Hab 2:3-4 | KingComments | STEP | “The vision is yet for the appointed time” means that deliverance will not come immediately, but that patience is needed. But it is certain that it will come. God will make the vision of the extermination of the disciplinary rod, Babylon, reality. After seventy years, Babylon will be conquered by the Medes and the Persians. God’s intention cannot be hastened or delayed. It will be fulfilled at the “appointed time”. The appointed time is also the designated end time. That is “the goal”. This is the double bottom of the prophecy. “The goal” has a deeper meaning than just a short-term event. It is about the coming of Christ and the establishment of the realm of peace ( ). This is apparent from the quotation of the last part of this verse in the letter to the Hebrews ( ). There it appears that this verse is about the second coming of Christ. God has appointed a time for the second coming of Christ, who will fulfill all promises. We see here that Jesus Christ is the content of the vision. “Though it tarries” is quoted in Hebrews 10 from the Septuagint and changed to “for yet in a very little while”. The “vision” makes the believer today look forward to Him, to His coming, as an event that is near. When He returns, He will rectify everything. In the end time, the wicked will be judged and the people will be restored and the righteous will be rewarded ( ). If the answer tarries, it is because the perseverance must have “a perfect work” ( ). Deliverance does not come a moment later than the moment that God, in His wisdom, has established for it. In that time of waiting, it appears that the righteous lives by his faith, that is, by his faith that he puts on God. We see that in the following verse.

‏ Habakkuk 2:3-4

The Appointed Time

“The vision is yet for the appointed time” means that deliverance will not come immediately, but that patience is needed. But it is certain that it will come. God will make the vision of the extermination of the disciplinary rod, Babylon, reality. After seventy years, Babylon will be conquered by the Medes and the Persians. God’s intention cannot be hastened or delayed. It will be fulfilled at the “appointed time”.

The appointed time is also the designated end time. That is “the goal”. This is the double bottom of the prophecy. “The goal” has a deeper meaning than just a short-term event. It is about the coming of Christ and the establishment of the realm of peace (Hab 2:14). This is apparent from the quotation of the last part of this verse in the letter to the Hebrews (Heb 10:37). There it appears that this verse is about the second coming of Christ. God has appointed a time for the second coming of Christ, who will fulfill all promises. We see here that Jesus Christ is the content of the vision.

“Though it tarries” is quoted in Hebrews 10 from the Septuagint and changed to “for yet in a very little while”. The “vision” makes the believer today look forward to Him, to His coming, as an event that is near. When He returns, He will rectify everything. In the end time, the wicked will be judged and the people will be restored and the righteous will be rewarded (2Thes 1:7). If the answer tarries, it is because the perseverance must have “a perfect work” (Jam 1:4).

Deliverance does not come a moment later than the moment that God, in His wisdom, has established for it. In that time of waiting, it appears that the righteous lives by his faith, that is, by his faith that he puts on God. We see that in the following verse.

The Proud One and the Righteous

Hab 2:2 is about the power of the vision, Hab 2:3 is about the certainty of it. Hab 2:4 shows the importance of faith in case the fulfilment of the vision is delayed. If it is necessary to wait, it is reason for faith to prove itself as the assurance of what is hoped for (Heb 11:1). This can only be done by those who are engaged with Him Who is the center of prophecy, which is Christ.

In this verse we have subdivided humanity into two groups, that is, as God sees it. This is the answer to the struggle of the prophet described in Habakkuk 1:12-17. The first part of this verse concerns the proud, puffed up, overconfident Chaldean. God knows his inner self. Yet God uses him.

“His soul” refers above all to his greed and desires. What he covets does not come from honest desires, but from a depraved, disingenuous, crooked mind. An arrogant man is never sincere. What is said of this man – we can, for example think of Belsazar (Dan 5:22-28) – is also generally applicable to every individual who lives in unbelief.

The second part of the verse applies to the righteous, which is the believer in Israel. He will live by his faith, which is his trust in God (Gen 15:6; 2Chr 20:20; Isa 7:9). The righteous stands in sharp contrast to the proud one. The righteous lives by his faith and his faith brings him to humility before God. Habakkuk does not need to doubt that the pride of the Chaldean will work his own destruction, while the God-fearing constantly looks up to the LORD and will live.

The righteous can, through his faith, live in a world full of iniquity, addressing his questions to God, going his way trusting Him, even though the situation around him does not change. Only when the Lord Jesus returns will He set everything right. Until then, the believer lives by his faith.

Paul is such a reader and runner of whom it is about in Hab 2:2. He has read the answer and passed it on to the believer and to the sinner. He quotes this Hab 2:4

1. in the letter to the Romans (Rom 1:17),

2. in the letter to the Galatians (Gal 3:11) and

3. in the letter to the Hebrews (Heb 10:37).

We see that each time a different accent is placed.

1. In Romans 1 he answers with this verse the question of Job: How can a man be righteous with God (Job 9:2)? The answer is that it is possible through the work of redemption accomplished by Christ. Christ has done everything to exterminate the guilt. Whoever believes this, is a righteous one who can live by his faith. The emphasis here is on the righteous. Here we see how a statement from this little book Habakkuk is of fundamental importance for the justification by God in the gospel. Righteousness is not a process, but a final act with a lasting result.

2. Galatians 3 is about faith versus works of the law. Paul quotes this verse of Habakkuk to show that it is impossible to obtain life on the basis of works of the law. Law and faith have no interface whatsoever. The accent here is on faith. Only through faith in God and His Christ is it possible to live as a righteous one.

3. In Hebrews 10 it is, as the context shows, about the contrast between life and death or shrinking back to destruction. The warning is not to shrink back and to perish, but to live by faith. All the faith heroes of the following chapter, Hebrews 11, have lived by faith. The emphasis here is on living in view of the better fatherland.

As long as the prophetic word has not yet been fulfilled and it is still chaos in the world, the God-fearing has only one hold and that is faith. It is about practical faith to live on earth. Faith is the unshakeable trust in the faithfulness of God that He will fulfill His promises (Psa 89:33-34). Faith submits to God in confidence, while the Chaldean is puffed up and trusts in himself.