STUDIES IN HABAKKUK

2. STUDIES IN HABAKKUK

3. CAN YOU SPELL THIS BOOK?

4. H and an A, • B and an A, • K and a K, • U and a K.

5. H-and-an-A, B-and-an-A, K-and-a-K, U-and-a-K. • HABAKKUK !

6. HabakkukThe Unsatisifed Prophet • “And Jehovah answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tablets, that he may run that readeth it. For the vision is yet for the appointed time, and it hasteth toward the end, and shall not lie:…”

7. “…though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not delay. Behold, his soul is puffed up, it is not upright in him; but the righteous shall live by his faith” (Habakkuk 2:2-4 ASV, and all succeeding quotations).

8. “Habakkuk is eminently the prophet of reverential awe-filled faith” (E. B. Pusey, The Minor Prophets, Funk & Wagnalls, Publishers, New York, 1885, Vol. II, p. 165).

9. There is only one word that God addresses to his people, and that word is their lack of faith.

10. This book of Habakkuk challenges them with the word of God: • “I am working a work in your days, which ye will not believe though it be told you” (Habakkuk 1:5).

11. Yet, to the people of Judah in 605 B. C., it seems that “Truth was surely on the scaffold and wrong upon the throne” (Raymond Calkins, The Modern Message of the Minor Prophets, Harper & Brothers, New York, 1947, p. 93).

12. This prophet is styled the “’freethinker among the prophets,’ and in a sense the ‘father of Israel’s religious doubt’;…”

13. “…but he was also a man of strong faith, just the sort of man whom God customarily commissions to usher in new epochs of church history” (George L. Robinson, The Twelve Minor Prophets, Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1965, p. 119).

14. In the midst of a terrible and evil nation coming against them, Habakkuk calls for them to be a people of faith. • Robinson goes on to portray Habakkuk as a “philosopher, earnest and candid,…”

15. “…and possessed of unusual originality and force, sensitive, speculative, ‘the suppliant’ among the prophets, and the preacher of theocratic optimism” (ibid).

16. “Instead of taking Jehovah’s message directly to the people, he takes the complaint of the people to Jehovah, representing them in the complaint….The book opens with a cry to Jehovah…”

17. “…In response, Jehovah points to the rising Chaldean power as His instrument of judgment against Judah’s sins” (Homer Hailey, A Commentary on the Minor Prophets, Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1972, p. 272).

18. “There is no Old Testament book that is able to do more for the burdened souls of men or to raise them to higher levels of hope and confidence than the brief prophecy of Habakkuk” (Calkins, p. 92).

19. The Book of the Twelve • In order to understand this little three chapter book, one should take into account the entire scope of the twelve books of “Minor Prophets,” as they are styled. This title is owed to St. Augustine (circa. 354-430 AD) due to their brevity.

20. However in Hebrew literature they were uniformly called “The Book of the Twelve.” Originally they were collected in four volumes until about 200 B. C. when it seems some questions of canonicity were solved.

21. In the Hebrew Bible they come after the Pentateuch and the historical books. In the Septuagint (LXX), the Greek version of the Old Testament, the arrangement of their order is slightly different than in English versions (Calkins, p. 3-4).

22. There were usually three ways God communicated with men during this time. • One was through speech, another was by written word, and yet another was by symbolic actions.

23. So far as is recorded, symbolic actions were not used during the period of the Twelve, but such were well known in the days of Jeremiah and Ezekiel.

24. Three things should be kept in mind when one studies the prophets of this period. • First, one should keep in mind the political, moral, social, and religious conditions and how the prophet proposed to meet them.

25. Second, God’s relations with the heathen nations had a major effect on each prophet. • Third, major points about the future kingdom and king were much in evidence and should be considered (Hailey, pp. 21-24).

26. “Among the writings of the prophets are to be found some of the most beautiful, majestic, and artistic expressions of all literature…”

27. “…Although the prophet was inspired and spoke as the Spirit directed, Jehovah allowed the personality and background of each man to shine through his message, making the book throb with both the life of man and of God” (Hailey, p. 12).

