“Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no fruit…Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, and I will be joyful in God my Savior.” Hab 3:17-18 NIV

Habakkuk lived in stressful, tenuous times. He opens the book with this bleak description: “destruction and violence are before me; there is strife, and conflict abounds…the law is paralyzed, and justice never prevails.” (1:3,4). Sounds a lot like 2024! Such is the timelessness of the Word of God. 

The Hebrew word for prophet is nabi which means one who sees, or a seer. They were given insight, an ability to interpret and have an enlightened perspective about the culture and spiritual condition of the people of God. Sometimes this also included foresight, to know what God was going to do in the near future or distant events such as details of the Messianic era, or even the end of the world. 

What Habakkuk saw was a nation on the brink. God’s children had become hardened and perverse, to the point that God was about to punish them through the Babylonians, a “bitter and nasty nation…terrible and dreadful” (1:6,7). Their land would be pillaged, and the people exiled and oppressed for seventy years. Against this backdrop, it would be easy to fall prey to hopelessness or become cynical. But that is not what happened. 

Habakkuk does not comes across as a fire and brimstone preacher. He does not convey a sense of anger, judgment, or despair. On the contrary, his message is buoyant, even hopeful. He assures Israel that at the appointed time, the Babylonians too would face their comeuppance, being plundered even as they had gone about plundering (2:8). He affirms them that God’s vision for Israel may be delayed, but “it will surely come” (2:3), even to the point that “the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea” (2:14). Rather than become fixated upon and frustrated by the negative, Habakkuk accentuated and declared the positive. What a great idea!

What was his secret? How was he able to maintain a cheery disposition in the face of such ominous and painful circumstances? Simply put, true Nabis are approved to be spokesmen not because their eyes see and address the evils and threats that are around them; but because their eyes are glued to the Lover of their souls. A Nabi is anchored by his true focus and passion, and that means God first and foremost. It is only in this way that he can qualify to speak for God because his words must not convey just the facts, but the feelings of the Father as well. Otherwise, punishment can appear harsh, even brutal, when in truth it is measured and corrective, and always done in love and for our benefit. 

Habakkuk closes his prophecy with an unforgettable hymn (3:17-19). With Babylon breathing down the neck of the nation, facing the prospect of being stripped, plundered, and taken captive, Habakkuk showed them it is still possible to choose to be joyful. He points us to a Source in God to which we have complete and unfettered access. He emphatically states, “The Lord God is my strength” and “He will make me walk on my high hills” (3:19), i.e. God will see to it that we do not suffer under the yoke of our circumstances, but are above them and therefore not subject to their powers. 

In an hour when destruction, violence, injustice, and conflict abound once again, aren’t you glad Habakkuk demonstrated that it is possible to lean on God as our Source of strength and rise above the fray and frenzy of every battle, challenge, and trial.