of Interest in Doctrine The truths of the
Bible are doctrine, for doctrine is simply a compilation of teaching about God
and whatever He has spoken in His Word. In our time (especially in so-called
Western civilization) theology is frequently depreciated as unimportant. It is
treated as a distraction. The new emphasis is on the self, stated in a vague
and undefined “relationship with God”. We are being drawn into non-cognitive spirituality. In this way Christians are copying non-Christian
religions. Theology may be affirmed and even believed, but when it is no longer
central, it has less and less impact on the evangelical church. Not so with
Habakkuk! He spoke to God as the One Who had made Himself known in objective
verbal revelation. This is the way to think of the Lord. Any other approach
will lead to inventing “our own truth”, which is the same as inventing our own
error. When we neglect what God has revealed of Himself, only idolatry is left.
Propositional truth was the core of Habakkuk’s prayer, one that may serve as a
model for us. The Bible is full of doctrinal assertions. Anyone who would
depreciate them should realize that he is contradicting God. What God has
revealed cannot be unimportant, irrelevant, or in need of any revision by us.
Seeking to revise God’s truth is the height of arrogance.[3] On the other hand, forming our view of God
entirely from what He has revealed is reverent Christian submission to the true
and living God. It is the starting point
of all obedience.
God is eternal and
unchanging, holy, almighty, just, sovereign and self-existent. The personal
language My God, My Holy One indicates a covenant bond. In the opening of this
prayer, Habakkuk has packed much truth into a few words. For an elaboration of
1:12, see Appendix C Habakkuk’s Doctrine of God in 1:12
1:13-17 13 Your
eyes are too pure to look on evil; you cannot tolerate wrong. Why then do you
tolerate the treacherous? Why are you silent while the wicked swallow up those
more righteous than themselves? 14 You have made men like fish in
the sea, like sea creatures that have no ruler. 15 The wicked foe
pulls all of them up with hooks, he catches them in his net, he gathers them up
in his dragnet; and so he rejoices and is glad. 16 Therefore he
sacrifices to his net and burns incense to his dragnet, for by his net he lives
in luxury and enjoys the choicest food. 17 Is he to keep on emptying
his net, destroying nations without mercy?
1:13 The need for God to deal in judgment with
his own people was clear. Habakkuk had actually been asking for something like
that from God! Then it seemed as if God would deal with one wickedness and
overlook another one. God cannot look favorably on anyone’s sin. (Christians
should realize that though we are forgiven in Christ, our sin is just as
repulsive to God as ever.) Habakkuk
sensed an irreconcilable tension between God’s holiness and His sovereign
decision to allow the wicked to indulge their sin, sin of a very vicious kind.
This is Habakkuk’s Why do you tolerate …?
He also asked Why
are you silent? God does not explain
all His decisions to us, especially in advance. He does not seek our counsel
(Romans 11:33-36). He does not “clear” things with us. He is not accountable to
us. The Lord is God and we are not. As Habakkuk said in his prayer, the
Babylonians would surely swallow up entire nations and then thank their false
god for their victories. It appeared to Habakkuk that the Lord God of
The fact that Habakkuk wrote this oracle shows that
God was not silent for long. This prophecy is part of the Word of God. To be
without divine explanation is terrible confusion. If we have no word of
direction or explanation from God, we will suffer (Proverbs 29:18).
1:14–17 At this
point the prayer switches from you to he, as the prophet speaks about the
Babylonian (singular). God had described them (plural) in 1:6-11. When Habakkuk
speaks of them, he adds no new factor to make their sin more heinous. His
appraisal agrees with what God had said. Habakkuk thinks the Babylonians are
more wicked than his own people. From the standpoint of military aggression
against other nations he was right (Ezekiel 7:23-27), but from the standpoint
of covenant-breaking,
The ease of
The gods of
2:1 I will stand at my watch and station myself on the
ramparts; I will look to see what he will say to me, and what answer I am to
give to this complaint.
The watchman stood in a high location to see if an enemy might be approaching. He would discern the danger and sound a warning. The prophet was to warn in a different way. He did not give his view of the danger. His duty was to wait for a revelation from the Lord (Ezekiel 3:17). True prophecy is never the prophet’s wisdom or interpretation of anything (2 Peter 1:21). He is an example of a godly approach to whatever problems afflict us and confuse us. He looked to God; He waited on God, and whatever response God would give would be what he would accept and repeat to others.
He knew that with God as the source, any answer from
Him would be truth, and it would be the only thing he could proclaim to others
with assurance and authority. Possibly the words “and what answer I am to
give” refer to what he would say to others after receiving the Lord’s
answer. The wisdom of the wise will perish (Isaiah 29:14). The Lord Almighty is
wonderful in counsel and magnificent in wisdom (Isaiah 28:29). “He will be the
sure foundation for your times, a rich store of salvation and wisdom and
knowledge; the fear of the LORD is the key to this treasure,” (Isaiah 33:6). It
is crucial to Christian ministry that we not view our thinking as a store of
wisdom when we have the Word of God instead.
A Little
Review of This Prophecy The beginning of
Habakkuk deals with the prophet’s painful perplexity. Reviewing how God rules
in this world is a very humbling thing. God knows what He is doing, and all He
does is right, including using the wickedness of man to accomplish a righteous
purpose. We are tempted to sin by sitting in judgment of God. In this prophecy
we are encouraged by Habakkuk’s example to bring our frank questions before
God. We may tell Him what puzzles us. We must cling tenaciously to truth, such
as the holiness of God and His sovereign right to rule in the decisions of men.
Habakkuk is a revelation from God. The Great God of Heaven has condescended to
speak to us, allowing prayers, often stated in ignorance. To us He imparts His
counsel and explanation. It is a high honor to man that God would speak to us
at all, and He has done so very patiently! Before this short prophecy is
finished, Habakkuk will pray yet again (3:2). His review of God’s powerful
redemption of His people brought him comfort and joy. The prophecy ends with a
prayer of faith that has astounded all who have read it.
Appendix A: Prayers of Complaint in Scripture
Rise up, O Judge of the earth; pay back to the proud
what they deserve. How long will the wicked, O LORD, how long will the wicked
be jubilant? (Psalm 94:2,3)
Puny dictators do not allow complaints, while the
great and majestic Lord God over all authorities welcomes the prayers of His
children. His view is that He is being looked upon as God when we cry out to
Him; He likes it, because our real God is whomever we call on for help. (This
makes all prayers to Mary or saints idolatrous.) What surprises us is that God
has allowed and placed in Scripture prayers we call laments. Our encouragement
includes that in speaking to God we are not limited to gentle requests and
positive praises. Painful groans and frank questions are also welcomed. The man
who saw his beloved wife and two children in coffins, then turned his face to
the wall saying in anguish, “O God, O God …” was praying as a Christian. There
is no teaching in the Bible that we must not pray in agony about our burdens. Anguish
stimulates prayer.
We are dealing with difficult matters. This prophet
questioned (what he thought was) the lax rule of God, God’s supposed lack of
intervention when greatly needed. These were trials the Lord made Habakkuk
“look at” (v.3), not matters of Habakkuk’s choice or pleasure. God’s sovereign
decisions were the assumption of all that Habakkuk said; otherwise he could not
complain to a Lord God Who had no control over the things that vexed him. The
Scriptures never defend God by arguing that anything is outside His control.
One aspect of prayer that emerges here is that we come
to the Lord as little children with whatever we face. Casting burdens on the
Lord is a way that we learn that He cares for us (1 Peter 5:7). We are never in
the situation where we believe in His care without any examples of it being
needed. God has made no promise that we would never have any anguish. “… All
the days [with no exceptions] ordained for me were written in your [very
private] book [containing all the circumstances I will face] before one of them
[i.e., the ordained days] came to be” (Psalm 139:16). (Please be careful there,
because I added my interpretation into the text itself.)
Laments cry out, how long, as do the murdered saints in Revelation 6:10,11. In
that text they were told to wait a
little longer. The Lord told Habakkuk that He had a specific time for His
intervention (2:2,3). Thus the phrase “in God’s good time” is the language of
cognitive faith and a contented heart. These prayers also ask Why? Unbelief assumes “there is nothing He can do about
it”. Faith says, “It is in His hands”. The why recognizes that He has a reason.
Prayers may raise hard questions without a specific resolution in a person’s
lifetime. For example, Psalm 89 raises serious issues that were not clarified
until the first coming of Christ. The prophets and psalmists did not have the
information that it is now our privilege to have (1 Peter 1:10-12). We must not
misconstrue Biblical lamentations as assumptions that God would not address the
problems raised. It was simply that He had not done so when the prayer was
made. They prayed believing He would. God has chosen for problems to fester so
that we will eagerly wait for His response. Supreme patience waits for Christ
to return (James 4:8). The language of “come soon” is tempered by a love for
God that accepts His time.
