Not the God I Thought: In the Good Company of Habakkuk

“When your son asks you in time to come, ‘What is the meaning of the testimonies and the statutes and the rules that the LORD our God has commanded you?’ then you shall say to your son, ‘We were Pharaoh’s slaves in Egypt. And the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. - Deuteronomy 6:20-21 

Habakkuk is by far the most significant of the Minor Prophets.  Habakkuk 2:4 is quoted three times in the New Testament. Paul’s reference in his letters to the Galatians and Romans both changed the life of a monk named Martin Luther and ignited a Reformation. In other words, this ancient letter has great meaning for us today.

Before we can ask what an obscure book like Habakkuk might mean for us today, we must understand what it meant for its original audience. Our tendency is to first ask how the text applies to us now, usually without discovering how it applied in context to the time and people “back then”. Reading Scripture without context is dangerous as it can lead to a total misunderstanding of God’s Word. Habakkuk serves as a smaller part of the larger story of redemption.

So, we must begin our story with Moses who led God’s people in the first chapter of their redemption. From tribes of slaves to a nation of soldiers, eventually God’s people were divided and conquered by godless men. In these final days of the southern kingdom (Judah), Habakkuk writes. He is overwhelmed by the injustice and corruption experienced by God’s own people; all while evil men prosper. Habakkuk complains to God who appears to be silently ignoring all of it...

(Click Here to read the Book of Habakkuk)