Question
What is the key verse in the book of Habakkuk? Who wrote the book of Habakkuk?
Answer
First, Habakkuk wrote the book and probably around 625 B.C. or so. The primary purpose of his writing was to prepare the people for what was to come, they would be defeated and conquered by the Babylonians. Besides declaring these judgments against Judah (the southern kingdom – Israel being divided in 931 B.C. and northern kingdom being destroyed by Assyria in 722 B.C.), Habakkuk also revealed his perplexities and God’s responses to them. Therefore, we learn more about why God deals with His people in the ways that he does along with the actual prophecies themselves.
In chapter one, Habakkuk presents God with his disturbing problem, how long is the wickedness of Judah going to continue? God gave the answer, not long because I (God) will judge the nation by bringing against them the dreaded wicked Babylonian Empire.
This raises another question to the prophet, “How can God use a wicked nation to judge His people?” Bod responds in two parts by saying, first, those who we be pleasing to me will trust me and obey me, even if they do not understand all my judgments. From this, comes the most famous verses from the book, Hab. 2:4. This verse is repeated in the New Testament show us how we should live by trusting and obeying God, not seeking to understand all aspects of God which we can never do. Rom 1:16-17, Gal. Gal. 3:9-29, Heb. 10:35-39.
Then, God says that He will punish the Babylonians because of their pride and wickedness. Hab. 2. God would use the Medes and the Persians to conquer Babylon.
In Habakkuk, we see God judging the nations, including His own people when needed. We see God using wicked nations to judge others and then punishing them when their wickedness reaches an intolerable level. Finally, we see God telling Habakkuk, no matter what comes, put your confidence and obedient trust in Me. Hab. 3, especially verses 16-19.
By Gary Hunt
