Habakkuk 1:1

The burden which Habakkuk the prophet did see.

The burden is a prophetic vision and message seen by the prophet, opening the dialogue with the Lord and the predictions set out in the chapters that follow. The opening inquiry in that dialogue concerns the violence and strife shown to him. The prophecy was given about 604 B.C. in the reign of Jehoiakim, in the middle period of Jeremiah's career. Habakkuk lived in Jeremiah's time, prophesying around the time of Nahum and probably somewhat later, with a ministry that may have extended into the middle of Jeremiah's.

The prophet's name means to embrace. The burden warns the oppressive and wealthy in Israel of the coming of the Chaldeans, who would sweep over the land because of its wickedness. The first two chapters concern the work and fate of the Chaldeans. They portray grasping wealth and imperial power as proud and insatiable, gathering nations and peoples to itself. They are God's predictions about such oppressive conditions and the troubles connected with them, showing that this grasping brings affliction to the poor and oppressed and ends in judgment.

The burden concerns the injustice and oppression of the times and the suffering of the poor. It teaches that God sees that suffering and holds people responsible for wrongs they could have righted. Its principles apply to harsh and dangerous conditions such as those faced by coal miners. The first two chapters depict conditions of the last days, while the final chapter is a poem expressing God's glory and the prophet's trust in His power. The prophet's times are a type of the present time.