Bible Commentaries: September 30 to October 6, 2024

Some Information About Habakkuk and the Book of Habakkuk

• Habakkuk was a prophet, the author of the book that bears his name. Little is known for sure about his personality and the time in which he lived, and nothing is known about his tribe, his kinship, and his occupation. Since he makes no mention of Assyria, but speaks of the power of the Chaldeans, which was growing with astonishing rapidity, it is concluded that he prophesied in Judah during the reign of Jehoiakim, shortly before Nebuchadnezzar's invasion (Hab. 1:6 and 2:3). And so he must have been a contemporary of Jeremiah. The subjects of his book can be divided into two parts:

i) Chapters 1 and 2 describe the sins of Judah; and announce that the people would be punished by the Chaldeans, but that they would suffer great ruin, the prophet pronouncing the word 'Woe!' against them five times (Hab. 2:6-20).

ii) After this the prophet concludes his book with a sublime song of praise and prayer. This psalm, which was evidently written for use in public worship, was intended to bring consolation to the pious Jews when great calamities were expected. The deliverance by God's mercy in future times would be as remarkable as it had been in past times on Mount Sinai. Habakkuk's prophecy is made especially remarkable by the declaration it makes of the important truth adopted by the apostle Paul as the basis of his sublime teachings: "The just shall live by his faith" (Hab. 2:4; Rom. 1:17). Besides the profound declaration in Habakkuk 2:4, he also employs two propositions of evangelical significance:

• The warning in Habakkuk 1:5, which is quoted by Paul in Antioch (Acts 13:40-41);

• And the right vision, though without determination of time (Hab 2:3) to which allusion is made in Heb 10:37. There is also a similarity between Habakkuk 2:11 and Luke 19:40; and between Habakkuk 3:18 and Luke 1:47.

The prophecies for the time of the church

• The prophet Habakkuk prophesied about our days. Everything that is happening is related to the prophetic moment of the church, a moment that we call the time of the brief, a time that is hastening the coming of Jesus. We see inverted values ​​in the world, the wicked devour the righteous (Hab 1:13); human justice has become corrupt (Hab 1:4). And the cry of the church is the same as the prophet's: How long, Lord? It is crying out at this time: How long, Lord? For the stone shall cry out of the wall! In the midst of this world in which we live, we are crying out! Crying out because spiritual darkness has fallen upon the world, we are living in the period that the church feared to pass through, the time of nighttime fears (Song 3:8). The church knew that this time would come, and it did not want to go through it, so it asked the Lord to return sooner. “Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, turn, my beloved,” (Song 2:17a). We have reached this time, a time when darkness reigns, and its consequences are the lack of fear of God, which generates injustice, social inequality, illnesses of the mind and body, unemployment, insecurity, and fear. The church is the stone that cries out: How long, Lord?

• "To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious, Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ." (1 Peter 2:4-5). The beam out of the timber shall answer it. There on the cross of Calvary, Jesus responded to the cry of the prophet; He responded to the cry of the soul that was waiting for justice and has responded every day to the cry of the faithful church. In Eden, the first Adam hid behind the tree. In Gethsemane, Jesus placed Himself in front of the wood. He placed Himself in front of man and endures all things on his behalf. Everything that man cannot overcome, Jesus overcomes for him. In the Old Testament, the soul cried out for justice: How long, Lord? And He came and overcame the cross, freeing man's soul from the yoke of sin and death. Now, in the New Testament, the soul cries out again for God’s justice. How long, Lord? From the woodwork, Jesus answered: It is finished! He has overcome everything for man. Now we just have to wait, in communion, for He will soon come to seek His church. The name Habakkuk means: embrace. The Lord embraces His church and has a word of affection and comfort for it.

God wants to draw you to Himself

• Hosea 6:1 – “Come, and let us return unto the LORD.” This is God’s desire to always draw His people to Him. Israel was torn apart (scattered throughout the world in the so-called “diaspora”) by the Lord. But in 1948, He reconstituted Israel as a nation (he closed the wound, tied everything together, brought the people back). The wound was the judgment for disobedience, persecution, and wars. He will bind up the wounds. But out of love, He still cares for Israel, His beloved people. He tests the people so that in their suffering they will remember their God (God’s strategy).

Prophecies of the death of Jesus and the restoration of Israel

• Hosea 6:2 "After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight." A wonderful prophecy with two applications:

i) One is related to the death of Jesus and his resurrection on the third day, giving eternal life. As the Word says: if we died with Him, we will also rise with Him.

ii) The second concerns the death of the State of Israel and that after two periods it would be restored. From the year 70 to 1948 there were almost two thousand years. But for the restoration of Israel as the people of God two days, two periods must pass: the time of grace, and the rapture, and the marriage of the Lamb for the church and great tribulation for the world. At the end of these two periods Israel will be converted to the Lord.