Sometimes God has good plans for his righteous followers. But occasionally, or maybe we should write, normally, God’s people have to endure difficult circumstances before God’s good plans. Hab was learning this as God revealed his plans for the future in Hab 2:2–3.
God has plans for the future. God has something he wants written down for future generations. God tells Habakkuk to preserve that message, “Record the vision and inscribe it on tablets” (Hab 2:2a). God tells Habakkuk to publicize that message. “That the one who reads it may run” (Hab 2:2b). God also has something to work out at a future time (v. 3). From Habakkuk’s prophecy we learn that by faith we wait.
While God has plans for the future, God also has plans for the righteous which he reveals in Habakkuk 2:4–5. God first reveals those plans for the wicked. As we read about the wicked people in Habakkuk 2:4–5 we need to remember that the word “Chaldeans” is the term Habakkuk uses to describe the Babylonians[1] (Hab 1:6, 15).
Habakkuk tells us that the Babylonians are dominant, “Behold, as for the proud one, His soul is not right within him” (Hab 2:4a). The Babylonians lived by their sight and their might. But their pride condemned them. They ran over people instead of submitting under the authority of God.
Habakkuk also tells us that the Babylonians are drunk, “Furthermore, wine betrays the haughty man, so that he does not stay at home. He enlarges his appetite like Sheol, and he is like death, never satisfied. He also gathers to himself all nations and collects to himself all peoples” (Hab 2:5). This verse describes the wickedness of the Babylonians in two ways. First, there’s a personification of Babylon as a drunk man, “wine betrays a haughty man, so that he does not stay at home.” Second, there’s personification of Babylon as a hungry man, “He enlarges his appetite like Sheol, and he is like death, never satisfied. He also gathers to himself all nations, and collects to himself all peoples.” This personifies death as having an appetite that is never satisfied. The Babylonians were proud, greedy, and always wanted more.
Habakkuk also tells us that the Babylonians are deadly, “wine betrays the haughty man.” Excessive alcohol is not the chief sin or worst sin here, but it appears as the sin the fuels other sins. When my family lived in Exeter, California we had a traditional open wood fire place with a small pipe that provided natural gas you could use to get the wood fire going. It was fantastic! That little bit of natural gas takes the small amount of fire and magnified it greatly. Alcohol has that same effect on our sin. Alcohol takes the little bit of sin we have and enlarges it. We see that happen in Daniel 5 with King Belshazzar (Nebuchadnezzar’s son) where alcohol led to many foolish deeds and the eventual end of the Babylonian kingdom (Dan 5:30-31).
In Habakkuk 2:4-5 there’s a sharp contrast between the wicked people—Babylonians—that were prideful and drunk with the righteous people which Habakkuk describes next.[2]
While God has declared His plans for the wicked (Hab 2:4:a, 5), God declares his plans for the righteous saying, “But the righteous will live by his faith” (Hab 2:4b).[3] If you ask most people on the street today how they would get to heaven, most would say by being a good person and doing good deeds. This verse contradicts that.
This verse is quoted three times in the New Testament so let’s make sure we read it in its context. Habakkuk has posed his questions to God and expressed his concern about the righteous (Habakkuk 1:4, 13). Here in Habakkuk 2:4 God probably has the oppressed individuals of Habakkuk 1:4 in view. God is saying that this is what is true for those that trust in God and not in themselves.
In addition to the context it’s important to examine a few cross references of Habakuk 2:4.[4] Habakkuk 2:4 is quoted three times in our New Testament. In each of these quotes I want to bring out the meaning of a specific word.
When quoted in Romans 1:17 the word “righteous” describes salvation. “For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, ‘But the righteous man shall live by faith’” (Rom 1:17). In this context faith opposed to work leads to salvation. In other words, what you do doesn’t make you righteous.
