Habakkuk probably lived toward the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim, when the Chaldeans were preparing to invade the land. Jerusalem was filled with wickedness. Crimes of violence and lawlessness had become so numerous that the prophet was appalled at the sight. He could only point to the fate of other nations, which must also befall Judah unless the people repented. Paul quotes v. 5 in Acts 13: 41. The Chaldeans are compared to the leopard, the evening wolf, and the east wind. The prophet turns to Jehovah in an agony of expostulation and entreaty. Was he not from everlasting? Was he not Israel’s Rock? The prophet’s solace is the reflection, “We shall not die.” An ancient reading is, “Thou canst not die.” We are reminded of Revelation 1:18. O thou undying, unchanging, life-giving Saviour, we cling to thee amid the storms that sweep the world, as limpets to the rock.

Habakkuk 2. Having prayed, the prophet expected an answer and looked out for it. When it came, there would be no mistaking it. But until we see eye to eye, we must live by simple faith in God. Note that wonderful clause in v. 4, which is referred to so often afterward. See Rom. 1:17; Gal. 2:16; 3:11. Life in this age, as in that, may be obtained and maintained by faith in the ever-living God. Through long waitingtimes the only source of continued life is the faith which draws all from God. From y. 5 onwards, the prophet enumerates Babylon’s sins: her pride, love of strong drink, rapacity, and violence. It could not be God’s

will that the mighty city should flourish on the anguish of the world.

From scenes of anarchy and riot which foretell Chaldea’s doom, we pass into Jehovah’s temple, where peaceful silence reigns! Let us live in that secret place! “The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him!”