Habakkuk and Zephaniah both prophesied around the time King Josiah tried vainly to steer Judah back to the Lord. Habakkuk was distressed that God allowed the Israelites to practice violence and injustice. But Zephaniah saw that the Day of Judgment was coming, when God was going to deal with every unrepentant sinner.

By now the invasion by Babylon was imminent. The Babylonians were the instrument of God’s judgment against Judah, but eventually he would deal with them, too. He used Babylon to punish Assyria and later he would use Persia to punish Babylon. God didn’t let anyone escape the consequences of their sins.

Habakkuk Asks Why God Tolerates the Ungodly

Habakkuk wrote his book as a dialogue between himself and God, with the prophet asking God questions and God answering him. Habakkuk was so distressed by what he saw among his countrymen that he felt he couldn’t take it anymore.

“How long, Lord, must I call for help, but you do not listen? Or cry out to you, ‘Violence!’ but you do not save? Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrongdoing? Destruction and violence are before me; there is strife, and conflict abounds.” Habakkuk 1:2-3

We might identify with Habakkuk’s despair as we look at the world around us today. He felt like there was no help for his situation, even the courts of law that should have enforced justice were corrupt.

“Therefore the law is paralyzed, and justice never prevails. The wicked hem in the righteous, so that justice is perverted.” Habakkuk 1:4

God’s Unexpected Plan

God had a plan to stop the violence and injustice in Judah, but it was not what Habakkuk expected.

“For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told. I am raising up the Babylonians, that ruthless and impetuous people, who sweep across the whole earth to seize dwellings not their own. They are a feared and dreaded people; they are a law unto themselves and promote their own honor . . . Then they sweep past like the wind and go on – guilty people, whose own strength is their god.” Habakkuk 1:5-11

The Babylonians didn’t sound like good people for God to use. Why would he reward such ruthless and sinful people with victory over Judah?

God was going to punish Judah with sinners like themselves. Most of the people of Judah didn’t act like God’s people. They gave themselves to foreign gods, and practiced sin and injustice. Not unlike the Babylonians, Judah’s citizens were ruthless and impetuous, too, seizing dwellings not their own, a law unto themselves.

Habakkuk’s second question to God was about why he tolerated this kind of wicked behavior.

“Your eyes are too pure to look on evil; you cannot tolerate wrongdoing. Why then do you tolerate the treacherous? Why are you silent while the wicked swallow up those more righteous than themselves?” Habakkuk 1:13

Whether Habakkuk was thinking of the Babylonians or the Judeans here, the question was the same. Why was God silent in the face of sin and injustice?

Habakkuk watched for God’s reply.

“I will stand at my watch and station myself on the ramparts; I will look to see what he will say to me, and what answer I am to give to this complaint.” Habakkuk 2:1

God Tells Habakkuk to Wait for Him

It was true that the world was full of sinful people, but God had a plan. He told Habakkuk to hang on, because “the righteous person will live by his faithfulness.” Habakkuk 2:4

God saw those who profited from unjust gains, who built cities on bloodshed, and trusted in gods made by their own hands. The earth seemed to be full of them, but God was still in control. He told Habakkuk that when he was perplexed and didn’t know what to do, he should be still and quiet, and wait for God to act.

“The Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth be silent before him.” Habakkuk 2:20

Habakkuk Responds

Habakkuk took this to heart and reflected on what he knew of God.

“Lord, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, Lord. Repeat them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy.” Habakkuk 3:2

The prophet knew that God’s wrath would inevitably fall on unrepentant sinners. It had happened before and when God acted again, the earth would shake and the nations would tremble. Habakkuk hated the sinful behavior he saw around him, but he also dreaded the wrath of God that was to come against Judah through the Babylonians.

“I heard and my heart pounded, my lips quivered at the sound; decay crept into my bones, and my legs trembled. Yet I will wait patiently for the day of calamity to come on the nation invading us.” Habakkuk 3:16

In the end God would bring his wrath down upon Babylon, too, and justice would be complete.

Habakkuk decided to trust God no matter what happened.

“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 3:17-18

God was Habakkuk’s source of strength. He would enable Habakkuk to meet whatever challenges lay before him. The Amplified Bible translates the last verse of Habakkuk this way:

“The Lord God is my strength [my source of courage, my invincible army]; He has made my feet [steady and sure] like hinds’ feet and makes me walk [forward with spiritual confidence] on my high places [of challenge and responsibility].” Habakkuk 3:19 AMP

Habakkuk went from distressed to calm and confident when he brought his concerns to the Lord.

Zephaniah

Zephaniah was the great-great-grandson of King Hezekiah which made him a distant relative of King Josiah. His job as a prophet was to announce that the day of God’s judgment was near. His was one of the last voices to be heard calling people to repentance before disaster befell them. God warned the Judeans that no one was going to escape his notice when the time of judgment came.

“At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps and punish those who are complacent, who are like wine left on its dregs, who think, ‘The Lord will do nothing, either good or bad.’” Zephaniah 1:12

The prophet Zephaniah called the people to humble themselves and respond while there was still time.

“Gather together, gather yourselves together, you shameful nation, before the decree takes effect and that day passes like windblown chaff, before the Lord’s fierce anger comes upon you. Seek the Lord, all you humble of the land, you who do what he commands. Seek righteousness, seek humility; perhaps you will be sheltered on the day of the Lord’s anger.” Zephaniah 2:1-2

Silence, Stillness, and Humility

Habakkuk and Zephaniah both prophesied in tense and troubled times. Disaster loomed over the nations because God was angry and the question was, “What should God’s people do when the fire of his wrath is about to fall?”

Through these two prophets God said, “Be still. Be silent. Humble yourself and reflect upon who I am.  Trust me.”

Doing these things wouldn’t stop the Day of Judgment from coming, but it did put those who trusted God safely into his care. The whole world trembled under the wrath of God, but those who belonged to him were kept safe for eternity in his love for them.

The same is true for us in our troubled world today.

“Seek the Lord, all you humble of the land, you who do what he commands. Seek righteousness, seek humility; perhaps you will be sheltered on the day of the Lord’s anger.” Zephaniah 2:2