Rev. Dan Speckhard, pastor at St. Peter Lutheran Church and School in North Judson, IN, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Habakkuk 1:1-11.
Habakkuk was a contemporary of the prophet Jeremiah, yet his book approaches the time period prior to the fall of Jerusaelm from a unique angle. Habakkuk digs into topics that are quite applicable to Christians of every age: the justice of the LORD, the timing of the LORD, and the faithfulness of the LORD. The book opens with a dialogue between the prophet and the LORD. Habakkuk questions why the LORD allows iniquity while ignoring the prayers of His people. Habakkuk likely has in mind the injustice that is happening in Judah. The LORD is gracious in responding; He does not ignore even the challenging prayers from His people. He tells Habakkuk that He is at work. Yet He is at work in a way that Habakkuk would never expect. The LORD reveals that He is bringing the wicked Chaldeans to punish injustice. Here we see the importance of God’s Word to reveal to us the truth, and the necessity of believing that what God says is true, even when it seems impossible to our human sensibilities. Nowhere is this clearer than in the cross of Jesus Christ.
“Majoring in Minors” is a mini-series on Sharper Iron that goes through the books of Obadiah, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah. These three prophets all spoke the Word of God in the days leading up to the fall of Jerusalem at the hand of the Babylonians. Through their unique emphases, these men proclaimed the same message of repentance of sins and faith in the LORD, pointing ultimately toward their prophecies’ fulfillment: Jesus Christ.
Sharper Iron, hosted by Rev. Timothy Appel, looks at the text of Holy Scripture both in its broad context and its narrow detail, all for the sake of proclaiming Christ crucified and risen for sinners. Two pastors engage with God’s Word to sharpen not only their own faith and knowledge, but the faith and knowledge of all who listen.
Sharper Iron is underwritten by Lutheran Church Extension Fund, where your investments help support the work of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Visit lcef.org.
Habakkuk 1:1-11
1 The oracle that Habakkuk the prophet saw.
Habakkuk’s Complaint
2 O Lord, how long shall I cry for help,
and you will not hear?
Or cry to you “Violence!”
and you will not save?
3 Why do you make me see iniquity,
and why do you idly look at wrong?
Destruction and violence are before me;
strife and contention arise.
4 So the law is paralyzed,
and justice never goes forth.
For the wicked surround the righteous;
so justice goes forth perverted.
The Lord‘s Answer
5 “Look among the nations, and see;
wonder and be astounded.
For I am doing a work in your days
that you would not believe if told.
6 For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans,
that bitter and hasty nation,
who march through the breadth of the earth,
to seize dwellings not their own.
7 They are dreaded and fearsome;
their justice and dignity go forth from themselves.
8 Their horses are swifter than leopards,
more fierce than the evening wolves;
their horsemen press proudly on.
Their horsemen come from afar;
they fly like an eagle swift to devour.
9 They all come for violence,
all their faces forward.
They gather captives like sand.
10 At kings they scoff,
and at rulers they laugh.
They laugh at every fortress,
for they pile up earth and take it.
11 Then they sweep by like the wind and go on,
guilty men, whose own might is their god!”
English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
