HABAKKUK

 was a prophet in the Hebrew Bible. He is the author of the Book of Habakkuk, the eighth of the collected twelve minor prophets.  The name is possibly related to the Akkadian, the name of a fragrant plant, or the Hebrew root , meaning "embrace".  Habakkuk is also mentioned in Lives of the Prophets, which also notes his time in Babylon. According to the Zohar (Volume 1, page 8b) Habakkuk is the boy born to the Shunamite woman through Elisha's blessing.  Because the book of Habbakuk consists of five oracles about the Chaldeans (Babylonians), and the Chaldean rise to power is dated circa 612 BCE, it is assumed he was active about that time, making him an early contemporary of Jeremiah and Zephaniah. Jewish sources, however, do not group him with those two prophets, who are often placed together, so it is possible that he was slightly earlier than they. Because the final chapter of his book is a song, it is sometimes assumed that he was a member of the tribe of Levi, which served as musicians in Solomon's Temple.  For almost every other prophet, more information is given, such as the name of the prophet's hometown, his occupation, or information concerning his parentage or tribe. For Habakkuk, however, there is no reliable account of any of these. Although his home is not identified, scholars conclude that Habakkuk lived in Jerusalem at the time he wrote his prophecy.  His feast day is January 15 (Roman, Greek) and December 2 (Orthodox).

WORKS
The only work attributed to Habakkuk is the short book of the Bible that bears his name. The book of Habbakuk consists of five oracles about the Chaldeans (Babylonians) and a song of praise to God. The style of the book has been praised by many scholars, suggesting that its author was a man of great literary talent. The entire book follows the structure of a chiasmus in which parallelism of thought is used to bracket sections of the text. Habakkuk is unique among the prophets in that he openly questions the wisdom of God (1:3a, 1:13b). In the first part of the second chapter, the Prophet sees the injustice among his people and asks why God does not take action: "1:2 Yahweh, how long will I cry, and you will not hear? I cry out to you 'Violence!' and will you not save?" - (World English Bible).

MESSAGE
Habakkuk is a man of God; a man of faith; who is perplexed by what is happening around him. He doesn't understand why God is doing what He is doing. It seems inconsistent with what has been previously revealed. The major theme of Habakkuk is trying to grow from a faith of perplexity and doubt to the height of absolute trust in God. Habakkuk addresses his concerns over the fact that God will use the evil Babylonian empire to execute judgment on Judah for their sins. Therefore, the prophet goes to God and asks some difficult questions, and he receives some answers which greatly puzzle him. Nevertheless, through it all, whether he understands or not, his faith in God never wavers!!