Habakkuk 1:1

This word has an everyday use. It also appears at the start of several prophecies, such as "The burden of Babylon" and "the burden of Moab" (Isaiah 13:1; Isaiah 15:1). Scholars do not agree on the force of massa in these places. Its natural meaning would be "a judgment that lies heavy on the people," but some take it to mean "an oracle or sentence pronounced against them."

The word burden carries the thought of a weight heavy to bear, for God is bringing His displeasure to bear on mankind, and He intends people to feel it.

Habakkuk, Obadiah and Malachi are the only three of the Minor Prophets about whom we know nothing except their names. Along with Zechariah and Haggai, he is one of the only prophets in Scripture who call themselves "prophet" (Habakkuk 1:1).

His name means "to embrace." It carries a double sense: "to embrace" and "being embraced." He embraced his own people, and he embraced God in prayer. Then God embraced him in return and answered him. Martin Luther gave a striking definition of his name, and no one can improve on it: "Habakkuk means an embracer, or one who embraces another and takes him into his arms. He embraces his people and takes them into his arms. That is, he comforts them and holds them up. He is like a man who embraces a weeping child to quiet it, assuring the child that if God wills, things will soon be better."

Everything in Scripture is given for our learning, both in what it says and in what it leaves unsaid. It tells us nothing about Habakkuk himself, nor about the time of his prophecy. The critics have studied the date of his writing with great care, and they have reached conflicting conclusions… But when God does not speak, the work of scholars is of limited value to the Christian, however interesting it may be.

Scripture leaves out every historical detail. So we see at once that we are dealing with principles that govern us today just as they governed the people of Habakkuk's day.

Among the twelve shorter prophetic books, none is more distinctive than Habakkuk. Its main feature is no longer the enemy, though it does mention the enemy. Its prominent subject is the soul of the prophet himself, standing for the faithful among the Jews, brought into deep inward struggle. The book reads like a conversation between God Himself and the prophet. It sets out both what troubled his heart and the divine comfort and exulting hope into which the Spirit of God led him.

In the opening verses we learn the prophet's anguish of soul. He confesses to the LORD the low condition of the people of God. What troubles his spirit is not simply the wickedness of the nations, but the evil among the people of God. In the very circle that should have shown gentleness and righteousness, peace and harmony, he sees violence and corruption, strife and contention.

Habakkuk is the expression of faith in the LORD in spite of everything, and of God's ways in the history of the people. The prophet complains of the wickedness surrounding him in Israel. God shows him the Chaldeans, whom He is bringing to visit the land in judgment because of that wickedness. Then the prophet's affection for the people awakens, and he complains about the Chaldeans. God shows him that he must live by faith.