Little is known about the prophet Habakkuk. He was likely a contemporary of Zephaniah and Jeremiah, and possibly even of Ezekiel and Daniel, but none of the other prophets mention him. His name appears twice in the book (1:1; 3:1), and he is clearly the main character.

Key Themes:

I. God is just and merciful, even though his people may not always understand his ways (2:4).

II. Wickedness will eventually be punished, and the righteous will ultimately see God’s justice (2:5-20).

III. God uses some wicked nations to punish other wicked nations, but ultimately God will judge all nations (1:6; 2:5-20).

IV. The key phrase “but the righteous will live by his faith” summarizes the path of life God sets for his people and is quoted three times in the NT (Rom. 1:17; Gal. 3:11; Heb. 10:38), each time highlighting a different aspect of the phrase’s meaning.

1. Habakkuk 1


i. Grieving over injustice of nation

ii. Questioning whether the Lord sees the wickedness of Judah

iii. How can the wicked surround the righteous?!


i. Lord answers and agrees that the nation is wicked

ii. The Lord is raising the Chaldeans to judge


i. Habakkuk does not like this answer.

ii. Habakkuk answers “are you not everlasting?”

iii. You are of purer eyes than to behold evil (how can you use the Chaldeans?)

iv. How can you allow them to swallow up men more righteous than they?!

2. Habakkuk 2

a. Habakkuk knows he just questioned God and awaits an answer

i. Hab 2:1 – I will take my stand and wait to be corrected

ii. Hab 2:2 – Lord tells Habakkuk to write the vision for an appointed time

b. Habakkuk 2:4 – Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him, but the righteous shall live by his faith.



iii. Hebrews 10:38 – but my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.”

c. The people with the book are unrighteous (Rom 2), the people without the Book are unrighteous (Rom 1). All are unrighteous (Rom 3). But God is the just and justifier! (Rom 3:25-26)

3. Habakkuk 3

a. Habakkuk worships God