Our eagerness to see the Lord intervene as and when we
think He should, assumes that He should submit to our wisdom. Overstepping this
boundary runs counter to God’s longsuffering. If God were quick to express
wrath (note Exodus 34:6; James 1:19) who of us would be saved? “Bear in mind
that our Lord's patience means salvation …” (2 Peter 3:15). God does not live
in fear of those who complain that He is late. He jealously guards His right as
God to decide both the “what’s” and “when’s” of His creatures. Because He
functions in His wisdom, He can only act according to His own timetable. That
is just God being God!
Another example is Moses’ lament in Exodus 5:22,23,
but see also God’s reply in Exodus 6. For psalms of lament, see Psalms 10, 13,
73 & 74, though there are many more. We distinguish these from imprecatory
psalms, which cry out for the wrath of God so that the wicked will have their
due. Those too are in the Bible.
How we view history is important. In Habakkuk 1:6 the Lord
said, “I
am raising up the Babylonians”. This is a
clear statement of God’s action. It is much more than prediction. The Lord does
not speak of Himself as only an observer of the future. Of course He knows all
that will ever happen, but this text is telling us that God decided to use the
Babylonians for His specific purpose. God does not read history to learn from
it in order to make comments on it; He manages it, ruling over the lives of
mankind, including those who have come into bondage to Satan. God is sovereign
in all matters of human action and decision. “He does as He pleases with …the
peoples of the earth” (Daniel 4:35). This truth is contrary to popular notions
of man’s supposedly free will. (My brief reply is that as a result of the fall,
man is not free. He is in bondage to sin and Satan. His heart is dead to God,
and so he lacks any spiritual interest in repentance and faith. Notions of
man’s freedom and spiritual ability, apart from God changing our hearts, do not
fit the Bible’s description of our sinful condition.) This appendix reviews
other Scriptures that show God using the willful actions of unbelievers; we cannot
avoid the fact that God has the right to move the hearts of men as He pleases
(Proverbs 21:1; Luke 22:22). God works through the righteous conduct of His
people (2 Timothy 2:20,21). The Scriptures below will also show that the
nations are tools by which God accomplishes His purpose. He does this
mysteriously; the humans involved act freely without coercion. There is no
wickedness in the Lord (Psalm 92:15) when He uses the willful sinful acts of
sinners for His holy purpose. Examples of God using Gentile powers as His instruments follow.
1. The
Pharaoh of
2. The
Babylonians in the Prophecies of Jeremiah No one can read the
prophets and miss the proliferation of statements that God would employ
3. The
King of
4.
Cyrus in the Prophecy of Isaiah Six texts in Isaiah reveal that God would
use the wicked king of
The six Isaiah texts are: a) 41:25; b) 44:24-28; c) 45:1-7; d) 45:13; e) 46:11; f) 48:14,15. God stirred up this king
(a). Though God said
5. The
Romans and Unbelieving
This
prayer begins with wonderful truths about God. There was no vagueness in
Habakkuk’s mind about the Lord he was praying to. A clear conception of who God
is enables us to pray in His will and not to some false deity of our own
imagination.
1. Eternal & Unchanging God has not merely lived forever. He is the same God
from age to age, so what He promised in Abraham and Moses’ day is binding
forever. If He learned something or changed in any way, He would be a different
God from what He was before (Malachi 3:6). Only God is eternal and unchanging,
so His promises are eternal, and thus Habakkuk was confident in saying We will not die.
2. Holy We are
right to think of God as holy when we consider His sinlessness. He cannot be
tempted to sin; He does not contemplate sinning. He has never had any experience
in sinning. He is thorough and consistent in His purity. Sin is recent; God is
eternal. By the word holy we mean that God is different in many ways.
Our life is contingent; His is inherent. We may learn, but God knows. We act;
God judges us. We make uncertain plans; God decrees with certainty (Proverbs
19:21). God’s holiness sets Him apart from all His creatures, not just from the
standpoint of infinity and superiority. He is set apart as transcendent. God’s holiness includes His moral perfection,
but it goes beyond to include all that sets Him apart from us and makes Him
unique. So He is holy in all His
attributes. You can never be wrong if you say, “God is holy in His justice, in
His judgments, in His creation, in His commandments, in His power, in His
decisions, in His very existence, (etc.)”
3. Almighty
God is not a God who can only promise; He is able to fulfill His word.
He is a Rock, a wonderful image for being steady, unmovable, and
powerful.
4. Just Since
God appointed the Babylonians for judgment and punishment, this
was evidence to Habakkuk that God does not tolerate wrong, as he once worried
in vv.2-4.
5. Sovereign When God appointed and ordained Babylonian action,
He did not check with them first to see if it was all right with them. He is
God and acts as God with unlimited rights. What He never violates is His holy
character.
God
rules over His enemies, even their actions and motivations. God’s enemies
receive their life from Him and He sustains their existence. His absolute right
to rule them extends into their hearts, so that He can use the devil or the
Babylonians at will, whether they know it or not, whether they like it or not.
If you are going to pray, God is the One to turn to. God speaks as God in a way we must not without
assuming the unique rights of God: “There is no god besides me. I put to death
and I bring to life.” (Deuteronomy 32:39).
6. Self Existent This feature of God’s transcendence is implied in
His Name LORD. It is an
expression of “I Am that I Am” (Exodus 3:14,15). God’s Name is a statement. It
is not just a label to identify Him. When God says “I am”, He claims an
existence beyond our reach. When a human says, “I am,” he makes a temporary and
contingent statement. It is not an eternal reality. It is dependent on all the
things he needs to support his existence. Deny a man food, water, or air and he
will be described as “he was”. God’s life is from Himself!
Because
God is unchangeable, His I Am Name
implies that His word is as faithful a million years later as the moment He
spoke. This solid reputation of God appears in the prayer of Habakkuk 3. Here
in 1:12 God’s faithfulness is the reason for Habakkuk’s confident we will
not die. He again includes why
twice in this prayer, but in his perplexity he knows that the LORD cannot break
His covenant with Abraham. The people of
7. The Covenantal Feature All of the wonderful features of God
stated above could be true without God allowing us to be close to Him. None of
the attributes of God mentioned so far indicate that He has taken in anyone as
His sons and daughters. Habakkuk calls God, “My God, My Holy One”. Covenant language confesses that He is our
God (Exodus 15:2), and we are encouraged to say that we are His people
(Leviticus 26:12). God speaks that way of believers. The term “sons and
daughters” is commonly used to speak of the children of mankind. God uses it of
His family too (Deuteronomy 32:19; Ezekiel 16:20; 2 Corinthians 6:18). David
used my many times in 2 Samuel 22:1-7. The language of intimacy is
expanded in the NT with prayer being offered to Our Father (Matthew
6:9), with more reference to God’s children (John 1:12; Romans 8:16,17; 1 John
3:1,2; Revelation 21:7).
Notes on Habakkuk 2
© David H. Linden Action International Ministries
[Habakkuk 2:1 is the end of his first complaint, so I have placed it in the Notes on Habakkuk 1.]
2:2,3 Then the LORD replied: "Write down the revelation and make it
plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it. 3 For the revelation awaits an
appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it
linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay.”
2:2,3 This verse supports the idea in v.1 that the Lord’s
answer is to be given to others. It was not for Habakkuk alone. It was to be in
writing as a permanent word to all who follow. Perhaps make it plain meant to write it in large letters, easy to read.
God’s answer (and all of His Word) was to be spread. The one reading was to run with it to others. Note these issues
in Christian ministry: The word awaited was God’s; it must be understood, and
then disseminated. Note too the confidence of God; this is not a revelation
where God is trying to guess what is coming. It rings with authority and divine
confidence. (God is absolutely self-confident.)
the end is probably the end of
The oracle begins with a “how long?” Again in the
second complaint, Habakkuk waits. (Faith has the virtue of patience.) To His
waiting servant, God speaks of an appointed time, a time that is certain, a
time that He has chosen. From our standpoint God’s time may linger and delay.
We may treat God’s promised events as “someday, sometime”. For God it is an
appointed time. We are encouraged when we speak of God’s good time. Vv.2 &
3 are God’s introduction to His reply, which now follows.
2:4-6 “See, he is puffed up; his desires are
not upright – but the righteous will live by his faith – 5 indeed, wine betrays him; he is
arrogant and never at rest. Because he is as greedy as the grave and like death
is never satisfied, he gathers to himself all the nations and takes captive all
the peoples. 6 "Will not
all of them taunt him with ridicule and scorn, saying,’Woe…’”
2:4-6 Here is a description of the Babylonian, spoken of in
the singular. Chapter 2 ends with a reference to God in the singular. There
were many Babylonians and many gods, but there is one LORD God of
The Babylonian is depraved.
