Habakkuk is generally dated to near the turn of the 7th/6th century BCE, based on its reference to the rise of the Chaldeans (the rulers of the neo-Babylonian Empire which would eventually conquer and exile the Judeans). Habakkuk appears to be writing from a Judah which is no longer riding high during the reign of the great reformer Josiah, but instead a kingdom suffering from anxiety as the Babylonian Empire rises to replace that of the Assyrians. Meet the new boss - same as the old boss.
Chapter 3 is referred to as "The Prayer of Habakkuk", which may have been performed as a psalm in temple liturgy. In it Habakkuk beseeches Yahweh to do his strange work, (that is, to dispense his divine wrath) but not to forget mercy for his people (3:2).
It is hypothesized by some that before becoming the high god of the proto-Israelite pantheon and later the One True God of All CreationTM, Yahweh was a local storm deity. Others hypothesize that he subsumed Ba'al Hadad's role as lord of the storm when he was syncretized with him. Whatever the origin story of Yahweh might in reality be (nobody knows for sure!) here in the third chapter of Habakkuk we witness him in full storm god regalia, and it is friggin' RIGHTEOUS.
Have I mentioned before that I freaking love theophanies? (Hint: the answer is yes.) Theophanies, are, like, just the best.
First Yahweh, named here as "Eloah" - an ancient term or name for "god" - is described as coming from Mount Paran in Teman, a district of Edom to the South. Wait, why not Zion? After all, we were just told in verse 2:20 that Yahweh is in his holy temple (in Jerusalem). Where exactly does this dude live? Oh Yahweh, you are a tough one to peg down! Habakkuk may be trying to echo the Exodus tradition in which Yahweh brought his people out of Egypt from the South - but he doesn't say Yahweh comes from Sinai. Is Habakkuk working with a different version of the Exodus tradition than the one we are familiar with? Or perhaps Habakkuk's confusion is instead evidence of Yahweh's actual southern origins as proposed in the Kenite Hypothesis. It's possible Habakkuk isn't familiar with the details of the Exodus tradition we have inherited, but does know that Yahweh is a southern deity, so he identifies a different mountain to the south, not Mt. Sinai. Whatever the case, I find it very interesting that Habakkuk does not use the obvious Mount Sinai or Mt. Zion.
Anyway, on to the good stuff. Yahweh comes forth, shining like the sun, rays of light radiating from his hands (3:4). Pestilence and plague are his to command (3:5). His power sets off earthquakes, shatters mountains, and flattens hills (3:6). Habakkuk refers to the common near eastern creation motif in which the creator god is victorious over the deep, the abyss, the waters of chaos (3:8, 3:10, 3:15) - Has Yahweh come to battle the elements again? No. This time Yahweh intends to fight the enemies of his people (3:12-14). Time stops as the natural world bears witness to the terrifying wrath of the storm god, coming in power, firing lightning from his mighty bow:
The prophet is terrified by this vision of Yahweh and his wrath, but he eagerly awaits this day nonetheless, for it is a day of reckoning for Judah's enemies (3:16). Though the current situation is difficult, Habakkuk will quietly suffer the hardships, placing his faith in Yahweh to deliver his people from oppressors (3:17-19).
I like Habakkuk. There is a lot to digest for such a small book. Habakkuk struggles with worshiping a god who seems to let evil go unpunished, and allows bad things to happen to good people. He answers these concerns with promises of a coming day of reckoning (similar to the previously established day of Yahweh - only this time Yahweh will be fighting for the Hebrews). He preaches against social (and cultic) sins, a message which is still as relevant today as it was over 2,500 years ago. And of course, he gave us a sick storm god theophany in which Yahweh shoots lightning bolt arrows from his bow. What's not to like?
An interesting line here is found in verse 4:
What's the Deal, Yahweh?
