Hearing the Message of Habakkuk - by Christopher J H Wright (Paperback)

About the Book

Old Testament scholar Christopher J. H. Wright takes readers on a journey through the powerful book of Habakkuk, which presents a dialogue between the prophet and God about divine sovereignty and faithful living in a violent and unjust world.

Book Synopsis

What does it mean to be faithful disciples in a violent and unjust world?

Habakkuk described an era of rampant moral and social evil among his own people, and a vision of the rapid rise of the Babylonian empire under Nebuchadnezzar. The world he described is familiar in so many eras of human history, including our own. The frightening international tensions, confusion about political alignments and alliances, fractured moral and religious traditions, and social dissolution and degradation cause the same fear and anxiety today as they did back then.

Confusing is a mild world for it--international, political, religious, moral confusion. It was (and still is) a world of national wickedness and international turmoil and violence, a world in which God appears to be asleep on his watch and yet claims to be "working a work" in Habakkuk's day and ours.

Hearing the Message of Habakkuk walks through the questions the prophet asked God about injustice and the jaw-dropping answers he received. This popular-level exposition addresses:

• God's silence.
• God's sovereignty.
• Living by faith.
• God's judgement.
• Trusting God's Word.

What we learn from Habakkuk's dialogue with God can help us today as we struggle to work out what it means to believe in God's sovereignty, justice, and love, and to live as faithful disciples in an unjust world.

Review Quotes

'Biblical theologian, and steward of words, Chris Wright, navigates us through the dark days of Habakkuk, comparing them to the geopolitical history of our own times. We learn context, history, and even 'feel' with Habakkuk. Thankfully, Chris brings us through challenged, and a little provoked, to that gloriously hopeful last chapter of Habakkuk. There he unfolds the sagely kind of wisdom I've come to expect from him - 'we live every day in renewed trust in the sovereign good governance of God in God's world.' I could read that on every page.'--Kim Thomas, Artist, Author, and Curate at The Village Chapel, Nashville, TN

'Chris has done it once again. One of our generation's most careful and thoughtful biblical scholars and church leaders applies theological insight, biblical understanding, and pastoral concern to the book of Habakkuk, opening it up for our day. His attentiveness offers a fresh word from an indispensable prophetic book. As I preach and teach Habakkuk, I will return to this gift again and again.'--Dr. Heath A. Thomas, President & Professor of Old Testament, Oklahoma Baptist University, Associate Fellow, The Kirby Laing Centre for Public Theology in Cambridge

'Chris Wright has become a trustworthy and reliable interpreter of Scripture for many in our day. He is a fine scholar fully in command of the tools of biblical scholarship. But he is also pastorally sensitive, able to hear God's address to our present context to shape a faithful missional people for the sake of the world. One does not need to climb a mountain of biblical scholarship to get a molehill of insight for the church's life and mission today. I am always delighted when Chris takes on another canonical book. It is always rich with insight for our day. This brief book on Habakkuk is no different. This book will speak to the Word of God to our day whether it guides the preacher or a group Bible study or one's personal reading. May God continue to give Chris health and may we see more books like this one!'--Michael Goheen, Professor of Missional Theology, Calvin Theological Seminary and Missional Training Center

'Discussions about the problem of evil run the risk of being solely intellectual endeavors, detached from human suffering and disconnected from the resources of the gospel. By contrast, in this powerful and moving book, Chris Wright wisely and insightfully engages the problem of evil in its ancient setting. He illuminates the message of the prophet Habakkuk, who himself was wrestling with the existential threat of the coming Babylonian invasion. Wright offers this apt summary: 'We may not understand the world we are in, but we know the story we are in. And we need to strengthen our faith by continually bringing this story to mind'--which is precisely what the prophet Habakkuk himself was doing.'--Paul Copan, Pledger Family Chair of Philosophy and Ethics and professor at Palm Beach Atlantic University, author of Loving Wisdom: A Guide to Philosophy and Christian Faith and Is God a Vindictive Bully?

'There's no question: here is a book for such a time as this. With customary clarity, Chris Wright unpacks the extraordinary relevance of Habakkuk to the unsettling realities of our world, pointing us to the certainties of God's Sovereign control and compassionate care. Drawing illuminating application from across scripture and Christian experience, each chapter is full of pastoral encouragement which, in the midst of troubling times, strengthens faith and inserts vertebra in our elastic spines.'--Jonathan Lamb, author and teacher, and former Director of Langham Preaching