Notes for the hearing impaired follow the video.

Habakkuk 1:1 NLT

[1] This is the message that the prophet Habakkuk received in a vision.

            Who was this Habakkuk who had the vision that gave him this message we will study?  There is very little information concerning his physical self.  Since he included the Babylonians and the destruction of Jerusalem in his prophecy, he can be placed as a possible contemporary of Jeremiah.  He may have lived long enough to see the destruction of Jerusalem fulfilled.  If he lived about the same time as Jeremiah, Habakkuk’s prophecy probably occurred in the early 600’s BC. 

            The vision he recorded can be divided into two complaints from Habakkuk, two responses from God and a doxology that ends in praises to God.  Habakkuk must have had a good relationship with God.  He seems secure in being able to make a complaint to God about injustices and violence that were present in his world.  He also expresses confusion about how God would use an evil empire like the Babylonians to correct evil in Israel.

            God’s responses to his two complaints are received by Habakkuk as one who recognizes God’s universal authority and wisdom.  He ends his writings with a song-like statement that can be expressed with a musical instrument.  That song is about God’s majesty and how he would trust God, regardless of what he sees happening around him. 

            Although the book of Habakkuk only has three chapters, it includes much information about how we can express ourselves to God and how He will answer our questions.  We’ll begin our examination of the information found in Habakkuk’s first complaint in the next video.