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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.
About the author
Dr. Christopher J. H. Wright is Global Ambassador for the Langham Partnership International. His many books include Hearing the Message of Ecclesiastes, Hearing the Message of Daniel, Knowing Jesus through the Old Testament, Old Testament Ethics for the People of God, Deuteronomy (Understanding the Bible Commentary), Salvation Belongs to Our God, The Mission of God, The God I Don't Understand, and The Mission of God's People. Chris and his wife Liz, who have four adult children and eleven grandchildren, live in London, UK, and belong to All Souls Church, Langham Place.
Summary
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.
