The Minor Prophets Dr. Rick Griffith, Singapore Bible College Habakkuk Title Slide

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The title comes from a Hebrew root word for "to embrace." However whether the embracing is to be taken in an active (the embracer) or passive (the embraced) sense, remains a mystery to us. 628 Title

Habakkuk is not known outside 1:1 that simply describes him as "the prophet." 628 Author

The time of the writing of is debated from: 700 BC (too early since Assyrians are in view) 300 BC (too late since Greek forces are in view) The prophecy names Babylonian invaders (1:6) so it was likely written near the end of Josiah's reign ( BC), probably after the 612 BC destruction of Nineveh by the combined forces of the Babylonians, Medians, and Scythians. This time was BC. 628 Date

AssyrianNeo-BabylonianPersian World powers Fall of Thebes 663BC Ashurbanipal Kings of Assyria Ashuretililani Sinsharishkun Ashuruballit ii Fall of Nineveh 612BC Judah ManassehJosiah Jehoiakim zedekiah AmonJehoahaz Jehoiachin Nahum Captivity of Judah to Babylon (586) Restoration from Exile Nahum, Habakkuk & their contemporaries Habakkuk Kings of Judah 560 Timeline

While the prophecy concerned Babylon, it was directed towards the people of Judah. 628Recipients

An Evil End to Judah Jehoahaz (Shallum) 609 (3 mos.) Josiah (31 yrs.) Josiah (31 yrs.) Jehoiakim (Eliakim) (11 yrs.) 256 Good king in white Evil kings in yellow Evil kings caused the prophet's first perplexity: "How long, O L ORD, must I call for help, but you do not listen? Or cry out to you, 'Violence!' but you do not save?" (Hab. 1:2).

How should we deal with injustice right inside the family of faith? Key Word for Habakkuk: Faith Have faith that God will address this issue in his time and way.

Literary Structure of Habakkuk

Book Chart Habakkuk: Babylon's Destruction Chapters 1–2Chapter 3 Punishment of BabylonPraise Song Habakkuk's PerplexityHabakkuk's Praise God's Actions ChallengedGod's Actions Commended Faith TroubledFaith Triumphant ProblemResolution HabakkukGodHabakkukGodHabakkuk Why aren't you judging Judah's sin, God? I will. I'll judge Judah with the Babylonians! But can you use a nation more wicked than Judah? Sure, but I'll judge them too. In wrath remember mercy. Our God is an awesome God! I'll wait patiently for Babylon's judgment and rejoice in God. 1:1-41:5-111:12–2:12:2-203:1-23:3-153:16-19 Judah c BC 627

Habakkuk 1:3 "Why must I look on injustice?"

Habakkuk 1:5-11: God's Unexpected Response

Habakkuk 1:6 " " "I am raising up the Babylonians, that ruthless and impetuous people, who sweep across the whole earth to seize dwelling places not their own."

MediterraneanSea Syria Egypt Babylonian Expansion Israel PersianGulf Judah Babylon 586 BC The Babylonian Threat

(Neo-Babylonian Empire) BC (Neo-Babylonian Empire) BC

Waiting for an Answer (Hab. 2:1) "I will stand on my guard post And station myself on the rampart; And I will keep watch to see what He will speak to me, And how I may reply when I am reproved."

Habakkuk 2:1 1.Greed (2:6-8) 2.Exploitation (2:9-11)

Habakkuk 2:9 "Woe to him who builds his realm by unjust gain to set his nest on high, to escape the clutches of ruin!"

Habakkuk 2:1 1.Greed (2:6-8) 2.Exploitation (2:9-11) 3.Violence (2:12-14)

Habakkuk 2:14 “For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the L ORD, as the waters cover the sea.” – Habakkuk 2:14

Habakkuk 2:14 = Psalm 2:8? “Ask of me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession.” Ps. 2:8 NLT

Habakkuk 2:1 1.Greed (2:6-8) 2.Exploitation (2:9-11) 3.Violence (2:12-14) 4.Immorality (2:15-17)

Habakkuk 2:15 "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."

