Historical Background Of Habakkuk

Habakkuk’s prophecy came after Assyria had fallen and Babylon had arisen as the dominant world power. Yet the Babylonians had not yet invaded Judah (3:16). This would place
the prophecy between 612 and 606 BC. This would coincide with the period of Jehoiakim’s reign (609-597 BC) (2 Kings 23:35-24:7).

The people of Judah transgressed God’s laws and turned to idols. Habakkuk was one of the last of the prophets sent to Judah to address her sins before God’s judgment at the hands of the Babylonians (2 Chronicles 36:14-16). He expected God’s judgment to come upon Judah but wasn’t quite prepared for how God was going to do it (1:5-13).
Babylon was the new world power sweeping across the breadth of the earth. Within a period of 20 years, beginning in 606 BC, Babylon swept over Judah in waves, taking three groups captive to Babylon and finally destroying the temple in 586 BC.

Message Of Habakkuk

Summarized in the statement “Behold the proud, his soul is not upright in him; but the just shall live by his faith.” Habakkuk found himself in a moral dilemma, trying to understand the works of God. His message does not teach us as other prophets do—it does not call the people to repentance. Rather it challenges us to accept by faith the work of God, even when it doesn’t make sense to us. His message doesn’t even offer to explain God’s works—just to challenge us to have faith in them.