哈巴谷書 {ha1-ba1-gu3-shu1}
Old Testament – Minor Prophets
There’s nothing minor about the prophet Habakkuk and nothing inferior about his prophecies. “Minor” is simply a description of the book volume (3 chapters) as compared to the “major” ones such as the Book of Isaiah (66 chapters). A total of 12 Minor Prophet Books including Habakkuk were placed as the last 12 Books in the Christian Bible.
There are a couple of ways to pronounce Habakkuk, [huh-BA-kuhk] or [HA-buh-kuhk]. Remember this: 1 B, 3 K.
In merely three chapters, Habakkuk portrayed the prophet’s struggle with understanding God’s justice, a struggle that we all sometimes share. He began by crying out to God about the injustice in the nation, then cried out again because God’s punishment was too severe. God answered by showing him the deeper sins and problems that even Habakkuk failed to see.
In the end, he came to embrace God’s sovereignty, justice, and salvation. With his faith rising with each passing chapter, he finally was able to trust in God even in the face of impending judgment through the Babylonians. Quite perfectly said by God, and demonstrated by Daniel and others, “…the righteous one will live by his faith.” (Hab 2:4)