The prophet Habakkuk was active in Judah around 600 B.C. Every time in history has its difficulties and dangers, but that was a particularly sticky moment. The ruthless Assyrian Empire had been destroyed—we recall the jubilant message of the prophet Nahum—but Assyria had been replaced by another threat--the rising power of Babylon. The little kingdom of Judah found itself being squeezed between the two superpowers of the day—Babylon to the north and east and Egypt to the south. Externally, there was the threat of invasion. Internally there was tension in society between the haves and the have-nots.
The prophet sees injustice everywhere. The wicked are prospering while the righteous suffer, and the LORD seems detached and indifferent to all of it. So Habakkuk, about whom we know very little, bursts forth in a tirade which begins with the question: "O LORD, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not listen?"(1:2).
The people's adherence to the Law of Moses "becomes slack" (1:4), and the Law's demand for justice in society is being perverted by greed and self-interest. What is God intending to do about the situation? The LORD replies that he is "rousing the Chaldeans"—another name for Babylon—"that fierce and impetuous nation, who march through the earth to seize dwellings not their own" (1:6) to exact punishment. They are the scourge upon the earth. They scoff at kings and make sport of rulers. They laugh at every fortress, however strong. Nothing withstands them. They are without conscience or piety—"their own might is their god" (1:11). God, it seems, intends to use these ruthless outlaws to punish the injustice of his people.
But Habakkuk is not satisfied with this answer. For one thing, he is outraged that the pure and holy God would not scruple to use a nation so evil to punish his people. "Why do you look on the treacherous," the prophet wants to know, "and are silent when the wicked swallow those more righteous than they?" (1:13). It is the old question—which is as new as today: Is the good God really in control of a world where evil flourishes? Why do the good people suffer and the wicked prosper?
God has made his people "like the fish of the sea," helpless and leaderless (1:14), the prophet complains, and then goes on to enlarge upon his fishing metaphor. The wicked hook the righteous and net them, and then they worship and sacrifice to the nets in which they catch others. Their "portion is lavish" (1:16); they go from triumph to triumph. Clearly the prophet has the ruthless power of Babylon in mind when he asks the question: "Is he to keep on emptying his net and destroying nations without mercy?" (1:17). He must have an answer. Habakkuk says he is prepared to stand as a watchman on the rampart and wait until he gets an answer from the LORD to the double question—Why does evil flourish, and what does God intend to do about it? (2:1).
And the LORD does in fact respond, though not with a direct answer to the "why" question. Instead he tells the prophet to write his "vision" large, so that it can be read by a runner (2:2). (And presumably this is what he has done.) That vision addresses the "end" of history—not the immediate future but the goal toward which things are moving. In the end, wealth will prove treacherous, says the LORD, and "the arrogant [will] not endure" (2:5). But "the righteous live by their faith" (2:4) and that he is faithful to his promises. This verse may be more familiar in its older form—"The just shall live by faith." St. Paul quotes it in Galatians 3:11 and Romans 1:17 to mean that those who hold fast to the promises of God and trust in him to deliver them will be assured and uplifted by the memory of God's steadfast love in the face of an uncertain future. It is faith and not the certainty of cut and dried answers that brings us into a saving relationship with the LORD.
God commands "everyone" to mock the wicked. The lives of "such people" are futile and ultimately empty of meaning. Each taunt begins with the word "alas."
Alas for those who make themselves rich by taking pledges--collateral for loans, essentially. The poor were forced to pawn things—often pieces of clothing—to raise necessary funds. This was a particularly cruel form of economic exploitation, because in a cash-poor society they could easily lose everything they had in that way, even their freedom. The prophet Habakkuk takes direct aim at those who have made themselves rich in this way. Those who pile up meaningless wealth by plundering the poor will in the end be booty for their own creditors. "Because you have plundered many nations," says the LORD, "all that survive of the people shall plunder you" (2:8). In the end there will be a divinely sponsored revolution that will overturn the corrupt economic system that has heretofore benefited only the rich.
Alas for those rich who live in solitary isolation from the suffering of the poor, "setting [their] nest on high to be safe from the reach of harm" (2:9). They will not be safe from judgment, however; indeed "the very stones will cry out from the wall, and the plaster will respond from the woodwork" (2:11).
Alas for those who govern the weak through coercion and violence—the Old Testament mafia, essentially. Their end is coming. They will be swept away and in their place "the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea" (2:14). And this goes for bootleggers too. Alas for those who deliberately corrupt society with alcohol. Soon it will be their turn to drink the cup of the LORD's wrath.
Finally, alas for those who make and worship images. An idol is useless doll—"a teacher of lies" (2:18). It is dumb and insentient, without knowledge. "It is gold and silver plated"—not even real—"and there is not breath in it at all" (2:19), but "the LORD is in his holy temple." He is the source of all life and meaning—"let all the earth keep silent before him" (2:20).
So the prophet receives his answer—though not to the question he had asked—and he responds with psalm of praise in which he expresses the awestruck wonder he feels when he considers God's mighty works and begs that "in [his] wrath [the LORD may] remember mercy" (3:2). Then in a remarkable passage he describes the appearance of the warrior God who breaks into history to "save [his] people" (3: 13). His power is like a tornado, which seems "ready to devour the poor who were in hiding" (3:14). In the face of such overpowering majesty the prophet describes his own wretched condition—"I hear, and I tremble within; my lips quiver at the sound. Rottenness enters into my bones, and my steps tremble beneath me" (3:16).
But in this state of trepidation he determines to "wait quietly" without asking any more questions and see how God will deal with those who "attack" the righteous. There will be no more "why" questions, just simple faith. Even if things do not immediately get any better and his questions are not answered, Habakkuk determines to "rejoice in the LORD" (3:18) and derive strength from simply knowing that God will act to save his people. He can rise above all else. So the prophet concludes with an outburst of praise—"God, the LORD, is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, and makes me tread upon the heights" (3:19). On that high note the book ends.
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