For those who may wish to ‘study’ this chapter, the following simple resources are provided for you. Each passage has a four-Part approach to help you take in and think further about what you have read.

Passage: Habakkuk 1:1-4

1 The prophecy that Habakkuk the prophet received.

2 How long, Lord, must I call for help,
    but you do not listen?
Or cry out to you, ‘Violence!’
    but you do not save?
3 Why do you make me look at injustice?
    Why do you tolerate wrongdoing?
Destruction and violence are before me;
    there is strife, and conflict abounds.
4 Therefore the law is paralysed,
    and justice never prevails.
The wicked hem in the righteous,
    so that justice is perverted.

A. Find Out:

1. What was Habakkuk’s first question? v.2a
2. What was his second? v.2b
3. What was his third? v.3a
4. What was his fourth? v.3b
5. What did he say was common in society? v.3c,d
6. With what result? v.4

B. Think:

1. What did Habakkuk see was the state of the land?
2. What do you think he expected God to do?
3. Why was he feeling disillusioned?

C. Comment:

     Habakkuk is a prophet, a man of God, a righteous man, a man who cares about right and wrong, and as he looks out on his world he sees so much that is wrong with it and grieves. More than this he wonders why the Lord tolerates it and why He’s not doing something about it. Israel after all, are supposed to be the covenant people of God and to see his society pervaded by violence, injustice, strife, and conflict, grieves his heart.

     At this point many of us would keep quiet, grumble to ourselves, or quietly blame God, but not Habakkuk. Habakkuk is a prophet and prophets are all about communication with God, and if God doesn’t seem to be communicating with him, he needs to communicate with God. Chapter 3 may be designated ‘A Prayer’ (3:1) but verses 2-4 are really just a prayer, Habakkuk crying out to the Lord.

     There is an important lesson here. Many Christians hold onto feelings that they feel guilty about, questions they have, doubts that have arisen, and keep them to themselves, almost as if the Lord won’t see them. He sees everything, so we really do need to be honest with Him and with ourselves, just like Habakkuk was. He’s a good example!

D. Application:

1. Do you feel frustrated with the world? Don’t keep it to yourself, cry it out to the Lord.
2. Does my relationship with the Lord allow me to be completely honest and upfront with Him?

Passage: Habakkuk 1:5-11

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.
6 I am raising up the Babylonians,
    that ruthless and impetuous people,
who sweep across the whole earth
    to seize dwellings not their own.
7 They are a feared and dreaded people;
    they are a law to themselves
    and promote their own honour.
8 Their horses are swifter than leopards,
    fiercer than wolves at dusk.
Their cavalry gallops headlong;
    their horsemen come from afar.
They fly like an eagle swooping to devour;
9     they all come intent on violence.
Their hordes advance like a desert wind
    and gather prisoners like sand.
10 They mock kings
    and scoff at rulers.
They laugh at all fortified cities;
    by building earthen ramps they capture them.
11 Then they sweep past like the wind and go on –
    guilty people, whose own strength is their god.’

A. Find Out:    

1. What does the Lord tell Habakkuk to do and why? v.5
2. Who is He going to bring? v.6a
3. What do they do? v.6c,8d, 11a
4. How are they viewed? v.7a
5. Who and what are not obstacles to them? v.10

B. Think:

1. What is God’s answer to the violence in the land?
2. Why does He say it is difficult for Habakkuk to believe?
3. Why do you think He goes into all the descriptive detail?

C. Comment:

      Habakkuk has just cried out and asked why does the Lord tolerate the violence and injustice in the land, and so now the Lord gives His answer. Put in its simplest form it would be, “I’m going to remove it by the use of an alien army!” Now there are various things to be noted here.

     First, note that the Lord warns Habakkuk that he may have difficulty in believing what he’s hearing. There are times when what the Lord says actually seems difficult. For instance, if you thought you were hearing the Lord say He was going to reduce the size of your church you might think it was the enemy speaking. But if you saw that in the context of the Lord pruning His plant (Jn 15:2) you might understand. (It happened to the writer). Sometimes we have to hold on and ask the Lord for clarification. Here the Lord gives it.

       The Lord is not content to make the bald statement of v.6a, He goes on to describe this people that will come as a devastating, unstoppable, cleansing force. Sometimes the Lord repeats the word, sometimes He expands the word, just so that we will have our attention caught and we’ll take in what He is saying. This is an enormous thing that He is saying and so He doesn’t want Habakkuk, or us, to treat it lightly and so He makes us read of the awfulness of this army that is coming so we fully appreciate the seriousness of what He is saying.

D. Application:

1. Learn to listen to the Lord.
2. Sometimes you will have to receive His word by faith alone.

Passage: Habakkuk 1:12-17

12 Lord, are you not from everlasting?
    My God, my Holy One, you will never die.
You, Lord, have appointed them to execute judgment;
    you, my Rock, have ordained them to punish.
13 Your eyes are too pure to look on evil;
    you cannot tolerate wrongdoing.
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 people like the fish in the sea,
    like the 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 drag-net;
    and so he rejoices and is glad.
16 Therefore he sacrifices to his net
    and burns incense to his drag-net,
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?

A. Find Out:

1. How is the Lord described & what does Habakkuk declare? v.12a,b
2. What does he acknowledge he’s heard? v.12c,d
3. Yet what problem does he have? v.13
4. What are people like & what does the enemy do with them? v.14,15
5. How does the enemy view his success? v.16
6. So what question is Habakkuk left with? v.17

B. Think:

1. What point is Habakkuk making in verse 12?
2. What point is he making in verse 13?
3. What point is he making in the remainder of the verses?

C. Comment:

   In verse 12 Habakkuk affirms his trust in the Lord. He knows the Lord is his God who he has known about through the experiences of Israel with the Lord. He trusts that though the Lord says He will bring punishment, it will not be total destruction; Israel will continue to live. When we view the history of the exile, we know this was true.

     But then he faces another problem. God is holy so how can He tolerate using a foreign people who are ungodly and unrighteous, who have no time for the Lord and just do whatever they want to do in a destructive manner. It’s as if Habakkuk then goes on with the following meaning: “Lord, it’s as if you’ve made people as helpless as fish in the sea and this invader comes along like a fisherman and catches them, either by hook and line or by nets. He just does this to his heart’s content and then when he views himself successful, he simply worships the gods of fishing. How can you use someone like that?”

     There is a big lesson coming up that Habakkuk is about to learn: the Lord can use whoever He pleases as He works out His plans and purposes, but that doesn’t mean to say that He agrees with them, or approves them or, more importantly, will let His unrighteous instruments get away with their unrighteousness. Yes, Habakkuk aptly describes them, but that is not the end of the story!

D. Application:

1. Don’t be surprised at who the Lord uses in His purposes.
2. Don’t confuse usefulness with righteousness.