Welcome to Bible Fiber where we are encountering the textures and shades of the prophetic tapestry in a year-long study of the twelve minor prophets, one prophet each month. I am Shelley Neese, president of The Jerusalem Connection, a Christian organization devoted to sharing the story of the people of Israel, both ancient and modern.
This week we are studying the second chapter of Habakkuk. The dialogue between God and Habakkuk continues with God addressing Habakkuk’s second question: Why does God tolerate the wicked persecuting the righteous? (Hab. 1:13).
Habakkuk does not offer a prescription for how he thinks God should right all that has gone wrong in Judah. In the prophet’s mind, perhaps God should have appointed a new judge, like Samuel, who could rectify the problems of the judicial system. Or perhaps Judah needed a warrior king like David to bring peace to Jerusalem. Or they needed a reformer like Josiah who would rid the nation of idolatry. Instead, God told the prophet he was raising up the Babylonians as the instrument of his judgement.
The answer tormented Habakkuk. Like the other prophets, he saw the futility behind the endless cycle of violence. In his day, Egypt, Assyria, and Babylon were in a constant power struggle. What one empire built up, the next tore down. The smaller nations, like Judah, stayed vulnerable to the revolving door of conquering armies. The prophets were Yahweh’s megaphone, reminding His people that all empires were accountable to Yahweh (Jer. 25:31) and the way they worshipped their own military might was repulsive to Yahweh (Hos 8:14; Mic. 7:16).
Habakkuk stands out among the prophets as he was determined to get an answer as to why God associated Himself with the wrangling of earthly empires. Habakkuk’s problem from the start of his book has not been that another pagan army is coming for Judah. He wants to know why God has a hand in the process.
Silence
The opening of Habakkuk 2 gives insight into prophetic agency, and all the anguish that comes along with the role. Habakkuk proclaims, “I will stand at my watch post, and station myself on the rampart; I will keep watch to see what he will say to me and what he will answer concerning my complaint” (2:1). The prophet waited for a lengthy period for God’s first divine revelation in chapter 1, and he is once again resigned to wait out the silence before the next revelation.
The watchmen motif conveys that the prophet is not passive as a recipient of God’s revelation. For a prophet, waiting is active, performed with expectancy and resolve. The prophets Isaiah and Ezekiel also likened themselves to watchmen eagerly awaiting sight of God’s divine message (Isa. 21:6-9; Ezek. 3:17-21). In Habakkuk’s case, considering God’s prior warning that He is raising up the Babylonians, the prophet may have sat on a literal watchtower, not just a metaphorical watchtower. He is both waiting on an answer from God and looking out for the approach of the Babylonian army.
Tablets
When Yahweh breaks the silence, He commands Habakkuk to write down the divine revelation, “a vision for the appointed time,” and “make it plain on tablets” (2:2). This command associating a prophet with the act of writing is confirmation to us as believers that the transmission of God’s word was a carefully guarded practice. Remember Nahum is the only prophetic book that introduced itself as a book. The other books in the Twelve make little reference to the business of documenting their prophecies.
The choice of tablets over parchment hints that the prophecy may still be a long time from fulfillment. The more durable material was necessary if it was to survive until the fulfillment of the prophecy. Interestingly, “tablets” is plural so perhaps God asked the prophet to make duplicates. While the entire book is an intimate dialogue between God and Habakkuk, the job of the prophet is to share oracles publicly as well.
Commentaries differ about what is meant by “make it plain.” One thought is that God told Habakkuk to make the lettering legible, suggesting that the tablets were displayed like messenger boards for passersby. Alternatively, the instructions pertain to the preservation of the tablets so that clear documentation of the prophecy would help future generations believe in the reliability of the prophetic witnesses. A day was coming, in the Second Temple period, that prophecy would stop. All that would be left for those living through the occupation of the Greeks and Romans were the writings from the prophets who endured previous empires.
Woe Oracles
Yahweh’s reply to Habakkuk focuses on why Babylon deserves God’s judgement, starting with verse six and going to verse twenty. These are “woe” oracles, meaning they open with “woe,” which is sometimes translated as “oy” or “alas.” In general, the woe oracle was a type of speech formula used frequently in the prophets. In most cases, woe oracles, were delivered as cautions or warnings to Judah or her neighbors. In Habakkuk, the woe oracles are delivered in a vision. They are meant to assure Habakkuk that God sees the wickedness of the Babylonians. He is not ignoring their sin, even if in the near-term He will use them to punish the rebellious in Judah.