His appetite is like hell (grave is
“Sheol” in Hebrew); hell never has enough. The section is all about the
Babylonian except for one line inserted in a place where it does not seem to
fit! This is a benefit to us, because it
sets up an important contrast. There are other contrasts: idols vs. the Lord
(2:18-20); and the frustrated efforts of exhausted nations (2:13,14) vs. the
certainty of God’s purpose being fulfilled. This contrast in v.4 is of the
Babylonian as a model of the proud man, whereas the righteous person out of his
faith lives. My longest appendix is Appendix D: The Role of Faith in
Justification. These verses contrast the self-confident individual and the
righteous man whose trust is in the Lord. I leave further discussion of this
vital theme to the appendix.
The way of the wicked is hard
(Proverbs 4:19). The Lord’s answer involves five woes upon him. (See the
similarity to Isaiah 5.) These woes are pronounced by the victims, but it is
really God stating the charges. It shows that God does not tolerate the treacherous (1:13). He judges them. The greedy
destroyers of man and everything else will be brought down. Notice though that
God’s judgment is not limited to
punishment. God spells out the offenses. He is judging when He appraises. We
should listen carefully when God tells us what He thinks of sin. His action in
judgments logically follows His judicial review.
2:6b – 8 " `Woe to him who piles up stolen goods and makes himself
wealthy by extortion! How long must this go on?' 7Will not your debtors suddenly
arise? Will they not wake up and make you tremble? Then you will become their
victim. 8 Because you have
plundered many nations, the peoples who are left will plunder you. For you have shed man's blood; you have
destroyed lands and cities and everyone in them.
2:6b –
8 In v.5 the greedy person gathered people; here he gathers property. He
steals and extorts. God gives possessions, but His way is that we are not to
covet anything that belongs to our neighbour. If we obey this, we will not
steal from him. (See the tenth and eighth commandment.) The surviving victims have memories.
2:9-11 "Woe to him who
builds his realm by unjust gain to set his nest on high, to escape the clutches
of ruin! 10 You have plotted
the ruin of many peoples, shaming your own house and forfeiting your life. 11 The stones of the wall will cry
out, and the beams of the woodwork will echo it.
2:9-11
The moral issue of unjust gain is described as the
ruin of peoples. Their plunder enabled them to build a city of wealth and
wonder. However, the house (of
2:12-14
"Woe to him who
builds a city with bloodshed and establishes a town by crime! 13 Has not the LORD Almighty
determined that the people's labor is only fuel for the fire, that the nations
exhaust themselves for nothing? 14
For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as
the waters cover the sea.
2:12-14 The focus continues on how the city was established by
murder. Instead of adding what we already expect, namely that
2:15-17 “Woe to him who gives drink to his neighbors, pouring it
from the wineskin till they are drunk, so that he can gaze on their naked
bodies 16 You will be filled
with shame instead of glory. Now it is your turn! Drink and be exposed! The cup
from the LORD's right hand is coming around to you, and disgrace will cover
your glory. 17 The violence
you have done to
2:15-17 Humiliating trouble forced on others may be pictured
as drunken staggering (Psalm 60:3; Jeremiah 25:16). There are multiple images
here. This loss of control is also tied to the shame of nakedness. This is the
kind of degradation
The Cup from
the Lord’s Hand The cup of wrath appears in a number of
Scriptures. It also conveys the imagery of God’s wrath upon the Son in His
death on the cross. I have adapted the material in the box below from my
lecture notes on Isaiah 51 [4].
What the cup of the Lord was like for Christ is clearer to us when we ponder
Habakkuk 2:16. The cross of Christ is properly understood not only in terms of
physical suffering, or judicial sentence, or separation from God, or the defeat
of Satan, or reconciliation with God, or penal wrath upon our gracious willing
Substitute, or a sacrifice that brings forgiveness (it is all of these), it was
also the scene of Christ literally experiencing the shame due to us for sin. At
the crucifixion, they removed His clothes and people watched (Matthew
27:35.36), or in the language of Habakkuk, they gazed. Shame is the
opposite of glory.
The Cup of God’s Wrath in Isaiah 51:17-23 In
Isaiah 12:1 salvation includes God’s comfort and His anger turned away; both
themes recur here in Isaiah 51. God tells a people without help, comfort or
hope that the cup of wrath has been removed from them. In Jeremiah 25:15-38,
2:18-20
"Of what value is an idol, since a man has carved it? Or an image
that teaches lies? For he who makes it trusts in his own creation; he makes
idols that cannot speak. 19 Woe to him who says to wood, `Come to life!' Or to
lifeless stone, `Wake up!' Can it give guidance? It is covered with gold and
silver; there is no breath in it. 20
But the LORD is in his holy temple; let all the earth be silent before
him."
2:18-20 The other woes pronounce or anticipate judgment. This
last one does more to teach than taunt. (Some are uncertain whether taunt is the best translation in 2:6.)
Like Isaiah 44 this woe shows the futility of idols by examining their
creation, their lifeless existence, and their inability to speak or answer. In
Habakkuk the real God gave answers. Surely faith in a physical object is
misplaced and will lead to disappointment. (See the notes for 1:14-17.)
The apologetic of the Bible
sometimes examines error, and sometimes contrasts truth and error. The contrast
here is a description of idols followed by a cryptic statement that the LORD is
in His holy
God has an image too. He will
not allow us to make any, for any we make will misrepresent Him grossly. How
can we show this unchangeable eternal Spirit by a thing recently created and
decaying? How can the infinite God fit on a shelf? How can the beauty of His
grace be shown in gold or silver? How can a metal mouth stand for His eternal
Word spoken through the law, the writings, the prophets, and the apostles?
There is good reason for the second commandment. It saves us from striving for
an unreachable objective. There is no image of God that anyone can make, that
can in any way even approximate the real Lord God. But God has an image of
Himself. The Lord Jesus in His incarnation is the visible image of the
invisible God. (See Colossians 1:15-21; Hebrews 1:1-4; 1 John 1:1 and 2
Corinthians 4:4-6.) To see Christ is to
see the Father (John 14:7-9).
Why does it say, “Let all the earth be silent before him”? Sometimes silence before God is a matter of
such guilt that there is no excuse that can be offered, (Romans 3:19,20.) The
way to be saved is to “shut up” (or be silent) and offer no reason for God’s
mercy, and to accept what He offers in Christ no matter how much that hurts our
pride! Naturally many see in this statement a sense of awe before God. I would
add to that that after Habakkuk’s complaints, he had to be silent and wait for
God’s answer. We would wait forever for an idol to speak, but the Lord our God
does give guidance (2:19). Our God has given His word and in what He said (no
matter when) He still speaks. We hear when we cease from our poor wisdom
cluttering our minds. If we are silent before the Lord Who is in His holy
heavenly temple, we will learn that Christ is the wisdom of God (1 Corinthians 1:24). The Father has said
that we should listen to Him (Luke 9:34-36).
Appendix D: The
Role of Faith in Justification
(Habakkuk 2:4)
This appendix may be more
difficult to understand than the others. If that is so for you, read the very
last section first. That may help some.
Justification is
an act of God’s free grace, wherein He pardons all our sins, and accepts us as
righteous in His sight, only for the righteousness of Christ, imputed to us,
and received by faith alone.
Q & A 33,
“See, he is puffed up; his desires are not upright – but the righteous will live by his faith – indeed wine betrays him; he is arrogant and never at rest …” Habakkuk 2:4,5
The gospel the Apostle Paul
proclaimed was not received from other men, not even from other apostles. He
received it by direct revelation from Jesus Christ (Galatians 1:11,12). The
Bible does not tell us any more about the Lord Jesus instructing Paul
privately. Since there is only one gospel, the faith he then proclaimed was the
same one the other apostles embraced (Galatians 1:23,24). We do know that right
after His resurrection the Lord showed the other apostles truths about Himself
in the OT Scriptures. Paul used this same way to explain the gospel. On of his
favorite statements was Habakkuk 2:4.
The Apostle Paul’s Quotation of OT Texts to Support
Justification
·
In
Romans 4:1-3, 9-11, 20-25, he taught imputed righteousness from Genesis 15:6.
·
In
Galatians 3:6-9, quoting Genesis 15, he again taught justification as imputed
righteousness with the major emphasis being on faith.
·
In
Romans 4:4-8, he taught from Psalm 32 that sins are not imputed to the man who
trusts God.
·
In
1 Corinthians 1:29-31, Paul joined boasting in the Lord (from Jeremiah 9:24)
with boasting in Christ as our righteousness.
·
In
Galatians 3:10-14, Paul included Habakkuk 2:4 to emphasize that it is by faith
that we are justified, and not by keeping the law.
·
In
Romans 1:17, at the introduction of his most detailed treatment of
justification, Paul quoted Habakkuk 2:4 as his first text to show that
justification was by faith.
