Habakkuk 1:1-4, 2:1-4 Commentary

So then, What is a Covenant-Keeping God to Do?

Elizabeth Achtemeier, in her Interpretation commentary on the book of Habakkuk insists that, while the backdrop of this prophetic book is the disobedience and injustice of God’s people and their subsequent punishment at the hands of an invading Babylonian army, that is not the primary focus of the book.  Instead, she asks us to return our focus again to God. How do we discern the character of God in this moment?  What is a covenant-keeping God to do when those God is in covenant with have not kept their side of the bargain?  This is a question with quite high stakes. If God can be thwarted by human insurrection, then God is not ruler of everything after all.  If God can be disappointed and enraged enough to be thrown off course, then Israel’s God is no better than the pantheon of petty gods worshipped by other peoples.

Achtemeier insists, “Habakkuk is above all else a book about the purposes of God and about the realization of his will for his world…It is a book about God’s desire that human beings live together in joy and security and righteousness, in a community ordered by his divine will and faithful to his divine lordship. It asks after the accomplishment of that goal and strains toward its fulfillment. In short, Habakkuk is a book about the providence of God; that is, it is primarily concerned with how God is keeping his promises to his chosen people Israel, and through them, to humankind.”

God Hears and God Responds

Habakkuk 1:1 will sound familiar to those of us steeped in the Psalms.  It is a standard formulation of supplication, a demand for attention to God from God’s people.  From this, some have surmised that Habakkuk was a cultic leader, a priest among God’s people, familiar with the language used in their songs.  After this demand for attention, what we see in Habakkuk is a back and forth between the prophet-priest on behalf of God’s people and God’s own voice.  The Lectionary chops this up in a way that makes it less obvious but it may be helpful in your explication of the text to observe the larger context.

1:1-4                   Habakkuk raises a supplication (a fancy word for complaint) to God.

1:5-11                 God responds

1:12-2:1             Habakkuk leans in/doubles down

2:2-20               God speaks a message to Habakkuk, which the prophet-priest relays.

3:1-15                Habakkuk prays (note here the poetic lines, reminiscent of psalmody)

3:16-19             Habakkuk offers another familiar formulation in the Psalms, the turn

to praise at the conclusion of a psalm, “I will rejoice in the Lord…He

will set my feet like the deer. He will let me walk upon the heights.”

The first thing we observe about God’s character is that God listens and God responds, even to people who have disappointed and not kept their end of the covenant.

“The Call is Coming from Inside the House”

Most of Habakkuk’s prophecy centers on the fear of and preparation for the impending invasion of Babylon, acknowledged as the means of God’s judgment.  However, this leaves open the question of why judgment and punishment were necessary to begin with.  As the CEB Study Bible introduction to the book of Habakkuk observes, “Two groups are causing problems in Habakkuk.”  While one is obviously Babylon, the other one matters too. “Judeans acting in violence ways and neglecting the instruction (the teaching from Moses.)”

The reason below the surface is important here. While it might have been easy then, as it is certainly easy now to blame “them,” “those people,” “outsiders,” the book of Habakkuk reminds us to examine our own complicity in the crimes and actions we readily condemn in others. Achtemeier elaborates on this when she writes, “Habakkuk’s complaint is that the people of Judah…have abandoned the righteous order intended by God for their society, despite the fact that they renewed their covenant with the Lord and underwent a sweeping religious reform only twelve years earlier in the time of King Josiah.”

This is the central concern of Habakkuk’s first complaint, which is captured in the first half of the Lectionary reading this week. We see that Habakkuk’s cries of violence and injustice are leveled against Judea itself because of the fact that Habakkuk names the ineffectiveness of “The Instruction,” which Achtemeier explains is a euphemism for the torah, including “the whole religious tradition of Israel, including her Deuteronomic law, her traditions of what God has done in her past life, and the on-going guidance afforded her day by day through the preaching and teaching of priests and prophets.” Habakkuk’s frustration at this point lends credence to the conjecture that Habakkuk has a priestly background.  Perhaps he is frustrated that, despite his life’s work, “the inhabitants of Judah have ignored that tradition. They have forgotten what the Lord has done for them, disobeyed the Deuteronomic law, and paid no attention to priestly and prophetic instruction.”

Illustration:

As a pastor myself, I find myself deeply relating to Habakkuk’s frustration — not only (and perhaps not even especially) at invaders from outside — but at God’s people for failing to keep covenant with God, especially after recent worship renewal under King Josiah.  Pastors are regularly frustrated that the people in the pew so regularly miss the opportunity to step into Christlikeness.  And, if we’re being honest, we’re probably frustrated that the person in the pulpit has fallen short as well.  And now, at least in the US context, the confusion, disappointment, frustration may feel even more acute as God’s people prefer to align themselves politically rather than religiously or spiritually.

I returned to this video clip frequently during my years of pastoral ministry.  I recognized myself in it and felt less alone.  This week, maybe I even recognize something of Habakkuk’s ministry and his context as well.

The CEP website contains 2 commentaries on Lamentations 1:1-6:

2022 from Scott Hoezee: https://cepreaching.org/commentary/2022-09-26/lamentations-11-6-2/

2019 from Stan Mast: https://cepreaching.org/commentary/2019-09-30/lamentations-11-6-2/