SOAP: Habakkuk 1

I guess I'll kick things off for Habakkuk.

Habakkuk is one of my favorite books of the Bible. For a small bit of background, it's a theodicy which simply a branch of theology dealing with reconciling God's goodness and justice in the face of the existence of evil. It was written around 606 BC by the prophet Habakkuk in anticipation of the coming of the Babylonian invasion.

I am listing the whole first chapter below, and this is the NASB version.

Habakkuk 1

1The oracle which Habakkuk the prophet saw.
2How long, O LORD, will I call for help,
And You will not hear?
I cry out to You, "Violence!"
Yet You do not save.
3Why do You make me see iniquity,
And cause me to look on wickedness?
Yes, destruction and violence are before me;
Strife exists and contention arises.
4Therefore the law is ignored
And justice is never upheld
For the wicked surround the righteous;
Therefore justice comes out perverted.
5"Look among the nations! Observe!
Be astonished! Wonder!
Because I am doing something in your days--
You would not believe if you were told.
6"For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans,
That fierce and impetuous people
Who march throughout the earth
To seize dwelling places which are not theirs.
7"They are dreaded and feared;
Their justice and authority originate with themselves.
8"Their horses are swifter than leopards
And keener than wolves in the evening
Their horsemen come galloping,
Their horsemen come from afar;
They fly like an eagle swooping down to devour.
9"All of them come for violence.
Their horde of faces moves forward.
They collect captives like sand.
10"They mock at kings
And rulers are a laughing matter to them
They laugh at every fortress
And heap up rubble to capture it.
11"Then they will sweep through like the wind and pass on
But they will be held guilty,
They whose strength is their god."
12Are You not from everlasting,
O LORD, my God, my Holy One?
We will not die
You, O LORD, have appointed them to judge;
And You, O Rock, have established them to correct.
13Your eyes are too pure to approve evil,
And You can not look on wickedness with favor
Why do You look with favor
On those who deal treacherously?
Why are You silent when the wicked swallow up
Those more righteous than they?
14Why have You made men like the fish of the sea,
Like creeping things without a ruler over them?
15The Chaldeans bring all of them up with a hook,
Drag them away with their net,
And gather them together in their fishing net.
Therefore they rejoice and are glad.
16Therefore they offer a sacrifice to their net
And burn incense to their fishing net;
Because through these things their catch is large,
And their food is plentiful.
17Will they therefore empty their net
And continually slay nations without sparing?

Verse 1-4
Observation: Habakkuk is upset that God has not punished the wickedness of Judah.

Verse 5-11
Observation: God reveals to Habakkuk that He is going to use the wicked nation of Babylon (the Chaldeans) to punish Judah.

Verse 12-17
Observation: Habakkuk is now upset with God's plan. He does not understand how God can let the evil in Babylon seemingly go unpunished.

Application: I pretty much had the same application for this whole chapter. We cannot see the "big picture" like God can, so we should trust God's actions and plans. He is the only one who is omniscient. We need to remember that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28). Even if it doesn't make sense to us, God has is under control. He knows what He is doing and is working things to His glory.

Prayer: I pray that God would teach me to trust Him more. Even when things are hard and difficult to understand, I pray that I would cling to His promises.