In the series of five woe oracles, God describes Babylon as nothing less than death personified: “Like Death they never have enough” (Hab. 2:5). In describing the insatiable appetite of Babylon, God says “they gather all nations for themselves, and collect all peoples as their own” (Hab. 2:5).
In the vision, it is the victims of Babylon’s aggressive expansion that taunt the empire with “mocking riddles.” Until this point, the subjugated nations have been silent. Now, they find their voice even if Babylon has not yet fallen. Its demise is certain enough that they feel secure in pushing back on their oppressor.
In the first taunt, the victims accuse Babylon of building their empire with ill-gotten gains. Babylon sought self-glorification through its grand building projects, but the foundations of the empire were built on greed and bloodshed. Prisoners of war were conscripted for the labor and the spoils of their campaigns funded the city’s beautification. In Habakkuk, the victims are anonymous. We are not told which nations are speaking out against Babylon, but we do know that one day it will be Jerusalem’s gold and treasures that will be melted down and paraded back to Babylon to fill her coffers, and it will be Jerusalem’s elite who are carried off to live in exile and forced into servitude. Those exiles will read the woe oracles of Habakkuk and hear their own voices in the words of the victims.
In each woe oracle, Habakkuk turns the tables on Babylon. The nations that were once helplessly pillaged by Babylon will become the empire’s “creditors.” The creditors will rise up and demand reparations and repayment for all that Babylon stole. Habakkuk warns, “Because you have plundered many nations, all that survive of the peoples shall plunder you” (Hab. 2:6-8).
In another oracle, Babylon is portrayed as a drunkard, luring nations to join her in an intoxicated stupor and then degrading them by gazing upon their nakedness (2:15-17). We know from reliefs found in the Ancient Near East, that captives of conquering armies were often paraded naked as a way of further disgracing the enemy. The job of the prophet is to soberly reflect on the madness that he is witnessing in the world and seek Yahweh’s explanations. Drunkenness is a fitting image to describe the Babylonians uncontrolled pursuits. Recall the story of Noah, and God’s punishment of Ham when he did not act more respectfully to cover the nakedness of his drunken father (Gen. 9:22-29). Just as God cursed Ham for his immorality, the lewdness of the Babylonians is not unnoticed. The final cup they drink will be Yahweh’s cup of wrath.
Habakkuk warns that the Babylonians will one day be shamed, just as they have shamed others. The victims taunt, “You will be sated with contempt instead of glory. Drink, you yourself, and stagger” (Hab. 2:16). That is the NRSV translation. The NIV reads, “Now it is your turn! Drink and let your nakedness be exposed.” The Hebrew text is much more direct, best reflected in the ESV, “Drink, yourself, and show your uncircumcision!” While this may be more vulgar, the accuracy of the translation is important because circumcision was a sign of the covenant and here, Habakkuk is reminding his audience that the Babylonians are outside the covenant with Yahweh.
The last of the woe oracles climaxes with the condemnation of Babylon’s idolatry. The root source of their immorality is that they worship idols of their own creation rather than the sovereign creator of the universe. Habakkuk drips with sarcasm when he calls out pagans who worship idols made from their own hands. He asks, “Of what value is an idol carved by a craftsman?” (2:18). How can they ascribe sanctity to an object with “no breath in it” (2:19). Habakkuk, in these verses, is keeping with the prophetic custom of ridiculing the folly of idolatry (Jer. 2:27).
Recall the prophet Elijah who challenged the prophets of Baal. When the altars to Baal sat untouched, Elijah mockingly told the pagan priests to call Baal louder to wake him up (1 Kings 18:27).
Throughout the woe oracles, there is a strong “reap what you sow” element. As the prophet Hosea warned, those who plant wickedness will reap evil (Hos. 10:13). The woe oracles listing out all of Babylon’s offenses are meant to show that Babylon will pay for each of their misdeeds: the greed, debauchery, violence, deceit, theft, and idolatry. In addition, one theme that runs throughout the oracles is the futility that lurks behind all of Babylon’s activities. Their armies go to battle but the empire is never sated by the conquest. They build and beautify their city but only through stolen labor and resources. They pray to idols made by their own hands.
