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Habakkuk 1:1-2:1
We are in the Exile Stream reading from the Lexham English Bible.
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Commentary by Dr. Drake Travis
Lord, teach us faith. Increase our faith, and let us rest in your sovereign providence, knowing that you do all things well and on a level that is much higher than where our minds operate. And teach us more patience. Amen.
Habakkuk is writing about two years before the initial invasion of the Chaldeans; These are the Babylonians who invaded Judah in 605 B.C. then in 597 B.C. and finally in 586 B.C. with devastating results. Habakkuk is petitioning God, and he feels completely justified in his petitioning God for allowing the Babylonians to bear down on Judah the way they had and were about to again. Yes, Judah was not exemplary in their spiritual behavior by ANY means, but the Babylonians were worse! (in the mind of Habakkuk) and this just wasn’t right. God answers basically saying “indeed, these are the marauders of the world and they seem to be unstoppable as well as incapable of mercy.” He goes on in detail about how escaping them is as hopeless as a hamster getting away from a cheetah. Habakkuk finds himself acknowledging that God is just and right but he seems to say, “really, God?! You’re really going to let them run ragged over Your Holy Land?” Are we really just fish in a net? Certainly we are more than just beings who are caught, counted, and gutted. Habakkuk has a sobering question and line of thinking that crosses the minds of most Believers in their lives. His answer doesn’t come right away either – nor do ours. Let’s see what God says to Habakkuk next week (if you can wait that long to read it).