HABAKKUK חבקוק

Jehoiakim was one of the last kings of Judah. The son of King Josiah, Jehoiakim succeeded his younger brother Jehoahaz on the throne of Judah as a result of Jehoahaz’s being deposed by Pharaoh Necho II of Egypt. The prophet Habakkuk apparently ministered during his reign (2 Chron. 36:1–4). Originally named Eliakim, he became king at the age of 25. His name is also sometimes spelled Jehoikim or Joachim.

During Jehoiakim’s reign as a vassal of Egypt, Nebuchadnezzar II invaded Judah and forced Jehoiakim to shift his allegiance to Babylon. Jehoiakim was bitterly opposed by the prophet Jeremiah for his apparently liberal religious policy and his misplaced hope in Egypt. As a result, Jehoiakim burned a manuscript of Jeremiah’s prophecies, ordered his arrest, and executed one of the prophet’s colleagues.

Jehoiakim eventually refused to continue paying tribute to Nebuchadrezzar II, which resulted in a subsequent siege of Jerusalem, just prior to which Jehoiakim died, probably of natural causes. He was succeeded by his son Jehoiachin, who soon surrendered to the Babylonians, resulting in the deportation of many of Jerusalem’s nobles, craftsmen, and other leading citizens.

Habakkuk’s prophecy is one of the briefest in the Old Testament, Habakkuk gives essential revelation regarding our righteous standing before God. Habakkuk 2:4—”the righteous shall live by his faith”—is key to the Apostolic view of justification by faith alone (Rom. 1:16–17; Gal. 3:11).

Habakkuk spoke about justification in a historical context that must be understood if he is to be interpreted rightly. During the period Habakkuk prophesize, control of the city of Babylon alternated between the Assyrians and tribes that lived near the metropolis. However, the Chaldean prince Nabopolasser became ruler of Babylon and broke from Assyria.

We know little about Habakkuk, though his use of the title prophet may indicate he was a professional prophet who served in Jerusalem’s temple (v. 1; see 2 Chron. 18). Yet unlike many of the professional “prophets,” Habakkuk served God, noting clearly when His law was broken and His justice perverted (Hab. 1:2–4).

He apparently ministered during the reign of King Jehoiakim, King Josiah’s son, whom the Egyptians had established in Jerusalem (2 Chron. 36:1–4). Jehoiakim was wicked, and Jerusalem suffered the incursions of Babylon during his reign (vv. 5–8). Jeremiah also prophesied at this time, and he records Jehoiakim’s bloodthirstiness and dishonesty (Jer. 22:11–30; 26).

Habakkuk complains about Jehoiakim’s evil and the complicity of Judah’s ruling class in today’s passage. His complaints are heart-wrenching, flowing from the lips of one who saw the wicked prospering and wondered if perhaps the Lord had forgotten His righteous servants (Hab. 1:2–4).

The Chaldeans have first been mentioned in the Bible as the origin of Abraham: “Ur of the Chaldeans” (Genesis 11:31). Babylon had been under the control of the Assyrians. There were multiple failed uprisings throughout their history. One of its kings, Merodach-Baladan, visited King Hezekiah (2 Kings 20:12-15).

The Chaldeans conquered Babylon and gained their independence. From there, they began to grow, gobbling up chunks of Assyria’s holdings. With the fall of Nineveh (Assyria’s capital), their fate was sealed. When the Chaldeans defeated Egypt and the remnant of Assyria at the city of Carchemish (see Jeremiah 46:2 and note), they became the new masters of the Middle East.

The Chaldeans rose quickly to dominance but only held it for a couple of generations before the Persians “liberated” Babylon from them. The Chaldeans quickly rose to power and fell even faster.

Babylon represents the city with its own agenda, fighting against God and oppressing his people. The city is first introduced by the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11:1-9;).

The New Testament uses similar allusions, using the name Babylon to refer to Rome. We see this in one of Peter’s epistles (1 Peter 5:13) and, most prominently, in Revelation: “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great” (Revelation 14:8, 18:2, quoting Isaiah 21:9).

Nabopolassar was the founder and first king of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, ruling from his coronation as king of Babylon. Though initially only aimed at restoring and securing the independence of Babylonia, Nabopolassar’s uprising against the Neo-Assyrian Empire, which had ruled Babylonia for more than a century, eventually led to the complete destruction of the Assyrian Empire and the rise of the Neo-Babylonian Empire in its place.

Of unclear, possibly Chaldean, origin and potentially connected to a powerful political family in the southern city of Uruk, Nabopolassar revolted against the Neo-Assyrian king Sinsharishkun at an opportune moment when Babylonia was already plagued by political instability.

Though the advantage shifted back and forth dramatically several times, Nabopolassar managed to decisively push the Assyrians out of Babylonia after nearly ten years of fighting. Subsequent campaigns were intended to hinder the possibility of an Assyrian campaign directed at Babylonia by securing the border, but the intervention of the eastern Median Empire under Cyaxares in Nabopolassar’s favor shifted the goals and the possibilities of the war.

Later on, the Medes brutally sacked the city of Assur, the religious and ceremonial heart of Assyria, and then the Medes and Babylonians assaulted Nineveh, Assyria’s capital. As with Assur before it, Nineveh was brutally sacked, with its inhabitants, including children, slaughtered en masse and the entire city being burned to the ground. Sinsharishkun probably died in its defense. Other Assyrian cities, such as Nimrud, were also assaulted and sacked much in the same way.

Habakkuk openly questions the wisdom of God. In the first part of the first chapter, the Prophet sees the injustice among his people and asks why God does not take action. “Yahweh, how long will I cry, and you will not hear? I cry out to you “Violence!” and will you not save?” – (Habakkuk 1:2)

In the middle part of Chapter 1, God explains that he will send the Chaldeans (also known as the Babylonians) to punish his people. In 1:5: “Look among the nations, watch, and wonder marvelously; for I am working a work in your days, which you will not believe though it is told you.” In 1:6: “For, behold, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, that march through the breadth of the earth, to possess dwelling places that are not theirs.”

In the final part of the first chapter, the prophet expresses shock at God’s choice of instrument for judgment. in 1:13: “You who have purer eyes than to see evil, and who cannot look on perversity, why do you tolerate those who deal treacherously, and keep silent when the wicked swallows up the man who is more righteous than he”

Chapter 2: Habakkuk awaits the response of God to his challenge. God explains that He will also judge the Chaldeans, and much more harshly. “Because you have plundered many nations, all the remnant of the peoples will plunder you, because of men’s blood, and for the violence done to the land, to the city, and to all who dwell in it. Woe to him who gets an evil gain for his house.” (Habakkuk 2:8-9)

Chapter 3: Finally, Habakkuk expresses his ultimate faith in God, even if he does not fully understand. “For though the fig tree doesn’t flourish, nor fruit be in the vines; the labor of the olive fails, the fields yield no food; the flocks are cut off from the fold, and there is no herd in the stalls: 3:18 yet I will rejoice in Yahweh. I will be joyful in the God of my salvation!”