Paul taught that
justification appears in Genesis and has further support in the Psalms and the
prophets. Justification is not a doctrine limited to the New Testament. The OT
law and prophets teach this gospel (Romans 3:21), and OT saints were justified
in the same way that we are (Romans 4:1-8). The chief contribution of Habakkuk
2:4 is on the role of faith.
We do not find the entire
doctrine of justification spelled out in 2:4. In my opinion, Genesis 15 and
Psalm 32 give more on the nature of justification. Habakkuk does not say what
justification is, though it does refer to the righteous person. Faith is then
mentioned as the way the righteous live, but the Apostle Paul will insist in
his writings that faith is the way one becomes righteous. How can Paul teach
that we are justified by faith from this text?
The
holy Lord, Who requires perfect righteousness, could for some reason call a
person righteous, though that man was born in sin and still has sin in his life
– for all have sinned, and all do sin (Ecclesiastes 7:20). The only thing in
the text that could be the reason for God calling this someone righteous is
that he had faith as a response to the Lord. [5] Habakkuk does not elaborate that
righteousness is a gift from God, and Paul does not say that that aspect of
justification is taught in 2:4. However, since his righteousness came by faith,
it was not procured by merit, and so it had to be a gift.
How Does Habakkuk Help Us to Understand Faith?
In Habakkuk, faith is
directed to the word of the Lord. That point has much support throughout the
oracle. The prayers are all to the One who can explain and act. These prayers
rest in God’s promises. (See the notes at 3:2.) They are prayers of faith, and
none of this faith is in the worth of the one praying. Habakkuk 2:4, Paul’s
choice text, fits the gospel. Justifying faith is opposed to the attitude of
those impressed with themselves. Faith is unlike the pride of the Babylonian;
it rejects religious confidence in one’s own righteousness (Luke 18:9). We
cannot have faith in the accomplishments and words of God and at the same time
have our trust in our faithfulness. Justifying faith cannot be in our
obedience, our baptism, our birthright, or anything other than the Saviour our
God has provided. Justification is strictly by faith, and only by faith, so
that it may be by grace (Romans 4:16). Grace is God’s principle in salvation,
so any addition of our works in justification destroys faith and grace. He who
looks to his own religious life is like the puffed up Babylonian, not the man
of faith. Faith “looks to the Son” (John 6:40).
The Three New Testament Quotations of Habakkuk 2:4
1.) In Hebrews 10:37,38 it is part of a call to
perseverance. Not only will it come
(i.e., the end of Babylonian oppression), but He will come (i.e., Christ).
2.) In Romans 1:17, Paul uses 2:4 as part of his
major emphasis that the righteousness that comes from God is received by faith.
(See the discussion of this above.)
3.) In Galatians 3:10-14, the apostle is engaged
in a major conflict over the competition of works with faith. Justification cannot be by faith if it is
also by works.
Faith vs. Works
The righteous in 2:4 do not
live by works, nor are they righteous by works. The only response of the
righteous in 2:4 is faith. Works follow from faith, but they do not assume the
role of faith. A child is not its own mother, and good works cannot generate
themselves. Our relationship with God begins in faith and continues in faith,
which “expresses itself through love” (Galatians 5:6), and shows itself by what
the believer does (James 2:18). At the moment of justification nothing else is present as the reason
for the gift of righteousness to become our possession.[6] Since righteousness is acquired by imputation
from outside ourselves (a source other than the believer), its reception must
be in harmony with the gift nature of the righteousness offered. God does not
justify for the righteousness in us. If our righteousness were imputed to us –
even in the most godly person on earth – it would be a very poor gift. Such
native obedience is still stained by sin and is incomplete in obedience. God
would reject it. And worse, if it is possible to be worse, imputing our
righteousness to us would replace the good gift, the perfect gift, the
righteousness of Christ.
In Justification Faith and Law Keeping are Opposing
Principles
· …No one will
be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather … But now a righteousness from God, apart from law,
has been made known … This righteousness from God comes [a different way] through faith
in Jesus Christ to all who believe. (Romans 3:20-22)
· … a man is
justified by faith apart from observing the law. (Romans 3:28)
· If … Abraham
was justified by works, he had something to boast about …[However] "Abraham believed
God, and it was credited to him as righteousness." … To the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the
wicked, his faith is credited as
righteousness. (Romans 4:2-5)
· … A man is
not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. [We] have
put our faith in Christ Jesus that we
may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified. (Galatians
2:16) Paul’s repetition was to make sure
that the difference was clear. See also Romans 4:13,14; 10:4; Philippians 3:9
and Titus 3:5.
A Survey of Various Aspects of Justification
Justification is a strong and basic doctrine. However, any revision of its nature, means or basis destroys the purity of the gospel in the one adopting an unbiblical doctrine. The Bible’s message of justification, the very core of the gospel, is powerful because it brings sinners to Christ. It is fragile in that we cannot tamper with it. Like a large bathtub with many plugs at the bottom of the tub. It does not matter which plug is pulled, the water drains away.
The good works
that are God’s reason to justify: These are Christ’s, not ours.
The obedience required: It is Christ’s righteousness not ours.
The death in which God punished our sin: It was the sacrifice of Christ, His blood, not
ours.
The One Who pronounces the sinner forgiven/acquitted: It is God, not
us.
The One Who pronounces the ungodly person who believes
righteous: It is God not us.
The nature of justification: It is a legal
declaration of God’s view of us because of Christ; it is not a transformation
produced in us.
The principle of God providing justification: It is His grace to us, not our merit.
The means by which we acquire righteousness: It is by faith, not any kind of religious
activity by us.
The nature of justifying faith: It receives from Christ and rests in Him.
Justifying faith does not provide but takes.
The result in our attitude for this divine grace
shown: We are eternally grateful, with no reason
for pride in anything we have done.
The result in our conduct for this grace: Since God has
given the believer a new status, He graciously treats us as children, not mere
subjects, and gives His Holy Spirit to produce godly graces in us.
The venue in
which all necessary conditions were accomplished for forgiveness and
righteousness: Perfect
righteousness has appeared only once in human history. It was in the life and
death of Jesus Christ as a man. Our Lord Jesus Christ satisfied all the
requirements of the law and endured its sanctions for us. These conditions were
not accomplished in our hearts or experience but in Christ’s.
The venue in which the decree of justification
occurs: It happens in the mind of God the Forgiver,
God the Justifier, again, not in our hearts or experience. Since this is
transcendent to us, it can only be known by the supernatural revelation of
God’s promises in Scripture. His word is our assurance of God’s new view of us
in Christ. Justification is then confirmed to us in the fruit of the Spirit in
every believer’s conduct.
The difference from all other religions: Every human
religious invention lacks grace and supplants it with merit. It has no
forgiveness by faith, but only by works and ritual. It has no imputed
righteousness; sinners can only try to gain some dubious benefit through their
own religious practice. Only in the Christian faith has the Holy Lord God
Himself died for the sins of His people and obeyed in the place of all the
enemies whom the Father had chosen to love and save!
Consequently, just as the result of [Adam’s] one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men. For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man [Jesus Christ] the many will be made righteous. Romans 5:18,19
Appendix E: The Universal Knowledge of the Lord
When the Apostle Paul said, “We live by faith not by
sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7), he was saying the same thing as Habakkuk 2:4, the righteous man will live by his faith.
In that passage, Paul spoke of a new body, which at that moment he did not have
and had never seen, yet he was confident in the Lord’s promise of the
resurrection. Since we live in a world of unbelief, it seems unreal that the
entire earth will be inhabited one day only by people reconciled to God. We do
not see this yet, but since the righteous live by faith in whatever God says,
we know it will come. Not one of us has seen it yet “but in keeping with his
promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of
righteousness” (2 Peter 3:13).