When quoted in Galatians 3:11 the word “live” also describes our salvation but a different aspect of it. “Now that no one is justified by the Law before God is evident; for, ‘The righteous man shall live by faith’” (Galatians 3:11). In this context faith opposed to legalism and Law leads to salvation. In other words, you don’t become righteous by keeping the Law or celebrating certain festivals and feasts.
The use of Habakuk 2:4 in Galatians 3:11 and Romans 1:17 became the battle cry and banner of the protestant reformation. In the sixteenth century the Roman Catholic Church was requiring payments from common people to pay for their sins and to lessen the time that their family spent in purgatory. Along with that came a list of “dos” and “donts” that the Roman Catholic Church had for the people as a way for them to maintain their standing as a Christian in the Roman Catholic Church.
From that context with Habakkuk 2:4, Galatians 3:11, and Romans 1:17 several streams of protestant reformation traditions began. One stream known as the “Reformed Faith” flowed from two men. Ulrich Zwingli was located in the city of Zurich in northern Switzerland and from John Calvin who was also from Switzerland but was located in the city of Geneva which was in the south. Another stream came to be known as the “Lutheran Reformation” led by Martin Luther in Germany and Conrad Rebel who was based in Zurich. A third stream developed and is known as “Anabaptism” from Menno Simmons who was from Holland.
All three groups saw Habakkuk 2:4 as quoted in Galatians 3:11 and Romans 1:17 as the correct teaching that a person is declared righteous by God because of faith, not because of works.
There is a third quote of Habakkuk 2:4 in the New Testament that is lesser known, yet still important. While Romans 1:17 used “righteous” to describe salvation as faith opposed to work, and Galatians 3:11 used “live” to describe faith opposed to legalism and Law, Hebrews 10:38 quotes Habakkuk 2:4 focusing on “faith” and its role in our sanctification. The context in Hebrews is faith persevering under pressure. In other words, you don’t leave your faith when times get hard, instead it’s your faith that allows you to endure and grow. This quotation in Hebrews 10:38 is most like Habakkuk’s use.
Now that we understand the context and have examined cross references of Habakkuk 2:4, let’s look at its constant message. Tough times are coming for Judah, but they will only endure by faith. God is assuring Habakkuk that it is by the faith and godly lifestyle of the innocent that they will be preserved through coming oppression.
From Habakkuk’s prophecy we learn that it’s by faith we live.By faith we live spiritually and by faith we live physically. By faith we enter the heavenly kingdom of God and by faith we endure the earthly kingdom.
As Habakkuk utters these words the Babylonians probably think they’re getting away with what they’re doing. But God has something to say.
How can we make it through the rest of the month when we are out of money? By faith in God. How do we know how to parent a strong-willed child? By faith in God. When the church we are a member of encounters severe financial troubles how do we know what to do? We learn on faith in God. We learn on and rely on our faith in God. This is because “the righteous will live by faith.”
[1] The Hebrew word, kasdim, is translated as “Chaldeans” (Hab 1:6) in the NASB but this group of people is better known by another name: Babylonians (see NIV and NLT). The Babylonians were a tribe within the Assyrian Empire that rose up and overtook the Assyrian Empire. Nabopolassar rose up into power in 625 BC and Nebuchadnezzar inherited the powerful kingdom in 605 BC. See B. T. Arnold, “Babylon” (pp. 53-60) edited by Mark J. Boda and Gordon J. McConville, Dictionary of the Old Testament: Prophets (Downers Grove, IL; Inter-Varsity Press, 2012), 59.
[2] J. Ron Blue says this verse “sparkles like a diamond in a pile of soot. In the midst of God’s unrelenting condemnations of Babylon stands a bright revelation of God’s favor” (J. Ronald Blue, “Habakkuk,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 1 [Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985], 1513).
[3] Some translations read “faithfulness” (NIV, NEB, focusing on the aspect of the word that can mean moral steadfastness.
[4] This verse appears to be a deliberate echo of Gen 15:6. See O. Palmer Robertson, The Books of Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah, The New International Commentary on the Old Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1990), 178.