Everyone at some point in their life has asked God the question, “Why?” Some have used it to question the very existence of God, while others have drawn closer to God because of it. Habakkuk is a prophetic book that was written on behalf of these people. Most people when they think of prophecy they think of "Foretelling" of the future. While this is an aspect of prophecy it also means to forthtell. In other words it has a message for the day it is spoken and it might have a future meaning as well. Mostly it is more like a proclomation of some sort. God rises his people up to warn and turn them back to Him. While most prophets called the people to God, Habakkuk questioned God for the people. He could not understand why the poor were afflicted and mistreated. He could not understand why a nation more wicked than Israel would be used to judge God’s people. His question of “Why?” shows us that we can be true to God and still question Him in our doubt.

Well who was he:
Gleason L. Archer states, “The name Habaqquq is an unusual one of uncertain meaning; possibly it signified ardent embrace, from hābaq, embrace (Eiselen in ISBE). Some have suggested that it was a name of a garden plant which the Assyrians called hambaqūqu, but which cannot as yet be identified.” [1] However, even with the Assyrian conquest of Israel, it does not seem to make sense for a Judean prophet to be named after an Assyrian plant. Judea was never conquered by the Assyrians and while they may have had some influence, it doesn't seem to fit well. What does make sense is the use of his name with the idea of embracing God, especially in a time this was needed the most.

Little is really known about Habakkuk himself. There is some speculation that he was from the tribe of Simeon, and some have suggested he is a Levite. Clyde T. Francisco stated, “According to another such work, Lives of the Prophets, he was a man of the tribe of Simeon who fled upon Nebuchadnezzar’s advance to take Jerusalem (587) but returned after the fall, dying two years before the return from captivity.”[2] Bel and the Dragon places him in the tribe of Levi. The Jewish encyclopedia online states, “The title to the Septuagint text reads: ‘From the prophecy of Habakkuk, the son of Jesus [Joshua], of the tribe of Levi.’ There was in existence, probably, a work ascribed to Habakkuk; but of its nature nothing is known.”[3] If more than one source had put his heritage with a specific tribe, historians would have more clues about his genealogy. While Bel and the Dragon and Lives of the Prophets are not canonical books, they may shed some light on Habakkuk’s origins. Either way, we cannot know for certain.

Another reason that people have placed Habakkuk with the tribe of Levi is because of the musical aspects of chapter 3. Frank Boyd states, “From 3:1 and 3:19 we gather that he may have been a Levite participating in the music of the Temple.”[4] Robert Pfeiffer, uses the musical aspects of the chapter as an argument against Habakkuk’s authorship of chapter three. Pfeiffer does not believe that chapter three should be attributed to Habakkuk, because he was a prophet and not a musician. By stating this, however, he has limited the abilities of people to be able to do only one thing with any excellence, and that is a fallacy. Who is he to say that someone cannot be a king or a prophet and be musically inclined as well? The argument just doesn’t work.
So what does this mean? It means that we don't really know that much about him and we cannot know for certain without more evidence. Most of what we know is based off of speculation. The one thing that I do know is that he wrote this book. In Chapter 1 verse 1 of Habakkuk, it states: "The Oracle that Habakkuk the prophet recieved." I also know that he had a heart for his nation. Why else would he be questioning God about wickedness and injustice. I do know that he had a heart for God as well, after all he waited for his answer and didn't give up that God would speak to him on the matter. He also showed this in the third chapter as he was giving thanks to God even with knowing the destruction that was coming on Jerusalem.

Yet I will wait patiently for the day of calamity to come on the nation invading us. Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior. -Habakkuk 3: 16b-18

I know that he is every man/woman. Meaning that he is just like you and me. He couldn't understand why things were the way they were, just like many times we have asked this same question: "Why?" We can be comforted in the fact that God loves us even in our Doubt. We can be comforted with the fact that God loves us when we ask Him questions, and He is willing to answer us if we are truly seeking an answer. We can be comforted in the fact that even in our times of trouble, He cares! We can be comforted in the fact that He is a just God and when things don't seem fair, He has a plan. We can be comforted in the fact that if we are being disciplined, that He will see us through it. God does Care!


[1] Gleason L. Archer, A Survey of Old Testament Introduction (Chicago: Moody Press, 1974), 355.
[2] Clyde T. Francisco, Introducing the Old Testament (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1958), 138.
[3] Crawford Howell Toy, "Bel And The Dragon," Jewish Encyclopedia, 2002, http://jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=561&letter=B/ (accessed April 26, 2008).
[4] Frank M. Boyd, Old Testament Studies, ed. , Joel Through Malachi (Springfield, MO: Gospel Publishing House, 1988), 153.