{"id":26219,"date":"2020-11-06T13:31:00","date_gmt":"2020-11-06T13:31:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/2020\/11\/13\/preaching-on-habakkuk\/"},"modified":"2026-01-21T16:54:00","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T16:54:00","slug":"preaching-on-habakkuk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/preaching-on-habakkuk\/","title":{"rendered":"Preaching on Habakkuk"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Historical Background<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Book of Habakkuk is part of a grouping of twelve smaller books, known as the Minor Prophets, placed together at the very end of the Old Testament. Each of these prophets received a specific word from God for his people. Some prophets were priests, some were farmers, some were advisors to kings. Unfortunately, nothing is known about Habakkuk other than what we find in this book. While he does appear in the apocryphal book Bel and the Dragon<\/em>, sometimes appended to the Book of Daniel, this has no historical basis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Habakkuk was a prophet during the last days of the southern kingdom of Judah somewhere in the timeframe of 620-590 BC but before the fall of Jerusalem in 587 BC. He likely would have been a contemporary of the prophets Jeremiah and Nahum. Habakkuk spoke during a time of great decline in the nation. The story of God\u2019s people around the time of Habakkuk\u2019s ministry looks like this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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-King Hezekiah (715-687 BC) \u2013 Great restoration of faith in God<\/p>\n\n\n\n

-King Manasseh (687-642 BC) and Amon (642-640 BC) \u2013 Great darkness and sin<\/p>\n\n\n\n

-King Josiah (640-609 BC) \u2013 Great reformation and return to faith<\/p>\n\n\n\n

-Final destruction under the sons and grandson of Josiah (609-587 BC)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Habakkuk comes in these last days during the reign of Kings Jehoiakim and Jehoiachin. In 2 Chronicles 36, we discover that this will be the final days of the kingdom of Judah. The kingdom had been threatened by the Assyrian Empire and now the Babylonians were rising up to threaten even Assyria. In 612 BC, the Assyrian capital of Nineveh fell to the Babylonians. In the midst of this vacuum of opposition, the Egyptians moved in to dominate the land of Judah, putting puppet kings on the throne. Eventually, both the Egyptians and the Assyrians were defeated by the Babylonians in 605 BC at the Battle of Carchemish. The Babylonians then threaten the kingdom of Judah, deporting many leaders out of the country before the city of Jerusalem is ultimately destroyed in 587 BC and the full exile begins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Habakkuk stands uniquely within the prophetic books in that there are no oracles spoken to the people of God. In fact, the entire book is composed of dialogue between Habakkuk and God. The Book of Habakkuk is organized into three major sections:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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-Habakkuk\u2019s first complaint and God\u2019s answer (1:1-11)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

-Habakkuk\u2019s second complaint and God\u2019s answer (1:12-2:20)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

-A final prayer of trust and worship (3:1-19)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n\n\n

Chart: Preaching Through Habakkuk<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We know the weekly grind of sermon prep is hard, whether you are in the midst of series or planning a new series. Trying to find key verses you need to highlight in your sermon, finding the historical background to the book, discovering the flow\/structure of book, and even figuring out what is the theme of each section.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That is why we created this chart! This chart is designed to\u00a0save you time<\/strong>\u00a0as you prepare to preach a new sermon series from the Book of Habakkuk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will find a quick visual overview of the movement of the Book of Habakkuk. It will help orient you and your hearers as you preach through the entire book or sections of the book. It provides, at a glance, one way to divide the book into pericopes. The chart includes key verses in the book, an overarching title for the book, the overall message of the book, and some historical background. It is color-coded to highlight certain defining aspects of the book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This chart could be used as a slide in your church service. It could serve as an introduction to a new series or a weekly check-in before you begin preaching. It could even be printed out and given to the members of your church, as a resource to help them grasp the message of the book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Sermon Series<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\nTitle: <\/em>Turning to God in Troubling Times<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This five-part series was preached in a multi-ethnic church, in an urban context, very close to multiple universities. The vision of the church was to proclaim and embody the love of Jesus Christ in the city and the world. After a guest speaker from Kenya preached a stand-alone message from Habakkuk 3, we were challenged as a church to engage with a deeper theology of suffering. Engaging both with the challenge of that guest speaker and the real-life suffering within our congregation and world, we developed this series that walked steadily through the short Book of Habakkuk. The church had moved from a series on questions about Jesus after Easter into a series on the mission of the church in Acts that lead into this series from Habakkuk. Thus, the series was both intended to equip believers in their own discipleship journey while also addressing key questions seekers might have about suffering and equipping believers to engage with those questions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Series Description<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Natural disasters \u2026 global terrorism \u2026 national tensions \u2026 difficulties in our personal lives \u2026What do we do when we face troubling times? The Hebrew prophet Habakkuk faced circumstances not altogether very different from us. In his troubling times, Habakkuk raises his voice to God and hears answers he does not expect. In this five-part series, we will grapple with faith, fear, trouble, injustice, and worship of all-powerful God through the words of the prophet Habakkuk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Big idea for whole series:<\/strong> How do we grapple with faith, fear, trouble, and injustice in light of our relationship with the all-powerful God?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Text: Habakkuk 1:1-4<\/h2>\n\n\n\n