This year I'm back to monthly studies for the men's group with no youth study.
20 Questions on Habakkuk
Habakkuk is a man of mystery, mentioned only in his own short book (nestled between Nahum and Zephaniah) and apocryphal writings. (A truly weird story that involves dragons and Habakkuk being transported to feed Daniel in the lion’s den.) He lived around the time of the Babylonian (aka Chaldean) rise to power (ca 600 BC), probably contemporary to Jeremiah and Zephaniah. His book has long been treasured for its style of writing as well as its message.
Read 1:1-11
1) How would you put Habakkuk’s question in your own words?
2) Have you ever asked anything similar?
3) How does God answer?
4) Is there anything today that feels like an injustice that God is allowing? How might that injustice be serving God’s purposes?
5) After all God’s glowing description of the Babylonians, what do you think is meant by “So they will be guilty, because their own strength is their god.” ?
Read 1:12-17
6) How does Habakkuk respond to God’s answer? What new question does God’s answer prompt?
7) What makes you feel like Habakkuk feels in this passage? How do you deal with it?
Read 2:1-3
8) Habakkuk seems patient. What helps you be patient when waiting on God? Do you wait on God?
9) What is the Lord telling Habakkuk in the beginning of his response? Does it apply to us in the post-Resurrection era in any way?
Read 2:4- 20
10) How would you sum up the Lord’s response here?
11) Is it an answer to Habakkuk’s question?
12) How does it connect with the Lord’s first answer?
13) What’s the relevance of this warning for today? Do you see any connections with the modern world?
Read Habakkuk 3
14) Question – answer; question – answer; psalm? How is this psalm of Habakkuk a response to the question and answer session?
One question I had about the psalm was the beginning.
In Exodus 33:2, Moses’ final blessing begins: “The Lord came from Sinai. For his people he rose from Seir like the sun. He appeared like sunshine from Mount Paran.”
In Isaiah 63:1, Isaiah writes “Who is this coming from Bozrah in Edom with his clothes stained bright red? Who is this dressed in splendor, going forward with great strength? “It is I, the Lord. I am coming to announce my victory. I am powerful enough to save you.”
Edom is another word for Teman, and was known as the inheritance of Esau, south of Judah; the Edomites were traditional enemies of Israel.
15) What meaning might it have had for the Jews to imagine God coming from the south?
16) What other questions do you have about the psalm?
17) Is there any description of God here that really resonates with you?
18) One neat sermon on Habakkuk 3 talks about how this is a good chapter for anyone who feels like they’ve got a handle on what God would or wouldn’t do. How does this chapter address that?
19) Have you ever been able to rejoice in the Lord in terrible times? Can you share it?
20) What’s one thing you can take away from this reading of the book of Habakkuk?
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