Articles
“The Just Shall Live by Faith”
Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him,
but the righteous shall live by his faith.
Habakkuk 2:4
After Solomon’s reign, the nation of Israel was divided into two separate kingdoms: Judah (with Benjamin) in the south and Israel (the other tribes) in the north. The northern kingdom suffered one unjust and idolatrous king after another. Despite the prophets’ pleas for repentance, the people continued in their rebellion against God. This earned them God’s justice which came in the form of the Assyrian army destroying Israel’s capital, Samaria, and taking many Israelites captive in 722 BC.
The southern kingdom of Judah, though blessed with a few righteous kings, was headed down the same road. Meanwhile, Babylon overtook Assyria as the dominant world power and destroyed the Assyrian capital of Nineveh in 612 BC. The book of Habakkuk probably took place some time after this and before the first Babylonian invasion of Jerusalem in 606.
The book of Habakkuk is similar to Jonah in the sense that rather than containing the prophet’s sermons, it contains the prophet’s dialogue with God. Habakkuk was deeply disturbed by the moral, social and religious corruption of Judah and wondered why God, who was holy, could allow Judah’s evil to continue unchecked (1:1-4). In response, God—who was well aware of Judah’s sins—revealed his surprising plan to use the nation of Babylon to execute his judgment upon Judah (1:5-11). God warned Habakkuk that the prophet wouldn’t believe his plan… and he didn’t! This seemed an even greater injustice to the prophet; how could a just God use a nation even more wicked than Judah to punish his people? (1:12-2:1) He could not understand the rationale of God’s plan and waited for an explanation (2:1). In response, God assured him it was going to happen (2:2-3) but then provided the only way to survive the ordeal (2:4).
How could anyone hope to survive the oncoming Babylonian onslaught? God answered, “the righteous shall live by his faith” (2:4). Nothing could stop the Babylonian invasion but the people could survive by putting their complete trust in God. Practically, this meant that those in Jerusalem during the siege should trust God’s word by not fighting against the Babylonians or making military alliances with other nations. They were to willingly go into captivity and thus “live by faith” in God’s plan.
Though Habakkuk was utterly terrified by this coming invasion, his prayer at the end of the book reflects his trust in God, modeling the kind of faith God was calling for (3:1-19). This phrase is quoted three other times in the New Testament, each time highlighting a different aspect of its meaning.
Romans 1:16-17 emphasizes justice — In Romans, Paul explains how our sin separates us from God and earns us God’s wrath. Who can possibly survive God’s justice when we have all sinned? The gospel reveals God’s righteous plan to make sinners right—that is, able to stand in judgment. Like God’s plan in Habakkuk’s day, it may be hard to believe that guilty sinners could be right with God simply by putting their faith in Jesus. But God is just in making us just because our sins have been fully atoned for by Jesus’ death on the cross. It takes faith to accept and obediently respond to God’s plan of salvation, but it’s the only way to life beyond the judgment.
Galatians 3:11 emphasizes faith — Jewish believers had perverted the gospel by requiring Gentiles to observe the law of Moses in order to be right with God. In response, Paul wrote that no one could be right with God through keeping the law of Moses. He marshals several arguments to prove that faith, not the law, is and always has been the way to salvation. Abraham, who lived prior to the giving of the law, was justified by his faith. Anyone who tries to live by the law must live a morally perfect life or else be under its curse. But Jesus, who did live a morally perfect life, took that curse upon himself and died for us so that we could put our faith in him. Paul clinches his point by quoting Habakkuk 2:4. We are saved by faith.
Hebrews 10:38 emphasizes life — Hebrews was written to encourage Jewish Christians not to throw away their salvation in Christ by relapsing into Judaism for fear of persecution. The book is filled with arguments that show how the glory of the new covenant established by Jesus far outshines that of the old established by Moses. In chapter 10, the author both warns and promises of a day of judgment that is drawing near (10:25). If they are to survive that day of judgment, they must maintain their confidence in Christ and endure temporary hardship by faith. Then Habakkuk 2:4 is quoted to show that bold faith that draws near to God—the opposite of shrinking back in fear—is the way to life.
What may at first have seemed like an obscure verse from a so-called “minor” prophet turns out to be the linchpin of humanity’s response to God’s grace. Whatever troubles we face in this life, remember the words of Habakkuk 2:4, “the just shall live by his faith.” Put your faith in God’s plan and obediently follow his commands. No matter how difficult it may be, no matter how counterintuitive it may seem to our instincts of self-preservation, God’s way is always right and leads to life—even if it passes through death along the way!
