Habakkuk continues his questioning as he wants to know why God would use evil people to bring judgment on His own chosen people. God’s response shows us that His justice must be enacted -- whether toward His own children or toward His enemies. And His justice will always prevail in His timing — not our own. Our responsibility in all of this is to pursue righteousness through faith.

The rise of the Neo-Babylonian Empire

“The prophet's first question (in Hab 1:2-4) arose out of an apparent inconsistency between God's actions and His character. He was a just God, but He was allowing sin in His people to go unpunished. His second question arose out of the same apparent inconsistency. Yahweh was a just God, but He was allowing terrible sinners to succeed and even permitted them to punish less serious sinners. These questions evidenced perplexed faith rather than weak faith. Clearly Habakkuk had strong faith in God, but how God was exercising His sovereignty baffled him.”

Quick Thought:

In Hab 2:1, Habakkuk says he will wait for God's answer.

When you pray, how often do you expect an answer from God?

When we see injustice, or when we experience the moral failure of others it’s natural for us to want to see God intervene.

Once Abraham the first father of God’s people had to be weaned from expecting too sudden a solution to the tension of his childlessness despite God’s promises. His experience forced him by faith to look beyond the current experience of his day to the distant future. Now Habakkuk struggles with an identical tension. How can God fulfill his promises to his people when he is about to devastate them? The divine answer to his perplexity must be inscribed on tablets, and many proclaimers in the ages to come must run with the message that resolves this problem. The very delay that Habakkuk must accept provides a further indicator of the broader significance of the vision. It is not merely for the present generation. It is for the ages to come.

When we remember God’s character, we should also remember that God is patient — or long-suffering. If God is perfect and perfectly holy, we should not see His patience as a weakness, but rather a kindness that has affected all of us at some point in our lives!

Habakkuk 2:4 is one of the most important verses in all of the Old Testament!

Jewish tradition declared that the 613 laws of the Pentateuch had been reduced to one by Habakkuk.

This one verse is a foundational discussion of three books in the NT: Romans, Galatians, and Hebrews.

From Warren Wiersbe:

It takes three books to explain and apply this one verse!

. . . .

This verse appears three times in the New Testament. Paul quoted it in Romans 1:17 and emphasized "righteous." Faith in God results in righteousness for both Jews and Gentiles. He used it again in Galatians 3:11 but to stress "live." Rather than obtaining new life by obeying the Mosaic Law, the righteous person does so by faith. In Galatians, Paul was mainly addressing Gentiles.

The writer of Hebrews also quoted this verse, in Hebrews 10:38, but his emphasis was on "faith." It is faith that God will reward in the righteous. In this case, the original readers were primarily Jews. In all three cases, "live" has the broader reference to eternal life, but here in Habakkuk, it is mainly physical life that is in view. Thus, this verse is clearly a very important revelation in the Bible—even its essential message.

This is the key verse in Habakkuk, because it summarizes the difference between the proud Babylonians and their destruction, with the humble faith of the Israelites and their deliverance. The issue is trust in God.

God is most concerned with how much we trust Him, and the way He measures it is how obedient we are to His Word.

The trap we can easily fall into is comparing ourselves and how sinful we are to others.

Remember: God does not grade on a curve!

We hope you have been blessed by your time worshipping with us -- through song and through the Word!

We'll see you back at Elements next weekend -- on-site or online -- as we continue our series, Sovereignty in Uncertainty: A Study in Habakkuk. We'll be looking more closely at justice -- how God defines justice, and how He enacts His justice.