Habakkuk 2:1 1.Greed (2:6-8) 2.Exploitation (2:9-11) 3.Violence (2:12-14) 4.Immorality (2:15-17) 5.Idolatry (2:18-20)

Self-made idols are worthless Watcha doin' up here, Kid? …Just enjoying God's creation. Have you ever seen God? Nope. Then how do you know he even exists? I just know. … It's called "faith." It must take incredible faith to believe in a God you can't see. Not really. THAT, takes incredible faith.

Book Chart Habakkuk: Babylon's Destruction Chapters 1–2Chapter 3 Punishment of BabylonPraise Song Habakkuk's PerplexityHabakkuk's Praise God's Actions ChallengedGod's Actions Commended Faith TroubledFaith Triumphant ProblemResolution HabakkukGodHabakkukGodHabakkuk Why aren't you judging Judah's sin, God? I will. I'll judge Judah with the Babylonians! But can you use a nation more wicked than Judah? Sure, but I'll judge them too. In wrath remember mercy. Our God is an awesome God! I'll wait patiently for Babylon's judgment and rejoice in God. 1:1-41:5-111:12–2:12:2-203:1-23:3-153:16-19 Judah c BC 627

Habakkuk 3:1-2 “A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet. On shigionoth. 2 L ORD, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, O L ORD. Renew them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy.”

Habakkuk 3:17 Expected Budding

Hab. 3:17-18 "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, 18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior."

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 (Hab. 3:16). BABYLON FELL (539 BC ) Cyrus entered under the water gates Daniel 5 (Belshazzar's Feast)

Habakkuk 3:18 "yet I will rejoice in the L ORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior."

Habakkuk 3:19 “The Sovereign L ORD is my strength; He makes my feet like the feet of a deer, He enables me to go on the heights.” – Habakkuk 3:19

Theology of Habakkuk

God as Judge Since the Lord's "eyes are too pure to look on evil" (1:13), He had to judge these sins of injustice against others: Theology of Habakkuk 2.However, the Babylonians were a proud and unjust nation that greedily built its empire by exploiting and robbing other nations. Once He had used the Babylonians for His purposes, the Lord would judge them as well. 1.Since Judah was plagued by violence and a disregard for God's standards, the covenant curses would be implemented against the nation (cf. 1:5-11) through the Babylonians as God's instrument of judgment.

Theology of Habakkuk

Evil is doomed but the righteous rely on God's promises. "… but the righteous will live by his faith –" (Habakkuk 2:4 Key Verse) Application 1.Do you keep on doing the right thing, regardless of what happens? 2.Do you trust in God despite the perplexities of your life? Material blessing may or may not come to the righteous, but true rest and joy will come to the one who waits in faith on the Lord. Faith is the victory! 627

REVIEW QUIZ on Habakkuk 1.Habakkuk complained to God about the injustice and sin of _____. 2.Habakkuk reacts to the news that God will use _______ to correct his people. 3.What key phrase is quoted in the New Testament three times? "The _______ will ___ by ____." 4.This book teaches that the answer to "Why?" is "____." REVIEW QUIZ on Habakkuk 1.Habakkuk complained to God about the injustice and sin of _____. 2.Habakkuk reacts to the news that God will use _______ to correct his people. 3.What key phrase is quoted in the New Testament three times? "The _______ will ___ by ____." 4.This book teaches that the answer to "Why?" is "____."

REVIEW QUIZ on Habakkuk 1.Habakkuk complained to God about the injustice and sin of Judah. 2.Habakkuk reacts to the news that God will use _______ to correct his people. 3.What key phrase is quoted in the New Testament three times? "The _______ will ___ by ____." 4.This book teaches that the answer to "Why?" is "____." REVIEW QUIZ on Habakkuk 1.Habakkuk complained to God about the injustice and sin of Judah. 2.Habakkuk reacts to the news that God will use _______ to correct his people. 3.What key phrase is quoted in the New Testament three times? "The _______ will ___ by ____." 4.This book teaches that the answer to "Why?" is "____."

