Justin Houtz

Habakkuk 2

DateVersionReading Plan
@December 5, 2023ESV (2016)ESV Prophets Plan 2023

Pericopes

  • Habakkuk’s Second Complaint
  • The Righteous Shall Live by His Faith
  • Woe to the Chaldeans

Notes/Application

Habakkuk stood in his watchtower and braced for the Lord’s reply to his complaint. The Lord answered and told him to write the vision plainly on tablets, the certainty of the Babylonian invasion. The soul of the Babylonians was haughty and not right in God’s eyes, but the godly remnant of Israel would live by faith. The greed of the Babylonians was as insatiable as the appetite of death. A series of five woes is declared against Babylon, for their 1) lust, 2) greed and pride, 3) enrichment through blood, 4) corruption of neighbors and 5) idolatry. The pagan nation beckoned their idols to “Awake” and “Arise” (Hab. 2:19), but they were impotent to do so. Nothing created of man can ever speak or teach except the LORD who is in His holy temple and “all the earth shall keep silence before him.” (Hab. 2:20).

The theme of speaking and silence in the final section of the chapter is compelling. A stark contrast is drawn between the Babylonian idols that had no breath and the Lord who, by His very words, spoke everything into creation. It is before Him that all is to keep in reverent silence. As those who bear His image, we were given the gift of speech. It is a gift with which we have taken license to fill the world with voices, speaking the full spectrum of good and ill. However, there is only One whose speech truly matters. To this we must ask whether His voice is the one we cherish above all others. Do we ardently seek to hear Him in His Word? Do we come to Him with mouths closed, ears open, ready to listen? Let us today be quick to hear, slow to speak and crave most His presence and His speaking to us in His Word.

Scripture Journal Notes

Commentaries & Resources Used