Jesus in the Book of Habakkuk: A Sure Redemption
The book of Habakkuk is a conversation between the priest/prophet Habakkuk and God, based on a vision given to him. Unlike many of the other prophets, Habakkuk does not directly address the people. Instead, he records his raw dialogue with God during a time of national turmoil.
This powerful exchange between God and His prophet took place in the Old Testament between the fall of Israel and the fall of Judah, most likely just before the Babylonian invasions of Judah (beginning in 605 B.C.).
Habakkuk is one of the least-known prophets in Scripture. In fact, he is only mentioned in this book, in two verses:
● Habakkuk 1:1: “The oracle that Habakkuk the prophet saw.”
● Habakkuk 3:1: “A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet, according to Shigionoth.”
Structure of the Book
The book of Habakkuk is broken down into three main sections: two concurrent cycles of Habakkuk’s lament to God, followed by God’s response, and then Habakkuk’s prayer to God in chapter 3. Let’s break these down:
First Cycle (1:2–11): Habakkuk’s lament & God’s response
Second Cycle (1:12–2:20): Habakkuk’s second lament & God’s second response
Prayer (3:1–19): Habakkuk’s worshipful and surrendered song (Shigionoth)
Through these cycles, we see a pattern: even when circumstances are confusing or dark, God’s people are called to trust His character and rely fully on His wisdom and goodness.
Cycle 1: Habakkuk’s First Lament and God’s Response (1:2–11)
In his first lament in Habakkuk 1:2, Habakkuk asks God, “How long shall I cry for help, and you will not hear? Or cry to you, “Violence!” and you will not save?” He is crying out for God to do something about the sins of his people. He was deeply distressed over the wicked state of his nation and sought God for answers. He grieves that justice is withheld and that God seems to allow wickedness to thrive unchecked.
Prior to Habakkuk, the prophet Amos had also warned Judah of God’s judgment:
“...because they have rejected the law of the Lord, and have not kept his statutes, but their lies have led them astray, those after which their fathers walked. So I will send a fire upon Judah, and it shall devour the strongholds of Jerusalem” (Amos 2:4b-5).
God responds to Habakkuk with a strong vision of His imminent judgment on Judah. In 1:5-11, God says:
“Look among the nations, and see; wonder and be astounded. For I am doing a work in your days that you would not believe if told.” (v. 5)
He explains in a wild “Behold Moment” (v. 6) that He is raising the wicked Chaldeans to bring judgment upon His people, a morally depraved and militarily strong nation.
Cycle 2: Habakkuk’s Second Lament and God’s Response (1:12–2:20)
Shaken by this revelation, Habakkuk responds with both faith and anguish. He affirms God’s holiness and sovereignty but wrestles with a perplexing question: Why would God allow an even more wicked nation to triumph over His own people?
Habakkuk positions himself in waiting: “I will take my stand at my watchpost… to see what he will say to me” (2:1). His confidence that God will answer shows his deep reliance on God’s voice.
God’s reply is both reassuring and sobering:
“For still the vision awaits its appointed time… If it seems slow, wait for it… the righteous shall live by his faith”(2:3–4).
God reminds Habakkuk that His timing is perfect and His justice sure.
God’s narrative about the Chaldeans in 2:6-20 is a chastisement of their wickedness, and a reminder that He WILL make all things right in the end.
“For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.”
As Isaiah 55:8–9 reminds us, God’s ways are higher than ours, and His thoughts beyond our understanding. Our call is to trust and wait in faith:
“Behold… The righteous shall live by his faith.” (Habakkuk 2:4)
God ends this section with a striking contrast between the lifeless idols and His own majesty: “But the LORD is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him” (2:20).
Cycle 3: Habakkuk’s Prayer (3:1–19)
The book concludes with Habakkuk’s prayer—a Shigionoth, which is a passionate, lyrical cry of worship and surrender.
The book concludes with Habakkuk’s prayer, a Shigionoth—a passionate, lyrical cry of worship and surrender. The Hebrew root שִׁגָּיוֹן (šigāyôn) denotes a “wild, passionate song composed under strong emotion.”[1] Psalm 7 is the only other place this form occurs in Scripture.
