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:
- 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?
- 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)?
- 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?