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About Habakkuk
Habakkuk 1:1 “The burden which Habakkuk the prophet did see.”
The Hebrew name H2265 – ḥăḇaqqûq comes from Habaq H2263 – ḥāḇaq, meaning to embrace, to fold your arms around someone. Habakkuk’s book starts a bit different, with a discussion between YHWH and Habakkuk, where Habakkuk asks “why???”.. and each time he receives an answer, he asks another question. At one point Habakkuk says, in Habakkuk 2:1, “I will stand my watch And set myself on the tower, And watch to see what He will say to me, And what I will answer when I am corrected.” How beautiful is that, the answer of YHWH is to correct us.
Habakkuk chapter 3 was not found among the Dead Sea Scrolls; instead, its absence suggests it may have been a separate addition or considered incompatible with the Qumran sect’s theology. However, Habakkuk 3 is found in the ancient Greek Septuagint, in other ancient versions like the Latin Vulgate and Syriac version. Chapter 3 also reads a bit different again, and is almost a final prayer after YHWH’s answers, it is more a Prayer and Song.
Habakkuk 3:2 “O YHWH, I have heard Your speech and was afraid; O YHWH, revive Your work in the midst of the years! In the midst of the years make it known; In wrath remember mercy.”
Having Faith in the end
Habakkuk 2:3 “For the vision is yet for an appointed time; But at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; Because it will surely come, It will not tarry.”
The Hebrew word for Appointed time is Moedim H4150 – môʿēḏ, and it is a very important word since creation, for YHWH’s Festivals and for prophecies. The first time we see this word Moedim is in Genesis 1:14 with creation, “And Elohim said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons/appointed times (moedim) H4150 and for days, and years”. Click here to see our previous posts on the Moedim/Appointed Times. The Hebrew word for tarry is H4102 – māhah, meaning to linger, or delayed. So this verse says, even though the end times seem delayed and lingers, wait through it.. it will surely come.
Habakkuk 2:4 continues with ““Behold the proud, His soul is not upright in him; But the just shall live by his faith.”. There are a few new testament verses that quotes this verse from Habakkuk, for example Romans 1:17 “For therein is the righteousness of Elohim revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.”
Habakkuk 3:17-19 “Though the fig tree may not blossom, Nor fruit be on the vines; Though the labor of the olive may fail, And the fields yield no food; Though the flock may be cut off from the fold, And there be no herd in the stalls — Yet I will rejoice in YHWH, I will joy in the Elohim of my salvation. YHWH Elohim is my strength; He will make my feet like deer’s feet, And He will make me walk on my high hills.”
This is one of the most famous hymns. The fig tree that doesn’t blossom or give fruit, and no fruit on the vines – reminds of Yeshua’s warnings. Though the flock may be cut off from the fold – the last sheep that is seperated from Yeshua and the saints. This is a true picture of the end of times, to find your joy in Elohim of Salvation – remember the Hebrew word for Salvation is Yeshua H3468 – yēšaʿ, meaning saviour, rescue, deliverance. These final words are a reminder to stand strong in faith, when everything looks gloomy and hard.