Within this powerful song, Habakkuk recalls God’s mighty works in Israel’s history, from their Exodus onward, and acknowledges God’s sovereignty even in judgment:
“Yet I will quietly wait for the day of trouble to come upon people who invade us” (3:16).
Habakkuk ends with one of the most powerful declarations of faith in all of Scripture:
“Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines… yet I will rejoice in the LORD; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. GOD, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer’s; he makes me tread on my high places” (3:17–19).
Habakkuk’s trust is not based on circumstances but on God’s unchanging character. Even when all seems lost, he rejoices in the God of his salvation.
“The book is the answer to the question: Will God straighten out the injustice of the world? This book answers the question: Is God doing anything about the wrongs of the world? This book says that He is. The book is the personal experience of the prophet told in poetry, as Jonah’s was told in prose.”[2]
How we see Jesus show up in the book of Habakkuk
Here’s the spoiler alert: at its core, the book of Habakkuk is a powerful message that even when we cannot understand the circumstances around us, we can trust our loving and faithful God—who, through Jesus, redeems it all—and rely fully on His wisdom and goodness. But how did Habakkuk come to such deep trust in God’s character and sovereignty when everything around him seemed dark?
The message of Habakkuk is a powerful glimpse of the work of Jesus in our lives. Even before Jesus came in the flesh, God’s plan of redemption was already unfolding. Scripture tells us that this plan was set in motion before the foundation of the world:
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him.” (Ephesians 1:3–4)
Because of Jesus, we see echoes of this promise all throughout the Old Testament:
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11)
“I have swept away your offenses like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist. Return to me, for I have redeemed you.” (Isaiah 44:22)
“And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he [Jesus] will crush your [Satan’s] head, and you will strike his heel.” (Genesis 3:15)
Habakkuk models the kind of faith that looks beyond immediate circumstances and trusts in God’s ultimate justice and goodness. Even though God’s people were unfaithful, Habakkuk believed that God’s purposes would stand.
This is where Jesus shines most clearly. Because of Jesus, redemption is sure. He wrote the next chapter of God’s story—after a long season of silence—bringing hope not only to Israel but to all humanity in desperate need of rescue. In Him, the longing expressed in Habakkuk finds its fulfillment.
One of Habakkuk’s most famous lines points us directly to Jesus’ victory:
“The righteous shall live by his faith…”
We are made righteous by our faith in Jesus, who conquered death, hell, and the grave on our behalf and opened the way for our stories to be redeemed. Paul later draws on this verse to proclaim the heart of the gospel:
Romans 1:16-17: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, just as it is written: The righteous will live by faith.”
Galatians 3:10-11: “For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse, because it is written, Everyone who does not do everything written in the book of the law is cursed. Now it is clear that no one is justified before God by the law, because the righteous will live by faith.”
Because of Jesus, the words of Habakkuk are not merely ancient promises, but living truth for us today. His faithfulness assures us that no matter what we face, redemption has the final word.
Our Response Today
How should we respond to Habakkuk’s timeless words in light of the hope of Jesus? With trust and hope. As declared in chapter 2:
“Behold…The righteous will live by faith.”
Like Habakkuk, we may not understand God’s timing or methods, but we can anchor ourselves in His character and in the promise of a redeemed future. The story is not over. Because of Jesus, there is nothing in your life that cannot be redeemed by the One who holds it all.
We are called to live by faith in Christ’s finished work, holding fast until the day His redemption is complete:
“He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” (Revelation 21:4)
Until then, we wait. We trust. And with Habakkuk, we declare:
“I will rejoice in the LORD; I will take joy in the God of my salvation.” (3:18)
Will you choose, like Habakkuk, to rejoice in the Lord even when the answers don’t come, when the waiting feels long, and when the future feels uncertain—believing that nothing in your story is beyond His power to redeem?
For in Christ, the waiting is never wasted, and redemption always has the final word.
[1] https://www.biblestudytools.com/dictionary/shiggaion/
[2] McGee, J. (15 Nov 2017). Notes for Habakkuk by Dr. J. Vernon McGee. Retrieved from https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/mcgee_j_vernon/notes-outlines/habakkuk/habakkuk-notes.cfm
