Bible

In the Bible room today, we are reading the summary of the three chapters of the book of Habakkuk.

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Habakkuk

Introduction to Habakkuk:

Writer: Habakkuk.

Scope: The date of this prophecy is in the range of 640-600 b.c. during the reign of King Josiah, contemporaneous with the prophet, Jeremiah. Very little is known about Habakkuk except what can be gleaned from this record which focuses on the Lord’s coming judgement of Judah.

Chapter 1. Violence

This book is about what the prophet Habakkuk has envisioned:

• He is asking the Lord a series of questions;
• How long will he have to pray without receiving answers?
• Why is the Lord showing him only trouble and violence?
• He is seeing a future of total wickedness and lawlessness;
• The Lord tells him to just wait and see what He will do;
• He is allowing the Chaldeans to become a fearful nation;
• They are spreading across the lands with violence;
• They have fast horses, and will bring the Lord’s judgement;
• The prophet then questions why the Lord works this way;
• He wonders if the Lord, at times, treats men like fish;
• And allows them to be caught up in nets by evil men;
• He asks the Lord if these wicked men will continue to prosper.

Chapter 2. Vision

The prophet is expecting to be rebuked by the Lord for his questioning:

• He decides he will keep watching and listening to the Lord;
• The Lord tells him to write down what He sees in his vision;
• The vision will be of a future time to be read and told by others;
• It is a true vision, and it will come to pass not too long hence;
• Proud people are wicked, but the just shall live by his faith;
• The proud are greedy, and they drink too much wine;
• They steal things from others, and they become debtors;
• Someday, all the Earth will know the glory of the Lord;
• Drunkards will be shown to be not among the Lord’s people;
• It is a worthless effort to try to breathe life into idols;
• But the Lord is in His holy temple;
• Let all the earth keep silence before Him.

Chapter 3. Prayer

Habakkuk prays:

• He tells the Lord he has heard Him, and he is afraid;
• He prays that the Lord in His wrath will remember mercy;
• The Lord has power over everything, and His ways are forever;
• The mountains moved at the sight of the Lord;
• The sun and the moon stood still in their place;
• In His anger, the Lord trampled the nations;
• He rode on His horses, and His chariots of salvation;
• He defeats all enemies to save His people;
• Before the power of the Lord, the prophet trembles;
• He sings to the Chief Musician, with stringed instruments:
• Even if all the crops fail, and all the herds die off,
• He says he will have joy in the Lord, the God of salvation;
• His strength is the Lord God who makes his feet like a deer’s,
• Enabling him to walk on the high mountains.

End of the summary of the book of Habakkuk.