Prophet: Habakkuk

Because the book of Habakkuk consists of five oracles about the Chaldeans (Babylonians), and the Chaldean rise to power is dated circa 612 BC, it is assumed he was active about that time, making him an early contemporary of Jeremiah and Zephaniah. Jewish sources, however, do not group him with those two prophets, who are often placed together, so it is possible that he was slightly earlier than these prophets.

“How long, O Lord, will I call for help, and you will not hear?” 

The people of Judah had grown wicked, violent, and corrupt. There was no justice in the land and Habakkuk couldn’t take it any longer. Habakkuk pled with God to save Judah from her own wickedness. To judge Judah’s wickedness, God said He would hand them over to the Chaldeans: a nation even more wicked, violent, and corrupt. Habakkuk asked, “Why are You silent when the wicked swallow up those more righteous than they (Habakkuk 1:13)? 

God showed him that justice was in store for the Chaldeans (Babylonians) as well.

The Northern Kingdom of Israel had earlier turned from God, ignored His prophets, and worshiped idols, leading God to hand them over to the Assyrians (2 Kings 17:7). Now because of Judah's similar apostasy, God would discipline them through the Babylonians, and Habakkuk saw this happen in his own lifetime (Habakkuk 1:5). Like Nahum, Habakkuk also foresaw God’s judgment on those who oppressed other nations and led them into wickedness. He spoke of Babylon’s fall: an event that the prophet Daniel subsequently witnessed.

Habakkuk isn’t a well-known (or often read) book of the Bible, but it contains one of the most important lines in church history: “The righteous will live by his faith” (Habakkuk 2:4). Paul quotes Habakkuk in his letters to the Romans and Galatians when he explains how faith and God’s justice work together (Romans 1:17; Galatians 3:11).