A Teaching Outline for the Book of Habakkuk

Though one of the smallest books of the Bible, Habakkuk’s words pack a large punch. Prophesying just prior to Nebuchadnezzar’s first invasion of Judah (605 BC), Habakkuk found himself with questions for God concerning the nature of divine justice. King Josiah had reigned in Judah for a number of years and successfully eradicated the land of the pagan shrines and statues (cf. 2 Kings 23:4-20). Though Josiah put to death even the pagan priests who had perpetuated false religion, what he could not do was put to death the idolatry that still existed in the people’s hearts. Thus, after his death, his sons Jehoahaz and Jehoiakim led the nation of Judah right back into its former abominations. And not only that, but these wicked kings actually prospered (cf. Jer. 22:13-14).

This led to Habakkuk’s first question: “How long, O Lord, will I call for help, and You will not hear?” (Hab. 1:2). Essentially, he was asking, “God, how can you tolerate Judah’s wickedness?” Habakkuk wanted to know why God seemingly delayed in bringing about punitive action against the wicked people of Judah. Idolatry, injustice, sexual immorality, child sacrifice, bribery, murder, theft, and many other sins found themselves right at home in the hearts and hands of the people, and Habakkuk wanted to know how long this was going to continue (cf. Hab. 1:3-4). And that wasn’t a bad question. If Habakkuk had asked, “Why do bad things happen to good people?” the answer would be simple: there are no good people (cf. Rom. 3:10-18). The only man who has ever lived a good life is the Lord Jesus Christ. But Habakkuk asked just the opposite: “Why are good things happening to bad people?” God’s answer shocked him: “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” (Hab. 1:6). God explained that He wasn’t ignoring Judah’s sin, but instead was actually raising up a terrifying nation against the people! Judgment on the wicked nation of Judah was indeed coming, and at the hands of the Babylonian army—a fierce nation whose “horses are swifter than leopards and keener than wolves in the evening” (Hab. 1:8). Furthermore, rather than an ambiguous justice that might happen at some far-off time, God promised that it was coming in Habakkuk’s day (cf. Hab. 1:5).

This bewildering revelation led to Habakkuk’s second question: “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?” (Hab. 1:13). Knowing that God’s eyes are “too pure to approve evil” (Hab. 1:13a), Habakkuk wanted to know how in the world God was willing to use the Babylonians—a nation he viewed as even more wicked than Judah—as an instrument of divine justice. After asking this follow-up question, Habakkuk waited patiently, expectantly, and humbly for God’s response (which is a fitting template for how believers ought to approach prayer and Scripture today): “I will stand on my guard post and station myself on the rampart; and I will keep watch to see what He will speak to me, and how I may reply when I am reproved” (Hab. 2:1). Again, God graciously responded to Habakkuk, telling him not to worry; Babylon would subsequently be judged as well. In a series of five woe oracles, God catalogued precisely how and why Babylon would be destroyed: their territories would rebel against them (cf. Hab. 2:5-8), their fortresses could not protect them (cf. Hab. 2:9-11), their glory would not outlast them (cf. Hab. 2:12-14), their violence would return to them (cf. Hab. 2:15-17), and their gods could not help them (cf. Hab. 2:18-20). In the end, only God’s glory—not the glory of world empires—would remain (cf. Hab. 2:14b).

But just prior to those woes, it was only fitting for God to state the following landmark phrase: “Behold as for the proud one, his soul is not right within him; but the righteous will live by faith” (Hab. 2:4). This expression not only bolstered Habakkuk’s faith, and not only bolstered the apostle Paul’s ministry later (cf. Rom. 1:17, Gal. 3:11), but has bolstered the theology of believers throughout the centuries ever since (particularly during the Protestant Reformation). God explained to Habakkuk that the “proud one” (Babylon, in all of its world-dominating arrogance) was not right with God, and thus on the wrong side of His judgment. On the other hand, those who were right with God (the righteous remnant within Judah) would live by faith, trusting in God no matter what may come.

Grammatically speaking, the key phrase “live by his faith” uses word “live” in a durative sense, meaning that this phrase should be understood as “the righteous will go on living by his faith.” The implication of this nuance is that God’s people not only continue living by faith alone, but that they began by faith alone; they were reconciled to God through faith alone, and they never stop resting in God through faith alone. It is for that reason that Paul picked up on the phrase in his explanation of the Gospel: justification (being declared righteous by God) has always been through faith alone. The moment a person repents of his sin and believes in the Lord Jesus Christ, he is credited with the perfect, righteous, law-keeping life of Christ earned through His active obedience. In that moment, and from then on, he lives by faith (cf. Heb. 10:38-39). This truth would have been an immense comfort to believers in Judah preparing for the approach of Babylon. And it’s a truth that comforts us today as we approach eternity.

The evidence that Habakkuk understood all of this is found in the final chapter, in which Habakkuk uttered a lyrical, liturgical prayer expressing that he indeed would trust God no matter the circumstances. He asked that God would grant mercy amidst wrath (cf. Hab. 3:2). He remembered the display of God’s power in times past (cf. Hab. 3:5-6). And he trembled as he thought about the invasion that was coming (cf. Hab. 3:16). But the brilliance of this prayer climaxes near the end, which ought to be a portion of Scripture that believers regularly contemplate: “Though the fig tree should not blossom and there be no fruit on the vines, though the yield of the olive should fail and the fields produce no food, though the flock should be cut off from the fold and there be no cattle in the stalls, yet I will exult in the Lord, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation” (Hab. 1:17-18). Habakkuk was committed to living by faith no matter what happened; in our own uncertain times, may we as well.

Across three chapters, this book can be summarized as essentially two points and a poem (just one point short of a standard sermon!). While you go on living by faith, may God grant you and your disciples hope and joy through a verse-by-verse study of this book. The following outline is offered to help.

How God Can Tolerate Judah’s Wickedness (Habakkuk 1:1-11)

Question: How Long, O Lord? (Hab. 1:1-4)

Answer: I Am Doing Something In Your Days (Hab. 1:5-11)

How God Can Use Babylon’s Wickedness (Habakkuk 1:12-2:20)

Question: Why Do You Look With Favor On Them? (Hab. 1:12-2:1)

Answer: They Will Also Be Judged For Their Sins (Hab. 2:2-20)

How Man Can Celebrate God’s Goodness (Habakkuk 3:1-19)

Recognize His Condition (Hab. 3:1-2)

Remember His Past (Hab. 3:3-15)

Rejoice In His Savior (Hab. 3:16-19)