O Yahweh, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not listen?In chapter 1, the prophet lodges complaints against his god. While Habakkuk reinforces the previously established theological theme of Yahweh using the "evil" foreign nations as an instrument to punish his people (1:5-12), he is left wondering how it is that Yahweh allows them to run amok in the ancient near east, seemingly free from reprisal (1:13-17). It is unclear just how far Yahwism had evolved along its path to eventual full-blown monotheism at the time of Habakkuk, but it is clear the prophet is grappling with the problem of evil in these passages. While I believe Yahweh was unlikely to have been characterized as omnibenevolent at this point in history, his followers may have perceived him as at least omnipowerful, judging from his characterization in the previous prophets we've looked at. If he is truly omnipowerful, and too pure to tolerate evil in his sight (1:13), then how does he allow the evil to flourish while the righteous flounder? Having said his piece, Habakkuk waits (2:1). Will Yahweh defend his actions (or inaction)? Has he abandoned his people? Will the evil reign victoriously in perpetuity?
Or cry to you "Violence!" and you will not save?
- Habakkuk 1:2
"Write the Vision"
In chapter 2, Yahweh answers the charges of his prophet.Then Yahweh answered me and said:He makes it explicit: evildoers will reap what they sow. Yahweh has a plan, which will be fulfilled in his own time (2:3). Habakkuk then relates oracles of woe to those evildoers who live to see the day of Yahweh's wrath:
Write the vision;
make it plain on tablets,
so that a runner may read it.
- Habakkuk 2:2
- The Proud, who are wrong in spirit (2:4), The Wealthy, for whom more is never enough (2:5), and The Greedy, who cheat and conquer their way to wealth and power - They will be plundered in turn (2:6-8).
- The Powerful, who deprive the masses of their due - Their foundations will betray them (2:9-11).
- The Conquerors, who establish themselves through bloodshed and violence - Yahweh will overshadow them (2:12-14).
- The Bullies, who ridicule, demean and degrade - Yahweh will drown them in shame (2:15-17).
- The Idolaters, who worship foreign gods - They are but dead symbols with no power (2:18-19).
Yahweh the Mighty Storm
Storm gods have always been popular, just look at Thor. Seriously just look at him... so handsome. - credit: Marvel Studios
Chapter 3 is referred to as "The Prayer of Habakkuk", which may have been performed as a psalm in temple liturgy. In it Habakkuk beseeches Yahweh to do his strange work, (that is, to dispense his divine wrath) but not to forget mercy for his people (3:2).
It is hypothesized by some that before becoming the high god of the proto-Israelite pantheon and later the One True God of All CreationTM, Yahweh was a local storm deity. Others hypothesize that he subsumed Ba'al Hadad's role as lord of the storm when he was syncretized with him. Whatever the origin story of Yahweh might in reality be (nobody knows for sure!) here in the third chapter of Habakkuk we witness him in full storm god regalia, and it is friggin' RIGHTEOUS.
Have I mentioned before that I freaking love theophanies? (Hint: the answer is yes.) Theophanies, are, like, just the best.
First Yahweh, named here as "Eloah" - an ancient term or name for "god" - is described as coming from Mount Paran in Teman, a district of Edom to the South. Wait, why not Zion? After all, we were just told in verse 2:20 that Yahweh is in his holy temple (in Jerusalem). Where exactly does this dude live? Oh Yahweh, you are a tough one to peg down! Habakkuk may be trying to echo the Exodus tradition in which Yahweh brought his people out of Egypt from the South - but he doesn't say Yahweh comes from Sinai. Is Habakkuk working with a different version of the Exodus tradition than the one we are familiar with? Or perhaps Habakkuk's confusion is instead evidence of Yahweh's actual southern origins as proposed in the Kenite Hypothesis. It's possible Habakkuk isn't familiar with the details of the Exodus tradition we have inherited, but does know that Yahweh is a southern deity, so he identifies a different mountain to the south, not Mt. Sinai. Whatever the case, I find it very interesting that Habakkuk does not use the obvious Mount Sinai or Mt. Zion.
