Based upon the text, we believe Habakkuk was a priest that was involved in worship in the temple (the third chapter is a psalm). It is believed by most that Habakkuk wrote this book around 609 BC at around 30 years of age and only 23 years before the threefold Babylonian invasion.
That means he was a contemporary of Jeremiah and that he lived through the brief time of the revival of the young king Josiah and into the rebellion of Jehoiakim kings of Judah. Josiah was only 8 when he became king, and 12 years later, when they were doing a little restoration on the temple, they found a copy of the word of God, which led to the reformation of the nation.
The tragedy is that the reformation lasted only through the reign of Josiah and proved only to be a “reformation” and not “regeneration.” What is of further interest to me is that the words of Habakkuk 2:4 “The just shall live by faith” (recorded three times in the N.T. Rm. 1:17, Gal. 3:11, and Heb. 10:38) were the very words that spawned another “reformation” through Martin Luther, and the jury is still out on whether this will be a reformation or a regeneration.
Habakkuk’s name means to embrace or cling and, in some contexts, to wrestle. Dear ones, Habakkuk’s words to Judah that is in the throws of death as a nation speak to a wider application of our hearts as we will find ourselves as Paul spoke in Galatians 5:17 in a personal conflict, the flesh against the spirit.
Are we going to embrace and cling to the Lord or, in a foolish attempt like Jacob, wrestle the Lord for control? What’s it going to be, temporary reformation or lasting regeneration?