Christians are certain of
this redeemed earth. It will be more than just a large number of redeemed
people (Romans 8:18-25). All agree that there will be an ultimate separation of
godly and ungodly people (Revelation 21:7,8). Yet we still have among us quite
different views about how this will be worked out. Perhaps these views may be
stated this way:
I do not hold views 1 or 3. I
think the second is correct, yet we are humbled by limited understanding. We
should remember that “we see [now] but a poor reflection as in a mirror” (1
Corinthians 12:12, NIV). God has withheld from us many details, but this is a
clear prediction in the Old Testament:
…
For the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the
sea. Isaiah 11:9
For
the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the
waters cover the sea. Habakkuk 2:14
“No
longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, `Know the
LORD,' because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,”
declares the LORD. Jeremiah 31:34
It
shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the
LORD shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be lifted
up above the hills; and all the nations shall flow to it … Isaiah 2:2,3
We have certainty of the
final character of life on earth but with some uncertainty about how it all
comes about. Suppose it were the other way, and we only had knowledge about
what is going on right now, but no assurance of how it will end. That would be
terrible! The Lord has chosen to assure our troubled hearts (John 16:33) with
enough revealed truth of the
We are further encouraged
concerning the Great Commission. (The thread I am pursuing is that our current
service ties into the earth being filled with the knowledge of the Lord.) The
agenda of God is not a crushing weight imposed on us. The universal knowledge of
God is not only possible; it cannot fail. First of all, it rests on Christ’s
almighty shoulders (Isaiah 9:6,7). Then we have been allowed the privilege to
participate with Him as fellow-workers. We do not replace the Lord or work
apart from Him, but under and with a Lord Who cannot fail. After all, to
restore
In Acts 13:47, the apostolic
team spoke of their work with Gentiles as a fulfillment of an assignment to them spelled out in Isaiah 49:6. In
other words, this commission, though clearly given to Christ, was nevertheless
one in which they participated. Furthermore, it was not optional whether they
would participate; they were commanded to do so. Christ’s task was the ministry
into which they had been inducted! Compare the two Scriptures:
He
[the Father] says: "It is too small a thing for you [Christ] to be my
servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of
For
this is what the Lord has commanded us [Paul & Barnabas]: " `I have
made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of
the earth.' " (Acts 13:47)
A “Great Commission” had been placed on Christ. In
Matthew 28:16-20 the Lord included those united to Him in salvation in a
functional union of service with Him. Though the disciples were bound to it as
duty, it was not “dumped” on them. The ascension was not a desertion of them.
The Lord did not relinquish His role. All authority remains His. This indicates
His position. Then too, He will be with His servants to the “very end” (NIV).
That indicates His active involvement with them. It might be helpful to say
that it was not just that He would be with them, but that they were going to be
with Him in what He had to do in the assignment from the Father.
In this way (bringing them into His ministry) Christ
builds His church (Matthew 16:18), but since He is still the Builder, success
and completion is an absolute certainty. Other Scriptures supply relevant
details: He opens hearts in response to His gospel (Acts 16:14). He will lose
not one that the Father has given to Him (John 6:35-40). The earth being filled
with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord entails the entire Godhead. The Father
draws to Christ (John 6:44). The Son builds His church. The Spirit indwells and
empowers every believer (Romans 15:17-21; 2 Corinthians 3:7-9; 6:3-10). This is
an agenda of success, because the Lord Himself is the driving force behind it.
In my opinion, the two parables in Matthew 13:31-33
are additional support for my thesis. In the first one Jesus taught that His
kingdom in this age would increase greatly. The second parable assures us that
the gospel will penetrate every culture and overcome every barrier. Surely this
is being fulfilled today. Moving ever closer to the goal, we too believe that the earth will be filled with the knowledge
of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. Everyone works better
when he knows his labour is not in vain. In the Lord, it is not (1 Corinthians
15:58). “From the west, men will fear
the name of the LORD, and from the rising of the sun, they will revere his
glory…” (Isaiah 59:19).
In Romans
15, Paul links his ministry to the ministry
of Christ so closely that his does not even exist apart from it. Romans 15 elaborates on what we observed in
Acts 13:47. Such divine involvement in our time leads inevitably to Habakkuk
2:14.
In Romans 15:8-12, Christ is a servant to bring to
reality what the Old Testament promised concerning the salvation of the
Gentiles. Since Gentiles were being converted in his ministry, Paul viewed the
serving role of Christ as what generated this success in his ministry. Gentiles
were being converted, so the activity of Christ had to be the reason.
In Romans 15:15,16, Paul speaks of himself as a
servant of Christ.[7]
Two ministries (Christ’s and Paul’s) were so joined that he spoke of his work
as what Christ had accomplished through him. He says more, for Christ’s efforts
resulted in leading Gentiles to obey God by what Paul had said and done. Paul
views all he had done as the accomplishment of Christ. Therefore it was the
almighty Christ evangelizing Gentiles and Paul was the weak instrument by which
He was doing it.
Romans 15 teaches the fellowship we have with Christ
in ministry. Thus Paul, with good reason, emphasized encouragement in this
chapter (vv.4,5). Then after four OT references about the inexorable salvation
of Gentiles, he added, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as
you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy
Spirit” (Romans 15:13). Paul does not convey any defeatism in the assignment he
had received – this mandate we call “the Great Commission”. Instead, he
received his work as a gift to him and he viewed all of his success as the
manifestation of Christ’s work through him (Philippians 4:13). For Paul, the
idea that the earth would be filled with
the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea” made sense.
It was already underway. There are no dry places at the bottom of the ocean,
and likewise on this planet all shall know the Lord from the least to the
greatest.
Notes on Habakkuk 3
© David H. Linden Action International Ministries
This is a prayer. It says so in v.1. Habakkuk had
opened this little book by speaking to the Lord, yet the two prayers in chapter
one are different from this one. The first prayers complained, looking for
answers; they lacked the peace of heart that comes from trusting the Lord. This
closing prayer springs from faith in the information God had revealed to
Habakkuk. That godly man accepted it; though it was troubling to his spirit. He
could then pray in faith, in submission, and in contentment.
The structure of chapter three Habakkuk is in two parts, each beginning
by a reference to Habakkuk the prophet (1:1 & 3:1). One is an oracle (1:1)
and the other a prayer (3:1). The prophet uses inclusios,
markers used by Jewish writers of that time to show what they intended as
units. Inclusios are obviously similar words or statements at the beginning and
end of a section. Whatever was included within the inclusios was
the authors intended unit. For example, in 3:8 horses churn up the water, and
then horses trampling water reappear in v.15. Also the opening line (v.1)
probably refers to something musical, and the chapter ends with another
reference to music. These are not coincidences; this means 3:1-19 was intended
by the prophet as a unit. In writing the Scriptures they did not use A, B, C
outlines, and they did not indent to show a new paragraph. Instead they often
arranged these word indicators within
the text! By following such clues the divisions of this
chapter emerge clearly. I conclude that this chapter is laid out like this:
3:1-19 Parameters
of the whole with inclusios related to music.
3:2 The
introductory petition
3:3-7 God’s
power and splendour in history
Note in vv.3 &
7, geographical clues.
In vv.3-6 God is spoken of in the third person only.
3:8-15 Further
review of God’s powerful reaction to rescue His people.
Note the horses and waters in vv.8 & 15
God is spoken to in the second person only.
3:16-19 The
effect on the prophet emotionally and spiritually
The prophet speaks in the first person.
The theme of chapter three
Habakkuk
3 is about the awesome power of God in creation and judgment. Habakkuk’s LORD
God has a record of acting decisively against His enemies to preserve His
people. The prayer in Habakkuk 3 is closely related to the earlier complaints.
It reviews what the early revelation in Scripture shows of his unchangeable
God. So much of this prayer reviews what God has done that it hardly appears to
be petition. It is a prayer that is so taken up with the reputation of God that
petition is overwhelmed with worship! Habakkuk began his oracle in turmoil. He
ends as one awed with his faithful LORD God and strong in the peace God gave
him.
3:1 Prayer in 3:1 is not the usual
word for prayer. This kind of prayer is a painful intercession fully aware of
impending danger. That the Babylonians would take over his country was a
traumatic realization for Habakkuk. They had a reputation for cruelty (1:6).
Then the devastating punishment of
3:2 LORD, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, O LORD.
Renew them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy.
Habakkuk’s heartfelt plea to God was coupled with
confidence in God’s unchanging character. He prays convinced of the continuing
goodness of God. He was certain what God would be like, because He knew what
God had been like. The Lord’s fame
refers to His reputation. (Note Nehemiah 9:10.) It is called fame because Habakkuk was not there to
observe the Exodus and other events. (None of us is a witness to creation!)
Just as it is with us, he had to learn these ancient reports. God has preserved
for us in the Bible a record of His deeds, so that our view of Him and prayers
to Him will be formed by them. Renew them
[God’s works] probably means “Do it again for us”. This petition acknowledges
that the Lord is the same from everlasting to everlasting (Psalm 90:1,2). The
just live by faith in the dependability of God.
Truth may appear contradictory. God punishes and God
shows mercy. He does both; they are compatible. We do not choose between them.
The Apostle Paul wrote of “the kindness and sternness of God” (Romans 11:22),
so with the Lord wrath and mercy co-exist. He is not capable of accepting sin;
He has a holy reaction to it. God may show grace to sinners as He chooses, but
He can never suspend His justice. (That is why mercy to sinners required the
vicarious death of Christ on the cross.) Repeatedly the Lord warned
Deuteronomy 4:25-29 predicts a future apostasy by
When God’s people sin, the Lord chastens. Chastening
His own is a priority expressed in Hebrews 12:5-11 where fatherly love
motivates correction. For true believers there is mercy, though merited for us
only by Christ. In His death the Lord Jesus absorbed wrath for our sin. At the
cross both mercy from God and wrath from God reached their ultimate expression
at the same time in the same event. Habakkuk knew God must punish (1:12). God
did not threaten in vain (Ezekiel 6:10).
