Eschatological Symbol and Existence in Habakkuk

Janzen, J. Gerald (Indianapolis, Indiana)

Catholic Biblical Quarterly , 1982, 44(3), 394-414.

Allen Johnson

Rt. 1, Box 119-B

Dunmore, West Virginia 24934

Theology of the Minor Prophets

Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary

Dr. Tom McDaniel

Fall, 1994

One of the more perplexing, frustrating, even at times painful matters that trouble the individual person and corporate community of faith is the apparent ineffectuality of the pledges of God—the wicked do prosper, the righteous perish; prayed-for-sick do not always recover; and where is the Christ who has promised to return? Do we dare think accusation against God?

The prophet Habakkuk charged that God had given him an ineffectual, impotent message that had only wrought him personal trouble, according to a study by J. Gerald Janzen. This author posits that the entire book of Habakkuk involves "problems concerning the question of the truth or falseness—and hence the reliability—of a prophetic word or vision" (p. 395). This struggle not only is between the prophet and his resistant hearers, but bores deep into the inner consciousness and being of Habakkuk himself.

Janzen is painstaking in his methodology, mulling over each key Hebrew word, attempting alternative constructions based upon analogous useages in other scriptural passages. This well-done piece is evidence of years of wrestling with the meaning of Habakkuk, the author in several places pointing to areas in which he has changed his views. During my reading, Habakkuk took on as it were life and breath.

Janzen sees the theme of vision from the very onset of the book of Habakkuk, in which the opening line "the oracle that the prophet Habakkuk saw" contains the verb hazâ (saw). This the author claims is "the rhetorical and hermeneutic center of the book" (p. 396).

The prevailing view of scholarship, says Janzen, is to see the opening verses of Habakkuk as a railing against the national-religious leadership for failure to implement the covenantal law and justice thus defaulting the society to breakdown. Janzen gives credence to a modification that charges Yahweh with ineffectual tôrâ (societal laws and rules). Even more, through analytical comparisons with Isaiah, Janzen concludes that Habakkuk means by tôrâ and mispat the prophetic word as definitive teaching and verdict (p. 398). In other words, Habakkuk complains that he has obediently given forth prophetic utterance without evidence that would confirm its truth. All he reaps is contempt upon himself.

Yahweh responds to Habakkuk's charge (1:5-11), yet the prophet remains unconvinced (1:12-2:1). Perhaps God will eventually punish the evildoers, but even now the righteous suffer ruin. If the Chaldeans come to punish the wicked will not the righteous be caught up into the same calamity? Habakkuk wants more than God's promise before he will buy into Yahweh's effectiveness. He wants to see results that deliver justice. Yahweh instructs Habakkuk to write His words down in tablets, for this word will be a sure witness.

At this point we come to what for Protestant Christians is the most notable Habakkukan verse, 2:4, believed by many to have been quoted by Paul in his cornerstone statement "the righteous shall live by faith" (Rm. 1:17). Janzen has by now prepared the way for his central thesis: The righteous are those who will have the vitality, the perseverance, the passion to endure through the difficulties, sufferings, and seeming impasse of the present that the future might be forged into the brightness of true shalom. The sluggard (2:4a) on the other hand is the one who is not so much lazy or fearful as weak and insufficient in vision and hope (p. 412). Habakkuk now understands, and his contrite yet jubilant response echoes forth in the concluding chapter.

This article is most powerful, for it unveils the power of the prophetic imagination in dialectic with the temporal and the eschatological. Referring to the specific and necessary roles in interplay between Yahweh and the faithful covenant people, Janzen writes,

"The power of action is shared; and the power of passion is shared. Each is called upon to act; and each is called upon to wait and to suffer the acts of others. Each does what only that one can do; and each waits upon the other for what only the other can do. Each is called to faithfulness exercised in action and passion; and each is called to trust in the faithfulness of the other" (p. 412).

The prophetic word does carry power, for it ignites events—the wicked to their wickedness, the faithful to their righteousness. History is forged, and through that history God shapes the future that moves inexorably toward His will and ultimate triumph. "Thereby, one is freed to undergo and to engage the necessities of the present in the salvific modes of patience and joy" (p. 414).