The following is an edited snip from a sermon, “Habakkuk,” that I gave on October 2, 1997.
“The burden which the prophet Habakkuk saw.”
—Habakkuk 1:1
Habakkuk provides a very simple introduction. He does not write, “In the tenth year, in the tenth month of the reign of a certain king, Habakkuk the prophet, from a certain town, who was a Levite and a priest, saw a vision.” Instead, he simply writes, “This is what the prophet Habakkuk saw.” Immediately, we see a glimpse of Habakkuk’s character. He removes himself almost entirely from the book; he is not interested in promoting himself or his pedigree. His book is a straightforward narrative of his conversation with God.
All we really know about Habakkuk is that he was the prophet at the time. He is an obscure biblical character, not appearing anywhere else in Scripture. In effect, we can learn nothing about him except what meager hints he gives in this short book. The Bible contains no extraneous details about him, but it is possible to extrapolate a few things about him. He may have been a Levite, one of the singers or musicians in the Temple—perhaps one of the sons of Asaph—because he writes a fine song that comprises his third chapter.
Even his name is uncertain. It seems not even to be Hebrew but foreign, an Akkadian word. Moreover, its meaning is disputed, the best guess being that Habakkuk means “embracer,” even “hugger,” or “one who wrestles.” He wrestles with the problems he and Judah are facing throughout the whole book. He holds onto God, wrestles Him, for an answer—like what Jacob did with God in Genesis 32:24-30—and he does not let go because he wants God to answer his troubling questions.
The date of the book is also uncertain. We know a general time; it was probably written within twenty-five years of Jerusalem’s fall, somewhere between 610-585 BC. This period begins after Nineveh fell to the Babylonians (also called Chaldeans) in 612, about the time that Nebuchadnezzar was besieging Tyre and before he moved against Jerusalem. His first attack on Jerusalem occurred in 604, so the general consensus is that Habakkuk was probably written sometime during Nebuchadnezzar’s siege of Tyre.
The awesome, dreadful might of the Chaldeans prowled just one country away, and the kingdom of Judah was sinking further into sin. Josiah, one of Judah’s best kings, had died, and his sons had failed to hold the country together morally. Judah feared they would be next in the domino of nations falling to Babylon, and they were terrified because word had reached them of how the Chaldeans treated those they conquered. Judah’s day of reckoning was near, and so Habakkuk’s cry to God is only a natural response of a man who loved his people and his nation.
Habakkuk’s situation fits current circumstances closely. America is in decline, and we sense that its fall is not far off. Its citizens are sinking further into sin, and national repentance seems unlikely. We fear that the nation could crumple quickly, even though it is still the world’s superpower. Just one terrorist with a briefcase-size nuclear bomb could hold this country hostage because no President would want to give up Houston, Denver, Seattle, Chicago—or any city in the United States—to call the bluff of some terrorist group or nation that decides it will cut America down to size.
Not only that, things happening in the church are making people ask questions, even of God Himself: “Why are you doing this, God?” “Why is the church disintegrating?” “Who are these people that have come in and destroyed the doctrines of the church?” “Why have You allowed it to happen?”
Habakkuk asks similar questions. He does not know what to think because events did not seem to be tracking with what he knows of God. One of his main questions is, “Why is God working in this way?”
Sometimes it seems that two and two do not quite equal four, but intellectually, we know that two and two always make four with God. Click To TweetLike Habakkuk, we want to reconcile what we know of God and His character with current events. We understand that He is sovereign, and things do not happen unless He wills or allows them. However, from our perspective, sometimes it seems that two and two do not quite equal four, but intellectually, we know that two and two always make four with God. Our perspective is just not the same as His. So, we must go to God for answers when things do not seem to be going the way we expect them to. This conundrum contains the real value of this little, obscure book: It helps to answer these kinds of questions.
Habakkuk calls his prophetic message a “burden,” an important word. Sometimes God’s ministers, especially the prophets, had to deliver messages that their audiences did not want to hear. Speaking God’s words is often a burden because they are rarely sweetness and light. “Sweetness and light” seems to come only at the end of the message, as a quick conclusion to an otherwise unpleasant matter. What makes the message so burdensome are the heavy, depressing, terrible things that comprise the main part of the message: sin! rebellion! warnings! threats! suffering! war! famine! disease! destruction! death!
In addition, we all know what happens to the messenger who bears bad news—nobody likes him, many hate him, and sometimes he gets his head cut off! People who hear bad news too often take their wrath, disappointment, and frustration out on the messenger. So, it is no wonder Habakkuk says his message is a burden! He bears a heavy load: He must tell his people something that they will despise, and because he is the one who says it, they will despise him.
Thus, as he begins, Habakkuk says, “All right, here goes. You will not like what I have to say here, but read on.” And so he presents his “burden.”