Habakkuk also knew he could still pray for mercy, and in doing so he was
praying in the will of God. He did not pray against God’s judgment, because
living by faith meant accepting that God’s judgments were well-deserved. (Note
Romans 3:4-6.) We cannot represent God faithfully if we are embarrassed
concerning the righteousness of God’s judgment. Unlike ours, His wrath is
clean. It is as holy as His love and mercy.
The Deeds of
God This is a major Biblical emphasis. The
Bible is not simply a collection of sayings by God for us to hear. His words to
us are of infallible quality and are called “holy words” (Jeremiah 23:9). Psalm
138:2, a psalm with considerable likeness to Habakkuk 3, speaks of God’s word
as exalted. God does more than speak.
Scripture emphasizes the deeds of God as
well. This is clear not only in the earlier books in the Bible, but in the
profuse praise in later generations of God’s previous actions. Such worship is common in the Psalms. A good
way to delve into this is to use a concordance to look up “deeds”, “works” and
“acts” in the Psalms. (See Psalms 26, 45, 65, 66, 96, & 106.) The Lord
shows Himself to us in words AND in actions. Both are an intentional revelation
of God. God’s deeds promote a true image of the Lord in our minds and thus
assist our prayers. Habakkuk prayed by
reviewing God in action, and so should we. In
The Likeness of Psalm 77 Habakkuk 3 is similar in many ways to
Psalm 77. The emotional distress of the psalmist provoked a prayer of anguish.
He wondered about mercy when God showed anger. His review of God’s deeds in the
past paid specific attention to God’s violent deliverance of His people from
their enemies and safe passage through the
3:3a God
came from Teman, the Holy One from
Two places are named outside the
3:3b His glory
covered the heavens and his praise filled the earth.
The glory of God and the reasons for which we must
praise Him fill heaven and earth. His glory is not always obvious to our dull
hearts. We may not think of His glory when we ride on a crowded bus or hear a
news broadcast. In Isaiah’s day, a time of great wickedness, the seraphim
insisted that the whole earth was full of God’s glory (Isaiah 6:3). That is
true whether we see that truth or not. That wicked men are still alive shows
the glory of God’s patience; that men die shows the glory of His justice and
His faithfulness to His warnings. When God sends rain for everyone (Matthew
5:45) to supply us with food, this too shows the glory of God, the glory of His
kindness (Romans 2:4).
Habakkuk reviews God’s past glory where He showed
Himself pre-eminent above all of nature and all competitors. The Lord God Who
covers the heavens spoke from heaven and came down at Sinai (Nehemiah 9:13). He
displayed His splendour before the eyes of His people (Judges 5:3-5). In the
early words of this prophecy, Habakkuk feared that God was passive. God
answered him by showing, to his amazement (1:5), how very active He would be.
Early in
On
the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning, with a thick
cloud over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast. Everyone in the camp
trembled …
When
the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the
mountain in smoke, they trembled with fear… The people remained at a distance,
while Moses approached the thick darkness where God was. Exodus 20:18-21
3:4-6 His splendor was like the sunrise;* rays flashed from his hand, where his power
was hidden. Plague went before him; pestilence followed his steps. He stood,
and shook the earth; he looked, and made the nations tremble. The ancient
mountains crumbled and the age-old hills collapsed. His ways are eternal. (NIV)
* [Or, His
brightness was like the light; rays flashed from His hand … (ESV)]
There is good reason to interpret the flashing rays as
lightning (as in Exodus 20 above). While plagues and pestilence occurred in
judgment on
3:7 I
saw the tents of Cushan in distress, the dwellings of Midian in anguish.
Speaking of nations that have
been removed from the earth, Habakkuk closes this small passage about God at
Sinai with the mention of two ancient adversaries cowering in fear. Midian is
better known; it was a large and fearsome enemy. Judges gives three chapters to
the encounter with this particular foe (Judges 6-8). Cushan is probably not
3:8-15 Habakkuk continues his prayer with words that
address the Lord directly. The entire section is expressed in military language
mentioning weapons of that time: arrows, spears, horses and chariots. In this
section there is considerable mention of events related to the waters of the
sea. Everything in this section is a poetic review of God’s former actions.
Because it is poetry, some ancient words are obscure, and it is more difficult
to be certain of every event Habakkuk may have had in mind. Since it begins and
ends with charging horses; that makes us certain that vv.8-15 were intended to
be read as a unit. The previous section (vv.3-7) focused on the events at
Sinai. In vv.8-15 Habakkuk speaks much of the Exodus and
3:8-11
Were you angry with the rivers, O LORD? Was your wrath against the
streams? Did you rage against the sea when you rode with your horses and your
victorious chariots? You uncovered your
bow, you called for many arrows. Selah You split the earth with rivers; the
mountains saw you and writhed. Torrents of water swept by; the deep roared and
lifted its waves on high. Sun and moon stood still in the heavens at the glint
of your flying arrows, at the lightning of your flashing spear.
3:8-10 The single
Hebrew word which the NIV translates as rivers
and streams may refer also to the
sea. It is not limited to inland waterways. God’s anger was not against the
waters. Everyone would understand his rhetorical question. Yet God’s wrath was
certainly present. The section begins with anger, wrath, and rage and an attack
of such fury it shook the earth. That is not a strange way to picture God’s
wrath in the Bible. It appears in the Bible in the OT, often in Revelation and
then too in Hebrews 12:25-29. With what or with whom was God so angry? If we
identify the event, we have the answer.
This section speaks in ways that would take the minds
of its first readers back to the Exodus. (Exodus here is not the Book of
Exodus, but rather the exit or escape of
First, Pharaoh pursued
Second, there is a strong emphasis on this powerful
activity occurring in relation to water.
Saying in v.9 that the waters were split,
as in Exodus 14:16,21 and Psalm 78:13, fits the dividing of the waters of the
Third, an enemy
leader of God’s people was brought
to a speedy death, not just a defeat. The
leader of the land of wickedness (v.13) is a good description of Pharaoh.
The Hebrew word for land in v.13 is
usually translated “house”, and God saved Israel from that “house of slavery”
(Exodus 20:2, ESV). Pursuing
Fourth, the purpose
of all this spectacular warfare was to
deliver your people (v.13). Enemy warriors were out to devour (v.14), and
God came out to deliver. The Ten
Commandments begin with, “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of
The correspondence of these verses to the Exodus is
convincing. God’s powerful intervention centuries earlier saved
3:9 Scholars
find this verse difficult to translate with certainty. The word many in many arrows might be a slightly
different word that means to swear or commit to something. If that is right,
then in this case it would mean that God was obliged by covenant to fight for
3:10 We should
not assume that Habakkuk here speaks only of the Exodus. The reference to
mountains and especially torrents of water and high waves sounds more like the
Great Flood, which in its destructive force would be like a tsunami overrunning
the entire earth. Habakkuk did not
write to give a chronological account of history; he was remembering the fame
of God in His powerful deeds.
3:11 The sun
and moon standing still immediately reminds anyone knowing
Literal: You
divided the sea before them, so that they passed through it on dry ground,
Figurative: But you
hurled their pursuers into the depths, like a stone into mighty waters.
(Nehemiah 9:11)
3:12-15 In wrath you strode through the earth
and in anger you threshed the nations. You came out to deliver your people, to
save your anointed one. You crushed the leader of the land of wickedness, you
stripped him from head to foot. Selah
With his own spear you pierced his head when his warriors stormed
out to scatter us, gloating as though about to devour the wretched who were in
hiding. You trampled the sea with your horses, churning the great waters.
3:12 God
marching in this earth in wrath is a continuation of military imagery. Very
temporarily, the devil is the god of this
world (2 Corinthians 4:4 and 1 John 5:19); that is still true. Yet God
still moves as He pleases throughout the earth. Never has He given up His claim
that the earth is His (Psalm 24:1). He may call Satan to account as He chooses
(Job 1:6-12). All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Christ.
God is not passive, absent from, or careless about this earthly scene. He
judges the nations. (Psalm 96 is but one example.) The kind of judgment in v.11
should be considered in light of v.12. How has God dealt with nations that
afflicted His people? The death of the firstborn in the
God made a great distinction between
3:13,14 The order
of God’s wrath is the chastening of the covenant people first, then the
Gentiles (1 Peter 4:17). In His exercise of wrath on
Crushing the leader of the land of wickedness is
discussed above. Stripping from head to foot is a total removal of his armor,
thus all his defenses, and thus his defeat.
With His own
spear is discussed above. Warriors
seeking to devour the weak surely refers to Israelites on foot being pursued at
the
3:15 It is easy
to see how mention of horses churning great waters is repetition and finishes
this section. But do not miss that the text says your horses. This is part of prayer to the God Who acts on behalf
of His own. (Note how similar Psalm 68 is to Habakkuk 3.)
