Meet the Minor Prophets (Part Eight)
Habakkuk
Like Nahum, Habakkuk the man is another mystery. All that is said of him is that he was a prophet, and the only clue that we can glean from his name is that it means "one who embraces." The postscript at the end of his third chapter Habakkuk 3:19 hints that Habakkuk may have been a Levite or even from a priestly family, but little is known for certain. We can, though, say that he prophesied in and to Judah.
Because so little is known of him, the dating of his short prophecy is also open to conjecture. The book's placement among the Minor Prophets suggests a time not too far removed from the fall of Nineveh, when Babylon began its meteoric ascendency over the Near East. Behind the book is the looming specter of the approaching Chaldeans, who were conquering nations one by one, and Judah lay in their way. This places Habakkuk as writing just before the Babylonian invasion and as being a contemporary of Jeremiah in Jerusalem. A date of 610-605 BC is likely.
The bulk of the first chapter revolves around two questions that Habakkuk poses to Yahwah: 1) How long will You refuse to answer my prayer for deliverance? and 2) Why are You sending such wicked people to punish Judah? The prophet cannot grasp how his holy Yahwah can do such things, for are not the Israelites Yahwah's holy people?
Yahwah's answer to the first question is that, this time, He will not deliver Judah. He has raised the Chaldeans to punish His people for their treachery against the covenant and their mounting sins. He answers Habakkuk's second question in Habakkuk 2:4. In other words, Yahwah is justified in punishing for sin in whatever manner He sees fit, and the righteous will trust Yahwah to do what is best.
The rest of the second chapter is a succession of five "woes" that describe why Yahwah has seen fit to punish Judah. At its end, when it is clear that Yahwah's judgment is just, He says, Habakkuk 2:20. Chapter 3 is Habakkuk's response, a prayer to Yahwah, upon understanding His mind on the matter. It is a hymn of praise and faith in recognition of the righteousness of Yahwah. Though He must punish for sin, He will also save and exalt those He favors.
Habakkuk contains only one prophecy of the coming Messiah: Habakkuk 3:13. This may be an allusion to the woman's seed striking the head of the serpent Genesis 3:15, describing how Yahwah Messiah brings complete salvation through His sacrifice for sin Hebrews 7:25.
Habakkuk
Like Nahum, Habakkuk the man is another mystery. All that is said of him is that he was a prophet, and the only clue that we can glean from his name is that it means "one who embraces." The postscript at the end of his third chapter Habakkuk 3:19 hints that Habakkuk may have been a Levite or even from a priestly family, but little is known for certain. We can, though, say that he prophesied in and to Judah.
Because so little is known of him, the dating of his short prophecy is also open to conjecture. The book's placement among the Minor Prophets suggests a time not too far removed from the fall of Nineveh, when Babylon began its meteoric ascendency over the Near East. Behind the book is the looming specter of the approaching Chaldeans, who were conquering nations one by one, and Judah lay in their way. This places Habakkuk as writing just before the Babylonian invasion and as being a contemporary of Jeremiah in Jerusalem. A date of 610-605 BC is likely.
The bulk of the first chapter revolves around two questions that Habakkuk poses to Yahwah: 1) How long will You refuse to answer my prayer for deliverance? and 2) Why are You sending such wicked people to punish Judah? The prophet cannot grasp how his holy Yahwah can do such things, for are not the Israelites Yahwah's holy people?
Yahwah's answer to the first question is that, this time, He will not deliver Judah. He has raised the Chaldeans to punish His people for their treachery against the covenant and their mounting sins. He answers Habakkuk's second question in Habakkuk 2:4. In other words, Yahwah is justified in punishing for sin in whatever manner He sees fit, and the righteous will trust Yahwah to do what is best.
The rest of the second chapter is a succession of five "woes" that describe why Yahwah has seen fit to punish Judah. At its end, when it is clear that Yahwah's judgment is just, He says, Habakkuk 2:20. Chapter 3 is Habakkuk's response, a prayer to Yahwah, upon understanding His mind on the matter. It is a hymn of praise and faith in recognition of the righteousness of Yahwah. Though He must punish for sin, He will also save and exalt those He favors.
Habakkuk contains only one prophecy of the coming Messiah: Habakkuk 3:13. This may be an allusion to the woman's seed striking the head of the serpent Genesis 3:15, describing how Yahwah Messiah brings complete salvation through His sacrifice for sin Hebrews 7:25.
Meet the Minor Prophets (Part Eight)
Habakkuk
Like Nahum, Habakkuk the man is another mystery. All that is said of him is that he was a prophet, and the only clue that we can glean from his name is that it means "one who embraces." The postscript at the end of his third chapter Habakkuk 3:19 hints that Habakkuk may have been a Levite or even from a priestly family, but little is known for certain. We can, though, say that he prophesied in and to Judah.
Because so little is known of him, the dating of his short prophecy is also open to conjecture. The book's placement among the Minor Prophets suggests a time not too far removed from the fall of Nineveh, when Babylon began its meteoric ascendency over the Near East. Behind the book is the looming specter of the approaching Chaldeans, who were conquering nations one by one, and Judah lay in their way. This places Habakkuk as writing just before the Babylonian invasion and as being a contemporary of Jeremiah in Jerusalem. A date of 610-605 BC is likely.
The bulk of the first chapter revolves around two questions that Habakkuk poses to Yahwah: 1) How long will You refuse to answer my prayer for deliverance? and 2) Why are You sending such wicked people to punish Judah? The prophet cannot grasp how his holy Yahwah can do such things, for are not the Israelites Yahwah's holy people?
Yahwah's answer to the first question is that, this time, He will not deliver Judah. He has raised the Chaldeans to punish His people for their treachery against the covenant and their mounting sins. He answers Habakkuk's second question in Habakkuk 2:4. In other words, Yahwah is justified in punishing for sin in whatever manner He sees fit, and the righteous will trust Yahwah to do what is best.
The rest of the second chapter is a succession of five "woes" that describe why Yahwah has seen fit to punish Judah. At its end, when it is clear that Yahwah's judgment is just, He says, Habakkuk 2:20. Chapter 3 is Habakkuk's response, a prayer to Yahwah, upon understanding His mind on the matter. It is a hymn of praise and faith in recognition of the righteousness of Yahwah. Though He must punish for sin, He will also save and exalt those He favors.
Habakkuk contains only one prophecy of the coming Messiah: Habakkuk 3:13. This may be an allusion to the woman's seed striking the head of the serpent Genesis 3:15, describing how Yahwah Messiah brings complete salvation through His sacrifice for sin Hebrews 7:25.
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