Habakkuk: Chapter 2

Recap

In our previous study, we began to explore the prophet Habakkuk; he cries out to God to deal with the injustice that has run rampant in Israel, only to learn that God’s answer to this injustice is to send an even more unjust nation to come and defeat them. Habakkuk is distraught to hear this and appeals to God, awaiting a better answer.

Getting into the text.

In chapter 2 of Habakkuk, God instructs Habakkuk to write down and record his response.

God says that though justice may be delayed, it will come.

The chapter then outlines five woes, “a piercing exclamation that conveys grief, alarm, or impending judgment.” Tim Mackie from the Bible Project describes the second chapter this way.

“These woes describe the typical forms of oppression and injustice perpetrated by nations like Babylon.

The first two target unjust economic practices, like how wealthy people charge ridiculous interest to keep others trapped in debt, building their own wealth through crooked means. The third woe is a critique of slave labour and those who treat humans like animals, threatening them with violence if they aren’t productive enough.

The fourth woe targets the abuse of alcohol by irresponsible leaders. While others suffer under their bad leadership, they’re partying and wasting their wealth on sex and booze. The last woe exposes the idolatry driving such nations. They have made money, power, and national security into gods, offering allegiance to them at all costs and becoming slaves to their own empire.

The practices described here aren’t unique to Babylon, and that’s the point. Given the human condition, most nations will eventually become like Babylon. God’s answer to Habakkuk is an answer to all generations, to anyone who lives in a world ruled by other Babylons.  This leaves us with an unsettling, open question: Will God let this cycle go on forever, letting Babylon-like empires ruin each other and his world?” (The Bible Project)

This chapter of Habakkuk is a challenging one, and yet as we read it, we also see our modern world painted clearly in its pages; we are still waiting with Habakkuk for the promised justice he cries out for.

[Read the assage out loud]

Three Quick Questions

1. Did anything stand out for you in the passage? (Look for repetition & contrasts)

2. Did you learn anything new or surprising about Jesus or God’s character?

3. Are there other stories or passages in Scripture that this passage might be referencing?

Why do you think the authors are connecting these passages?

Digging Deeper

1. Habakkuk 2 begins with the prophet declaring his intent to wait for God to answer his complaint. Can you recall a situation when you had to wait for God's guidance? What did it feel like when you were waiting for God to act?
   

2. As we read these woes, we need to remember that they come as a response to Habakkuk’s cry in chapter 1, where Habakkuk asks how God can use Babylon as an instrument of his justice. The first chapter’s central question is
   “Why then do you tolerate the treacherous?
       Why are you silent while the wicked swallow up those more righteous than themselves?”
   In what way does this chapter answer Habakkuk’s questions?
   

3. As you read through verses 6-20, who do you think is being described? The Babylonians? The Israelites? Us?
   Why do you think God’s woes are phrased in this way?
   

4. As you read through the five woes, what stands out? What emotions come to the surface? How do you think Habakkuk felt about this re
   

5. How does this chapter encourage us to respond when we witness evil or injustice?
   

6. What do you think is the purpose and significance of verse 20?
   

7. How might we today live with hope, while waiting for true justice like Habakkuk?