Anyway, on to the good stuff. Yahweh comes forth, shining like the sun, rays of light radiating from his hands (3:4). Pestilence and plague are his to command (3:5). His power sets off earthquakes, shatters mountains, and flattens hills (3:6). Habakkuk refers to the common near eastern creation motif in which the creator god is victorious over the deep, the abyss, the waters of chaos (3:8, 3:10, 3:15) - Has Yahweh come to battle the elements again? No. This time Yahweh intends to fight the enemies of his people (3:12-14). Time stops as the natural world bears witness to the terrifying wrath of the storm god, coming in power, firing lightning from his mighty bow:
You uncover your bow,
and give the string its fill of arrows.
You trench the soil with torrents;
the mountains see you and tremble,
great floods sweep by,
the abyss roars aloud,
lifting high its waves.
Sun and moon stay inside their dwellings,
they flee at the light of your arrows,
at the flash of your lightning-spear.
In rage you stride across the land,
in anger you trample the nations.
You marched to save your people,
to save your anointed one;
you wounded the head of the house of the wicked,
laid bare the foundation to the rock.
With your shafts you pierced the leader of his warriors
who stormed out with shouts of joy to scatter us,
as if they meant to devour some poor wretch in their lair.
With your horses you trampled through the sea,
through the surging abyss.
- Habakkuk 3:9-15 (NJB)
Picture Yahweh like Thor, but with a bow - credit: Marvel Studios
The prophet is terrified by this vision of Yahweh and his wrath, but he eagerly awaits this day nonetheless, for it is a day of reckoning for Judah's enemies (3:16). Though the current situation is difficult, Habakkuk will quietly suffer the hardships, placing his faith in Yahweh to deliver his people from oppressors (3:17-19).
I like Habakkuk. There is a lot to digest for such a small book. Habakkuk struggles with worshiping a god who seems to let evil go unpunished, and allows bad things to happen to good people. He answers these concerns with promises of a coming day of reckoning (similar to the previously established day of Yahweh - only this time Yahweh will be fighting for the Hebrews). He preaches against social (and cultic) sins, a message which is still as relevant today as it was over 2,500 years ago. And of course, he gave us a sick storm god theophany in which Yahweh shoots lightning bolt arrows from his bow. What's not to like?
Psalm 11
Like the conclusion to Habakkuk, here the psalmist waits on Yahweh for deliverance, and similarly Yahweh responds by raining death down on the wicked. This time it appears to be in the form of fire rather than lightning, but hey, Yahweh isn't just a storm god after all, even if he may have been at one time.An interesting line here is found in verse 4:
Yahweh is in his holy temple,
Yahweh's throne is in heaven.
- Psalm 11:4
Wait, so is Yahweh in his temple in Jerusalem? Or is he in heaven (or better "the sky" - the divine realm above the earthly realm in ancient cosmology)? This could be a form of esoteric thinking in which the divine realm (or plane) and the mortal realm mirror each other. You may have heard the hermetic maxim "as above, so below" before. Or maybe you're more familiar with "on Earth as it is in heaven" from the Lord's Prayer of Christianity. This is a common concept in esoteric thinking in which events which take place in the divine realm affect or mirror events which take place in the mortal realm, or vice versa. For example, since gods were often intimately bound up with their peoples, when one nation would defeat or conquer another in the ancient world it was often believed that the patron god of the victors was also victorious over the god of the defeated in the divine world.
So where does Yahweh live? Well, he lives in heaven of course - he's a god. But he also lives in his temple in Jerusalem, because the mortal realm is a reflection of the divine realm. What happens in one affects the other. Yay! Fun with religious studies!
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So, did you like Habakkuk? If not, did you at least like Avengers: Infinity War? That scene with Thor was pretty neat. If you have comments, leave them in the space below! I'll see you next time.
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