Thoughts

Who Is Habakkuk?

There is a lot of conjecture on just who this prophet Habakkuk was. The fact is, we don’t have much information about him. The Jewish Rabbis have their ideas. Roman Catholicism has theirs, based on one of the books of the Apocrypha. 

What we do know is that this is a book of Habakkuk’s statements to God in the name of the people, and God’s statements to the people through Habakkuk. That is the textbook definition of what a prophet is. 

Overall, the book speaks of the land of Judah’s invasion by the Chaldeans.

Origins

One sentence in the book should have certainly stood out to you if you have studied Martin Luther and the Reformation at all. Did you hear it? It was chapter two, verse four. Here it is again: “But the one who is right with God will live by faith.” Or it might be more familiar to you from the King James Version: “but the just shall live by faith.”

You might not have known that this was from the book of Habakuk. You might have thought that it was from Romans 1:16-17. Here it is, again from the King James Version: “16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. 17 For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.

Homework

There in Romans, Paul was quoting Habakkuk. And the phrase, “The just shall live by faith” is the verse that caused Martin Luther to begin questioning the Roman Catholic church’s practices. It’s an important piece of church history that I recommend you study if you’re not familiar with it.

Today's Bible Translation

Bible translation used in today's episode: Ch. 1-3 NIRV

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Live Not by Lies: A Manual for Christian Dissidents

By Rod Dreher / Sentinel

Aleksandr Solzhenitzyn once noted that people often assume that their democratic government would never submit to totalitarianism---but Dreher says it's happening. Sounding the alarm about the insidious effects of identity politics, surveillance technology, psychological manipulation, and more, he equips contemporary Christian dissidents to see, judge, and act as they fight to resist the erosion of our freedoms. 304 pages, hardcover from Sentinel.