COMMENTARY

Old Testament: Habakkuk 1:1-4; 2:1-4
In a world of adversity the righteous live by faith. Habakkuk and Yahweh are engaged in a dialogue. The prophet, a contemporary of Jeremiah, served during the reign of King Jehoiakim (608-597 B.C.) and during the last days before the Babylonian conquest. Under Jehoiakim conditions in Judah were horrible lawlessness and oppression. In the light of these conditions Habakkuk goes to Yahweh with a complaint: Where is he? Why does he not answer? Why doesn't he do something about these moral conditions? Yahweh answered that he was going to send the Babylonians to reform Judah. Alas, the Babylonians who came in 597 were worse than the people of Judah. So Habakkuk goes up to his watchtower to see what Yahweh will say to the situation. He gets the an…