Historical Survey

About the year 607 B.C., the land of Judah was on the brink of massive change. One hundred years prior the northern kingdom of Isreal fell, now it seemed to be the souths turn. Two factors contributed to this fall; one, a false sense of security; two, an unrighteous king. Judah was the geographical home of Jerusalem, and it follows that God would not let the holy city fall; this created a sense of impermability. Secondly, Judah was being ruled by Jehoiakim, the wicked son of the righteous king Josiah. Wickedness and corruption ruled the nation.

In addition, the world surrounding Judah was undergoing major power shifts. The power of Assyria and Egypt were fading, but Babylon, the Chaldeans, was rising as the next great world power. In fact, under the headship of King Nebuchadnezzar, Babylon invaded Judah three times: 605, 597 and 586 BC. It was during the first invasion that the prophet Danial and Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah were taken captive. The second invasion resulted in the capture of Ezekiel. Such were the times in which Habakkuk lamented.

The authorship of this book is undisputed, but very little is known about Habakkuk himself. We do know that his name means one who embraces; this title also indicates the great concern the man has for his people. He may have been a Levite and a temple singer, but this cannot be conclusively verified. One thing we know for sure is that he was a prophet by profession, and judged to be so by the laws of the time.

Some of the beauty of Habakkuk is that it is not an address to the people of Isreal like other prophets. Rather it is a journey of the heart of one man who struggles with the injustices of the world. It appears that he had been asking God why good men suffer, why evil is allowed to exist and so-on; questions not unlike those we ask ourselves today. This book is a personal journey of understanding and gathering strength for the journey as God shows Habakkuk how to understand His plan.