REVIEW QUIZ on Habakkuk 1.Habakkuk complained to God about the injustice and sin of Judah. 2.Habakkuk reacts to the news that God will use Babylon to correct his people. 3.What key phrase is quoted in the New Testament three times? "The _______ will ___ by ____." 4.This book teaches that the answer to "Why?" is "____." REVIEW QUIZ on Habakkuk 1.Habakkuk complained to God about the injustice and sin of Judah. 2.Habakkuk reacts to the news that God will use Babylon to correct his people. 3.What key phrase is quoted in the New Testament three times? "The _______ will ___ by ____." 4.This book teaches that the answer to "Why?" is "____."

REVIEW QUIZ on Habakkuk 1.Habakkuk complained to God about the injustice and sin of Judah. 2.Habakkuk reacts to the news that God will use Babylon to correct his people. 3.What key phrase is quoted in the New Testament three times? "The righteous will live by faith." 4.This book teaches that the answer to "Why?" is "____." REVIEW QUIZ on Habakkuk 1.Habakkuk complained to God about the injustice and sin of Judah. 2.Habakkuk reacts to the news that God will use Babylon to correct his people. 3.What key phrase is quoted in the New Testament three times? "The righteous will live by faith." 4.This book teaches that the answer to "Why?" is "____."

REVIEW QUIZ on Habakkuk 1.Habakkuk complained to God about the injustice and sin of Judah. 2.Habakkuk reacts to the news that God will use Babylon to correct his people. 3.What key phrase is quoted in the New Testament three times? "The righteous will live by faith." 4.This book teaches that the answer to "Why?" is "Who." REVIEW QUIZ on Habakkuk 1.Habakkuk complained to God about the injustice and sin of Judah. 2.Habakkuk reacts to the news that God will use Babylon to correct his people. 3.What key phrase is quoted in the New Testament three times? "The righteous will live by faith." 4.This book teaches that the answer to "Why?" is "Who."

1)Leave the passages as they are. 2)Omit 1:5-11 or to place 1:5-11 before 1:2, as the opening verses of the prophecy. 3)Place 1:5-11 after 2: Problem Issues Interpretation of Chapters 1 & 2 (3 views):

More than half of the book has been denied to the prophet Habakkuk. If the prophecy is rightly interpreted (see above), no valid reason for rejecting 1:5-11 can be found. Habakkuk 2:9-10 is denied to Habakkuk chiefly on two grounds: 1. The "woes" are supposedly unsuitable to be addressed to the Chaldaean king. 2. Some parts, especially verses 12-14, "consist largely of citations and reminiscences of other passages, including some late ones" (compare verse 12 with Mic 3:10; verse 13 with Jer 51:58; verse 14 with Isa 11:9; verse 16b with Jer 25:15-16; verses with Isa 44:9 ff; 46:6-7; 10:1-16). 1. The "woes" are supposedly unsuitable to be addressed to the Chaldaean king. 2. Some parts, especially verses 12-14, "consist largely of citations and reminiscences of other passages, including some late ones" (compare verse 12 with Mic 3:10; verse 13 with Jer 51:58; verse 14 with Isa 11:9; verse 16b with Jer 25:15-16; verses with Isa 44:9 ff; 46:6-7; 10:1-16). 628 Integrity of 1:5-11; 2:9-20 & 3

Chapter 3 is denied to the prophet even more persistently because chapter 3 is a psalm being designed for use in the temple worship. This has led some scholars who prefer to think that the temple worship attained comparative purity and an advanced theology only in the period after the Exile to date the psalm in the post-Exilic period. Further support to the argument seems to be found in the fact that the Habakkuk commentary found among the Qumran Scrolls makes no reference to the third chapter of Habakkuk. Chapter 3 is denied to the prophet even more persistently because chapter 3 is a psalm being designed for use in the temple worship. This has led some scholars who prefer to think that the temple worship attained comparative purity and an advanced theology only in the period after the Exile to date the psalm in the post-Exilic period. Further support to the argument seems to be found in the fact that the Habakkuk commentary found among the Qumran Scrolls makes no reference to the third chapter of Habakkuk. 628 Other Accusations

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