In this message we will begin to consider the book of Habakkuk. We will cover the introductory word, the first dialogue between the prophet and Jehovah, and the first part of the second dialogue between these parties. As we will see, the one golden verse in Habakkuk is 2:4: “The righteous one will live by his faith.” This verse is related to God’s eternal salvation, to His salvation of our whole being—spirit, soul, and body. Everything else in Habakkuk is a background for the release of the revelation concerning God’s eternal salvation of sinners. We may compare the book of Habakkuk to a walnut and then say that this verse is the “kernel” of the “walnut.” Thus, as we read Habakkuk, we should focus our attention on this one verse.
The introductory word is found in 1:1.
The name Habakkuk in Hebrew means “embracing” or “clinging to,” signifying that we need to seek God by embracing Him or clinging to Him. For us to receive God’s eternal salvation, we need to be embraced by God, and we need to cling to Him.
Eternal salvation is actually God Himself. God does not save us by remaining in the heavens and stretching out His arm to reach the earth. In order to save us, God became a man on this earth and came to us. The central thought of the four Gospels is that the saving God came out of eternity into time, out of the heavens to earth, and out of divinity into humanity to be a man. In this way He could embrace man and man could cling to Him.
While God was saving us, He was not in the appearance, the form, of God. Rather, He was in the form of a man named Jesus. Hosea 11:4 tells us that God draws us with the cords of a man, with the bands of love. The saving cords of love are Christ’s humanity. The account of Zaccheus in Luke 19:1-10 shows us the way God saves us by coming to us. In order to be saved by God, we must be embraced by God and we must cling to Him.
The time of Habakkuk’s ministry was about 626 B.C. This was close to the time of the Babylonian invasion and the exile to Babylon.
The place of his ministry was Judah.
The object of his ministry was the southern kingdom of Judah.
The subject of Habakkuk’s ministry is the righteous judgment of God first on Israel by the Chaldeans and then on the Chaldeans by the nations. First, God judged His elect; God’s judgment begins from His house (1 Pet. 4:17). Then God turned His judgment to the Chaldeans, using the nations to judge them. The Babylonian Empire was defeated by the Medo-Persian Empire; the Medo-Persian Empire was defeated by the Greek Empire; the Greek Empire was defeated by the Roman Empire; and the Roman Empire, restored under Antichrist, will be defeated by Christ in His coming to destroy the entire human government, as described in Daniel 2:31-44.
The central thought of Habakkuk is this: the righteous God will judge both the evil Israel and the violent Chaldeans, and only the righteous one shall live by his faith (2:4b), that all the earth may know the glory of Jehovah (2:14) and be silent before Jehovah, who is in His holy temple (2:20), and that His seeker may sing to Him in prayer, in lauding, and in trusting in Him (ch. 3).
The book of Habakkuk has four sections: the introductory word (1:1); the first dialogue between the prophet and Jehovah (1:2-11); the second dialogue between the prophet and Jehovah (1:12—2:20); and the prophet’s song to Jehovah in prayer, lauding, and trusting in Him (3:1-19).