Earthly kingdoms are all fleeting, and even if they may be impressive by the speed of their expanse or the sophistication of their cities, it is all empty without Yahweh. Worship of an empire is as futile as worship of a casted image. On the opposite end of the spectrum, Habakkuk looks forward to the Day of the Lord when “the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea” (Hab. 2:14). Isaiah saw the exact same vision, although for him he understood it was still a long time before that day could arrive (Isa. 11:9). Knowledge of Yahweh, a close intimacy with the creator of the universe: that is the opposite of empty futile empire building.
The vision God gives Habakkuk, and has him write on tablets, is all one big message of assurance from Yahweh that He will reckon with Babylon. Indeed, with the benefit of hindsight, we know Babylon’s highpoint did not even last a century (612-539 BCE). By 539 BCE, the Persians under Cyrus the Great defeated the Babylonians and ended their empire.
Habakkuk Anthem
Embedded within the woe oracles against Babylon is one short message of assurance for the faithful of Judah. Habakkuk promises, “the righteous person will live by his faithfulness” (2:4). While Babylon will be a short-lived empire, a remnant of Judah will ultimately persevere. Yahweh does not deny that the Babylonians are about to come out on top, but He also does not justify this allowance. Instead, He points to an eschatological future when He will reward the righteous with life and the wicked with death.
For as much time as Habakkuk spent describing the evil ways of the Babylonians, he does not give any description of what it means to be counted among the righteous. The righteous cannot include all of Judah. In chapter 1, the prophet complained about all the wrongdoing going on in his own community. Isaiah and Micah made the same observations around this time about the spiritual rebellion they witnessed in Judah. The righteous also cannot be just those being obedient to the Torah’s laws. Habakkuk had already stated that in his day, the Torah had gone “slack” (1:4, NRSV) or was “paralyzed” (1:4, NIV). Even if there were righteous Jews who wanted to live according to the Torah’s obligations, they were held back by the corrupt temple systems and the perversion of the judicial system in the seventh century BCE. However, a faithful remnant existed within Judah despite their inability to maintain the law. They were counted among the righteous because of their faithfulness to God. All throughout the prophets, Yahweh has promised that He will cling to those who cling to Him.
Every prophet has a major statement, a theological generalization or a promise of hope, which becomes the anthem of the whole book. Zechariah writes, “Return to me and I will return to you” (1:3). Hosea says, “I desire mercy, not sacrifice” (6:6). Amos says, “Seek me and live” (5:4). Joel says, “rend your hearts, not your garments” (2:13). Micah says, “do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with your God” (6:8). For Habakkuk, his signature verse is “the righteous person will live by his faithfulness.” Even though it is stated parenthetically, the short message of hope became the Habakkuk verse held most high in both Jewish and Christian traditions.
According to Jewish tradition as recorded in the Babylonian Talmud, Habakkuk’s verse is a summary of all 613 laws in the Torah. In the New Testament, the apostle Paul repurposed Habakkuk’s promise as the hinge for his entire message in Romans. Paul wrote, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel; it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith, to the Jew first and to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed through faith for faith; as it is written, “The one who is righteous will live by faith” (Rom. 1:17).
These are the foundational verses for Paul’s explanation of the mechanics of justification by faith versus works. He further developed the message in his letter to the churches of Galatia, quoting Habakkuk again (Gal. 3:11). The author of Hebrews, trying to encourage believers living under persecution, also quoted Habakkuk, writing “in a very little while, the one who is coming will come and will not delay; but my righteous one will live by faith” (Heb. 10:38). As a religious Jew, steeped in the whole of the Hebrew scriptures, Paul frequently quoted the prophets, expanding their original context to inform the new community of gentile believers in a Jewish messiah.
Habakkuk 2 ends with a praise portion dedicated to Yahweh in his holy temple: “But the Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him!” (2:20). The image of Yahweh in His temple conveys the permanence of God’s role in the world in contrast to the temporality of empires. Empires and idols are products of man’s imagination and creation. But as Habakkuk explains in chapter three, the God of the universe is wrapped in mystery and in that mystery is where we find our meaning.
There will be no Bible Fiber next week, because of Passover and Resurrection Sunday, but for the last week of April please read the third chapter of Habakkuk where we will compare the different but complimentary messages of Habakkuk and Jeremiah.
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Shabbat Shalom