28. Perhaps during this time, one of the worst evils was the people’s perception of God. • They paid tithes, observed Sabbaths, held prescribed festivals, and made pilgrimages to sacred places.

29. Yet, in spite of such devotions, they seemed not to know Yahweh. • They sought His sanctuaries, offered His sacrifices, but it seemed they did not seek or know Him.

30. “To the mass of the people, to their governors, their priests, and the most of the prophets, Yahweh was but the characteristic Semitic deity – patron of His people, and caring for them alone –…”

31. “… who had helped them in the past, and was bound to help them still– jealous as to the correctness of His ritual and the amount of His sacrifices, but indifferent about morality” (George Adam Smith, The Book of the Twelve Prophets, Harper & Brothers, New York, 1928, p. 37).

32. One notices during this prophetic period how different were the men God used. • “Amos was a herdsman and Micah a countryman. Zephaniah was an aristocrat of royal blood, and Zechariah a leader of his people in Palestine;…”

33. “…Zephaniah was a young man and Haggai an old man. Habakkuk was sensitive and introspective. Nahum was a thunderbolt, the whole force of whose invective was let loose against Nineveh…”

34. “…The author of the Book of Jonah is one of broad charity and humanitarianism. Joel seethes with an intense nationalism. Hosea, we say, tells us of the love of God…”

35. “…Obadiah is the incarnation of hatred. • No set of men could have been more dissimilar in outward circumstances” (Calkins, p. 11).

36. The era of “The Book of the Twelve” speaks of the experiences and personalities of each prophet. • These are days of dark tragedy, the impending doom of Judah and its captivity.

37. This is a picture of 500 hundred years of unbroken calamity, with but fleeting glimpses of prosperity and peace. • These men were cast into the depths of darkness but they never wholly despaired.

38. Even the saddest and sternest of these great men always issued a call for hope, a call for trust in God. • These twelve were stalwarts in their faith in God.

39. Though it seems these books are overcome with dire words of doom and damnation, it must be remembered that such warnings were relevant to the moral and religious situations of their day.

40. In spite of changing times and new gadgets of today, the teachings of these prophets still speak to the issues of today. • “Men still trust in material strength and delight in wealth and luxury while they forget God…”

41. “…There is nothing particularly new about lying, killing, stealing, and committing adultery. Oppression and injustice are rampant. • Men still tend to heed the speaker who presents the pleasant message and assures them that their deeds are satisfactory…”

42. “…Men prefer to make amends by sacrifice rather than to do right” (Jack P. Lewis, The Minor Prophets, Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1966, p. 8).

43. So, properly interpreted, these twelve books still speak vividly today. • They still insist that Jehovah God is the Final Arbiter of history.

44. Introducing the Twelve • The Bible is a library of books, not just a single book. It comprises books written over 1600 years: from Moses to John (about 40 men were involved). These men were of diverse backgrounds, nations, and cultures.

45. Note the remarkable unity in telling one grand theme: God’s wondrous scheme of redemption fulfilled in Jesus Christ the Son of God. • No greater argument can be given for the literal verbal inspiration of the Bible than this remarkable unity.

46. Many attempts have been made the fathom the mystery of Jehovah. • The flight of birds, the passage of clouds, storms, earthquakes, floods, and upheavals have caused many speculations.

47. The rustling of the leaves (2 Samuel 5:24), birth defects, birthmarks, skin blotches, shaking of arrows (Ezekiel 21:21-22), divinations, and omens (Leviticus 19:26; Numbers 23:23; 24:1) were all meaningful to the times.

48. There were definite differences between true and false prophets. • The nature of the deities they claimed was opposite to the nature of Jehovah. • The character of the truths claimed differed widely.

49. Their manner of the prophetic behavior (ecstasies, dreams versus preaching) was across a gulf of difference. • Predictions and their fulfillment (Deuteronomy 18:22) separated quickly the false and true prophet.

50. “And if thou say in thy heart, How shall we know the word which Jehovah hath not spoken?” (Deuteronomy 18:21)