The Heart Song of Habakkuk
INTRODUCTION:
Habakkuk
means. “The Embracer or Wrestler with God.” Habakkuk “embraces” the unknown
about God by “wrestling” with theologicalphilosophical questions about God,
such as, “Why would He bring calamity on His own people and seemingly let the wicked
go unpunished?” Habakkuk is like the prophetic version of the book of Job or
Ecclesiastes, yet like Job and Solomon he never loses his faith as he
“embraces” YHWH’s Salvation (3:18).
The
Philosophizing Poetic Prophet is somewhat of an enigma because unlike other
prophets we have no Scriptural record of his ancestry or place of birth. The
only hint we are given is in 3:19 which suggests he may have been a Levitical
musician. We can confidently date his book even though he gives no timelines or
names of contemporary kings. Because of his pondering of why God would use the
Chaldeans (Babylonians) as a judgment against Judah, plus the description of
the Babylonian army in 1:6-11 most likely refer to the Babylonian march toward
Carchmish which Nebuchadnezzar defeated the Egyptians at the Battle of
Carchmish in 605 BCE, which would put this prophecy around the early years of
king Jehoiakim, king of Judah’s reign, about 606 BCE; although the Seder Olam
has Habakkuk prophesying during the reign of the wicked king Manasseh.
More than a
book prophesying in the defeat and exile of Judah by the Babylonians, Habakkuk
seems more to address the godly remnant of Judah in an attempt to understand
what was about to befall them and why. Although few if any satisfying answers
are given, we are forced to recognize ADONAI’s Infinite Sovereignty and trust Him
even though we see through a fractured finite lens.
Habakkuk
sees things as black and white and questions arise when he begins to see hues
of grey. Because of his questions regarding justice, I call this commentary,
“The Heart Song of Habakkuk.” Being a prophetic philosopher and poet he
emotionally is much like his contemporary prophetic brother Jeremiah, who is
called the “weeping Prophet.”
