The one about Habakkuk
It was over two years ago that I decided I was going to read through the bible cover to cover in the ESV study bible, including all the notes and introductions … It has taken me a lot longer than anticipated, with some stalls and interruptions. How I do it is I read the chapter in entirety from the text, then read the notes, and invariably end up going back up to the text as I go through them, and it is a slow business. But I have found it a profitable thing to do, especially for parts of the Old Testament that I wouldn’t fully understand, particularly historically, without at least some explanation of them. And I appreciate the notes.
I am well on the home stretch out of the Old Testament now, and last night read Habakkuk. So I thought I’d just post in some of the ESV study bible notes, that I was encouraged by last night, just for the sake of sharing.
Theme
By the end of the book, Habakkuk is a changed person—he has learned to wait and trust in God, who works out all things for his glory. Habakkuk, like Job, questions God’s justice, but in the end both realize that God is sovereign and his justice is far beyond their comprehension. Habakkuk’s message of judgment on Judah would not have been well accepted, for the nation had been blinded by sin while false prophets were declaring that God would not punish his chosen people. But God’s justice demands that wickedness be punished, whether found in pagan nations or in his own people.
Key Themes
1. God is just and merciful, even though his people may not always understand his ways (2:4).
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4. The key phrase “but the righteous will live by his faith” summarizes the path of life God sets for his people and is quoted three times in the NT (Rom. 1:17; Gal. 3:11; Heb. 10:38), each time highlighting a different aspect of the phrase’s meaning.
Hab. 2:4 The phrase but the righteous shall live by his faith is quoted in the NT to emphasize that people are saved by grace through faith (Rom. 1:17; Gal. 3:11; cf. Eph. 2:8) and that Christians should live by faith (Heb. 10:38–39). The kind of faith that Habakkuk describes, and that the NT authors promote, is continuing trust in God and clinging to God’s promises, even in the darkest days.
Hab. 3:17–19 Anticipating great destruction at the hands of the Babylonians, Habakkuk has radically changed—he began by informing God how to run his world, and ended by trusting that God knows best and will bring about justice. Though the fig tree should not blossom. Verse 17 contains a frequently quoted list of material disasters in which all crops and livestock are lost, and as a result it is unclear how there will be food to eat. Yet even amid suffering and loss, Habakkuk has learned that he can trust God, and with that trust comes great joy, not in circumstances but in God himself: yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. Yahweh has become Habakkuk’s strength (see Ps. 18:32, 39).