Today’s passage: Habakkuk 3

Helpful thoughts:

• Today we read Habakkuk’s prayerful response to the Lord’s answer, written as a psalm.
• In verses 3-15, Habakkuk recounts the works of the Lord during the time of the Exodus.
• Knowing that Babylon would be coming to destroy Jerusalem, Habakkuk committed to put his trust in the Lord and His sovereign plan.
  • Jerusalem was never Habakkuk’s strength.  God was (is) his strength.

Questions to consider:

1. What parts of the exodus journey (From the departure from Egypt to entering the Promised Land) can you find in verses 3-15?  Why would these acts of God bring hope and consolation to Habakkuk?
2. What was Habakkuk’s posture toward God in the beginning of this book?  What is it at the end?
3. Why is it so important to see that Habakkuk’s perspective shifted and not his circumstances?  Jerusalem was still about to be destroyed and Habakkuk’s body trembled at the thought of it.  Yet, he was able to rejoice, why?  What can we learn from this short book that can be applied to our lives today?

Today’s passage: Habakkuk 2:6-20

Helpful thoughts:

• Today, we read the rest of God’s response to Habakkuk’s appeal.
• The sins of Babylon against the nations (Not just Israel, but all of the peoples who were subjugated), would come back around on their own head.
• When mankind bows down to idols, they become just like them (Spiritually blind, deaf, dead).  (Psalm 115:2-8)

Questions to consider:

1. Was God only concerned with what Babylon would do against Judah or are all the nations under His watch?  What does this remind us of concerning God’s heart for the nations (Revelation 7:9)?
2. What is true of every other god in the world (Verses 18-20)?  What is true of every human being before God?  Is there anyone who will not answer to Him (Whether they believe in Him or not)?
3. What then is the right response and action for citizens of the Kingdom of God in the midst of this earth (Habakkuk 2:1-2, Matthew 28:18-20)?

Today’s passage: Habakkuk 1:12-2:5

Helpful thoughts:

• Habakkuk files his complaint against God’s plan.  He makes his appeal based on the fact that God is eternally all-knowing and just.  He cannot understand why/how God could use a sinful people like Babylon to judge a sinful Judah.
• The prophet asks God for an answer and commits to be ready to take it to the people when it comes (Verses 1-2).
• God’s answer stretches from verse 2 through verse 20.
  • The beginning of the response in verses 2-5 emphasizes the pride of the Babylonians king(s).
  • God will not turn a blind eye to those who are puffed up with pride.  Babylon will have their day of judgment as well.  And the righteous shall live by faith.

Questions to consider:

1. How can our understanding of the providence and sovereignty of God expand after reading a passage like this?  Can God use people who are not submitted to Him to bring about His ends?  Can God judge people who go about sinning while they are accomplishing God’s greater purpose?  Could any person keep all of that straight in their mind?
2. What is the main contrast in verse 4?  What does the Babylonian king live by (Who was he counting on)?  What does the righteous live by (Whom do the righteous count on)?
3. How does the use of Habakkuk 2:4 in Romans 1:17 shed light on the meaning of both passages?  If a person is puffed up by his ability to earn his own righteousness, what is he failing to understand?  Whom do we count on for our righteousness?

Today’s passage: Habakkuk 1:1-11

Helpful thoughts:

• This book was written by the prophet Habakkuk, most likely no later than 640-609 B.C.
  • In the book, the prophet laments the decline of Judah’s commitment to the Lord and God’s responses.  It is more of a “conversation” between the Lord and Habakkuk than a “Thus says the Lord” kind of prophecy.
• The sad things asked about in verses 2-4 are not about any other nation.  This was the condition of Judah.
• God’s answer to Judah’s sin is to raise up Babylon against them.  Babylon is not more righteous than Judah, and Habakkuk will protest, asking about the justice of this decision in the next passage.

Questions to consider:

1. How is Babylon described in verses 5-11.  Why would it seem to make sense for Habakkuk to dislike the idea of Babylon being used by God to judge Judah?
2. Who was the god of the Babylonians according to verse 11?  Even though the Babylonians had false gods they worshiped, what is God acknowledging about the people?  Whom were they truly trusting in?  What would we expect God to do if man trusts in himself? (Would Babylon last forever? – Daniel 5:13-31)
3. What do you think Habakkuk would have wanted God to say in response to His lament?  When we do wrong, why do we struggle with not being able to choose the consequences?  How can this struggle even relate to the necessity of believing in Christ’s sacrificial/substitutionary death on the cross?