The expectant prophet

Habakkuk simply explained

John D. Currid

EP BOOKS

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© John Currid 2009

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.

First published 2009

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data available

ISBN-13 978 085234 700 3

ISBN 0 85234 700 6

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, published by HarperCollins Publishers © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

To

Ballantyne Presbyterian Church (ARP)

Contents

Preface

Introduction

Part 1: Setting the scene (1:1)

1. Setting of the prophecy (1:1)

Part 2: Habakkuk’s first complaint (1:2–4)

2. Opening complaint (1:2–4)

Part 3: Yahweh’s response (1:5–11)

3. The Lord’s answer (1:5–11)

Part 4: Habakkuk’s second complaint (1:12–2:1)

4. Habakkuk’s second lament (1:12–17)

5. Habakkuk’s stand (2:1)

Part 5: The Lord’s second answer (2:2–20)

6. First part of the Lord’s response (2:2–5)

7. Second part of the Lord’s response: Five woes (2:6–20)

Part 6: The psalm of Habakkuk (3:1–19)

8. From complaint to hymn (3:1–3)

9. The work of God (3:4–9b)

10. The sovereignty of God (3:9c–13)

11. Yahweh is coming (3:14–16)

12. The crescendo (3:17–19)

Preface

At the very heart and core of the Scriptures is the doctrine of the sovereignty of God. What this means is that God is the Creator of the universe, Lord and Master of heaven above and the earth beneath, and his will is the cause of all things. He is simply sitting on the throne of the universe. He maintains creation, directs it and works all things according to his own will and purpose. Everything that happens in heaven or on earth occurs because of God’s decree, will and purpose. This is the Bible’s teaching, and we reject it at great peril. The centrality of the doctrine of the sovereignty of God is much needed in the church today. The zeitgeist of the day is man’s self-centredness—that is, that the entire world revolves around humanity. The self-absorbed ‘me-ism’ of the day in the West is almost overwhelming. We need a radical change in thinking that acknowledges that God is the centre of reality, and not we ourselves. It should be theism over ‘me-ism’.

The book of Habakkuk is hard-hitting. It teaches the truth of the sovereignty of God in a way that is not found in any other book of Scripture. Once we understand the book in a proper way, then it ought to evoke conviction among the people of God with regard to who God is and who we are. Studying and writing on Habakkuk has had that result in my own life. I pray that the Lord would convince ...