The book of Habakkuk is named for the prophet of Judah who lived to see the nation fall from the blessings of godly King Josiah’s reign to diving headlong back into idolatry. Habakkuk surveyed the spiritual state of the people and marveled that God didn’t stop the violence, strife, contention, and iniquity that was running rampant in Jerusalem. God told him that he would not let this continue but would chasten Judah by raising up the “Chaldeans” (Babylon) to come and batter the land and take the people captive. Babylon was a dreadful nation to their enemies; strong, fast, and ruthless. They were everything you do not want your enemy to be.
This presented another problem for Habakkuk (Hab. 1:13). Since God is holy and cannot bear to look upon sin, and will not allow His people to continue to live in iniquity, how God could raise up a nation who is worse than His own people and give them strength and power? He decided he would wait on the Lord to answer. Habakkuk 2:1 I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what he will say unto me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved.
Something wasn’t adding up in the mind of Habakkuk. He came upon a dilemma that he couldn’t understand in reconciling God’s sovereignty and the problem of evil. In his mind there seemed to be a contradiction. He said I will see what God says and then I’ll have my answer when I have been corrected. This is the way to come to God’s Word. Too often people will pick up the Bibles trying to prove themselves right instead of sitting and being reproved and taught by God. Habakkuk assumed he was the one with the problem, not God.
Because Habakkuk knew that there was no contradiction in God, and God is both sovereign and holy, he knew the problem was not with God but with himself and his understanding. So he sought God in humility to be shown where he was wrong. Habakkuk 2:4 Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith. Pride will cause men to assume the worst of God and suppose that there is contradiction with the Holy One before admitting they might not have full understanding or they might be the one who is wrong. It is the just who live by faith and trust in the goodness and mercy of the Lord God.
The answer was that Babylon would eventually be punished too and every sin they commit will be accounted for and would come back upon them in due time. God would be faithful to Israel and to His promises, despite their unfaithfulness. Habakkuk remembered the history of Israel, what God had done in the past and that God keeps his promises and He will again (Habakkuk 3:17-19) so he trusted in God’s goodness.