3:16 I heard and my heart pounded, my lips quivered at the sound; decay
crept into my bones, and my legs trembled. Yet I will wait patiently for the
day of calamity to come on the nation invading us.
"… This is the one I
esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at my word” (Isaiah 66:2). See also Psalm 119:120,161.
3:16 Here is the emotional reaction in Habakkuk to what He
knows is coming. In v.2 he prayed that God would repeat His mighty work. Then
he trembled at the reality of the coming invasion and the later calamity on
The prophet said, “Yet
I will wait patiently for the day of calamity to come…” This is very, very
important. He knew how God had acted in the past as recorded in Scripture. He
knew God cannot change. God cannot break His covenanted promise to the children
of Abraham, nor ignore His warnings to them. Habakkuk knew chastening was
coming. He also knew the cup from the
Lord’s hand was coming around to
Sometimes precise times are revealed as in Daniel 9,
but more often God withholds the day and hour of His predictions (Mark 13:32).
Every Christian should humbly submit to this word of the Lord: "It is not
for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority”
(Acts 1:7). The Lord gave much information and told Habakkuk that the
revelation (i.e., the future events revealed) waited for a specific time of
fulfillment. It will certainly come and
will not delay. (2:3). This holds for us too as we wait for the coming of
the Lord (Hebrews 10:35-39). In faith Habakkuk believed that God had set a time
and waited, note, waited patiently and
trembled. Faith involves waiting, and patience is a trait of genuine faith.
3:17-19
Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no
sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I
will be joyful in God my Savior. The
Sovereign LORD is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he
enables me to go on the heights.
3:17,18 Here is an
expression of faith and submission that has captured the hearts of
“God-trusters” for generations. Habakkuk expected devastation and rejoiced in
the Lord. I once visited a friend prior to a serious surgery. He seemed
cheerful. I said, “You could die.” He smiled and said, “I know,” delighted that
his life was in the hands of the Lord His God. (See Romans 14:7,8.)
Not all of God’s punishment was of a military kind. It
would also affect their agriculture. (See Leviticus 26:14-26; Hosea 2:12; Joel
1:5-12, and the detailed warnings in the end of Deuteronomy.) The food from the
ground, trees and animals may be denied him. This godly man of faith
anticipated that he too would suffer along with his people. They had rejected
their Blesser and He denied His blessings to them.
Note in Deuteronomy 28 how often the curse for
disobedience was directed to crops and livestock. Verse 51 in that chapter
below is so very similar to that it makes one think it is the precise text
Habakkuk had in mind when he wrote:
They
will devour the young of your livestock and the crops of your land until you
are destroyed. They will leave you no grain, new wine or oil, nor any calves of
your herds or lambs of your flocks until you are ruined. Deuteronomy 28:51
The poetry in vv.17,18 is graphic, but what grabs the
heart is the surprising attitude of this believer as he faces his trouble.
There is no diminishing the reality of the trouble; in fact that is part of
what is so vivid. Yet his faith sings in confidence. He admitted the likelihood
of losing all, and the confidence of losing nothing since he had the Lord. Like
Paul, Habakkuk anticipated “having nothing … yet possessing everything” (2
Corinthians 6:10). His praise sprang from a satisfied heart. True rejoicing
replaces grudging resignation. As I have composed these notes, I learned of the
death (Sept. 5, 2007) of a famous pastor in the
“Now, I know that someday
I am going to come to what some people will say is the end of this life. They
will probably put me in a box and roll me right down here in front of the
church, and some people will gather around, and a few people will cry. But I
have told them not to do that because I don’t want them to cry. I want them to
begin the service with the Doxology and end with the Hallelujah chorus, because
I am not going to be there, and I am not going to be dead. I will be more alive
than I have ever been in my life, and I will be looking down upon you poor
people who are still in the land of dying and have not yet joined me in the
land of the living. And I will be alive forevermore, in greater health and
vitality and joy than ever, ever, I or anyone has known before.”
Habakkuk could suffer temporary destitution but he
would not suffer eternal loss. The Lord is the LORD, Yahweh, the
covenant-keeping God. He was to the prophet God
my Saviour. With such a Saviour he would be saved; he could not be lost or
deprived forever. Whether he knew it or not, he was an heir of all that belongs
to Christ (Romans 8:17). That makes every believer a co-owner with the Lord of
everything. The unbelieving billionaire
is a pauper in comparison with us. The fields in Habakkuk’s day might produce
no food, but this meek man would still inherit the earth (Matthew 5:5). The
Holy Spirit gave him an assurance of how well-off he was and gave him joy, the
fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22,23).
3:19a Habakkuk’s
words exude faith. In spite of all that v.18 says, some will twist his words to
defend and promote self-confidence. The man who trembled at the Lord’s words
did not credit his personal fortitude or strength. His faith was not in his
faith, or any of its results. The major issue in faith is the question of what
or Who the object of faith is. The Lord was his strength. (See Psalm 18.) The
result was that he became like a surefooted deer able to climb heights without
falling.
To him who is able to keep you from falling and to
present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy – to
the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus
Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen. (Jude
24,25)
3:19b Habakkuk 3
is a prayer, a fitting spiritual response to the word the Lord gave him.
Directed by the Holy Spirit (2 Timothy 3:16), he wrote this for us as well. .
Here is a wonderful pattern: first, God speaks and we respond in line with what
He has said. That way we do not innovate and create our own focus for worship.
God sets the agenda and in this way we are led in worship by the Spirit. This
prayer is a psalm from beginning to end. It even has in it two Selahs, which are found only in the
Psalms and here. It was sent to the music director (of the temple, perhaps?) to
be fitted to a suitable melody, or so I surmise, and sung by a choir or all the
people together. If even half of my guesswork is so, it is quite clear that
this oracle and prayer was not written for Habakkuk’s private use alone, but
for all the people of God. And convinced of that, I must note that Christian
music should not diminish the themes of God’s wrath and judgment. Let us treat
Habakkuk as a good model! Our worship should emphasize all of God’s mighty acts
in history including the destruction of the Enemy. The hymnbook of
Appendix F: Deuteronomy
as Background for Habakkuk
Every part of Scripture is consistent with every other
part. This includes the remarkable agreement that Habakkuk shows to
Deuteronomy. I propose that there was a conscious connection in Habakkuk’s
mind. This was the case with Daniel who prayed, “The curses … written in the
Law of Moses … have been poured out on us, because we have sinned against you”
(Daniel 9:11). Before Moses’ death the Holy Spirit gave detailed predictions of
apostasy and restoration in Deuteronomy. Habakkuk never prayed against God’s
punishment of
Then the LORD appeared …and said to Moses:
"…These people will soon prostitute themselves to the foreign gods of the
land they are entering. They will forsake me and break the covenant I made with
them. On that day I will become angry with them and forsake them; I will hide
my face from them, and they will be destroyed. Many disasters and difficulties
will come upon them … When they eat their fill and thrive, they will turn to
other gods and worship them, rejecting me and breaking my covenant… I know what
they are disposed to do, even before I bring them into the land I promised them
on oath." Deuteronomy 31:15-21 (See
also 31:27-29.)
In light of this, the wrath of God would surely
follow. Yet mixed in with these dire predictions were appeals for obedience. If
they obeyed, blessings would follow. That is to be expected when God holds out
the choice of life and death before His people. However, just as
And the LORD has declared this day that you are his
people, his treasured possession as he promised, and that you are to keep all
his commands. He has declared that he will set you in praise, fame and honor
high above all the nations he has made and that you will be a people holy to
the LORD your God, as he promised. Deuteronomy 26:18,19
If there never is a
faithful
Note how plainly the Lord
spoke of their return in Deuteronomy 30:2-5. With a promised change of their
hearts, this early prediction speaks in the language of the new covenant.
The LORD your God will circumcise your hearts and
the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and
with all your soul, and live … You will again obey the LORD and follow all his
commands … The LORD will again delight in you and make you prosperous, just as
he delighted in your fathers, if you obey the LORD your God and keep his
commands … Deuteronomy 30:6-10
Habakkuk believed that his merciful God would not
abandon his people or forget His covenant with them (Deuteronomy 4:31; Jeremiah
51:5). He also believed that since God is holy, severe chastening was coming.
These were not things Habakkuk imagined. Thus Habakkuk prayed in wrath remember mercy! (3:2). He was
not being irrational. He was simply praying on the foundation of God’s
pronouncements. (See Psalm 89:30-34.) His nation would be judged (Habakkuk
1:12), but a godly remnant would repent and be spared (Jeremiah 50:4,5,20). It
was
The lesson
to us is that the chief guide for prayer is a Biblical view of the God to Whom
we pray. The chief content of prayer is whatever He
presents to us in Scripture. In Habakkuk’s case the issues of wrath and mercy
were not generated by the prophet’s feelings; they were God’s policies, and
Habakkuk knew about God’s character and ways through the revelation of
Scripture. He prayed in accord with what he found in his Bible.
In light of the entire prophecy and the earlier
Scriptures that so greatly affected it, I suggest that Habakkuk’s prayer in 3:2
meant something like this:
“O Lord, in your holy wrath
against us, so well-deserved because of our sin, remember also your covenanted
kindness promised to us, and in mercy preserve us. Show your power in our day
too, just as you did long ago, and so save your remnant and deliver us from
these cruel Gentiles. Cause us to walk with you again in holy fear, in
obedience to your commandments.”
Anyone wishing to get a good understanding of Habakkuk
will benefit greatly from studying the end of Deuteronomy.
Appendix G: The
Deep Waters of the Bible
Deep Waters
in the Old Testament Habakkuk’s prayer resonates with themes
found in the rest of Scripture. Here is one more. I suspect that all of us have
a fear of being cast into the sea to sink to the bottom, knowing we have little
time left and unable to have one more breath of air!! Being drowned in the
depths of the sea with a large millstone hung around one’s neck is a horrible
fate (Matthew 18:6; Ezekiel 27:27). Sometimes a major trial is pictured as the
depths swallowing a person, as in Psalm 69. The angry sea is frightening; it
shows that we are such little people. For God, the sea has been the center of
some of His powerful activity on earth. Habakkuk has given enough clues to
convince us that he had the Exodus in mind in chapter 3, without being so
specific that he precluded all other actions of God related to the waters of
the deep.
The deep waters in creation When the
waters were divided in Habakkuk 3:9, this could be done by making two walls of
water, as in Psalm 78:13. But when land appeared in Genesis 1:9,10, that action
also divided the waters, though in a different way. We miss an enormous
blessing if we simply view this as the appearance of dry ground, without
considering Who did it. “ … Darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the
[almighty and active] Spirit of God was hovering over the waters (Genesis 1:2,
NIV)! We did not see the division of
water at the
The deep waters of the Flood The flood in
Noah’s day was not just an accumulation of rain. “ … on the seventeenth day of
the second month – on that day all the springs of the great deep burst forth,
and the floodgates of the heavens were opened” (Genesis 7:11). The great Lord Who had made the dry land
appear, could make the dry land disappear. Let us not rebel against such a God!
When angry with human sin, He, at the time of His choosing (as on month 2, day
17), may unleash His fury on this earth. Note however, that He also saved eight souls, when He preserved
Noah and his family (2 Peter 2:5). The Great Flood was an exhibition of God’s
judgment and also His saving mercy! This combination of grace (Genesis 6:7,8)
with God’s destructive reaction to sin is at the heart of Habakkuk’s
intercession in Habakkuk 3. Someday the Lord will appear: 1) in blazing wrath
inflicting eternal destruction on all who do not obey the gospel, and 2) at the
same time bringing relief and glorification to His saints (2 Thessalonians
1:5-10). If we get what we deserve it will be #1; if we have the Saviour Who on
the cross took what we deserved, we are given #2, the reward Christ earned for
His own.
The deep waters of the Exodus Just as the
first dividing of water was the old creation, and the Great Flood was a renewal
of the earth and its people, God separated Israel and Egypt, making a
distinction (Exodus 8,9, & 11). This is a foretaste of the ultimate
separation (Matthew 25:31-46), the ultimate judgment, and the ultimate
salvation. In Numbers 16, God’s judgment meant that Dathan and Abiram were
swallowed up in the earth the way Pharaoh died in the water (Deuteronomy
11:4-6).
Subsequent deep waters (
Subsequent deep
waters (Christ in the heart of the earth) Matthew 12:39,41 speaks of Jonah in the
belly of a great fish. From the depths of the grave in the heart of the sea,
poor Jonah prayed in great distress (Jonah 2:1-9). He faced that terror because
of his rebellion, yet found merciful deliverance from the Lord. Our Saviour,
One greater than Jonah, entered (figuratively) into “the heart of the earth”
when He died. He entered into the consequence of our sin (literally) and was
not delivered from the dungeon of death till the third day. Then He rose
because our justification had been secured (Romans 4:25). On account of His
righteousness, Jesus deserved to live; it was our sin that deserved the horrors
of the deep. But our Lord took our place and now grants the free gift of His
righteousness to all who trust Him (Philippians 3:9). Because He entered the
deep for us and rose from it, all who are His will also live (John 14:19). Out
of the depths of our guilt, we sinners cry to the Lord (Psalm 130) and find
forgiveness through the One Who entered for us into the heart of the earth. When
the “mighty waters” of judgment for sin rise, as in Psalm 32:6,7, they will not
overwhelm the person who has made the Lord his hiding place. For those in Christ
Jesus there is no condemnation left; our Lord took it for us on the cross. “Blessed is he whose transgressions are
forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord does
not count against him…” (Psalm 32:1,2; Romans 4:4-8).
The opposite of deep
waters: the heights He enables me
to go on the heights (3:19). Such a contrast as depths and heights in this
short prophecy is deliberate. It is something “thought out” and directed by the
Holy Spirit overseeing every letter of every word in this prophecy. Heights may indicate a military victory,
for normally whoever occupies the high ground, or takes it, is the victor.
After defeating Satan, our Lord has ascended on high (Ephesians 4:8-10).
Deuteronomy has clearly affected Habakkuk, and it is intriguing that expressing
victory as trampling high places were the last words of Moses to Israel
(Deuteronomy 33:29; see also 32:13). Centuries later, I think Habakkuk was
reading Deuteronomy and thus listening to the Lord. This is the way he ended
this prayer in Habakkuk 3. Pharaoh ends up in the bottom of the sea, but
Habakkuk, God’s believer, ends up where? on
the heights, seated with Christ, joined by all who are in Him by faith
(Ephesians 2:6).
[1] For
an example of prophetic censure directed to the nation, see Isaiah 1. Note
there how many topics are covered from religious matters to social issues. See
also the bulk of Jeremiah or the first half of Ezekiel. All the prophets wrote
in a time of great apostasy, thus they called God’s people to repent and gave
as reasons the offenses of the people. (Jonah is an exception; he preached only
to
[2]
The division of the law into two tables is an old Christian tradition.
It is the idea that the first four commandments were on one tablet and the
remaining six on the other. It is a
harmless viewpoint, and in some ways beneficial. The Ten Commandments do fall
into two main categories: a) those related to God and b) those related to our
neighbours. However recent research has
challenged this notion. When covenants were made, there would be two copies of
the agreement. It is likely that in the covenant box which Scripture calls “the
ark of the covenant” the two tablets were two complete sets of the Ten Commandments, God’s copy
and
[3] The 1980 Gallup Poll on religion reported, “We have a revival of feelings but not of the knowledge of God. The church today is more guided by feelings than convictions. We value enthusiasm more than informed commitment.”
[4] My website is: www.grebeweb.com/linden. Other lecture notes are there, many of them in Chinese.
[5] When we say that the reason for justification is faith, we maintain this
distinction:
The ultimate and effective cause of our justification is the obedience of Christ in His entire life of law-keeping and in His sacrificial death for our law-breaking. Faith is the instrumental cause or the means by which we receive the benefit of justification. The ultimate cause is the redemptive ministry of Christ for us as the vicarious representative of His people.
An Illustration: If
one person makes a coat and another person accepts it as a gift, the coat maker
is the efficient cause. Accepting the coat is the means to having it (the
instrumental cause). A person could answer “Why do you have that coat?” in two
ways. He might say, “My friend made it”, or he might say, “It was given to
me.” Faith is resting upon Christ and
receiving the benefit He procured for us. Faith does not manufacture; it is not
the coat maker. It is the coat accepter.
[6] Another illustration may help. A woman told a pastor that her husband had an adulterous affair with another woman. He urged her to tell the husband that he could have her as his wife, OR the other woman, but he could not have both. It had to be one or the other. Paul treats faith for justification as uniquely exclusive of alternatives. His gospel requirement for obtaining the verdict of righteous is one thing only, faith. Faith does not mix with works. It is not partly our obedience and also partly trust in Christ. Only a false justification can come through our righteousness. God’s salvation is by faith in Christ’s obedience. Faith allows no competitor. Faith receives its reward as a gift; the performance of works for God’s acceptance finds its reward as a payment earned (Romans 4:1-5). These two cannot mix; justification is by one and not the other. Justification by faith leaves no opening for any other way.
[7]
The word for servant here in v.16 is different from v.8. In v.16,
the word has the idea of liturgical service. Thus it fits the words, “with
the priestly
duty of proclaiming the gospel of God”.
When the gospel is accepted, Paul has this offering to make to God. The
offering is converted Gentiles, made holy by the effect of the gospel. This
grace of God clashes with the Jewish rejection of Gentiles as “unclean” or
uncircumcised. God has accepted them in Christ, v.7.